public-health-issues

Customers shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at Campbell’s Market, April 24, 2023, in McArthur, Ohio. Campbell’s has worked to provide healthy food options to the McArthur community. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal).

Dollar stores, giant grocery chains push healthy food out of reach for many, activists say

BY: - June 6, 2023

Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger already control a huge amount of the nation’s grocery business.

Relatives of gun violence victims hold pictures of their loved ones at a CeaseFirePA and March For Our Lives rally at the Pennsylvania Capitol on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall)

The gun violence epidemic Is ‘Locking us back in our room’

BY: - June 6, 2023

Children’s health experts are advocating for exposure to gun violence be considered what’s known as an 'adverse childhood experience.'

Some states began disenrolling people from Medicaid earlier than others, with health policy researcher KFF finding nearly 500,000 in 11 states have lost their health insurance. (Getty Images)

Half a million people in less than a dozen states have lost Medicaid coverage since April

BY: - June 2, 2023

The lowest disenrollments were in Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska, data showed.

From Philly to Harrisburg and D.C. and back: Estelle Richman reflects on life in public service

BY: - May 29, 2023

The veteran public servant will receive the lifetime achievement award at the PGN Stonewall Awards on June 4.

With federal and state laws changing and litigation unresolved, the Abortion Defense Network helps patients, their loved ones, providers and support groups with free legal advice, pro bono representation, and help paying legal expenses. (Getty Images)

A Catch 22 for Clinics: State bans limit abortion counseling. Federal Title X rules require it

BY: - May 29, 2023

Federal law requires clinics to offer pregnant women information about prenatal care and delivery, and other topics.

For this Pa. family, U.S. House vote on bill making fentanyl permanently criminal strikes close to home

BY: - May 27, 2023

U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-13th District, a physician, is a co-sponsor of the bill, which cleared the House on Thursday.

COMMENTARY

The COVID emergency is over. What — if anything — did we learn? | Fletcher McClellan

BY: - May 22, 2023

Last week President Joe Biden announced the end of the federal Public Health Emergency for COVID-19, first declared by the administration of President Donald Trump in early 2020.  Biden’s order – a Congressional mandate he signed into law in April – marks the beginning of a transition to regular health providers and insurance for COVID-19 […]

Young man visiting hospitalized father

Study reveals staggering toll of being Black in America: 1.6M excess deaths over 22 years

BY: - May 17, 2023

By Liz Szabo Research has long shown that Black people live sicker lives and die younger than white people. Now a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, casts the nation’s racial inequities in stark relief, finding that the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white Americans over […]

Pa. awards $6M to fight overdose deaths in underrepresented communities | Tuesday Morning Coffee

BY: - May 16, 2023

'Trends in drug overdose deaths show widening disparities,' a top official said.

Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say

BY: - May 13, 2023

'This recovery was tremendous compared to any recovery in recent history because of the scale of the investments that were made by policymakers,' an analyst said.

Lawyer fees draw scrutiny as Camp Lejeune claims stack up

BY: - May 12, 2023

Advocates and lawmakers worry high lawyer fees could shortchange those injured.

COMMENTARY
Direct service providers rally for more money in the 2022-23 state budget at the Pennsylvania state Capitol on May 24, 2022 in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star).

Mental health needs must be addressed inside and outside the classroom | Opinion

BY: - May 12, 2023

Without a considerable increase to the base funding, we are endangering services.