Latest KFF Health News Content

Latest KFF Health News Stories

An Enormous Vaccine Contract Is Scrutinized

Morning Briefing

The latest science and research news includes: A $1.6 billion government contract to a vaccine developer explained (Bill Gates figures in the tale); and a new approach to give people temporary immunity from COVID.

Medicare Officials Tighten Rein On Group That Accredits Hospitals

Morning Briefing

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services granted the Joint Commission approval to accredit for only two years, rather than the maximum of six, citing concerns about surveyor performance and comparability of the Joint Commission’s survey process to what CMS uses.

More Fallout From USA Today Op-Ed On Fauci

Morning Briefing

USA Today, which published an op-ed criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci by another top White House adviser, says the piece did not meet its standards. Meanwhile, White House officials modified, but continued, their comments about Fauci.

CDC’s Hospital Data Disappears, Reappears And Vexes Many

Morning Briefing

A Trump administration plan to have hospitals bypass the normal repository of its data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has left hospitals confused, governors pushing back and the public without crucial information about the COVID epidemic.

Curve Keeps Rising At Alarming Pace: US Sets Another Daily Case Record

Morning Briefing

Nearly 1,000 infected Americans died over the last 24-hours from COVID-19 as the death rate also continues to climb. Meanwhile, India joins the U.S. and Brazil in a grim group: countries with more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases.

Russian Hackers Targeting COVID Vaccine Research

Morning Briefing

Intelligence agencies in the U.S., Britain and Canada say they see evidence that Russian hackers are attempting to obtain coronavirus vaccine research. The Russian unit supposedly goes by the name “Cozy Bear.”

Montana Rodeo Goes On, Bucking Fears on Fort Peck Reservation

KFF Health News Original

Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes initially opposed the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede this year, worrying about hundreds of people coming to their reservation for the rodeo amid coronavirus concerns. But the annual event was on private land and went ahead, highlighting the reopening tensions between resuming normal economic activities and protecting the vulnerable.

Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus

KFF Health News Original

Health departments and other public agencies tasked with protecting the nation from disease-carrying mosquitoes are overstretched amid the coronavirus pandemic — even as the nation is told it’s safest to be outside.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Trump Administration’s War on Fauci

KFF Health News Original

Case counts for COVID-19 are rising in nearly every state, yet a major campaign by the Trump administration this past week was an attempt to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, a trusted voice in public health. Meanwhile, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s surprise decision to protect abortion rights, there’s been a flurry of activity on reproductive health issues in lower federal courts. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Erin Mershon of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more.

Listen: A Bureaucratic Shuffle for Hospital COVID Data

KFF Health News Original

KHN’s Julie Rovner discusses the Trump administration plans to change how hospitals report their data on coronavirus cases and concerns among critics that may allow officials to use the material to make political points.

Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed

Morning Briefing

Each week, KHN finds longer on-topic stories for you to sit back and enjoy: Desperation at hospitals; changing relationships; how men and women age; lonely geishas; and lots on parenting.