Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Huge Health Fair In St. Louis Offering Free Care To Uninsured, Underinsured
America鈥檚 Center downtown will be turned into a massive health clinic next week, offering free medical, vision and dental care to whoever needs it, including those without insurance. More than 1,800 health care professionals and volunteers will be able to care for up to 1,200 people a day, starting at 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday, organizers say. Care will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and the clinic will close each day when capacity is reached. (Munz, 5/2)
The Colorado Senate could soon vote on a Democratic bill aimed at increasing protections for transgender Coloradans, however the measure faces concerns from both members of the LGTBQ community and the governor. (Birkeland, 5/2)
Vanessa Onsurez of Santa Cruz is fatigued and in pain from treatment for metastatic breast cancer, but she wasn鈥檛 going to miss the opening of the first permanent memorial in the country dedicated to lives lost to the disease. So Sunday morning, she was sitting cross legged on cold concrete in San Francisco鈥檚 Golden Gate Park, with no place she would rather be than the Bay Area Young Survivors Breast Cancer Memorial Garden, a $1 million monument dedicated to all people who have died of breast cancer with an emphasis on those who were under age 45 when diagnosed with the disease. (Whiting, 5/4)
In reproductive health news from across the U.S. 鈥
Planned Parenthood chapters across several states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging new terms that would hinder their continued participation in a long-standing program aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified recipients of national Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) funds on March 31 that to continue in the program they must show they are in 鈥渁lignment with current Presidential Executive Orders,鈥 according to the lawsuit. (Crisp, 5/2)
Colleen Nguyen always thought she would have two children. Then she had her first. She loves her son, Zach, a giggly 5-year-old with a penchant for sea creatures and Hot Wheels, and would love to give him a sibling. But the price tag of parenthood has far exceeded her expectations. These days, Zach鈥檚 nursery school and day care eat up anywhere from about $2,000 to $2,200 every month 鈥 not far from what she and her husband pay for the rent on their two-bedroom in Newton. (Gerber, 5/5)
麻豆女优 Health News: Alabama Can鈥檛 Prosecute Groups Helping Patients Get Abortions Elsewhere, Judge Rules
Reproductive rights groups in Alabama wasted no time resuming their work after a federal judge ruled in early April that the state鈥檚 attorney general can鈥檛 prosecute 鈥 or threaten to prosecute 鈥 people or organizations who help Alabama residents seek an abortion by traveling to another state. One of the plaintiffs, the reproductive justice nonprofit Yellowhammer Fund, wasted no time in returning to one of its core missions: to provide financial support to traveling patients. (Hawkins, 5/5)
Nearly 10 percent of infants were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in the United States in 2023, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics, a 13 percent increase from admissions in 2016.The report drew on birth certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System, which includes detailed demographic and health information on mothers and infants for all U.S. births each year. (McMahan, 5/5)