Latest KFF Health News Stories
ERs Are Swamped With Seriously Ill Patients, Although Many Don’t Have Covid
Certain patients who couldn’t get in to see a doctor earlier in the pandemic, or were avoiding the covid risks inside hospitals, have become too sick to stay away. Many ERs now struggle to cope with an onslaught of demand.
Worn-Out Nurses Hit the Road for Better Pay, Stressing Hospital Budgets — And Morale
Managers are trapped in a pricey hiring cycle, competing for critical care nurses who can monitor covid patients on life support. Some hospitals are looking abroad to replace staffers who quit to become travel nurses or leave the profession.
Community Clinics Shouldered Much of the Vaccine Rollout. Many Haven’t Been Paid.
Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a “massive cash flow problem.”
Más de la mitad de los estados han revertido poderes de salud pública durante la pandemia
Motivados por votantes enojados por los cierres y los mandatos sobre el uso de máscaras durante la pandemia, legisladores republicanos en más de la mitad de los estados de EE.UU. están quitando los poderes que los funcionarios estatales y locales usan para proteger al público contra las enfermedades infecciosas
Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic
At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the country’s ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.
States Pull Back on Covid Data Even Amid Delta Surge
As covid case numbers rise nationwide, Georgia and some other states have restricted the case count data they share publicly.
Hard Lessons From a City That Tried to Privatize Public Health
Facing bankruptcy, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department in 2012, and the city essentially went two years without a government-run public health system. Five years later, this major American city offers a grim cautionary tale.
Stark Racial Disparities Persist in Vaccinations, State-Level CDC Data Shows
Black Americans’ vaccination rates still trail all other groups, while Hispanics show improvement. Native Americans show the strongest rates nationally.
Another Pandemic ‘To Do’ on the List for Schools: Contact Tracing
Struggling to keep up with a covid-19 surge in Michigan, overwhelmed health departments relied on an unlikely new crew of contact tracers: school principals.
Michigan’s Outbreak Worries Scientists. Will Conservative Outposts Keep Pandemic Rolling?
The covid outbreak in Michigan stands out on the U.S. contagion map, but odds are it will be repeated elsewhere. How vaccine hesitancy, relaxed restrictions and a coronavirus variant combined to create the worst outbreak in the country.
Condados más ricos del país, abrumados por el aumento del hambre infantil
Los incrementos más pronunciados se registran en algunos de los condados más adinerados, donde la riqueza general oscurece las frágiles finanzas de los trabajadores con salarios bajos.
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.
Paciente de transplante muere después de recibir pulmones infectados con covid
El incidente parece ser aislado, el único caso confirmado entre casi 40,000 trasplantes realizados en 2020. Pero ha generado el pedido de que se hagan pruebas más exhaustivas a los donantes.
Organ Transplant Patient Dies After Receiving Covid-Infected Lungs
The first confirmed U.S. case of SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted through an organ transplant has prompted calls for updated transplant protocols and additional testing of samples from deep within donor lungs.
How a Bounty of Vaccines Flooded a Small Hospital and Its Nearby College
An ad hoc, chaotic distribution system is leading to a bizarre mix of vaccine haves and have-nots.
Do-It-Yourself Contact Tracing Is a ‘Last Resort’ in Communities Besieged by Covid
Covid-19 cases are spreading so fast that they’re outpacing the contact-tracing capacities of some local health departments. Faced with mounting caseloads, those departments are asking people who test positive for the coronavirus to do their own contact tracing.
Trump’s Lame-Duck Status Leaves Governors to Wing It on COVID
As coronavirus cases surge, state officials can’t afford to wait for a new president to take office before taking action. But some governors’ initiatives seem to be little more than policy tweaks or symbolic gestures.
Distrusting Trump, States Plan to Vet COVID Vaccines Themselves. Bad Idea, Say Experts.
California and at least five other states have said they may independently vet any vaccines. Experts warn that could needlessly confuse the public.
Kids Are Missing Critical Windows for Lead Testing Due to Pandemic
Inspections for lead hazards and blood testing for lead have dropped significantly just as kids are spending more time in the places where their exposure to the poisonous metal is highest: their homes.
Estudiantes de minorías analizan datos de COVID sobre disparidades raciales
Los datos para abordar las brechas raciales en la atención en las comunidades más necesitadas, y sus resultados, han sido escasos durante la pandemia.
