Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Covid Shots for Kids Are Scarce — And Demand Is Mixed — In Rural Montana
Although covid vaccines have been available to children as young as 5 for more than a month, they’re not being offered in some rural Montana counties, and parents don’t know where to find them in others.
Mattresses and Mold Removal: Medi-Cal to Offer Unconventional Treatments to Asthma Patients
In January, California’s Medicaid program will begin offering nontraditional services —such as ridding homes of roaches, replacing mattresses and installing air purifiers — to some low-income asthma patients. But the rollout could be chaotic, with insurance companies struggling to identify groups that can deliver the services.
Colorado Hospitals in ‘Critical Condition’ as State Weathers Another Surge
Patients with other ailments are frustrated, and nurses and doctors are stressed and burned out, as unvaccinated covid-19 patients fill ICU and acute care beds.
Colchones y remoción de moho: Medi-Cal ofrecerá tratamientos no tradicionales a personas con asma
Cerca de 2 millones de californianos padecen esta afección crónica y costosa, y viven en zonas con alta contaminación.
Con más muertes por sobredosis, defensores claman por una naloxona de venta libre
La administración Biden ha destinado $30 millones a programas de reducción de daños por adicciones. Pero defensores dicen que la principal barrera es que la naloxona sigue siendo de venta bajo receta.
With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates on the Ground Push for Over-the-Counter Naloxone
Harm-reduction groups say that requiring a doctor to sign off on their orders of the overdose reversal drug is one of the biggest barriers they face in obtaining the lifesaving medication.
How LA, Calling the Shots on School Vaccine Mandates, Can Lead the Way on Covid Rules
In the middle of a measles outbreak in 1977, the Los Angeles school system required students to be inoculated or stay out of class. Other school systems followed the practice. Will it work again now that the county is insisting that teens have their shots against covid?
Wartime Trauma Hits Close to Home for Scholar of Dementia
The federal government is putting up $7.2 million for a study into the correlation between war trauma and dementia in Vietnamese immigrants. Oahn Meyer, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis who is leading the study, wonders whether her mother’s dementia is linked to trauma she suffered during the Vietnam War.
Journalists Discuss Omicron, Public Health, Culturally Competent Care
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.
Split Supreme Court Leaves Texas Abortion Law in Effect, but Says Providers May Sue
The decision does not address the fate of abortion rights nationally, but the justices took up those arguments in a separate case earlier this month that will likely be decided in the summer.
A Rural Georgia Community Reels After Its Hospital Closes
A record number of hospitals closed in rural America last year. For the residents of Cuthbert, Georgia, the loss has meant many problems, including delayed care for emergencies that can turn deadly.
West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats’ Plan for Seniors’ Dental Care
In West Virginia, older residents often go without dental care, and a quarter of people 65 and older have no natural teeth, the highest rate of any state in the country. But a powerful senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has rebuffed efforts to add a dental benefit to Medicare.
Sex Apps for Gay Men Join Forces to Fight Online Insults
A San Francisco-area group that pushes for healthier internet behavior aims to show that being mean isn’t sexy and can lead to mental anguish and unsafe sexual encounters.
Suit by Doctors, Hospitals Seeks Change in How Arbitrators Settle Surprise Billing Cases
The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association are not arguing to halt the law that protects patients from unexpected bills from providers they didn’t know were outside their insurance network. Instead, they want to change the rules for the mediators who will settle the dispute between insurers and providers.
Hospitales le piden a Santa suministros: falta de todo, desde sillas de ruedas hasta jeringas
En otra consecuencia de la crisis de la cadena de suministro global, hospitales que gestionan los picos de casos de covid durante las Fiestas y a todos sus otros pacientes se están quedando sin suministros básicos para atenderlos
Never Mind Toys, It’s Time to Ask Santa for Crutches and Catheters
As hospitals juggle holiday covid surges and all their other patients, the global supply chain crisis has left them short of critical supplies.
Some Montana Nonprofit Hospitals Fall Short of Peers in Required Charitable Giving
Montana nonprofit hospitals receive millions of dollars in tax exemptions as charities each year in exchange for giving back to their communities. A KHN review found that some of Montana’s richest medical centers are falling behind most state and national hospitals.
From ‘Physician Assistant’ to Medicare, Readers and Tweeters Mince No Words
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
¿Ha llegado el momento de cambiar la definición de “totalmente vacunado”?
Científicos y funcionarios de salud pública debaten cuándo será el momento de cambiar la definición de “totalmente vacunado” para que incluya una vacuna de refuerzo.
Data Science Proved What Pittsburgh’s Black Leaders Knew: Racial Disparities Compound Covid Risk
Inside the Black Equity Coalition’s novel effort to share community health intel and scrape government data to understand — and document — the life-threatening differences between white and Black Pittsburgh.
