By Lizzie Presser and Kavitha Surana ProPublica When Ciji Graham visited a cardiologist on Nov. 14, 2023, her heart was pounding at 192 beats per minute, a rate healthy people her age usually reach during the peak of a sprint. She was having another episode of atrial fibrillation, a rapid, irregular heartbeat. The 34-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina, police […]
Posted inCharlotte Ledger
10 things to know about measles as cases rise in North Carolina
By Michelle Crouch Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger Measles, once considered eliminated in the U.S., is back in a big way. Driven by declining vaccine rates and growing vaccine hesitancy, the United States experienced its largest number of measles cases in decades in 2025, with 2,242 cases reported across the country and outbreaks in Texas, […]
Posted inState Health Policy
NC lawmakers weigh how to deal with unfunded mandates, cuts as feds overhaul SNAP
By Ashley Fredde North Carolina could face hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs — or risk losing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program entirely — if counties fail to meet new federal requirements, state lawmakers were warned Tuesday during a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee hearing in Raleigh. The new requirements were included in the […]
Posted inMedicaid
NC faces tight deadline, high costs to implement Medicaid work requirement
By Jaymie Baxley North Carolina has less than a year to implement a federal rule requiring “able-bodied” Medicaid participants to prove they are working, volunteering or attending school for at least 80 hours a month. A provision of the federal budget — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law last summer by President […]
Posted inChildren's Health
‘Shared decision-making’ for childhood vaccines sounds empowering – but it may mean less access for families already stretched thin
By Y. Tony Yang The Conversation When federal health officials announced on Jan. 5, 2026, that they were taking six out of 17 vaccines off the childhood immunization schedule, they argued that the move would give parents and caregivers more choice. Instead of all U.S. children routinely receiving them, these six vaccines are now optional […]
Posted inPrison Health
Amid shortage of juvenile detention beds, a facility in Mecklenburg sits empty
By Rachel Crumpler Mecklenburg County sent the second-highest number of young people into North Carolina’s detention system last year — yet it has no juvenile detention center. In 2025, 2,186 people were admitted to juvenile detention centers statewide, according to data provided to NC Health News by the state Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency […]