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Respiratory therapist Marcy Freeman doesn't need a research study to confirm for her a return to the dark days of coal mining. She finds evidence in a stack of more than 150 funeral programs, all for former patients at her pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in Norton, Virginia. "Each one of these represents a life that's gone because of black lung," Freeman explained as she flipped through the programs, recognizing names and images. (Berkes and Hicks, 8/5)

The 1,600-bed prison has been closed since 2010. Contractors started repairs on the facility last fall. (Magan, 8/4)

Illinois lawmakers are calling for changes at the Joliet Treatment Center, after a Marshall Project, Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ investigation exposed an epidemic of fires that resulted in two deaths at the prison. In the last three years, there have been more than 70 fires at the prison, including a dozen cases of self-immolation, the investigation found. (Heffernan, 8/4)

An audit released Monday shows the state has made “substantial improvements” in efforts to inspect nursing homes and now meets federal requirements, State Auditor Rob Sand said. (Opsahl, 8/4)

Four years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the fight over abortion access continues to rage. At least four states will ask voters in November to enact or repeal constitutional amendments protecting abortion access. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected another attempt by abortion opponents to make pills for abortion more difficult to access — though other legal challenges are ongoing. (Herman and Gorenstein, 8/4)

A study from the New Hampshire Insurance Department released Monday found that women face challenges accessing appropriate healthcare due to provider shortages, concerns about healthcare affordability, and a low understanding of insurance coverage by participants of online surveys and group sessions. (Richardson, 8/4)

�Թϲ�����: Baltimore Is Rethinking What It Means To Call 911 — And Who Responds

In March in a McDonald’s parking lot off a busy street, mental health clinician Michala Williams met a 38-year-old woman in a car. “So, you called the police for help?” Williams asked the woman, who was sobbing uncontrollably and said she sometimes thinks about harming herself. (Maucione, 8/5)

From better access to health care to lower financial barriers to treatment, the benefits of Medicaid expansion have been well documented: reduced mortality rates for recipients, improved economies in expansion states and more people getting access to treatment for opioid use disorder. One thing, though, has not improved consistently in states that opened the government-funded health insurance coverage to more people under the Affordable Care Act: the firearm suicide rate among men. (Baxley, 8/5)

Jordan Salinas, 35, a healthcare worker and the full-time caregiver of his brother, who uses a wheelchair, had been horseback riding with his girlfriend the morning of the shooting when the couple pulled into the Twin Falls In-N-Out location for lunch and immediately noticed something amiss. ... He later said when he witnessed the 2021 mass shooting at the Boise Towne Square mall, in which two people were killed and several more were wounded, he noticed gunmen deliberately went after “soft targets.” The hero civilian reasoned that his role as a healthcare provider for his wheelchair-bound brother would make the duo sitting ducks in such a scenario. (Nesi, 8/3)