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John Stejer sits in front of his home and holds a photo of his mother, Betty Stejer, 88, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Everett, Washington. John moved his mother to Arizona in 2022 due to the difficulty of finding Medicaid-approved housing for her. | RYAN BERRY / THE HERALD

A Washington man’s struggle to get mom into assisted living: $22K, 1,500 miles

John Stejer’s mother, 86, is eligible for Medicaid. But he discovered no place in the state would take her. “I was actually in disbelief.”

May 30, 2023

Some of the drugs, guns and cash confiscated by law enforcement in Oregon and Western Washington in a single month, April 2023. Drugs, especially fentanyl, are coming into the state in unprecedented quantities. Photos provided from Vancouver Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police. | KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB

‘It’s crazy out there’: The reasons behind Oregon’s deepening drug crisis

Fueled by fentanyl, the number of overdose deaths in Oregon has soared since 2019. And while the surge in overdoses is part of a national problem, the state’s underfunded treatment system is struggling to provide local solutions.

May 30, 2023

PIXABAY

Mammograms at 40? Breast cancer screening guidelines spark fresh debate

Some doctors and researchers are raising questions about the data and the reasoning behind lowering the age

May 30, 2023

SHUTTERSTOCK

Oregon Health Authority says so far most people will keep Medicaid as eligibility checks resume

Oregon’s comparatively drawn-out approach to the Medicaid review will take up more complicated cases in the coming months

May 25, 2023
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An employee of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services helps a consumer pick a health care plan on the federal online health insurance marketplace. | DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES

Oregon health insurers propose premium hikes

Premiums for some individuals and small businesses could go up 8% or more, according to new filings

May 25, 2023
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Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, presiding over the chamber on March 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Stacks of health care bills in limbo as stances harden in Salem

They include legislation impacting Measure 110, hospital staffing levels, the opioid crisis and CCOs

May 25, 2023

An image of Dr. Jeffery Dormu appears on an electronic billboard outside the Minimally Invasive Vascular Center, which he founded, in Laurel, Maryland. | SHURAN HUANG/PROPUBLICA

In the “wild west” of outpatient vascular care, doctors can reap huge payments as patients risk life and limb

To move vascular procedures out of expensive hospitals, the government turbocharged payments to doctors’ offices — but started a boom that is making doctors rich and putting patients in danger

May 25, 2023

a white woman's hands clutch a pillow in a hospital bed

ALEXANDER GREY / PIXABAY

Abortion bans are driving off doctors and closing clinics, putting basic health care at risk

In conservative states, a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living there

May 25, 2023

Efforts by state officials to restrict the rights of transgender Floridians have led Josie (center), a high school sophomore, to move to Rhode Island without her parents, Sarah (left) and Eric. | STEPHANIE COLOMBINI / WUSF

A trans teen no longer feels welcome in Florida. So she left.

Fearful of losing access to gender-affirming care and pained by the passage of “Don’t Say Gay” in presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis’ state, Josie, 16, fled to Rhode Island, leaving her parents behind

May 25, 2023