Jason deBruyn
Health ReporterJason deBruyn is the WUNC health reporter, a beat he took in 2020. He has been in the WUNC newsroom since 2016.
In his role covering health, Jason focuses not only on the COVID-19 pandemic, but also on disparities in health outcomes, hospital competition, social determinants of health, and the ongoing push to expand Medicaid in North Carolina.
Prior to joining WUNC, Jason covered the business of health care and pharmaceuticals for Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, an affiliate of the American City Business Journals network. His reporting roots trace to the Enquirer-Journal, a community newspaper in Monroe, North Carolina.
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Medicaid expansion goes live in North Carolina today, opening up the government-run health insurance program to hundreds of thousands of low income adults. -
Around 600,000 people in the state will now have access to low-cost health insurance. The change will particularly benefit people in poor, rural areas.
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North Carolina legislators passed — and Gov. Roy Cooper signed — a Medicaid expansion law earlier this year. The move will bring health insurance to some 600,000 low-income North Carolinians beginning Dec. 1. For some patients and providers, expansion can’t come soon enough.
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A new inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents in Butner will soon begin accepting patients. It aims to provide better care and help alleviate backlogs in emergency departments around the state.
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WakeMed Health and Hospitals will provide hospital-level mental health and substance use disorder treatments at WakeBrook, the mental health hospital in Raleigh.
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UNC Health has notified health insurer UnitedHeathcare that it wants to renegotiate their contract. If both sides don't reach a deal by April 1, it could leave some 200,000 people with UnitedHealthcare insurance out of network for much – though not all – of the UNC Health system.
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Friday marks the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting in Raleigh's Hedingham neighborhood. The city will hold two ceremonies to commemorate the shooting, one to honor victims, and one to honor first responders.
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As the fight against the opioid epidemic continues, new medicines promise to help. But experts say old remedies shouldn't be forgotten.
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Websites in the country's 50 states – including North Carolina – do not meet accessibility standards, meaning some who are visually impaired might not be able to access all information.
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A federal appeals court is considering two cases out of North Carolina and West Virginia that could have significant implications on whether individual states are required to cover health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance.
