Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How to Fight Bogus Medical Bills Like a Bulldog
When a colleague brings a medical billing problem to human resources director Steve Benasso — he goes to battle. “I am a bulldog on this stuff,” he said. In this episode, Benasso tells how he does it.
Inside the Race to Build a Better $500 Emergency Ventilator
Inspired to help during the COVID pandemic, a volunteer SWAT team of engineering and medical talent combines old-fashioned problem-solving and advanced 3D printing — but will it actually help?
As Georgia Reopened, Officials Knew of Severe Shortage of PPE for Health Workers
State officials said they urgently needed millions more masks and gowns, internal emails show. At least 80 Georgia health workers have died from COVID-19, including after the state reopened its economy.
Teen Artist’s Portraits Help Frame Sacrifice of Health Care Workers Lost to COVID
A 15-year-old high school student in New Jersey is memorializing doctors, nurses and others who died after tending to coronavirus patients.
With COVID Vaccine Trial, Rural Oregon Clinic Steps Onto World Stage
A small allergy clinic in Medford, Oregon, might seem an unlikely place to recruit hundreds of volunteers to test the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19. But its steward has a record of leading hundreds of clinical trials.
PPE Shortage Could Last Years Without Strategic Plan, Experts Warn
The rolling shortages of personal protective gear continue even in hospitals, as buyers look directly for manufacturers — often through a maze of companies that have sprung up overnight.
COVID Data Failures Create Pressure for Public Health System Overhaul
Poor information-sharing between hospitals and public health agencies has hurt the response to the pandemic. Some health care systems and IT companies are making inroads, but an overhaul would cost billions.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Kamala Harris on Health
The Democratic presidential ticket is complete, with Joe Biden’s selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Health has not been a major issue for Harris, whose career priority has been the criminal justice system. But expect Republicans to pounce on her on-again, off-again support for “Medicare for All.” Meanwhile, with Congress still in a stalemate over another round of COVID-19 relief, President Donald Trump is trying to use his executive power to do what lawmakers have not — with mixed success. Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Dying Young: The Health Care Workers in Their 20s Killed by COVID-19
A database of deaths compiled by KHN and The Guardian includes a significant minority under 30, leaving shattered dreams and devastated families.
Primary Care Doctors Look at Payment Overhaul After Pandemic Disruption
Many physicians were forced to close their offices — or at least see only emergency cases — when the pandemic struck. Because they are generally paid piecemeal for every service, they suffered big losses, leading to layoffs and pay cuts. Some doctors say they now are looking to overhaul the way they get paid.
Nurses and Doctors Sick With COVID Feel Pressured to Get Back to Work
Hospital employees say they must choose between their paychecks and their health or that of their families. Returning to work with symptoms also risks infection among the patients they are meant to heal.
Más de 900 trabajadores de salud han muerto por COVID-19 en los Estados Unidos. Y la cifra aumenta
Con más casos de COVID, y la grave escasez de equipos de protección, trabajadores de salud se enfrentan de nuevo a peligros mortales, en especial en los estados del sur y el oeste.
Public Health Officials Are Quitting or Getting Fired in Throes of Pandemic
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
Amid COVID Chaos, California Legislators Fight for Major Health Care Bills
There’s less time, less attention and fewer resources this year, but that isn’t stopping lawmakers from acting on controversial health care legislation not directly related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Exclusive: Over 900 Health Workers Have Died of COVID-19. And the Toll Is Rising.
KHN and The Guardian unveil an interactive database documenting front-line health care worker deaths. The majority of them are people of color — and nurses face the highest toll.
“Lost on the Frontline” is an ongoing project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who died from COVID 19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Financial Self-Defense School Is Now in Session
Starting in August 2020, a new episode every other week. No time like a pandemic to learn more about how to fight the high cost of health care.
Business Is Booming for Dialysis Giant Fresenius. It Took a $137M Bailout Anyway.
Half of the money the Trump administration gave dialysis companies was collected by Fresenius, an international juggernaut with a robust balance sheet, a KHN analysis has found.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Still Waiting for That Trump Health Plan
President Donald Trump keeps promising a comprehensive plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. And he keeps not delivering. Meanwhile, members of Congress and White House officials seem unable to agree on a new COVID-19 relief bill. And Missouri becomes the sixth state where voters approved a Medicaid expansion ballot measure. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Health Care Workers of Color Nearly Twice as Likely as Whites to Get COVID-19
Harvard research shows minorities are most likely to report inadequate PPE and to work with COVID-positive patients.
