Health Care
VA reports major uptick in veterans’ care after passage of toxic exposure law
WASHINGTON — Veterans’ care in the United States set all-time records in fiscal year 2023, “shattering” the agency’s performance in previous years, in large part because of an expansion of benefits under the Biden administration, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough said Monday. McDonough spoke at the National Press Club less than a week out from Veterans Day […]
Medicaid ‘unwinding’ breeds chaos in states as millions lose coverage
More than two dozen people lined up outside a state public assistance office in Montana before it opened to ensure they didn’t get cut off from Medicaid. Callers in Missouri and Florida reported waiting on hold for more than two hours on hotlines to renew their Medicaid coverage. The parents of a disabled man in […]
White House, Pennsylvania senator urge Congress to pass emergency anti-opioid funding
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s top drug policy expert and Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Wednesday pressed Congress to approve billions in emergency funding to address opioid addiction. “We still have a ways to go to get it through the heads of people here in Washington about how important it is to vote […]
State, federal abortion rules prevent many women from accessing crucial miscarriage drug
Since losing her first pregnancy four months ago, 32-year-old Lulu has struggled to return to her body’s old rhythms. Lulu, who asked to be identified by her first name to protect her privacy, bled for six full weeks after her miscarriage and hasn’t had a normal menstrual cycle since. Such disruptions aren’t uncommon after miscarriage, […]
Lawsuit challenges summary, fiscal note of new Missouri abortion-rights petition
A group seeking to add exceptions to the state’s abortion ban for rape and incest filed a lawsuit Thursday arguing the ballot summary and fiscal note are unfair and inaccurate. Filed in August by Republican political operative Jamie Corley with assistance from Democratic attorney Chuck Hatfield, the initiative petitions are being pitched as a middle […]
Women in Congress call for more action on breast cancer prevention, treatment
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress shared their experiences and called for bipartisan legislative action Thursday in recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Leaders of the congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus organized a press conference to highlight prevention and treatment of breast cancer. “Each one of us here today are tributes to our friends, our […]
Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions
More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to protect the patient’s health or life. But among those states, only Alabama explicitly includes “serious mental illness” as an allowable exception. Meanwhile, 10 states with near-total abortion bans (Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia […]
Ashcroft says initiatives seek to ‘nullify Missouri laws protecting the right to life’
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has completed work on ballot summaries for six proposed amendments to Missouri’s constitution, writing that the petitions would either “allow no excuse abortions” for up to 12 weeks or “nullify Missouri laws protecting the right to life.” And Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued that if any of the amendments were […]
Donation to Missouri AG riles plaintiffs in lead-poisoning suit against St. Louis company
Over the summer, Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined in the effort to try to convince a federal court to move a lead-poisoning lawsuit against a St. Louis company out of Missouri. The litigation in question was filed by thousands of people from Peru suing Doe Run Resources Corp. over alleged injuries caused by its lead […]
Insurers often shortchange mental health care coverage, despite a federal law
When she tried to find help for her daughter’s depression, Michelle Romero was frantic, panicked and heartbroken. She searched and searched for mental health clinicians within her daughter’s insurance coverage network. But the Houston-area mom of three couldn’t find a psychiatrist nor a psychotherapist who accepted her daughter’s health insurance and was close enough to […]
Abortion rights advocates say consequences dire if SCOTUS declines to hear pill case
More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided states could set their own abortion laws, including bans, the nation’s highest court now could cut off access in states where it is still legal. The Supreme Court began its new term this week and has yet to announce whether it will hear Alliance for Hippocratic […]
Faith-based maternity homes ‘create a haven’ in states with strict abortion laws
CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. — At the end of a gravel road that runs through a wooded property in Chilton County, Alabama, a plain white two-story house sits overlooking a small pond. Outside the house, everything is tranquil: The swings on the new playground nearby are quiet, the pond is still, the rocking chairs lined up […]