Weekly Edition: February 19, 2021

Medicare Cuts Payment to 774 Hospitals Over Patient Complications
By Jordan Rau Renowned medical centers are among the quarter of general hospitals that will lose 1% of Medicare payments for one year because their patients have high rates of bedsores, sepsis and other preventable complications.

Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized by Medicare?
By Jordan Rau Each year, Medicare punishes hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and high rates of infections and patient injuries. Check out which hospitals have been penalized.

Lost on the Frontline: Explore the Database
By The Staffs of KFF Health News and The Guardian As of Wednesday, the KHN-Guardian project counted 3,607 U.S. health worker deaths in the first year of the pandemic. Today we add 39 profiles, including a hospice chaplain, a nurse who spoke to intubated patients "like they were listening," and a home health aide who couldn't afford to stop working. This is the most comprehensive count in the nation as of April 2021, and our interactive database investigates the question: Did they have to die?

The ACA Marketplace Is Open Again for Insurance Sign-Ups. Here’s What You Need to Know.
By Michelle Andrews On Monday, the federal insurance exchange reopened for an unusual midyear special enrollment period. People who are uninsured can buy a plan, and those who want to change their marketplace coverage can do so. Here are some answers about how it works.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open Enrollment, One More Time
Keeping a campaign promise, President Joe Biden has reopened enrollment for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act on healthcare.gov — and states that run their own health insurance marketplaces followed suit. At the same time, the Biden administration is moving to revoke the Trump administration’s permission for states to impose work requirements for some adults on the Medicaid health insurance program. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews medical student Inam Sakinah, president of the new group Future Doctors in Politics.

Why Biden Has a Chance to Cut Deals With Red State Holdouts on Medicaid
By Noam N. Levey The pandemic and economic crisis give states new incentives to extend health coverage to their uninsured residents.

To Vaccinate Veterans, Health Care Workers Must Cross Mountains, Plains and Tundra
By Patricia Kime Veterans Affairs officials are flying COVID-19 vaccines to remote locations in Montana and Alaska to quickly inoculate rural veterans before the drugs expire.

Anti-Immigrant Vitriol Complicates Vaccine Rollout in Southern States
By Sarah Varney Inoculating the millions of undocumented workers who produce America’s agricultural bounty will be key to achieving herd immunity against covid-19. But garnering the trust of these workers is proving complicated, particularly in the South, where the last four years have been marked by workplace raids and anti-immigrant vitriol.

Vaccines Go Mobile to Keep Seniors From Slipping Through the Cracks
By Rachel Bluth A strike team of nurses and others is vaccinating Contra Costa County’s hardest-hit populations right where they live.

Family Caregivers, Routinely Left Off Vaccine Lists, Worry What Would Happen ‘If I Get Sick’
By Judith Graham Tens of thousands of middle-aged sons and daughters — too young to qualify for a vaccine — care for older relatives with serious ailments and want to get the shots to protect their loved ones and themselves.

Companies Pan for Marketing Gold in Vaccines
By Sarah Kwon Some assisted living facilities, pharmacy chains and health care providers are luring new customers with covid shots.

Can Pfizer and Moderna End the Pandemic by Sharing Their Vaccine Designs? It’s Not that Simple
By Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact Industry experts say it’s highly unlikely that dozens of pharmaceutical companies that aren’t already producing covid vaccines stand ready to do so.

In Search of the Shot
KHN readers detail their frustrations and successes as they hunt for a scarce covid-19 vaccine.

‘I Wanted to Go in There and Help’: Nursing Schools See Enrollment Bump Amid Pandemic
By Michelle Andrews Enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs reportedly grew nearly 6% percent in 2020.

Prominent Scientists Call on CDC to Better Protect Workers From Covid
By Christina Jewett The academics insist that more workers should get top-rated N95 masks, the best defense against airborne coronavirus particles.

Spurred by Pandemic, Little Shell Tribe Fast-Tracks Its Health Service Debut
By Katheryn Houghton As the newest federally recognized tribe, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is starting from scratch to deliver health care to members. While covid-19 has been devastating, it has sped up the tribe's ability to build a clinic. Yet, lacking a reservation, the tribe faces challenges reaching its scattered members.

Rural Hospital Remains Entrenched in Covid ‘War’ Even Amid Vaccine Rollout
By Lauren Weber Louisiana’s St. James Parish Hospital thought the vaccine would mean the end of its long covid fight. Then the ICU beds surrounding them ran out.

Montana’s Health Policy MVP Takes Her Playbook on the Road
By Dan Gorenstein and Leslie Walker Marilyn Bartlett, credited with saving Montana’s state employee health plan millions of dollars, is a busy consultant now, as states, counties and big businesses try to use her playbook to bring down hospital costs.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Viral TikTok Video Serves Up Recipe to ‘Crush’ Medical Debt
By Dan Weissmann A video on the social media platform TikTok explains how consumers can “crush” their hospital bills using charity care policies. This won’t work for all medical bills, but it might be a good place to start.

California Aims to Address the ‘Urgent’ Needs of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?
By Samantha Young State officials recently unveiled a “master plan” to address the needs of California’s rapidly aging population, from housing to long-term care. Kim McCoy Wade, director of the state Department of Aging, vows it will not end up on a shelf gathering dust.

Bay Area Cities Go to War Over Gas Stoves in Homes and Restaurants
By Miranda Green Environmentalists say gas appliances spew greenhouse gases and exacerbate asthma. Restaurant owners and chefs say you can’t cook food properly with electricity.

Journalists Field Questions on Covid Coverage
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.