Latest Kaiser Health News Stories
What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures
People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.
Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.
‘I Couldn’t Let Her Be Alone’: A Peaceful Death Amid the COVID Scourge
For three years, staffers at UCLA Health have been quietly fulfilling final wishes for dying patients in the intensive care unit. Amid the isolating forces of the pandemic, their work has become all the more meaningful.
2021 Health Plans Granted Leeway To Limit Consumers’ Benefit From Drug Coupons
A rule finalized this spring by the Trump administration permits employers and insurers not to apply drug company copayment assistance toward enrollees’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for any drug.
Social Media Image About Mask Efficacy Right In Sentiment, But Percentages Are ‘Bonkers’
Skip the numbers. Focus on the mask.
Pruebas para el VPH y el cáncer cervical podrían hacerse en casa
El Instituto Nacional del Cáncer lanzará un estudio que involucrará a unas 5,000 mujeres para evaluar si la autoprueba casera puede equivaler a la que realiza el médico en un consultorio.
A pesar del aumento de casos, California frena fondos multimillonarios para pruebas de COVID
El estado ya no financiará nuevos sitios de prueba, a pesar de las súplicas de los condados para obtener asistencia adicional. También ha cerrado algunos espacios y los ha trasladado a otros lugares.
Among Those Disrupted By COVID-19: The Nation’s Newest Doctors
For new medical residents, this has been a year like no other. In part that’s because getting from here to there — from medical school to residency training sites — has been complicated by the coronavirus.
Un sistema de salud pública devastado enfrenta más recortes en medio del virus
El sistema de salud pública de los Estados Unidos ha subsistido en la precariedad durante décadas y carece de los recursos necesarios para enfrentar la peor crisis de salud en un siglo.
Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources necessary to confront the worst health crisis in a century. An investigation by The Associated Press and KHN has found that since 2010, spending for state public health departments has dropped by 16% per capita and for local health departments by 18%. At least 38,000 public health jobs have disappeared, leaving a skeletal workforce for what was once viewed as one of the world’s top public health systems. That has left the nation unprepared to deal with a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million people and killed more than 126,000.
How We Reported ‘Underfunded And Under Threat’
To assess the state of the public health system in the United States, KHN and The Associated Press analyzed data on government spending and staffing at national, state and local levels. Here’s what data we used and how we did it.
Six Takeaways Of The KHN-AP Investigation Into The Erosion Of Public Health
KHN and The Associated Press sought to understand how decades of cuts to public health departments by federal, state and local governments has affected the system meant to protect the nation’s health. Here are six key takeaways from the KHN-AP investigation.
As Cases Spike, California Pauses Multimillion-Dollar Testing Expansion
California is cutting off funding for COVID-19 testing just when counties say they need more resources in rural and disadvantaged areas.
NIH Spearheads Study To Test At-Home Screening For HPV And Cervical Cancer
The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor’s office.
Trabajadora esencial recibe una factura pandémica de $1,840 por COVID
Ten cuidado si tu médico te envía a la sala de emergencias para una prueba de COVID, porque cualquier atención adicional que recibas allí podría tener un alto precio.
Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole
Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn’t get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus — which is hard when you live with elders.
Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme
In an investigation last year, KHN detailed the rise and fall of Miami businessman Jorge A. Perez’s rural hospital empire, which spanned eight states and encompassed half of the rural hospital bankruptcies in 2019.
‘More Than Physical Health’: Gym Helps 91-Year-Old Battle Isolation
For Art Ballard, the local gym was like his second home. The 91-year-old former jeweler relied on his near-daily workouts to stay healthy and for social interaction. But when California instituted its stay-at-home order, Ballard’s physical health suffered. So did his mental health.
Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear. Some Still Died.
As health workers were dying of COVID-19, federal work-safety officials filed just one citation against an employer and rapidly closed complaints about protective gear.
A nurse in Ohio’s prison system. A hospital supply manager who lacked protective gear for himself. A family physician who wrote poems wherever he went. These are some of the people just added to “Lost on the Frontline,” a special series from The Guardian and KHN that profiles health care workers who died of COVID-19.