Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medi-Cal Agency’s New Head Wants to Tackle Disparities and Racism
Will Lightbourne, the new director of the California Department of Health Care Services, says government must address the racial disparities laid bare by COVID-19 and improve care for the state’s most vulnerable residents.
Namaste Noir: Yoga Co-Op Seeks to Diversify Yoga to Heal Racialized Trauma
In dealing with her son’s violent murder, fear over the coronavirus pandemic and the stress of coping with systemic racism, Beverly Grant has found strength and peace through yoga. The Denver native is part of a yoga co-op seeking to bring the ancient practice to more diverse communities as a health care tool.
‘It’s About Love and Solidarity’: Mutual Aid Unites NYC Neighbors Facing COVID
Mutual aid groups, in which volunteers give their time and resources to help others in the community, are seeing a resurgence in New York with the coronavirus pandemic.
Estudio federal analiza COVID-19 y las disparidades raciales en Estados Unidos
Investigadores del NIH tratan de establecer la relación entre factores socioeconómicos como el ingreso, la estructura familiar, la dieta, el acceso a la atención médica y las infecciones por COVID y sus resultados.
NIH Project Homes In on COVID Racial Disparities
The pandemic has given the National Institutes of Health an opportunity to show the value of its $1.5 billion “All of Us” research program. A major effort to make the platform’s database representative of America resulted in minorities making up more than half of its more than 270,000 volunteers.
La tasa de vacunación contra la culebrilla aumenta, pero muchos quedan atrás
Un nuevo informe de los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) revela que el porcentaje de vacunación es mucho más bajo entre las minorías.
Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.
A pesar del aumento de casos, California frena fondos multimillonarios para pruebas de COVID
El estado ya no financiará nuevos sitios de prueba, a pesar de las súplicas de los condados para obtener asistencia adicional. También ha cerrado algunos espacios y los ha trasladado a otros lugares.
As Cases Spike, California Pauses Multimillion-Dollar Testing Expansion
California is cutting off funding for COVID-19 testing just when counties say they need more resources in rural and disadvantaged areas.
Sweeps Of Homeless Camps Run Counter To COVID Guidance And Pile On Health Risks
Authorities continue to dismantle homeless encampments despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hold off during the pandemic to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Officials Seek To Shift Resources Away From Policing To Address Black ‘Public Health Crisis’
Local governments around the country are declaring racism a public health crisis. That could be lip service, or it might lead to shifting resources from policing to health care, housing and other services, experts say.
California Lawmakers Block Health Care Cuts
State legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom have hammered out an agreement on a budget that rejects Newsom’s proposed cuts to health care services for older and low-income people.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: SCOTUS, Trump Collide Over Transgender Rights
The Trump administration rolled back protections for transgender patients just days before the Supreme Court cemented LGBTQ rights under the Civil Rights Act. So, what now? Meanwhile, coronavirus politics reaches beyond health care settings. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
‘Just Make It Home’: The Unwritten Rules Blacks Learn To Navigate Racism In America
Darnell Hill, a mental health caseworker, is teaching black teens in St. Louis how to safely walk through the park, run to the store or handle an encounter with the police. Beyond tangible skills, he offers comfort and a semblance of control to those for whom birding, running or walking down the street hold the risk of racial violence.
COVID-19 Batters A Beloved Bay Area Community Health Care Center
Health clinics in isolated African American communities in the San Francisco Bay Area provide crucial services to neglected populations. But like thousands of other community clinics around the nation, their finances have been wrecked by the pandemic shutdown.
Baltimore’s ‘Squeegee Boys’: ‘If We Don’t Go Out, We Don’t Eat’
The federal government’s relief package left behind many of America’s poorest workers struggling to make ends meet as the coronavirus ravaged and unemployment rose. Baltimore’s “squeegee boys” are among them.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Protests And The Pandemic
The outrage over the death of an African American man, George Floyd, after he was restrained and knelt on by Minneapolis police officers has sparked national protests, including in places where the coronavirus is still spreading. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s attempt to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization could have ramifications for Americans. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Mary Agnes Carey of KHN and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews Jonathan Oberlander, a University of North Carolina health policy professor and the editor of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, about articles examining the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of health inequity and structural racism.
Efforts To Curb Congenital Syphilis Falter In COVID’s Shadow
A new federal report sheds light on the reasons newborn syphilis rates are on the rise despite simple treatment options. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, public health departments will struggle to respond.
Por qué los recortes en salud perjudican siempre a los californianos más vulnerables
En California, donde casi 2,9 millones de personas han solicitado el desempleo en los últimos dos meses, Newsom describió los recortes propuestos como “prudentes” y “estratégicos”.
‘Why Do We Always Get Hit First?’ Proposed Budget Cuts Target Vulnerable Californians
Safety-net health care programs that keep low-income Californians out of nursing homes are on the chopping block as Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers attempt to plug a massive budget deficit caused by the COVID-19 emergency.
