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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Colleges’ Opening Fueled 3,000 COVID Cases a Day, Researchers Say

KFF Health News Original

In a draft study, researchers correlated cellphone data showing students’ back-to-campus movements and county infection rates to quantify how the coronavirus spread as colleges and universities reopened for the fall semester.

Native Americans Feel Double Pain of COVID and Fires ‘Gobbling Up the Ground’

KFF Health News Original

Tribal leaders have worked to keep the coronavirus off their reservations because of its deadly impact on Native populations. But careful avoidance of the COVID virus has handcuffed the tribes as they face a devastating fire season.

Battle Rages Inside Hospitals Over How COVID Strikes and Kills

KFF Health News Original

The debate over how the coronavirus spreads heated up Friday when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conceded that the virus spreads through tiny particles, but then took down guidance that could have forced big changes in hospitals.

It’s Not Just Insulin: Lawmakers Focus on Price of One Drug, While Others Rise Too

KFF Health News Original

While insulin is the poster child for outrageous prescription costs, patients are paying ever more to treat depression, asthma, HIV, cholesterol and more. And the pandemic has overtaken efforts to force the issue in Congress.

Request the Embargoed Second Episode of ‘Where It Hurts,’ a New Podcast From KHN and St. Louis Public Radio

KFF Health News Original

“Where It Hurts,” a new podcast from KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) and St. Louis Public Radio, explores painful cracks in America’s health system that leave millions without the health care they need. Season One, titled “No Mercy,” tells the story of what happened in Fort Scott, Kansas, when the rural town’s 132-year-old Mercy Hospital […]

Signs of an ‘October Vaccine Surprise’ Alarm Career Scientists

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump has the legal power to authorize a COVID vaccine over the objections of the Food and Drug Administration and vaccine manufacturers. Such a move could further erode public trust in a vaccine and foist an unsafe shot on Americans.

Trump-Biden Race Could Hinge on How Florida’s Pinellas County Swings

KFF Health News Original

Few places loom as large in the race for the White House as here in Pinellas County, the largest swing county in the ultimate swing state. And polls show that many people will have the pandemic and its public health and economic consequences on their minds when they cast their votes.

Without Ginsburg, Judicial Threats to the ACA, Reproductive Rights Heighten

KFF Health News Original

With the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lawsuit brought by Republican state officials has become the latest existential threat against the federal health law, scheduled for oral arguments at the Supreme Court a week after the general election in November.

California’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount

KFF Health News Original

California’s death count for the first five months of the pandemic was 13% higher than average for the same period during the prior three years. Subtract the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 and experts say that still leaves scores of “excess” deaths among people of color that likely were mistakenly excluded from the coronavirus death tally.

Wildfires’ Toxic Air Leaves Damage Long After the Smoke Clears

KFF Health News Original

As fires burn longer and closer to cities throughout the West, researchers are trying to understand the lasting health impacts by studying a Montana town previously smothered by wildfire smoke.

Election Gift for Florida? Trump Poised to Approve Drug Imports From Canada

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration is primed to approve a plan designed to help lower costs of some prescription drugs by allowing states to import them from Canada. The announcement could come before Election Day, and Florida appears to be in line to go first.

In Face of COVID Threat, More Dialysis Patients Bring Treatment Home

KFF Health News Original

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, more patients are administering dialysis to themselves at home rather than receiving it in a clinic. Although home dialysis limits exposure to the virus, it comes with its own challenges.

A Pandemic Upshot: Seniors Are Having Second Thoughts About Where to Live

KFF Health News Original

More than 70,000 residents and staff members at nursing homes and assisted living facilities have died of COVID-19, and others are under strict rules designed to keep the disease from spreading. That has evoked concern that living in a communal facility could be dangerous.