Latest KFF Health News Stories
Hospital Suppliers Take To The Skies To Combat Dire Shortages Of COVID-19 Gear
As the coronavirus sweeps the nation, a new survey reveals widespread medical gear shortages while hospitals give up on a fractured supply chain and take matters into their own hands with planes sprinting past cargo ships.
Los vitales cuidadores de pacientes en el hogar, ¿ahora son una amenaza?
Cientos de miles de trabajadores de salud van a los hogares de todo el país para prestar servicios vitales a las personas mayores y a los discapacitados.
Con reportes parciales de los estados, el panorama de COVID-19 en el país es borroso
Varios estados informan solo resultados positivos de la prueba para COVID-19 de laboratorios privados, una práctica que pinta una imagen engañosa del ritmo de propagación de la enfermedad.
While China is its loosening two-month long restrictions in Hubei, other countries begin to impose more restrictions for ”long haul” battle.
A Look At What Medicare Covers In Terms Of Coronavirus Treatment
Medicare beneficiaries are some of the Americans with the highest-risk of needing coronavirus treatment.
Media outlets look at how the outbreak is affecting Americans on a personal level.
Yes, the Trump administration has turned to Silicon Valley’s giants for various reasons including best practices guidelines during the pandemic, but issues surrounding antitrust laws won’t remain dormant for long, say Justice Department attorneys. Other news on technology reports on suspicious websites offering false promises, privacy issues with tracking people’s movement through smartphones, and higher than normal use of screen time for teens.
A Politico map shows wide-ranging efforts being taken in dozens of states to ”flatten the curve.” Mississippi and Oklahoma have only closed schools. New outlets also report on GOP strongholds in Florida and Texas where there’s pushback against damaging the economy; in Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina and Tennessee where National Parks have been closed; in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, which ordered closure of non-essential businesses; in Massachusetts and New Jersey, where governors have asked people with vacation homes to stay away; and more.
Trying To Slow Spread In Crowded Prisons: Federal Bureau Imposes 14-Day Quarantine On New Inmates
Social distancing is difficult for the federal system’s 175,000 inmates who share tight quarters, spend much of their time together and often lack access to good health care. Also, advocates in New York, California and several other states push for the release of older and at-risk inmates from state prisons, which they describe as breeding grounds for the virus.
Purposefully Exposing Someone To Coronavirus Could Bring Criminal Charges, Justice Department Warns
“Because Coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of a ‘biological agent’… such acts potentially could implicate the Nation’s terrorism-related statutes,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
Some States Are Reporting Incomplete COVID-19 Results, Blurring The Full Picture
Maryland, Ohio and others are reporting only positive tests, which skews tracking and an understanding of how the virus spreads.
Ongoing Shortages Drive Local Officials To Hunt For Tests, Make Own Deals With Labs
With testing still difficult to navigate and supplies in short supply a month into the virus crisis, cities and hospitals are trying to take matters into their own hands. “I can’t believe we’re at this point,” Connie Savor Price, chief medical officer at Denver Health Medical Center, tells The Wall Street Journal. “It’s dystopian.” Other media outlets report on more testing news, as well.
Faced with bed and medical device shortages, hospitals will be put in the terrible position of deciding on which patients to devote their resources. Atlanta has already warned that the city’s ICU’s are at capacity and it’s only projected to get worse. Meanwhile, health experts scour for locations that can be turned into hospitals.
Federal Reserve Pulls Out All The Stops To Try To Bolster Economy
But calls for the Fed to lend to all corners of the economy are striking given a move by Congress just 10 years ago to restrict its emergency lending authority after the last economic meltdown. Meanwhile, governors plead with the federal government and Congress for financial help as their unemployment claims skyrocket.
Health care workers on the front lines have been hit hard by the outbreak in other countries. As providers in the United States face shortages of protective gear, medical equipment and nurses, some consider desperate options like deliberate infection. Meanwhile, volunteers rush to sew masks in an attempt to stave off the shortages for local hospitals.
‘Be On Lookout For Schemes’: DOJ Launches Task Force On Hoarding, Price Gouging
Among profiteering crimes being reported are hoarding of masks at a time when health care professionals need them, targeting of Medicare patients for fake COVID-19 tests and physicians prescribing anti-viral drugs promoted by President Trump to healthy patients.
Opinion writers express views about these health care issues and others.
17-Year-Old’s Death Linked To Coronavirus, Emphasizing That The Young Aren’t Immune To The Outbreak
While the case is complex in terms of how COVID-19 played a role in the death, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials say it highlights the risk to young people, who have experienced far lower mortality rates than the older generations.
FDA stressed that “convalescent plasma has not been shown to be effective in every disease studied.” But it is a century-old treatment that has shown results against other diseases. “We won’t know until we do it, but the historical evidence is encouraging,” said Dr. Arturo Casadevall of Johns Hopkins University. In other news, the slow mutation rate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus prompts optimism for a future vaccine.
Gilead could keep lower-priced generic versions of the medicine off the market for several years if remdesivir is approved for use. Gilead was able to secure the status because as of now there are fewer than 200,000 cases in the U.S.