Weekly Edition: July 24, 2020

Ever Heard of a Surgical Assistant? Meet a New Boost to Your Medical Bills

Markian Hawryluk

A college student’s bill for outpatient knee surgery is a whopper — $96K — but the most mysterious part is a $1,167 charge from a health care provider she didn’t even know was in the operating room.

Less-Lethal Weapons Blind, Maim and Kill. Victims Say Enough Is Enough.

Donovan Slack, USA TODAY and Dennis Wagner, USA TODAY and Jay Hancock and Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

Time and again over the past two decades, peace officers have targeted demonstrators with munitions designed only to stun and stop. Protests this year in reaction to George Floyd’s death in police custody have reignited a controversy surrounding their use.

Essential and in Danger: Coronavirus Sickens, Even Kills Public Health Workers

Laura Ungar

As the coronavirus threatens the nation’s public health army, an outbreak in Maryland reflects the tension between serving the community and protecting workers from a deadly disease.

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.

COVID Runs Amok in 3 Detroit-Area Jails, Killing At Least 2 Doctors

Natalia Megas, The Guardian

Amid overcrowding and a shortage of personal protective equipment, at least 208 workers and 83 inmates in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office jail system have been infected with the coronavirus.

Medicaid Mystery: Millions of Enrollees Haven’t Materialized in California

Rachel Bluth and Angela Hart

State officials had projected that 2 million Californians would join Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income people, by July because of the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19. Yet enrollment has barely budged, and why is unclear.

Another Problem on the Health Horizon: Medicare Is Running Out of Money

Julie Rovner

With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare’s trust fund intact.

Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA

Michelle Andrews

Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.

As Long Waits for Results Render COVID Tests ‘Useless,’ States Seek Workarounds

Matt Volz and Phil Galewitz

With COVID-19 tests bogged down in backlogs, some states that relied on private laboratories, such as Quest Diagnostics, are trying to adapt as caseloads rise.

For COVID Tests, the Question of Who Pays Comes Down to Interpretation

Julie Appleby

Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.

As Coronavirus Patients Skew Younger, Tracing Task Seems All But Impossible

Anna Almendrala

Although younger people are hospitalized and die less frequently than their elders when infected with COVID-19, their cases are harder to trace. As a result, the virus is spreading uncontrollably throughout much of Southern California. Even hospital staffs are affected by community spread.

Technology Divide Between Senior ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’ Roils Pandemic Response

Judith Graham

Older adults with the ability to use technology have more access to virtual social interactions and telehealth services, and more opportunities to secure essential supplies online. Those who don’t know how to use it or can’t afford it are at greater risk of social isolation, forgoing medical care and being without food or other necessary items.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Trump Twists on Virus Response

President Donald Trump has, for now at least, become a realist on the extent of the COVID-19 crisis around the country, and he is urging Americans to socially distance and wear masks. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republicans facing a July 31 deadline are scrambling to come together on their version of the next COVID relief bill. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Tami Luhby of CNN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews NPR’s Pam Fessler, author of the new book “Carville’s Cure,” which traces the history of the United States’ only federal leprosarium.

Adjunct Professors: Jobs Are Low on Pay and Health Benefits With High COVID Risk

Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

As colleges and universities develop plans for the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic, these non-tenured, often part-time instructors find themselves in an especially precarious position.

Bingeing on Doom: Expert on the ‘Black Death’ Attracts Cult Following

JoNel Aleccia

A 2016 series on the 14th-century plague became must-see TV during spring’s COVID-19 outbreak — and flooded Purdue medievalist Dorsey Armstrong with questions about parallels between that pandemic and the current crisis.

Scientists Want to Know More About Using UV Light to Fight COVID-19 Spread

Will Stone

'Germicidal' ultraviolet light technology has a proven track record against indoor transmission of tuberculosis and other airborne microbes. It's now being used in some restaurants and on subways.

NIH Project Homes In on COVID Racial Disparities

Ashley Gold

The pandemic has given the National Institutes of Health an opportunity to show the value of its $1.5 billion “All of Us” research program. A major effort to make the platform’s database representative of America resulted in minorities making up more than half of its more than 270,000 volunteers.

Pandemic-Inspired Food Labeling Raises Alarms for Those With Food Allergies

Sandy West

The Food and Drug Administration released new “temporary guidance” for manufacturers facing supply chain shortages that allows them to make some ingredient substitutions without changing food labels. The pandemic had already made finding trusted foods difficult for some people with allergies. Now they're worrying about what's actually in their go-to products.

Behind The Byline: ‘Reporting From a Distance’

Anna Almendrala

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.

Trump Administration’s Sudden Shift on COVID Data Leaves States in the Lurch

Alex Smith, KCUR

Missouri Hospital Association says the switch of data collection from the CDC to a new HHS contractor is "a major disruption." In Kansas, the move likely will delay hospitalization data.

With DACA Ruling, Did Supreme Court Grant Trump New Powers To Reshape Health Care?

Jon Greenberg, PolitiFact

There’s a theory now being embraced by President Donald Trump that the Supreme Court’s recent DACA decision makes it harder for a new president to undo the executive action of a predecessor. He cited it in a recent interview, saying that finding gave him the power to issue new health care and immigration plans. And some legal scholars disagree.

An Ickier Outbreak: Trench Fever Spread by Lice Is Found in Denver