March 3, 2023
Access & Coverage | Tea Leaves
  • Walgreens Boots Alliance said it will not dispense abortion pills in 20 states, acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape, threats from state officials, and pressure from anti-abortion activists. Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Walgreens in February, threatening legal action if the company began distributing the drugs, which have become the nation’s most popular method for ending a pregnancy. (Articles here, here, and here)
  • North Carolina legislative leaders announced Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently, and for hospitals and patient advocates who sought it all that time. North Carolina has been one of 11 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state will start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January. (Articles here, here, and here)