Category: Public Health

Healthcare leaders not confident US is prepared for next pandemic

Forty percent of healthcare leaders are “not confident at all” that the U.S. would be better prepared for a future pandemic, according to a September Becker’s LinkedIn poll.

The disease set to 'take off' in Southern US: Reuters

Dengue fever, an infection caused by mosquito bites, may become increasingly common across the Southern U.S. within the next decade.

Mothers of Color Can’t See if Providers Have a History of Mistreatment. Why Not?

Many women, especially Black women, have reported discrimination in maternity care, but expectant mothers lack tools to see where this happens. Funding and regulations to measure disparities have been slow in arriving, but some innovators are trying to fill the void.

RSV cases tick up slightly across US

Cases of respiratory syncytial virus have been rising slowly in the U.S., according to CDC data published Oct. 5.

Ohio cancer center gets $20M to study tobacco for FDA

Columbus-based Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center was awarded $20 million by the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science to gather evidence needed to inform the FDA’s regulation of tobacco products.

US to phase out COVID vaccine cards

The CDC has announced the agency will no longer distribute COVID-19 vaccination cards. 

New York City grapples to rein in rising tuberculosis cases

New York City has already confirmed about 500 cases of active tuberculosis this year, and understaffed clinics have led to long waits for diagnosis and treatment, Politico reported Oct. 4.

Feds Rein In Use of Predictive Software That Limits Care for Medicare Advantage Patients

Software sifts through millions of medical records to match patients with similar diagnoses and characteristics and then predicts what kind of care an individual will need and for how long. New federal rules will ensure human experts are part of the process.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: An Encore: 3 HHS Secretaries Reveal What the Job Is Really Like

In this special encore episode, KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” asks three people who have served as the nation’s top health official: What does a day in the life of the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services look like? And how much of their agenda is set by the White House? Taped in June before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, part of the Aspen Ideas Festival, in Aspen, Colorado, host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner leads a rare conversation with the current and two former HHS secretaries. Secretary Xavier Becerra and former secretaries Kathleen Sebelius and Alex Azar talk candidly about what it takes to run a department with more than 80,000 employees and a budget larger than those of many countries.

Social Security Chief Orders Broad Review of Benefit Overpayments 

In the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group, the SSA acting commissioner said a special teaml will review “overpayment policies and procedures” and report directly back to her.