Category: Health Industry

Keeping The COVID Plague At Bay: How California Is Protecting Older Veterans

Even as COVID-19 has ravaged nursing homes around the country, California has managed to keep the virus at bay at its eight state-run homes for frail and older veterans. What exactly went right?

‘An Arm And A Leg’: Health Care Takes A Financial Hit In The Midst Of Pandemic

In the first quarter of 2020, half the country’s economic devastation happened in the health care sector. Much of the slowdown came after hospitals postponed elective surgeries and as Americans skipped routine doctor’s office visits.

COVID Survivors’ Blood Plasma Is A Sought-After New Commodity

A possibility that the blood of people who had COVID could save others has set off a mad scramble for donors — with top-dollar offers and a plan that relies on the blood of 10,000 Orthodox Jewish women.

COVID Bailout Cash Goes To Big Players That Have Paid Millions To Settle Allegations Of Wrongdoing

At least half of the top 10 recipients, part of a group that received $20 billion in emergency HHS funding, have paid criminal penalties or settled charges related to improper billing and other practices.

Viral Post Alleging Obama-Era Device Tax Caused Current PPE Shortage Is Way Off

Nothing in this viral meme is accurate. And there are other places to place blame.

Lost on the Frontline

A lab assistant who spoke out about employee safety. A disease intervention specialist who hoped to follow her mother into nursing. A father of three who juggled jobs at three nursing homes. 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.

COVID-Plagued California Nursing Homes Often Had Problems In Past

Nursing homes with COVID-19 infections tend to violate health rules more often and have more complaints and fines, records show. But infections also plague highly rated facilities — while sparing some low-ranked ones.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: SCOTUS Decides An ACA Case. No, Not THAT Case.

The Supreme Court this week, in an 8-1 decision, ruled that insurers are due the roughly $12 billion that Congress several years ago tried to cut off in payments under the Affordable Care Act’s “risk corridors” provision. And while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage in many places around the country, states are starting to reopen their economies at the urging of President Donald Trump and over objections of public health officials. Caitlin Owens of Axios and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment about COVID testing that should have been free but was not.

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.

As Coronavirus Strikes, Crucial Data In Electronic Health Records Hard To Harvest

The U.S. government spent $36 billion computerizing health records, yet they’re of limited help in the COVID-19 crisis.