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In California, where abortion rights are guaranteed, there鈥檚 a loophole. The growth of Catholic hospital systems, which restrict reproductive health care, has left patients with no other option for care. That will be the case for pregnant women in Northern California, with a hospital set to close its birth center.
Amari Marsh, now 23, was a student at South Carolina State University when she lost her pregnancy in 2023. She was charged with murder and faced at least 20 years in prison. A grand jury cleared her in August. Now she鈥檚 sharing her story.
A new bill would create a scholarship program for students who agree to work with specialized courts in California to get patients into treatment, but some people argue the state shouldn鈥檛 restrict scholarship aid to a new, untested program given broader behavioral health workforce shortages.
California lawmakers are moving to rein in the pharmaceutical middlemen they say drive up costs and limit consumers鈥 choices. The bill sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom would require pharmacy benefit managers to be licensed in California and would ban some business practices. Newsom vetoed a previous effort three years ago.
Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. Patients often don鈥檛 know when or if a procedure or abortion pills are covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has exacerbated the confusion.
Garret Frey won a U.S. Supreme Court case as a teenager who needed assistance to attend high school. Now, he鈥檚 gained concessions under Iowa鈥檚 Medicaid program to help him live at home instead of in a care facility.
Anti-abortion groups and their allies secured a generational victory in 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned "Roe v. Wade." A lawsuit in Texas demonstrates how those same forces threaten access to other health services, including birth control and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.
While fighting potential fraud in government programs has long been a conservative rallying cry, recent criticisms of the Affordable Care Act represent a renewed line of attack on the program when repealing it is unlikely.
The elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the presumed Democratic presidential ticket is newly energizing the debate over abortion, while former President Donald Trump attempts to distance himself from more sweeping proposals in the 鈥淧roject 2025鈥 GOP blueprint put together by his former administration officials and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Elisabeth Rosenthal, who reported and wrote the latest 吃瓜不打烊-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 about a preauthorized surgery that generated a six-figure bill.
Proposed regulations would require clinics providing abortions in the state to meet sweeping new health standards, despite a likely vote in November on a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden introduced legislation intended to curb a growing problem in which consumers, without their consent, are enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans or their coverage is switched.
State lawmakers are advancing two bills aimed at protecting children from the harms of social media, part of a nationwide wave of efforts to address the issue. Yet the bills鈥 proponents face hurdles in finding an approach that can survive legal challenges from the tech industry.
Misleading money-for-groceries ads helped lure people to call centers where some were enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage 鈥 or switched from their existing plans 鈥 without their express permission, a new lawsuit alleges.
After an assassination attempt last weekend sent former President Donald Trump to the hospital with minor injuries, the Republican National Convention went off with little mention of health care issues. And Trump鈥檚 newly nominated vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has barely staked out a record on health during his 18 months in office 鈥 aside from being strongly opposed to abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Renuka Rayasam, who wrote June鈥檚 installment of 吃瓜不打烊-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month,鈥 about a patient who walked into what he thought was an urgent care center and walked out with an emergency room bill.鈥
For years, Tennessee has required anyone convicted of prostitution while HIV-positive to register as a sex offender for life. In response to DOJ and ACLU discrimination suits, the state has agreed to reverse course.
Until this spring, Michigan was the only state that had a broad criminal ban on surrogacy. Many families say that left them in limbo: forcing them to leave the state to have children, finding strangers on Facebook who would carry their child, or going through the legal hassle of having to adopt their biological children.
An ongoing lawsuit aims to set aside the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 requirements that insurers cover preventive care, such as contraception. If that happens, state reproductive health laws 鈥 varying across the country 鈥 would carry more weight, resuming the 鈥渨ild West鈥 dynamic from before Obamacare.
The Supreme Court has issued its final opinions for the 2023-24 term, including decisions affecting abortion access, the opioid epidemic, and how the federal government functions. In this special episode, Sarah Somers , legal director of the National Health Law Program, joins 吃瓜不打烊鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss how the justices disposed of the term鈥檚 health-related cases and what those decisions could mean going forward.
A Supreme Court ruling restricting federal power will likely have seismic ramifications for health policy. A flood of litigation 鈥 with plaintiffs like small businesses, drugmakers, and hospitals challenging regulations they say are too expensive or burdensome and not authorized by law 鈥 could leave the country with a patchwork of disparate health regulations.
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