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Ohio physicians, hospitals and health insurance companies could refuse to provide or pay for a medical service if it violates their moral beliefs, under language inserted into the state budget bill this week. The new language would also give medical practitioners immunity from lawsuits for refusing such and allow them to sue others. Abortion rights and LGBTQ advocates sounded the alarm this week, fearing more restricted access to reproductive health care and more discrimination. Those on the other side hailed the measure as essential for protecting religious freedoms. (Wu and Balmert, 6/13)

A new bill in Washington would permanently expand telehealth services under Medicare and allow patients in rural areas without access to broadband to use audio services, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said. “It should not have taken a pandemic for Medicare to finally unlock the potential of telehealth services — and now we need to make sure that these vital telehealth services continue to be available to patients long after the COVID-19 pandemic is over,” Shaheen said in a statement. (6/13)

During the pandemic Montana saw more deaths than births for the first time since that data has been tracked. Early and provisional data from the state health department and a report compiled by a demographer, document the stark statistics for 2020, a year dramatically altered by the pandemic. Montana’s mortality rate increased by 14% in 2020, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. There were 12,018 deaths compared to 10,791 live births — the first time deaths surpassed births since 1908, when records started being kept. (Michels, 6/13)

The leadership of the Utah Department of Health is changing again — with executive director Rich Saunders leaving after less than a year in the job to take on a newly created role in Gov. Spencer Cox’s administration. Cox has named Saunders the state’s first chief innovation officer, to join the governor’s senior staff starting June 21. Saunders, according to a statement Friday from Cox’s office, will be in charge of Cox’s plans “to aggressively upgrade state government efficiencies, innovations and responsiveness to Utah residents.” (Means, 6/11)

Indiana and Marion County will receive more than $40 million in federal funds of a $2.25 billion national purse aimed at addressing health disparities stemming from the COVID pandemic. The money represents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's largest investment to date focused on improving health equity. Geared for local and state health departments, the grants focus on improving COVID testing and contact tracing for higher risk, underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minority groups. This money can also be used to reduce COVID-19-related health disparities and improve the ability to control viral spread, the CDC said in a press release. (Rudavsky, 6/11)

While parts of the country deal with swarms of cicadas this summer, Maine is struggling with an infestation of an invasive species of caterpillar with poisonous hairs that can cause people to develop painful rashes and even breathing problems. The caterpillars, known as browntail moths, are about 1.5 inches long and have white dashes down their sides and two red dots on their backs. (Jimenez, 6/13)

Officials in Pinellas County issued a health alert for the area’s beaches as an outbreak of red tide persisted off the coast and spread north to Sand Key south of Clearwater Beach. Karenia brevis, the organism that causes red tide, has now been found in low to medium concentrations in Tampa Bay and off the beaches of Fort De Soto, Pass-a-Grille, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, Indian Shores and Sand Key. (Ochoa, 6/13)