Category: Kaiser Health News

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.

Trying Out LA’s New Coronavirus Testing Regime

Los Angeles is the first big U.S. city to offer COVID-19 testing to anyone who wants it. Will it help restore normal life to the 10 million residents of the city and surrounding county?

Reopening In The COVID Era: How To Adapt To A New Normal

States and the federal government are experimenting with steps that will allow people to start working again and returning to more typical lifestyles. But public health experts offer their thoughts on the related risk-benefit calculations.

Looking For A Path To Reopen, Employers Weigh COVID Testing Of Workers

As some states begin the delicate task of lifting stay-at-home orders and allowing businesses to reopen, many employers are considering whether their strategy should include wide testing of workers.

Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care

Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Blowing The Whistle On Trump Team’s COVID Policies

Frustration from inside the Trump administration over the management of the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to become public, as whistleblowers ― some anonymous, some named — tell how the effort is being undermined by favoritism, incompetence and a disdain for science. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard a case that could threaten the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of Kaiser Health News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Economic Blow Of The Coronavirus Hits America’s Already Stressed Farmers

At the start of the spring planting season, farmers across the U.S. heartland were already trying to recover from last year’s flooding amid worsening economic conditions when the pandemic struck. Farm bankruptcies and suicides continue to climb. A lack of mental health resources in rural America makes finding help more complicated.

How The Pandemic And An Anti-Vax Health Official Are Roiling A Montana Community

In one conservative pocket of Montana, a local health board member who opposes vaccinations helped fight the state’s stay-at-home rules. But now, as the state slowly reopens, she faces a backlash of her own.

When Prisons Are ‘Petri Dishes,’ Inmates Can’t Guard Against COVID-19, They Say

Indiana prisoners said they can’t protect themselves from the virus, as the governor resists calls to reduce overcrowding. “Scared for our lives,” said an inmate.