Joe Lawlor

Portland

Reporter, Health and Human Services at The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram

I am a reporter for the @PressHerald in Portland, Maine, covering the health and human services beat.

Articles

New law lets Maine prescribers keep their names off abortion pill labels

4 days ago | sunjournal.com | Carl Natale |Joe Lawlor

Gov. Janet Mills has signed a new law that allows health care providers to remove their names from labels when prescribing abortion pills. The law, LD 538, was introduced by state Rep. Sally Cluchey, D-Bowdoinham, who said she has heard from prescribers who say they have been threatened or harassed for prescribing mifepristone, an abortion medication that is increasingly used for abortion care.
Bridgton medical center closing, citing financial pressures on health care system

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 29—A community clinic in Bridgton announced on Thursday that it will be closing in August, the latest shuttering of medical services in Maine. The announcement comes after Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville closed for patients this week, and after several birthing centers around Maine have closed in recent years.
Collapse of Maine's browntail moth population brings a less itchy spring

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 28—The browntail moth population collapse that began in 2024 is continuing this year, which means a less itchy spring for Maine residents. Browntail moth caterpillars shed microscopic hairs that drift through the air and can provoke an allergic reaction when they come into contact with human skin, often resulting in red, itchy rashes that can last for several weeks. The hairs can also cause respiratory problems for people with chronic conditions, like asthma.
Rep. Pingree decries cuts to Planned Parenthood, Medicaid

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 28—Rep. Chellie Pingree on Wednesday slammed the House Republicans' budget bill for targeting Planned Parenthood's federal funding and for the bill's overall health cutbacks to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. "If this bill passes, you would be seeing a massive loss in access to health care," Pingree, D-1st District, said during a roundtable discussion she hosted at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England offices in Portland.
Closure of Augusta pediatric clinic creates long waitlists for children with developmental needs

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 27—Sara Wing said her 11-year-old daughter needs to see a specialist who can make a diagnosis because she suspects her daughter has a developmental disability. Such a diagnosis would unlock Medicaid services and likely result in her daughter getting extra help at school. But Wing said when the Edmund Ervin Pediatric Center at MaineGeneral Health in Augusta closed on May 16 — a move that blindsided her — it left her with no access to someone who can make that diagnosis.
Maine Sen. Collins questions Secretary of State Rubio about cuts to global health programs

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 20—Sen. Susan Collins questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the Trump administration's cutbacks to global health initiatives during Rubio's appearance before a Senate committee Tuesday. "I am concerned the president's budget requests a 62% reduction for global health," Collins, R-Maine, said to Rubio. Collins asked whether China would potentially fill the void left behind by U.S. cuts to many humanitarian global health efforts, including vaccinating children in Third World countries.
Providers fear Medicaid cuts could worsen Maine's health care access crisis

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 18—Spending cuts proposed by congressional Republicans would result in an estimated 34,000 Maine people losing Medicaid coverage, harming health care providers and patients, experts say. But the current version of the budget proposal is not as draconian as some expected. The bill has the support of President Donald Trump, but its fate is uncertain.
Sen. Collins presses RFK Jr. during Senate hearing on health budget

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 14—Sen. Susan Collins pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to defend the Trump administration's cuts to health research funding and programs to combat Alzheimer's disease during a high-profile congressional hearing on Wednesday. In an often-combative hearing before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, senators asked Kennedy pointed and accusatory questions about the agency's gutting of numerous health initiatives.
Advocates urge state to shore up Maine's child care system

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 12—GORHAM — Senate President Mattie Daughtry and child care advocates called for improvements to Maine's child care system Monday, arguing that care is too expensive for parents even as workers aren't paid enough and the business model is too precarious for operators.
Pressure is on to extend ACA subsidies as premium hikes loom

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Joe Lawlor

May 11—Lise Goddard recently launched her new career as a fabric and stained glass artist — a passion she says she could not have pursued without being able to purchase health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Goddard, 54, of Sebago, said she's watching to see whether Congress extends tax credits that were first approved in 2021 and help reduce the cost of insurance premiums, often by hundreds of dollars each month.