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In the Deep South, health care fights echo civil rights battles
By: Anna Claire Vollers – May 8, 2025 4:30 am MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Tara Campbell unlocked the front door of the Bricklayers Hall, a no-frills brick building on South Union Street in downtown Montgomery, half a mile from the white-domed Alabama Capitol. She was dressed in leggings, a T-shirt and bright blue running shoes. It was 8 a.m.…
HIV Testing and Outreach Falter as Trump Funding Cuts Sweep the South
By Amy Maxmen May 6, 2025 JACKSON, Miss. — Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood…
US Health department will analyze data from autistic Medicare, Medicaid enrollees, RFK Jr. says
By AMANDA SEITZ Updated 3:34 PM CDT, May 7, 2025 WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan Wednesday to use medical data and records from people on Medicaid and Medicare to help study autism although experts say it’s unlikely to help reveal the condition’s root causes. The program will involve a…
Medicaid payments barely keep hospital mental health units afloat. Federal cuts could sink them
By Tony Leys May 8, 2025 7:00 AM ET SPENCER, Iowa — This town’s hospital is a holdout on behalf of people going through mental health crises. The facility’s leaders have pledged not to shutter their inpatient psychiatric unit, as dozens of other U.S. hospitals have. Keeping that promise could soon get tougher if Congress slashes…
Senators send letter to RFK Jr. warning that HHS cuts could hurt Indian Health Service
The senators expressed concerns that cuts could diminish quality of health care. By Mary Kekatos May 7, 2025, 3:17 PM A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warning him that cuts to the agency could severely impact the Indian Health Service (IHS). The letter —…
Blue Cross VT CEO: Progress has been made, but health care costs ‘simply unsustainable’
Dan D’Ambrosio May 8, 2025 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont CEO Don George has been ringing the alarm on the finances of the largest health insurance provider since last July, when he sent an open letter via email describing Blue Cross VT’s “fragile financial situation.” George said the insurer was being battered by escalating prices for…
Doctors often gaslight women with pelvic disorders and pain, study finds
In a survey, patients reported dismissive comments and being told to lose weight, go to therapy or drink more alcohol to cope with sexual dysfunction. By Linda Carroll May 8, 2025, 12:21 PM CDT Women seeking help for certain gynecological disorders may have their symptoms gaslighted by their doctors or nurses, a new study suggests. The flood of…
‘I cannot guarantee complete confidentiality,’ VA therapists ordered to tell veterans
By Katia Riddle April 11, 2025 4:58 PM ET Panic, fear, uncertainty, and anger. Those are the emotions mental health clinicians who work for the US Department of Veterans Affairs describe as they prepare for the VA’s mandatory return-to-office directive. Some are being summoned to offices as soon as Monday, April 14. Representatives from the VA say they…
G7 nations paper over differences on tariffs and Ukraine, agree to address ‘imbalances’
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Updated 4:43 PM CDT, May 22, 2025 BANFF, Alberta (AP) — Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on U.S. tariffs after two days of talks and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances,” a swipe at China’s trade practices. In a communiqué issued Thursday, the Group of…