COVID Tests Are Free, Except When They鈥檙e Not
Her doctor worried she had COVID-19 but couldn鈥檛 test her for it until she ruled out other things. That test cost a bundle.
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The Challenges Of Keeping Young Adults Safe During The Pandemic
Even while playing the role of quarantine enforcer for your teens and 20-somethings, recognize that they are as anxious and worried as you are 鈥 and with good reason.
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Widely Used Surgical Masks Are Putting Health Care Workers At Serious Risk
Because high-end N95 masks are scarce, medical centers are using surgical masks that have been linked to considerably higher infection rates.
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Amid Coronavirus Distress, Wealthy Hospitals Hoard Millions
As the coronavirus threatens the finances of thousands of hospitals, wealthy ones that can draw on millions 鈥 and even billions 鈥 of dollars in savings are in competition with near-insolvent hospitals for limited pots of financial relief.
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Lawmaker Pushing Mental Health Reform: It鈥檚 鈥楳ore Needed Than Ever鈥
Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked lawmakers to pare down their legislative wish lists and focus on the state鈥檚 coronavirus response. But state Sen. Jim Beall plans to forge ahead with his mental health care proposals, including a measure to create a state mental health parity requirement.
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Health Insurers Prosper As COVID-19 Deflates Demand For Elective Treatments
With most nonemergency procedures shelved for now, many health insurers are expected to see profits in the near term, but the longer view of how the coronavirus will affect them is far more complicated and could well impact what people pay for coverage next year.
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Consumer Beware: Coronavirus Antibody Tests Are Still A Work In Progress
Public officials are putting high hopes on new blood tests as a means of determining who has developed antibodies to COVID-19, and with those antibodies, presumed immunity. But experts caution the tests are largely unreliable and the science is still catching up.
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鈥楢n Arm And A Leg鈥: What A Fleet Of Firetrucks Can Teach About Public Health
This week on 鈥淎n Arm and a Leg,鈥 a front-line physician wonders if the health care industry鈥檚 drive for 鈥渆fficiency鈥 has robbed the system of surge capacity, leaving the nation underprepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Telehealth Will Be Free, No Copays, They Said. But Angry Patients Are Getting Billed.
Politicians pledged to stop providers from charging for video appointments or telephone calls, but some patients are being charged $70 or $80 per virtual visit.
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Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
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Born Into A Pandemic: Virus Complicates Births For Moms And Babies
COVID-19 is changing medical care, not only for vulnerable elders but also for pregnant women and their babies entering the world.
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Vaping, Opioid Addiction Accelerate Coronavirus Risks, Says NIDA Director
Dr. Nora Volkow, who heads the National Institute on Drug Abuse, details how emerging science points to added challenges for these patient populations and the public health system.
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Seniors With COVID-19 Show Unusual Symptoms, Doctors Say
Older bodies respond to infection in different ways. Seniors may sleep more or stop eating. They may be confused or dizzy. They might simply collapse.
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Anti-Vaccine Activists Latch Onto Coronavirus To Bolster Their Movement
Activists failed to convince state legislators that diseases like measles aren鈥檛 serious enough to require vaccination. Now they鈥檙e joining with conservatives and other anti-lockdown demonstrators who contend the coronavirus isn鈥檛 dangerous enough to justify staying home.
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Abbott鈥檚 Fast COVID Test Poses Safety Issues, Lab Workers Say
HHS said this test would 鈥渟ave personal protective equipment.鈥 But Abbott鈥檚 very design 鈥 devised for mobile testing 鈥 means those working with specimens need even more protection, experts warn.
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat The Health?鈥: Whom Do We Trust For COVID Info?
The messaging from the White House coronavirus press briefings is becoming more confusing as President Donald Trump and his science advisers appear to not see eye to eye. Meanwhile, Congress is ready to approve more money to address both the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the virus is taking an almost unimaginable toll on the nation鈥檚 nursing homes and putting strain on patients and health care providers with non-COVID ailments. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.
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Coronavirus Crisis Opens Access To Online Opioid Addiction Treatment
Under the national emergency, the government has waived a law that required patients to have an in-person visit with a physician before they could be prescribed drugs that help quell withdrawal symptoms, such as Suboxone. Now they can get those prescriptions via a phone call or videoconference with a doctor. That may give video addiction therapy a kick-start.
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Biden Says OSHA Isn鈥檛 Doing Enough To Protect Workers鈥 From COVID-19
Labor unions have called for the agency to issue an emergency standard that would define what steps employers must take to protect their workers from the coronavirus. It has not done that, although it offered guidance that it said does not create a 鈥渘ew legal obligation鈥 for employers.
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The Other COVID Risks: How Race, Income, ZIP Code Influence Who Lives Or Dies
Federal officials have known for nearly a decade which counties are most likely to suffer devastation 鈥 both in loss of lives and jobs 鈥 in a pandemic.
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OSHA Probing Health Worker Deaths But Urges Inspectors To Spare The Penalties
Former officials from the federal agency criticize OSHA for a slow and timid response to a 鈥渨orker safety crisis of monstrous proportions鈥 unfolding in hospitals, nursing homes.
