Health Care
States criticized for spending federal relief funds on tax cuts, prisons
As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 billion already has been appropriated by states, the District […]
More orthopedic physicians sell out to private equity firms, raising cost and quality alarms
Dr. Paul Jeffords and his colleagues at Atlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics were worried about their ability to survive financially, even though their independent orthopedic practice was the largest in Georgia, with nearly 100 physicians. They nervously watched other physician practices sell out entirely to large hospital systems and health insurers. They refused to consider doing that. […]
New Orleans plans to erase $130 million in residents’ medical debt
The New Orleans City Council, following the footsteps of other local governments in Cook County, Illinois, and Toledo, Ohio, passed a last-minute line item in early December to the city’s 2023 budget: a $1.3 million expenditure that is earmarked to be used to erase more than $100 million in medical debt for city residents. The […]
After tuition, books, and room and board, colleges’ rising health fees hit a nerve
You’ve compared tuition. Reviewed on-campus housing costs. Even digested student meal plan prices. But have you thought about how much your son’s or daughter’s dream school will charge for health coverage? You might be in for a shock. Hawley Montgomery-Downs was thrilled when daughter Bryn Tronco earned a scholarship that pays half the $63,000 annual […]
Child poverty rates highest in states that haven’t raised minimum wage
Of the 20 states that have failed to raise the minimum wage above the federal $7.25 an hour standard, 16 have more than 12% of their children living in poverty, according to a States Newsroom analysis of wage and poverty data. Anti-poverty advocates say that’s a sign that there’s an urgent need for lawmakers to […]
Marijuana panel rolls out recommendations to protect workers
A panel that has spent months debating policy ideas to protect workers who use medical marijuana concluded the bulk of its work Thursday, approving more than a dozen recommendations to the Louisiana Legislature. Thursday marked the last meeting of the Employment and Medical Marijuana Task Force, a group created through a study resolution authored by […]
Health insurance is a make-or-break cost for LSU graduate assistants
After crashing his bicycle earlier this year, Suman Gunin has never recovered the full range of motion in his arm and still experiences pain. A doctoral student from India studying neuroscience at LSU, he can’t afford the recommended physical therapy on the $15,000 annual stipend he receives for his teaching and research responsibilities. Gunin paid […]
Here’s when drug prices will start to decrease for Medicare recipients
Starting next month, a $35 cap on insulin prices will go into effect for millions of Medicare recipients. The lower pricing is one of the first of several policy measures Americans will see in the coming months and years under the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August. The bill also requires pharmaceutical companies […]
Louisianans on Medicaid expansion can get care across river at Natchez hospital
Just across the Mississippi River bridge from Natchez are the Louisiana towns of Vidalia, Ferriday and other communities where there are people who have health care coverage through the expansion of Medicaid. Those Louisianans, if they are in the correct Medicaid health care network, can obtain medical services across the bridge in Mississippi at Merit […]
Landry, 21 AGs push Biden administration to drop healthcare worker COVID vaccine mandate
Louisiana’s attorney general announced Monday he is leading a coalition of 22 states that want the Biden administration to end a mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The 22 attorneys general have filed a petition that requests the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid […]
Louisiana’s rural health care anemic for minorities, poor, elderly
Karen Wyble kept a promise that she made to the mother of a young sickle cell patient when she testified Thursday before a legislative committee. The woman’s daughter had refused to go to a hospital emergency department to address her severe pain because of the treatment she had received previously. “‘Mom, please just let me […]
Oregon will be the first state to make affordable health care a constitutional right
Oregon will be the first state in the nation to enshrine the right to affordable health care in its constitution. Ballot Measure 111 narrowly passed, with nearly 50.7% of voters in favor and 49.3% of voters opposed. The measure’s long-term impact on Oregon health care is unclear because it doesn’t prescribe how the state should […]