Montana Seeks to Insulate Nursing Homes From Future Financial Crises

Keely Larson Wes Thompson, administrator of Valley View Home in the northeastern Montana town of Glasgow, believes the only reasons his skilled nursing facility has avoided the fate of the 11 nursing homes that closed in the state last year are local tax levies and luck. Valley County, with a population of just over 7,500, […]

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One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate of Abortion Pill Used by Millions of American Women

AMARILLO, Texas — Federal judges in Texas have delivered time and again for abortion opponents. They upheld a state law that allows for $10,000 bounties to be placed on anyone who helps a woman get an abortion; ruled that someone opposed to abortion based on religious beliefs can block a federal program from providing birth […]

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Senators Have Mental Health Crises, Too

The Host Julie Rovner KHN @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KHN’s weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its […]

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States Seek Crackdown on Toxic Ingredients in Cosmetics to Close Gaps in Federal Oversight

Michael Scaturro Washington has joined more than a dozen other states in seeking to crack down on toxic substances in cosmetics after a state-funded study there found lead, arsenic, and formaldehyde in makeup, lotion, and hair-straightening products made by CoverGirl and other brands. The U.S. stalled out on chemical regulations after the 1970s, according to […]

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Looming Cuts to Emergency SNAP Benefits Threaten Food Security in Rural America

ELKO, Nev. — On a cold morning in early February, Tammy King prepared and loaded boxes and bags of vegetables, fruits, milk, frozen meat, and snacks into cars lined up outside the Friends in Service Helping food pantry, known in rural northeastern Nevada as FISH. The beginning of the month is busy for the food […]

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Proposed Medicare Advantage Changes Cannot Accurately Be Called ‘Cuts,’ Experts Say

Madison Czopek, PolitiFact and Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact “It’s President Biden who is proposing to cut Medicare Advantage.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a tweet on February 6, 2023 More than 60 million people rely on Medicare for health coverage, and raising the alarm about potential cuts to the program is a perennial talking point among […]

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In Tennessee, a Medicaid Mix-Up Might Land You on a ‘Most Wanted’ List

Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio Life was upended for LaShonia Ingram over the past year, and a shadow still follows her around. Search her name online, and the first result includes the words “fraud” and “most wanted.” “It was horrible. I couldn’t get a job,” said the 42-year-old mother from Memphis, Tennessee. “All doors were […]

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A Bitter Battle Over the ‘Orphan Drug’ Program Leaves Patients’ Pocketbooks at Risk

A prescription drug that helps Lore Wilkinson walk and talk despite a rare muscle disease cost her so little for more than a decade that she didn’t even use her insurance to pay for it. But now, her Medicare insurance is shelling out about $40,000 for a one-month supply of the drug, and she fears […]

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California Says It Can No Longer Afford Aid for Covid Testing, Vaccinations for Migrants

All day and sometimes into the night, buses and vans pull up to three state-funded medical screening centers near California’s southern border with Mexico. Federal immigration officers unload migrants predominantly from Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, and Peru, most of whom await asylum hearings in the United States. Once inside, coordinators say, migrants are given face masks […]

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A Law Was Meant to Free Sick or Aging Inmates. Instead, Some Are Left to Die in Prison.

Fred Clasen-Kelly Jimmy Dee Stout was serving time on drug charges when he got grim news early last year. Doctors told Stout, now 62, the sharp pain and congestion in his chest were caused by stage 4 lung cancer, a terminal condition. “I’m holding on, but I would like to die at home,” he told […]

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