Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
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.
Behind The Byline: The Count — And the Toll
Check out KHN’s video series Behind the Byline: How the Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.
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.
Pandemic Hampers Reopening of Joint Replacement Gold Mine
The COVID-19 pandemic brought knee and hip replacements to a virtual halt because they aren’t usually considered emergency procedures. But they are profitable, and hospital systems are now counting on the surgeries to help restore their financial health.
‘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.
Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection to Harvest Crops
Skeptics say the lack of enforceable federal safety standards geared toward the coronavirus allows these employers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.
Test Sites Quickly Attract Thousands for COVID-19 Vaccine Study
People have flooded U.S. testing sites with requests to participate in the pivotal, late-stage clinical trials of the first two COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
Your Favorite Store or Restaurant Is Open. How Do You Know It’s OK to Go In?
We gathered tips from experts on what to look for — masks are a constant theme — when trying to decide if you will be comfortable visiting various establishments.
In Rural Missouri, Latinos Learn to Contain and Cope With the Coronavirus
In a town in the southwestern corner of Missouri, where COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latino immigrants, language barriers and economic pressures among factory workers have stymied efforts to slow the virus that causes the disease.
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.
America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine
Vaccines engineered to protect the public from influenza, hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies are less effective for obese people, leaving them more vulnerable to serious illness. As scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, experts say obesity could prove an impediment — a sobering prospect for a nation in which nearly half of all adults are obese.
With Caveats, Hopeful News for Preschools Planning Young Kids’ Return
Hundreds of thousands of essential workers have kept their kids in day care during the pandemic out of necessity and, so far, these centers haven’t been big disease spreaders. But the evidence remains incomplete.
Missouri Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion Despite GOP Resistance
Missouri is the sixth state to use a ballot initiative to extend Medicaid eligibility. Most of the remaining states that have not expanded Medicaid are Republican-leaning states in the South.
Could Labs That Test Livestock Ease COVID Testing Backlog for People? Well … Maybe.
Experts say aid from certain veterinary labs could relieve some of the pressure on commercial and hospital-based labs to lessen the current delays in COVID-19 testing and results, but it is unlikely to be a game changer.
Pandemic’s Bumps and Backlash Shape Montana Race Poised to Steer US Senate
Gov. Steve Bullock’s response to the pandemic has helped raise his profile as he challenges incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines. But it also complicates the campaign as the state sees a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and voters question some of the governor’s actions.
Maryland County Pledges Investigation of Health Worker’s Coronavirus Death
The disease intervention specialist at the Prince George’s County Health Department was among at least 20 department employees infected by the coronavirus, union officials say. The outbreak underscores the stark dangers facing the nation’s front-line public health army.
