Healthcare


Graphic by Francesca Daly
What Virginia Has Gotten Out Of Biden’s Infrastructure Law (So Far)

In Virginia, 117 infrastructure projects have been announced so far, and more are in the works. Here’s a look at the work that’s being done in the Old Dominion and how it helps Virginians.

Altise, a DentaQuest outreach coordinator, speaking to members about adult benefits. (Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services)
Virginia expanded dental coverage under Medicaid — but not enough dentists accept it

Virginia Medicaid enrollees aged 21 and older have had access to comprehensive dental care benefits since July 2021 through a state budget amendment. The numerous services covered, including X-rays, cleanings and fillings, focus on preventing problems and restoring damaged teeth. Prior to this, adults were eligible only for limited care, which mainly just included extractions.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks about his administration's plans to protect Social Security and Medicare and lower healthcare costs, Feb. 9, 2023, at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. It seems like no one wants to cut Social Security or Medicare benefits, including Biden, who is already telling voters that his upcoming federal budget proposal will “defend and strengthen” the programs. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Biden Proposes Taxes on the Rich to Strengthen Medicare Funding

Biden’s plan would increase the Medicare tax rate on Americans earning above $400,000 from 3.8% to 5% to help keep Medicare solvent into the 2050s. No one earning under $400,000 a year would pay a dime more in taxes, under Biden’s plan. 

A temporary signs hangs on the outside of the Bristol Women's Health Clinic on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 in Bristol,Va., Residents in southwestern Virginia have battled for months over whether abortion clinics limited by strict laws in other states should be allowed to hop over the border and operate there. Similar scenarios are beginning to play out in communities along state lines around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Earl Neikirk)
How Abortion Bans in Neighboring States Are Impacting This Community in Southwest Virginia

As clinics have been forced to shutter in Republican-dominant states with strict abortion bans, some have relocated to cities and towns just over the border, in states with more liberal laws.

Kaplowitz as an intern.
How a Virginia Physician’s Abortion Nearly 50 Years Ago Helped Her Have the Family and Medical Career She Dreamed Of

When she was 23 years old and preparing to finish medical school, Lisa Kaplowitz discovered she was pregnant, despite the fact that she and her husband were using contraception. This is her story. In 1974, Lisa Kaplowitz was 23 years old and in her final year of medical school at the University of Chicago. She...

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Millions of Americans Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Later This Year When the COVID-19 Emergency Ends. Here’s What You Need to Know.

The Biden administration announced recently that the U.S. will no longer be in a COVID-19 emergency as of May 11, which means that an estimated five to 14 million Americans could lose access to health insurance via Medicaid. 

An abortion rights demonstrator tries to block an anti-abortion group at the Women's March, which largely focused on abortion rights, at Freedom Plaza in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)
Republicans Want to Create a Government-Run, Anti-Abortion Website and Collect Pregnant Women’s Personal Information

Republicans have introduced a bill that would create a federal anti-abortion website that provides misleading information about abortion, directs women to health “centers” that pressure them not to have abortions, and could even collect their personal information to share with anti-abortion groups.