What it costs to give birth in Louisiana
The big picture: Those numbers put the cost of giving birth in Louisiana among the lowest in the nation.
By the numbers: The nationwide average in-network cost is about $15,200 for vaginal deliveries and $19,300 for C-sections, the national independent nonprofit reports.
How it works: The amounts in the FAIR Health Cost of Giving Birth Tracker include delivery, ultrasounds, lab work and more. They reflect total costs paid by patients as well as their insurance companies, as applicable.
Financial responsibilities of insured patients are typically well below the total amount paid, with average out-of-pocket costs of just under $3,000 in 2018-2020, per a 2022 analysis by the Peterson Center and KFF.
What they're saying: Many factors drive the differences between states, Rachel Kent of FAIR Health tells Axios, including provider training levels, local salaries and costs of living, malpractice insurance costs and insurer bargaining power.
Between the lines: Black and Hispanic people paid more out-of-pocket for maternal care than Asian and white patients with the same insurance, per a study published earlier this year in JAMA Health Forum.
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Business Wire
4 hours ago
- Business Wire
American Cancer Society and Guardant Health Partner to Expand Cancer Screening Access and Advance Health Equity
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Cancer Society (ACS) today announced a new partnership with Guardant Health (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company focused on improving access to cancer screening and advancing health equity. This collaboration supports ACS's nationwide cancer screening efforts, including the I Love You, Get Screened public awareness campaign; community-based health system partnerships; and state coalition work aimed at removing barriers to lifesaving screenings. ACS and Guardant Health aim to increase awareness, promote early detection, and improve outcomes for individuals in communities that have historically experienced limited access to preventive care. 'Regular cancer screening saves lives by finding certain cancers early, when they are often easier to treat or even prevent altogether,' said Maria Olson, Executive Vice President, American Cancer Society. 'With support from Guardant Health, we can reach more people across the Bay Area with the information, tools, and services they need to take action for their health.' Despite being a hub of healthcare innovation, California continues to fall behind the national average in key cancer screening rates. Data from the American Cancer Society shows that only 64% of California women aged 45 and older are up to date on screening mammograms, compared to 69% nationally. Colorectal cancer screening rates are also lower, with 60% of eligible Californians screened compared to 62% nationwide. These gaps represent a critical opportunity to expand access and close the screening disparity. In 2025, an estimated 2,041,910 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 600,000 lives are expected to be lost due to cancer. However, due to reductions in smoking and advances in early detection and treatment, cancer mortality has dropped 34% from 1991 to 2022, averting approximately 4.5 million deaths during that time. This work aims to accelerate that momentum, with a special focus on communities that remain underserved. Guardant Health will support the following ACS initiatives: Expanding the reach of the I Love You, Get Screened campaign, which garnered over 313 million impressions in 2024 and delivers culturally relevant education to communities including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and LGBTQ+ populations. Promoting digital tools on including a locator tool that helps individuals find more than 15,000 screening locations across the U.S. Supporting community health interventions, such as patient education, navigation to screening appointments, transportation support, and language access services. These efforts contributed to over 555,000 completed screenings and 7,800 cancers detected in 2024. Collaborating with state coalitions, including those in California, to implement localized strategies that help increase screening rates and reduce disparities. 'Guardant Health is proud to partner with the American Cancer Society in the fight to expand cancer screening access,' said AmirAli Talasaz, Guardant Health co-founder and co-CEO. 'We share a commitment to ensuring that everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, or ZIP code, has access to convenient and timely cancer screening, so we can detect cancer earlier and give them the opportunity for a better outcome.' Throughout 2025, ACS will engage communities across the nation through impactful campaigns aligned with key cancer awareness months—including cervical cancer awareness in January, colorectal in March, prostate in September, breast in October, and lung in November. These efforts will feature personal stories, local events, and trusted education to empower more people to get screened and take charge of their health. To learn more about ACS screening tools or to find a local screening center, visit About the American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 110 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support. We are committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. To learn more, visit or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345. Connect with us on Facebook, X, and Instagram. About Guardant Health Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tennessee plans to execute inmate amid concerns his heart implant will shock him repeatedly
Tennessee plans to execute Byron Black on Tuesday for the 1988 murders of a woman and her two young daughters, despite concerns from his attorneys that a device implanted to restore his heartbeat could repeatedly shock him as he's put to death. The device – an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD – is at the center of a court battle that has been unfolding for several weeks. Black's attorneys want the device deactivated at or immediately before his lethal injection Tuesday morning. If it isn't, they say the effects of the lethal injection drugs will cause the ICD to shock Black's heart, perhaps repeatedly, in an attempt to restore it to a normal rhythm. This will cause Black a prolonged and torturous execution, the attorneys argue, violating Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. 'I don't want him to suffer. I do not want him tortured,' said Kelley Henry, one of Black's attorneys and the chief of the capital habeas unit for the Federal Public Defender based in Nashville. She described her 69-year-old client's case as the 'first of its kind.' The case illustrates the complex ethical and practical dilemmas that emerge when medicine and capital punishment intersect. The American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics says physicians 'must not participate in a legally authorized execution,' because their profession calls on them to preserve life. Indeed, Tennessee officials have indicated in court filings they do not have a medical professional available to turn off the implant after staff at a Nashville hospital refused to participate. They have also argued Black will not suffer, saying he would be unconscious if the ICD was activated and unable to perceive pain, according to The Associated Press. On Friday, Black's attorneys said they appealed to the US Supreme Court, asking the justices to halt his execution after the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Black's execution could proceed without deactivating his ICD. 'The ICD issue was never about a stay of execution,' Henry told CNN, but about securing a plan with state officials to prevent Black from suffering a torturous death if his execution proceeds. 'When you get a client with an actual execution date that could go forward, you have to start looking at his end of life, and what are the issues you need to raise to protect him.' Reached for comment, the Tennessee Department of Correction referred CNN to the office of Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. In a statement, Skrmetti, a Republican, noted testimony from the state's experts 'refutes the suggestion that Black would suffer severe pain if executed.' 'Thirty-seven years have passed since Black brutally murdered six-year-old Lakeisha Clay, nine-year-old Latoya Clay, and their mother Angela Clay,' Skrmetti said, adding courts have repeatedly denied Black's other appeals. 'Our office will continue fighting to seek justice for the Clay family and to hold Black accountable for his horrific crimes,' Skrmetti said. The murders of Angela, Lakeisha and Latoya Clay Black was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1988 murders of his then-girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters, Latoya and Lakeisha. At the time, Clay was separated from her husband and the girls' father, according to a summary of the crime included in a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling. About 15 months before the killings, court records say, Black and Clay's husband were in an altercation in which Black shot the man, who survived. Black was sentenced to two years in the Davidson County Metropolitan Workhouse, with weekend furloughs. Prosecutors accused Black of murdering Clay and her girls early on the morning of March 28, 1988, while he was out on furlough. All three victims were found dead in their apartment around 9:30 p.m. that day, each with gunshot wounds. At trial, a firearms expert for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation testified bullets recovered from the scene of the murders matched those recovered from Black's earlier shooting of Clay's husband. The .44 caliber bullets found at Clay's apartment and a .44 caliber bullet removed from her husband were all fired from the same weapon, the expert said. Black was sentenced to two life terms for the murders of Angela Clay and Latoya, court records show. He received a death sentence for the murder of Lakeisha. Bennie Clay, Angela's husband and the girls' father, declined to comment for this story. Implant delivers 'powerful' shocks Black's attorneys say he is very sick, describing him in a statement as a 'frail, wheelchair-bound man' suffering numerous health issues, including dementia and congestive heart failure. They are also seeking a stay of execution for reasons aside from his ICD, arguing he has an intellectual disability that should make him ineligible for execution under the Eighth Amendment. Black's attorneys have also asked Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, to grant him clemency, citing his disability, or to issue a reprieve so TDOC can find someone to deactivate his ICD. Black received his implant in May 2024, court records indicate. The device includes both pacemaker and defibrillator functions: The pacemaker sends electrical impulses to Black's heart if his heart rate drops too low, while the defibrillator delivers more powerful shocks if his heart rate becomes too high. 'This type of shock is powerful, and people describe it as getting punched in the chest or kicked in the chest,' said Dr. Jonathan Groner, a professor emeritus of surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, recalling a patient's description. Groner, who has been critical of the medicalization of capital punishment, emphasized he is not a cardiologist. The implant can be deactivated in one of two ways, according to a ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor Russell Perkins after a two-day hearing on Black's case last month: by placing a medical instrument or a magnet above the device from outside Black's body. Both methods require a trained medical professional, Perkins wrote. In Black's case, the timing is key, according to his lawyers: If turned off too early, they argue the device will expose their client to the risk of suffering an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, that might kill him while the courts are still considering his appeals and a ruling to delay the execution could be imminent. According to Perkins' ruling, experts for the state testified the lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, would render Black unconscious, so he would not feel any shocks if they occurred. An expert for Black, however, argued the drug would only make him unresponsive, not unconscious, meaning he would feel the pain but be unable to respond. 'The state wants to say he'll be unconscious, but that's just not where the science is,' Henry said. 'The science tells us that he may not be able to respond, but he'll be experiencing everything.' Hospital refuses to deactivate implant After hearing dueling expert testimony, Perkins ruled in Black's favor and ordered state officials to arrange for a medical professional to deactivate the implant at Black's execution. Perkins later modified the order to allow the deactivation early Tuesday morning, after state officials said in a court filing doctors at Nashville General Hospital would not come to the execution chamber but were willing to do so a day earlier if Black were transported there. The hospital, however, denies this, and the state acknowledged in court records last week there had been an error. An assistant TDOC commissioner said she was told a medical vendor for the department had secured an appointment to deactivate Black's implant. The vendor later informed TDOC its legal team did not recommend any further involvement in Black's execution, the assistant commissioner said in a court filing. When the assistant commissioner contacted Nashville General, her calls and voicemails were not returned, and the TDOC learned the hospital was unwilling to participate, the filing said. Nashville General Hospital confirmed its refusal to cooperate in Black's execution, telling CNN in a statement that earlier reports suggesting otherwise were 'inaccurate.' 'NGH has no role in State executions,' the statement said. 'The correctional healthcare provider contracted by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), did not contact appropriate Nashville General Hospital leadership with its request to deactivate the implanted defibrillator. Any assertion the hospital would participate in the procedure was premature.' 'Our contract with the correctional healthcare provider is to support the ongoing medical care of its patients,' the statement added, describing the request to deactivate Black's device as 'well outside of that agreement.' The Tennessee Supreme Court subsequently overruled Perkins' order, siding with the attorney general's office. The court agreed Perkins' order to deactivate Black's implant was effectively a stay of execution that exceeded the authority of the Davidson County Chancery Court. The Tennessee Supreme Court added, 'Nothing in our decision today prevents the parties from reaching an agreement regarding deactivation of Mr. Black's ICD should it become feasible for the procedure to be performed at an appropriate time.'
CNN
8 hours ago
- CNN
Tennessee plans to execute inmate amid concerns his heart implant will shock him repeatedly
Tennessee plans to execute Byron Black on Tuesday for the 1988 murders of a woman and her two young daughters, despite concerns from his attorneys that a device implanted to restore his heartbeat could repeatedly shock him as he's put to death. The device – an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD – is at the center of a court battle that has been unfolding for several weeks. Black's attorneys want the device deactivated at or immediately before his lethal injection Tuesday morning. If it isn't, they say the effects of the lethal injection drugs will cause the ICD to shock Black's heart, perhaps repeatedly, in an attempt to restore it to a normal rhythm. This will cause Black a prolonged and torturous execution, the attorneys argue, violating Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. 'I don't want him to suffer. I do not want him tortured,' said Kelley Henry, one of Black's attorneys and the chief of the capital habeas unit for the Federal Public Defender based in Nashville. She described her 69-year-old client's case as the 'first of its kind.' The case illustrates the complex ethical and practical dilemmas that emerge when medicine and capital punishment intersect. The American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics says physicians 'must not participate in a legally authorized execution,' because their profession calls on them to preserve life. Indeed, Tennessee officials have indicated in court filings they do not have a medical professional available to turn off the implant after staff at a Nashville hospital refused to participate. They have also argued Black will not suffer, saying he would be unconscious if the ICD was activated and unable to perceive pain, according to The Associated Press. On Friday, Black's attorneys said they appealed to the US Supreme Court, asking the justices to halt his execution after the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Black's execution could proceed without deactivating his ICD. 'The ICD issue was never about a stay of execution,' Henry told CNN, but about securing a plan with state officials to prevent Black from suffering a torturous death if his execution proceeds. 'When you get a client with an actual execution date that could go forward, you have to start looking at his end of life, and what are the issues you need to raise to protect him.' Reached for comment, the Tennessee Department of Correction referred CNN to the office of Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. In a statement, Skrmetti, a Republican, noted testimony from the state's experts 'refutes the suggestion that Black would suffer severe pain if executed.' 'Thirty-seven years have passed since Black brutally murdered six-year-old Lakeisha Clay, nine-year-old Latoya Clay, and their mother Angela Clay,' Skrmetti said, adding courts have repeatedly denied Black's other appeals. 'Our office will continue fighting to seek justice for the Clay family and to hold Black accountable for his horrific crimes,' Skrmetti said. Black was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1988 murders of his then-girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters, Latoya and Lakeisha. At the time, Clay was separated from her husband and the girls' father, according to a summary of the crime included in a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling. About 15 months before the killings, court records say, Black and Clay's husband were in an altercation in which Black shot the man, who survived. Black was sentenced to two years in the Davidson County Metropolitan Workhouse, with weekend furloughs. Prosecutors accused Black of murdering Clay and her girls early on the morning of March 28, 1988, while he was out on furlough. All three victims were found dead in their apartment around 9:30 p.m. that day, each with gunshot wounds. At trial, a firearms expert for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation testified bullets recovered from the scene of the murders matched those recovered from Black's earlier shooting of Clay's husband. The .44 caliber bullets found at Clay's apartment and a .44 caliber bullet removed from her husband were all fired from the same weapon, the expert said. Black was sentenced to two life terms for the murders of Angela Clay and Latoya, court records show. He received a death sentence for the murder of Lakeisha. Bennie Clay, Angela's husband and the girls' father, declined to comment for this story. Black's attorneys say he is very sick, describing him in a statement as a 'frail, wheelchair-bound man' suffering numerous health issues, including dementia and congestive heart failure. They are also seeking a stay of execution for reasons aside from his ICD, arguing he has an intellectual disability that should make him ineligible for execution under the Eighth Amendment. Black's attorneys have also asked Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, to grant him clemency, citing his disability, or to issue a reprieve so TDOC can find someone to deactivate his ICD. Black received his implant in May 2024, court records indicate. The device includes both pacemaker and defibrillator functions: The pacemaker sends electrical impulses to Black's heart if his heart rate drops too low, while the defibrillator delivers more powerful shocks if his heart rate becomes too high. 'This type of shock is powerful, and people describe it as getting punched in the chest or kicked in the chest,' said Dr. Jonathan Groner, a professor emeritus of surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, recalling a patient's description. Groner, who has been critical of the medicalization of capital punishment, emphasized he is not a cardiologist. The implant can be deactivated in one of two ways, according to a ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor Russell Perkins after a two-day hearing on Black's case last month: by placing a medical instrument or a magnet above the device from outside Black's body. Both methods require a trained medical professional, Perkins wrote. In Black's case, the timing is key, according to his lawyers: If turned off too early, they argue the device will expose their client to the risk of suffering an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, that might kill him while the courts are still considering his appeals and a ruling to delay the execution could be imminent. According to Perkins' ruling, experts for the state testified the lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, would render Black unconscious, so he would not feel any shocks if they occurred. An expert for Black, however, argued the drug would only make him unresponsive, not unconscious, meaning he would feel the pain but be unable to respond. 'The state wants to say he'll be unconscious, but that's just not where the science is,' Henry said. 'The science tells us that he may not be able to respond, but he'll be experiencing everything.' After hearing dueling expert testimony, Perkins ruled in Black's favor and ordered state officials to arrange for a medical professional to deactivate the implant at Black's execution. Perkins later modified the order to allow the deactivation early Tuesday morning, after state officials said in a court filing doctors at Nashville General Hospital would not come to the execution chamber but were willing to do so a day earlier if Black were transported there. The hospital, however, denies this, and the state acknowledged in court records last week there had been an error. An assistant TDOC commissioner said she was told a medical vendor for the department had secured an appointment to deactivate Black's implant. The vendor later informed TDOC its legal team did not recommend any further involvement in Black's execution, the assistant commissioner said in a court filing. When the assistant commissioner contacted Nashville General, her calls and voicemails were not returned, and the TDOC learned the hospital was unwilling to participate, the filing said. Nashville General Hospital confirmed its refusal to cooperate in Black's execution, telling CNN in a statement that earlier reports suggesting otherwise were 'inaccurate.' 'NGH has no role in State executions,' the statement said. 'The correctional healthcare provider contracted by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), did not contact appropriate Nashville General Hospital leadership with its request to deactivate the implanted defibrillator. Any assertion the hospital would participate in the procedure was premature.' 'Our contract with the correctional healthcare provider is to support the ongoing medical care of its patients,' the statement added, describing the request to deactivate Black's device as 'well outside of that agreement.' The Tennessee Supreme Court subsequently overruled Perkins' order, siding with the attorney general's office. The court agreed Perkins' order to deactivate Black's implant was effectively a stay of execution that exceeded the authority of the Davidson County Chancery Court. The Tennessee Supreme Court added, 'Nothing in our decision today prevents the parties from reaching an agreement regarding deactivation of Mr. Black's ICD should it become feasible for the procedure to be performed at an appropriate time.'
