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This installment of InvestigateTV and Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝Ňîl Health Newsâ âCostly Careâ series explores how the type of medical facility where a patient seeks care can affect the cost of that care â particularly when that facility is a hospital.
Fewer Americans will likely have health insurance, compromising their physical and financial health, as the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress weigh major changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. âThe effects could be catastrophic,â one policy analyst predicts.
Correctional officers often dictate end-of-life care for incarcerated people who are terminally ill. Most states either donât have a formal policy or are given leeway â a big concern for families and advocates, as the incarcerated population rapidly ages.
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A disruption in federal funds has jeopardized HIV testing and outreach in Mississippi, and researchers warn of a resurgence of the epidemic in the South.
Although most abortions remain illegal in Alabama, a judgeâs decision in early April allows doctors and advocacy groups to tell patients about abortion options in other states, and help with travel and other costs.
State-level efforts to regulate fertility coverage reveal the gauntlet of budgetary and political hurdles such initiatives face â obstacles that have led to millions of people being left out even when mandates become law.
Federal law requires states to offer health insurance to many people with low incomes or disabilities. But some states, including California, are far more generous than whatâs required. Budget pressures may force lawmakers to cut benefits that have led to a historic low in the uninsured rate.
Technological gaps handicap rural hospitals as billions in federal funding to modernize infrastructure lags. The reliance on outdated technology and piecemeal systems challenge staffs and erode patient care.
A federal judge has named a receiver to run Californiaâs troubled prison mental health system. Colette Peters, a reformist with a rocky tenure as director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, will have four months to develop a plan to adequately care for tens of thousands of prisoners.
Nearly 3 million Americans live sicker, shorter lives in the hundreds of rural counties where doctor shortages are the worst and poor internet connections mean little or no access to telehealth services.
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 isnât likely to change with Trump back in office.
To deliver on pledges from the new Trump administration to make America healthy again, policymakers will need to close gaps in longevity among racial and ethnic groups.
The physical hazards of construction work have long been a focus of safety professionals. Yet attention on the psychosocial hazards is relatively new, with suicide and substance use soaring among male construction workers. Mitigating those risks requires more than hard hats, safety vests, and protective goggles.
The number of new and returning enrollees using healthcare.gov â the federal marketplace that serves 31 states â is well below last yearâs as of early December. Also, a Biden administration push to give âDreamersâ access to Obamacare coverage and subsidies is facing court challenges.
A federal judge sided with 19 states seeking an injunction against a Biden administration rule allowing recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to enroll in Affordable Care Act coverage and qualify for subsidies amid the annual open enrollment period.
An Alabama teen was told he needed surgery for debilitating hip pain. But his familyâs insurer denied coverage for the procedure, which lacked a medical billing code. Expected to pay more than $7,000, his father charged it to credit cards.
A decades-old manufacturing company opened a clinic and made primary care and prescriptions free for employees and their families.
UC-San Francisco is pausing its long-running masterâs program in nurse-midwifery and plans to shift to a lengthier, costlier doctoral program. Midwives criticized the move and questioned the universityâs motivations at a time of serious shortages of maternal care workers.
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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