Columbus
North Carolina Health News
Medicaid expansion means new oral health benefits for hundreds of thousands of people. Will NC dentists step up?
When North Carolina expanded Medicaid this month to give more than half a million people access to government-subsidized health care, those new beneficiaries could gain even brighter smiles. The state’s Medicaid program offers comprehensive oral health benefits such as routine cleanings, exams and other preventative services. Care deemed “medically necessary”...
NC pushes back Medicaid unwinding for kids
North Carolina children insured through Medicaid will remain covered for another year as the state works its way through recertifications of everyone on the program. Health experts praise the move, which they say should help protect children from losing coverage over procedural issues when they would otherwise still be eligible during the process known as the “unwinding,” where states have been disenrolling people who gained Medicaid during the pandemic.
Charlotte hospitals say ‘no thanks’ to charity’s efforts to erase medical debt
Earlier this year, Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem received national attention for doing something extraordinary: It erased nearly $3.3 million in medical debt for 3,355 local families living below the poverty line. The tiny church, with an average attendance of about 75 on Sundays, did it by raising $15,000 and...
Access to abortion fraught with more logistical challenges as patients confront increased restrictions
“I don’t know how I’m gonna find a babysitter. Who’s gonna take care of my kids?”. Kell Rippy said they frequently hear patients express these challenges and a list of others while working as a patient navigator at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. Rippy’s job is to help abortion seekers sort through logistical challenges to care, whether in their home state or if they need to seek care in another state.
Progress steady toward opening Ocracoke Island’s first pharmacy
Christie Woolard, manager of what will soon be arguably the most remote pharmacy in North Carolina, joked that she has a “terrible commute to work each day.”. In reality, Woolard more or less works from home. She lives with her dog in an apartment above Ocracoke Health Center Pharmacy on Ocracoke Island in the state’s Outer Banks.
Concerns persist even as the EPA denies Chemours permission to import waste
Late last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to say that it had rescinded permission for Chemours to import GenX from its Dordrecht Works facility in the Netherlands. As reported initially in NC Newsline, the EPA had given Chemours tentative permission to import...
NC donors should take in-depth look at professional fundraisers
Good-hearted North Carolinians, many of them older people who are beseeched daily by charities for donations, can find reams of helpful state-compiled information on professional agencies and businesses that solicit for nonprofits. Before letting warm impulses separate you from your cold cash, it’s a good idea to consult sources such...
From creeks to clouds: The invisible invasion of microplastics
Judging by recent developments, microplastics have risen to the status of supervillain. Reports about these new anti-heros read almost like celebrity sightings. The tiny particles are everywhere: in water, on land, on mountaintops, in humans and animals — and even in the clouds. Microplastic compounds are defined as being...
Medicaid expansion in N.C. launches today, here are answers to some common questions
Medicaid expansion finally launched Friday in North Carolina, giving an estimated 600,000 low-income residents across the state access to health insurance. Here are answers to some questions you may have about expansion and what it means for the state. Who is now eligible for Medicaid in North Carolina?. People ages...
Health care provided in jails likely falls short of community standards, survey says
On any given day, about 20,000 people are incarcerated inside North Carolina’s county jails. These individuals are more likely than the general population to have substance use disorders, mental health problems, chronic diseases and infectious diseases, according to years of research. Despite the large health care needs of this...
Navassa residents roll up their sleeves to participate in PFAS exposure study
Usually, the Town of Navassa’s Community Center parking lot is empty on Sundays, but that wasn’t the case the weekend before Thanksgiving. Navassa, a predominantly Black community, is in Brunswick County and gets its drinking water from the Cape Fear River, as does its neighbor Wilmington, which is about six miles southeast. That makes the town’s residents prime candidates to join the GenX Exposure Study, a multisite study where environmental health researchers are examining the blood of people who’ve been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have contaminated waterways throughout the state.
Teen sexual extortion cases rising online, NC officials warn
As teens spend more time on social media, parents need to watch for signs that they are being exploited, North Carolina officials warn. Between 2021 and 2022, the FBI saw a 600 percent increase in “sextortion” cases in North Carolina, state Attorney General Josh Stein said in a recent webinar. In sextortion cases, a criminal threatens to expose or publish sexual content of the victim if the victim doesn’t provide more sexual imagery, meet in person for sex or pay the extortioner with money or gift cards.
How much do we know about suicide and self-harm that happen during incarceration?
Christopher Brandon Propst, a 44-year-old at Piedmont Correctional Institution, died of an apparent suicide on Saturday, Nov. 18. The N.C. Department of Adult Correction announced the death in a news release on its website the following Monday. Propst is the latest to die by suicide in the state prison system....
North Carolina gears up for challenges ahead of Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1
If not for Medicaid, the majority of residents of Robeson County wouldn’t have health insurance. Fifty-four percent of people in this rural community — home to 116,530 at the 2020 Census — are beneficiaries of the government-funded program. The county had 63,549 Medicaid enrollees in October, the eighth highest number recorded of the state’s 100 counties.
NC raising Medicaid rates for behavioral health providers for first time since 2012
Medicaid expansion, a decade-in-the-making measure that is expected to provide health insurance to more than 600,000 low-income North Carolinians, will take effect in less than two weeks. But the coverage created by expansion is only useful if eligible residents have access to health care providers that accept Medicaid. That’s particularly...
North Carolina Health News
1K+
Posts
5M+
Views
Founded in November 2011 as a North Carolina nonprofit, NCHN is an independent news organization devoted to covering health care in the state.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.