healthcare

healthcare

Original Commentary Top Story Weekly Briefing

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina needs to remain a public asset

Twenty-five years ago, when a powerful state Senator quietly and suddenly advanced a bill that would have allowed the leaders of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to transform the giant and successful health insurance nonprofit into a for-profit company, advocates, consumers, average citizens, and ultimately, the full General Assembly, took a stand.

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Original Commentary Progressive Voices Top Story

North Carolina physician: Proposed abortion restrictions threaten the practice of medicine

Bills that elevate politics over science, research and training are an attack on the integrity of the medical profession As a doctor about to finish residency after multiple years of training, I have never been so worried about the future of medical practice.

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Original Commentary Other Voices Progressive Voices Top Story

The reinstatement of NC’s post-20 week abortion ban is harmful to both patients and medical providers

The overwhelming majority of abortions in this country (more than 90%) occur before the pregnancy has reached 12 weeks, and generally less than 1% occur after 20 weeks. As is the case with all healthcare, however, there are instances in which difficult or unpredictable circumstances can intervene and make accessing an abortion beyond 20 weeks a necessary option for patients to have. Pregnant people need abortion care later in pregnancy most often related to two factors.

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Original Commentary Setting the Record Straight Top Story Weekly Briefing

The latest lame excuse for holding up Medicaid expansion

For nearly a decade, North Carolina has forgone billions of federal dollars, prevented the creation of thousands of good jobs, caused multiple rural hospitals to close, and most disturbingly, condemned thousands of uninsured people to an early death by refusing to follow the lead of 38 other states in expanding Medicaid. As scores of experts, advocates, public officials and average North Carolinians have repeatedly attested and evidenced...

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Congress Environment News Top Story

Biden signs into law Democrats’ wide-ranging climate change, health care and tax bill

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed his party’s signature climate, health care and tax package into law Tuesday, capping off more than a year of tumultuous negotiations that saw his original proposal to Congress slimmed down considerably. Flanked by a handful of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, Biden sharply contrasted his outlook for the country with that of Republicans, who unanimously voted against the package. 

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Congress Health News Top Story

Biden signs landmark bill aiding veterans exposed to burn pits overseas

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed legislation into law Wednesday that will provide health care and benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq, achieving a long-term, personal goal. “I was in and out of Iraq over 20 times,” Biden said of prior trips to the war zone he took as both a U.S. senator and as vice president.

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Health News Top Story

Monday numbers: As U.S. states struggle with post-Roe abortion laws, a look at public opinion around the globe

A lot has happened since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. Republican-led states have made moves to revive previous abortion restrictions or enact new and sweeping ones. Democratic-led states have rushed to enshrine the right in state law.

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Congress Health News Top Story

Members of U.S. Senate panel fight over effects of abortion ruling on Black patients

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday began wading through the dozens of state laws that have taken effect in the two weeks since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion, and heard from witnesses who said the effect on Black patients will be especially harsh. “People of color, specifically Black people, will feel the impact of the court's decision in Dobbs more than any other racial group,” said Khiara M. Bridges, professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, referring to the decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

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News Top Story

Rural healthcare providers feel the pain of North Carolina’s Medicaid gap

On her morning commute to work, Dr. Laura Ucik, a rural family physician in the northern Piedmont of North Carolina, thinks about the frustrating memories of patients who could have avoided serious illness and injury had they qualified for Medicaid years ago. One such patient with severe stomach pain couldn’t afford an ultrasound to identify whether or not they had gallstones.

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Congress News Top Story

VA eyes major changes in health care system as veterans flock to the South, Southwest

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday began the years-long process of restructuring its nationwide health care network, an endeavor that will require the president and Congress to sign off before it could begin. The restructuring would mean the closures or consolidations of some medical facilities, likely provoking opposition from communities and members of Congress.

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