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A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parentsā consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the stateās culture wars.
There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasnāt medically necessary.
With U.S. syphilis rates climbing to the worst level in seven decades, public health experts and the federal Indian Health Service are scrambling to detect and treat the disease in Native American communities, where babies are infected at a higher rate than in any other demographic.
The pain and trauma from repeated needle sticks leads some kids to hold on to needle phobia into adulthood. Research shows the biggest source of pain for children in the health care system is needles. But one doctor thinks he has a solution and is putting it into practice at two childrenās hospitals in Northern California.
New federal funds aim to address an array of problems created by highway construction in minority neighborhoods. These are economic, social, and, perhaps above all, public health problems. In New Orleansā Treme neighborhood, competing plans for how to deal with harm done by the Claiborne Expressway reveal the challenge of how to mitigate them meaningfully.
Framed in the rhetoric of choice, Tennesseeās new law governing childhood vaccinations is among more than a dozen recently passed or pending nationwide that set parental freedom against community and childrenās health.
At last, Congress is getting half of its annual spending bills across the finish line, albeit five months after the start of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden delivers his annual State of the Union address, an over-the-counter birth control pill is (finally) available, and controversy erupts over new public health guidelines for covid-19 isolation. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Neera Tanden, the White House domestic policy adviser, about Bidenās health agenda. Plus, for āextra credit,ā the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
High school students in Colorado are pushing for a change they say is necessary to combat fentanyl poisoning: ensuring students can't get in trouble for carrying the overdose reversal drug naloxone wherever they go, including at school.
The stateās surgeon general grants parents permission to send unvaccinated children to school during a measles outbreak, risking their health and that of others.
Lawsuits allege that several children under 18 in South Carolina have undergone examinations of their private parts during child abuse investigations ā even when there were no allegations of sexual abuse. Thereās a growing consensus in medicine that genital exams can be embarrassing, uncomfortable, and even traumatic.
Opposition to vaccines and other public health measures backed by science has become politically charged. That makes dangerous misinformation much harder to fight.
The dispute between state lawmakers and health department officials could delay a broader package of child care licensing changes until 2025.
Californiaās governor vetoed a bill extending insurance coverage for kids with hearing loss, but most states now require it.
Federal officials have long warned that restraint and seclusion in schools can be dangerous and traumatizing for children, but school districts often fail to report incidents as required by law.
Even in states where laws protect minorsā access to gender-affirming care, malpractice insurance premiums are keeping small and independent clinics from treating patients.
Deep gaps in rural Americaās child care system threaten communitiesā stability by shrinking the workforce and inhibiting economic potential. Now that pandemic-era federal aid for child care programs and low-income families has ended, itās up to state and local leaders to find solutions.
Family medicine doctors already deliver most of rural America's babies, and efforts to train more in obstetrics care are seen as a way to cope with labor and delivery unit closures.
More than 1 million immigrants, most lacking permanent legal status, are covered by state health programs. Several states, including GOP-led Utah, will soon add or expand such coverage.
Debate and speculation are heating up over whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.ās presidential campaign will factor into the outcome of the 2024 election. But one thing is clear: Kennedyās political following is built on a movement that seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories.
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