Weekly Edition: December 11, 2020

Farmworkers, Firefighters and Flight Attendants Jockey for Vaccine Priority

Rachel Bluth and Phil Galewitz

Everyone — from toilet paper manufacturers to patient advocates — is lobbying state advisory boards, arguing their members are essential, vulnerable or both — and, thus, most deserving of an early vaccine.

Supply Is Limited and Distribution Uncertain as COVID Vaccine Rolls Out

Julie Appleby

Hospitals and nursing homes must decide who gets the initial doses as the U.S. heads into the biggest vaccination effort in history. There’s a lot left to figure out.

Demand for COVID Vaccines Expected to Get Heated — And Fast

JoNel Aleccia

With two vaccines against coronavirus disease poised for release within weeks, experts say they expect attitudes to shift dramatically from hesitancy to “Beanie Baby”-level urgency.

What Seniors Can Expect When COVID Vaccines Begin to Roll Out

Judith Graham

At least two vaccines could get federal emergency use authorizations this month. Nursing home and assisted living residents will be among the first to receive inoculations. Here’s a guide on how that rollout may proceed.

Going Home for the Holidays? For Many Americans, That’s a Risky Decision

Victoria Knight

Public health officials have urged Americans to hunker down, but people are still planning trips and contemplating ways to mitigate the risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccines Coming Soon but COVID Relief Bill Still Stalled

Even as the Food and Drug Administration nears emergency authorization for the first vaccine to protect against COVID-19, Congress remains at loggerheads over a COVID relief bill that could also provide the funding to fully distribute the vaccines. Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden announced the first members of his health team. 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. Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Mackert of the University of Texas-Austin, an expert on communicating public health information.

A Battle-Weary Seattle Hospital Fights the Latest COVID Surge

Will Stone

Harborview Medical Center was at the epicenter of the first wave of coronavirus in the U.S. Staffers have a better understanding of the disease as cases surge, but fatigue and a lack of backup staff are big challenges.

With Pandemic Surging, Ohio Gov. DeWine Dials Back His Aggressive Response

Michael McAuliff

The governor won praise around the state for his early efforts to combat the coronavirus, but as the crisis wore on and President Donald Trump played down the threat, Ohio Republicans began to grow restless with DeWine’s stance, and concerns for his reelection campaign in 2022 are rising.

It’s Time to Scare People About COVID

Elisabeth Rosenthal

Our public messaging about the virus should explain the real costs — in graphic terms — of catching the virus.

Tracking COVID’s Spread Inside a Tight-Knit Latino Community

Markian Hawryluk

Contact tracing for COVID-19 in a Latino immigrant community has some unique challenges. But as public health officials in Telluride, Colorado, are showing, using resources from inside those communities can help track and contain the coronavirus.

A Child’s Death in the Heartland Changes Community Views About COVID

Sara Shipley Hiles

As America enters a dark winter with no national directives against COVID-19, Washington, Missouri, faced the same dilemma numerous other communities are grappling with: enact restrictions to curb the pandemic or leave people to their own will? Then a local 13-year-old died.

Fear and Loathing as Colleges Face Another Season of Red Ink

Mark Kreidler

When campuses stay open, COVID infections spread widely, and sometimes kill. But by closing dorms and dining halls, scores of smaller schools face finances so ruinous they could be fatal for their institutions.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Obamacare Alum Andy Slavitt Takes Stock of the COVID Pandemic — So Far

Dan Weissmann

On the latest episode of ‘An Arm and a Leg’: Come for insights from an Obama administration health policy leader, stay to hear how frank health policy conversations can get uncomfortable.

With Becerra as HHS Pick, California Plots More Progressive Health Care Agenda

Angela Hart and Samantha Young

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has already begun discussing California health care priorities with Xavier Becerra, tapped this week by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his Health and Human Services secretary.

In Becerra, an HHS Nominee With Political Skill But No Front-Line Health Experience

Rachana Pradhan and Angela Hart and Julie Rovner and Jenny Gold

Despite his lack of front-line experience, Democrats see the California attorney general as an important ally to shepherd a progressive agenda on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, reproductive health services and immigration.

Senate Republicans Throw the Brakes on Timing for Becerra Hearings

Emmarie Huetteman

Republican spokespeople for the committees responsible for vetting Health and Human Services nominations said the Senate may not hold hearings on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the department, until the Senate approves committee assignments for the new Congress. That could delay the start of the process.

Xavier Becerra in His Own Words: ‘Health Care Is a Right’

KFF Health News Staff

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. As attorney general and during his 24 years in Congress, he has staked progressive positions on health care issues, fighting the Trump administration on contraception, suing a major California health system for monopolistic behavior and calling himself a supporter of single-payer health care.

California Lawmakers to Newsom: Give All Immigrants Health Coverage

Angela Hart

Given the pandemic’s disproportionate hit on minority communities, two Democratic lawmakers are pushing Newsom to agree to offer health care to all unauthorized immigrants. They planned to unveil legislation Monday — and a new strategy to make it happen.

Trump Rule Gives Small Companies a New Tool to Help Workers Buy Health Coverage

Michelle Andrews

Instead of taking on the expense of traditional health plans, some small businesses are setting up an “individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement” that allows them to give workers money to put toward comprehensive coverage on the individual insurance market. But consumer advocates are concerned they may shortchange some workers.

I Found My Secret to Feeling Younger and Stronger. The Pandemic Stole It Away.

Bruce Horovitz

What’s a 67-year-old to do when COVID-19 shuts down the volunteering gigs that were his personal fountain of youth?

Trump Plan May Set Clock Ticking on Many Health Rules — Setting Off Alarms

Phil Galewitz

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed that the new administration review about 2,400 regulations that affect tens of millions of Americans, on everything from Medicare benefits to prescription drug approvals. Those not analyzed within two years would become void.

Dialysis Industry Spends Millions, Emerges as Power Player in California Politics

Samantha Young

Over the past four years, the dialysis industry has spent $233 million on both political offense and defense in California. Most of it went toward protecting its revenues against ballot initiatives, but the industry also strategically worked the corridors of the state Capitol.

As More Red States Legalize Marijuana, Some Officials Try to Nip It in the Bud

Justin Franz

Recreational marijuana may face resistance from GOP-dominated state governments despite being voted into law in Montana, South Dakota and Arizona.

KHN on the Air This Week

KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.