Weekly Edition: September 11, 2020

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?

Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail to Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others at Risk
By Christina Jewett COVID patients have been commingled with uninfected patients in California, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Ohio, Maryland, New York and beyond. While officials have penalized nursing homes for such failures, hospitals have seen less scrutiny.

Making Gyms Safer: Why the Virus Is Less Likely to Spread There Than in a Bar
By Will Stone Gyms are reopening with fewer people and more protocols, and they want to rehabilitate their pandemic-battered image. Although there's not much evidence, they say science is on their side.

What Is the Risk of Catching the Coronavirus on a Plane?
By Noah Y. Kim Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says airplanes are not vectors for the spread of COVID-19 and that flying is "something that is safe for people to do." Is the evidence really so clear?

Exercise and Diet Are More Important Than Ever With Virus at Large
By Bernard J. Wolfson “The Quarantine 15” — weight gain due to inactivity during the pandemic — is a real phenomenon. Here are some ways to fight it.

Most Adults Wary of Taking Any Vaccine Approved Before the Election
By Jordan Rau About 60% of poll respondents are worried that federal regulators will rush to allow a vaccine because of political pressure. Opposition to getting a vaccine that might be authorized before the November election is strongest among Republicans.

Altered Mindsets: Marijuana Is Making Its Mark on Ballots in Red States
By Justin Franz Voters in Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and several other conservative-leaning states will decide in November whether to legalize medical or recreational marijuana.

Kids Are Missing Critical Windows for Lead Testing Due to Pandemic
By Brie Zeltner Inspections for lead hazards and blood testing for lead have dropped significantly just as kids are spending more time in the places where their exposure to the poisonous metal is highest: their homes.

With Schools Starting Online, Vaccinations Head for Recess
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez Traditionally, requirements that kids undergo certain immunizations before attending school have been a critical public health tool. Health officials are scrambling to make sure children don’t fall through the cracks.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Politics of Science
Republicans have all but abandoned the Affordable Care Act as a campaign cudgel, judging from their national convention, at least. Meanwhile, career scientists at the federal government’s preeminent health agencies — the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health — are all coming under increasing political pressure as the pandemic drags on. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Elizabeth Lawrence about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: She Tangled With Health Insurers for 25 Years — And Loved It
By Dan Weissmann When people had a health insurance headache, these two words were a relief: “Call Barbara.” No problem was too big, or too small, she’d fix it.

Obamacare Co-Ops Down From 23 to Final ‘3 Little Miracles’
By Phil Galewitz Once there were 23 of these nonprofit plans across 26 states; in January there will be only three, serving Maine, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Behind The Byline: ‘At Least I Got the Shot’
By Heidi de Marco 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.