Latest KFF Health News Stories
Airports Step Up Mental Health Assistance as Passenger Anxiety Soars
As more people return to air travel, tension is mounting in airports nationwide. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson is among those that have responded to the pandemic-related stress and fear among passengers and employees by offering services such as meditation, chaplains and other help in their terminals.
Biden Moves to Overturn Trump Birth Control Rules
Return to pre-Trump policy is second win of the week for abortion-rights backers.
4 Things to Know About the J&J Covid Vaccine Pause
The messaging surrounding vaccine safety and efficacy may mean as much as the science.
A Year Into Pandemic, Federal Officials Move to Better Protect Front-Line Workers
Changes would allow N95 sales for industries other than health care and signal an end to the hospital practice of reusing the masks considered essential for worker safety.
Analysis: I Was a Teenage Rifle Owner, Then an ER Doctor. Assault Weapons Shouldn’t Count as ‘Guns.’
The United States has undergone a cultural, definitional, practical shift on guns and what they are for.
Syphilis Cases in California Drive a Record-Setting Year for STDs Nationwide
New data released Tuesday from the CDC shows sexually transmitted infections reached an all-time high in 2019. The biggest spike was in syphilis cases, which rose 74% between 2015 and 2019. Leading the country in syphilis is California, where men who have sex with men make up half the cases.
Covid Spawns ‘Completely New Category’ of Organ Transplants
Nearly 60 organ transplants have been performed after the coronavirus “basically destroyed” patients’ hearts and lungs.
Orange County Hospital Seeks Divorce From Large Catholic Health System
Frustration with the standardization of care across 51 hospitals, loss of local control and restrictions on reproductive health care have pitted Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian against the Providence chain.
Redfield Joins Big Ass Fans, Which Promotes Controversial Covid-Killing Technology
Dr. Robert Redfield, Trump’s CDC director, lends his scientific credibility to its Clean Air Systems subsidiary, which touts a “virus-killing ion technology” added to its fans. But indoor air quality experts question whether some of its technology works in the real world.
‘Explained by KHN’: Health Insurance Help in Covid Relief Law
In this edition of “Explained by KHN” Emmarie Huetteman covers how the $1.9 trillion covid relief law will make health insurance coverage significantly more affordable for millions of people.
Readers and Tweeters Give Tips on Treating Diabetes and Long Covid
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Biden Seeks $400 Billion to Buttress Long-Term Care. A Look at What’s at Stake.
Long-term care options are expensive and often out of reach for seniors and people with disabilities. The president has proposed a massive infusion of federal funding for home and community-based health services that advocates say will go a long way toward helping individuals and families.
The Gender Vaccine Gap: More Women Than Men Are Getting Covid Shots
A KHN examination of state vaccine statistics shows that more women than men have gotten covid vaccines. Experts cite demographic realities of those who were part of the initial rollout but also women’s greater likelihood to seek preventive health care.
Journalists Document True Toll of Covid on Health Care’s Front-Line Force
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
‘My Children Were Priceless Jewels’: Three Families Reflect on the Health Workers They Lost
The daughter of an internist in the Bronx, the father of a nurse practitioner in Southern California and the son of a nurse in McAllen, Texas, share how grief over their loved ones’ deaths from covid has affected them.
Fauci Thanks US Health Workers for Sacrifices but Admits PPE Shortages Drove Up Death Toll
Exclusive: The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says health workers ‘have lived up to the oath they take’ but says shortages of protective gear have contributed to excess deaths.
They Tested Negative for Covid. Still, They Have Long Covid Symptoms.
Despite a negative covid test, people could have been infected with the coronavirus anyway. And some of them might face lingering health issues.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Care as Infrastructure
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes items not traditionally considered “infrastructure,” including a $400 billion expansion of home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, and a $50 billion effort to replace water pipes lined with lead. Meanwhile, the politics of covid-19 are turning to how or whether Americans will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KFF’s Mollyann Brodie about the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor.
Calls Mount for Biden to Track US Health Care Worker Deaths from Covid
As The Guardian and KHN end Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong project to count health care worker deaths in the pandemic, the White House is under pressure to take up the task.
12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year
Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong investigation by The Guardian and KHN to count health care worker deaths, ends today. This is what we learned in a year of tracing the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
