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U.S. Judge Rules Insurers Don’t Have to Cover Many Free Preventive Health Services

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer screenings, HIV prevention pharmaceuticals and more — that a federal agency given new powers under Obamacare required health insurance companies to cover. Read more.

by Jennifer Shutt, Alabama Reflector

Lead keeps poisoning children. It doesn’t have to.

SANTA ANA, California — The news came as a shock: Lead, lurking somewhere in Nalleli Garrido's home, was poisoning her 1-year-old son. His pediatrician instructed her to clean all the toys of her toddler, Ruben, keep the home dust-free and prevent him from playing in the bare soil outside her rented bungalow in Santa Ana’s Logan neighborhood. She did all she could. But the dust kept sneaking in. No one offered an alternative. The only solution she and her husband could find was to get out. In 2019, after two years of constant worry, they moved north to the city of Buena Park, buying a home with a grassy yard — not an exposed patch of soil like her Santa Ana front yard, where the toxic metal could be found in concentrations as high as 148 parts of lead per million parts of soil. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment considers 80 parts per million and above dangerous for children. “I was terrified to take my son out,” said Garrido, a psychiatric nurse. “Even walking through the yard, I would tell my kids to hold their breath. ‘Don’t breathe that in, don’t breathe in the dust.’” Read more.

by Yvette Cabrera, Center for Public Integrity

Working Group Appointed to Learn What Went Wrong With Response to the Moody Landfill Fire

The Alabama Department of Environment Management on Friday announced the formation of a working group to assess whether changes in laws, regulations and resources are needed following the fire at the vegetative waste disposal site near Moody. In a press conference, ADEM officials said the fire revealed shortcomings in the ability and authority of state and local governments to respond to situations that are outside the scope of their regulated activities but pose risks to the public. The working group will examine the response to the fire and make recommendations for improving the ability of state and local agencies to respond to similar emergencies in the future. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Alabama Health Officer Reflects on Lessons Learned From COVID-19

Three years ago, Alabamians were beginning to see the impacts of a new respiratory virus sweeping the nation.  “Everybody remembers watching in horror at what was transpiring in Washington State in this skilled nursing facility,” recalled Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. “We just didn’t know how much we didn’t know.” Harris made the comments during a monthly meeting of the Alabama Board of Health on Thursday. He discussed lessons learned from the pandemic and future challenges amid the looming removal of a federal emergency declaration. Read more.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

Work on Landfill Fire ‘Proceeding Well,’ ADEM Director Says

ADEM Director Lance LeFleur said on Friday that smoke from the underground landfill in Moody has been greatly reduced and the EPA expects the fire to be out in a matter of weeks, or sooner. He said work on putting out the fire is proceeding well, and ADEM and EPA are continuing to monitor air and water quality in the area. Read more.

by Virginia Martin
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