As Water Levels Drop, the Risk of Arsenic Rises
As the West grapples with a megadrought, its driest spell in at least 1,200 years, rising levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — in Colorado’s San Luis Valley offer clues to what the future may hold.
Mountain States Bureau
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Small, Rural Communities Have Become Abortion Access Battlegrounds
After local leaders in rural Nevada reached an impasse over a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic, an anti-abortion activist pitching local abortion bans across the U.S. arrived at their remote City Hall.
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Journalists Unpack Facility School Closures and Federal Investment in Crisis Hotlines
Թϲ 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.
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New Mexico Program to Reduce Maternity Care Deserts in Rural Areas Fights for Survival
A federally funded program in remote New Mexico has helped hundreds of pregnant mothers stay healthy, but it’s running out of time and money despite a growing national maternity care crisis. The four-year, nearly $3 million grant has provided telehealth, coordinated care, and social services to mothers in need.
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Students in Rural Colorado Are Left Without Options as Specialized Schools Close
A new state law aims to keep the doors open at schools that accept students with intensive needs. One preteen in rural Colorado shows how the current system leaves some students bouncing between institutions far from home.
By Rae Ellen Bichell and Helen Santoro -
AI May Be on Its Way to Your Doctor’s Office, But It’s Not Ready to See Patients
Giant corporations like Microsoft and Google, plus many startups, are eyeing health care profits from programs based on artificial intelligence.
By Darius Tahir -
PBMs, the Brokers Who Control Drug Prices, Finally Get Washington’s Attention
Drugmakers, pharmacies, and physicians blame pharmacy benefit managers for high drug prices. Congress is finally on board, too, but will it matter?
By Arthur Allen -
In Idaho, Taking a Minor Out of State for an Abortion Is Now a Crime: ‘Abortion Trafficking’
Under the nation’s first law of its kind, teens must have parental consent to travel for medical care, including in cases of sexual assault or rape. Any adult, including an aunt, grandparent, or sibling, convicted of violating the criminal statute faces up to five years in prison — and could be sued for financial damages.
By Sarah Varney -
On the Night Shift With a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
Montana and other states are trying to increase the number of nurses specially trained to treat survivors of sexual assault.
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Montana Passes Significant Health Policy Changes in Controversial Session
The recently ended legislative session was marked by Medicaid reimbursement hikes, abortion restrictions, anti-LGBTQ+ statutes, behavioral health spending, and workforce and insurance measures.
By Keely Larson -
Can a Fetus Be an Employee? States Are Testing the Boundaries of Personhood After ‘Dobbs’
Laws granting rights to unborn children have spread in the decades since the U.S. and Missouri supreme courts allowed Missouri’s definition of life as beginning at conception to stand. Now, a wrongful death lawsuit involving a workplace accident shows how sprawling those laws — often intended to curb abortion — have become.
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Colorado Becomes the First State to Ban So-Called Abortion Pill Reversals
The controversial practice of administering progesterone to people after they have taken the abortion pill mifepristone may be coming to an end in Colorado. Pills have emerged as the latest front in the war over abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
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After Idaho’s Strict Abortion Ban, OB-GYNs Stage a Quick Exodus
At least two Idaho hospitals are ending labor and delivery services, with one citing the state’s “legal and political climate” and noting that “recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult” as doctors leave.
By Sarah Varney -
Community Paramedics Don’t Wait for an Emergency to Visit Rural Patients at Home
Community paramedicine is expanding nationwide, including in rural areas, as health care providers, insurers, and state governments recognize its potential to improve health and save money.
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Montana Considers Requiring Insurance to Cover Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients
Young cancer patients must act quickly to preserve their sperm and eggs once they get their diagnosis, and many can’t afford the cost.
By Keely Larson -
As Federal Emergency Declaration Expires, the Picture of the Pandemic Grows Fuzzier
The pandemic gave federal officials expanded power to access crucial data about the spread of covid-19, but that authority will change when the public health emergency sunsets in May. That, along with the end of popular covid trackers, will make it harder for policymakers and the public to keep an eye on covid and other threats.
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Depressed? Anxious? Air Pollution May Be a Factor
A growing body of research is finding links between air quality and mental health, as therapists report seeing patients with symptoms linked to pollution.
By Jim Robbins -
Pain, Hope, and Science Collide as Athletes Turn to Magic Mushrooms
A group of former professional athletes traveled to Jamaica to try psychedelics as a way to help cope with the aftereffects of concussions and a career of body-pounding injuries. Will this still largely untested treatment work?
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Tension Builds in Transgender Policy Debate in Montana
Two transgender lawmakers are trying to lay the groundwork for LGBTQ-friendly policies in a conservative state, but tensions are running high as the legislative session nears its end.
By Keely Larson A $229,000 Medical Bill Goes to Court
Season 9, Episode 5Lisa French was told her surgery would cost $1,337. But the hospital sent her a bill for $229,000, then sued her. The case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court. The court’s ruling could have major implications for determining a “reasonable price” in health care.