Latest KFF Health News Stories
Comic Relief From COVID-19: Leaders Really Meme It When They Say Stay Home
State and city officials are using a dose of humor to urge residents to stay home in the serious mission of controlling COVID-19.
A Colorado Ski Community Planned To Test Everyone For COVID-19. Here’s What Happened.
A couple decided to donate a new test from their company to enable coronavirus testing for everyone in their ski resort community. It was an experiment that promised to show what widespread testing could do to fight the spread of COVID-19. But even the best-intended plans run into problems during this pandemic.
‘It’s Like Walking Into Chernobyl,’ One Doctor Says Of Her Emergency Room
Lack of protective gear and fears about all the unknown aspects of COVID-19 are parts of the mosaic of stress facing doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic.
‘Baby, I Can’t Breathe’: America’s First ER Doctor To Die In The Heat Of COVID-19 Battle
Frank Gabrin knew the stakes of his job. What he found unsettling was having to reuse personal protective gear while caring for coronavirus patients.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Who Will Pay For COVID-19 Care?
The spread of COVID-19 is prompting changes in pricing, coverage and other health care issues that have been subjects of political debate for years. But the politics remain polarized. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week that they think you should read, too.
Newsom’s Ambitious Health Care Agenda Crumbles In A ‘Radically Changed’ World
California Gov. Gavin Newsom charged into 2020 with ambitious — and expensive — proposals to increase health insurance coverage, reduce homelessness and tackle drug prices. Then came COVID-19.
What’s Missing In The Coronavirus Response
Public health researchers offered a range of ideas — from high-tech to tried-and-true public health interventions ― that could aid the U.S. response to COVID-19.
What Does Recovery From COVID-19 Look Like? It Depends. A Pulmonologist Explains.
Reports offer a glimmer of hope, especially for older adults.
COVID-19 Crisis Threatens Beleaguered Assisted Living Industry
The Capital Senior Living chain of assisted living communities and others like it were struggling financially before coronavirus suddenly appeared. Now their situation is really getting tough.
Retiree-Rich Palm Beach County Leads Florida In COVID-19 Deaths
The coronavirus death toll in Palm Beach County — home to President Donald Trump’s palatial home and club, Mar-a-Lago ― is the highest in Florida, where the large senior population is at risk.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Superheroes Of ‘Stuff’ Help Health Workers In NYC
“An Arm and a Leg” is back — sooner than we expected — with stories about how COVID-19 intersects with the cost of health care, and how we can all respond. So we’re calling it SEASON-19.
‘When It Starts Getting Into Your Local Hospital, It Becomes Real’
Located about 45 minutes from New Orleans in one of the hardest-hit counties nationally, the 25-bed rural St. James Parish Hospital has hunkered down as staffers became infected, patient intake numbers have doubled, and intubations have skyrocketed. This is what it looks like inside a rural hospital when COVID-19 hits.
Postcard From The Edge: L.A. Street Vendors Who Can’t Stop Working
Foot traffic in L.A. has fallen off a cliff amid the COVID-19 crisis, driving many street vendors away. But some are still on the streets, peddling their wares out of economic necessity. Many are undocumented immigrants who won’t get any help from the recently approved $2 trillion federal assistance package.
Pandemic Delays Federal Probe Into Medicare Advantage Health Plans
Government officials want to focus on fighting COVID-19 instead of recouping overcharges that run into the millions.
To Curb Coronavirus, What’s Behind The Wearing Of A Mask?
The CDC recommends that Americans wear facial masks when they go to public places, such as the grocery store. But this is only one part of a multipronged effort to stop the virus’s spread.
Nursing Homes Have Thousands Of Ventilators That Hospitals Desperately Need
The prospect raises a grim dilemma: Should doctors take people off life support in order to save COVID-19 patients who might recover?
Cancer Patients Face Treatment Delays And Uncertainty As Coronavirus Cripples Hospitals
As hospitals across the country are forced to delay or cancel certain medical procedures in response to the surge in patients with COVID-19, those hard choices are disrupting care for some people with serious illnesses.
Inside Meals On Wheels’ Struggle To Keep Older Americans Fed During A Pandemic
Its older volunteers are staying home and its clients, mostly age 75 and up, are more vulnerable than ever.
Dispatch From A Country Doctor: Seeing Patients Differently In The Time Of Coronavirus
Emergency rule changes by the federal government and some insurers have made telemedicine a useful tool.
After COVID-19: Doctors Ponder Best Advice As Patients Recover From Coronavirus
Doctors are making decisions about a patient’s recovery with an incomplete understanding of the disease caused by the coronavirus. Although federal officials have issued general guidelines, physicians said they can’t offer recovered patients who aren’t retested any guarantees about whether they could transmit the virus.
