About 21% of patients diagnosed with covid during a hospital stay died, according to data analyzed for KHN. In-hospital rates of spread varied widely and patients had no way of checking them.
Montana’s Governor Nixed a Kids’ Vaccine Campaign, So Health Officials Plan Their Own
A former Montana health department leader said Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration killed a public service campaign planned for last summer that promoted covid vaccines for teens. Health organizations want to fill the void with information on vaccines for children 5 and up.
¿Qué sabemos realmente sobre la eficacia de las vacunas contra covid?
¿Lo esencial? Vacunarse con cualquiera de las tres vacunas disponibles en los Estados Unidos disminuye la posibilidad de infectarse en primer lugar y reduce de manera significativa el riesgo de hospitalización o muerte si se contrae el coronavirus y se desarrolla covid-19.
Laboratorios sin técnicos: por qué los expertos en salud pública están renunciando
Enfermeras de salud pública, microbiólogos, epidemiólogos, funcionarios de salud y otros miembros del personal que defienden a la población contra enfermedades infecciosas como la tuberculosis y el VIH, inspeccionan los restaurantes y el trabajo para mantener la salud de las comunidades están abandonando el campo.
Labs With No One to Run Them: Why Public Health Workers Are Fleeing the Field
Across California, public health departments are losing experienced staffers to exhaustion, partisan politics and jobs that pay more for less work. The public health nurses, epidemiologists and microbiologists who work to keep our communities healthy are abandoning the field.
What Do We Really Know About Vaccine Effectiveness?
Reports of waning effectiveness and mixed messages about booster shots fuel the politicization of vaccination.
‘Not Quite on Board’: Parents Proving a Tough Sell on Covid Vax for Teens
California offers a lens on the challenges officials face in persuading parents to embrace covid shots for young children. While the state has a strong showing in overall vaccination rates, just 59% of kids 12 to 17 — eligible for a shot since May — are fully vaccinated.
Nursing Home Residents Overlooked in Scramble for Covid Antibody Treatments
A federal allocation plan meant to ensure equitable distribution of powerful monoclonal antibody treatments for high-risk patients fails to prioritize nursing home residents, a population that remains particularly vulnerable even after vaccination.
Journalists Explore Shadow Pandemics of Hospital Violence and Grieving Children
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
ERs Are Swamped With Seriously Ill Patients, Although Many Don’t Have Covid
Certain patients who couldn’t get in to see a doctor earlier in the pandemic, or were avoiding the covid risks inside hospitals, have become too sick to stay away. Many ERs now struggle to cope with an onslaught of demand.
What’s Scarier Than Covid? Halloween Health Haikus
A huge thank you to our readers who participated in our third annual KHN Halloween Haiku Contest. Based on a review by our expert panel of judges, we unmask the winner and serve a sampling of finalists.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Social-Spending ‘Framework’ Pulls Back on Key Health Pledges
President Joe Biden unveiled a compromise “Build Back Better” framework shortly before taking off for key meetings in Europe, but it’s unclear whether the framework can win the votes of all Democrats in the House and Senate, and it leaves out some of the party’s health priorities, notably significant provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, younger children may soon be eligible for covid vaccines. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Medicare Plans’ ‘Free’ Dental, Vision, Hearing Benefits Come at a Cost
The ads for supplemental Medicare Advantage plans describe vision and dental benefits, even grocery discounts and food deliveries. But look at the fine print.
Understaffed State Psychiatric Facilities Leave Mental Health Patients in Limbo
The pandemic has so seriously strained already tight state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere that these facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable people with mental illness struggle to admit new patients.
Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet the New Bosses Fighting Covid
Local health officials who quit or were forced out during the pandemic have been replaced by people who must face an increasingly polarized public with fewer powers than their predecessors.
In Maine, Vaccine Mandate for EMTs Stresses Small-Town Ambulance Crews
The covid vaccination rate for first responders in the state is more than 95%. But it’s lower in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can’t function if even just a few people quit.
“Este es el último pañal que me queda”: la ansiedad de ser padres en la pobreza
Una de cada tres familias estadounidenses no puede pagar por suficientes pañales para mantener a sus bebés y niños pequeños limpios, secos y saludables, según la National Diaper Bank Network. Para muchos padres, eso lleva a elecciones desgarradoras: ¿pañales, comida o renta?
Montana Tribes Want to Stop Jailing People for Suicide Attempts but Lack a Safer Alternative
The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes are working with academics and policy experts on possible solutions. Their challenge is how to attract the needed mental health personnel to the remote reservation.
‘Down to My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety of Parenting in Poverty
Diapers are a baby essential, but no federal program helps families cover their considerable cost. Jennifer Randles, a professor of sociology at Fresno State in California, spoke with KHN about her novel research exploring the outsize role “diaper math” plays in the lives of low-income moms.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dems Agree to Agree, But Not on What to Agree On
Negotiations on the health parts of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda are getting serious but have yet to produce a deal every Democrat can support. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration remains without a nominated leader but manages to take the first steps toward approving over-the-counter hearing aids. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Tami Luhby of CNN and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too.
