Latest Morning Briefing Stories

The CDC’s Test for Bird Flu Works, but It Has Issues

KFF Health News Original

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promises better tests are being developed, but the episode points to vulnerabilities in the country’s defense against emerging outbreaks.

Care Gaps Grow as OB/GYNs Flee Idaho

KFF Health News Original

Not so long ago, Bonner General Health, the hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho, had four OB/GYNs on staff, who treated patients from multiple rural counties. That was before Idaho’s near-total abortion ban went into effect almost two years ago, criminalizing most abortions. All four of Bonner’s OB/GYNs left by last summer, some citing fears that the state’s ban […]

California Speeds Up Indoor Heat Protections Amid Sweltering Summer Weather

KFF Health News Original

Indoor workers who toil in hot jobsites in California gain immediate protection from this summer’s extreme heat. The state’s worker safety chief announced finalized rules Wednesday, capping a years-long push by workers.

En medio de un verano abrasador, California acelera protecciones contra el calor extremo en interiores

KFF Health News Original

California ha tenido estándares para proteger a los trabajadores al aire libre del calor desde 2005, pero el estado anunció el miércoles 24 de julio que ya había acelerado la revisión de un conjunto de reglas para los trabajadores en interiores.

Planned Parenthood’s Push to Get Voters to the Polls

KFF Health News Original

Planned Parenthood’s political and advocacy organizations will use a more than $40 million war chest to blitz GOP officeholders and candidates in an effort to flip the House and maintain Democratic control of the Senate and presidency. The plan is to focus on the records of Republicans who have repeatedly voted against access to abortion, contraceptives, in vitro fertilization or gender-affirming […]

Covid Is Still With Us, but the Guidance Has Changed. Here’s What to Know if You’re Exposed.

KFF Health News Original

President Joe Biden tested positive for covid-19 last week, but his symptoms were reportedly mild. With covid still circulating and putting Americans at risk, KFF Health News reviews the latest safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: At GOP Convention, Health Policy Is Mostly MIA

Podcast

After an assassination attempt last weekend sent former President Donald Trump to the hospital with minor injuries, the Republican National Convention went off with little mention of health care issues. And Trump’s newly nominated vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has barely staked out a record on health during his 18 months in office — aside from being strongly opposed to abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam, who wrote June’s installment of KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about a patient who walked into what he thought was an urgent care center and walked out with an emergency room bill. 

El plan de Montana para frenar las sobredosis de opioides incluye máquinas expendedoras

KFF Health News Original

En todo Estados Unidos, las máquinas expendedoras que distribuyen naloxona y otros suministros de salud de forma gratuita se están convirtiendo en elementos de primera línea en la lucha contra las sobredosis de opioides. Diferentes versiones del modelo se están probando en al menos 33 estados.

A Little-Recognized Public Health Crisis

KFF Health News Original

About every 12 minutes, someone is killed on America’s roads and countless others are injured. More than 42,500 people died in car crashes in 2022, a death toll that rivals or surpasses those of other major public health threats, such as the flu and gun violence. “We have not recognized that traffic violence is a […]

Despite Past Storms’ Lessons, Long-Term Care Residents Again Left Powerless

KFF Health News Original

Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.

Colorado Poultry Workers Battle Bird Flu in Heat Wave as US Struggles to Contain Outbreak

KFF Health News Original

So far, all 10 cases reported nationally this year at dairy and poultry farms have been mild, consisting of respiratory symptoms and eye irritation. Scientists have warned that the virus could mutate to spread from person to person, like the seasonal flu, and spark a pandemic.

Finland Is Offering Farmworkers Bird Flu Shots. Some Experts Say the US Should, Too.

KFF Health News Original

Even with a stockpile of bird flu vaccinations, the federal government is not offering them to those at high risk. Along with testing and measures to prevent spread, vaccinations may protect people and stop the outbreak from becoming a pandemic.