A growing body of research reveals that the negative effects of mass shootings spread much farther than previously understood, harming the health of local residents who were not touched directly by the violence. Read more»

Even before the pandemic, an increasing number of cities, counties and states were requiring employers to offer paid sick leave - but COVID-19 illustrated that such laws aren’t just about protecting people’s livelihoods — they can help save lives. Read more»

The country is awash in medical debt - $195 billion worth at least and affecting tens of millions - and with stories of residents losing homes, savings and credit as a consequence, nearly a dozen states have enacted laws to provide protections for consumers. Read more»

A federal lawsuit heard in Texas could upend or even eliminate the preventive care requirement in the Affordable Care Act, as a group is arguing that the requirement is unconstitutional and some preventive health measures violate religious protections. Read more»

Hospitals and community and rural health clinics that serve low-income patients say drug manufacturers have threatened their financial stability by abandoning a federal drug discount program that saves those health providers millions of dollars a year. Read more»

Doctors and reproductive health advocates worry abortion exceptions after 20 weeks to protect the life or health of the woman are so vague or narrow that abortion providers are unlikely to invoke them—especially if they fear they could be charged with a crime. Read more»

Faced with a crisis in maternal mortality, particularly among women of color, at least 17 states - including Arizona - are considering, planning or implementing policies to provide Medicaid reimbursement for the services of doulas. Read more»

The Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade will further fuel some conservatives’ efforts to limit access to birth control - as Republican lawmakers have begun a push to restrict access to birth control methods they claim are abortifacients. Read more»

States are eying foreign-trained health professionals as part of a solution to two problems: the growing shortage of health care workers and the worse health outcomes experienced by minority and immigrant communities. Read more»

Most of the nation will rejoice when the Biden administration lifts the public health emergency that has been in force since March 2020 - but when that moment comes, it could put many millions of adults and children currently on Medicaid at risk of losing health care coverage. Read more»

The overload at medical examiners’ offices stems from two trends: More bodies arriving at the offices, the result of pandemic-related deaths and also an upward trajectory of homicides, overdoses and traffic-related fatalities - and the country is not producing enough forensic pathologists. Read more»

The divide over the politics of the COVID-19 pandemic continues in states as the crisis grinds toward its third lethal year and hospital systems in every corner of the country are strained - and the divide continues playing out even in how lawmakers conduct business. Read more»

Though COVID-19 has claimed around 830,000 lives in the United States, only two states have added COVID-19 vaccines to the list of immunizations mandated for schoolchildren - the main reason, experts say, is they are wary of opening another front in the wars over mandates. Read more»

Despite the new COVID-19 variant that has quickly spread across the globe, there is little appetite in either red or blue states for reimposing lockdowns or mask mandates - a recognition of the public’s exhaustion after 21 months of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more»

Antibody levels do help health care providers establish whether a patient has immunity against other, more familiar infectious diseases, such as measles and hepatitis A and B - but doctors say our relatively short experience with COVID-19 hasn’t yet provided the same information. Read more»