Latest news with #MarySteurer
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Dakota Monitor journalists recognized for investigative reporting
North Dakota Monitor reporters Mary Steurer, right, and Jacob Orledge display their A-Mark Prizes for Investigative Journalism on May 13, 2025, in Bismarck. The first- and third-place awards were part of the North Dakota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) FARGO – North Dakota Monitor journalists received top honors for investigative reporting at the North Dakota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest Friday in Fargo. Reporter Mary Steurer received a first place A-Mark Prize for a series of stories related to ethics and lawmaker conflicts of interest. Judges called the reporting 'powerful and well-researched.' Reporter Jacob Orledge received a third place A-Mark Prize for the story 'North Dakota's likely next governor would regulate his own industry, testing ethics guardrails.' The story was produced in collaboration with ProPublica. 'The story did a fantastic job of explaining the conflicts of interest, and also further exposing the weaknesses in North Dakota's disclosure requirements,' judges wrote. The A-Mark Prize recognizes excellence in investigative journalism. This year was the first the prize was awarded in North Dakota. It was also the first year the North Dakota Monitor was eligible to participate in the association's contest. The Monitor team also received three first place awards: Best online coverage of breaking news for election night coverage Best website Best special news section for the 2024 voter guide Jeff Beach, Monitor deputy editor, was recognized for his coverage of the Agridime Ponzi scheme with third place in agricultural reporting and honorable mention for agricultural photo. He also received third place in business news reporting for the story 'Corn price connection to carbon capture hard to pin down.' Steurer also received third place breaking news coverage for a story on the verdict in a lawmaker's trial for a misdemeanor conflict-of-interest crime. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill signed this week seeks to prevent health coverage delays for North Dakota patients
Gov. Kelly Armstrong signs a bill that seeks to prevent insurance prior authorization from blocking patients' access to care in an April, 23, 2025, ceremony at the Capitol. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) New legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Kelly Armstrong aims to protect patients from care-delaying snags in the health insurance prior authorization process. Prior authorization refers to when someone must obtain approval from their insurance company before they can undergo a procedure, obtain medication or receive some other health service. The process allows insurance companies to review whether the service or medication is necessary for the patient. Insurers say prior authorization helps control costs and make sure that patients are getting the best care they can. But some doctors, patients and advocates say the process can be misused in a way that prevents people from accessing necessary services, or that leaves patients and hospitals to foot the bill for expensive treatments. Insulin caps bill headed to North Dakota governor Susan Finneman, a Bismarck resident who testified in favor of the bill, said 10 years ago her insurance company refused to authorize medical scans needed to treat her spine infection, leading her to put off health care and for the infection to fester. She ultimately needed spinal reconstruction surgery — which she said her insurance company took so long to authorize that she nearly had to reschedule the procedure. Finneman said she had to personally call the highest-ranking doctor working at her insurance company to get the surgery approved. 'It's not right that people have to figure out how to navigate it on their own,' she said at a Wednesday ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 2280. The new law sets guidelines for how insurance companies must handle the prior authorization process, including mandatory deadlines for responding to authorization requests and requirements that denials are reviewed by medical professionals. The law does not cover all state-regulated insurance markets, according to testimony from Sanford Health. State employee health insurance plans, for example, are excluded. Other sections direct insurance companies to publicize information about how its prior authorization process works, and to give advance notice to patients and health care providers when the company plans to change this process. Andrew Askew, vice president of public policy for Essentia Health, said in testimony on the bill most large insurers in North Dakota don't cause issues with their prior authorization procedures. But that's not the case with every company, he said. 'There's a lot of insurance companies that are completely unreasonable,' Askew said. States try to rein in health insurers' claim denials, with mixed results In 2024 survey results published by the American Medical Association, 93% of doctors reported the prior authorization process had resulted in care delays to patients that posed significant health risks. Doctors occasionally must provide an emergency procedure on short notice without time to send a request to an insurance company. The prior authorization process in those instances must happen retroactively. Askew said in some cases, the insurance companies don't give medical providers enough time to send this retroactive claim and to supply the backup documentation showing the procedure was necessary. When prior authorization cannot be obtained after a procedure is provided, the patient or hospital may be forced to cover the full cost, he said. 'That's extremely burdensome for hospitals that are trying to make a margin, trying to get patients care when they need it,' Askew said. The new law says that prior authorization may not be required for a patient to receive emergency health care. It also says patients and health care providers have at least two business days after an emergency procedure to notify insurance. North Dakota House approves change to state health insurance plan Insurance companies must also ensure that when they deny health care to someone, that decision is made by a medical doctor or pharmacist, the statute states. The law also mandates that appeals to prior authorization decisions are reviewed by medical doctors. In both cases, the medical professionals must have active, specialized experience in the field of medicine relevant to the health service in question. Several other provisions in the law are intended to prevent patients from being abruptly cut off from their health care. For example, the law states that if an insurance company changes its prior authorization coverage requirements for a medication or health care service, the change generally may not impact those receiving the medication or service until those patients' insurance plans turn over. If an insurance company violates the requirements outlined in the law, any health care services under prior authorization review are automatically granted, it states. A prior authorization decision does not determine whether the insurance will cover something. A patient can be granted pre-authorization for a procedure but then still have to pay for part or all of it, in other words. Some insurers testified in opposition to the law. Megan Hruby of Blue Cross Blue Shield testified that prior authorization only impacts a small number of procedures, and said the requirements would create more bureaucratic barriers, not remove them. She said the law would also increase insurance costs for taxpayers. Hruby noted that the Legislature's Health Care Committee studied prior authorization during the 2023-2025 interim session and didn't end up making any policy recommendations. The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2026. It also requires that covered insurance companies report annual data to the state related to prior authorizations, including the number of approvals and denials, and the reason requests were denied. The statute directs the Legislature to consider two prior authorization-related studies during the interim legislative session. The first will study prior authorization requirements under state employee health insurance, and how those requirements impact patients and health care costs. The study would the require insurance plans to submit data by July 1 to the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner detailing the previous years worth of prior authorization requests granted, denied and appealed. The data would also have to include why any requests were denied, and how many denials were reversed. The second study tasks legislators to research ways to send prior authorization requests electronically, as opposed to through the mail. Any policy recommendations to come out of the studies will be forwarded to lawmakers to consider for the 2027-2029 legislative session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tribes, North Dakota partner to update 30-year-old textbooks on Native history
Updated tribal textbooks detailing the history and culture of the five Native nations that share land with North Dakota will soon be available at public schools across the state. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) Revised textbooks on the five Native American tribes that share land with North Dakota will be ready in time for next school year. For about three decades, the books went without updates due to a lack of funding, said Lucy Fredericks, director of Indian and multicultural education for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. In 2023, the agency began work on editing the books with the help of federal grant money. The revision process was a joint effort among the Department of Public Instruction, the five tribes, higher education institutions across the state and other educational and cultural organizations. 'We wouldn't be able to get it done without our partnerships,' Fredericks said at a Thursday night reception at United Tribes Technical College celebrating the books' completion. The Indigenous Education Coalition — a group that included some of the series' original authors — and Sacred Pipe Resource Center took the lead on revising the text, according to a project timeline provided by the Department of Public Instruction. They fielded input from tribal colleges, tribal education and historic preservation offices as well as other groups. Updates included incorporating more recent historical events into the textbooks. 'Really, at the heart of this is Indigenous peoples telling their own stories,' said Sashay Schettler, assistant director for Indian and multicultural education at the Department of Public Instruction. The six-part series includes one introductory textbook and books focusing on each of the five tribes — including an all-new book on the history and culture of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. The state initially held off on including Sisseton-Wahpeton since its administrative center is in South Dakota. The idea was that South Dakota could produce a textbook of its own, but that never happened. So the Department of Public Instruction during the revision process reached out to the tribe to see if it wanted to join the North Dakota textbook series. Nick Asbury, website content specialist for the agency, said he anticipated it taking at least a couple years to write the book from scratch. The tribe managed to write it in 90 days so it could release alongside the other updated editions, he said. 'I have never seen anything like that,' Asbury said. 'It was amazing to see.' Though the series is written for a K-12 audience, higher ed institutions rely on them for information, too. The ebooks will be available for free online this summer, according to the Department of Public Instruction. Print editions will be rolled out to schools this fall and also will be available for purchase. The original editions of the textbooks are available for free on most ebook platforms. The agency hopes to revise the books every three to five years going forward. Recent grad sees a gap in educational quality for tribal students Under a law adopted by the state Legislature in 2021, North Dakota K-12 schools are required to teach Native history. State survey data collected in 2023 indicates schools may be struggling to meet that requirement. The survey found that 75% of teachers and 89% of administrators were aware of the legislation. Additionally, 57% of teachers and 67% of administrators said they were aware of tribal history resources published by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The project was made possible in part because of federal grant funding. Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler noted during the event that the future of some of the Department of Public Instruction's federal grants remains uncertain. The agency hopes the new books will become a staple for North Dakota history classes. 'These books today provide a comprehensive and rich resource of material that our educators can use in teaching Native American culture, history and traditions in our state,' Baesler said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
North Dakota Senate defeats amended conversion therapy bill
Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, speaks in favor of a bill to legalize conversion therapy at a House Human Services Committee meeting on Jan. 21, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) The Senate on Thursday defeated a bill 22-25 that originally sought to legalize conversion therapy. Initially, House Bill 1430 bill would have authorized social workers to provide 'a treatment plan or counseling plan that aligns with heterosexuality or the individual's biological sex,' so long as it was freely chosen by the client. The bill was introduced by Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, who said people should have the right to seek treatments that affirm their religious beliefs about sexuality or gender. She previously told lawmakers that she is concerned most counseling is now LGBTQ-affirming and therefore would not be helpful for someone with anti-LGBTQ beliefs. 'To prohibit counseling that aligns with traditional or biblical viewpoints is religious discrimination,' she said. Bathroom bill would make schools less safe, opponents, LGBTQ advocates testify The North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners and North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers opposed the bill, arguing that it endorsed a form of treatment widely denounced as ineffective and unethical, and was grounded in misunderstandings about how counseling works. Licensed social workers are already barred from providing conversion therapy under regulations set by the Board of Social Work Examiners. In committee hearings, multiple social workers testified that they don't try to force people to accept their gender identity or sexual orientation. They said counselors are trained to support their clients, not tell them what to think. The Senate Human Services Committee adopted an amendment that sought to address many of those concerns. The amendment said social workers may provide counseling to an individual who 'wants to align their sexuality or gender with the individual's personal or spiritual beliefs,' but also specifically held that conversion therapy is illegal. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat and licensed social worker, opposed both versions of House Bill 1430. He said on the floor Thursday that the amended bill wouldn't accomplish anything since it parrots existing regulations. 'This bill essentially says, 'Do what you're doing — listen to people and help make choices,'' Mathern said. 'It's a total waste of the Century Code.' Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, also opposed the bill. She said if the bill passed it would have been the first time North Dakota put ethical standards set by a occupational board into Century Code, which raises questions about government overreach. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Insulin caps bill headed to North Dakota governor
Nina Kritzberger, 16, speaks before the Government and Veteran Affairs Committee in favor of an insulin cap for the North Dakota commercial insurance market on Jan. 9, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) The Senate on Tuesday voted 39-7 to pass a bill to cap monthly insulin costs for more North Dakotans. House Bill 1114 would limit out-of-pocket costs for a monthly supply of insulin at $25 for the state's commercial insurance market. It would also establish a $25-a-month cap on insulin-related medical supplies. The new caps would affect North Dakotans on individual, small group and large group insurance plans within the fully insured market. The bill doesn't apply to the self-insured market. Patient advocates plan to continue pushing for insulin price cap The bill will cost about $834,000 for the 2025-2027 budget cycle, according to a fiscal analysis on the Legislature's website. 'I would argue, in the long run, a proposal like this will save money as more North Dakotans will be able to avoid a situation where they're rationing insulin or missing treatment because of the cost,' said Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, who carried the bill on the floor. No senators spoke against the bill Tuesday. Advocates who submitted testimony on the proposal said that insulin caps are needed in order to ensure the treatment is available to all who need it. Opponents have said that the policy would unfairly shift costs to groups like businesses and insurers. House Bill 1114 passed the House in February. The bill will still need to go before Gov. Kelly Armstrong before it can become law. The same insulin caps were piloted in state employee health plans beginning in 2023. State law requires any health insurance mandates to be tested on state employee plans before introducing them to the North Dakota commercial market. Some other health insurance plans in the state, like North Dakota Affordable Care Act plans, already have their own caps. The three largest manufacturers for the U.S. insulin market, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, all recently lowered the cost of their insulin products. Because of those price cuts, the North Dakota Public Employee Retirement System board found that the pilot program was not significantly costly to the Senate earlier this session passed a separate proposal, Senate Bill 2370, that would continue the caps for state employee insurance plans but not extend them to the North Dakota commercial market. That bill is scheduled for a hearing before the House Human Services committee Wednesday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
