Even with extra federal dollars and a flush budget, Show Me State Republicans are putting up roadblocks to the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would give 275,000 people health insurance.
The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only increased the demand for music-streaming services. This independent singer wrote, recorded and produced an album with musicians around the world during the pandemic’s rolling stay-at-home mandates.
Covid cases have disproportionately affected the state’s Black residents, so officials are moving them to the front of the line for vaccinations before the state expands eligibility to all adults.
Many state Medicaid programs pay out-of-state providers much less than in-state facilities, often making it hard for families with medically complex children to get the care they seek.
Montana’s overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.
As the crisis crushed smaller providers, some of the nation’s richest health systems thrived, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses after accepting huge grants for pandemic relief. But poorer hospitals — many serving rural and minority populations — got a smaller slice of the pie and limped through the year with deficits and a bleak fiscal future.
Covid cases have disproportionately affected the state’s Black residents, so officials are moving them to the front of the line for vaccinations before the state expands eligibility to all adults.
Peace Arch Park on the U.S.-Canadian border has become a rare place where families and friends on either side of the border can see one another in person. But it raises questions on covid safety as the two countries handle the pandemic differently.
In poor neighborhoods and desert towns, community activists — some unpaid — are signing up hard-to-reach people for vaccination appointments. Experts say these campaigns are key to building the country’s immunological armor against new outbreaks.
Over-the-counter covid tests could help speed the economy’s recovery, allowing students and workers to test themselves at home and get quick results. Could they become as ubiquitous as toothpaste and cold remedies on store shelves, or will demand dry up as the nation gets vaccinated?