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Court ruling limiting adult gender-affirming Medicaid coverage could have national impacts

Transgender rights supporters and opponents rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case on transgender health rights in December 2024 in Washington, D.C. An appeals court ruling in light of that case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, upheld West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgery. Experts say it could have broad implications. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) A U.S. appeals court ruling last month that upheld West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgeries could embolden other states seeking to impose similar restrictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March overturned a lower court decision in Anderson v. Crouch that had reversed West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgeries. The lower court ruled that the ban was discriminatory. The decision came after the Supreme Court last year upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth in U...
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Alabama Department of Corrections abruptly cancels $1 billion health care contract

A prison cell in Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, as seen on Oct. 22, 2019. The Alabama Department of Corrections abruptly canceled a $1 billion health care contract for what it said was the contractor's "failure to adequately fulfill its contractual duties." (File) The Alabama Department of Corrections has terminated a $1 billion health care contract with a troubled Tennessee company for what it called a “failure to adequately fulfill its contractual duties.” ADOC said it terminated the 5-year contract that it awarded in 2023 had with Tennessee-based YesCare after it was reported that the company could not meet payroll to pay its employees. “To ensure uninterrupted medical service, ADOC is working to execute an emergency agreement with NaphCare to provide inmate healthcare services,” Corrections said in a statement on Thursday. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE ADOC also said it would officially change the vendor to NaphCare on May 3. ...
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US Justice Department downgrades risk of state-licensed medicinal marijuana

Buds of marijuana on display inside Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Medicinal marijuana products that are legal at the state level will see looser federal regulation under an order the U.S. Department of Justice published Thursday, while a process that could remove the drug in all forms from the federal list of the most dangerous drugs is set to begin in late June. The  order , signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, shifts many marijuana products from Schedule I — the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of drugs with the greatest potential for abuse and least legitimate use — to Schedule III.  That will open the door to greater research and provide an effective tax break for businesses that sell medicinal marijuana that is legal under state law. The move follows President Donald Trump’s  executive order last year directing the DOJ to move toward rescheduling. “The Department of Justic...
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Alabama active voter numbers down ahead of May primaries

Booths await voters at the Pennington County Administration Building during early voting on Jan. 19, 2026, for a municipal election in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) With less than 30 days until primary elections, new statistics show that the number of active voters in Alabama has decreased since 2022. Voter statistics for March that were given to the Voting Registration Advisory Board members during its meeting on Thursday show Alabama has 3.29 million active voters. This is a 17,000 person decrease from four years ago, when the state had 3.31 million active voters. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement that “Alabama boasts one of the cleanest and most accurate voter files in the country.” The state also saw an increase in inactive voters going from 392,000 in 2022 to over 500,000 last month. Voter Registration Advisory Board Chairman John Lackey said after the meeting “there are fluctuations in voter numbers at dif...
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Virtual parole hearing bill dies after Alabama Legislature fails to act on governor’s changes

Gov. Kay Ivey enters the Alabama State Capitol ahead of the State of the State address speech on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. A bill that would have allowed parole applicants, crime victims and law enforcement to participate remotely in parole hearings died after the Legislature failed to act on changes proposed by Ivey before adjourning. (Estela Muñoz for Alabama Reflector) A bill that would have allowed parole applicants, victims and law enforcement to virtually address the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles died after lawmakers failed to act on an executive amendment from Gov. Kay Ivey on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. SB 240 , sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road had bipartisan support and went to Ivey on April 7. However, Ivey proposed a change to the bill that Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, said was “necessary” in a statement on Wednesday. “It would have changed the effective date to coincide with the fiscal year and required G...
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Alabama’s Pre-K program wins national praise — with a caveat

Jennifer Frazer, an auxiliary teacher, plays musical sticks with students at Faulkner University Pre-K in Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, May 21, 2024. A new report praised the quality of Alabama's Pre-K program, but urged officials to work to make the program universal. (Alabama Reflector Photo by Stew Milne) A new report praised the quality of Alabama’s Pre-K program for a 20th consecutive year, though the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) did have criticisms for the state. Alabama is now the longest running state to hit all 10 of NIEER’s research-based quality standards. Allison Friedman-Krauss, an associate research professor at NIEER, said in an interview Wednesday that the group looks at the state “as a poster child for preschool, especially at how they’ve been building the program.”  “Alabama’s really prefaced quality and has been gradually expanding their program over the last 10 (to) 15 years to add more children as fast as they can without compro...
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Trump’s ‘dummymandering’ leaves US House remap in stalemate after Virginia vote

The U.S. Capitol on the evening of Sept. 30, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The race by each party to redraw U.S. House districts in their favor could be headed for a draw after Tuesday’s big win for Democrats in Virginia, though major shifts are still possible before crucial midterm elections in November. Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment that clears the path for the state’s legislature, controlled by Democrats, to redraw congressional district lines to benefit Democrats in 10 of the commonwealth’s 11 U.S. House districts.  That could net the party four new seats in Virginia, though state court cases challenging the proposal are still to be decided. Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Florida Republican who now leads the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, said the results showed a dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump and the nation’s capital in general. President Donald Trump ...
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