Natalie Krebs

Iowa has one of the highest obesity rates in the country, according a new report by the non-profit Trust for America's Health.

More than 35 percent of Iowans are considered obese, making it seventh in the nation. That's significantly higher than the national rate of about 31 percent, according to the report.

At least two dozen people expressed concerns to the Madison County Board of Supervisors Tuesday about an ordinance that would halt the construction of wind turbines for at least two years.

The proposed ordinance has come in response to concerns about potential health impacts from the turbines from the county board of health.

The board has recommended that turbines be built at least a mile and a half from houses.

A recent study by the University of Iowa found many rural Iowans may not be receiving care that meets an accrediting group’s standards.

The Iowa Department of Public Health is asking for the public’s help in identifying cases of respiratory illnesses possibly linked to vaping after four reported cases of severe respiratory illness in young adults.

Nearly 14,000 Iowans could be affected by Planned Parenthood's decision to withdraw from a the Title X federal family planning program, which funds family planning services for low-income individuals, according to local leaders from the health clinic.

More Iowans who get their insurance through their employer are on high deductible plans, accoring to a recent report by the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC).

Iowa is not doing enough to deter kids from using tobacco, according to a report by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The annual report ranks how well states are implementing policies to reduce cancer rates.

It gave Iowa low marks in tobacco prevention funding, cigarette tax rates, Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation and indoor tanning device restrictions.

A Polk County judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a law that would allow organizations using public insurance dollars – like Medicaid – to opt out of covering gender-affirming surgery.

The state of Iowa has agreed to pay an additional $386 million in state and federal dollars to the two private insurance companies that manage the state’s Medicaid program for low-income and disabled residents.

Last year, opioid-related deaths in Iowa decreased by 33 percent, marking a five year low for the state, according to statistics released this month from the state's Department of Health Statistics.

UnityPoint Health, one of the state's largest healthcare systems, has announced it is pursuing a merger with South Dakota-based Sanford Health. 

Iowa has received one of the top rankings for child well-being in the state, according to the annual Kids Count Data Book released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. 

A senior official at the Department of Human Services testified in a federal court in Des Moines Wednesday that the state agency has been working to provide more mental health services to a state-run school for delinquent teenage boys.

A clinical psychologist said the use of solitary confinement and a physical restraint device at a state-run school for deliquent teenage boys "falls way outside of professional standards."

An official at a state-run school for delinquent teenage boys testified in federal court Monday that the use of an isolation chamber and physical restraints is for the protection, not punishment, of the students.

A state-run school for delinquent teenage boys has failed to meet professional standards for treating and screening mental illness, according to expert witness testimony during the opening day of a federal trial against the Boys State Training School in Eldora.

The ACLU of Iowa has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a law that denies transgender Iowans on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery.

Medical marijuana supporters delivered a petition with more than 1,500 signatures to Gov. Kim Reynolds' office Thursday morning urging her to sign a medical marijuana bill that would raise the state's THC cap. 

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has announced he is joining four other states in suing pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and its former chairman, Richard Sackler, for using unlawful practices to sell the opioid painkiller OxyContin.

Planned Parenthood has taken legal action to challenge a law that blocks the organization from receiving two grants for sex education programs. The law, which was part of health budget bill passed last month, prohibits organizations that provide abortions from receiving funding for sex education. 

 A San Francisco based telemedicine company will provide another option for Iowa women to access birth control -- online.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is one of 44 attorneys general who is taking part in a lawsuit alleging that 20 of the country's largest generic drug makers have conspired to inflate and manipulate drug prices.

Miller said the suit argues that executives at drug manufactures Teva, Sandoz, Mylan, Pfizer and others had an "informal working relationship" to allocate markets and rig bids for more than 100 drugs.