Weekly Edition: November 25, 2020
After Kid’s Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion
Julie Appleby
It was a surprise even in a family of lawyers. The process called “subrogation” began with one Nevada family’s health insurer denying their claim for an emergency room visit after 9-year-old fell off his bike.
Were You Notified About Missing Tax Forms for Your ACA Subsidy? Blame COVID.
Michelle Andrews
Some consumers who received tax credits to purchase insurance from Affordable Care Act marketplaces report they’ve received letters in error from the government saying they didn’t file the IRS forms to account for how much money they made and how much funding they received from the government.
Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How to Get Good Advice.
Bernard J. Wolfson
It’s a complex program with many options — as well as confusing rules and nuances. Here’s how to get reliable guidance.
For Nurses Feeling the Strain of the Pandemic, Virus Resurgence Is ‘Paralyzing’
Charlotte Huff
COVID-19’s toll weighs heavily on nurses, who can suffer stress and other psychological problems if they don’t believe they are able to help their patients sufficiently.
Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 a Week
Markian Hawryluk and Rae Ellen Bichell
A shortage of nurses has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas.
California Businesses Go From Simmer to Boil Over Newsom’s Fine Dining
Bernard J. Wolfson and Anna Almendrala
Small-business owners struggling to remain afloat are increasingly defying new shutdown orders, in some cases pointing to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s French Laundry dinner as a reason not to comply.
Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for COVID
Hannah Norman
COVID-19 cases are surging across the U.S., and most workplaces are still open for business. As workers fear catching the disease while on the clock, why aren’t more companies footing the bill for testing employees?
Surging LA
Heidi de Marco
Eight months after California Healthline’s Heidi de Marco photographed LA under lockdown, she returned to the same iconic spots. Vehicle and foot traffic are up — as are coronavirus cases.
Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals
Alex Smith, KCUR
Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.
Parents Complain That Pediatricians, Wary of COVID, Shift Sick Kids to Urgent Care
Kristy P. Kennedy
Referrals of children to urgent care clinics or emergency rooms have become so prevalent that the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with interim guidance on how practices can safely continue to see patients. The academy recommended that pediatricians strive "to provide care for the same variety of visits that they provided prior to the public health emergency."
What Biden Can Do to Combat COVID Right Now
Julie Rovner
Although President-elect Joe Biden is free to meet with people who will be vital to carry out his administration’s fight against COVID, he and his transition team are blocked from conferring with federal officials because the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge Biden won the election. That could have a critical impact on Biden's efforts to help fight the coronavirus.
New Legal Push Aims to Speed Magic Mushrooms to Dying Patients
JoNel Aleccia
A proposal in Washington state would use right-to-try laws to allow terminally ill patients access to psilocybin — the famed magic mushrooms of America’s psychedelic ’60s — to ease depression and anxiety.
California Law Banning Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics Will Transform Industry
Miranda Green
The law will ban the manufacture and sale in California of personal care products that contain 24 toxics, including asbestos, formaldehyde and lead, and is expected to fill a gap in federal regulation as companies sell the new formulations nationwide.