Health Care
On abortion, Democratic candidate Shawn Wilson is to the left of recent Louisiana governors
In 2015, Gov. John Bel Edwards proudly ran for governor as an anti-abortion Democrat. He and First Lady Donna Edwards put out a heartfelt television ad recounting their personal history with abortion. In the commercial, Donna said a doctor had encouraged her to terminate the pregnancy that led to their first child, Samantha, after she […]
As COVID protections end, patients classified as ‘medically needy’ fear new barriers to care
Millions are worried that at the end of the COVID health emergency they might not be able to access the medical services they desperately need.
How Medicaid recipients can update their contact information
Medicaid recipients who want to avoid losing their health insurance coverage should make sure they update their contact information with the Louisiana Department of Health or their Medicaid provider. The state will start a massive Medicaid disenrollment process in April, when federal COVID-19 pandemic protections for Medicaid recipients begin to wane. Louisiana estimates approximately 280,000 […]
With pandemic protections ending, Louisiana will reach out to every Medicaid enrollee
Louisiana will send letters next month to all of the state’s 2 million Medicaid enrollees in an attempt to verify their contact information ahead of a massive Medicaid disenrollment process that will take place over the next year. Louisiana estimates it will be dropping between 280,000 and 350,000 people from Medicaid over the next 12 […]
Louisiana’s rural health disparities deserve a longer look
Legislative task forces are often the product of proposed legislation that runs out of steam. Seeing that their bill has no chance of advancing, a lawmaker will often propose a study resolution to convene a panel to examine the issue they’re confronting. Some task forces are pointless and politically reckless, while others result in substantive […]
Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage
Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]
23 AGs praise pharmacies for decision to sell abortion pills
A group of 23 state attorneys general have written to CVS and Walgreen, expressing their support for the sale of two abortion pills by mail. The drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, require a prescription but are considered safe for performing an abortion at home. The pharmacies’s decision will provide millions of people access to the critical […]
Suspect science and claims at center of abortion pill lawsuit
Emergency rooms across America are teeming with women and girls bleeding from abortion drugs in such copious amounts that it’s exacerbating the national blood shortage. Or, at least, that’s the grim – but false – narrative a group of small conservative Christian medical associations have painted for a federal judge in Texas. Their mountain of […]
Attorneys general from 23 GOP-led states back suit seeking to block abortion pill
WASHINGTON — Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The state of Missouri filed its own brief in the case Friday while Mississippi […]
Biden in State of the Union speech to call for bipartisan action on fentanyl crisis
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday night is expected in his State of the Union address to call on Congress to work with the administration to address in a bipartisan manner the fentanyl crisis, administration officials said on a call with reporters. Biden will call for expanded access to opioid-related addiction treatment and announce […]
States strive to reverse shortage of paramedics, EMTs
Low wages, a lack of work-life balance and burnout are among factors driving emergency medical services personnel around the country to quit ambulance duty. Last year, the turnover rate for full-time emergency medical technicians, known as EMTs, was 36% and for full-time paramedics, it was 27%, according to an American Ambulance Association survey. The turnover […]
Louisiana issues new emergency rule on abortion ban exceptions
The Louisiana Department of Health issued a new emergency rule late last month that governs a list of medical exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban. It went into effect immediately on Jan. 27 and closely resembles an initial rule on “medically futile” pregnancies from August, though the new one includes one additional medical condition, […]