Rural Dispatch: November 2025
A Hidden Health Crisis Following Natural Disasters: Mold Growth in Homes
By Jonathan R.M. Charles
As extreme weather wreaks havoc, the risk of dangerous mold looms. An estimated 47% of homes already have mold or dampness, leaving their residents exposed to mold spores and associated allergens that can cause respiratory problems.
Ticked Off Over Preauthorization: Walk-In Patient Avoided Lyme Disease but Not a Surprise Bill
By Lauren Sausser
A Maine woman sought care at a clinic for a tick bite, then paid full price after her insurer denied coverage. Its reason? She didn't have preapproval for the walk-in visit, even though testing later detected the pathogen that causes Lyme disease.
ICE Crackdown Heightens Barriers for Immigrant Domestic Violence Victims
By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
Immigrant victims of domestic violence have long encountered hurdles when seeking help from police and courts. The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has made victims without legal status even more afraid to report abuse, advocacy groups say.
Concerns Over Fairness, Access Rise as States Compete for Slice of $50B Rural Health Fund
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arielle Zionts
Amid public forums and local cries for help, states are also talking with large health systems, technology companies, and others amid intensifying competition for shares of a $50 billion fund to improve rural health.
Farmers, Barbers, and GOP Lawmakers Grapple With the Fate of ACA Tax Credits
By Amanda Seitz
Small-business owners and their employees, who make up nearly half of the Obamacare marketplace, are worried about their health care and their livelihoods as insurance prices surge. Republicans, who have long opposed Obamacare, are at odds over how to respond to upset from one of their party’s most loyal constituencies.
From Narcan to Gun Silencers, Opioid Settlement Cash Pays Law Enforcement Tabs
By Aneri Pattani
Local governments have received hundreds of millions of dollars from the opioid settlements to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts. Their spending decisions in 2024 were sometimes surprising and even controversial. Our new database offers more than 10,500 examples.
The Quiet Collapse of America’s Reproductive Health Safety Net
By Céline Gounder
The HHS office that administers the Title X family planning program has been effectively shut down. And with cuts to federal funding for other family health programs, expected Medicaid cuts, and the potential lapse of ACA subsidies, health leaders fear they are seeing the biggest setback to U.S. reproductive care in half a century.
Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Health care professionals fear that new caps on federal student lending, set to start in July, will put medical school out of reach for many who want to become doctors and exacerbate physician shortages. Others say unlimited federal lending has fed a rise in academic costs, saddling families and, ultimately, taxpayers with debt.