Latest KFF Health News Stories
Seeking Refills: Aging Pharmacists Leave Drugstores Vacant in Rural America
Independent pharmacists who want to retire often have trouble attracting new pharmacists to take over their practices, particularly in rural areas. That can cause smaller towns to lose their pharmacies. With many pharmacists near retirement, the problem may only get worse.
Nurses in Crisis Over Covid Dig In for Better Work Conditions
In tough labor negotiations across the nation, here’s what nurses don’t want: “appreciation that is lip service,” “marketing campaigns” and “shiny new buildings.” And this year might well prove to be a turning point in efforts to organize health care’s essential workers.
Vaccine-or-Test Requirements Increase Work and Costs for Governments
But state and local officials embrace the requirement because it creates a safer workplace while allowing employees to continue working.
Quarantine and Tracing Rules Are All Over the Map for Students
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidance but calls for localities to set quarantine rules for unvaccinated children exposed to someone with covid-19. That’s led to a pandemic patchwork of rules.
About 21% of patients diagnosed with covid during a hospital stay died, according to data analyzed for KHN. In-hospital rates of spread varied widely and patients had no way of checking them.
Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet the New Bosses Fighting Covid
Local health officials who quit or were forced out during the pandemic have been replaced by people who must face an increasingly polarized public with fewer powers than their predecessors.
From Sewers to Golf Courses, Cities See Green With New Federal Covid Relief Dollars
The American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress in March, provides $130 billion to cities, counties and tribes — with few restrictions on how the money can be spent.
Major Insurers Running Billions of Dollars Behind on Payments to Hospitals and Doctors
Patients are caught in the middle as insurers clamp down on paying for treatments or force prior authorizations for care.
Mounting Covid Deaths Fuel School Bus Drivers’ Fears
Since August, school bus drivers and monitors have died of covid-19 in at least 10 states, including Georgia and Florida. Masks are required on school buses, but enforcing the rules in districts without school mask mandates is especially hard to do.
Scientists Examine Kids’ Unique Immune Systems as More Fall Victim to Covid
Doctors are trying to figure out why some kids become much sicker than others and, in rare cases, don’t survive.
After Pandemic Ravaged Nursing Homes, New State Laws Protect Residents
This year, 23 states passed more than 70 pandemic-related provisions affecting nursing homes, including measures setting minimum staffing levels, expanding visitation protections and limiting owners’ profit margins.
Veterans Push for Medical Marijuana in Conservative South
North Carolina claims to be the “Nation’s Most Military Friendly State.” Now veterans are trying to capitalize on this dedication to the troops to persuade lawmakers to pass medical marijuana legislation. It’s an advocacy model that has led to success for pro-cannabis efforts elsewhere.
Unraveling the Mysterious Mutations That Make Delta the Most Transmissible Covid Virus Yet
Scientists are trying to piece together why the delta variant so readily infects unvaccinated Americans, spewing 1,000 times more virus particles.
How One Rural Town Without a Pharmacy Is Crowdsourcing to Get Meds
As more independently owned community pharmacies close, a Colorado town is crowdsourcing ways of getting prescription medicines delivered to those who can’t travel the long distance to the closest pharmacy. But even those stopgap measures don’t always work.
Damage to Children’s Education — And Their Health — Could Last a Lifetime
Black and Hispanic students have lost up to 12 months of learning, which could lead to lower incomes and shorter, sicker lives.
What It Means When Celebrities Stay Coy About Their Vaccine Status
St. Louis Blues leading scorer David Perron took 10 days to explain he had indeed been vaccinated before he caught covid-19, which knocked him from playing in the NHL playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. His case and those of other public figures raise questions about the role of celebrity in enticing people to get covid vaccinations.
Covid Was a Tipping Point for Telehealth. If Some Have Their Way, Virtual Visits Are Here to Stay.
Pressure is mounting on Congress and the Biden administration to make permanent pandemic-inspired rules that fueled telehealth growth. Some fear fraud and ballooning costs.
The ‘Grief Pandemic’ Will Torment Americans for Years
More than 5 million Americans lost a loved one to covid, and the ripple effects could lead to serious illness down the road.
Minneapolis Police Injured Protesters With Rubber Bullets. The City Has Taken Little Action.
A year after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody, there is scant evidence the city has changed how its police officers use less-lethal weapons or strengthened its oversight. Instead, it may be a study in stymied reform, unenforced policies and a lack of transparency.
Airports Step Up Mental Health Assistance as Passenger Anxiety Soars
As more people return to air travel, tension is mounting in airports nationwide. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson is among those that have responded to the pandemic-related stress and fear among passengers and employees by offering services such as meditation, chaplains and other help in their terminals.
