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Relatives and advocates are calling for federal authorities to relax restrictions in long-term care institutions and grant special status to 鈥渆ssential caregivers鈥 鈥 family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care 鈥 so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.
Testing and vaccinating essential workers on commercial farms and in meatpacking plants requires more than a pop-up clinic miles away. Missing work to get a test, or to quarantine after a positive result, can be financially devastating.
As the speed of covid vaccinations picks up, so do the reports of doses going to waste. Health officials are trying to rein in waste without slowing down vaccinations.
Pharmacies are poised to start filling the gaps to vaccinate all of America against covid. Where does that leave people in rural counties that lack pharmacies?
Pediatric hospitals are creating clinics for the increasing number of children reporting lingering covid symptoms similar to those that plague some adults long after they have recovered.
Parents and caregivers of people with disabilities in California are supposed to be near the front of the line for the covid-19 vaccine. But some are hitting roadblocks at vaccination sites.
Legislatures in conservative-leaning states across the country are pushing bills that would restrict abortion and, with a conservative Supreme Court in place, could erode abortion protections under Roe v. Wade.
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
鈥淎n Arm and a Leg鈥 is updating a story, first reported in 2019, about how insulin got to be so expensive. The latest news is more encouraging than expected.
Living through SARS taught my children important lessons, and not just about hygiene. It taught them how to make sacrifices for the sake of friends, family and community.
The debate begins with the covid death tallies. But the issues go beyond basic numbers.
Churches are the keystone of a major campaign to bring good information about covid vaccines to Black communities. But pastors are finding that scarce supplies and a clumsy rollout are complicating efforts to urge vaccination.
Biden鈥檚 pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has been on record throughout his career for this type of health care system. But the president doesn鈥檛 support it, which is the position that counts.
Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez graduated from medical school during the pandemic. We follow the rookie doctor for her first months working at a hospital in Fresno, California, as she grapples with isolation, anti-mask rallies and an overwhelming number of deaths.
Montana鈥檚 pick for health director has garnered both praise and criticism for his past in Kentucky, where he sought to add work requirements to the state鈥檚 Medicaid program and was a top health official amid a hepatitis A outbreak.
On Monday, Connecticut will be the first state to begin vaccinating anyone from age 55 to 64 鈥 instead of people with chronic health issues and essential workers.
More than a month into the Biden administration, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, finally got his confirmation hearings in the Senate, along with nominees for surgeon general and assistant secretary for health. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court announced it would hear a case challenging the Trump administration鈥檚 regulation that effectively evicted Planned Parenthood from the federal family planning program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Tami Luhby of CNN and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews HuffPost鈥檚 Jonathan Cohn, whose new book, 鈥淭he Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage,鈥 is out this week.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
A student sought counseling help after feeling panicked when she had trouble paying a big tuition bill. A weeklong stay in a psychiatric hospital followed 鈥 along with a $3,413 bill. The hospital soft-pedaled its charity care policy.
Covid has pressed the Food and Drug Administration into its fastest vaccine reviews ever 鈥 which are still painfully slow, critics say.
