Pew Trusts

Cannabis confusion pushes states to ban smokable hemp

January 15, 2020 by Pew Trusts

Cannabis confusion pushes states to ban smokable hemp - North Carolina Health News

Lawmakers came and left Raleigh this week to return in April, leaving many issues unresolved. One of the big questions is what to do about smokable hemp, which some law enforcement worry looks too much like marijuana.

By Sophie Quinton Stateline Hemp plants can be made into anything from rope and insulation to granola. But today, most U.S. hemp farmers are growing hemp to produce cannabinoids, such as CBD — which means they’re growing plants that look like marijuana, smell like marijuana and, increasingly, are rolled into joints and smoked like marijuana. […]

An exam room in a clinic or a rural hospital.

Rural and safety net hospitals prepare for cut in federal support

November 11, 2019 by Pew Trusts

Rural and safety net hospitals prepare for cut in federal support - North Carolina Health News

Rural and safety net hospitals face unwelcome choices about how to handle the coming cuts from an Obamacare provision that reduce federal support for charity care.

By: Michael Ollove Stateline Absent action by Congress in the next few weeks, Dr. Michael Waldrum, CEO of Vidant Health, is going to have to figure out what medical services to deny hard-pressed communities in rural eastern North Carolina. “It runs the gamut,” Waldrum said in an interview last week. “Do we close hospitals? Do […]

Opioid settlements spark debate on how to spend the money

August 19, 2019 by Pew Trusts

Opioid settlements spark debate on how to spend the money - North Carolina Health News

As states' lawsuits against opioid manufacturers start to settle, advocates look to the two-decade old tobacco settlement for lessons.

By Christine Vestal Stateline In the first trial aimed at holding drug companies accountable for the opioid crisis, Oklahoma earlier this year reeled in more than $350 million in settlement payments from drugmakers Purdue Pharma and Teva. But skirmishes between the attorney general and a group including the governor, lawmakers and local governments over who […]

shows a box containing naloxone pre-filled syringe

Opioid Overdose Drug Reaches Too Few Patients

August 14, 2019 by Pew Trusts

Opioid Overdose Drug Reaches Too Few Patients - North Carolina Health News

Only a fraction of the people who use opioids, whether illegally or by prescription, have access to naloxone, which can be lifesaving, according to the CDC.

By Christine Vestal Stateline Use of the opioid overdose rescue drug naloxone has skyrocketed in recent years. But only 1 in 70 chronic pain patients at high risk of overdose are receiving it, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2017, 47,600 Americans died from an overdose involving […]

a doctor in a darkened room examines xrays of breast tissue to look for cancer.

Black women more likely to die of breast cancer – especially in the South

May 22, 2019 by Pew Trusts

Black women more likely to die of breast cancer – especially in the South - North Carolina Health News

Treatment advances have improved breast cancer survival rates among all U.S. women, but the disparity between white and black women has grown, especially in the Southeast.

By Max Blau Stateline When Felicia Mahone was 27, she felt her breast and found a mass. Breast cancer had killed nearly all the women in her family — her mother, two aunts and two cousins. Her doctor, though, downplayed the lump, assuring her everything would be all right. For months, Mahone resumed her busy […]

shows a smiling little girl at a table with flowers, a little boy is in the background, just out of focus. they're both at a summer school lunches program. School lunch programs were suspended because of COVID-19, but school districts across North Carolina came up with alternatives.

New Rules Could Open More Homes to Foster Kids

January 3, 2019 by Pew Trusts

New Rules Could Open More Homes to Foster Kids - North Carolina Health News

The new national rules are seen as more flexible, written to enable more foster families to get licensed while protecting the safety and well-being of children.

By Teresa Wiltz Stateline Amid an opioid crisis that has increased the need for foster care, states are struggling to find enough foster families to take in kids. A shortage of affordable housing in many places is making the problem even worse. But some foster care advocates hope new federal guidelines will make it easier […]

shows a man in a John Deere hat with a beard and wearing work clothes standing at a podium and speaking about Medicaid while lawmakers dressed in suits look on

Red States May Be Ready to Expand Medicaid — In Exchange for Work

August 7, 2018 by Pew Trusts

Red States May Be Ready to Expand Medicaid — In Exchange for Work - North Carolina Health News

The effort to give health care benefits to low-income residents has come with the proviso that able-bodied adults work or volunteer in order to retain the assistance. Might that be the way forward for North Carolina?

By Christine Vestal Stateline Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin says he doesn’t want more able-bodied poor people to get Medicaid in his state unless a portion of them are required to work. And when Republicans in Virginia agreed to expand Medicaid this year, they also said recipients who are able would have to work. In […]

shows three pill bottles for diazepam, clonazepam and alprazolam

These Pills Could Be Next U.S. Drug Epidemic, Public Health Officials Say

July 20, 2018 by Pew Trusts

These Pills Could Be Next U.S. Drug Epidemic, Public Health Officials Say - North Carolina Health News

Even as the nation moves to address the proliferation of opioid drugs, prescriptions for anti-anxiety benzodiazepine drugs is on the rise.

By Christine Vestal Stateline The growing use of anti-anxiety pills reminds some doctors of the early days of the opioid crisis. Considered relatively safe and non-addictive by the general public and many doctors, Xanax, Valium, Ativan and Klonopin have been prescribed to millions of Americans for decades to calm jittery nerves and promote a good […]

man stands looking across a fence with two young children

Will the New Foster Care Law Give Grandparents a Hand?

July 13, 2018 by Pew Trusts

Will the New Foster Care Law Give Grandparents a Hand? - North Carolina Health News

A new law will change the way federal money goes to pay for foster care, favoring care by extended family. Will the law make it easier for families, or harder?

By Teresa Wiltz Stateline The aim of a new federal law is to reduce the number of children who end up in the troubled foster care system — the biggest reboot of the child welfare system since 1980. But already, the Family First Prevention Services Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in February, […]

To Curb Rising Health Insurance Costs, Some States Try ‘Reinsurance Pools’

April 17, 2018 by Pew Trusts

To Curb Rising Health Insurance Costs, Some States Try ‘Reinsurance Pools’ - North Carolina Health News

Some states' legislatures are experimenting with creative ways to bring down the cost of health insurance for their residents.

By Michael Ollove Stateline A couple of years ago, the health insurance exchange in Minnesota – MNsure – was in deep trouble. Health insurance premiums for individual policies had shot up by as much as 67 percent, among the steepest increases in the country. Insurers were abandoning the market, leaving 116,000 Minnesotans with scant choices. […]

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