Even Political Rivals Agree That Medical Debt Is an Urgent Issue
In red and blue states, state lawmakers from both parties are expanding protections for patients burdened by medical debt.
Illinois
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Doctors Urging Conference Boycotts Over Abortion Bans Face Uphill Battle
A famed breast cancer surgeon has created a California alternative to a major Texas event. Yet many doctors believe boycotting medical conferences in states that criminalize abortion accomplishes nothing and can be harmful.
By Ronnie Cohen -
More Restrooms Have Adult-Size Changing Tables To Help People With Disabilities
Adults with disabilities and their caregivers are pressing governments and private businesses across the U.S. to help them avoid undignified public bathroom experiences.
By Tony Leys -
Harris’ Emphasis on Maternal Health Care Is Paying Dividends With Black Women Voters
Polls are showing renewed support from Black women voters for the Democratic ticket. Vice President Kamala Harris has backed key health priorities for Black women.
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Abortion Clinics — And Patients — Are on the Move, as State Laws Keep Shifting
Clinics in states where most abortions are legal, such as Kansas and Illinois, are reporting an influx of inquiries from patients hundreds of miles away — and are expanding in response. Despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of federal protections in 2022, abortions are now at their highest numbers in a decade.
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Historic Numbers of Americans Live by Themselves as They Age
Longer life spans, rising rates of divorce, widowhood, and childlessness, and smaller, far-flung families are fueling a “gray revolution” in older adults’ living arrangements. It can have profound health consequences.
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Thanks to Reddit, a New Diagnosis Is Bubbling Up Across the Nation
Social media has helped spread the word about a treatment that involves getting Botox in the neck. It’s for a condition that’s gaining awareness but still often dismissed: the inability to burp.
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Public Voices Often Ignored in States’ Opioid Settlement Money Decisions
In many places, victims of the opioid epidemic are silenced in decision-making about how to use opioid settlement money, a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by KFF Health News and Spotlight PA found.
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Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding
The end of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections coincided with changes in more than a dozen states to expand coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women, and the incarcerated.
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The Nation’s 911 System Is on the Brink of Its Own Emergency
911 outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency response communications due in part to wide disparities in capabilities and funding.
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Nursing Homes Wield Pandemic Immunity Laws To Duck Wrongful Death Suits
More than 172,000 nursing home residents died of covid. In lawsuits, some families who lost loved ones say they were misled about safety measures or told that covid wasn’t a danger in their facilities.
By Fred Schulte -
Their First Baby Came With Medical Debt. These Illinois Parents Won’t Have Another.
Millions of new parents in the U.S. are swamped by medical debt during and after pregnancy, forcing many to cut back on food, clothing, and other essentials.
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Paid Sick Leave Sticks After Many Pandemic Protections Vanish
The U.S. is one of nine countries that do not guarantee paid sick leave. Since the covid pandemic, advocates in states including Missouri, Alaska, and Nebraska are organizing to take the issue to voters with ballot initiatives this November.
By Zach Dyer -
What Florida’s New 6-Week Abortion Ban Means for the South, and Traveling Patients
Florida has served as a haven for Southern pregnant women with little or no access to abortions. But the Florida Supreme Court upheld a six-week abortion restriction that begins in May — so now women across much of the South seeking abortions will have to look farther afield.
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Paris Hilton Backs California Bill Requiring Sunshine on ‘Troubled Teen Industry’
Celebrity hotel heiress Paris Hilton is expanding her campaign for more public reporting on residential therapeutic centers’ use of restraints and seclusion rooms in disciplining teens, setting her sights on legislation in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
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Doctors Take On Dental Duties to Reach Low-Income and Uninsured Patients
More doctors are integrating oral health care into their practices, filling a need in America’s dental deserts.
By Kate Ruder -
End of Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Households Threatens Telehealth Access
A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon. The end of the subsidy launched earlier in the pandemic could have profound impacts on health care access.
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Medical Debt Affects Much of America, but Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard
Colorado is ahead of the curve on policies to prevent medical debt, but the gap between the debt load in places inhabited primarily by people of color versus non-Hispanic white residents is greater than the national average.
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Hospitals Cash In on a Private Equity-Backed Trend: Concierge Physician Care
Hospitals are increasingly stretching a velvet rope, offering “concierge service” to an affluent clientele. Critics say the practice exacerbates primary care shortages.
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How National Political Ambition Could Fuel, or Fail, Initiatives to Protect Abortion Rights in States
As money flows to abortion rights initiatives in states, some donors focus on where anger over the "Dobbs" ruling could propel voter turnout and spur Democratic victories up and down the ballot, including in key Senate races and the White House.
By Bram Sable-Smith and Rachana Pradhan