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Doctors need to know when to screen for tick-borne diseases in their communities. But it鈥檚 getting harder for local health departments to get funding for tick surveys as federal public health grants from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dry up.
In rural Colorado and across rural America, Medicaid is a lifeline, especially for people who wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have easy access to health care. That includes low-income seniors who need supplemental coverage in addition to Medicare, and people of all ages with disabilities.
The anti-abortion movement is rallying around new laws that establish fetal 鈥減ersonhood.鈥 Doctors are scrambling to adjust, but even conservatives don鈥檛 always agree on how such laws should be applied.
Federal health officials are investigating claims that a Michigan health system fired an employee who sought a religious exemption to avoid calling transgender patients by their pronouns or referring them for gender-affirming care. Legal experts say the investigation escalates the Trump administration鈥檚 effort to curb medical care for transgender patients.
Memory cafes are small social gatherings for individuals with memory loss and their caregivers. The events are cheap to run and can offer measurable benefits. Memory loss experts say they may become an even more important tool in the face of federal cuts to health programs.
Some clinics that provide abortions are closing, even in states where voters have passed some of the nation's broadest abortion protections. It鈥檚 happening in places like New York, Illinois, and Michigan, as reproductive health care faces new financial pressures.
When a New York physician was indicted for shipping abortion medications to a woman in Louisiana, it stoked fear across the network of doctors and medical clinics who engage in similar work. But some physicians vowed not to stop.
Although most abortions remain illegal in Alabama, a judge鈥檚 decision in early April allows doctors and advocacy groups to tell patients about abortion options in other states, and help with travel and other costs.
A stressed primary care system has led many doctors to start practices that charge membership fees in exchange for shorter waits and longer appointments. Observers say the doctor shortage needs a more systemic fix.
Public health and science researchers are concerned about the Trump administration鈥檚 cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reductions in staff and budgets could undermine the nation鈥檚 ability to respond to threats, they say.
Hoarding disorder disproportionately affects older people. As baby boomers age, it is a growing public health concern. Effective treatments are scarce, and treating hoarding can require expensive interventions that drain municipal resources. Some experts fear a coming crisis.
Tools used to contain previous bird flu outbreaks aren鈥檛 working this time, experts say. The virus has sickened at least 67 people in the U.S. and killed one, with egg producers begging for a new approach. 鈥淚 call this virus a terrorist,鈥 said one egg farmer, who lost 6.5 million birds to H5N1 in two weeks.
Some hospitals are bringing in dogs to spend entire shifts with doctors and nurses. The trained canines help staffers cope with the stress of their work amid high levels of burnout.
The number of unhoused seniors in the U.S. is expected to triple by 2030. About half of this population is becoming homeless for the first time. Homeless services struggle to help. Finding affordable housing that鈥檚 also accessible for older Americans with medical conditions is an extra challenge.
The migration of fentanyl into illicit stimulants such as cocaine is especially dangerous for people who are not regular opioid users. That鈥檚 because they have a low tolerance for opioids, putting them at greater risk of an overdose. They also often don鈥檛 take precautions 鈥 such as not using alone and carrying the opioid reversal medication naloxone 鈥 so they鈥檙e unprepared if they overdose.
Doctors in Boston got tired of writing letters to utility companies asking for assistance for their medically vulnerable patients who need power and heat to stay healthy. So a hospital decided to share the power its solar panels generate with patients who needed help with their electricity and gas bills.
Last winter, only 4 in 10 nursing home residents got an updated covid vaccine. The low uptake leaves a fragile population vulnerable. Some industry watchdogs say it could be a sign of eroding trust between nursing home residents and providers.
The child tax credit passed by Congress at the height of covid has expired, but states and localities are trying to fill the gap with their own programs and funding. In Michigan, Rx Kids already covers every family with a new baby in Flint. Now, other communities aim to follow.
Medications such as methadone can cut the risk of a fatal opioid overdose in half. Medicaid covers the medication. But as state Medicaid programs reevaluated coverage of each enrollee following a pause in disenrollments during the covid-19 pandemic, some patients lost a crucial pillar of their sobriety.
State and local governments are struggling to keep up with the increasing burden of heat-related illness as summers get hotter because of climate change. In Missoula County, Montana, officials are working with researchers to understand trends in heat-related 911 calls.
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