Health
Pandemic stress, gangs, and utter fear fueled a rise in teen shootings
Diego never imagined he’d carry a gun. Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down. Diego’s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight Mass for the feast of Our Lady […]
AARP: NH family caregivers gave $2.8 billion in uncompensated care in 2021
Nearly 168,000 Granite Staters were providing critical home-based care to older people or adults with a serious health condition in 2021, according to AARP’s latest update to its “Valuing the Invaluable” report. An estimated 30 percent of them were simultaneously caring for children or grandchildren, and nearly three out of five caregivers are also working, […]
AG OKs closure of 11th maternity ward in 20 years
This story was updated March 9, 2023 at 8:15 a.m. to correct the time span of hospital closures. Citing cost concerns, Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester has struck an agreement with the Attorney General’s Office to close its labor and delivery services two years early. It is the 11th hospital in the state to cease […]
This International Women’s Day, U.S. anti-abortion laws violate human rights, groups say
Ahead of International Women’s Day, hundreds of U.S. and global human rights groups, doctors, and attorneys asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the millions of women in the U.S. who have been left without access to legal abortion and vital forms of reproductive health care in the wake of last summer’s monumental […]
As COVID protections end, patients classified as ‘medically needy’ fear new barriers to care
Courtney Blake and her 10-year-old daughter live on their own in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Both of them struggle with chronic mental health issues and have been using Medicaid to help pay for their behavioral health care needs. But like millions of people across the country, Blake is worried that at the end of this health emergency […]
State program offers rebates for PFAS remediation in private wells
Private wells in more than 120 New Hampshire communities have shown elevated amounts of PFAS chemicals. For those without an alternative water source or an offer for one, thousands of dollars for remediation is available through the state. The PFAS Rebate Program, run by the Department of Environmental Services, gives a one-time rebate to private […]
Remaining abortion clinics face more challenges if abortion pill limited by Texas judge
JACKSON, MISS. – The Pink House – otherwise known as Jackson Women’s Health Organization – was the center of the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned the federal right to abortion in June. Today, the clinic, the only abortion clinic to serve Mississippi and the greater area for years, is shuttered. On a hot day […]
NH joins regional effort to strengthen emergency response to climate change, other crises
As interconnected crises related to climate change, infectious diseases, and human-made hazards are increasing in complexity and frequency, New Hampshire is joining a new regional response meant to bolster resilience and training. Announced this week, the Northeast Emergency Management Training and Education Center will include all six New England states, and is being led by […]
Lawmakers say yes to prescribing opioids by telemedicine
The pandemic inflicted uncountable health challenges on the state, but it also exposed opportunities to improve health care. Among those was an emergency order that allowed providers to prescribe opioids and other medication via telemedicine, something that had been prohibited. That telemedicine option will end in May with the termination of the federal emergency order […]
A law was meant to free sick or aging inmates. Instead, some are left to die in prison.
This story originally appeared in Kaiser Health News. Jimmy Dee Stout was serving time on drug charges when he got grim news early last year. Doctors told Stout, now 62, the sharp pain and congestion in his chest were caused by stage 4 lung cancer, a terminal condition. “I’m holding on, but I would like […]
Extra SNAP benefits coming to an end, but overlooked exemptions could help fill gap
This story was updated Feb. 22, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. to correct the income limit for SNAP benefits for an individual. The number of Granite State adults and children without enough food dropped during the pandemic, in part because the federal government increased food stamp payments, according to a New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute analysis. […]
Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage
Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit – the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]