By Jaymie Baxley Under a new federal rule, home health care providers in North Carolina will be required to put most of the money they receive from Medicaid toward workers’ wages. The policy, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on April 22 as part of the Biden administration’s Expanding Access to Medicaid […]
Posted inHospitals
HCA pruned staff at Mission Hospital, reaped soaring profits, academic study finds
By Grace Vitaglione, Carolina Public Press Staff cuts have driven up patient-care profits at Mission Hospital in Asheville after HCA Healthcare acquired the facility, according to a draft report by Mark Hall, director of the health law and policy program at Wake Forest University. The report tracked the hospital’s profits from 2011 to 2022 and […]
Posted inGender health
NC abortion providers brace for influx of patients from the South
By Rachel Crumpler A six-week abortion ban taking effect today in Florida will usher in a significant shift in abortion access in the South. The new restrictions position North Carolina as one of the last places in the South that allows abortion past six weeks of pregnancy — a point at which many women do […]
Posted inChildren's Health
NC lawmakers receive competing firearm regulation messages
By Jennifer Fernandez Gun rights supporters want North Carolina to continue relaxing restrictions, asking legislators last week to get rid of the state permit required to carry a concealed firearm. Grassroots North Carolina filed a petition that organizers said had more than 7,000 signatures in support of House Bill 189, or the “Freedom to Carry […]
Posted inMental Health
North Carolina to expand peer-led crisis services in push for more mental health support
By Taylor Knopf North Carolinians in need of mental health support now have more places to call — and soon will have more places to go — for help. The state health department is investing more money in a greater array of mental health crisis services, including those run by peer support specialists. In addition […]
Posted inRural Health
Rural communities face primary care physician shortage
By Liz Carey A new study from the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Robert Graham Center (AAFP), co-funded by the Milbank Memorial Fund and The Physicians Foundation, has found that communities across the country are struggling to meet the demand for primary care physicians, as well as to retain those physicians in their communities. While it’s difficult […]