Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
Patients Struggle to Find Prescription Opioids After NY Tax Drives Out Suppliers
The tax was touted as a way to generate funding for treatment programs across the state. But to avoid paying, scores of manufacturers and wholesalers stopped selling opioids in New York.
¿Leones, tigres y visones? Analizan a distintas especies en busca de COVID
Mientras resurgen los casos de COVID-19 en los Estados Unidos, científicos y veterinarios investigan el virus en animales domésticos y salvajes. Ya han realizado miles de pruebas.
Lions and Tigers and Anteaters? US Scientists Scan the Menagerie for COVID
Thousands of animals in the U.S. have been tested for the coronavirus, as researchers work to understand its transmission and which other species might be at risk. So far, dozens have tested positive, mostly cats and dogs exposed to sick owners.
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.
‘You’re Going to Release Him When He Was Hurting Himself?’
Daniel Prude’s family knew he needed psychiatric care and tried to get it for him. Instead, his encounter with police hours after he was released from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, proved fatal.
COVID Exodus Fills Vacation Towns With New Medical Pressures
As people leave COVID-stricken cities to settle semi-permanently in vacation communities, locals assess how these new residents are changing demands on medical services.
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.
When the Pandemic Closes Your Gym, ‘Come for the Party, Stay for the Workout’
As gyms throughout New York City had to close because of the coronavirus pandemic, some trainers just moved outdoors to the parks.
They Cared for Some of New York’s Most Vulnerable Communities. Then 12 Died.
Immigrant health workers help keep the U.S. health system afloat — and they’re dying of COVID-19 at high rates.
Is Cuomo Directive to Blame for Nursing Home COVID Deaths, as US Official Claims?
New York’s governor directed nursing homes to take COVID patients. But is it fair to say he “forced” them to do so, or that his directive led to the deaths of thousands of elderly residents? Most public health experts say no.
‘Is This When I Drop Dead?’ Two Doctors Report From the COVID Front Lines
Two emergency room doctors, one in New York and the other in Houston, discuss their cities’ coronavirus outbreaks — and responses.
Public Health Officials Are Quitting or Getting Fired in Throes of Pandemic
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
Last Thing Patients Need During Pandemic: Being Last to Know a Doctor Left Network
Health plan network changes occur all the time as doctors retire, relocate or leave networks. Unfortunately, patients may be the last to find out about such changes because there are often few requirements that either providers or insurers inform them.
Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness
About 1,000 children worldwide have had the condition known as MIS-C — Multisymptom Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Children’s hospitals around the U.S. are trying to keep tabs on young people after they recover from the ailment, to gauge any long-term effects.
Cities Brace For ‘Collision Course’ Of Heat Waves And COVID-19
Rochester, New York, and other cities have already weathered the first blasts of excessive heat, and they have done it while cooling centers and spray parks have been closed due to the pandemic.
Las muertes ocultas de la pandemia de COVID
Mientras funcionarios tratan de sumar cuántas personas dan positivo para el coronavirus y cuántas mueren por COVID, la pandemia ha dejado un número incalculable de muertes en las sombras.
The Hidden Deaths Of The COVID Pandemic
Counting deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic is easier said than done. Without widespread testing, officials must sort through presumed COVID deaths and those who died with infections rather than from them. Then there are the indirect deaths of people who died from circumstances created by the pandemic.
My Mother Died Of The Coronavirus. It’s Time She Was Counted.
Not having an accurate, honest, nationwide way to tally COVID-19 cases will only add to the current tragedy.
As COVID-19 Lurks, Families Are Locked Out Of Nursing Homes. Is It Safe Inside?
“The awful truth is families have no control over what’s happening,” one advocate says.
