KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Invisible Pandemic
May 12, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom seem to want to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the fallout over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion continues even as the Senate fails — again — to muster the votes to write abortion rights into law. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Why Won’t More Older Americans Get Their Covid Booster?
By Liz Szabo
May 12, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Approximately 1 in 3 Americans 65 and older who completed their initial vaccination round still have not received a first booster shot. The numbers dismay researchers, who say the lag has cost tens of thousands of lives.
Scientists Search for Cause of Mysterious Covid-Related Inflammation in Children
By Liz Szabo
October 20, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Scientists treating kids for MIS-C point to rare genes, leaky guts and a “superantigen.”
Why Long-Term Care Insurance Falls Short for So Many
By Jordan Rau JoNel Aleccia
November 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for millions of older Americans, in part by underestimating how many policyholders would use their coverage.
Scientists Examine Kids’ Unique Immune Systems as More Fall Victim to Covid
By Liz Szabo
September 17, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Doctors are trying to figure out why some kids become much sicker than others and, in rare cases, don’t survive.
Covid Sewage Surveillance Labs Join the Hunt for Monkeypox
By Mark Kreidler
August 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Wastewater testing has proved a reliable early alarm bell for covid outbreaks. U.S. researchers are now adapting the approach to track the explosive spread of monkeypox.
Centro comunitario hispano lidera la vacunación infantil contra covid en Chicago
By Giles Bruce
November 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Esperanza Health Centers ha liderado la vacunación contra covid en la población infantil y adolescente de Chicago, ayudando a grupos que han sido más vulnerables al coronavirus.
Meet Mary Wakefield, the Nurse Administrator Tasked With Revamping the CDC
By Sam Whitehead
September 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has tapped Mary Wakefield to help “reset” the agency after its public failures handling the covid pandemic. Those who know Wakefield say her high standards and problem-solving skills make her a good fit for the job.
¿Ha llegado el momento de cambiar la definición de “totalmente vacunado”?
By Victoria Knight
December 7, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Científicos y funcionarios de salud pública debaten cuándo será el momento de cambiar la definición de “totalmente vacunado” para que incluya una vacuna de refuerzo.
Unraveling the Mysterious Mutations That Make Delta the Most Transmissible Covid Virus Yet
By Liz Szabo
July 28, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Scientists are trying to piece together why the delta variant so readily infects unvaccinated Americans, spewing 1,000 times more virus particles.
La pandemia presenta riesgos a corto y largo plazo para bebés, especialmente varones
By Liz Szabo
December 21, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Las embarazadas con covid tienen cinco veces más probabilidades que las que no lo están de necesitar cuidados intensivos. Pero las consecuencias para el bebé pueden ser a largo plazo.
As US Nears 1 Million Covid Deaths, One Hard-Hit County Grapples With Unthinkable Loss
By Phil Galewitz
April 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The United States is nearing 1 million deaths from covid — an almost incomprehensible number of lives lost that few thought possible when the pandemic began. Pennsylvania’s Mifflin County offers a snapshot into how one hard-hit community, with over 300 dead, is coping.
Un arma secreta para prevenir la próxima pandemia: los murciélagos frugívoros
By Jim Robbins
February 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
En Montana, investigarán cómo los murciélagos de la fruta, albergan virus que, bajo determinadas condiciones del medio ambiente, pueden pasar a los seres humanos.
Public Health Agencies Adapt Covid Lessons to Curb Overdoses, STDs, and Gun Violence
By Katheryn Houghton
August 17, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Know-how gained through the covid pandemic is seeping into other public health areas. But in a nation that has chronically underfunded its public health system, it’s hard to know which changes will stick.
Many Preventive Medical Services Cost Patients Nothing. Will a Texas Court Decision Change That?
By Julie Appleby
September 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A federal judge in Texas issued a decision this week that affects the Affordable Care Act. It says one way that preventive services are selected for no-cost coverage is unconstitutional.
Científicos buscan la causa de una misteriosa inflamación en niños relacionada con covid
By Liz Szabo
October 20, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Más de 5,200 de los 6,2 millones de niños estadounidenses a los que se les ha diagnosticado covid han desarrollado MIS-C. Un 80% de los pacientes con MIS-C son tratados en unidades de cuidados intensivos, el 20% requiere ventilación mecánica y 46 han muerto.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': To End School Shootings, Activists Consider a New Culprit: Parents
February 8, 2024
Podcast
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent of a school shooter of charges related to the child’s crime, finding a mother in Michigan guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly opening a new legal avenue for gun control advocates. Meanwhile, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, a medical publisher has retracted some of the journal studies that lower-court judges relied on in their decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Cinco cosas que deberías saber sobre las pruebas caseras “gratis” para covid
By Damon Darlin
January 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Los estadounidenses siguen escuchando que es importante hacerse pruebas caseras para covid con frecuencia. El problema es encontrar tests que sean lo suficientemente asequibles para poder comprarlos a menudo.
As Giant Hospitals Get Bigger, an Independent Doctor Feels the Pinch
By Fred Clasen-Kelly
October 13, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Independent medical practices keep closing as doctors join behemoth hospital groups or leave the field. Research suggests that’s bad news for patients. Studies repeatedly conclude that consolidation in the health care industry is driving up costs while showing no clear evidence of improved care.
Científicos analizan los sistemas inmunes únicos de los niños mientras más son víctimas de covid
By Liz Szabo
September 17, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Aunque no hay evidencia de que la variante delta cause una enfermedad más grave, el virus es tan infeccioso que los niños están siendo hospitalizados en gran número, principalmente en estados con bajas tasas de vacunación.
