Colorado Checkup: March, 31, 2026
Lawmakers Seek To Protect Crisis Pregnancy Centers as Abortion Clinic Numbers Shrink
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Some states have tried to crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of deceptive practices. But now conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to increase protections for the organizations, which work to dissuade women from abortions.
Lawmakers, Health Groups Resist Their States’ Rural Health Fund Plans
Arielle Zionts and Sarah Jane Tribble
Some Republican state lawmakers and state health associations are pushing back against spending plans under the Trump administration’s $50 billion federal rural health fund. Federal administrators already approved states’ plans, but in many cases, state lawmakers must greenlight spending.
Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts
Bram Sable-Smith
Idaho is positioning to slash Medicaid funding as state lawmakers grapple with the effects of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last year. On the table are in-home care services.
Trump’s Cuts to Medicaid Threaten Services That Help Disabled People Live at Home
Tony Leys
Iowa patient advocates say that in the face of federal Medicaid cuts, the state is quietly reducing in-home services that help people avoid being institutionalized. National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.
Even Patients Are Shocked by the Prices Their Insurers Will Pay — And It Costs All of Us
Elisabeth Rosenthal
Health care prices are on the rise, and patients are flummoxed that even insurance companies aren’t doing more to control costs.
More Kids Are in ERs for Tooth Pain. Trump Cuts and RFK Jr.’s Anti-Fluoride Fight Aren’t Helping.
Farrell Brenner and Angela Y. Zhang
Dentists, hygienists, and researchers say a shortage of rural dental care professionals and worsening oral hygiene since the covid-19 pandemic mean more kids are ending up in the emergency room for tooth decay.
Newsom Picks a Dogfight With Trump and RFK Jr. on Public Health
Angela Hart
Scientists are cheering California Gov. Gavin Newsom as he builds a public health bulwark against health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance and President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Still, federal cuts have sapped morale and left local health departments less prepared for outbreaks.