The Biden administration on Thursday released guidance reiterating that free birth control is guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act, regardless of what state a person might live in.
Driving the news: The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury issued the guidance in response to "increasing complaints" they've received from people who say they were not receiving this coverage and that plans and issuers were not following the law, HHS and DOL officials said in a press call.
Around 60% of clinics offering abortions in the 11 states that have either near-total or six-week abortion bans have shut down in the month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute.
The big picture: Since the court's ruling, 14 states in total have moved to ban nearly all abortions or restrict access to them. In total, at least 26 states are "certain or likely" to ban abortion now that Roe is no longer in place — and more clinics are expected to close.
One in four LGBTQ young people experiencing high levels of trauma said they had attempted suicide in 2021, according to a survey from The Trevor Project released Thursday.
The big picture: Over 300 anti-LGBTQ laws have been introduced this year and at least 25 have passed. Medical experts say the rancor surrounding such policies can weigh heavily on LGBTQ young people's mental health.
Even if Democrats soon pass a massive health care bill on a party line vote, there's a chance they could fail to deliver on one of their most politically appealing drug price reforms: capping what patients pay out-of-pocket for insulin.
Between the lines: Insulin-specific policies are absent from a compromise reconciliation deal while a bipartisan pair of senators push standalone insulin legislation. But the two-track approach risks leaving the insulin bill behind and alienating patients with diabetes heading into the midterms.
Democrats'anxiety over access to birth control is peaking as more red states attempt to adopt restrictions on emergency contraception and IUDs and could move to potentially ban them.
The big picture: Congressional Democrats are trying to codify some Supreme Court precedents addressing contraception, anticipating the court's 6-3 conservative majority could overturn them in a future term, said Kaiser Family Foundation senior vice president Alina Salganicoff.
The CDC issued a warning Wednesday after a bacteria that could be deadly was found in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi near the homes of two people who were hospitalized after becoming sick.
Why it matters: It's the first time the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei has been detected in water and soil samples in the U.S., according to the CDC's health alert. "This bacterium causes a rare and serious disease called melioidosis," the CDC said.
A procedural vote to advance a bill that would expand health care access for military veterans who became ill after being exposed to toxic burn pits failed to pass in the Senate on Wednesday.
Driving the news: Eight Republicans joined Democrats in the 55-42 vote — five short of the 60 votes required to advance the legislation. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) switched his vote from yes to no so the bill could return to the Senate, CNN notes. Three Senators didn't vote on the measure.
One in every 20 people who contract COVID-19 have long-term smell or taste problems due to the virus, new research suggests.
Driving the news: About 5% of people worldwide report smell and taste dysfunction six months after COVID, according to a study published Wednesday in The BMJ, the British Medical Association's peer-reviewed medical journal.
A state judge in North Dakota on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state's trigger abortion ban, a day before it was scheduled to take effect.
Driving the news: The state's only abortion clinic — Red River Women's Clinic — had sued the state arguing the ban violated the North Dakota Constitution.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on Wednesday blocked a unanimous consent request to pass legislation that would have created a federal right to birth control use.
Driving the news: Democrats moved to pass the bill through unanimous consent — meaning the bill would have been deemed passed had no one objected —in response to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, in which he said the Supreme Court should reconsider its precedents that protect access to contraceptives.
A judge in Wyoming on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state's trigger abortion ban, just hours after the law took effect.
Driving the news: Health providers filed a lawsuit against Wyoming state officials earlier this week challenging the law, saying that it violates the state's constitution because it takes away people's rights around family composition and making decisions around their private health care.
President Biden has twice tested negative for coronavirus and will "discontinue his strict isolation measures," his physician wrote in a letter on Wednesday.
State of play: Biden will continue to wear a "well-fitting mask" for 10 full days when he's around others, Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor, said.
Democrats' push to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices has been limited to older drugs without generic competition, but even so, many of the program's costliest medicines would still be eligible.
Why it matters: Direct government negotiations would plug some holes in the system, which is dependent on market competition to contain prices. But it turns out there are a lot of holes, and even older drugs with generic competition can cost the federal government billions of dollars each year.
