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North Carolina claims to be the 鈥淣ation鈥檚 Most Military Friendly State.鈥 Now veterans are trying to capitalize on this dedication to the troops to persuade lawmakers to pass medical marijuana legislation. It鈥檚 an advocacy model that has led to success for pro-cannabis efforts elsewhere.
A Long Island, New York, school system has partnered with a hospital to create a mental health safety net for children. The heart of the initiative is a new behavioral health center, which the hospital opened to help children avoid unnecessary hospitalization.
As pharmaceutical companies declare a need for boosters, scientists and doctors emphasize there鈥檚 no proof yet.
The U.S. Senate worked well into its scheduled August recess to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget blueprint that outlines a much larger bill 鈥 covering key health priorities 鈥 to be written this fall. Meanwhile, the latest surge of covid is making both employers and schools rethink their opening plans. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Congress tapped a national academies committee to examine a drug cost issue. It got a report that includes 鈥渆gregious鈥 failures to disclose conflicts of interest.
The Silicon Valley giant has been cryptic about its plan for the growing mound of health data available through its iPhones and watches. Health systems have experimented with the company鈥檚 health app, but it hasn鈥檛 yet become central to treatment.
Children under 12 can鈥檛 get a vaccine, so parents are concerned about how to keep them safe as classes resume 鈥 especially as the delta variant spreads.
The CDC recommends that pregnant people be vaccinated against covid-19, based on new safety and effectiveness evidence on the covid vaccines.
With schools reopening, poll finds two-thirds of parents support mandating masks for unvaccinated students, but resistance to vaccinating students remains high. 鈥淢y child is not a test dummy,鈥 one Black parent told pollsters. Some parents deferred the decision to their teens.
When the program began half a century ago, backers believed the benefits would expand over time, but politics and concerns about money have stymied most efforts. Now congressional Democrats are looking to add vision, dental and hearing care.
The Florida governor鈥檚 order said schools couldn鈥檛 mandate that students wear masks and that the state could deny funding to school districts that didn鈥檛 comply.
Doctors tied to professional sports teams share in investment bonanza.
Amid a surge in covid-19 cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant, nearly 1,500 health systems across the nation are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. In Montana and Oregon, that鈥檚 not an option.
Abigail Matos-Pag谩n, a critical care expert who has galvanized relief efforts after hurricanes and earthquakes, is on a mission to inoculate as many Puerto Rican residents as possible.
Aggressive sales tactics have allegedly led surgeons to use defective or wrong-size implants, screws or other products on patients, including former Olympian Mary Lou Retton.
A proposal breezing through the state legislature would make it illegal to obstruct someone from getting a covid-19 shot, or any other vaccine, but some free speech experts say it goes too far.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
As the nation confronts the delta variant, many consumers are again facing delays getting tested. The problem appears most acute in the South and Midwest, where new infections are growing the fastest.
Facing bankruptcy, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department in 2012, and the city essentially went two years without a government-run public health system. Five years later, this major American city offers a grim cautionary tale.
Pharmacy benefit managers have curtailed in-person audits of pharmacy claims during the pandemic, switching to virtual audits done by computer. That has markedly increased the number of claims they can review 鈥 and the chances for payment denials 鈥 squeezing pharmacies and bringing in more cash for the benefit companies.
