Health Care
Jim Crow tactics reborn in Texas abortion law
The new Texas law that bans most abortions uses a method employed by Texas and other states to enforce racist Jim Crow laws in the 19th and 20th centuries that aimed to disenfranchise African Americans. Rather than giving state officials, such as the police, the power to enforce the law, the Texas law instead allows […]
Wisconsin AG Kaul fights Texas on abortion ban
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is one of 24 attorneys general filing an amicus brief Wednesday supporting the U.S. Department of Justice’s challenge of Texas’ extreme new abortion ban that starts at six weeks of pregnancy. The group of AGs seeks a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction of the law, which deputizes citizen […]
Putting on pandemic pounds: State obesity rates hit all-time highs
WASHINGTON — The number of states with high obesity among residents has nearly doubled since 2018, according to new data Wednesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 16 states that had obesity rates among adult residents of at least 35% last year, with Iowa, Ohio, Delaware and Texas on that list for […]
Data show children are an increasing share of COVID-19 patients
In keeping with other parts of the country, COVID-19 is affecting a growing number of younger children in Wisconsin. “The proportion of total cases in Milwaukee County that are comprised of kids under the age of 18 has been increasing,” said Darren Rausch, the health director for the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield, at a Milwaukee […]
Wisconsin Republicans push forward on anti-abortion bill
Shortly after Texas implemented the most extreme anti-abortion bill in the nation, Wisconsin legislative Republicans are moving forward on an extreme bill of their own, which authors Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) named the “born alive” bill. The measure was introduced last session as well and passed the Legislature […]
Deaths increase, hospitals fill up as new COVID-19 surge continues across Wisconsin
A week into September and a new school year, the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin is continuing to dig in. Every indicator of the spread of the coronavirus, still driven by the more virulent delta variant, is up, according to state and local public health agencies, continuing a new surge of infections that began in July […]
Wisconsin alcohol consumption jumps during pandemic
Wisconsin, one of the heaviest drinking states in the country, consumed even more alcohol than normal during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released this week. State tax revenues on beer, wine, cider and liquor jumped by nearly 17% during the 2021 fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to a report from the […]
Lower drug costs to transform health care
Every ten days, I need treatment that requires the injection of artificial clotting factors. Since I am a hemophiliac, this treatment could literally mean the difference between life and death. All because I’m missing one of the thirteen proteins that serves as one of the dominos in the “typical” clotting process. Each treatment requires $18,000 […]
With backing from Madison alders, UW Health union drive kicks into higher gear
On Thursday, dozens of brightly colored garments were hung out in the morning sunshine in front of Madison’s City County Building. Floating in the warm September breeze, they were the tops of scrub suits, the kind worn by nurses and other medical personnel. They hung from cables strung above and behind a podium. There, members […]
COVID cases up heading into Labor Day
Wisconsin COVID-19 infections were continuing to rise on the eve of a three-day weekend when families and friends often gather to mark the close of summer. As of Friday, the state’s seven-day average for new cases stood at 1,702 per day, according to the latest update from the state Department of Health Services (DHS). Earlier […]
Kleefisch borrows ‘tampon tax’ policy from Agard
Earlier this week, former Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch put out an agenda for her nonprofit 1848 Project that read like a campaign platform. The same day it was released, WisPolitics discovered that she had quietly filed paperwork, a week earlier, to run in 2022 against Gov. Tony Evers. One plank of that platform appears […]
Milwaukee mental health emergency center to open by 2022
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Gov. Tony Evers attended a ceremony in Milwaukee on Monday to announce plans to construct a new mental health facility in the city. The facility, slated to open in early 2022, will be located in a neighborhood where it will serve local residents. It’s a strategy Rep. Kalan Haywood […]