Kaiser Health News

Smoke and unrelenting heat have driven people to seek refuge at libraries, movie theaters, museums and other indoor venues

Rocky Vista University, which has a campus in Colorado, is one of two organizations planning new Montana medical schools. People who provide hands-on experiences for students worry the state doesn't have enough clinical opportunities to support the flood of new students.

In rural America, it’s increasingly difficult for ambulance services to respond to emergencies. One factor is that emergency medical services are struggling to find young volunteers to replace retiring EMTs

With no local access to prescription drugs, Walden residents are taking advantage of anyone’s trip to bigger cities to pick up medications for the rest of the town

Agricultural workers living in employer-owned housing can have trouble getting health care. It’s a symptom of bigger gaps in worker protections that the pandemic spotlighted, say proponents of a newly passed Colorado bill for farmworker rights.

While none of the efforts alone would result in broad-based, deep cuts, state officials estimate the combined impact of the various measures could save Coloradans between 20% and 40% in out-of-pocket costs

The state wants some of the 34 hospital-owned free-standing ERs converted to other purposes, such as providing primary care or mental health services.

The stigma of acknowledging the need for mental health care can prevent people from seeking it.

111 rural counties, mostly between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, have no pharmacy that can give the vaccines. But counties in Colorado pharmacy deserts still are getting vaccines to residents.

Marilyn Bartlett, credited with saving Montana’s state employee health plan millions of dollars, is a busy consultant now, as states, counties and big businesses try to use her playbook to bring down hospital costs.

Some cuts to Colorado's mental health budgets have been restored, but providers still are worried.

Early on Colorado eased some licensing requirement in anticipation of a worker shortage. Through mid-December, 36 foreign-trained doctors sought temporary licenses, although only one met all the criteria.

For the newly vaccinated ferrets, the main risk is to the animals themselves. They’re part of a captive population at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center outside Fort Collins where there have been no cases of COVID-19 to date

The skiing itself doesn’t feel much different during the pandemic. But “the après ski scene is just gone,” one Telluride visitor said.

181 public health employees, including at least 14 in Colorado, have left jobs as the typically invisible army charged with preventing the spread of infectious diseases has become a public punching bag.

Former DaVita CEO Kent Thiry has given $5.9 million to support ballot measures since 2011. All of them won.

Long-standing health care disparities, job insecurity, immigration status, language barriers and a profound distrust of government all complicate the already tricky task

Dire need for staff in places like Fargo, North Dakota, has created a new class of traveling nurses

Data from early-adopter governments suggests even those who download the app and use it might not follow directions at the most critical juncture

As new COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths surge, many public health experts wonder whether it’s time to move beyond the anything-goes approach toward more standardization and higher-quality masks