Category: states

Medical School on Cherokee Reservation Will Soon Send Doctors to Tribal, Rural Areas

Native Americans and rural residents are underrepresented in medical schools. But in this new program, 25% of students are Indigenous and half are from rural areas.

Dads Drive Growth in California’s Paid Family Leave Program

The number of men in the state taking paid family leave to bond with a new child has risen nearly 20% since the start of the pandemic.

When That Supposedly Free Annual Physical Generates a Bill

Completing a routine depression screening questionnaire during an annual checkup is cost-free under federal law. But, as one woman discovered, answering a doctor’s follow-up questions might not be.

Watch: California and Feds Invest in Health Care for Homeless People

KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses big developments in street medicine, both statewide and nationally.

Smaller Employers Weigh a Big-Company Fix for Scarce Primary Care: Their Own Clinics

Company health clinics are most common at large workplaces, but some small employers say they see advantages, too: healthier workers, lower costs, and better access to primary care.

Storing Guns Away From Home Could Reduce Suicides, but Legal Hurdles Loom

Safe storage maps show gun owners where to put their firearms for safekeeping if they experience a mental health crisis. The idea has support among some gun enthusiasts, but legal obstacles threaten wider adoption.

California Expands Paid Sick Days and Boosts Health Worker Wages

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.

Residents of a Rural Arkansas County Grapple With Endemic Gun Violence

Rural gun homicides have often been overshadowed by violence in cities. But they are taking their toll on small communities ill-equipped to deal with the challenges.

Millions of Rural Americans Rely on Private Wells. Few Regularly Test Their Water.

More than 43 million Americans drink, bathe, and cook with water from private wells, which can be tainted by farm or industrial runoff, leaky septic systems, or naturally occurring minerals.

Using Opioid Settlement Cash for Police Gear Like Squad Cars and Scanners Sparks Debate

State and local governments will receive a windfall of more than $50 billion over 18 years from settlements with companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers. Using the funds for law enforcement has triggered important questions about what the money was meant for.