Tag: health care

Health Officials Watching Hospitals During the Season of Flu, COVID and RSV

The normal winter flu season is in full swing in Alabama, but this year COVID and RSV are joining the mix. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks the state among seven others with the highest rates for respiratory disease.

Alabama health officials say there has been a 3.2% increase in hospital admissions statewide for the three viral diseases, but there is no shortage of treatment facilities or hospital beds across the state.

But they warn that, with the workplace and schools opened after the holidays, the numbers could climb. Read more.

10 Medicaid Holdout States Scramble to Improve Health Coverage

The Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid are trying a variety of strategies to save struggling hospitals and cover more people without full expansion, which was one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. In Alabama, a single parent with two children can’t qualify for Medicaid if he or she makes more than $4,476 per year. Read more.

Heart Disease, Hypertension Take Toll on Alabama Women

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, both nationally and in Alabama. Alabama had the third-highest rate of death from heart disease in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only trailing Oklahoma and Mississippi. That year, the death rate from heart disease for Alabama women was 193.7 per 100,000, compared to 135.6 for women nationwide. Read more.

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.