Tag: Health

Following State Errors, Nearly 500,000 Americans Will Regain Health Insurance

Nearly 500,000 people, many of them children, will keep Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage after state officials discovered major errors in their procedures for reviewing eligibility for the programs, federal officials said on Thursday. After a pandemic-era policy that guaranteed Medicaid coverage lapsed in April, states began checking to see whether tens of… Continue reading Following State Errors, Nearly 500,000 Americans Will Regain Health Insurance

‘Only God Can Thank You’: Female Health Workers Fight to Be Paid

On a given work day, Misra Yusuf might vaccinate a child against polio, inject a woman with a long-acting contraceptive, screen a man for tuberculosis, hang a bed net to protect a family from malaria and help dig a pit latrine. Over the past few years, she has administered some 10,000 coronavirus vaccines in her… Continue reading ‘Only God Can Thank You’: Female Health Workers Fight to Be Paid

Harvard Health: Got expendable body parts?

There was a time when pediatricians routinely recommended tonsil removal, even for healthy children — including me. As far as I can tell, I suffered no ill effects — plus, I got extra ice cream! That practice is no longer routine. But it does raise an interesting question: Why do we have body parts that… Continue reading Harvard Health: Got expendable body parts?

At Yale, a Surge of Activism Forced Changes in Mental Health Policies

In the weeks after Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, a first-year student at Yale, died by suicide in 2021, a group of strangers began convening on Zoom. Some of them knew Ms. Shaw-Rosenbaum. But many only knew what she had been going through, as she struggled with suicidal thoughts and weighed the consequences of checking herself into the… Continue reading At Yale, a Surge of Activism Forced Changes in Mental Health Policies

Lisa Damour’s Tips For Navigating Teen Mental Health As School Begins

The author and psychologist Lisa Damour has become somewhat of a celebrity among many parents of teenagers. “I’ve been Damour-alizing myself big time for about a month now,” said Rebecca Gold, a mother of three in Great Barrington, Mass. “I love her so much that I just created a verb in her honor.” Ms. Gold,… Continue reading Lisa Damour’s Tips For Navigating Teen Mental Health As School Begins

Mental Health Spending Surged in Pandemic, Study Finds

Use of mental health care increased substantially during the coronavirus pandemic, as teletherapy lowered barriers to regular visits, according to a large study of insurance claims published Friday in JAMA Health Forum. From March 2020 to August 2022, mental health visits increased by 39 percent, and spending increased by 54 percent, the study found. Its… Continue reading Mental Health Spending Surged in Pandemic, Study Finds

Nonprofit Health System Says It Is Ending Policy That Denied Care to Indebted Patients

Allina Health, a large nonprofit health system based in Minnesota, announced Wednesday that it would end its policy of denying medical care to patients with $4,500 or more in outstanding bills. Although Allina’s hospitals treated anyone in emergency rooms, other services were cut off for indebted patients, including children and those with chronic illnesses like… Continue reading Nonprofit Health System Says It Is Ending Policy That Denied Care to Indebted Patients

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires health commissioner Arwady

Chicago’s top public health official, who led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic, was let go by Mayor Brandon Johnson Friday, according to sources with firsthand knowledge. Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady had said she wanted to stay on under the job in the new mayor’s administration, though Johnson had indicated on… Continue reading Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires health commissioner Arwady

Chicago health board asks mayor not to fire commssioner Arwady

The Chicago Board of Health is asking Mayor Brandon Johnson to keep the city’s public health commissioner in her post following his campaign promise to replace her. Dr. Allison Arwady was appointed by Johnson’s predecessor and became the public face of Chicago’s COVID-19 response, but she also disappointed some progressives. The nine-member health advisory panel… Continue reading Chicago health board asks mayor not to fire commssioner Arwady