In Mental Health Crises, a 911 Call Now Brings a Mixed Team of Helpers — And Maybe No Cops
More communities are creating teams of health care providers to respond to mental health crises instead of cops, a shift propelled by nationwide demonstrations against police brutality. But the shapes of those mobile crisis response teams vary because the movement is still in an experimental stage.
New Montana Laws Enshrine Health Care Alternatives, for Better or Worse
Direct primary care and health care sharing ministries can offer people more accessible or cheaper health care options, but they lack the benefits of traditional insurance and aren’t regulated.
Montana Med School Clash Revives For-Profit Vs. Nonprofit Flap
Two medical schools vie to open in Montana, highlighting the rapid spread of for-profit schools and their previously tarnished business model.
KHN Journalists Comment on Abortion Case, Wasted Covid Doses
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Stark Racial Disparities Persist in Vaccinations, State-Level CDC Data Shows
Black Americans’ vaccination rates still trail all other groups, while Hispanics show improvement. Native Americans show the strongest rates nationally.
Don’t Eat the Yellowstone Snow: Elite Ski Resort Aims to Turn Sewage Into Powder
An exclusive Montana ski resort frequented by the likes of Bill Gates and Justin Timberlake says it can safely turn wastewater into snow to the benefit of skiers and the local watershed.
What the Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean for One Rural Montana County
In one northwestern Montana county where demand for covid vaccines is dropping well before widespread immunity is reached, people are split on whether the virus is a threat.
5 Things to Know About Health Care Changes in Montana
The covid pandemic drove major changes to Montana health policies, including the permanent expansion of telehealth regulations, a pullback on local public health officials’ authority and the easing of vaccination requirements for workers and students.
In Poisoned Montana Town, Warren Buffett-Owned Railroad Accuses Clinic of Medicare Fraud
BNSF Railway accuses the Center for Asbestos Related Disease of Medicare fraud by misdiagnosing and overtreating asbestos-caused illnesses, which the health clinic calls a cynical attempt by the company to limit its own liability.
Only One Vaccine Is OK’d for Older Teens. It’s Also the Hardest to Manage in Rural America.
Of the three covid vaccines the U.S. government has authorized, only one is available to 16- and 17-year-olds: the Pfizer shot. It’s also the most complicated to manage in rural settings, with their small, dispersed populations. That forces some teens and their families to travel long distances for a dose — or go without.
Dientes careados y cáncer avanzado, los efectos del atraso en la atención por covid
Los proveedores de salud están comenzando a ver las graves consecuencias de un año de atrasos en la atención preventiva y de emergencia a causa de la pandemia.
From Rotten Teeth to Advanced Cancer, Patients Feel the Effects of Treatment Delays
Health providers are seeing the consequences of pandemic-delayed preventive and emergency care, from longer hospital stays to more root canals.
Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
Journalists Unpack Patchwork Vaccine Rollout, Rapid Covid Tests and More
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Montana Sticks to Its Patchwork Covid Vaccine Rollout as Eligibility Expands
Montana’s overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.
Getting a Prescription to Die Remains Tricky Even as Aid-in-Dying Bills Gain Momentum
Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montana’s legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patient’s consent as a defense.
Covid-Inspired Montana Health Insurance Proposal Wouldn’t Kick In for 2 Years
Montana is looking to join most other states in requiring small businesses to offer laid-off employees temporary continuity of their health care plans. But the bill, if it passes, likely won’t take effect in time to help people directly affected by the pandemic.
The Boom in Out-of-State Telehealth Threatens In-State Providers
Health provider conflicts, fraud and access disparity temper the covid telehealth revolution.
Push Is On for States to Ban Organ Transplant Discrimination
States are passing laws that would prevent people with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities from being denied transplants solely because of their conditions.
Journalists Dissect Covid Vaccines and Variants
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
