Latest KFF Health News Stories
California AG Seeks More Power To Battle Merger-Hungry Health Care Chains
Xavier Becerra has made battling health care consolidation a priority since he became attorney general. Now that COVID-19 threatens vulnerable health care practices, he’s pushing to expand his authority to slow health care mergers.
As a journalist, she wrote during the winter about the hostility shown toward Asian Americans for wearing masks. In May, she got cursed at for not wearing a mask herself.
Some Ivory Towers Are Ideal For A Pandemic. Most Aren’t.
As reopening decisions approach for the fall semester, colleges and universities are casting about for strategies to keep students safe without bankrupting their institutions. A few have natural advantages.
Going The Distance By Bus Through A Pandemic
Transit ridership has plummeted because of COVID-19, but millions of Americans still rely on buses and trains to get around, often because they have no other choice.
Coronavirus Tests The Value Of Artificial Intelligence In Medicine
The pandemic offers an opportunity to use artificial intelligence programs to help doctors in COVID-19 diagnosis. But some leading hospital systems have shelved their AI technology because it wasn’t ready to roll.
The Pandemic Is Hurting Pediatric Hospitals, Too
Children’s hospitals were generally in good shape before COVID-19, but now their revenues are plunging as beds they reserved to assist in the pandemic effort remain empty.
Beyond The Glam: Feeding The Coachella Valley’s Most Vulnerable Residents
Poverty is real in the Coachella Valley, a region known for its glitzy resorts and music festival. During the COVID crisis, the California National Guard and California Conservation Corps are helping an area food bank distribute food to older residents and those with disabilities.
Keeping The COVID Plague At Bay: How California Is Protecting Older Veterans
Even as COVID-19 has ravaged nursing homes around the country, California has managed to keep the virus at bay at its eight state-run homes for frail and older veterans. What exactly went right?
Trying Out LA’s New Coronavirus Testing Regime
Los Angeles is the first big U.S. city to offer COVID-19 testing to anyone who wants it. Will it help restore normal life to the 10 million residents of the city and surrounding county?
Testing In California Still A Frustrating Patchwork Of Haves And Have-Nots
It’s hard to overstate how uneven access to critical coronavirus test kits remains in the nation’s largest state. Even as some Southern California counties are opening drive-thru sites to make testing available to any resident who wants it, a rural northern county is testing raw sewage to determine whether the coronavirus has infiltrated its communities.
Do-It-Yourself Cheek Swab Tested As Next Best Thing To Detect Coronavirus
Los Angeles County is providing thousands of coronavirus self-testing kits to its citizens, but public health officials are leery of the shortage of data on whether this easier method ― in which an individual swabs his or her own cheek ― is as reliable as a less comfortable but well-established technique.
The Challenges Of Keeping Young Adults Safe During The Pandemic
Even while playing the role of quarantine enforcer for your teens and 20-somethings, recognize that they are as anxious and worried as you are — and with good reason.
Lawmaker Pushing Mental Health Reform: It’s ‘More Needed Than Ever’
Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to pare down their legislative wish lists and focus on the state’s coronavirus response. But state Sen. Jim Beall plans to forge ahead with his mental health care proposals, including a measure to create a state mental health parity requirement.
Consumer Beware: Coronavirus Antibody Tests Are Still A Work In Progress
Public officials are putting high hopes on new blood tests as a means of determining who has developed antibodies to COVID-19, and with those antibodies, presumed immunity. But experts caution the tests are largely unreliable and the science is still catching up.
Jails And Prisons Spring Thousands To Prevent Coronavirus Outbreaks
As wardens across the country grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks, inmates are being released to prevent widespread contagion in overcrowded prisons.
Consultorios de pediatría luchan por adaptarse y sobrevivir en medio de COVID-19
Miles de pediatras viven una nueva realidad: reducción de ingresos, padres aterrorizados y escasez de equipos de protección, mientras atienden a los potenciales vectores de la infección.
How Do We Exit The Shutdown? Hire An Army Of Public Health Workers
The pandemic has exposed massive cracks in the foundations of the U.S. public health system. Getting the country back to normal, experts say, will require a major investment in Public Health 101: training a corps of workers who can track people with the virus and prevent them from passing it to others.
Battling A Pandemic Across 4,750 Square Miles And 10 Million People
Los Angeles County’s health leader describes the struggle for data and resources in the coronavirus fight.
Newsom’s Ambitious Health Care Agenda Crumbles In A ‘Radically Changed’ World
California Gov. Gavin Newsom charged into 2020 with ambitious — and expensive — proposals to increase health insurance coverage, reduce homelessness and tackle drug prices. Then came COVID-19.
California Hospitals Face Surge With Proven Fixes And Some Hail Marys
California is entering the most critical period in its battle against COVID-19, and may need thousands of hospital beds and ventilators to accommodate a surge of critically ill patients. Hospitals are taking extreme measures, such as using 3D printers to make ventilator parts and turning cafeterias into wards.
