Health
Fifty years later, our lives still at risk
Fifty years ago, a very different U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Radical right-wing extremists control the Supreme Court and serve in elective office. We have fewer freedoms than we did a generation ago. We suffer, and women die because of it. When the Supreme Court ruled last June to strip away our rights […]
Rep. Boebert introduces bill to defund Planned Parenthood
Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Silt introduced her first bill of the 118th Congress — the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would prohibit federal tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. According to the bill text, about $235 million would be redirected to other community health centers that provide women’s health care services if the […]
U.S. House agriculture leaders discuss anti-hunger measures in upcoming farm bill
WASHINGTON — The new Republican chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee and a top Democrat on the panel on Wednesday laid out anti-hunger initiatives Congress could tackle in the upcoming farm bill. During a panel discussion, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania, the new head of the Agriculture Committee, said he believes members of […]
Rural seniors benefit from pandemic-driven remote fitness boom
This story originally appeared in KHN. MALMO, Minn. — Eight women, all 73 or older, paced the fellowship hall at Malmo Evangelical Free Church to a rendition of Daniel O’Donnell’s “Rivers of Babylon” as they warmed up for an hourlong fitness class. The women, who live near or on the eastern shore of Mille Lacs […]
With no Republican condemnation of violence against abortion facilities, House Democrats respond
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver and a group of fellow Democrats introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday condemning all forms of political violence regardless of intent or target. The resolution came in response to a Republican measure condemning attacks only against anti-abortion facilities. The Republican-led resolution passed the House Wednesday […]
U.S. House Republicans push through two anti-abortion measures in first work week
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday approved its first abortion-related measures under a new Republican majority, eliciting strong support from GOP members and opposition from Democrats, who rejected the legislation as misleading and incomplete. Republicans, who secured a four-seat majority during the November midterm elections, said the bill setting medical standards on a national […]
More orthopedic physicians sell out to private equity firms, raising alarms about costs and quality
This story originally appeared at KHN. 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. […]
Time is running out. Get covered by January 15.
If you don’t have health insurance — or just want to explore your options — go to healthcare.gov on or before Jan. 15 to get covered with affordable health insurance now. Having and keeping good quality affordable health care is personal for me. The Affordable Care Act saved my life. In 2017, I walked into […]
Telehealth brings expert sexual assault exams to rural patients
This story originally appeared at KHN. Amanda Shelley was sitting in her dentist’s waiting room when she received a call from the police. A local teenage girl had been sexually assaulted and needed an exam. Shelley, a nurse in rural Eagle County, Colorado, went to her car and called a telehealth company to arrange an […]
Here’s what you need to know about new workplace protections for pregnant, nursing workers
The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill President Joe Biden signed last week ushers in expanded protections for workers who are pregnant or nursing. Proponents of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act — both included as amendments to the spending bill — say the measures clarify rights for these workers, […]
Homes that survived the Marshall Fire hid another disaster inside
This commentary originally appeared on The Conversation. On Dec. 30, 2021, one of the most destructive wildfires on record in Colorado swept through neighborhoods just a few miles from our offices at the University of Colorado Boulder. The flames destroyed over 1,000 buildings, yet when we drove through the affected neighborhoods, some houses were still […]
ER doctors call private equity staffing practices illegal, seek to ban them
A group of emergency physicians and consumer advocates in multiple states are pushing for stiffer enforcement of decades-old statutes that prohibit the ownership of medical practices by corporations not owned by licensed doctors. Thirty-three states plus the District of Columbia have rules on their books against the so-called corporate practice of medicine. But over the […]