Latest KFF Health News Stories
Trump Says He Saved 2 Million Lives From COVID. Really?
The number is taken from a hypothetical modeling scenario that doesn’t offer a realistic comparison.
Perspectives: Drugs From Canada; ‘Trump Card’
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Viewpoints: Pros, Cons Of Opening The Schools, Protecting The Elderly; Lessons On Fauci’s Strength
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic issues and others.
How The Next President Will Try To Lower Drug Prices
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN’s Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Reports are from Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Maryland, California, Massachusetts, and Georgia.
University Of Michigan Students Told To Stay Home As Virus Spikes
Education news on the pandemic also focuses on the political impact of empty campuses; school closures in Georgia; and a fine for a California private school that refused to close.
Amid COVID Surge, States Make Vaccine Plans
COVID cases are again sharply on the rise across the country, straining hospitals. States are also trying to prepare plans for the distribution of a vaccine.
Prepare Anyway: Be Wary Of Low Flu Rates In Locked Down Countries
Public health experts look to the Southern Hemisphere when making flu season projections, but this year they’re urging Americans to prepare for the worst even though fewer cases emerged in Australia and New Zealand. News is on Alzheimer’s disease, Ebola, breast cancer, and lung cancer, as well.
COVID Patients Suffer Long-Term Effects
The consequences of COVID-19 are becoming better understood.
Calif. Hospitals Reportedly Refused To Accept Some COVID Patients
The Wall Street Journal reports that hospital systems in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and San Bernardino counties rejected or delayed transfers because the patients were uninsured, on Medicaid or had other insurance problems, according to documents and emails from California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority. Also in the news, hospitals are setting up programs to treat long-term COVID patients.
What If The Doctor Is The One Who Refuses To Wear A Mask?
Some states can hold those doctors accountable, but Georgia isn’t one of them. Also, the pandemic’s emotional toll on health care workers and the impacts of unconscious bias in health care.
Vaccine Development Gets Down To The Details
Vaccine approval standards and clinical trial protocols are the nitty-gritty focus in the race to develop a COVID vaccine. Also, news on how other countries are doing with their vaccine development.
Nebraska’s Medicaid Waiver With Work Requirements Approved By CMS
Meanwhile, the agency wants to approve its operations to more nimbly handle emergency waiver requests.
Study: Early Treatment With Arthritis Drug Tocilizumab Reduces COVID Deaths
The reduced death rate was greatest in patients admitted to the ICU within three days of developing symptoms. Two other smaller studies showed no benefits. News is on expected shortages of antibody treatments, as well.
How Trump Uses HHS For Election Help
A mass marketing campaign to “inspire hope” about COVID-19 and a plan to mail $200 pharmacy gift certificates to millions of seniors are among the ways the Trump campaign is using the Department of Health and Human Services to generate support.
Biden Leads Trump On Key Issues, Including Health Care, New Poll Shows
The survey, by The New York Times and Sienna College, finds that voters strongly favor former Vice President Joe Biden’s position on revamping health insurance programs and his plan to combat the coronavirus. In other election news, Hispanics are focused on health care as they consider their presidential choices, and former President Barack Obama is set to hit the campaign trail for Biden.
Little Progress On A COVID Stimulus Bill
A Tuesday deadline passed with no bill in Congress, but negotiations continue on an economic relief package. Also, other news from Congress affecting health care.
Trump Takes Aim At Liberal Cities, Considers Slashing COVID Funds, HIV Funds, Newborn Screenings
Politico reports that Trump is targeting New York, Portland, Seattle and Washington D.C. News on federal funding also looks at underfunded health care on reservation areas in New Mexico.
Agencies’ Actions Varied From Desultory To Defiant
Across the federal agencies, the response to the COVID-19 epidemic has been haphazard, but the FDA is showing signs of standing up for scientists.
Far More Americans Have Died Of COVID Than Counted So Far, CDC Finds
A CDC analysis of deaths in 2020 that exceed typical annual statistics finds that the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 is nearly 300,000 — far higher than the confirmed tally of over 220,000.