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Latest KFF Health News Stories

COVID Crackdowns at Work Have Saved Black and Latino Lives, LA Officials Say

KFF Health News Original

Strict enforcement of coronavirus protocols at factories and shops where some of the worst outbreaks have occurred has reduced the racial and ethnic disparities in COVID deaths and illness, say public health officials. They want to expand the effort by creating workplace safety councils.

Making Money Off Masks, COVID-Spawned Chain Store Aims to Become Obsolete

KFF Health News Original

A new chain of stores is spreading in malls across America, just like the disease that is giving it business. COVID-19 Essentials is selling masks and all the gear needed to stay safe — and the owner can’t wait to go out of business.

‘No Mercy’ Chapter 3: Patchwork of Urgent Care Frays After a Rural Hospital Closes

KFF Health News Original

Fort Scott, Kansas, went without an ER for 18 days, after the local hospital shut down. Documenting local trauma during that “dark period” helped investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble unravel some of the complications that come after a rural hospital closes.

Black Doctors Work to Make Coronavirus Testing More Equitable

KFF Health News Original

The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium has increased access to coronavirus testing in the Philadelphia region, testing more than 10,000 people. The group’s mobile unit and pop-up testing sites also offer patients an opportunity to connect with African American health care providers.

New Moms Behind Bars Get Help From Someone Who’s Been There

KFF Health News Original

Nina Porter of Indiana spent most of her adulthood behind bars, even raising an infant daughter in prison. Now out of prison, she’s drawing on her struggles to create a program that helps other moms get by in a sometimes unwelcoming post-prison world.

With Senate Control at Stake, Trump and COVID Haunt Ernst’s Fight to Keep Her Seat

KFF Health News Original

In less than six years, Sen. Joni Ernst has gone from being a rising star in the Republican Party to running neck and neck against a political newcomer. A poll last month showed more than 1 in 3 Iowa voters think Ernst’s relationship to President Donald Trump is “too close,”  and her comments about the coronavirus death toll sparked a backlash.

Pandemic Erects Barriers for Prized Bloc of Voters in Nursing Homes, Senior Facilities

KFF Health News Original

Voting is a point of pride for many older Americans, and senior living facilities in past years have encouraged the civic act by hosting voting precincts, providing transportation to the polls and bringing in groups to help explain election issues. But fears of the spread of the coronavirus among this vulnerable population make voting more difficult this year.

Young Doctor Succumbs to COVID, One of the South’s Many Health Workers Lost

KFF Health News Original

A 28-year-old Texas doctor tested positive in early July and died in September — one of a dozen young health workers nationwide whose deaths from the coronavirus have been profiled by KHN and The Guardian as part of the “Lost on the Frontline” project.

Hard Lives Made Harder by COVID: Homeless Endure a ‘Slow-Moving Train Wreck’

KFF Health News Original

This was supposed to be the year California finally did something about its homelessness epidemic. COVID-19 upended that promise, along with the cobbled-together services many homeless people rely on for survival. Interviews across the state reveal a new magnitude of hardship and indignity for tens of thousands of people living on the streets.

Fighting for Patient Protections While Attacking ACA — Hard to Have It Both Ways

KFF Health News Original

Montana’s Matt Rosendale and many other Republican congressional candidates face the challenge of convincing voters they support safeguards on preexisting conditions even as they oppose the Affordable Care Act, which codifies those safeguards.

One School, Two Choices: A Study in Classroom vs. Distance Learning

KFF Health News Original

Most students at one Marin County school attend in person, while a dozen study from home. Those on campus are constantly nagged to use hand sanitizer and submit to the thermometer. Home-schoolers yell to their parents for help, while the parents pray that Zoom doesn’t freeze.

‘No Mercy’ Chapter 2: Unimaginable, After a Century, That Their Hospital Would Close

KFF Health News Original

After Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble traveled to Kansas and spent time with former hospital president Reta Baker and City Manager Dave Martin — to understand what their town lost.