Latest KFF Health News Stories
Common COVID Test Can Provide False Results, FDA Warns
The FDA has alerted doctors and labs that they must use updated instructions with Thermo Fisher’s TaqPath or the test could yield inaccurate results. In other testing and tracing news: rapid tests, an Iowa data glitch, long wait times for results and more.
Medicare Inspections Of Nursing Homes Halted By Pandemic To Resume
Onsite inspections of by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of providers and suppliers will resume for the first time since March 23.
House Democrats Push Bill To Provide $25 Billion To Postal Service
Meanwhile, Republican Senate leaders are putting together an alternative coronavirus relief package that would also include funds for the U.S. Postal Service. Mail-in voting during the pandemic continues to be a hot-button issue.
Trump Ad Blitz Touts Efforts To Tackle High Drug Prices
With health care a top issue of the 2020 presidential contest, the social media ads signal how President Donald Trump will position his record. And the Trump campaign unveils branded face masks.
Trump’s Transgender Health Rule Paused By Federal Judge
U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block issued a temporary injunction against an HHS regulation, scheduled to take effect Tuesday, that would roll back Obama-era protections for transgender people seeking health care.
‘He Cannot Meet This Moment’: Convention Speakers Excoriate Trump’s Ability To Handle Pandemic
“He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is,” said former first lady Michelle Obama in the keynote speech of the first night of the virtual Democratic National Convention. Other speakers who made waves are Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.) and Andrew Cuomo (N.Y.), as well as a woman who’s father died from COVID-19: His “only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump.”
Trump Nixes Pentagon Plan To Slash Billions From Military Health Care
“A proposal by Pentagon officials to slash Military Healthcare by $2.2 billion dollars has been firmly and totally rejected by me,” President Donald Trump tweeted, after the plan was reported by Politico.
In Just 8 Months, COVID-19 Rises To No. 3 Cause Of Death In U.S.
Coronavirus only lags behind heart disease and cancer. Meanwhile, nursing homes infections reach record levels and Texas joins a grim group of states that have reported more than 10,000 deaths.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers express views about school issues created by quarantines and collecting data on the pandemic.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic topics and others.
How The World Is Faring: Lebanon Issues COVID Lockdown
Media outlets report on news from Lebanon, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Jordan, France, Italy, Ireland, Brazil and elsewhere.
State Cases On Rise In Parts Of Illinois, Wisconsin
Media outlets report on news from Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nevada and Arizona.
Georgia Governor Backtracks On Mask Mandates
In other news from the states: Iowans and Californians struggle with power outages; a second person in Massachusetts has EEE; people are ignoring New York’s quarantine order; and more.
New Mexico Leads Nation In Alcohol-Related Deaths
Also in the news: the University of New Hampshire offers help for avoiding opioid addiction; drug overdoses rise in Canada; and Massachusetts will destroy aging marijuana vapes.
COVID-19’s Effect On The Nation’s Most Vulnerable Residents
Topics in the news include: homelessness; hunger; nursing homes; race; and bias against transgender and non-binary individuals.
‘New Breed Of Summer Jobs’: No-Contact Lifeguarding And Working At COVID Testing Sites
Lifeguarding in the pandemic means contactless ocean rescues and lifeguards who carry hand sanitizer. And with traditional summer jobs like camp counselor positions gone, one local government is recruiting teens and young adults to help with virus testing coordination.
Confidence In Travel Still Weak
The travel industry struggles with wary customers and restaurant owners find themselves under scrutiny. As some customers refuse to wear masks or avoid large gatherings, the question is raised: Why denial is a coping mechanism for some people?
Several universities that brought students back to campus are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks.
Summer’s Over: The Tans Will Fade But The Quarantine Will Last Two Weeks
Some families are changing end-of-summer vacation plans to avoid quarantining before the start of school. In other pandemic-school news: Massachusetts school officials reported dozens of families to social workers when kids missed remote learning, and parents with “no good choice” blame one another.
