Policymakers and insurers across the country say they are eliminating copayments, deductibles and other barriers to telemedicine for patients confined at home who need a doctor for any reason. But in a fragmented health system, the shift to cost-free telemedicine for patients is going far less smoothly than the speeches and press releases suggest. In some cases, doctors are billing for telephone calls that used to be free. Read more»

The Trump administration quietly invoked the Defense Production Act to force medical suppliers in Texas and Colorado to sell to it first — ahead of states, hospitals or foreign countries. Read more»

The U.S. Department of Labor reported 6.6 million people applied for unemployment insurance benefits over the last week—roughly 2% of the country’s population. Read more»

On March 16, the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a public alert aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. The problem: For days, it was in English only – leaving millions of non-English speakers in the U.S. without direct guidance from the federal government amid the deadly and fast-moving pandemic. Read more»

The Trump administration on Monday finalized changes to eviscerate enforcement of the landmark Endangered Species Act, which is credited with helping to save animals like the American bald eagle and California condor. Read more»

States legalizing cannabis so far have done little to limit or even track the huge amounts of energy needed to grow it indoors. Read more»

Scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests that a person who abuses animals also has a higher likelihood of hurting other people, so state and federal level are pushing to slap a no-gun penalty on anyone convicted of animal cruelty. Read more»

Study of Massachusetts health law cited personal bankruptcy reduction, fewer delinquencies, improved credit scores Read more»

While lawmakers in Washington and state capitals continue to obsess about Obamacare — either how to make sure it is being implemented as Congress intended, or how to make sure it isn’t — Massachusetts legislators have focused their attention on the next phase of reform: health care costs. Read more»

Arizona had the nation’s lowest risk of fire death in 2010, a fact experts attributed to everything from a relatively low number of high-rises to building codes in some localities that require residential sprinklers. Read more»

An ad from the Obama campaign claims Massachusetts ranked No. 1 in state debt per person when Mitt Romney was governor. It's true, but there's less there than meets the eye. Read more»

A campaign ad that praises Mitt Romney's performance as governor of Massachusetts presents a slanted view of his record on jobs, unemployment and taxes. Read more» 1

Arizona is lacking policies that enforce proper training of future teachers, a study by the National Council on Teacher Quality found. Read more»

Turnout was so light for Super Tuesday, the vote appears less than convincing. Read more»

An anti-abortion group is making the shocking claim that Mitt Romney "enforced a law which required Catholic hospitals to provide abortions." To call this a stretch is putting it mildly. Read more» 1