Health Care
Minnesota’s racial disparities on drug overdose are the worst in the nation
New data released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that drug overdose deaths are rising more rapidly among Black and Indigenous Americans than they are among white people — and Minnesota’s disparities are the worst in the nation. From 2019 to 2020, according to the analysis, fatal overdoses increased by […]
Conservative blocs unleash litigation to curb public health powers
Through a wave of pandemic-related litigation, a trio of small but mighty conservative legal blocs has rolled back public health authority at the local, state and federal levels, recasting America’s future battles against infectious diseases. Galvanized by what they’ve characterized as an overreach of COVID-19-related health orders issued amid the pandemic, lawyers from the three […]
Allina ordered to pay $400,000 to union, faces many more anti-labor complaints
The union representing Allina’s maintenance and service staff won a major victory this month when an arbitrator ruled the health care system must pay about $400,000 in restitution for halting the collection of union dues after their labor contract expired. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa says Allina sought to kneecap the union during a critical […]
Lower insulin co-pays, list prices targeted in new bipartisan U.S. Senate bill
WASHINGTON — Two key senators have unveiled the details of a bipartisan plan to lower costs for insulin, a lifesaving drug that some Americans have struggled to afford in recent years as prices have skyrocketed. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, introduced the measure in June, after months […]
Gov. Tim Walz does not support abortion up to the moment of birth, contrary to Jensen claim
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which for 50 years had guaranteed Americans the right to an abortion, has catapulted the issue into the forefront of the Minnesota governor’s race. Likely Republican nominee Scott Jensen, who supports banning abortion, falsely said Gov. Tim Walz holds the view that abortion should be […]
With limited capacity for abortion care, Minnesota clinics brace for influx
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A few minutes west of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sits a brick, one-story building with opaque windows. From the nearby freeways, most drivers wouldn’t recognize it as the location of one of the few clinics in the state that provides abortions. Should they approach its entrance, just off an Interstate 35 […]
Survey: Half of nurses are considering quitting in the next year
Fifty-one percent of nurses are considering leaving the field in the next year, mainly because of “unsafe staffing” levels, according to national study from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute released on Thursday. Just 15% of the 2,257 registered nurses surveyed last fall said they felt their workplace had safe staffing levels, while nearly half said […]
U.S. Supreme Court overturns right to abortion in landmark decision
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right. The decision by five of the Court’s nine justices will allow each state to set its own abortion laws, leading to a patchwork of access throughout the country. The result is expected to be an […]
As insulin costs soar, diabetics say a $35 cap on co-pays is not enough
WASHINGTON — Lacy Mason was a 21-year-old graduate student in Atlanta when she started rationing her insulin. As a Type 1 diabetic, she needs to take insulin every day for survival. But when the cost surged to $960 a month, Mason could no longer afford it. She had aged out of Medicaid and her student […]
Minnesota nurses attack hospital executive pay amid union negotiations
The Minnesota Nurses Association has come out swinging against hospital executives as they negotiate new union contracts for some 15,000 nurses at 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth. Union nurses began picketing 11 Twin Cities hospitals on Wednesday — a day after their contracts expired — and launched a public ad campaign blaming […]
More than 400 mental health workers announce one-day strike at Allina and M Heath Fairview
Just months after voting to unionize, more than 400 mental health workers at three Twin Cities hospitals say they’re prepared to strike for 24 hours on May 24 if they don’t reach a deal on their first labor agreements. At a news conference announcing the strike on Monday, workers from Allina and M Health Fairview […]
Walz signs bill funneling $300 million from settlement into state opiate response fund
Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday signed a bill funneling $300 million from a multi-state settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors into the state’s opioid response fund. Through the fund, the settlement money will be used for opioid addiction and overdose education, prevention, treatment and recovery efforts across the state. The news comes as the federal […]