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🧵The big fear with opioid settlement💰is that it will be spent on things unrelated to addiction—like tobacco💰was. So when a rural TN county used $2.4M+ to pay old debts & capital funds, advocates raised alarms. I looked into it for KFF Health News CNN cnn.com/2023/05/15/hea…

The federal government’s arcane process for medical coding is influencing which reconstructive surgery options are available, creating anxiety for breast cancer patients. I teamed up with AnnaWerner @cbsnews to investigate. @kffhealthnews kffhealthnews.org/news/article/h…

A new report from the Colorado Department of Insurance has quantified, for the first time, the number of Americans who use health sharing plans instead of health insurance. In addition to the top line number, the report had a number of interesting findings. A thread…

Changes to aviation regulations after 9/11 moved transplant organs from plane's cabin to cargo, limiting which planes are available for organ transport. A bill to bring them back up to cabins is being considered by Congress. USA TODAY w/ KFF Health News usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

'RV at the hospital yet?' New from KFF Health News by @cnsaintlouis with assists from Katheryn Houghton in Montana and Rae Ellen Bichell in Colorado. cbsnews.com/news/hospitals… via CBS News

Here it is. My latest for KFF Health News & NPR about Mendocino County in rural, northern California. They have the highest rate of overdose deaths in the state. And a budget deficit of ~$6M. Some of their opioid settlement $ went to fill that hole. npr.org/sections/healt…

When a person "suddenly" died in law enforcement custody, a two-word term often appeared in police reports, the autopsy or both EXCITED DELIRIUM We've tied 150+ deaths in US to it. Almost all happened during/after restraint Now there's a new push to kill the term A🧵... 1/

🧵Govts are using opioid settlement💰many ways, but a recurring theme I’ve found is investing in law enforcement: -$18K for phone unlocking tech in CT -$25K for a police conference in CO -$200K for a jail body scanner in MI My KFF Health News & NPR story: npr.org/sections/healt…

#THREAD: As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are eyeing the gold rush, raising fears that corporate ambition will gobble up the windfall. My latest for @kffhealthnews. kffhealthnews.org/news/article/o…

I have a story in the Washington Post! It's a policy-focused version of my story on rural EMS deserts, ambulance telehealth, and a South Dakota man who benefited from that tech after being gored by a bison. washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

I’m happy to announce that I joined KFF Health News this week in California, where I’ll write in-depth health stories about Northern CA and issues and policies affecting Latinos. Tips? Ideas? Coffee? You can reach me at [email protected]

How a friend’s death turned Colorado teens into anti-overdose activists denverpost.com/2024/03/04/col… by Rae Ellen Bichell / KFF Health News

In South Dakota, the gap was 22 years. "It's almost blasphemy for a physician to say," but "the answer to addressing these things is not hiring more doctors+nurses," a Lakota doctor said. "The answer is having more community-based preventions." For KFF Health News+CBS News:

I had the privilege of speaking with 9NEWS Denver about my reporting on the jump in air ambulance claim denials. They found this in CO, too, despite new patient legal protections. Thank you, Steve Staeger, for making my first TV interview not too scary. 📽️ 9news.com/article/money/…

EXCLUSIVE: Farmers & vets recount the first nervous months of bird flu H5N1 in Texas. “People tend to think that an outbreak starts at Monday at 9 a.m. with a sign saying, ‘Outbreak has started,’” said Jeremy Farrar “It’s rarely like that.” 🧵 kffhealthnews.org/news/article/b…

“We need to protect ourselves because you never know,” one Colorado dairy worker said in Spanish. “I tell my wife and son that the cows are sick, and she tells me to leave, but it will be the same wherever I go." kffhealthnews.org/MTkwNDI3Ng by Rae Ellen Bichell via @kffhealthnews

On the #MAHA tour this morning in Arizona, Secretary Kennedy will hear from tribal leaders about the opportunities and challenges related to self-governance in health care at the Tribal Self Governance Conference. I’m here for KFF Health News

🚨 The NIH’s sweeping cuts of research grants are inflicting pain almost universally across the U.S., Rae Ellen Bichell and I found. At least 43% of organizations that had grants terminated are public universities. About 40% are in states Trump won in November.