Demand for Service Dogs Unleashes a ‘Wild West’ Market
Service dogs can help people with ailments from autism to epilepsy, but a trained dog can cost up to $40,000 — and insurance won’t cover it.
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Census Undercount Threatens Federal Food and Health Programs on Reservations
The 2020 census undercounted people living on Native American reservations. The money for many needed federal aid programs is tied to those population numbers.
By Carly Graf -
Trump’s Legacy Looms Large as Colorado Aims to Close the Hispanic Insurance Gap
Hispanic residents have long been among the least likely to have health insurance — in Colorado and across the country — in part because of unauthorized immigrants. The state is expanding coverage to some of them, although the change runs up against lingering fears about the use of public benefits.
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Despite a First-Ever ‘Right-to-Repair’ Law, There’s No Easy Fix for Wheelchair Users
Colorado lawmakers approved a measure that will make it easier for people to fix their power wheelchairs when they wear out or break down, but arcane regulations and manufacturers create high hurdles for nationwide reform.
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Got Long Covid? Medical Expertise Is Vital, and Seniors Should Prepare to Go Slow
Although identifying long covid in older adults can be tricky, experts say there are good strategies for getting medical advice and fighting the impact of the virus.
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As Red States Push Strident Abortion Bans, Other Restrictions Suddenly Look Less Extreme
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has yet to make clear its stand on Roe v. Wade. But state lawmakers aren’t waiting to consider a variety of extreme measures: bills that would ban abortions in cases of ectopic pregnancies, allow rapists’ families to object to terminating a victim’s pregnancy, or prohibit the procedure in the case of fetal disability. Do these proposals make the less extreme restrictions seem more mainstream?
By Julie Rovner -
Pandemic-Fueled Shortages of Home Health Workers Strand Patients Without Necessary Care
Home health and hospice agencies are experiencing extreme worker shortages, which means they can’t provide services to all the patients seeking care.
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Biden Administration’s Rapid-Test Rollout Doesn’t Easily Reach Those Who Need It Most
Two rapid-testing initiatives the Biden administration released in the past week are inaccessible to some residents of multifamily housing, people who don’t speak English well, or those without internet access.
By Hannah Recht and Victoria Knight -
Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts
Debt lawsuits — long a byproduct of America’s medical debt crisis — can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
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A Shortfall of ECMO Treatment Cost Lives During the Delta Surge
About 50% of the covid-19 patients who got the last-ditch life support treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center died. Researchers wanted to know what happened to the many patients they had to turn away because ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines and the specialized staffers needed were in short supply. The grim answer: 90% of those turned away perished.
On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas
Episode 309Nearly a year to the day after Kansas voters surprised the nation by defeating an anti-abortion ballot question, Ohio voters defeated a similar, if cagier, effort to limit access in that state. This week, they rejected an effort to raise the threshold for approval of future ballot measures from a simple majority, which would have made it harder to protect abortion access with yet another ballot question come November. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance has dropped to an all-time low, though few noticed. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, about how the “Medicaid unwinding” is going, as millions have their eligibility for coverage rechecked.
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When Symptoms Linger for Weeks, Is It Long Covid?
Patients with symptoms that last three to 12 weeks after an acute covid infection should adopt a “watchful waiting” approach to recovery, an expert says. Keep in contact with a primary care doctor and take it easy.
She Sued a Hospital and Lost — But Felt She’d Won
Season 9, Episode 2A listener sued a hospital in small-claims court and lost but felt as if she’d won. Now, she wants to encourage more people to take their bills to court.
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Picture Of Health
As The Economy Surges, A Dramatic Drop In Workers On Disability
Experts credit the lowest U.S. unemployment rate in 50 years, along with a more flexible work culture and tighter oversight of who qualifies for federal disability benefits.
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NY Reaches Agreement With DOJ Over Vaccine Access for Blind People
Following a February KHN investigation into covid vaccine accessibility, the Department of Justice reached an agreement with five New York government agencies to make their websites accessible to people who are visually impaired.
By Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht -
Left Behind: Medicaid Patients Say Rides to Doctors Don’t Always Come
States are required to set up transportation to medical appointments for adults, children and people with disabilities enrolled in the Medicaid program, and contracts can be worth tens of millions of dollars for transportation companies. But patients say the companies that deliver those rides are showing up late — and sometimes not at all — leaving them in bad weather, disrupting their care and even causing injuries.
By Rebecca Grapevine and Andy Miller -
Is Paxlovid, the Covid Pill, Reaching Those Who Most Need It? The Government Won’t Say
Many public health workers are unable to see how many doses of Pfizer’s antiviral treatment are shipped to their communities and cannot tell whether vulnerable residents are filling prescriptions as often as their wealthier neighbors.
By Hannah Recht -
It’s Your Choice: You Can Change Your Views of Aging and Improve Your Life
Becca Levy of Yale University talks with “Navigating Aging” columnist Judith Graham about how people can alter ingrained perceptions of aging — which are often formed unconsciously and are unrecognized.
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‘That’s Just Part of Aging’: Long Covid Symptoms Are Often Overlooked in Seniors
Millions of older adults are grappling with long covid, yet the impact on them has received little attention even though research suggests seniors are more likely to develop the poorly understood condition than younger or middle-aged adults.
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Washington State Retools First-in-the-Nation Long-Term Care Benefit
The WA Cares Fund program, which would provide workers in the state a lifetime benefit of $36,500, was set to begin collecting money through a payroll tax in January, but it was delayed while lawmakers made adjustments to address equity problems. Now the payroll deductions will begin in July 2023, and benefits will become available in 2026.