Health Care

Most public school students in the Northwest head back to class next week. And that has public health officials on alert. They're afraid that classrooms could be fertile ground for the spread of whooping cough, an infectious disease that's already being called an epidemic in some states.

It’s the height of fire season in Idaho and hundreds of seasonal firefighters are busy.

For the first time, they’re eligible for federal health insurance. President Obama made the change in July.

Many of these firefighters have gone without insurance because of the cost. While the new benefits have been welcomed, one Boise-based firefighter finds that the new health insurance won’t help her.

Emma Kaage lifts a 95 pound barbell above her head, and lets it drop to the floor, before she picks it up again. The 25-year-old does CrossFit training twice a day.

People are walking more -- especially in the West -- according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2005, 56 percent of adults reported walking for at least 10 minutes a week. Five years later, that percentage was up to 62 percent.

Just when you thought it was safe to stay in the water, cryptosporidiosis is back.

Idaho’s Central District Health Department reports there are 19 cases of the perennial parasite known as crypto for short. Crypto is transmitted by fecal matter through water. People who have it get sick with fever, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and other digestive symptoms.

A new report from the American Cancer Society shows Idaho is doing little to prevent cancer compared to other states. It comes from the organization's advocacy arm, the Cancer Action Network.

 The report titled "How Do you Measure Up" looks at actions state governments take to prevent cancer. Aaron Czyzewski with the Cancer Action Network, says Idaho fares poorly in most of the criteria measured.

Earlier this week, we told you about the work of Idaho's legislative healthcare task force - 14 lawmakers who met Monday to talk about the Affordable Care Act.  Today a task force created by the governor will hold the first in a series of meetings that will help decide the future of health care in Idaho. 

Some Idaho lawmakers met Monday to talk about the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on the Affordable Care Act.  Idaho was one of the state’s that brought a lawsuit to strike down the health care law.  The court upheld the law and now state legislators on the Health Care Task Force are discussing what's next.

Sunday’s motorcycle crash on Bogus Basin Road near Boise was the latest in a string of wrecks over the last few weeks. Police say the rider slid on a patch of sand. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Other motorcyclists this summer haven’t been so fortunate.

Oscar Pistorius looks like a normal guy, from the knees up. He looks fit, well-dressed, and capable. But without the lower half of his calves and shins, his ability to sprint in the 2012 Olympics were called into question. That is, until a University of Idaho professor helped prove Pistorius can compete beside anyone in the world.

Pistorius was born without fully-developed lower legs. He has used two prosthetic legs all his life. That won’t stop him from racing in the Men’s 400 Meter August 3rd, 4th, and 5th.