Healthcare
Abortion clinics file for restraining order in federal court
In new filings in federal court on Monday, eight Tennessee abortion clinics challenging a heartbeat abortion ban outlined the consequences on patients and asked for an immediate temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to prevent the measure from ever taking effect. The measure, one of the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation, was approved […]
House approves measure allowing nurses to prescribe opioid care
A measure to widely expand the number of healthcare providers legally allowed to prescribe medications used to treat individuals with opioid addiction in Tennessee has landed on the desk of Gov. Bill Lee. Tennessee, thus far, has been the only state in the nation that has barred nurse practitioners or physician assistance from providing medication-assisted […]
State House committee advances bill criminalizing abortion after heartbeat detected
A bill criminalizing abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected was approved by members of a House health committee on Tuesday, even as some lawmakers voting in favor of it said they had not read it in its final form, including one of the bill’s sponsors. The bill was amended by Rep. Bryan Terry, R-Murfreesboro, […]
Tennessee hospitals losing $1 billion each month
Tennessee’s hospitals are collectively losing $1 billion each month, for a projected total of about $3.5 billion since the pandemic began, Wendy Long, president and CEO of the Tennessee Hospital Association told lawmakers Wednesday. While federal and state funding and grants have begun to flow to the state’s hospitals, there remains a “significant financial deficit,” […]
Tennessee’s contact tracing efforts under fire from right and left, but state says effort going well so far
Two months ago, the Tennessee Department of Health’s contact tracing program was merely a simplistic, uncontroversial tool to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases. If a college student contracted a sexually transmitted disease, contact tracers from the health department would reach out to the student’s partners to inform them they had been exposed. If […]
TN rural hospitals back bill to save money on pharmaceutical costs
For nearly 30 years, nonprofit hospitals, clinics and health centers providing safety-net care have taken advantage of a federal program that provides them with cheaper prescription drugs. Under the federal 340B program, approved nonprofits and providers treating a high percentage of indigent patients purchase the outpatient drugs for less from pharmaceutical companies but are then […]
Opioids and COVID: Caught between two epidemics
Mark Sriedfertg was helping a friend move last week, when he noticed she had disappeared. He found her in the bathroom, blue-lipped and unconscious on the floor. “I didn’t have Narcan,” said Sriedfertg, who, at 58, has been in recovery from opioid addiction for nine months. “I applied ice to her groin and the top […]
BCBS posts drop in numbers of insured
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee saw a drop of of 15,743 in commercially-insured members in April, according to data provided by the state’s largest insurer. The loss of coverage for individuals formerly covered through employer-sponsored insurers represents a fraction of the insurer’s 1.5 million customers. But the data is too early to capture the full extent […]
Southern Christian Coalition calls on Lee to expand Medicaid
Gov. Bill Lee is putting vulnerable Tennesseans at risk by reopening the economy too soon and failing to accept federal funds for Medicaid expansion, members of the Southern Christian Coalition said Thursday. During a Thursday press conference, three pastors from across Tennessee called on Gov. Lee to expand Medicaid in Tennessee and to address the […]
From hospital, Justice Ginsburg slams Trump birth control rules
WASHINGTON — Hospitalization for a gallbladder condition didn’t stop U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from assailing Trump administration’s birth control rules on Wednesday. Ginsburg, 87, was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday night, but was animated as she participated in an oral argument via teleconference surrounding a Trump administration policy that allows […]
Abortion wars in Tennessee expand to new fronts during pandemic
A week after Gov. Bill Lee urged Tennessee schools to shut down, as an initial wave of coronavirus cases grew to 600, Tennessee Right to Life filed a little-noticed lawsuit against Planned Parenthood and the city of Knoxville.
Trump’s order to keep meat plants open imperils workers, critics say
Democratic senators are accusing President Donald Trump of putting workers at risk by ordering meat and poultry processors to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Democrats are asking Trump to amend an executive order he signed last week, which declared meat plants to be “critical infrastructure” and ordered his administration to ensure that they […]