Anna Claire Vollers

For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Lawmakers in at least 17 states — from Rhode Island to Mississippi to California — have introduced bills this year to ban or restrict private claim consultants from charging veterans to consult on or expedite their disability claims, a practice made possible by a loophole in federal law. Special interest groups are fiercely pushing back, supported in some states by mostly Republican lawmakers.

For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The practice exists in a legal loophole: It’s illegal under federal law for companies that aren’t accredited by the VA to charge veterans fees for helping file their […]

For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims.

Editor’s note: The Capital Chronicle is running an end-of-year fundraising campaign, with a $10,000 goal, to help us continue our first-class coverage next year. A lot is at stake, and there’s a long legislative session in 2025. We’re completely dependent on donor dollars, and they’re tax deductible. Please contribute to us if you can. For-profit […]

For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims.

Officials in blue states are vowing to build a “firewall” of reproductive health protections as they anticipate federal and state attacks on abortion access under the Trump administration.

Libby and Andrew Potter found themselves suddenly needing to shop for new health care plans in Alabama.

200+ women faced criminal charges over pregnancy in year after Dobbs, report finds

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Libby and Andrew Potter usually ignore the avalanche of Medicare Advantage ads that land in the mailbox at their home in Huntsville, Alabama, each fall as Medicare’s open enrollment period begins. Libby, a retired middle school librarian, has what she considers good health insurance through the state employee health plan. Andrew has […]

In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their

In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report. The report was produced by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of […]

In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report.

Helping a pregnant minor travel to get a legal abortion without parental consent is a crime in two Republican-led states, prompting legal action by abortion-rights advocates.

State regulators have trouble keeping up with compounding operations that make versions of weight-loss drugs to satisfy demand.

Demand for new weight-loss drugs has led many to turn to compounding pharmacies. But rules on what they can do vary across states.

Despite methadone’s effectiveness, a labyrinth of state and federal rules keeps it inaccessible to many people who desperately need it.

Addiction treatment in the United States is poised for change as pandemic-era rules loosening restrictions on take-home doses of methadone become permanent.

As a chorus of physicians and advocates calls for loosening methadone restrictions, states have been slower to adopt new relaxed federal rules.

In theory, residents in every state can buy narcan at their local pharmacy without a prescription. In reality, access remains patchy.