Solitary Confinement Condemns Many Prisoners to Long-Term Health Issues

An estimated 300,000 people were held in solitary confinement in U.S. jails and prisons at the height of the pandemic. An international movement is pushing to limit the form of incarceration due to its damaging physical and psychological effects.

Low Wages and Pandemic Gut Staffing Support for Those With Disabilities

Group homes and facilities that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were hurting for staffers before the pandemic. Now the nationwide job crunch and pandemic pressures are making it even worse.

Mounting Covid Deaths Fuel School Bus Drivers’ Fears

Since August, school bus drivers and monitors have died of covid-19 in at least 10 states, including Georgia and Florida. Masks are required on school buses, but enforcing the rules in districts without school mask mandates is especially hard to do.

Georgia Eyes New Medicaid Contract. But How Is the State Managing Managed Care?

More than 40 states have turned to managed-care companies to control costs in their Medicaid programs, which cover low-income residents and people with disabilities. As Georgia prepares to open bidding on a new contract, the question looms: Has this model paid off?

Telemedicine Abortions Offer Cheaper Options but May Also Undermine Critical Clinics

A change in FDA rules during the pandemic has let women receive the drugs needed for a medical abortion by mail after a telemedicine appointment. While some abortion rights advocates hail the move, others note that these services, which are often cheaper than going to a clinic, could siphon away patients needed to keep those brick-and-mortar facilities operating.

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.

How Much of Trump’s Health Agenda Has Biden Undone?

In his campaign, President Joe Biden promised to undo policies, particularly health policies, implemented by former President Donald Trump. Yet, despite immense executive power, reversing four years of action takes time and resources.

Need Amid Plenty: Richest US Counties Are Overwhelmed by Surge in Child Hunger

Hunger among kids is skyrocketing, even in America’s wealthiest counties. But given the nation’s highly uneven charitable food system, affluent communities have been far less ready for the unprecedented crisis than places accustomed to dealing with poverty and hardship.

Democrats Are Running Hard on Health Care in Georgia’s Senate Runoffs. Republicans? Not So Much.

Democrats are treating health care as a more critical issue than their Republican counterparts in Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoffs. It’s a strategy they hope will woo independents and motivate base voters. The results will determine which party controls the chamber during the first years of the Biden administration.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Change Is in the Air

Former Vice President Joe Biden remains on the cusp of being declared the winner of the presidential election, and which party will control the Senate next year remains in question. The outcomes of both the presidential and Senate elections will have dramatic effects on the health agenda. Meanwhile, should President Donald Trump eke out a win, his administration is still pushing some sweeping health changes. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.