Author's posts
Blackfeet Nation Challenges Montana Ban on Vaccine Mandates as Infringement on Sovereignty
The Montana tribe has entered a legal fight over whether the state has the right to enforce a prohibition of vaccine mandates on its reservation.
Montana Switches Gears to Try to Bargain for Lower Health Care Costs for Employees
Montana has been a national model for how employers could gain control and transparency over medical bills. Upcoming changes to its model have health care price experts wondering whether the state is making improvements or losing focus.
Montana Health Officials Aim to Boost Oversight of Nonprofit Hospitals’ Giving
Montana is one of the latest states seeking to increase oversight of nonprofit hospitals’ giving to ensure they justify their tax-exempt status.
Montana health officials call for more oversight of nonprofit hospitals
Montana is one of the latest states to suggest many nonprofit hospitals aren’t giving back enough in charitable contributions to the community to justify their tax-exempt status.
Hospitals Cut Jobs and Services as Rising Costs Strain Budgets
More than two years into the pandemic, hospital budgets are beginning to crack. One of the biggest drivers of financial shortfalls has been the cost to find workers.
Public Health Agencies Adapt Covid Lessons to Curb Overdoses, STDs, and Gun Violence
Know-how gained through the covid pandemic is seeping into other public health areas. But in a nation that has chronically underfunded its public health system, it’s hard to know which changes will stick.
When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care
When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.
Montana clinics preemptively restrict out-of-state patients’ access to abortion pills
Montana is an island of legal abortion, but four of the state’s five clinics now restrict abortion pills from people in states with trigger bans to shield themselves and patients from legal attacks.
Some People in This Montana Mining Town Worry About the Dust Next Door
Residents of a Butte neighborhood are concerned about the dust from a nearby open-pit mine that can coat their homes and vehicles. In a city where past mining left a legacy of soil and water pollution, is the air unsafe, too?
Abortion Politics Lead to Power Struggles Over Family Planning Grants
Conservative-leaning states and nonprofit reproductive health care providers are competing over control of states’ Title X funding for family planning programs.
