Latest KFF Health News Stories
It’s Not Just The Unemployment Totals Digging An Economic Hole, It’s Delays In Benefits To Needy
Laid-off workers need money quickly so that they can continue to pay rent and credit card bills and buy groceries. But delays in benefits mean they’re going longer and longer without help. That in turn means the hole the economy has fallen into is getting “deeper and deeper, and more difficult to crawl out of.” Meanwhile, the surge of unemployed workers adds extra stress on Medicaid.
Media outlets report on news from Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, California, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The new federal Bureau of Prisons’ standard makes early release possible for inmates who served at least 25% of their sentence and have less than 18 months remaining on their term. Outbreak developments from a Virginia youth correctional center and Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma prisons are also reported.
A New York Times reporter visits a campus in New York, home to scientists dubbed the ”Paul Reveres” of climate change, a threat, they say, that could cause far greater problems than the pandemic and requires vastly more funding. Other public health news is on mental health, celebrity pledges to wellness care, advanced directives, repercussions from the fear of going to the ER, testing homeless people, research on male vulnerability, the forgotten flu, vaping risks, unusual symptoms in seniors and more.
With the usual food distribution chain disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak, farmers are plowing unused produce back into the field. Yet food banks struggle to feed millions of newly unemployed Americans. While a federal plan will throw $19 billion dollars at the problem, it must still overcome the transportation challenges that created it in the first place. Other food supply issues reports on the meat industry, food plant safety and alleged price gouging on eggs.
Pandemic Reveals Just How Startlingly Unprepared States Were In Stockpiling Supplies
“You could see it in almost every state, in every locality, and the federal government level: depleting the resources, depleting the inventory, and hoping when you need them they will be available,” said Gerard Anderson, a health policy professor at Johns Hopkins University. In other news, states turn to China for help with medical supplies. And a tip comes from an unusual source.
On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced that her oldest brother Donald Reed Herring died from COVID-19. On the same day, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took a moment to dedicate the latest relief package to her sister, who she said is dying in a hospital.
Almost Every Coronavirus Patient Hospitalized In NYC Had An Underlying Medical Condition
Hypertension and obesity were common risk factors found in the patients. The study also found that one in five of the hospital stays ended with the patient dying–though more than half of the patients studied were still hospitalized when the study ended. In other scientific news about the virus: smoking in the time of COVID-19, convalescent plasma, reinfection threat, and more.
The serological survey data that’s been trickling in over the past few days has been shocking–showing just how much the coronavirus has spread through mild or asymptomatic cases. While experts say that the tests are an important tool, the results shouldn’t be taken as gospel.
Hospitals Hit With One-Two Financial Punch Of High COVID-19 Costs And Canceled Procedures
“I think it’s fair to say that hospitals are facing perhaps the greatest challenge that they have ever faced in their history,” says Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. Federal aid is being distributed to help needy health system, but some wonder if it will be enough. Meanwhile, some hospitals start inching toward resuming non-coronavirus procedures.
McConnell’s Suggestion That States Consider Bankruptcy Deemed ‘Really Dumb’ By Governors
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested that instead of the federal government helping states that are struggling financially beneath the burden of the outbreak that those states should instead declare bankruptcy. “That’s how you’re going to bring this national economy back?” asked an incredulous New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who called McConnell irresponsible and reckless. “You want to see that market fall through the cellar?” There is a growing consensus in Washington, though, that states will need more fiscal help.
Lawmakers Just Sent $484B Bill To Trump But They Are Already Gearing Up For Next Battle Royale
The fourth stimulus package was meant to supplement the depleted fund to help small businesses, but Democrats fought to include money for hospitals and expanded testing as well. This bill took longer to negotiate than the previous three, and it could be the last measure that gets through without an intense and public political fight.
States Say $631M From Feds For Testing, Contact Tracing Efforts Is Woefully Inadequate
For contact tracing alone, a recent report estimated 100,000 additional contact tracers are needed to keep the virus in check. That effort would require an estimated $3.6 billion in national emergency funding, as a starting point. And those figures don’t account for what states also need for testing programs, health officials say. In other news: a saliva-based test, the need for real-time reporting, nerves at the drive-thru line, contact tracing on a tribal reservation and more.
Gilead spokesperson Amy Flood said the company believes “the post included inappropriate characterization of the study” because it was stopped early due to the fact that it had too few patients. The experimental drug remdesivir has been viewed as a frontrunner in the race to find a successful treatment for COVID-19.
Notably Missing From Shutdown Protests That Polls Find Are Unpopular: Prominent Republicans
Some high-ranking Republicans have been watching the protests warily and reiterating their own decisions to shelter in place. But as the protests grab national attention, some in the GOP reckon with how a movement that most Americans disagree with will impact the elections. But other state Republican lawmakers are joining the protest efforts. Meanwhile, more polls find that a majority of the country think strict restrictions are worth it.
Georgia’s Health Officials, Medical Advisers Blindsided By Governor’s Decision To Reopen
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) set his state on an aggressive path toward reopening that starts today, despite a barrage of criticism that the decision to lift restrictions is premature. Meanwhile, states that haven’t been hit has hard as some of the hot spots start considering how to reopen.
When To Reopen States Is The Latest Decision To Become Politicized In Highly Divided Country
There’s a political divide over who is pushing states to reopen and who is keeping stay-at-home orders in place. President Donald Trump’s own messaging has been mixed. While he has pushed for a quick return to normalcy, he also criticized the Georgia governor’s aggressive plan to reopen as “too soon.”
DOJ Cracks Down On Treatment Scams: ‘It’s A Perfect Ecosystem For A Fraudster To Operate In’
In a moment where people want to believe there’s a magic pill to cure COVID-19, scammers are flourishing. Other news from the Trump administration looks at the coronavirus being used as a possible bioweapon and and increase in violent extremism.
Pompeo Hints That Decision To Cut Off WHO Funding Could Be Permanent
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the World Health Organization, which President Donald Trump targeted in recent weeks, needs a “structural fix” for its “shortcomings” before the U.S. would consider resuming funding. Critics of the Trump administration say the president is unfairly scapegoating the global organization as a way to shift blame from his administration’s early missteps. Meanwhile, the United States’ response to the pandemic may have undermined its position as a global leader.
Some outside experts are concerned that administration scientists must tip-toe around President Donald Trump as they offer their medical expert advice to the American people. Claims from one federal official that he was ousted because he pushed back against Trump’s favored treatment did nothing to ease those worrying impressions.
