HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court said Monday that a lower court must hear a challenge to the constitutionality of a decades-old state law that limits the use of Medicaid dollars to cover the cost of abortions, a major victory for Planned Parenthood and the abortion clinic operators who sued. The decision also elicited hope … Read more
BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota judge on Tuesday denied a temporary block on a part of the state’s revised abortion laws so that doctors can perform the procedure to save a patient’s life or health. State District Judge Bruce Romanick said the request for a preliminary injunction “is not appropriate and the Plaintiffs have … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi has improved some of its poor health outcomes, but its people are more likely to die unnecessarily than residents of any other state, the state’s top health official said Thursday. State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney urged legislators who just began this year’s session to work with health officials to improve … Read more
WASHINGTON — Some 20 million people have signed up for health insurance this year through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, a record-breaking figure. President Joe Biden will likely proclaim those results regularly on the campaign trail for months to come as former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, vows to dismantle the Obama-era program. The … Read more
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio woman facing a criminal charge for her handling of a home miscarriage will not be charged, a grand jury decided Thursday. The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, resolving a case that sparked … Read more
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly renewed her call Wednesday to expand Medicaid and countered an anticipated single-rate flat income tax for individuals with a plan that would instead cut taxes by doing things like accelerating the phasing out of the state’s sales tax on groceries. Kelly said in her annual State of the State address that … Read more
TOPEKA, Kan. — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session Monday following five years of failed efforts to provide state health coverage to another 150,000 people. Kelly faces leaders of GOP supermajorities whose priorities are … Read more
LONDON — The longest planned strike in the history of Britain’s state-funded National Health Service entered its second day of six on Thursday with doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over requests for some to leave the picket line to cover urgent needs during one of busiest times of year. The strike is the … Read more
LONDON — Thousands of doctors walked off the job in Britain on Wednesday, the start of a six-day strike that was set to be the longest in the history of the state-funded National Health Service. Managers said tens of thousands scheduled appointments and operations will be canceled during the walkout across England and Wales by … Read more
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 700,000 immigrants living illegally in California will gain access to free health care starting Monday under one of the state’s most ambitious coverage expansions in a decade. It’s an effort that will eventually cost the state about $3.1 billion per year and inches California closer to Democrats’ goal of providing … Read more
