Latest KFF Health News Stories
Michigan Ford Plant’s Policy Is Clear That Visitors Must Wear Masks. Will Trump Finally Don One?
Ford officials have said that President Donald Trump, who has yet to be seen in public wearing a mask, will be allowed to bend their strict rules. Trump’s trip to Michigan may be fraught with tension, as he escalated his fight with state leaders over funding and mail-in-voting on the eve of his visit.
Trump Threatens To Withhold Funding To Battleground States Michigan, Nevada Over Mail-In-Voting Push
President Donald Trump made false claims about Michigan’s efforts to expand mail-in-voting and then launched similar attacks against Nevada. Trump has been vocal about his opposition to mail-in-voting despite the pandemic, but many states are moving toward the option as experts predict a second coronavirus wave in the fall.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care issues and others.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
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Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical development and pricing stories from the past week in KHN’s Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
In Deathbed Confession, ‘Jane Roe’ Reveals She Was Paid To Join Anti-Abortion Movement
Norma McCorvey–who is the “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade–made news when later in her life she became an outspoken voice in the anti-abortion movement. But in a new documentary, McCorvey admits she was paid to switch sides. “I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say,” she says on camera. “I did it well too. I am a good actress. Of course, I’m not acting now.”
Proposal From Germany, France Would Bolster Poorer EU Nations, But It’s Unlikely To Be Popular
German and French leaders have put aside past grievances during the pandemic and stepped into the vacuum created by Brexit to try to help guide Europe through the crisis. But will their efforts backfire on them politically? Other global news comes from Spain, Thailand and South Korea.
More Verbal, Physical Attacks: Asian-American Health Care Workers Report Rise In Bigoted Incidents
“People are worried about transmission of a disease that they associate with foreignness and Asian faces,” said Grace Kao, a Yale University sociologist. “Nothing erases what we look like.” Health care worker news is on minority doctors, whistleblowers, fatalities on the frontline, and damaging hospital reports, as well.
Baby Bust Continues: U.S. Births Fall Again With Another Drop Anticipated After COVID
The CDC found the number of births fell about 1% from 2018, to about 3.7 million. Birth rates continued to fall for teen moms and for women in their 20s while some women are just waiting until they’re older. Public health news is on mental health, resuming exercise after COVID, treatment delays for cancer patients, feeling like outcasts, elderly deaths while on ventilators, training canines to detect infections, careful cleaning of surfaces, challenges when caring for dementia patients, pregnancy, new hotel perks, and on testing ultraviolet light as a cleaning agent, as well.
Trump’s Reelection Team Desperately Seeks A Return To Mega-Rallies Where He Can Pump Up Base
The rallies have always been a key component of President Donald Trump’s election strategy, but the pandemic is getting in the way of that plan. Meanwhile, Republicans, nervous about losing Senate seats, are shifting to keep in sync with Trump’s election-year playbook.
Mnuchin, Powell Strike Somber Tones On Economy But Offer Different Paths Forward
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified virtually in front of Congress with dire warnings about the economic devastation from the pandemic. While Mnuchin favored a wait-and-see approach to more federal aid for states, Powell says that more will be needed.
In Private Lunch, Trump Tells Republicans To ‘Be Tough’ On Dems But Doesn’t Press For Specific Plan
President Donald Trump met with Republican senators in a freewheeling lunch where he touted his poll numbers. But when it came to stimulus plans, Trump demurred. “I asked him specifically whether he thought we needed to do another bill and what in his opinion should be in it. And he gave me a careful, artful answer, which tells me he’s not ready to say,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.). Meanwhile, progressives in Congress see the pandemic as a way to push their agenda forward.
During the pandemic, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have adopted a more aggressive approach to policing misinformation, but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t spreading across the internet.
As States Eye Medicaid Cuts Amid Financial Woes, Provider Payments The Likely Target
Experts say the choices for states on what to cut from their Medicaid programs are limited and that there’s no easy answer. In other insurance and health industry news: COBRA subsidies, health care cooperatives, and plummeting operating income.
Infection-Control Practices Get Low Marks In Louisiana Nursing Homes Where COVID Deaths Occurred
At least 27 of the 41 homes with the highest death tolls have been cited for infection control deficiencies within about the last three years, according to CMS data. News on nursing homes is from California and Pennsylvania, as well.
Media outlets report on news from New York, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Vermont and Maine.
For Hardest-Hit NYC Hospitals, The Drop In Patients Is ‘Like Someone Turned Off The Hose’
“There’s a huge psychological desire to be like, ‘Whew, we’re through the worst of it,’” said Dr. Eric Wei, an emergency medicine physician and senior vice president of quality for NYC Health & Hospitals. “It’s a challenge to fight that human nature to over-relax or say now we can just go back to how things used to be.”
