Latest Health News From The Illinois Newsroom Team
Yankee Ridge students head to Sola Gratia Farm for the last time this spring – with the program’s future uncertain
This week could be the last Friday on the Farm, because the grants supporting Urbana District 116’s Farm to School program run out at the end of June.

Flu cases are surging and rates will likely get worse, new CDC data shows
Last week, more than 19,000 patients with influenza were admitted to hospitals, up about 10,000 from the previous week, according to new CDC data.

RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz announce moves to ban gender-affirming care for young people
The pivot to the topic of transgender minors comes one day after Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a package of health care bills that do not extend subsidies for people who buy health insurance in Affordable Care Act plans.

Illinois vaccine committee votes to keep recommending hepatitis B vaccine for newborns
Since at least 2018, the state has logged only one confirmed case of a newborn infected with hepatitis B.

Republicans defy Speaker Johnson to force House vote on extending ACA subsidies
Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans.

Competing health care plans fail in the Senate as ACA premium hikes loom
Both bills needed 60 votes to advance, but neither succeeded.

Transgender people are looking for safer places to live. Some have found a home in central Illinois
Amid increasingly hostile laws and rhetoric targeting transgender people in the United States, many of them seek to move to places they feel safer. Aaron Slayton is one of many who have made a new home in central Illinois.

Pritzker signs bill allowing Illinois to issue state-specific vaccine guidelines
The new law will allow the state to publish guidelines that differ from the CDC.

U.S. Rep. Sorensen pushes for extension of Obamacare subsidies during visit to Normal
Sorensen dismissed an idea raised by the chair of the U.S. Senate Health Committee, Republican Bill Cassidy, to shift the money from the subsidies to health savings accounts for consumers.

Carle Arrow Ambulance is now Champaign’s sole emergency medical services provider
Arrow Ambulance is setting aside four trucks and staff to exclusively serve Champaign. Some paramedics are concerned the agency is not prepared for the task.

Infant botulism in 10 US states linked to formula being recalled
No deaths were reported. The formula is sold online and through major retailers. Infant botulism is caused by a bacterium that produces toxins in the large intestine.

Some SNAP-eligible Illinoisans could receive partial payments starting Friday
After a federal judge ruled the Trump administration needed to make partial payments, the Illinois Department of Human Services said some Illinoisans could see benefits as early as this weekend.


