The Trump administration has declared an end to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people, and health experts have a warning: This is a threat to Black communities. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the decision on May 27 and […]
Health
Posted inHealth, Partner Content
Trump Won’t Force Medicaid To Cover GLP-1s for Obesity. A Few States Are Doing It Anyway.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Page Campbell’s doctor recommended she try an injectable prescription drug called Wegovy to lose weight before scheduling bariatric surgery, she readily agreed. “I’ve struggled with my weight for so long,” said Campbell, 40, a single mother of two. “I’m not opposed to trying anything.” In early April, about four weeks after […]
Posted inEmployment, Federal Overhaul, Mental Health, Politics & Policy
Fired, Rehired, Fired Again. Massive Federal Cuts Leave Black Workers Reeling.
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. Regina Fuller-White had been applying for various roles at the United States Agency for International Development for more than a year, filling out applications whenever a new position opened up only to hear […]
Posted inHealth, Politics & Policy
Medicaid Cuts Could Leave Millions of Black People Without Care
Arlita Walker lives a fairly quiet life in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The 60-year-old grandmother was employed with Federal Express for 15 years while she also raised her daughter. But when the toll of lifting heavy packages started to harm her health, Walker had to quit; she’s been grappling with health challenges since 2013. Since then, […]
Posted inHealth, Partner Content
HIV Testing and Outreach Falter as Trump Funding Cuts Sweep the South
JACKSON, Miss. — Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring. Between […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
The Fight to Be Believed: Long COVID’s Toll on Black Americans
This article is part of a collaboration with the Associated Press, Capital B, and Flint Beat. The work is part of the AP Inclusive Journalism Initiative supported by the Sony Foundation. Chimére L. Sweeney, a Maryland middle school teacher, was preparing to lead one of her first online classes after the pandemic shutdowns in March […]
Posted inClimate Change, Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, Health Equity
The End of DEI: What Trump’s Executive Orders Mean for Black Americans
President Donald Trump has spent the early months of his return to the White House dismantling the nation’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The moves, he’s said, are designed to forge a “color-blind” society that rejects the sorts of race-conscious programs that are intended to make amends for the historical wrongs experienced by Black Americans […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity, Partner Content, Rural Issues
Rural Hospitals and Patients Are Disconnected From Modern Care
EUTAW, Ala. — Leroy Walker arrived at the county hospital short of breath. Walker, 65 and with chronic high blood pressure, was brought in by one of rural Greene County’s two working ambulances. Nurses checked his heart activity with a portable electrocardiogram machine, took X-rays, and tucked him into Room 122 with an IV pump […]
Posted inReproductive Health
Abortion Saved Her. Now It Could Cost Her Freedom.
Kneeling on the cold bathroom floor of her apartment, Kisha clutched the pregnancy test she had just picked up from the Walgreens down the street. She waited for a single blue line to appear. Instead, there were two. “When I looked down at that test, I didn’t believe it,” she said. “I told myself there […]
Posted inMaternal Health, Partner Content
Fate of Black Maternal Health Programs Is Unclear Amid Federal Cuts
Eboni Tomasek expected to take home her newborn the day after he was born in a San Jose, California, hospital. But, without explanation, hospital staff said they needed to stay a second night. Then a third. A nurse said her son had jaundice. Then said that he didn’t. She wondered if they had confused her […]