Category: Aging

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Care as Infrastructure

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes items not traditionally considered “infrastructure,” including a $400 billion expansion of home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, and a $50 billion effort to replace water pipes lined with lead. Meanwhile, the politics of covid-19 are turning to how or whether Americans will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KFF’s Mollyann Brodie about the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor.

‘I Can Breathe Again’: Older Adults Begin to Test Freedom After Covid Vaccinations

Whether it’s making plans to hug their grandchildren, scheduling long-overdue medical appointments or just petting the neighbor’s dog, seniors are inching back to a lifestyle they’ve missed during the pandemic.

Web Event: The Crucial Role of Home Health Workers, Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic

Watch an intimate conversation about this workforce, which provides vital care to vulnerable people. Our panel included those doing the work and those who rely on them, as well as expert insight on improving the jobs, honoring the care and paying for it all.

Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy

Federal records show a steep decline in staff covid cases since December, when health care workers at thousands of nursing homes began getting their shots. Still, many are reluctant to get vaccinated.

Texas Winter Storm Exposes Gaps in Senior Living Oversight

As the recent winter storm disaster in Texas showed, many long-term care sites aren’t required to have backup power supplies or other redundancies to keep residents safe when disaster strikes.

Behind The Byline: Reporting Road Trip

Check out KHN’s video series — Behind The Byline: How the Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.

Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

Relatives and advocates are calling for federal authorities to relax restrictions in long-term care institutions and grant special status to “essential caregivers” — family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care — so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.

Sorting Out How Politics, Policies Figure in Flap Over New York Nursing Home Covid Death Rates

The debate begins with the covid death tallies. But the issues go beyond basic numbers.

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.

Companies Pan for Marketing Gold in Vaccines

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