Health
State officials dig in to launch center for Georgians with disabilities who are in crisis
MACON – Work will soon begin on a new center in Macon that will focus exclusively on serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who also have behavioral health challenges. The center, which is set to open in early 2025, will treat people with disabilities from all over the state who might otherwise end up […]
Hospitals plead with Congress to avert $8 billion in cuts in Medicaid funding
WASHINGTON — Health care representatives from across the United States are urging Congress to halt cuts to funding that helps hospitals care for uninsured or low-income patients who rely on Medicaid. More than 250 hospitals and health systems appealed to House and Senate leadership in a letter Thursday asking the lawmakers to avert or delay a forthcoming […]
A men’s movement takes reins in a nationwide quest to end abortion
Wendell Shrock doesn’t believe in condoms. “We should leave the uterus to God,” the street preacher from Tennessee tells States Newsroom, in front of an abortion clinic outside of Atlanta, mid-morning in late July. Sweat drips from his cowboy hat into his salt-and-pepper beard that stretches halfway down his red-plaid shirt. The retired police officer […]
U.S. Justice Department asks Supreme Court to take up abortion pill case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the abortion pill should remain on the market after two lower courts issued differing opinions about its use. The case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will likely be the second time the conservative-leaning Supreme […]
Federal judge rules Georgia can resume enforcing ban on hormone treatment for transgender minors
Georgia can resume enforcing its new law banning hormone treatments for transgender children, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Republican lawmakers passed the controversial law this year, preventing transgender children from receiving estrogen or testosterone treatments. LGBTQ advocates said that amounted to medical discrimination against transgender people, as doctors could still prescribe those hormones for other […]
Anti-abortion ‘abolitionists’ take slavery rhetoric to the next level
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing. Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists. “I rolled […]
Georgia behavioral health officials push for more workers and beds as people languish in jail
This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, with additional information. Georgia will need to build five more behavioral health crisis centers and free up about 120 additional beds in the state hospital network for people in the criminal justice system – all by 2025. But the state must also shore up […]
CareSource Georgia rolls out mobile clinics to help Medicaid recipients maintain health coverage
The state has leaned on its three care management organizations as part of its strategy to alert all 2.8 million Medicaid enrollees of the return of the renewal process, which the federal government had paused during the pandemic. And on Wednesday, one of them – CareSource Georgia – publicly launched part of its plan to […]
Biden administration chooses first 10 drugs for Medicare price negotiations
WASHINGTON — Medicare can now negotiate lower prices for 10 common high-price drugs, cutting out-of-pocket costs for an estimated 9 million seniors and saving taxpayers billions, the Biden administration said Tuesday. Medicare will begin this year to negotiate with the manufacturers of popular medications used to treat blood clots, diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic […]
Alabama transgender medicine ban: Attorneys want full rehearing on federal court ruling
Attorneys representing transgender youth challenging Alabama’s ban on medication used in gender-affirming care want a full federal circuit to consider the case. GLBTQ Lawyers and Defenders (GLAD), part of the legal team representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement Monday that the request for an en banc hearing, coming a week after a three-judge panel […]
Pregnant workers have new protections. Here’s what to expect from your boss.
Almost two months after workplace accommodations for pregnant workers became law, the rules surrounding what employers can and cannot do have yet to be finalized — but that doesn’t mean the protections are not in place. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposed regulations are expected to offer more clarity once finalized, but workers can still […]
First of state’s three new shovel-ready crisis centers gets bipartisan groundbreaking in Fulton County
State and local officials from both sides of the aisle took turns shoveling ceremonial dirt Monday to celebrate the groundbreaking of Fulton County’s first publicly funded behavioral health crisis center. The Fulton County project is one of three new crisis centers funded in this year’s state budget. Two others, planned for Dublin and Augusta, are […]