Health Care
Synthetic drugs are killing more Americans as they render treatment options less effective
BURLINGTON, Vt. — “You can’t inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen” to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery. Sears was referring to xylazine, a sedative used for animal surgeries that has infiltrated the illicit drug supply across the country, contributing to a steady climb […]
VA secretary says agency will cooperate with investigation into veterans crisis line
WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough sought to defend the veterans crisis line Wednesday in a letter to the Kansas senator who has raised concerns with how some veterans are treated after calling it. McDonough wrote in the three-page letter to Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran that the VA “takes any allegations […]
VA veterans crisis line to face new investigation by congressional watchdog agency
WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate multiple whistleblower allegations of “gross mismanagement” at the Department of Veterans Affairs veterans crisis line, following a request from Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, States Newsroom has learned. Moran, ranking member on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the VA secretary this week […]
Panel approves another $12.5M in federal aid for rural Arkansas hospitals, totaling nearly $40M
More than $12.5 million in federal aid will go to four rural Arkansas hospitals that received preliminary approval for the funds Tuesday from state lawmakers. The full Arkansas Legislative Council on Friday will vote on whether to disburse the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, aimed at covering costs incurred during […]
States lose track of thousands of foster children each year
Sharday Hamilton, a 28-year-old advocate for foster youth, homeless youth and runaways, still bears her own scars from running. There’s one near her left knee. She got it as a little girl, running away from her foster mother, who was trying to hit her with a bag of frozen food but who sometimes used a […]
Veterans’ health care coverage expanded by Biden administration
Ahead of Veterans Day, Biden administration officials said Friday the Department of Veterans Affairs will expand health care coverage for certain groups of veterans and their families and create new programs meant to make care more accessible. The VA will make coverage of certain toxic burn pit-related conditions available sooner than anticipated. Family members of […]
Arkansas Children’s establishes center investigating opioids’ effect on kids
Arkansas Children’s is creating a $70-million center focused on opioids’ impact on children, officials announced Thursday. The National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) will accelerate development of effective evidence-based treatments that improve child health and inform state and national policy efforts, according to a press release. Opioids are the leading cause of […]
Abortion-rights victories cement 2024 playbook while opponents scramble for new strategy
Anti-abortion leaders woke up Wednesday to the sobering reality that abortion rights remain the nation’s predominant political issue. Decisive wins in swing and red states in two national election cycles since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year have given momentum to reproductive rights groups, who aggressively campaigned and fundraised in key states across the […]
Abortion is now a constitutional right in Ohio. But for advocates, the work isn’t done.
The celebration of the passage of Issue 1 in Ohio went long into the night, but Wednesday morning, abortion rights advocates were back at work on next steps. Issue 1 passed with 56.62% of the vote on Tuesday in unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. Of the 3.86 million votes cast across […]
‘Worse Than People Can Imagine’: Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Breeds Chaos in States
More than two dozen people lined up outside a state public assistance office in Montana before it opened to ensure they didn’t get cut off from Medicaid. Callers in Missouri and Florida reported waiting on hold for more than two hours on hotlines to renew their Medicaid coverage. The parents of a disabled man in […]
Most Americans want health exceptions in abortion bans. Political infighting keeps blocking them.
In early October, an Idaho woman 20 weeks into her pregnancy went to the emergency room after her water broke about five months early. When the water breaks prematurely, an infection can develop and infect the fetus, placenta and other fluids. At that stage of pregnancy, the threat of infection becomes a ticking clock for […]
VA reports major uptick in veterans’ care after passage of toxic exposure law
Veterans experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts should dial 988 or chat at https://988lifeline.org/. WASHINGTON — Veterans’ care in the United States set all-time records in fiscal year 2023, “shattering” the agency’s performance in previous years, in large part because of an expansion of benefits under the Biden administration, U.S. Secretary of Veterans […]