Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Families Complain as States Require Covid Testing for Nursing Home Visits
Relatives say it is important they be allowed to go into nursing homes because staff shortages are affecting care. And many are still upset about lengthy separations from loved ones during lockdowns earlier in the pandemic.
Wildfires and Omicron Prompt a Special Health Insurance Enrollment Period in Colorado
Disasters have previously prompted special enrollment periods in California, Maine, and the South. Now, Colorado is extending the state insurance marketplace sign-up period by two months.
HHS Proposal for Marketplace Plans Carries a Hefty Dose of Consumer Caution
The Department of Health and Human Services issued preliminary rules regarding health insurance marketplaces that aim to deter fraudulent sign-ups for coverage. Experts say the agency’s action indicates a problem exists.
Buffy Wicks Turns Her Health History Into Legislation
Assembly member who represents Oakland, is digging into abortion, vaccines and homelessness and drawing on her own health care experiences as she drafts bills.
5 Things You Should Know About ‘Free’ At-Home Covid Tests
Telling insurance companies to pay for rapid covid-19 tests is just the latest covid-related cost the federal government expects them to bear. But who really ends up paying for it?
Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-Up Covid Testing Sites — And Warn Patients to Beware
High demand for covid screening and scarce supply have opened the door to bad actors, and officials in some states are sounding the alarm about dubious street testing operators that could put people’s personal data, their health or wallets at risk.
‘American Diagnosis’ Episode 1: On the Navajo Nation, Root Causes Complicated the Covid Fight
Explore what made the Navajo people ― also known as the Diné ― so vulnerable to the first surges of the covid-19 pandemic. The first episode of “Rezilience,” Season 4 of the “American Diagnosis” podcast, begins in the forests outside the Grand Canyon.
As Omicron Surges, Effort to Vaccinate Young Children Stalls
Just 18% of 5- to 11-year-olds are fully vaccinated, with rates varying significantly across the country, a KHN analysis of federal data shows. Pediatricians say the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming, especially against the backdrop of record numbers of cases and pediatric hospitalizations.
With No End in Sight to Pandemic Life, Parents Find Disruption Is the New Normal
Amid covid-related staffing shortages and testing requirements, school systems are stretched thin. And so are parents’ nerves.
Justices Block Broad Worker Vaccine Requirement, Allow Health Worker Mandate to Proceed
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal rule requiring larger businesses to mandate employees be vaccinated or wear masks and undergo weekly testing. At the same time, however, it allowed a federal order that health care workers be vaccinated.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dealing With Drug Prices
Medicare officials tentatively plan to restrict the use of a controversial Alzheimer’s drug to only those patients participating in clinical trials, while the Department of Health and Human Services looks into lowering the monthly Medicare Part B premium. Meanwhile, covid confusion still reigns, as the Biden administration moves, belatedly, to make more masks and tests available. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
How Not to Use Rapid Covid Tests
Although at-home antigen testing remains a useful tool, experts warn it is often used inappropriately and can provide false confidence for people concerned about safety.
Long-Excluded Uterine Cancer Patients Are a Step Closer to 9/11 Benefits
More than 20 years after the terrorist attacks, the World Trade Center Health Program is considering covering the most common form of uterine cancer, in what patient advocates say is a key acknowledgment of the women affected by the 9/11 fallout.
Left Behind: Medicaid Patients Say Rides to Doctors Don’t Always Come
States are required to set up transportation to medical appointments for adults, children and people with disabilities enrolled in the Medicaid program, and contracts can be worth tens of millions of dollars for transportation companies. But patients say the companies that deliver those rides are showing up late — and sometimes not at all — leaving them in bad weather, disrupting their care and even causing injuries.
Ask KHN-PolitiFact: Is My Cloth Mask Good Enough? The 2022 Edition
With the omicron variant surging throughout the U.S., many experts warn that a single-layer cloth mask is not enough protection. Instead, they recommend an upgrade: layering wardrobe masks with surgical masks or wearing an N95 or KN95 respirator.
App Attempts to Break Barriers to Bankruptcy for Those in Medical Debt
Medical bills are a leading reason people get stuck in a cycle of debt. Declaring bankruptcy is one lifeline, but attorney and court fees can put it out of reach. The nonprofit Upsolve created an app it calls the “TurboTax of bankruptcy” to help people hit the reset button and rebuild their financial lives.
Fire Closes Hospital and Displaces Staff as Colorado Battles Omicron
The most destructive fire in state history has knocked a hospital out of service and left health care workers homeless with omicron driving new covid hospitalizations.
Clinics Say State’s New Medicaid Drug Program Will Force Them to Cut Services
On Jan. 1, California started buying prescription drugs for its nearly 14 million Medicaid enrollees, a responsibility that had primarily been held by managed-care insurance plans. State officials estimate California will save hundreds of millions of dollars by flexing its purchasing power, but some health clinics expect to lose money.
Black-Owned Hospice Seeks to Bring Greater Ease in Dying to Black Families
National data shows that Black Medicare patients and their families are not making the move to comfort care as often as white patients are. Experts speculate it’s related to spiritual beliefs and widespread mistrust in the medical system due to decades of discrimination.
Supreme Court Weighs Biden’s Workplace Vaccine Requirements
The court is considering whether to let the rules go into effect as opponents fight them in lower courts. Conservative justices pressed lawyers hard about whether the administration overstepped its authority, but liberal members of the high court questioned why the government shouldn’t be expected to move forcefully when facing a severe health crisis.
