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Kayla Medina, center, claps during a drug court session on Oct. 3, 2023. Medina is among those opposing plans to end Cowlitz County's mental health sales tax. | TROY BRYNELSON/OPB

Cowlitz County social programs in limbo as officials eye expiration of mental health sales tax

The tax helps pay for mobile crisis units used by local police, mental health services in the jail, and programs like the drug court in the southwestern Washington county

Oct 12, 2023

MOHAMED HASSAN/PIXABAY

Insurers often shortchange mental health care coverage, despite a federal law

The Biden administration is pushing insurers and state regulators to ensure that mental health care is treated like other care

Oct 12, 2023

Man stands in driveway in front of pickup truck.

Ron Irby had an Optetrak artificial knee implanted in his right leg in September 2018. Most implants last 15 years or more, but Irby’s Optetrak implant, made by Exactech in Gainesville, Florida, wore out in 2021, according to a lawsuit he filed against the company. | MATT PENDLETON/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Thousands got Exactech knee or hip replacements. Then, patients say, the parts began to fail.

More than 1,100 patients have sued, with some claiming the company tried to conceal or delay problems before recalling artificial hips, knees and ankles

Oct 12, 2023

St. Charles Health System in Bend. | COURTESY OF ST. CHARLES HEALTH SYSTEM

St. Charles cuts ties with 3 Medicare Advantage plans as enrollment looms

Starting in 2024, the Central Oregon health system will no longer be considered in-network for Humana, HealthNet and WellCare — affecting about 6,000 seniors

Oct 10, 2023
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Protesters gather in opposition to the closure of the neonatal intensive care unit at Holston Valley Medical Center, a Ballad Health hospital, in 2019. | DANI COOK/KFF HEALTH NEWS

These Appalachia hospitals made big promises to gain a monopoly. They’re failing to deliver.

Ballad Health has not met many of the quality benchmarks nor provided much of the charity after becoming the only option for hospital care for most of about 1.1 million residents in the 29-county region

Oct 10, 2023

SHUTTERSTOCK

Senator calls for DOJ action against Philips for keeping CPAP machine complaints secret

The request comes after revelations the global company withheld thousands of warnings about popular breathing machines capable of spewing hazardous particles and fumes into the masks of patients

Oct 10, 2023

IULIIA BONDARENKO/PIXABAY

Paid family leave: $15 million in benefits the first month

Paid Leave Oregon sped up its claim processing time in recent weeks, with a 162% increase since the program started

Oct 10, 2023
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MYLÉNE/PIXABAY

Congenital syphilis rates are soaring, but resources to stem infections are lacking

The condition disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous babies

Oct 10, 2023

File: Necia Cage Pankey, a frontline worker at Kaiser Permanente’s Sunnyside Medical Center, chants with the crowd at a press conference held at the Oregon AFL-CIO offices in Portland, Sept. 14, 2023. SEIU members who work at Kaiser ended their strike at 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, though members of another union remained on strike. | KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB

Some Kaiser Permanente workers return, while pharmacy strike continues

Members of the Service Employees International Union returned to work at 6 a.m. Saturday. The strike that has shuttered several Kaiser Permanente pharmacies in Oregon continues.

Oct 10, 2023

SHUTTERSTOCK

State wants input on CareOregon merger

California-based SCAN Group would absorb the nonprofit that oversees health care for 500,000 low-income Oregonians, but many details have not been disclosed to the public

Oct 10, 2023
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