As states expand covid-19 vaccine eligibility to allow shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, teens in rural America may have trouble getting them.This story also ran on . It can beOf the three vaccines authorized in the U.S., currently only one can go to that age group: the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. That vaccine comes in 1,170-dose packages at minimum and expires after five days in a fridge, meaning too many doses on too tight a deadline for many rural communities to manage.“We’re still trying to get people to accept the vaccine,” said Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of , which serves remote regions of the...…As states expand covid-19 vaccine eligibility to allow shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, teens in rural America may have trouble getting them.This story also ran on . It can beOf the three vaccines authorized in the U.S., currently only one can go to that age group: the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. That vaccine comes in 1,170-dose packages at minimum and expires after five days in a fridge, meaning too many doses on too tight a deadline for many rural communities to manage.“We’re still trying to get people to accept the vaccine,” said Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of , which serves remote regions of the...WW…

April 5, 2021MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana’s covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month.KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism surveyed all 56 counties and eight tribal governments to find out how vaccine distribution has worked over the past four months and what residents might expect when the floodgates open.Montana’s rate...…April 5, 2021MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana’s covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month.KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism surveyed all 56 counties and eight tribal governments to find out how vaccine distribution has worked over the past four months and what residents might expect when the floodgates open.Montana’s rate...WW…

March 30, 2021Linda Heim knew her dad didn’t plan to wait for the cancer to kill him. For decades, he’d lived in Montana, which they’d thought was one of the few places where terminally ill people could get a prescription to end their life.After two years of being sick, Heim’s dad got the diagnosis in 2019: stage 4 kidney cancer. His physician offered treatments that might extend his life by months. Instead, the 81-year-old asked the doctor for help dying. Heim said her parents left the appointment in their hometown of Billings with two takeaways: The legality of medically assisted death...…March 30, 2021Linda Heim knew her dad didn’t plan to wait for the cancer to kill him. For decades, he’d lived in Montana, which they’d thought was one of the few places where terminally ill people could get a prescription to end their life.After two years of being sick, Heim’s dad got the diagnosis in 2019: stage 4 kidney cancer. His physician offered treatments that might extend his life by months. Instead, the 81-year-old asked the doctor for help dying. Heim said her parents left the appointment in their hometown of Billings with two takeaways: The legality of medically assisted death...WW…

It can beThe nominee to be Montana’s next health director faced an unwieldy disease outbreak and pushed Medicaid work requirements — two issues looming in Montana — when he held a similar job in Kentucky.Montana senators will soon decide whether to confirm Adam Meier, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s for director of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. He would earn leading Montana’s , which oversees 13 divisions and is a leader in the state’s pandemic response.Gianforte is confident Meier “will bring greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency to the...…It can beThe nominee to be Montana’s next health director faced an unwieldy disease outbreak and pushed Medicaid work requirements — two issues looming in Montana — when he held a similar job in Kentucky.Montana senators will soon decide whether to confirm Adam Meier, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s for director of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. He would earn leading Montana’s , which oversees 13 divisions and is a leader in the state’s pandemic response.Gianforte is confident Meier “will bring greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency to the...WW…

This story also ran on . It can beMontana is considering becoming the latest state to intensify its hunt for welfare overpayments and fraud, a move expected to remove more than 1,500 enrollees from low-income health coverage at a time when the pandemic has left more people needing help.With Republicans now controlling both chambers of the Montana legislature and the governor’s office, a lawmaker is reviving an effort to both broaden and increase the frequency of eligibility checks to search for welfare fraud, waste and abuse. Proponents say it’s about what’s fair — weeding out people who...…This story also ran on . It can beMontana is considering becoming the latest state to intensify its hunt for welfare overpayments and fraud, a move expected to remove more than 1,500 enrollees from low-income health coverage at a time when the pandemic has left more people needing help.With Republicans now controlling both chambers of the Montana legislature and the governor’s office, a lawmaker is reviving an effort to both broaden and increase the frequency of eligibility checks to search for welfare fraud, waste and abuse. Proponents say it’s about what’s fair — weeding out people who...WW…

It can beLinda Watson draped a sweater with the words “Little Shell Chippewa Tribe” over her as she received the newly recognized tribal nation’s first dose of covid-19 vaccine.“I wanted to show my pride in being a Little Shell member,” Watson, 72, said. “The Little Shell are doing very good things for the people.”Watson has diabetes and a heart condition. The shot brought some peace of mind during a time when that isn’t fully possible. One of her sons is among those who have died of covid.The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is building its health services largely from...…It can beLinda Watson draped a sweater with the words “Little Shell Chippewa Tribe” over her as she received the newly recognized tribal nation’s first dose of covid-19 vaccine.“I wanted to show my pride in being a Little Shell member,” Watson, 72, said. “The Little Shell are doing very good things for the people.”Watson has diabetes and a heart condition. The shot brought some peace of mind during a time when that isn’t fully possible. One of her sons is among those who have died of covid.The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is building its health services largely from...WW…

This story also ran on . It can bePeter Prater’s family wasn’t thinking about covid-19 when the call came that he had been taken to the hospital with a fever.It was April, and the Tallahassee Developmental Center, where Prater lives, hadn’t yet had any covid diagnoses. Prater, 55, who has Down syndrome and diabetes, became the Florida center’s first known case, his family said. Within two weeks, more than half of the roughly 60 residents and a third of the staff had tested positive for the virus, according to .“We thought we were going to lose him,” said Jim DeBeaugrine, Prater’s...…This story also ran on . It can bePeter Prater’s family wasn’t thinking about covid-19 when the call came that he had been taken to the hospital with a fever.It was April, and the Tallahassee Developmental Center, where Prater lives, hadn’t yet had any covid diagnoses. Prater, 55, who has Down syndrome and diabetes, became the Florida center’s first known case, his family said. Within two weeks, more than half of the roughly 60 residents and a third of the staff had tested positive for the virus, according to .“We thought we were going to lose him,” said Jim DeBeaugrine, Prater’s...WW…

This story also ran on . It can beNine months into the pandemic that has killed more than people in the U.S., Kim Larson is still trying to convince others in her northern Montana county that COVID-19 is dangerous.As Hill County Health Department director and county health officer, Larson continues to hear people say the coronavirus is just like a bad case of the flu. Around the time Montana’s governor face coverings in July, her staffers saw notices taped in several businesses’ windows spurning the state’s right to issue such emergency orders.For a while, the county with a population of...…This story also ran on . It can beNine months into the pandemic that has killed more than people in the U.S., Kim Larson is still trying to convince others in her northern Montana county that COVID-19 is dangerous.As Hill County Health Department director and county health officer, Larson continues to hear people say the coronavirus is just like a bad case of the flu. Around the time Montana’s governor face coverings in July, her staffers saw notices taped in several businesses’ windows spurning the state’s right to issue such emergency orders.For a while, the county with a population of...WW…

This story also ran on .[UPDATED on Nov. 19]In Montana’s conservative Flathead County, prosecutors and local leaders were turning a blind eye to businesses that flouted state mask and social distancing mandates, even as the area’s COVID infections climbed to their .When asked during an Oct. 7 press call from Montana’s capital city whether the state would step in, Gov. Steve Bullock said it was up to the locals to enforce the directives.“I’ve never met anyone in Flathead County, especially Flathead government, that has asked me to take over their government,” Bullock with a laugh. “It can’t...…This story also ran on .[UPDATED on Nov. 19]In Montana’s conservative Flathead County, prosecutors and local leaders were turning a blind eye to businesses that flouted state mask and social distancing mandates, even as the area’s COVID infections climbed to their .When asked during an Oct. 7 press call from Montana’s capital city whether the state would step in, Gov. Steve Bullock said it was up to the locals to enforce the directives.“I’ve never met anyone in Flathead County, especially Flathead government, that has asked me to take over their government,” Bullock with a laugh. “It can’t...WW…

This story also ran on .COVID-19 cases are surging in rural places across the Mountain States and Midwest, and when it hits health care workers, ready reinforcements aren’t easy to find.In Montana, pandemic-induced staffing shortages have shuttered a clinic in the state’s capital, led a northwestern regional hospital to ask employees exposed to COVID-19 to continue to work and emptied a health department 400 miles to the east.“Just one more person out and we wouldn’t be able to keep the surgeries going,” said Dr. Shelly Harkins, chief medical officer of in Helena, a city of roughly 32,000...…This story also ran on .COVID-19 cases are surging in rural places across the Mountain States and Midwest, and when it hits health care workers, ready reinforcements aren’t easy to find.In Montana, pandemic-induced staffing shortages have shuttered a clinic in the state’s capital, led a northwestern regional hospital to ask employees exposed to COVID-19 to continue to work and emptied a health department 400 miles to the east.“Just one more person out and we wouldn’t be able to keep the surgeries going,” said Dr. Shelly Harkins, chief medical officer of in Helena, a city of roughly 32,000...WW…