Category: states

Abortion Coverage Is Limited or Unavailable at a Quarter of Large Employers, KFF Survey Finds

A KFF survey of employer health benefits shows that 28% of large U.S. companies have limited or no access to abortion under company health insurance.

Michigan Voters Backed Abortion Rights. Now Democrats Want to Go Further.

Michigan is one of the few remaining abortion havens in the Midwest. But getting an abortion in that state is still more difficult than it should be, providers say.

Doctors Abandon a Diagnosis Used to Justify Police Custody Deaths. It Might Live On, Anyway.

The American College of Emergency Physicians agreed to withdraw its 2009 white paper on excited delirium, removing the only official medical pillar of support left for the theory that has played a key role in absolving police of culpability for in-custody deaths.

Listen: Inroads for Women in California’s Health Care Workforce

KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart leads a discussion about the role women play as California grapples with a shortage of health care providers.

Rare ‘Flesh-Eating’ Bacterium Spreads North as Oceans Warm

A rise in cases of Vibrio vulnificus and its spread northward have heightened concern about the bacterium, which can cause human tissue to rot and skin to decay. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to make more doctors aware of the dangerous pathogen.

California Bans Controversial ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis

California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice.

‘I’m So Burned Out’: Fighting to See a Specialist Amplified Pain for Riverside County Woman

Teresa Johnson has been in extreme pain for more than a year after what she believes was a severe allergic reaction to iodine. Her Medi-Cal plan approved her referral to a specialist, but it took her numerous phone calls, multiple complaints, and several months to book an appointment.

Mothers of Color Can’t See if Providers Have a History of Mistreatment. Why Not?

Many women, especially Black women, have reported discrimination in maternity care, but expectant mothers lack tools to see where this happens. Funding and regulations to measure disparities have been slow in arriving, but some innovators are trying to fill the void.

What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America

Dollar General’s pilot mobile clinic program has been touted by company officials, rural health experts, and analysts as a model that could help solve rural America’s primary care shortage. But its Tennessee launch has been met with local skepticism.

More Schools Stock Overdose Reversal Meds, but Others Worry About Stigma

Colorado is among several states that ensure schools have access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone for free or at reduced cost. But most districts hadn’t signed up by the start of the school year for a state distribution program amid stigma around the lifesaving treatment.