The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promises better tests are in the works, but the episode points to vulnerabilities in the country’s defense against emerging outbreaks ..read more

The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, told striking workers that their health coverage would be cut off Aug. 1 absent a deal on a new contract. Tensions have mounted after staff disrupted the union’s convention, at which President Joe Biden had been scheduled to speak ..read more

As Vice President Kamala Harris appears poised to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, health policy in general and reproductive health issues in particular are likely to have a higher profile. Harris has long been the Biden administration’s point person on abortion rights and reproductive health and was active on other health issues while serving ..read more

Not so long ago, Bonner General Health, the hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho, had four OB/GYNs on staff, who treated patients from multiple rural counties. That was before Idaho’s near-total abortion ban went into effect almost two years ago, criminalizing most abortions. All four of Bonner’s OB/GYNs left by last summer, some citing fears that the state’s ban ..read more

California ha tenido estándares para proteger a los trabajadores al aire libre del calor desde 2005, pero el estado anunció el miércoles 24 de julio que ya había acelerado la revisión de un conjunto de reglas para los trabajadores en interiores ..read more

Montana’s proposal to increase oversight is part of a national trend by states to ensure nonprofit hospitals act as charitable organizations as they claim tax-exempt status. LISTEN here: https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Community-Benefits-for-KFF.mp3 The proposal comes some four years after a state audit found shortcomings in the health department’s oversight. The rules largely mirror federal requirements that national health policy analysts said have yet to lead to any meaningful enforcement. “What is being proposed in Montana doesn’t really move the needle,” said ..read more

Health insurance agents who fraudulently enroll consumers in Affordable Care Act health plans could be subject to criminal charges — and civil penalties of $10,000 to $200,000 — under legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. Wyden first promised the bill in May, when he called on federal regulators to do more to combat sketchy Obamacare enrollment schemes. Often, consumers who are targeted don’t know they’ve been enrolled or that their coverage has been switched to a new plan until they lose access to preferred doctors, lea ..read more

Planned Parenthood’s political and advocacy organizations will use a more than $40 million war chest to blitz GOP officeholders and candidates in an effort to flip the House and maintain Democratic control of the Senate and presidency. The plan is to focus on the records of Republicans who have repeatedly voted against access to abortion, contraceptives, in vitro fertilization or gender-affirming care for trans people. On Tuesday, the organization’s lobbying arm, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, announced its endorsement of Kamala Harris for presiden ..read more

Louisiana lawmakers have added two drugs commonly used in pregnancy and reproductive health care to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, a move that has alarmed doctors in the state. Mifepristone and misoprostol have many clinical uses, and one use approved by the FDA is to take the pills to induce an abortion at up to 10 weeks of gestation. The bill that moved through the Louisiana Legislature this spring lists both medications as Schedule IV drugs under the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, creating penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught wi ..read more

WALL, S.D. — Stacey Schulz parks in a rear lot to avoid the crowded Main Street entrances to her local pharmacy. “During the summer, it’s kind of hectic,” she said after greeting the pharmacist and technician by name. That’s because Schulz’s pharmacy is tucked inside Wall Drug, a tourist attraction that takes up almost an entire block and draws more than 2 million visitors a year to a community of fewer than 700 residents. The business is named after the town of Wall, which is just off Interstate 90 near Badlands National Park. Colorful, hand-painted billboards dot the roadside for hundreds of ..read more