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KFF Health News covers the health issues facing people who live in America’s rural reaches.
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The current strain of bird flu is spreading from wildlife and livestock to house cats. To keep pets healthy, many virologists and veterinarians say, house cats shouldn’t eat raw food and should be kept indoors. Despite no known cases of H5N1 transmission between cats and people, some public health agencies and virologists are warning cat owners to be mindful of the theoretical risks to the health of humans in their households if a pet gets sick.
Tools used to contain previous bird flu outbreaks aren’t working this time, experts say. The virus has sickened at least 67 people in the U.S. and killed one, with egg producers begging for a new approach. “I call this virus a terrorist,” said one egg farmer, who lost 6.5 million birds to H5N1 in two weeks.
The Montana health department says the Board of Public Assistance is redundant and a bureaucratic hurdle that helps few people. Current and former board representatives say the rare cases in which the panel helps people are important.
The MiSalud app enables Spanish-speaking users in the U.S. to meet virtually with health professionals in Mexico via a smartphone app. At Taylor Farms in Salinas, California, the novel program has been a hit.
State legislatures nationwide, including several in the South, are spending millions to improve rural health outcomes and access. For years, though, most Southern states have refused billions of federal dollars to provide public health insurance to more low-income adults. That isn’t likely to change with Trump back in office.
Unsure how to help the troubled psychiatric facility, legislators look to shore up other parts of the state’s mental health system.
An unprecedented freeze on the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report sparks new concerns about political meddling in science.
Controversy over raw milk reflects the push-pull the Trump administration faces in rolling back regulations and offering consumers more choices. For now, the CDC still recommends against consuming raw milk and the FDA bans its interstate sale.
The moves under consideration include relocating a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities, renovating the state’s psychiatric hospital, and opening a new unit of the hospital in Helena.
Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.
The number of unhoused seniors in the U.S. is expected to triple by 2030. About half of this population is becoming homeless for the first time. Homeless services struggle to help. Finding affordable housing that’s also accessible for older Americans with medical conditions is an extra challenge.
Birth centers, where midwives deliver babies with emergency backup from hospitals, can offer an alternative for families as hospitals close maternity units. But the state’s stiff regulations and what many call a dysfunctional licensing process are hobbling new initiatives and forcing some facilities to shut down.
More medical schools say they will no longer charge tuition, in hopes that more students, graduating free of debt, will choose lower-paying primary care careers. But evidence suggests it will take a lot more than a free ride to replenish the primary care pipeline.
Legislative leaders say the decision whether to renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program this year will loom over behavioral health spending and hospital regulation, among other topics.
KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony and Emily Kwong, host of NPR’s podcast “Shortwave,” talk about Black families living in the aftermath of lynchings and police killings.
Health workers and researchers say an HIV outbreak in West Virginia that three years ago was called “the most concerning” in the U.S. continues to spread after state and local officials restricted syringe service programs.
A legislative effort to expand access to prenatal care in rural Oregon with mobile clinics was scuttled because those clinics would have provided abortions in rural areas. Opposition to the proposal shows that, even in states that ensure access to abortions, that care isn’t universally available or accepted.
KFF Health News staff made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Exclusive reporting reveals how the United States lost track of a virus that could cause the next pandemic. Problems like the sluggish pace of federal action, deference to industry, and neglect for the safety of low-wage workers put the country at risk of another health emergency.
Federal law says Native Americans aren’t liable for medical bills the Indian Health Service promises to pay. Some are billed anyway as a result of backlogs or mistakes from the agency, financial middlemen, or health systems.
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