The House voted 67-39 to advance House Bill 3637, which would put new protections in state law to safeguard health care licenses for providers who offer abortion cares. It also guarantees continued access to abortion medication even if the medication’s approval is rescinded by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants communities to stop fluoridating water, and he is setting the gears of government in motion to help make that happen.

Nursing home industry officials are urging Illinois lawmakers to increase the rates they receive from the state’s Medicaid system, arguing the current rates are outdated and are forcing many facilities around the state out of business.

The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, with Texas reporting the majority of them: nearly 500.

The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services says one of its goals is to empower the next generation of young women.

In Louisiana, two infants have died of pertussis in the past six months, according to the state health department, the first deaths from the disease in the state since 2018.

A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%. The research is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age – and what we can do about it.

Employees across the massive U.S. Health and Human Services Department began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in an overhaul ultimately expected to lay off up to 10,000 people.

State officials say the Trump administration is pulling back $477 million aimed at preventing infectious disease and treating mental health and substance abuse issues.

Chicago-area abortion providers and abortion fund groups have already seen more people from Wisconsin seeking abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.

About 3.9 million Illinoisans are enrolled in Medicaid. Of that total, 44% of Medicaid recipients are children, 9% are seniors and 7% are adults with disabilities, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

The cuts could force the elimination of more than 100 staff positions, Chicago officials said. 

IDPH’s funding for infectious disease prevention will see a “debilitating impact,” Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement. IDPH has been using the funding to track the spread of diseases, invest in lab upgrades, build up the public health workforce, and improve vaccination efforts.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video announcing the restructuring Thursday. He faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health.

Most were in some way related to sexual minorities, including research focused on HIV prevention. Other canceled studies centered on cancer, youth suicide and bone health.

Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of “museum prescriptions” issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town’s four museums as part of their treatment.