Weekly Edition: July 10, 2020
Lost on the Frontline
The Staffs of KFF Health News and The Guardian and Christina Jewett and Maureen O’Hagan and Laura Ungar and Melissa Bailey and Katja Ridderbusch and JoNel Aleccia and Alastair Gee, The Guardian and Danielle Renwick, The Guardian and Carmen Heredia Rodriguez and Eli Cahan and Shefali Luthra and Michaela Gibson Morris and Sharon Jayson and Mary Chris Jaklevic and Natalia Megas, The Guardian and Cara Anthony and Michelle Crouch and Sarah Jane Tribble and Anna Almendrala and Michelle Andrews and Samantha Young and Sarah Varney and Victoria Knight and Christina M. Oriel, Asian Journal and Alex Smith, KCUR and Elizabeth Lawrence
“Lost on the Frontline” is an ongoing project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who died from COVID 19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease.
‘Please Tell Me My Life Is Worth A LITTLE Of Your Discomfort,’ Nurse Pleads
Anna Almendrala
Health care workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis have spent exhausting months working and self-quarantining off-duty to keep from infecting others, including their families. Encountering people who indignantly refuse face coverings can feel like a slap in the face.
Social Media Image About Mask Efficacy Right In Sentiment, But Percentages Are ‘Bonkers’
Victoria Knight
Skip the numbers. Focus on the mask.
Life Beyond COVID Seclusion: Seniors See Challenges And Change Ahead
Judith Graham
Some are grieving the loss of precious time in late life. Others are adjusting their ideas of what is possible and making the best of it.
What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures
Judith Graham
People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.
COVID Catch-22: They Got A Big ER Bill Because Hospitals Couldn’t Test For Virus
Julie Appleby
Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills — because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.
Analysis: How A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Cost Americans Dearly
Elisabeth Rosenthal
The United States is the only developed nation unable to balance cost, efficacy and social good in setting prices.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ‘Open The Schools, Close The Bars’
While COVID-19 cases continue to surge in more than half the country, the Trump administration has decided its top priority is for schools to open for in-person learning this fall. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands Trump a victory in a case to limit the reach of the birth control benefit under the Affordable Care Act. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Sarah Varney about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month.”
Behind The Byline: ‘Everybody Hit Record’
Check out KHN’s video series — Behind The Byline: How The Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.
Colorado, Like Other States, Trims Health Programs Amid Health Crisis
Markian Hawryluk
Across the country, the recession has cut state revenues at the same time the COVID-19 pandemic has increased costs, forcing state lawmakers into painful decisions about how to balance their budgets. Health care is one of the targets even in the midst of a health care crisis.
COVID Cuts A Lethal Path Through San Quentin’s Death Row
Dan Morain
Executions have been on hold in California since 2006, stalled by a series of legal challenges. But COVID-19 is proving a lethal presence on San Quentin’s death row.
In Texas, Individual Freedoms Clash With Efforts To Slow The Surge Of COVID Cases
Sandy West
In Houston, now a hot spot for COVID cases, not everyone agrees on how to deal with the pandemic.
As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times For Results Jump To A Week — Or More
Phil Galewitz
The delays can be excruciating, with some extreme cases running more than 20 days. People getting tested at urgent care centers, community health centers, pharmacies and state-run drive-thru or walk-up sites are often waiting a week or more to find out if they tested positive for the coronavirus.
Amid Surge, Hospitals Hesitate To Cancel Nonemergency Surgeries
Samantha Young
Unlike earlier in the year, most hospitals are not proactively canceling elective surgeries, even in some places seeing spikes in coronavirus patients.
Could Trump’s Push To Undo The ACA Cause Problems For COVID Survivors? Biden Thinks So.
Julie Appleby
The speech by the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee was delivered the same day the Trump administration reaffirmed its support of a lawsuit that would invalidate all of the Affordable Care Act, including the law's preexisting condition protections.
COVID-Tracking Apps Proliferate, But Will They Really Help?
Bernard J. Wolfson
Public health authorities had hoped digital technology would supplement the work of contact tracers seeking to control the spread of COVID-19. But technical uncertainties and public health failures have dimmed the apps’ potential.
Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction
Giles Bruce
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.
‘I Couldn’t Let Her Be Alone’: A Peaceful Death Amid the COVID Scourge
JoNel Aleccia
For three years, staffers at UCLA Health have been quietly fulfilling final wishes for dying patients in the intensive care unit. Amid the isolating forces of the pandemic, their work has become all the more meaningful.
Shingles Vaccination Rate Soars But Leaves Many Behind
Phil Galewitz
A federal study finds 35% of people 60 and older were vaccinated for shingles by 2018, up from 7% in 2008, but low-income people and those who are Black or Hispanic are far less likely to get vaccinated.
2021 Health Plans Granted Leeway To Limit Consumers’ Benefit From Drug Coupons
Michelle Andrews
A rule finalized this spring by the Trump administration permits employers and insurers not to apply drug company copayment assistance toward enrollees’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for any drug.
High Court Allows Employers To Opt Out Of ACA’s Mandate On Birth Control Coverage
Julie Rovner
In a 7-2 ruling in a case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, the court said employers with a “religious or moral objection” to contraceptives should not be forced to insure women for those services.