‘Conscience’ Bills Let Medical Providers Opt Out of Providing a Wide Range of Care
Opponents of the wave of state legislation say the measures place health providers’ preferences over patients’ rights.
Mountain States Bureau
KFF Health News tells the stories of Colorado, Montana, and the rest of the region.
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Home Sweet Parking Lot: Some Hospitals Welcome RV Living for Patients, Families, and Workers
Medical and RV industry professionals say hospitals that offer RV parking are easing access to health care for some patients who drive long distances for treatment, like many rural residents.
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Doctors Created a Primary Care Clinic as Their Former Hospital Struggled
With the community’s help, former co-workers came together to fill gaps in care left by the loss of doctors and departments at a Gallup, New Mexico, hospital.
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A Plan to Cut Montana’s Medicaid Waiting List Was Met With Bipartisan Cheers. Then a Veto.
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto disappointed and bewildered those seeking to address low-income residents’ long wait for assisted living or in-home care.
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With More People Giving Birth at Home, Montana Passed a Pair of Laws to Make It Easier
The state now requires Medicaid to cover midwife services and has expanded the list of prescription drugs midwives can administer.
By Keely Larson -
Groups Sue to Overturn Idaho ‘Abortion Trafficking’ Law Targeting Teens
It is illegal to help a minor obtain an abortion in Idaho or leave the state for one without parental consent. The lawsuit says the ban infringes on the right to interstate travel and First Amendment freedoms.
By Sarah Varney -
As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending
Nonprofit hospitals avoid paying taxes if they provide community benefits such as charity care. More states are examining that trade-off, scrutinizing the extent of hospitals’ spending on their communities.
By Andy Miller and Markian Hawryluk -
Meet the People Deciding How to Spend $50 Billion in Opioid Settlement Cash
As settlement dollars land at the state level, state councils wield significant power in determining how the windfall gets spent. And, though they will likely include the most knowledgeable voices on addiction, these panels also face concerns about conflicts of interest and other issues.
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Idaho Drops Panel Investigating Pregnancy-Related Deaths as US Maternal Mortality Surges
Amid a years-long rise in maternal mortality rates in the United States, Idaho lawmakers decided to disband a committee created to investigate pregnancy-related deaths.
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Montana Adds Protections for Kids in Private Residential Treatment Programs
Programs in the so-called troubled teen industry will be required to provide a 24-hour hotline and unmonitored video calls with family and be subject to more inspections under a new Montana law.
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As Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Hit the Market, Anti-Smoking Groups Press for Wider Standard
The first FDA-authorized cigarettes with 95% less nicotine than traditional smokes will go on sale in California, Florida, and Texas starting in early July. Anti-smoking groups oppose greenlighting just one plant biotech’s products and instead urge federal regulators to set a low-nicotine standard for the entire industry.
By Don Thompson -
Misinformation Obscures Standards Guiding Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth
Many state legislatures have passed or are considering restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans minors. Yet much of the discussion is based on misconceptions about what that care entails.
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Will the Doctor See You Now? The Health System’s Changing Landscape
The “front door” to the health system is changing, under pressure from increased demand, consolidation, and changing patient expectations.
By Julie Appleby and Michelle Andrews -
Black, Rural Southern Women at Gravest Risk From Pregnancy Miss Out on Maternal Health Aid
A federal program meant to reduce maternal and infant mortality in rural areas isn’t reaching Black women who are most likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.
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Drugmakers Are Abandoning Cheap Generics, and Now US Cancer Patients Can’t Get Meds
A quality-control crisis at an Indian pharmaceutical factory has left doctors and their patients with impossible choices as cheap, effective, generic cancer drugs go out of stock.
By Arthur Allen -
Medical Exiles: Families Flee States Amid Crackdown on Transgender Care
As more states restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people, some are relocating to more welcoming destinations, such as California, Illinois, Maryland, and Nevada, where they don't have to worry about being locked out of medical care.
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Opioid Settlement Payouts to Localities Made Public for First Time
KFF Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments have been allocated in 2022 and 2023 to battle the ongoing opioid crisis.
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International Rights Group Calls Out US for Allowing Hospitals to Push Millions Into Debt
In a new report, Human Rights Watch urges stronger federal and state action to hold hospitals to account for a medical debt crisis that now burdens more than 100 million Americans.
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Montana Clinics Chip Away at Refugees’ Obstacles to Dental Care
As the number of refugees entering the U.S. grows, those arriving in Montana and other rural areas find limited dental care options.
By Erica Zurek -
Foster Kids in Casino Hotels? It Happened in Rural Nevada Amid Widespread Foster Home Shortages
A nationwide decline in foster home spots has led to dire situations in some rural areas, including northeastern Nevada, where a state social worker has been pleading with community leaders to help address a shortage that left officials housing children in casino hotels.