More than 500,000 people across 11 states have lost their Medicaid coverage since the unwinding of a policy that allowed people to stay in the program throughout the pandemic. The data, reported by the states and tracked by health policy researcher KFF, show that of the five states providing data on people who lost Medicaid […]
The post Half a million people in less than a dozen states have lost Medicaid coverage since April appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Nebraska school administrators, get out your No. 2 pencils. The Legislature just gave you two new assignments and a little help in hiring teachers. On Wednesday, state senators approved Legislative Bill 298, which merged K-12 education proposals, tracking dyslexia, clarifying school dress codes and streamlining hires of teachers from other states. State Sens. […]
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LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature’s controversial combination of a stricter abortion ban with a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors is the target of a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Lancaster County Court by ACLU Nebraska and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The lawsuit argues that the Legislature, by combining sections of two bills involving different […]
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LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature’s controversial combination of a stricter abortion ban with a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors is the target of a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Lancaster County Court by ACLU Nebraska and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The lawsuit argues that the Legislature, by combining sections of two bills involving different […]
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MANHATTAN — National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility researcher Lisa Hensley’s career took her from laboratory to laboratory and country to country to study the alphabet soup of ghastly pathogens such as SARs, monkeypox, MERs and Marburg. But she said an Ebola outbreak in the West Africa country of Liberia brought home what it meant to […]
The post Celebration marks completion of $1.2 billion NBAF lab for studying animal-to-human pathogens appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A Nebraska legislative committee on Thursday advanced the contentious appointment of a new chief medical officer who would be charged with determining new rules and regulations surrounding gender-affirming care for minors. Members of the Health and Human Services Committee advanced the appointment of Dr. Timothy Tesmer on a 4-2 vote. It was a […]
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WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation Thursday in an effort to curb staggering overdose deaths from illegal fentanyl substances that are illicitly produced and up to 50 times stronger than heroin. The HALT Fentanyl Act, passed on a 289-133 vote with 74 Democratic votes and support from the Biden administration, would […]
The post Fentanyl-related drugs permanently made criminal under bill passed by U.S. House appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation Thursday in an effort to curb staggering overdose deaths from illegal fentanyl substances that are illicitly produced and up to 50 times stronger than heroin. The HALT Fentanyl Act, passed on a 289-133 vote with 74 Democratic votes and support from the Biden administration, would […]
The post Fentanyl-related drugs permanently made criminal under bill passed by U.S. House appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Monday signed into law new restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care for minors, which opponents vowed to fight until the very end. Legislative Bill 574, proposed by State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, passed 33-15 last Friday on the final round of debate. The measure includes an approximate 10-week […]
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LINCOLN — Pleas, chants and tossed tampons and pads did not stop the Nebraska Legislature’s conservative majority from passing a bill Friday combining two proposals that several state senators said might not have been able to pass on their own. Hundreds spent the day rallying at the Capitol for abortion rights and trans rights. They […]
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LINCOLN — An expected final vote Friday on the Nebraska Legislature’s efforts to further restrict abortions and limit gender-affirming care for minors may not be the last after a new amendment was filed Thursday. However, key senators said they would not support the changes proposed. State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont filed an amendment to […]
The post Nebraska lawmaker introduces less restrictive amendment on abortion-gender care proposal appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — With thousands of Nebraskans watching, including hundreds in person, state lawmakers shoehorned a stricter abortion ban into an already divisive bill to limit gender-affirming care for minors. The proposal is now one step from passage. Tuesday’s action was the culmination of months of public outcry and legislative fights over the two measures, both […]
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LINCOLN — The session-long fight in some Nebraska lawmakers’ efforts to further restrict abortion and gender-affirming care for minors could be decided Tuesday evening with a decisive amendment to pair the measures as one proposal. State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair unveiled the amendment last Monday to marry two of the most divisive issues this session […]
The post A guide to Tuesday’s debate on amendment to combine gender-affirming care, abortion restrictions appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Last month, State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston was the reason the Nebraska Legislature fell a single vote short of outlawing abortions after an ultrasound detects embryonic cardiac activity, typically at about six weeks’ gestation. But Riepe’s new deal with his conservative colleagues, which contains a stricter ban than he proposed, could spur […]
The post Proposed 12-week abortion cutoff hits sooner than Riepe’s, with no exception for fetal anomalies appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Dyvia Huitron started having sex when she was 16. Worried about getting pregnant, she talked to her parents about getting on hormonal birth control. Instead, they grounded her. The now-19-year-old had expected pushback – she was living in a religious community in conservative McAllen, Texas. But she underestimated how many years it would eventually take […]
The post Health experts urge FDA to approve over-the-counter birth control in unanimous vote appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations […]
The post As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The latest fight over gender-affirming care in Nebraska has shifted, at least slightly, from whether there should be restrictions to who should have the final authority in drafting them. A new amendment would combine two of the most controversial topics this legislative session — abortion and gender-affirming care — into Legislative Bill 574, the […]
The post Final say on Nebraska gender care bill would be delegated to executive branch appointee and DHHS appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Jennifer Adkins’ first pregnancy was near-perfect. She sailed through her appointments and screenings with no complications, ticking every box and making lists of all the right questions to ask her medical professionals. By the time her unmedicated labor was over and the nurses placed her newborn son on her chest, Adkins felt like a superhero. […]
The post Post-Roe abortion bans force pregnant people with life-threatening complications to travel appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
OMAHA — The giant shell of an old steel plant in midtown Omaha is to be transformed within a couple of years into Nebraska’s new, roughly $65 million hub of medical business innovation. Called the Catalyst, the 170,000-square-foot structure on the west side of Saddle Creek Road near Farnam Street will be operating in tandem […]
The post Groundbreaking event for $65 million project expected to be Nebraska’s new medical business hub appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Rural and urban residents who struggle to find fresh and healthy food close to home could soon get help from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the help of $25 million from federal taxpayers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $25 million cooperative agreement award to UNL to improve local supply chains by […]
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Alex D. turned 23 on the day the U.S. Supreme Court released the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She was on vacation in Nebraska, visiting Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, riding the chairlift over the rhino exhibit, when she saw the news alert on her phone. She was also eight weeks pregnant and […]
The post Some could use support after abortion. But quality care can be hard to find. appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
GILLETTE, Wyo. — Sandra Lane said she has been to the emergency room about eight times this year. The 62-year-old has had multiple falls, struggled with balance and tremors, and experienced severe swelling in her legs. A paramedic recently arrived at her doorstep again, but this time it wasn’t for an emergency. Jason Frye was […]
The post Community paramedics don’t wait for an emergency to visit rural patients at home appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators grilled the executives of three major credit reporting bureaus Thursday on whether their practices are transparent and fair to consumers, with Democrats frequently pressing the CEOs to remove medical debt from the reports. Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, said all […]
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LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature fell one vote short Thursday of passing a ban on abortions after an ultrasound detects embryonic cardiac activity, at about six weeks into a pregnancy. Republican State Sen. Joni Albrecht’s Legislative Bill 626, fell in a similar fashion as the near-total abortion ban proposed last year. Both lost to Democratic-led […]
The post Nebraska abortion ban tied to cardiac activity falls one vote short; 20-week limit remains intact appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Several Nebraska lawmakers came to the defense of State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha on Wednesday after a complaint was filed alleging she has a potential conflict of interest on proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. Frank Daley, executive director of the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, on Wednesday hand-delivered the complaint, […]
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LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers released a legal opinion Tuesday disputing two top concerns about a proposed abortion ban tied to the ultrasound detection of embryonic cardiac activity. The Legislature is expected to begin a pivotal second round of debate over State Sen. Joni Albrecht’s Legislative Bill 626 on Thursday. Hilgers and Solicitor […]
The post Nebraska AG’s opinion says abortion bill wouldn’t put doctors at risk of a crime appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Medicaid renewals have been paused for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but as renewals restart, about 145,000 Nebraskans are at risk of losing coverage. Changes in federal law mean the eligibility of Medicaid recipients is now being reviewed, returning to “normal” eligibility requirements. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human […]
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These days Kylee Sunderlin is often the first person people will talk to about needing or wanting to terminate a pregnancy, even though she’s not a nurse or doctor or a loved one. She’s a lawyer. This is Sunderlin’s third year overseeing a national hotline dedicated to helping people navigate legal questions around abortion in […]
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LINCOLN – As a deadline approached for March 21 debate on a controversial bill to ban gender-affirming procedures for minors, a trio of members of the Nebraska Board of Health scrambled to draft a board statement to support passage of the bill. According to emails and text messages reviewed by the Nebraska Examiner, the process […]
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LINCOLN — Nebraskans who want to carry concealed handguns in public will soon be able to do so legally without a state permit or state-mandated gun safety training. Once the bill becomes law, Omaha and Lincoln will lose the authority to enforce the stricter city gun ordinances, which local police chiefs and police unions have […]
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