Latest News On Disparities

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Inside the Race to Build a Better $500 Emergency Ventilator

KFF Health News Original

Inspired to help during the COVID pandemic, a volunteer SWAT team of engineering and medical talent combines old-fashioned problem-solving and advanced 3D printing — but will it actually help?

America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Vaccines engineered to protect the public from influenza, hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies are less effective for obese people, leaving them more vulnerable to serious illness. As scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, experts say obesity could prove an impediment — a sobering prospect for a nation in which nearly half of all adults are obese.

Medi-Cal Agency’s New Head Wants to Tackle Disparities and Racism

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Estudio federal analiza COVID-19 y las disparidades raciales en Estados Unidos

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.

Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction

KFF Health News Original

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.

Sweeps Of Homeless Camps Run Counter To COVID Guidance And Pile On Health Risks

KFF Health News Original

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’

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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

KFF Health News Original

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.