Health Care

Volunteer escorts gather outside Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge

Some Republicans supported abortion ban exceptions. Activists made sure they failed.

BY: - November 27, 2023

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion, some states began enforcing strict abortion bans while others became new havens for the procedure. ProPublica is investigating how sweeping changes to reproductive health care access in America are affecting people, institutions and governments. State Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt […]

white pills are shown coming out of a prescription bottle that has been placed on its side

Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments

BY: - November 26, 2023

BURLINGTON, Vermont — “You can’t inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen” to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery. Sears was referring to xylazine, a sedative used for animal surgeries that has infiltrated the illicit drug supply across the country, contributing to a steady climb […]

The Ohio March for Life rally against November’s Issue 1 reproductive rights amendment takes to the streets near the Statehouse on Oct. 6, 2023.

Anti-abortion groups shrug off election losses, look to courts, statehouses for path forward

BY: - November 25, 2023

Anti-abortion groups are firing off a warning shot for 2024: We’re not going anywhere. Their leaders say they’re undeterred by recent election setbacks and plan to plow ahead on what they’ve done for years, including working through state legislatures, federal agencies, and federal courts to outlaw abortion. And at least one prominent anti-abortion group is […]

A physician writes on a clipboard next to a pregnant woman with her hands on her midsection.

New Tulane study connects abortion, maternal health care access with birth outcomes

BY: - November 22, 2023

NEW ORLEANS — A study published last week by Tulane University researchers found that people living in areas lacking both abortion and maternity health care were more likely to give birth prematurely than those with more reproductive health services. While previous studies have documented adverse birth outcomes for those who live far from abortion clinics […]

Nurse practitioner Anthony Carano speaks with a patient at the Mountain Park Health Center, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Phoenix.

The ‘doctor of nursing practice’ will see you now

BY: - November 19, 2023

When Vernon Langford sees patients, he typically wears a white lab coat with his title — “Dr.” — and his credentials as a nurse practitioner stitched on the front. “My credentials are on any jackets I have, the shirts I wear. If I have a name tag, it’s on that,” said Langford, who works as […]

VA veterans crisis line to face new investigation by congressional watchdog agency

BY: - November 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate multiple whistleblower allegations of “gross mismanagement” at the Department of Veterans Affairs veterans crisis line, following a request from Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, States Newsroom has learned. Moran, ranking member on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the VA secretary this week […]

Wesley Jackson Wade poses for a picture while seated on a bench

Underdiagnosed and undertreated, young Black males with ADHD get left behind

BY: - November 12, 2023

As a kid, Wesley Jackson Wade should have been set up to succeed. His father was a novelist and corporate sales director and his mother was a special education teacher. But Wade said he struggled through school even though he was an exceptional writer and communicator. He played the class clown when he wasn’t feeling […]

Soldiers from Fort Lee, Virginia help mark Veterans Day ceremonies at the World War II Memorial Nov. 11, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

Veterans’ health care coverage expanded by Biden administration

BY: - November 10, 2023

Ahead of Veterans Day, Biden administration officials said Friday the Department of Veterans Affairs will expand health care coverage for certain groups of veterans and their families and create new programs meant to make care more accessible. The VA will make coverage of certain toxic burn pit-related conditions available sooner than anticipated. Family members of […]

Pregnant couple having sonogram

Higher Medicaid reimbursements, midwives could improve Louisiana maternal death rate, expert says

BY: - November 9, 2023

Louisiana may be able to improve its dire outcomes for pregnant people if the state raised its Medicaid reimbursement rate for live births and boosts its number of nurse midwives, a leading expert on maternal mortality said Wednesday.  Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell is a New Orleans gynecologist and co-director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative with […]

Bruce Greenstein and Donald Trump

Jeff Landry puts formerly indicted Louisiana health secretary on advisory council

BY: - November 7, 2023

Gov.-elect Jeff Landry has selected a former Louisiana health secretary charged by a state grand jury with lying under oath to serve on his Health Care and Hospitals Council.  Bruce Greenstein is one of 28 members on the advisory panel expected to make policy recommendations to the incoming governor over the next two months. Landry’s […]

A pregnant woman in the early stages of labor rests in a hospital bed with her arms on her stomach. An IV is seen in her left hand.

Most Americans want health exceptions in abortion bans. Political infighting keeps blocking them.

BY: - November 7, 2023

In early October, an Idaho woman 20 weeks into her pregnancy went to the emergency room after her water broke about five months early. When the water breaks prematurely, an infection can develop and infect the fetus, placenta and other fluids. At that stage of pregnancy, the threat of infection becomes a ticking clock for […]

U.S. military veterans listen as Vice President Kamala Harris gives remarks at a Veterans Day ceremony in the amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, 2022

VA reports major uptick in veterans’ care after passage of toxic exposure law

BY: - November 6, 2023

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 […]