Our Covid Cocoon: The Parents Aren’t Alright (But Help May Be Coming)
After experiencing multiple quarantines and school closures in less than two months, covid vaccine approvals for 5- to 11-year-olds can’t come soon enough for a KHN editor in Montana.
The Pandemic Forced My Transgender Wife to Fight Our Insurer Over Hormones
The covid pandemic has caused millions of people, particularly LGBTQ adults, to lose their jobs and enroll in Medicaid or insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Yet these plans often don’t fully cover the basics needed by many transgender Americans, such as injectable estrogen, a hormone therapy commonly used by trans women.
A Colorado Town Is About as Vaccinated as It Can Get. Covid Still Isn’t Over There.
San Juan County, Colorado, is one of the most vaccinated counties in the U.S. Leaders across the country continue to expound on the vaccine as the path forward in the pandemic. But San Juan’s experience the past few weeks with its first covid hospitalizations shows that, even with an extremely vaccinated population, masks are still necessary.
Covid Is Killing Rural Americans at Twice the Rate of Urbanites
The pandemic is devastating rural America, where lower vaccination rates are compounding the already limited medical care.
The ‘Burn Scars’ of Wildfires Threaten the West’s Drinking Water
Sediment from massive blazes chokes rivers and reservoirs, contaminating water supplies. The problem is only getting worse as climate change intensifies wildfires and lengthens the fire season.
Wildfire Smoke Is Here to Stay. Here’s How to Clean the Air Inside Your Home.
There are many ways to cleanse indoor air of dangerous smoke particles, which are particularly harmful to people with chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions. Some are expensive, but cheap alternatives exist.
Firefighters on Front Lines, No Strangers to Risk, Push Back Against Covid Vaccine Mandates
Among the people still reluctant to get vaccinated — and pushing against mandates — are firefighters, many of whom also respond to medical calls as paramedics and EMTs and have witnessed the ravages of the pandemic firsthand.
At an Overrun ICU, ‘the Problem Is We Are Running Out of Hallways’
Billings Clinic in Montana is past the tipping point as it looks for places to add intensive care unit beds and is on the cusp of rationing care to deal with the surge of sick covid patients in a state with significant anti-vaccination sentiment.
Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic
At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the country’s ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.
Under Pressure, Montana Hospital Considers Adding Psych Beds Amid a Shortage
A hospital in Bozeman, Montana, is considering whether to add inpatient psychiatric care after a concerted push from mental health advocates. But even if it adds beds, hospitals across Montana provide a cautionary tale: finding enough workers to staff such beds is its own challenge, and some behavioral health units routinely reach capacity.
Colorado Clinic’s Prescription for Healthier Patients? Lawyers
Medical-legal partnerships in Montana, Colorado and elsewhere across the nation operate on the notion that fixing patients’ legal ills is a vital part of their health care.
Medicaid Vaccination Rates Founder as States Struggle to Immunize Their Poorest Residents
Efforts by states and the private health plans that many states pay to cover low-income Americans has been scattershot and hampered by a lack of data.
New Montana Law Sows Confusion, Defiance Over School Quarantines
Some counties are changing their covid quarantine policies in line with a law that bans discrimination based on a person’s vaccine status. But one county has decided to defy the rule.
Headed Away to School? Here’s What Students With Health Issues Need to Know
College and grad students with chronic health conditions as common as asthma and diabetes may need to clear hurdles to make sure their health needs are covered by insurance if they go to school far from home.
School or ‘Russian Roulette’? Amid Delta Variant and Lax Mask Rules, Some Parents See No Difference
Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off — even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation’s first delta variant hot spots.
Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes
Nursing home operators acknowledge that large numbers of staff members are not getting the shots but fear a federal vaccination mandate could drive away workers in a tight labor market.
Have Vaccines, Will Travel: On the Road With a Covid Entrepreneur
While many businesses scaled back at the height of the pandemic, one Montana man used covid-19 to open his own mobile pharmacy. He’s now bringing covid shots to Montana’s vaccine deserts while filling his wallet. But he cannot fill all the vaccination gaps.
A Quarter of US Hospitals, and Counting, Demand Workers Get Vaccinated. But Not Here.
Amid a surge in covid-19 cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant, nearly 1,500 health systems across the nation are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. In Montana and Oregon, that’s not an option.
Journalists Assess the Latest Covid Surge and the Nation’s Vaccination Effort
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Feds to Nix Work Requirements in Montana Medicaid Expansion Program
State health officials say the federal government will likely reject any work or community engagement requirements, which were key to Republican lawmakers agreeing to extend the program that insures 100,000 low-income Montana adults.
