Category: Kaiser Health News

Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority

Health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors, but the efforts are slow and spotty.

New Single-Payer Bill Intensifies Newsom’s Political Peril

With the introduction of a single-payer bill Friday, a group of California Democratic lawmakers set the terms of the health care debate in the Capitol this year. The move puts Gov. Gavin Newsom in a delicate political position, threatening to alienate voters as he faces a likely recall election.

Feds OK’d Export of Millions of N95 Masks as U.S. Workers Cried for More

In the hours before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Federal Emergency Management Agency allowed a Texas mask maker to ship the high-quality masks overseas.

To Vaccinate Veterans, Health Care Workers Must Cross Mountains, Plains and Tundra

Veterans Affairs officials are flying COVID-19 vaccines to remote locations in Montana and Alaska to quickly inoculate rural veterans before the drugs expire.

Spurred by Pandemic, Little Shell Tribe Fast-Tracks Its Health Service Debut

As the newest federally recognized tribe, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is starting from scratch to deliver health care to members. While covid-19 has been devastating, it has sped up the tribe’s ability to build a clinic. Yet, lacking a reservation, the tribe faces challenges reaching its scattered members.

Companies Pan for Marketing Gold in Vaccines

Some assisted living facilities, pharmacy chains and health care providers are luring new customers with covid shots.

Companies Pan for Marketing Gold in Vaccines

Some assisted living facilities, pharmacy chains and health care providers are luring new customers with covid shots.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open Enrollment, One More Time

Keeping a campaign promise, President Joe Biden has reopened enrollment for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act on healthcare.gov — and states that run their own health insurance marketplaces followed suit. At the same time, the Biden administration is moving to revoke the Trump administration’s permission for states to impose work requirements for some adults on the Medicaid health insurance program. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews medical student Inam Sakinah, president of the new group Future Doctors in Politics.

Montana’s Health Policy MVP Takes Her Playbook on the Road

Marilyn Bartlett, credited with saving Montana’s state employee health plan millions of dollars, is a busy consultant now, as states, counties and big businesses try to use her playbook to bring down hospital costs.

California Aims to Address the ‘Urgent’ Needs of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?

State officials recently unveiled a “master plan” to address the needs of California’s rapidly aging population, from housing to long-term care. Kim McCoy Wade, director of the state Department of Aging, vows it will not end up on a shelf gathering dust.