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A proposal breezing through the state legislature would make it illegal to obstruct someone from getting a covid-19 shot, or any other vaccine, but some free speech experts say it goes too far.
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.
As the nation confronts the delta variant, many consumers are again facing delays getting tested. The problem appears most acute in the South and Midwest, where new infections are growing the fastest.
The latest research shows that although deaths in nursing homes received enormous attention, far more older adults who perished from covid lived outside of institutions. People with dementia and other severe neurological conditions, chronic kidney disease and immune deficiencies were hit especially hard.
Facing bankruptcy, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department in 2012, and the city essentially went two years without a government-run public health system. Five years later, this major American city offers a grim cautionary tale.
Covid is back with a vengeance, with some people clamoring for booster shots while others harden their resistance to getting vaccinated at all. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is pushing hard on drugmaker Pfizer鈥檚 request to upgrade the emergency authorization for its vaccine and give it final approval. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
The success in getting shots to older adults is likely due to states prioritizing that effort when the vaccines became available and motivation among the elderly after the virus killed so many in their age group.
Health insurers could do more to encourage vaccination, including letting the unvaccinated foot their bills.
Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram incorrectly claim that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is withdrawing its covid test because it can鈥檛 differentiate between that virus and flu viruses. These statements could be an attempt to blur the high cumulative numbers of covid cases.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in September, fueled in part by anger over his pandemic policies. The health care industry has ponied up more than $4.8 million so far to defend the first-term Democrat.
Health plans鈥 coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy 鈥 which has a $1,300-a-month price tag 鈥 is not a sure thing.
Using detailed maps that show vaccination rates down to the ZIP code or census tract level, health departments highlight areas of greater Denver where vaccinations lag behind state or county averages, then partner with community organizations to overcome barriers. Can this be a model for President Joe Biden's 鈥渘eighborhood by neighborhood" approach?
The state says it will look at the levels of disease-fighting antibodies among nursing home residents vaccinated against covid, which could help indicate whether they need a booster shot.
The summer that promised to let Americans resume a relatively normal life is turning into another summer of anxiety and face masks, as the delta variant drives covid caseloads up in all 50 states. Meanwhile, the Americans with Disabilities Act turns 35, and the Missouri Supreme Court orders the state to expand Medicaid after all. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Samantha Young, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode about an Olympic-level athlete with an Olympic-size medical bill.
Each year, people in pain travel to Montana and pay to sit amid radon gas, which is pitched as therapy for a long list of health issues. While low-dose radiation therapy is getting another look amid the pandemic, experts say that treatment is different than sitting in a tunnel of radioactive gas.
Scientists are trying to piece together why the delta variant so readily infects unvaccinated Americans, spewing 1,000 times more virus particles.
Brexanolone is a promising new treatment for postpartum depression. But one insurer's requirement that women try four other drugs and electroconvulsive therapy before the infusion means it is out-of-reach for millions of women.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) introduced a bill to do away with a health insurance rule that dictates which parent鈥檚 plan becomes a new baby鈥檚 primary insurer. This could save some parents from unexpected, sometimes massive medical bills. Davids took up the issue after a KHN/NPR Bill of the Month story on one family鈥檚 unexpected $207,455 NICU bill.
In a suburb of Denver, a doctor runs a clinic that finds creative solutions to treat a large refugee and immigrant population, sometimes to the dismay of the medical establishment.
At a pop-up vaccine clinic in a McDonald鈥檚 parking lot in the city of San Bernardino, fewer than two dozen people agreed to get a shot, offering a snapshot of the faltering vaccination effort.
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