Weekly Edition: August 28, 2020

Veteran’s Appendectomy Launches Excruciating Months-Long Battle Over Bill
By Elizabeth Lawrence An uninsured Colorado man owed $80,232 after two surgeries — the second to correct a complication from the first. After months of negotiating with the hospital, he still owes far more than most insurers would pay for the surgery he had.

They Cared for Some of New York’s Most Vulnerable Communities. Then 12 Died.
By Danielle Renwick, The Guardian Immigrant health workers help keep the U.S. health system afloat — and they’re dying of COVID-19 at high rates.

Two Navajo Sisters Who Were Inseparable Died of COVID Just Weeks Apart
By Shoshana Dubnow Cheryl and Corrina Thinn’s deaths devastated their families and their community.

Many People of Color, Immigrants Among Over 1,000 US Health Workers Lost to COVID
By Danielle Renwick, The Guardian and Shoshana Dubnow The Guardian and KHN release new figures showing that, among health care workers, a disproportionate number of immigrants and minorities have died.

Florida’s Cautionary Tale: How Gutting and Muzzling Public Health Fueled COVID Fire
By Laura Ungar and Jason Dearen, The Associated Press and Hannah Recht As the nation hollowed out its public health infrastructure for decades, staffing and funding fell faster and further in Florida. Then the coronavirus ran roughshod, infecting more than half a million people and killing thousands.

LA Hospital Seeks Vaccine Trial Participants Among Its Own High-Risk Patients
By Arthur Allen Harbor-UCLA Medical Center serves patients who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus: They are essential workers, have chronic diseases and are members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. When the safety-net hospital kicks off enrollment for its COVID-19 vaccine trial Wednesday, it will look to those patients to participate.

They Pledged to Donate Rights to Their COVID Vaccine, Then Sold Them to Pharma
By Jay Hancock Advocates of cheap and widely available vaccines thought the pandemic might change business as usual. They were wrong.

Is Cuomo Directive to Blame for Nursing Home COVID Deaths, as US Official Claims?
By Michelle Andrews 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.

Trump Is Sending Fast, Cheap COVID Tests to Nursing Homes — But There’s a Hitch
By Rachana Pradhan Experts say the administration’s approach with antigen tests could add cost and risk for the most vulnerable patients.

COVID + Influenza: This Is a Good Year to Get a Flu Shot, Experts Advise
By Julie Appleby and Michelle Andrews A robust sign-up for flu shots could help head off a nightmare scenario in the coming winter of hospitals stuffed with both COVID-19 patients and those suffering from severe effects of influenza. Plus, no one knows how flu and COVID might interact if a patient got both.

5 Things to Know About Convalescent Blood Plasma
By Victoria Knight President Donald Trump touted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of this unproven COVID-19 treatment for emergency use. That set off reactions ranging from excitement and optimism to scientific concerns and criticism that the decision was politically motivated.

Another COVID Mystery: Patients Survive Ventilator, But Linger in a Coma
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR Doctors are diagnosing a new stage of COVID-19 recovery: patients who take much longer than usual to regain consciousness after coming off a ventilator. And a growing number of doctors are worried some patients aren’t being given the time they need to wake up.

Analysis: You’ve Checked for Fever. Now, What’s Your Risk Tolerance?
By Elisabeth Rosenthal Getting out of our bunkers doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind.

Inside the Race to Build a Better $500 Emergency Ventilator
By Erin Schulte 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?

One College’s Pop-Up COVID Test: Stop and ‘Smell the Roses’ (Or the Coffee)
By Ann Bauer Forget those thermometers. Researchers, finding a surer link between the loss of the sense of smell and a coronavirus infection, suggest the symptom may be an easy and less expensive method for screening.

How to Weigh Evacuation Options With Both Wildfires and COVID at Your Door
By Jenny Gold As the twin disasters of COVID-19 and fire season sweep through California, thousands of residents are weighing difficult options, pitting risk against risk as they decide where to evacuate. Amid a virulent pandemic, where can you safely relocate?

Wildfires Provide Another Reason to Mask Up
By Bernard J. Wolfson As the long U.S. fire season gets underway, it’s even more important for Western residents to have a good face mask. Unfortunately, most of the masks we’re wearing for COVID-19 aren’t great for smoke.

Republican Convention, Day 1: A Campaign-Style Trump Speech and More
By the staffs of KHN and PolitiFact Republicans kicked off the first day of their convention with a wide-ranging speech by President Donald Trump in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trump Again Claims He’s Bringing Down Drug Prices, But Details of How Are Skimpy
By Victoria Knight During his Monday speech at the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump pointed to his two of his recent executive orders as likely to lead to big reductions in prescription drug costs.

Republican Convention, Day 2: Pomp, the Pandemic and Planned Parenthood
By the staffs of KHN and PolitiFact Tuesday night's speakers offered positive views on President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic. The first lady and Trump, himself, took advantage of the trappings of the White House in setting the scene.

Drug Overdose Deaths Showed a One-Year Decline in 2018. But There’s More to the Story.
By Julie Appleby The statistic is accurate but experts say other factors make it difficult to say indicators to think about that make it hard to say it's a "huge win."

Republican Convention, Day 3: Revisionist History
By the staffs of KHN and PolitiFact Vice President Mike Pence officially accepted the Republican Party's nomination for a second term.

Pence Praises Trump’s ‘Seamless’ COVID Response, Leaves Out His State Feuds
By Jon Greenberg, PolitiFact and Amy Sherman, PolitiFact and Victoria Knight Early in the pandemic, Trump feuded with governors over whose responsibility it was to secure supplies and states sometimes found themselves competing with each other and the federal government for scarce personal protective equipment and testing materials.

Opposition to Obamacare Becomes Political Liability for GOP Incumbents
By Markian Hawryluk Control of the U.S. Senate this election hinges on a handful of vulnerable GOP incumbents. Their opposition to the Affordable Care Act could be their undoing.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Replay: What’s at Stake When High Court Hears ACA Case
We’re off this week, but the Affordable Care Act is in the news, as the GOP holds its virtual convention and the Supreme Court recently scheduled arguments in a case challenging the law. So we’re reposting our ACA 10th anniversary episode from March. For this special episode of “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews Kathleen Sebelius, who was President Barack Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services when the law was passed. Then Rovner, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN discuss the law’s history, impact and prospects for the future.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: How to Fight Bogus Medical Bills Like a Bulldog
By Dan Weissmann When a colleague brings a medical billing problem to human resources director Steve Benasso — he goes to battle. “I am a bulldog on this stuff,” he said. In this episode, Benasso tells how he does it.

Prognosis for Rural Hospitals Worsens With Pandemic
By Sarah Jane Tribble Rural hospitals were already struggling before the coronavirus emerged. Now, the loss of revenue from patients who are afraid to come to the emergency room, postponing doctor’s appointments and delaying elective surgeries is adding to the pressure.

Feeling Anxious and Depressed? You’re Right at Home in California.
By Phillip Reese In a series of July U.S. Census Bureau surveys, nearly half of California adult respondents reported levels of anxiety and gloom typically associated with diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, a stunning figure that rose through the summer alongside the menacing spread of the coronavirus.