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An exclusive Montana ski resort frequented by the likes of Bill Gates and Justin Timberlake says it can safely turn wastewater into snow to the benefit of skiers and the local watershed.
In one northwestern Montana county where demand for covid vaccines is dropping well before widespread immunity is reached, people are split on whether the virus is a threat.
The covid pandemic drove major changes to Montana health policies, including the permanent expansion of telehealth regulations, a pullback on local public health officials’ authority and the easing of vaccination requirements for workers and students.
BNSF Railway accuses the Center for Asbestos Related Disease of Medicare fraud by misdiagnosing and overtreating asbestos-caused illnesses, which the health clinic calls a cynical attempt by the company to limit its own liability.
Of the three covid vaccines the U.S. government has authorized, only one is available to 16- and 17-year-olds: the Pfizer shot. It’s also the most complicated to manage in rural settings, with their small, dispersed populations. That forces some teens and their families to travel long distances for a dose — or go without.
Health providers are seeing the consequences of pandemic-delayed preventive and emergency care, from longer hospital stays to more root canals.
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Montana’s overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.
Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montana’s legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patient’s consent as a defense.
Montana is looking to join most other states in requiring small businesses to offer laid-off employees temporary continuity of their health care plans. But the bill, if it passes, likely won’t take effect in time to help people directly affected by the pandemic.
Health provider conflicts, fraud and access disparity temper the covid telehealth revolution.
States are passing laws that would prevent people with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities from being denied transplants solely because of their conditions.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Pharmacies are poised to start filling the gaps to vaccinate all of America against covid. Where does that leave people in rural counties that lack pharmacies?
Legislatures in conservative-leaning states across the country are pushing bills that would restrict abortion and, with a conservative Supreme Court in place, could erode abortion protections under Roe v. Wade.
Montana’s pick for health director has garnered both praise and criticism for his past in Kentucky, where he sought to add work requirements to the state’s Medicaid program and was a top health official amid a hepatitis A outbreak.
Montana is one of the latest states looking to aggressively check welfare eligibility to cut costs. Supporters of such steps say it’s about what’s fair — weeding out those who don’t qualify for assistance — while opponents say it will cut loose enrollees who actually need help.
Spiritual leaders risk their own lives and health to tend to covid’s victims and their loved ones.
As the newest federally recognized tribe, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is starting from scratch to deliver health care to members. While covid-19 has been devastating, it has sped up the tribe's ability to build a clinic. Yet, lacking a reservation, the tribe faces challenges reaching its scattered members.
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