Women's Health Archives - 吃瓜不打烊 /tag/womens-health/ 吃瓜不打烊 produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of KFF. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 20:58:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.8 /wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=32 Women's Health Archives - 吃瓜不打烊 /tag/womens-health/ 32 32 161476233 High Fertility Costs Push Americans Abroad for IVF Treatment /health-care-costs/ivf-tourism-fertility-in-vitro-fertilization-high-costs-pregnancy-parenthood-greece/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2272088 In the summer of 2024, Emilie and Justin Solomon found themselves on a top-secret mission in Greece.

Their family and friends thought the adventure-loving couple was on another jet-setting vacation, but they were keeping something else under wraps: They had turned off their phone locations to hide visits to a Greek clinic where they were trying to get pregnant.

The Solomons are among the growing numbers of Americans looking abroad, particularly to Greece and Spain, to escape the high cost of fertility treatments in the U.S., where such procedures are often not covered by insurance. The treatments include , which involves ovulation stimulation, retrieving the eggs, fertilizing them in a lab, and transferring the embryos into the uterus. Other less intensive medical therapies also address infertility.

A man and woman pose for a selfie on sunny day in a rocky landscape in Greece.
Emilie and Justin Solomon visited Greece for IVF treatment in 2024 after they were quoted $40,000 for one round of treatment in Florida. (Emilie Solomon)

President Donald Trump has made fertility, and IVF in particular, a focus of his administration’s agenda after he for women during his 2024 campaign. His administration intended to make it easier for employers to offer fertility coverage, although it has yet to be finalized. So far, the most concrete result has been lower costs for some IVF medications through TrumpRx, a site where cash-paying patients can find some discounted medicines through participating pharmacies. The White House projected that patients could save .

While significant, those savings are up against a since 2014, according to GoodRx, a prescription discount service. A released in July by Axene Health Partners and the Women’s Reproductive Health Foundation found that the overall cost for a cycle of IVF was over $29,000 鈥 or 35% of the median annual household income in the U.S. Genetic testing, embryo storage, pregnancy care, and delivery costs can push the total over $54,000 per IVF-conceived birth, according to the study. An average patient needs two to three cycles to successfully have a child, so the costs for many patients would be even higher.

Infertility affects people in the U.S., but only an estimated 24% of treatment needs are met, because of those high costs and limited insurance coverage, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The condition is believed to be of people having children later, as well as such as pollution.

Still, were born via IVF in the U.S. in 2024 鈥 a record, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. An increasing share of people hoping to be parents are seeking help in Europe: The number of Americans choosing European clinics grew by more than 37% last year, according to , the chair of the European Fertility Society, a group that tracks data on fertility treatment in Europe.

The Solomons knew IVF was their only chance to have children together biologically, because Justin had testicular cancer in his late teens. What the college sweethearts had not expected was the cost 鈥 and they learned early in their IVF journey that their insurance would not cover their treatment. While some states have passed laws to require insurers to pay for some fertility care, the coverage .

When the couple first explored IVF in Florida, where they live, they were quoted $40,000 for one round of treatment. The price shocked them, and Emilie said the clinic’s offer of a spring discount for an embryo transfer felt “off-putting.”

“They just kind of prey upon your hopes and dreams to be parents,” Emilie said.

Treatment Plus Island-Hopping Tours

The price of IVF and uncertainty around in Florida, which the Solomons feared their control over their embryos, sent them to the Pelargos IVF Medical Group in Athens. There, in the first of two trips, Emilie underwent ovulation stimulation and egg retrieval.

Including medication, fertilization, storage, and the ultimate embryo insertion, the total treatment cost about $12,000, not including travel, according to the Solomons, a fraction of what they might have spent in America. That affordability drew the couple abroad, but so did the allure of sightseeing and experiencing a new country.

On that first trip, they spent a weekend between doctor appointments exploring the Greek island of Milos. Between Emilie’s hormonal injections, they rented a boat to explore the island. Their video from the trip shows them climbing the island’s striking white volcanic cliffs, and Emilie floating in the turquoise water of the Aegean Sea. Despite the emotional and physical toll of the IVF process, the couple remembers being in a little bubble, away from everyone, exploring a beautiful place.

“It was one of the best summers that we’ve had,” Emilie said.

A selfie of Emilie Solomon with her husband, Justin.
In Greece, the Solomons were able to get a round of the IVF treatment for about $12,000, not including their travel expenses. (Emilie Solomon)

When they traveled back to Greece for their embryo transfer in October 2025, they spent two days in Croatia.

IVF in Greece using a patient’s own eggs typically costs around $3,000 to $4,000, not including medication, so even with travel, it is often a fraction of what patients pay in the U.S.

“Americans choose Greece because they can access treatment that is more affordable, faster to begin, and well supported for international patients,” Dejewski said.

A professional headshot of Jakub Dejewski.
Jakub Dejewski, the chair of the European Fertility Society, which tracks data on fertility treatment in Europe, says the number of Americans choosing European IVF clinics grew by more than 37% in 2025 from the year before. (Dawid Linkowski)

Patients in Greece do face some legal restrictions: Embryo storage is time-limited, donor anonymity is standard, sex selection and embryo-transfer numbers are restricted, surrogacy access is limited for nonresidents, and patients must carefully consider documentation requirements if they plan to move embryos between Greece and the U.S.

Penny Ampatzi said she is clear about these legal differences when Americans consult with her clinic in Athens. Serum IVF offers to schedule airport pickup for patients, as well as island-hopping tours. Ampatzi, the co-founder and clinic director at Serum IVF, said the main draw for the dozen or so American patients her clinic sees each month is the personalized fertility treatment plans. Affordability is close behind. A cycle at her clinic costs just under $6,000, not including embryo freezing. Almost all of Serum’s patients are foreigners, according to Ampatzi.

“You consider that you have a good possibility of success, plus you don’t pay that high amount of money, and you also have combined the treatment with holidays 鈥 so it’s a 鈥榃hy not?’” she said.

Not Without Risks

IVF costs in the U.S. have been driven up by a mix of inflation, a shortage of embryologists, a surge in demand after pandemic backlogs, and private equity ownership, Dejewski said.

William Kiltz, vice president of marketing and business development at U.S.-based , said that the costs are becoming too far out of reach. “IVF is almost a treatment that only the top 1% can afford reasonably,” he said.

Kiltz said CNY’s model 鈥 offering IVF for around $8,000, not including embryo storage, at its 18 locations across the country 鈥 brings just enough profit to “keep the lights on” and open new locations while keeping its costs lower. “We’re trying to deliver this care at the absolute bare-minimum cost,” he said.

More than half of CNY’s patients travel from out of state in search of those lower-cost options, Kiltz said.

He said he hopes the IVF market will eventually settle out, as happens with many new technologies. But nearly five decades in, that normalization hasn’t come. Kiltz believes that’s because the market is so emotionally driven.

“People will do just about anything,” Kiltz said. “There’s certainly some risk in something like that, where the demand and the desire from a single individual is so strong that they could be taken advantage of.”

, the head fertility doctor at the CNY location in Norfolk, Virginia, pointed to the difficulties of trying to vet a clinic overseas when one doesn’t speak the language or understand the local IVF regulations. It also can be challenging to transport temperature-sensitive medication back home.

“It’s almost like a full-time job trying to play regulatory expert and inspector all at the same time, while you’re a patient,” Pakrashi said.

She said she also has had patients who sought treatment abroad return to her clinic struggling to transfer records or understand a diagnosis they received overseas. They often have to repeat tests.

And going abroad for IVF is still out of reach financially for many Americans.

The Solomons said seeking treatment overseas takes a certain type of adventurous spirit, too. But for them, all the logistics and travel were worth it. Their one cycle of IVF and two trips to Greece allowed them to welcome a healthy baby boy this summer.

A photo of Emilie Solomon in a hospital bed. She holds her newborn son in her arms. Her husband, Justin, is by the bed.
After undergoing one round of IVF treatment in Greece, Emilie Solomon gave birth to a son this summer in Florida. (Susie Urff)
吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2272088 Her Breast MRI Was Approved, But That Didn鈥檛 Mean Her Insurance Would Pay /health-care-costs/breast-cancer-mri-preventive-care-bill-of-the-month-august-2026/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2278207 Last year, Stephanie Halver’s primary care doctor consulted a risk assessment tool to calculate her chances of one day developing breast cancer. Halver, now 43, remembered the likelihood “popped up really high.”

That’s partly because Halver’s mother and aunt have had breast cancer. Her age and dense breast tissue also put her at higher risk.

Halver, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, said her doctor recommended she get an annual breast MRI, six months after her yearly mammogram. The scan would serve as an additional safeguard, since breast MRIs can detect abnormalities that mammograms miss.

Case in point, actress Olivia Munn had a breast MRI in 2023 that detected an aggressive form of cancer in both breasts, even though a recent mammogram had been clear, . Like Halver, Munn said her doctor recommended the MRI after a risk assessment score showed she faced a greater-than-normal chance of developing breast cancer.

Catching breast cancer early, before it spreads, improves survival rates, according to the . After Halver’s insurer preapproved the scan, she scheduled the MRI for September.

“Luckily, they find nothing,” Halver recalled.

Then the bill came.

The Medical Service

A breast MRI 鈥 short for magnetic resonance imaging 鈥 is a preventive and diagnostic tool that captures pictures of breast tissue in higher detail than a mammogram. MRIs may be recommended for patients at an increased risk for breast cancer, including those with dense tissue, a family history of breast cancer, or certain genetic markers.

But the scans are generally not recommended for women considered at average risk, according to the , because they can also yield false positives, subjecting patients to unnecessary follow-up tests and procedures.

Breast MRIs are also used to diagnose cancer when an abnormality is detected during a mammogram, and they can determine the cancer’s stage after diagnosis.

The Bill

$1,205: After an insurance payment of $13.90, the patient was responsible for $1,191.10. The clinic also charged $65.60 for “Injectable/Oral Med,” often used to keep patients still or less anxious during the scan. Halver’s insurance covered about half of that charge.

The Billing Problem: Not Always Preventive

When Halver received the bill from Vancouver Clinic, where the MRI was conducted on Sept. 26, she was confused.

She knew that the Affordable Care Act requires health plans to cover preventive care, such as Pap smears and mammograms, at no cost to patients.

What’s more, Halver’s breast MRI had been recommended by her doctor and preapproved by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, of which she is a beneficiary through her employer-sponsored plan. The whole point of it was preventive. That’s why she assumed it would cost her nothing.

To make things more confusing, requires many health insurers to cover breast MRIs.

“I’ve had many phone calls trying to understand” the bill, Halver said.

A photo of Stephanie Halver standing in her living room. Four colorful prints are seen hanging on the wall behind her.
Halver thought her health insurance plan would pay for a breast MRI recommended by her doctor in 2025. Even though the scan had been preapproved, she ended up with a $1,200 bill. (Kristina Barker for 吃瓜不打烊)

It came down to this: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of outside experts that advises the federal government, is charged with recommending which screenings health insurers are required to cover at no cost to patients, and preventive breast MRIs don’t fall into that category.

The task force “the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms” of breast MRIs for women with dense breast tissue “on an otherwise negative screening mammogram.”

The federal guidelines are different for patients whose mammograms detect an abnormality, said Cathy Peters, senior director of state and local campaigns at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

In these cases, Peters said, by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration specify that additional imaging, such as ultrasounds and MRIs, are preventive.

After an abnormal mammogram, these services are recommended “to address findings on the initial screening mammography” and to “complete the screening process for malignancies,” according to HRSA.

Those guidelines are a step in the right direction, but women who have not had an abnormal mammogram may end up “running into a big bill,” Peters said. This can be a deterrent when it comes to future screenings, she said, because when “you get hit with that once, you’re going to be very careful the next time you go.”

Some states have enacted laws that require insurers to cover breast MRIs, Peters said, but they generally don’t benefit patients like Halver who are enrolled in large, employer-sponsored insurance plans. These “self-insured” plans are regulated by the federal government, not by state lawmakers.

“Sadly, these state-by-state laws,” Peters said, don’t “fix the federal problem.”

The Resolution

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas declined to answer questions about Halver’s benefits or bill.

Halver appealed the insurer’s coverage determination, and in July she received a letter indicating that her appeal was denied.

Halver said she contacted her employer’s human resources department earlier this year and learned that mammograms are covered as a preventive screening under her health plan but breast MRIs are not. That means her annual breast MRI will be subject to deductibles, coinsurance, and other cost-sharing requirements.

In this case, the cost of Halver’s breast MRI was applied to her $3,300 annual deductible, an explanation of benefits from her insurer showed.

“I think I’m on the hook for this bill,” she said.

And because her risk of breast cancer is high, she said, “that’s a guaranteed bill every year.”

Stephanie Halver sits at a table in her home.
Halver learned that mammograms are covered as a preventive screening under her health plan but breast MRIs are not. (Kristina Barker for 吃瓜不打烊)

The Takeaway

If your doctor or medical provider recommends an annual breast MRI in addition to an annual mammogram, consider researching your state’s coverage rules on the . The nonprofit organization maintains a map with up-to-date information on state laws about breast cancer screenings. Depending on where you live and what type of health plan you have, preventive breast MRIs might be covered at no cost.

If it turns out you could be on the hook for a future bill, there are a few things you can do beforehand to potentially lower your out-of-pocket costs.

Ricki Fairley, co-founder of Touch, the Black Breast Cancer Alliance, recommended first finding a patient navigator at the hospital or cancer center to assist you.

She urged women to seek out resources in their communities or through national advocacy groups, including Touch, to find ways to lower screening costs. Programs funded by some states can help offset the cost of breast cancer screenings for low-income patients, Fairley said.

Beyond that, shop around for the best price. Freestanding imaging centers may charge less for a preventive breast MRI than a hospital. If possible, also consider scheduling the MRI at the end of your health plan’s deductible year. If you’ve already met your deductible, you could end up owing less out-of-pocket.

Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by 吃瓜不打烊 and that dissects and explains medical bills. Since 2018, this series has helped many patients and readers get their medical bills reduced, and it has been cited in statehouses, at the U.S. Capitol, and at the White House. Do you have a confusing or outrageous medical bill you want to share? Tell us about it!

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2278207 How Louisiana鈥檚 New Surgeon General Wants To Transform Public Health /public-health/louisiana-surgeon-general-evelyn-griffin-transform-public-health/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2276502 Evelyn Griffin had led a life out of the spotlight until she testified at the Louisiana Statehouse five years ago and experienced what she called her “great awakening.”

The state health department wanted to add covid vaccines to the school immunization schedule, a move no state has ever implemented. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then known as a leading vaccine skeptic, had already claimed the covid shot was “the deadliest vaccine ever made” during a poster board presentation at the legislative hearing.

Griffin, a longtime OB-GYN, relied on nearly identical images during her own blistering testimony against the proposal. After the hearing, she expected splashy headlines about Kennedy’s assertions, shifting the public debate over covid policies and vaccines. But that did not happen; one news outlet dismissed him as a . Griffin was shocked.

That is “when I saw how the world worked,” she recalled in a podcast interview. Griffin said she and her husband, a vascular surgeon, decided to take action and “shine light on things.”

Now, Kennedy is the nation’s health secretary, and Griffin holds prominent roles that position her to help carry out his vision.

Last September, Kennedy appointed her to ACIP, the advisory panel for federal immunization policy, where she voted to recommend limiting access to covid vaccines and ending universal newborn immunizations for hepatitis B, steps that a . In December, Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, a conservative Republican and an ally of President Donald Trump’s, named Griffin as the state’s surgeon general.

That makes her the top public health physician in Louisiana, which has the among states.

She is an unconventional choice. Griffin has no background or specialty training in infectious diseases or public health. She is aligned with alternative health movements 鈥 including Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA 鈥 and has hosted some speakers promoting fringe medical views.

Griffin declined interview requests for this article. “My vision as Louisiana’s surgeon general is to help shift our healthcare system toward preventing disease, not just managing or treating it,” she said in a statement.

Eight months into her tenure, she has yet to make major changes at the health department. She has faced hurdles in her efforts to tighten access to vaccines and limit public health powers, testifying on several bills that legislators rejected.

Still, Griffin’s political rise of Kennedy’s vaccine agenda at the , a vital testing ground for laws aimed at eroding government mandates. State officials have enormous power to set health policy and beat back infectious disease outbreaks. While Griffin’s post is largely a bully pulpit, she could spur real change by advising the governor, state health secretary, and lawmakers.

Some public health and infectious disease experts warned that if Griffin eventually succeeded in curtailing the state’s authority, illnesses and deaths could escalate and Louisiana could be hamstrung in a future pandemic. At one vaccine panel meeting last year, she said it was “unclear” whether vaccines were linked to autism, as Kennedy has suggested. When asked by The New York Times, she declined to say whether she believed any vaccines should be mandated for schoolchildren.

“Someone who has expressed the views she has, who’s now in a public policy position, is very dangerous,” said , the chief executive of the American Public Health Association.

But , a pastor and pediatric cardiologist who serves as chair of the federal vaccine panel, defended Griffin as an “excellent choice” for surgeon general. “No one should be afraid of Dr. Evelyn Griffin having the heart’s desire to take care of the population of Louisiana,” he said in an interview.

While Griffin is on a learning curve as a political novice, she has signaled big ambitions.

She called for “dramatic transformational change” during a public meeting in January, promising to focus on women’s health, rural health, and the root causes of disease. An accompanying said Louisiana would lead through “family, faith, and fearlessness.”

Griffin, 49, often cites her family background in explaining her trajectory.

She was born Ewelina Bulczynski under Communist rule in Poland in 1976. When she was 5, her family defected to a refugee camp in Austria before immigrating to Canada. She and her two brothers later came to the United States to practice as physicians. She has credited this history with giving her a “different perspective” as a doctor and influencing her skepticism of government mandates.

“My parents escaped Communist Poland so that we could come here for the freedoms, such as medical freedom, that this country has,” she told Louisiana lawmakers in 2022.

Griffin is seen with her husband at an event.
Evelyn Griffin, Louisiana’s surgeon general, and her husband, Joseph Griffin, attend a wellness event sponsored by the Northshore Alternative Health Alliance in Mandeville, Louisiana, in June. (Christiana Botic for The New York Times)

She met her husband, Joseph Griffin, while they attended Ross University School of Medicine, then located in Dominica. After residency programs in New Orleans, they settled in Baton Rouge and raised two children.

People who have known Griffin during her 20-year career delivering babies and treating women described her as a kind, caring, and smart physician. “Patients loved her,” said Francis Dauterive, who worked with her.

In the years before the pandemic, Griffin had noticed a rise in chronic health problems among her patients. She began studying how nutrition and lifestyle choices could treat and prevent illness, and pursued online training in functional medicine. She started an filled with images of jackfruit sloppy Joes and vegan jambalaya, her dog lounging on a yoga mat, and her backyard strawberry plants.

She also learned of Barbara O’Neill, a Christian wellness figure popular on social media. O’Neill was from giving medical advice in Australia after claiming that cancer was caused by a fungus and could be treated with baking soda, and that vaccines caused “an epidemic of ADHD, autism, epilepsy and cot death.” In a , Griffin called O’Neill a “sage” teacher who was ostracized for focusing on lifestyle solutions to medical issues. She said she kept O’Neill’s advice for a healthy life 鈥 including exercise, sunshine, and trust in God 鈥 posted on her fridge.

But it was the pandemic that transformed her career. In speeches and interviews, she said she began to question public health guidance and that of her former employer, Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest health system, on masking, vaccines, and mandates.

Griffin wanted to share research with colleagues that wasn’t “mainstream” science, studies she said were from contacts in Europe on early covid treatments. Griffin was repeatedly rebuffed, she said.

Eventually, she resigned. “I’m going to stick to my principles,” she later recalled thinking. She now works at the Baton Rouge General health system. Ochsner officials declined to comment.

Louisiana had been hit hard by the pandemic. By December 2021, more than 14,000 people had died from covid. That summer, the Delta surge had killed six pregnant women there over two months, and maternal health organizations were urging vaccination.

But in her testimony to lawmakers that December, Griffin had questioned the vaccine’s safety after health officials had reported . She invoked a public health catastrophe: The , prescribed during pregnancy in Europe (and tested in the United States) in the 1950s, had left thousands of babies with missing or malformed limbs. She also reminded lawmakers of the Nuremberg trials, where Nazi collaborators had been for medical experimentation.

“So everyone has to be on notice when making these types of decisions,” Griffin said, looking at the politicians. The state later dropped plans to require covid vaccines for students.

Griffin and her husband have since embedded themselves in Louisiana’s right-leaning alternative health communities. They have espoused views that, amid the swirl of social-media-fueled wellness trends, pandemic backlash, and widespread dismay over Americans’ poor health, have become ascendant in the second Trump presidency.

A photo of a Louisiana Senate hearing. Louisiana Sen. Jay Luneau is speaking.
Jay Luneau (top center), a Democrat in Louisiana’s Senate, questions Griffin in May about a bill to prohibit businesses and schools from mandating new vaccines or other medical interventions. (Christiana Botic for The New York Times)

Griffin returned to the state Capitol over the next three years to testify for favored causes, including bills supported by Health Freedom Louisiana, a group aligned with Kennedy. to , an antiparasitic drug popular among vaccine skeptics, though numerous studies have shown it is ineffective in treating covid, and future government health mandates, which Griffin has Neither got out of committee. She also testified in support of a ban on gender-transition treatments for minors, which .

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and Louisiana’s near-total took effect, Griffin became an ally of Louisiana Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion group. She recorded videos arguing that the law did not impede pregnancy care. The ban was later and lead to unnecessary cesarean sections, according to doctors and reproductive rights groups.

Griffin and her husband struck up a friendship with Tony Spell, the in Baton Rouge, sometimes joining him for Bible study. Pastor Spell refused to shut his evangelical church during the pandemic, leading to that were overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Griffin called him “an absolute hero.”

A photo of Benjamin Clapper speak to Evelyn Griffin as they walk into the Louisiana Capitol.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life (center left), speaks to Griffin at the Louisiana Capitol in May. (Christiana Botic for The New York Times)
A man in a suit stands for a portrait outside. A woodsy background is behind him.
Tony Spell, the pastor at Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, is friends with Griffin and her husband. (Christiana Botic for The New York Times)

She has spoken at annual health freedom gatherings on the church’s sprawling grounds and launched her own wellness events there two years ago. Guests have talked about backyard gardening, naturopathic medicine, the benefits of doulas and raw milk 鈥 a 鈥 which recently sickened nearly a dozen Louisiana residents.

One speaker, an OB-GYN, said contraception encouraged abortion. Another, an ophthalmologist, questioned the safety of wireless technology, as has Griffin. Quoting O’Neill, the Australian wellness figure, Griffin warned the crowd to “stay away from sunscreen,” adding there were “lots and lots of chemicals” in it.

Spirituality is “the foundation for health,” she said during the event in 2025, and some of her speakers have presented faith in Jesus as essential to being healthy. At the 2024 gathering, Sean Troxclair, an internist who is now her deputy, said that when he was “injured” by a vaccine, “I got with Jesus.” He added, “If you’re not with him, no matter what you do, you’re not going to get better.”

In written comments to the Times, Griffin said that faith was not a prerequisite for good health, and that she “may not share every perspective presented” by her speakers.

Griffin’s appointment is among Gov. Landry’s wider efforts to move Louisiana, already a deeply red state, further to the right. He has supported a who mail abortion pills to Louisiana patients and a to stop the practice nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court said the pills could still be sent by mail while the FDA case continues in the lower courts.

The governor’s first appointee as surgeon general, , another supporter of Kennedy’s, blocked his staff from promoting any vaccines amid an that killed two babies.

Griffin has begun her tenure more quietly, seeking ties with the state’s medical community while trying to find her place in a health department hierarchy where the secretary still wields much of the power.

A photo of Evelyn Griffin walking outside at an event.
Griffin and her deputy, Sean Troxclair (right), attend a women’s wellness event at the Louisiana Capitol in May. (Christiana Botic for The New York Times)

For her staff, she’s recruited figures from wellness and vaccine-skeptical circles, including Troxclair and Kathleen Willis, an internist who has of the childhood vaccine schedule, .

A surprising presence in the department is Griffin’s husband, whom she’s called “like-minded.” Though he is not employed by the agency, he has joined her appointments with state and federal officials and participated in department meetings, sometimes providing feedback or asking questions, according to two people present at the sessions. Griffin has also placed him on a . Griffin said in a statement that he was “not involved in formal decision-making.”

Bruce Greenstein, the state health secretary, introduced the couple during a public meeting in January, saying, “We basically get two doctors for the price of one.” In May, Griffin’s husband joined the governor on a to Greenland, which Trump has periodically .

Griffin’s beliefs represent a shift away from public health policies that prioritize the protection of the wider community in favor of ones that prioritize individual choice. Like Kennedy, she has said this is necessary to restore faith in public health systems battered by the anger over pandemic restrictions.

Such a reframing of the government’s role would upend long-standing public health principles and risk harming society’s most vulnerable, said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Are we in no way responsible for people who we are going to sit next to on a bus or get into a crowded elevator?” he asked. “Do we have no sense of responsibility to other members of society?”

Florida’s former health secretary and surgeon general, whose vaccine mandates, said rising vaccine skepticism was already contributing to and . “This is something that our country will regret as we start seeing our sons, daughters, neighbors, friends, cousins, pay the price,” he said in an interview.

Even though Griffin has allied herself with some lawmakers in the Republican-controlled legislature, she testified on three bills this year that failed to proceed. One would have created new for vaccines 鈥 including banning mothers from agreeing to vaccines for 12 hours after giving birth, when Griffin said hormones and other factors could impede their thinking.

Another would have the government’s ability to require vaccines, testing, or masks in a future outbreak, mandates that Griffin testified infringed on individual rights and were discriminatory. A , her own proposal, would have given her office sweeping access to all medical records in the state, which are now protected by medical privacy laws.

Gov. Landry did not publicly push for the measures, a sign that they may not be priorities for his administration. A majority of Louisiana voters support school vaccine mandates, according to polls by and the . Most proposals to weaken vaccine laws also this year.

Since her appointment, Griffin has traveled the state to meet with residents. In June, she and her husband wandered through a wellness event, sponsored by the Northshore Alternative Health Alliance, in Mandeville. She had been invited to give the keynote address by Abigail Licatino, a member of Health Freedom Louisiana who has said that .

Booths featured local farmers, reiki practitioners, functional medicine doctors, chiropractors, spiritual healers, and purveyors of peptides, supplements, and IV treatments. The event represented some of the “holistic approaches” Griffin said she planned to highlight as surgeon general.

In speeches before her appointment, Griffin had offered a far-reaching vision. While conventional medicine would still play an indispensable role, she said, the current health system was failing Americans and would “collapse.” The health freedom and wellness movements would help show “the path forward.”

The New York Times’ Kitty Bennett, Sheelagh McNeill, and Kirsten Noyes contributed research for this article.

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2276502 Gounder Brings Clarity to Egg Freezing, AI Virus Creation, and New Trump Vaccine Order /on-air/on-air-august-15-2026-public-health-vaccines-egg-freezing-organ-donation/ Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2273171&preview=true&preview_id=2273171

Céline Gounder, 吃瓜不打烊’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed Americans’ skepticism toward public health experts and President Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccines on CBS News 24/7 and CBS News’ CBS Mornings, respectively, on Aug. 11.

On Aug. 10, Gounder discussed the risks and benefits of egg freezing on CBS Mornings.

Gounder also discussed organ donation and scientists’ creation of new viruses with AI on CBS Mornings and CBS News 24/7, respectively, on Aug 7.

  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2273171 Hospitals Say They Found a Tool To Help Reduce Childbirth Risks: Wristbands /health-industry/gave-birth-wristbands-bracelets-postpartum-pregnancy-maternal-mortality-north-carolina/ Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2267899 Hospitals across the U.S. are trying to reduce maternal deaths and complications after pregnancies using one small tool: a silicone wristband stamped with the declaration “I Gave Birth.”

The wristbands are part of a growing initiative first launched by North Carolina-based ECU Health as Congress sought to address the nation’s growing maternal mortality crisis during the covid pandemic. , and the state’s health department have begun distributing the wristbands, to give mothers and care providers a visual reminder of the life-threatening health risks after birth.

The Connecticut state health department; large health systems in Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi; and hospitals in at least 24 other states have also embraced the program. The wristbands are intended to make emergency workers aware of postpartum risks, ensure better treatment, and help lower maternal mortality rates in the U.S., where happen after the day of delivery 鈥 and nearly 40% happen after the six-week mark.

This year, North Carolina plans to expand the initiative with part of the through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a provision of President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as HR 1.

Tamika Auguste, a physician and the board chair at the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists Foundation, praised the wristbands as a useful tool “to increase awareness and education around postpartum health.” But she and others who focus on maternal health said efforts like the wristband campaigns are only part of what’s needed to combat the broader maternal mortality crisis in the U.S.

And they noted the wristbands’ popularity is emerging as Trump’s 2025 law is expected to reduce Medicaid spending by over 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis. Medicaid, the federal-state program that covers healthcare for low-income families, pays for .

Elisabeth Wright Burak, a policy researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, said Trump’s tax-and-spending law is stifling the momentum states had been gaining with maternal care since 2022. That’s when Congress allowed states to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage , which nearly every state did.

Now, those extensions could end up on the chopping block, Burak said, as states seek ways to manage Medicaid losses.

“There is no question that HR 1 risks setting the clock back for maternal health,” Burak said.

warned that postpartum patients have more to worry about with the new law than simply cuts to Medicaid. States are also setting up systems that may not adequately track pregnant and postpartum enrollees who should be exempt from the law’s new work requirements, erroneously dropping them from coverage, Burak’s report said.

Maternal Mortality

U.S. maternal mortality rates have risen and fallen over the past seven years, with 649 maternal deaths in 2024, according to the most recent . Tennessee had the worst maternal mortality rate in the nation from 2020 to 2024, around 42 deaths per 100,000 births, according an analysis of CDC data by the . North Carolina’s rate was about 29 in 100,000, with a national average of 23.

In its , North Carolina said the initiative creating the “I Gave Birth” wristbands reduced postpartum readmissions by nearly a third at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, without elaborating. In online promotions, some hospitals the can , though many have recently launched and their impact has yet to be studied.

“Additional research is needed to conclusively confirm the outcomes of such initiatives,” said Hannah Jones, a spokesperson for the North Carolina health department.

Hospitals to patients who have given birth and instruct them to wear it for weeks or months, hoping they’ll be reminded to check in with a physician if they feel chest pain, have headaches, or start bleeding. The accessory resembles the yellow , part of a cancer awareness campaign launched by cyclist Lance Armstrong’s foundation. A nurse also talks through postpartum risks with the patients, and they’re sent home with pamphlets and guidebooks on how to care for their new child and themselves.

“The bracelet itself is simply a reminder of, 鈥楬ey, I got education,’” said Jessica Noble, a nurse with East Carolina University-connected ECU Health who pioneered the initiative.

It’s also intended to alert first responders and other healthcare providers that a woman has recently given birth and to check for postpartum complications, such as low blood pressure, bleeding, or infections. and sometimes don’t have adequate training to recognize postpartum complications, research shows, which can be dangerous when those patients end up in an emergency room.

North Carolina and other states have embraced “I Gave Birth” wristbands as a way to encourage women to seek help when they have postpartum complications. They’re gaining steam as the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid threaten postpartum care. (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)

Postpartum wristbands gained traction across the country through health awareness campaigns fueled by social media posts and evening news segments. New mothers appeared in promotional photos and videos wearing the wristband and raving about the accessory, saying it celebrated childbirth.

Some postpartum patients who faced traumatic births or mental health struggles saw it differently.

鈥楽o Many Risks’

Alexandra Mellon gave birth last year. Her daughter was stillborn. Devastated, she sought out a therapist, donated her breast milk, and tried to find meaning in her circumstances. She spent a year feeling isolated, she said, often because people don’t know what to say.

Mellon said wearing one of the wristbands would have been a painful reminder of her loss.

Now she works as a doula in Asheville, North Carolina. Mellon said what she thinks new moms need most is community and emotional support. The wristband could help encourage that for some patients, she said, but isn’t for everyone.

“There are so many risks, and it’s just like you almost become invisible,” she said.

More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths , according to the CDC. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March , developed during the Biden administration, that urged hospitals to create better emergency department protocols to catch postpartum complications and to measure their work against state and national maternal health data.

But those efforts faced a major threat last year when the Trump administration CDC funding for state-level maternal mortality data in its proposed 2026 budget. While Congress rejected that move, the administration did tracking postpartum patients’ health.

The Trump administration $113.5 million in CDC maternal health research in its proposed 2027 budget. Congress has instead proposed increasing funding to .

Without more research, it’s unclear how effective the wristbands are in encouraging postpartum patients to seek care when they need it. A of mass media campaigns to improve health outcomes, such as preventing risky substance use or encouraging exercise, found that the campaigns didn’t change behaviors. found that the U.S. “Back to Sleep” campaign, which educates parents on safe sleeping practices with babies, dramatically reduced rates of sudden infant death syndrome for several years after it launched in 1994, though rates .

In 2020, the CDC tried , “Hear Her,” aimed at helping women speak up when something felt wrong after delivery.

The CDC released years later that said it “had the unintended consequence of appearing to put the burden on the people who are pregnant or postpartum to speak up.”

ECU Health Medical Center created the wristband initiative in 2021 and . In it the authors noted the pregnancy-related readmission rate at the Greenville hospital fell 0.77%. It attributed the change to the “education provided to patients, family members, and medical personnel” in the initiative, without elaborating.

Campaigns like the “I Gave Birth” initiative are far from a final solution to maternal mortality, said Noble, the campaign’s architect and lead author on the ECU Health study. If she “had a magic wand,” she said, North Carolina would not just have better postpartum care but would also address the root causes of pregnancy complications. “But I don’t have one, and I can’t make system-level change immediately.”

A photo of a woman's hand. She wears a blue wristband that reads, "I gave birth."
ECU Health in eastern North Carolina created the “I Gave Birth” wristband initiative in 2021 at a time when Congress was seeking to address the nation’s maternal mortality crisis during the covid pandemic. (ECU Health)
吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2267899 Many States Cover Doula Care, but Access to a 鈥楤irthing Bestie鈥 Is Often Out of Reach /public-health/doula-care-medicaid-access-expectant-parents-state-policy-virginia/ Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2266652 Doula Taja Iglesias and her business partner have built a space in Alexandria, Virginia, that’s all things pregnancy, birth, and childcare.

Comfortable couches in one area invite expectant parents to settle in for birth education classes. In another, a colorful pile of toys await the babies and toddlers. And there’s a free supply of diapers and food. Years ago, as Iglesias was giving birth and expressing her wish not to have an epidural for pain, she felt isolated and that her preferences were dismissed by the medical staff. Today, she works hard to make sure other parents can have the support of a doula.

“We kind of created this to fill the gaps that we realized existed because we had to go through it,” Iglesias said. She’s the founder of , a doula agency dedicated to giving parents care throughout the perinatal process.

Iglesias said one of the widest gaps is the lack of access to doula care for parents on Medicaid.

Doula care has been initiation and less maternal anxiety. The perinatal doula care covers education about pregnancy and birth, advocacy for new parents in the hospital, and help after delivery with lactation and recovery. Doulas often work alongside doctors or midwives who provide medical care.

“The doula is the person that already knows what you want. We know what your dream birth is,” Iglesias explained. “We’re somebody that is standing on the side of the parent.”

A picture of a rocking chair with a breastfeeding pillow
Doula Taja Iglesias, founder of The Momager Co., a doula agency, offers some of her services from a welcoming space in Alexandria, Virginia. (Lynne Shallcross/吃瓜不打烊)
A diaper pail sits in one corner of the image while a bassinet sits on the other side
(Lynne Shallcross/吃瓜不打烊)

Can’t see the audio player? Visit kffhealthnews.org to listen.

In 2022, Virginia became the fourth state to start reimbursing doulas through Medicaid. A push to address the country’s maternal mortality rates, which are , has been an engine for lawmakers looking to give women on Medicaid the support of doula care. For example, another hospitals to allow an extra person, other than a family member, in the delivery room.

The services offered and the number of visits covered by Medicaid vary by state, but today doulas are covered in . An additional 20 states have considered proposals or are in the process of implementing similar policies.

In Virginia, doulas say the administrative and logistical challenges they encounter are trickling down to moms. A review of the Virginia Certification Board’s Doula Registry this June found based in Northern Virginia accept payment from Medicaid.

Doulas say that while Medicaid coverage of their services is a good first step, the amount of paperwork required in the approval process and the low reimbursement rates mean that fewer doulas participate in the Medicaid program, reducing access for beneficiaries.

that extended doula benefits to Medicaid enrollees sought to improve the health of Virginia parents and decrease the number of mothers who die during the time surrounding birth. The state’s maternal mortality rate is among .

As co-chair of the state’s task force on doula regulations, Iglesias helps shape policies that make it easier for moms on Medicaid to get doula care through the program.

To access doula services in Virginia, parents on Medicaid must have a referral from a doctor, and their doula must be approved by the state to care for Medicaid beneficiaries. Iglesias would like to see that process be quicker and less costly for doulas, who pay $75-$150 for certification.

While the policy debates continue, Iglesias has decided not to get certified to care for parents on Medicaid. Instead, she raises money to provide doula care for parents on Medicaid outside the system.

“I don’t want to be state-certified with a training that I feel is not full and complete, a training that doesn’t touch on that community aspect of work,” she said.

Iglesias said the services covered are too limited and Medicaid does not allow her to work with clients as she sees fit. Virginia’s payment covers up to eight doula visits. All but the first visit are limited to one hour, which Iglesias said isn’t enough time.

“If you want to actually build a relationship with this person that you’re going to be standing in with in their most vulnerable moment, it ain’t happening,” Iglesias said.

Pamphlets, including ones about postpartum depression, are displayed on a tabletop
Informational pamphlets are displayed at The Momager Co., which offers appointments and group classes. (Lynne Shallcross/吃瓜不打烊)
A sign in the middle of the image reads "The Free Store" and "Open every Tuesday-Thursday 12-6pm"
The Momager Co. operates a store with free postpartum provisions, maternity clothes, baby essentials, and breast/chestfeeding supplies, as well as food and hygiene items. (Lynne Shallcross/吃瓜不打烊)
Baby clothing hangs on multicolored hangers on a clothing rack
Donated baby clothing is available free to parents at the Alexandria, Virginia-based doula agency. (Lynne Shallcross/吃瓜不打烊)

While pursuing her PhD at George Mason University, studied the initial implementation of the doula reimbursement policy in Virginia.

Mensah from 2022 to 2024 for a study published this year. She interviewed doulas eager to serve clients on Medicaid. But some told her they got bogged down in the paperwork and never were certified. Doulas report similar struggles with the certification process today.

Mensah said the mismatch between the size of the Medicaid population in Northern Virginia and the low number of doulas available leads to fewer parents receiving doula care.

Coverage is a good first step, Mensah noted, but it doesn’t translate to enough access. During the first two years of implementation, in Virginia used doula services. That study is the latest available.

Kenda Denia, executive director of , a statewide doula collective in Virginia, welcomed the law at first.

“But now we’re looking at certain logistics that are not working,” Denia said.

Private-pay doulas in Virginia $1,200 to $3,000 per pregnancy. For families wanting more extensive prenatal or postpartum services, the fee can be as much as $6,000. Virginia’s Medicaid program, also known as Cardinal Care, per pregnancy. They receive an additional $100 if their client attends prenatal and postpartum doctors’ visits.

The pay is too low and does not reflect the value of the services they provide, Denia said. “Midwives don’t get paid this. Doctors don’t get paid this,” she explained. “We are driving to people’s homes for postpartum and prenatal care.”

Doulas might wait weeks or months for reimbursement, and the pay is not flexible. The Medicaid reimbursement rate is the same across the state and does not capture the in areas like Alexandria. It’s roughly 32% more expensive in Alexandria than the average cost of living in Virginia, according to ERI Economic Research Institute, a private data analytics group.

Despite the barriers, Denia applauded parts of the policy. Medicaid coverage of doulas means that more parents can have a “birthing bestie,” she said.

Before getting pregnant, Juliana Navia had no idea what doulas did. But while at a free clinic for her prenatal checkups, Navia connected with Iglesias. Later, Iglesias became Navia’s doula and helped her navigate a difficult situation when she wasn’t getting the kind of care she wanted at the hospital.

“I was stressed giving birth, but my doula helped me,” Navia said. “I was advocated for.”

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2266652 Watch: Why Abortions Are on the Rise Since 鈥楻oe鈥 Was Overturned /courts/video-five-things-abortions-increase-since-roe-overturned/ Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2264199 Say you live in deep-red Louisiana, a state that has effectively banned abortion. It may be easier for you to get abortion pills now than before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Here’s why 鈥 and what it means for future battles over abortion access.

And as a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, healthcare providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place. Read more here.

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2264199 Abortion Drug Law in Louisiana Heightens Hemorrhage Risk for Pregnant Patients /courts/abortion-drug-access-misoprostol-louisiana-law-pregnancy-hemorrhage-risk/ Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2262962 Over the past decade, Louisiana hospitals began stocking specialized carts designed to treat hemorrhages, one of the in the state. The plug-in cart can be wheeled from room to room and holds surgical tools and lifesaving medications to stem blood loss.

A passed in 2024 forced hospitals to remove a key drug 鈥 misoprostol 鈥 from the medical cart and keep it locked in a secure room designated for controlled substances.

For physicians like New Orleans obstetrician-gynecologist Nicole Freehill, misoprostol is the go-to medication to treat hemorrhages. The drug is uniquely cheap, safe, and shelf-stable, she said.

But it’s also the second in a two-pill procedure that millions of people have used to have medical abortions. Because of that use, Louisiana lawmakers reclassified misoprostol as a controlled substance, a category typically reserved for addictive drugs.

Now, physicians like her have gone from reaching over to the cart to grab misoprostol to waiting at least two minutes while a nurse sprints to retrieve the medication, Freehill said.

“鈥奩ou could literally have someone lose, like, a liter of blood or more in that time frame,” Freehill said. “You could have a significantly worse hemorrhage for literally someone running to this medicine and running back because it can’t be on that cart 2 feet from you while you’re treating the hemorrhage.”

She said the reclassification of misoprostol as a controlled substance has set back progress to decrease the frequency of postpartum hemorrhage and blood transfusions. Under the law, her preliminary research found, hemorrhage rates have worsened statewide, she said.

Although the cart includes alternative drugs to treat hemorrhages, they can’t be used if a patient has certain preexisting conditions like asthma or high blood pressure. They’re also more costly.

“鈥奣here’s unfortunately a lot of patients nowadays that have these conditions that we might be forced to go straight to misoprostol first without any other real good option because of their medical history,” Freehill said.

Misoprostol has other uses in reproductive healthcare. It prepares women’s cervixes ahead of common, sometimes painful procedures such as inserting an IUD. It also plays a critical role in inducing labor and managing failed pregnancies.

In medication abortions, misoprostol is combined with a medication called mifepristone, which Louisiana also reclassified as a controlled substance. Both mifepristone and misoprostol have uses outside reproductive healthcare, including treating Cushing’s syndrome and preventing stomach ulcers caused by anti-inflammatory drugs.

When Louisiana passed a near-total ban on abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the number of abortion procedures performed in the state dropped from 7,444 in 2021 to . Similar trends occurred in other states that largely banned abortions that year.

However, in the years since, the number of abortions has largely remained the same in Louisiana and nationally as people receive medication abortions through telemedicine and pills sent across state lines. More than 7,500 Louisianans received medication abortions in 2024, the year the law passed, according to the .

Since then, states with abortion bans have tried to to medication abortions prescribed in telehealth appointments and shipped by mail, looking to close what they saw as a loophole through legislation and lawsuits.

Kimya Forouzan, the state policy adviser for the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit reproductive rights advocacy group, said the assault on medication abortions comes as more states that have maintained abortion rights pass laws to shield prescribing providers from prosecution.

“This has been a really important lifeline for a lot of people in states with total bans who are looking to access abortion,” Forouzan said. “However, I think a lot of the restrictive states know that this is happening, and they have wanted to increase the threat and the threat of liability to providers who are doing this.”

Louisiana’s controlled-substance law became one way to do so, though it was originally passed to ensure strict penalties for coerced abortions. Republican state Sen. Thomas Pressly of Shreveport, who introduced the bill, said he did so after his brother-in-law fed his sister the pills to cause an abortion . She gave birth to the baby, and the husband was sentenced to six months in prison after the failed attempt.

The bill was later amended in the legislature to add more restrictions and monitoring of mifepristone and misoprostol by classifying them as controlled substances.

Last October, Louisiana also tried to halt medication abortions by telehealth with a against the FDA. The case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The New Orleans Health Department called for the repeal of the law in a last September, based on surveys of patients, doctors, and pharmacists. Patients reported delays in treatment while hemorrhaging after birth. Fewer pharmacies filled prescriptions for misoprostol, frustrating doctors.

“鈥奣here’s no evidence that it is reducing elective abortions in Louisiana. There’s no evidence that it is helping anybody. There’s only evidence of harm,” said Dara Kass, an emergency physician and a professor at Brown University.

Since Louisiana’s law passed, similar legislation has been introduced in at least nine states, despite established abortion bans.

But so far, no other states have reclassified the medications. Pushback from the medical community and reproductive health advocates over implementation has surprisingly stifled any other attempts, said Alina Salganicoff, director of the women’s health policy program at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes 吃瓜不打烊.

“This puts a risk 鈥奿nside the healthcare system and potentially could delay really extremely time-sensitive lifesaving care,” Salganicoff said. “Especially where we have situations where we have really an unacceptably high maternal mortality situation in the United States.”

Instead of being a model for other states, Louisiana’s law has served as a cautionary tale. Freehill, the New Orleans OB-GYN, said her colleagues have also had patients struggle to fill their misoprostol prescriptions ahead of uterus examinations intended to help with their fertility.

“鈥奡o it’s having the complete opposite effect of what it’s been intended,” she said.

According to the New Orleans Health Department’s report, some pharmacists said they were too afraid to release the medication to the patient, confused about what’s required under the law. Others refused to fill prescriptions and stock the medication because they preferred to “stay away from any abortion pills.”

Tehmi Chassion, a pharmacist and a Democratic state representative in Lafayette, is pushing the state to study the law’s impact, given the loss of access to the medications.

Louisiana allows pharmacists to choose not to dispense medication if they are uncomfortable doing so, but Chassion said some pharmacists may be crossing a line by blocking access to medication based on their personal beliefs.

“鈥奣hose medications have helped save thousands of lives, and we just need to get to a safe space where prescribers and patients don’t have any worries,” Chassion said.

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2262962 Newsom Reverses on Long-Sought Paid Leave Benefit for Teachers in California /elections/newsom-california-teacher-paid-maternal-pregnancy-leave-reversal/ Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2256425 California public school teacher Mollie Blustein planned her pregnancy so that her daughter would arrive during summer break. But when the elementary school teacher went into premature labor and delivered her baby two weeks before the end of school, she faced another stressor: a huge pay cut.

The majority of California’s roughly 300,000 teachers don’t have access to the state-funded paid leave program that most new parents in the private sector do. Instead, many local school districts deduct the cost of a substitute teacher from educators’ pay during parental leave.

Because her daughter arrived before the school year ended, Blustein used 10 of her accrued sick days 鈥 paid time off she wanted to bank for later to bond with her baby or to care for her if she got sick.

Now, California lawmakers have given public school and community college employees up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave in the education bill accompanying the , after Gov. Gavin Newsom this year.

It’s a reversal for Newsom in his final year in office. In 2019, the governor that would have given school employees at least six weeks of paid leave, and a similar Assembly bill that died on the Senate floor in 2024. Several analysts said the issue appeals to voters on both sides of the aisle, ahead of Newsom’s potential 2028 presidential run.

State Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer said in an email that “educator workforce recruitment and retention has been a priority for the administration since the governor’s first day in office” but that the funding was not previously available.

Paid leave policies for educators and other state workers have garnered bipartisan support in recent years, including in conservative-led states such as Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia, and blue states such as , said Vicki Shabo, a senior fellow specializing in gender equity and paid leave at the think tank New America.

After the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion, some conservative lawmakers in states that banned abortion embraced paid leave for public employees to signal support for babies after they were born, Shabo said. Many limited the benefit to state employees and framed it as a tool to recruit and retain them.

Elizabeth Gedmark, a vice president at A Better Balance, a nonprofit that advocates for workplace equality, said paid leave “polls incredibly well across all political lines, because everyone agrees that you shouldn’t have to go back to work a day after you had a baby.”

In 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that of paid leave. But Shabo said the current administration hasn’t made any moves to expand paid leave.

Palmer, of the Department of Finance, said the state can now afford the roughly $218 million leave program because of billions of dollars in unexpected tax revenue, largely tied to tech workers’ stock options. Much of that revenue is constitutionally guaranteed to schools, so it can’t cover other public workers who are also shut out of California’s paid leave system.

Many school district administrators have largely opposed paid leave in the past because of the cost. The state’s plan calls for districts to pay for the leave out of their annual cost-of-living raise, which this year is bigger than the law requires.

David Roth, superintendent of Buckeye Union School District in El Dorado County, said the math still isn’t great for some schools, and that “the real value reaching the classroom is smaller than the headline number suggests.”

The California Association of School Business Officials had opposed previous related legislation, saying it would create an “unfunded mandate,” but largely supports the new plan now that the start date has been pushed from July 1 to January 2027. The organization’s chief governmental relations officer, Sara Pietrowski, said concerns remain but that the group would work with the state to avoid additional fiscal challenges.

The proposal would close a gap that many Californians don’t realize exists. The state was one of the first to offer 鈥 under its current program, eligible workers get of their pay for up to 20 weeks of combined leave and disability benefits.

But most California teachers, , are shut out. The program is funded through a payroll deduction for state disability insurance, and public agencies are . Districts can opt in, but the move must be bargained collectively, as in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Most educators must use up their accrued sick days before receiving a fraction of their pay for the remainder of their leave, under a provision of the .

Because of that, it’s not uncommon for teachers to plan their pregnancy leave for summer breaks to try to avoid burning up their sick leave. But that can be challenging for those who have pregnancy complications or early deliveries, like Blustein, or those who experience challenges getting pregnant.

Erika Jones, an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles and the secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Association, said her colleagues routinely teach until they go into labor, which can be disruptive.

It took one colleague around seven years to bank 77 sick days to use for a single pregnancy.

“Women go back sooner than they should have, because they don’t have the days,” Jones said. “You end up in this deficit zone.”

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2256425 Readers Share Personal Insights on Deadly Denials and Pregnancy Centers /letter-to-the-editor/reader-response-deadly-denials-pregnancy-centers-glp1-july-2026/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000 /?p=2259597&preview=true&preview_id=2259597 Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names.

A Tragic, Deadly Denial

I read your article in The Washington Post about the woman whose Humana policy required prior authorization for a drug she’d been taking (Bill of the Month: “She Struggled To Get a Lifesaving Drug Even After Insurers Vowed To Help,” June 29).

My husband, Kenney, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On June 7, he fatally shot himself after a COPD exacerbation event.

His pulmonologist had prescribed two new nebulizer prescriptions on June 2. One was a specialty medication that would come directly from the drug company. A couple of days later, we called Walgreens to see why the other one hadn’t been filled. Turns out it required prior authorization.

Why the doctor who prescribed it needed to tell his health insurer that he really did think his patient needed it, I will never understand. The pharmacist said she would send the request to the doctor. And why she hadn’t already done that, again, I do not understand. By June 7, of course, it still wasn’t filled.

That day, a Sunday, Kenney experienced the flare-up when I was out mowing the yard. How terrifying it must have been for him to be unable to breathe and me not being there at least to hold his hand. That night he killed himself, leaving a note saying that he hated to leave me but that he couldn’t keep living like that 鈥 with the constant anxiety of not knowing when he wouldn’t be able to draw a breath.

Not long ago, a “welcome” packet came in the mail about the other nebulizer treatment 鈥 25 days after it had been prescribed.

Admittedly, my husband’s health was not great. He did have COPD, but we still went out to eat once in a while, and he didn’t have to take his oxygen on those trips. He rarely used it just walking around the house.

He did make a serious suicide attempt six years ago (our daughter and granddaughter had died), but after seeing what it did to me and our son, he promised he’d never do it again. It was only when these exacerbation/flare-up events started this year that he indicated life was getting bad.

Perhaps, just perhaps, if he had received both medications in a timely manner, he would be here today, and we would have had many more years together. We met when we were 16 and had been together ever since. He was 78 when he died.

鈥 Cindy Clements Blewett; Kyle, Texas

Navigating GLP-1 Coverage

Sydney Lupkin’s thoughtful article about the obstacles in obtaining weight loss drugs was interesting (Healthcare Helpline: “Trouble Getting Weight Loss Drugs Covered by Insurance? Here’s What To Know,” June 26). It would have been more helpful had it included a discussion of Medicare’s decision to cover these drugs as of July 1, 2026, and how to navigate the rocky shores of obtaining a prescription that won’t be denied.

鈥 Sharie Hartman; Manteca, California

Beyond the Veil of Pregnancy Centers

I would like to address the article about a pregnancy resource center providing prenatal care in Sandpoint, Idaho (“Religious Anti-Abortion Center Finds Opportunity in Town Without OB-GYNs,” May 20). It is unfortunate that many still do not understand what pregnancy resource centers do, nor the high-quality care they provide. While there are some “crisis pregnancy centers” that provide limited offerings, most centers are aligned with a national organization like the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, the Heartbeat Pregnancy Center, or Care Net. All these organizations require centers to have a medical director (a licensed healthcare practitioner) and require that the nurses who perform the ultrasounds have appropriate training. While I am not affiliated with 7B Care Clinic, I am concerned that the article may not have accurately reflected what is provided in such clinics. I offer my experiences to bring further clarity.

I work at a life-affirming women’s clinic. I am a board-certified family physician. I have delivered approximately 1,000 babies in my career. I have been performing ultrasounds for my patients for over a decade, and fought for this ability under the scrutiny of maternal-fetal medicine specialists, spending time alongside their registered diagnostic medical sonographer technicians, and having my scans reviewed by maternal-fetal medicine physicians. I have practiced medicine in three states over three decades.

Second, while I am life-affirming, I am not “anti-abortion.” I happen to believe that there are better choices, and I know that some women will still choose abortion, even after hearing all their options. I will gladly see those women for follow-up to answer questions and evaluate for complications 鈥 something that the abortion clinics in my area apparently will not do. I say this because that is what the women I see tell me. The clinic that performed the procedure or gave them the pills will not see a patient after the abortion for any follow-up. I have always willingly seen patients for any reason, whether I was working at a private clinic or hospital-owned clinic. That is no different now that I work for a life-affirming women’s clinic.

We provide a variety of services 鈥 free of charge. We are also stepping up to provide prenatal care up to 20 weeks because there is a shortage of obstetrical clinicians in our county. We encourage women to see a clinic where they can be followed throughout the entire pregnancy, if possible, and we are in no way marketing ourselves as competition. We are stepping in to fill the large gap that exists.

Just because the clinic in Sandpoint chooses to respect life does not make it a fake clinic. This clinic seeks to bring in physicians to provide prenatal care. They are bringing in OB-GYNs from Washington state, which has no restrictions on abortion. With this information taken into consideration, I ask you to reconsider any concerns about a clinic bringing board-certified OB-GYNs into an area where there is a shortage.

鈥 James Heid, Vancouver, Washington

The Root of All Good

The article Claudia Boyd-Barrett wrote about how immigrant parents’ arrests are creating a mental health crisis for children was moving and brought awareness to the mental health challenges faced by them (Growing Up Scared: “Arrests of Immigrant Parents Create Mental Health Crisis for Children,” June 18). It was important to note how every story was different but focused on how much children missed and yearned for their parents to come back home. You also wrote about how it affected them by not having a parental figure in the home. That really touched me. Specifically, Jacob’s story and when he listed all the things he missed about his mom but especially being close to her.

I am currently a master’s student in social work working to become a better ally to the Hispanic immigrant community. I’ve seen how being afraid and sad over the immigration policies has affected my friends in this community. Losing a close parent and not being able to have that security with them anymore is hard to go through, and trauma affects children as they grow.

In this article, you have recognized the worth of a person, which is a core principle in social work. These children are worthy and have the right to feel taken care of and secure.

I would love to see more mental health services accessible to immigrant communities and their families. This would benefit children as they learn to cope with their feelings and how to make sense of a new world.

鈥 Stacy Xiong, Athens, Georgia

Bagging a Bargain

Author Susan Jaffe mentioned GoodRx in the article “Thousands of Medicare Beneficiaries Thought Their Drug Plan Was Free. Then They Lost It” (July 7), but she failed to mention a much better discount drug site, Mark Cuban’s costplusdrugs.com, where a 90-day supply of 2.5 milligrams of rivaroxaban, a generic for Xarelto, is available for under $50. This could help the thousands of people who lost coverage through unpaid premiums from Wellcare Value Script obtain their medications. The problem of yearly increasing penalties for losing Part D coverage is something that has to be addressed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Thanks to 吃瓜不打烊 for the relevant coverage.

鈥 Jackie Button; Miami

Fleshing Out the Details

Your report identifying alpha-gal syndrome as a red meat allergy is accurate in that respect but inadequate in its breadth (“Would Hunters Take a Lyme Disease Vaccine? We Asked,” June 30). Alpha-gal is an allergic reaction to virtually all mammalian products. If you explore that, you’ll find an interesting story, as mammalian products are everywhere, including in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and other non-meat products. Alpha-gal is growing rapidly, and too many people, including doctors, do not realize that AGS is far worse than just a red meat allergy.

I suggest you help build understanding of the threat by describing the allergy in the future as an allergy to mammalian products. If you do not think your audience will understand that term, perhaps you can explain that it includes pork and anything derived from animals with hooves. As a former and now retired reporter, I encourage you to cover this allergy because its implications are surprising and scary.

鈥 John Varner, Surry, Virginia

吃瓜不打烊 is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This article first appeared on 吃瓜不打烊 and is republished here under a .

]]> 2259597