Health

Johnson & Johnson has resumed its COVID-19 vaccine trial in northwest Indiana nearly a month after the company paused the study. In northwest Indiana, the study is being coordinated through Buynak Clinical Research in Valparaiso. The clinic is currently looking for participants for the trial.

Indiana has received approval to continue its Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP, for 10 more years. The state says this will help continue health coverage for more than 500,000 low-income adult Hoosiers.

The Indiana Democratic Party teamed up with doctors to share stories about the impact the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, has had on Hoosiers. The partnership aims to rally support for the ACA, as it heads to the Supreme Court shortly after the election.

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine trial is now on hold, after a participant became ill. Though pauses are not uncommon throughout the study or trial process of new medication, the pressure and demand of developing a vaccine to fight COVID-19 has cast a spotlight on those pauses.

Indiana recently announced infant mortality rates are the lowest ever. Some counties like St. Joseph County say it’s too early to note exact changes at the local level, which are evaluated every five years. However, health officials in St. Joe County say focusing on a mother’s access to health care has been key to those results.

The state’s infant mortality rates are the lowest they’ve been since Indiana started recording the data, according to new numbers released by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). This is the third year numbers have trended downward.

More than 3 million Americans lost access to employer-sponsored health insurance during the summer months of the pandemic, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Urban Institute. But researchers say the numbers could have been much worse.

State health officials are urging Hoosiers to get a flu shot this fall. The recommendation is an effort to keep flu numbers low during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ali Schroer was just out of college when she started her first teaching job, but her new insurance plan didn’t cover her allergy medication. 

"So this new allergist that I was seeing in Colorado had said, after several go arounds of me asking to take this medication, said, ‘Oh, well actually know that you can just get it online.”'

Brandon Duncan describes himself as fearless. So when he first heard news reports about the novel coronavirus, the 30-year-old wasn’t afraid for himself. 

“I’m like, how is this going to affect Danny?” he says.

Hoosiers on Indiana’s Medicaid expansion program, HIP 2.0, will now have access to some benefits while they transition to insurance from a new employer.

Approval from the federal government makes the state’s Workforce Bridge program possible.