Category: states

After the Pandemic Hit Nursing Homes Hard, California Lawmakers Push to Tighten Licensing Rules

Legislators are proposing an overhaul of California’s licensing system for nursing homes that would make it the most stringent in the country. They argue that disreputable and unlicensed owners and operators have harmed residents. The industry describes the proposed requirements as excessive.

No Prison Time for Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Fatal Drug Error

Hundreds of nurses gathered outside a Nashville courthouse to protest RaDonda Vaught’s prosecution for a medical mistake, and cheered when her probation sentence was announced.

Few Eligible Families Have Applied for Government Help to Pay for Covid Funerals

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse many families up to $9,000 in funeral expenses for loved ones who died of covid-19. But fewer than half of eligible families have applied, while others have run into application problems.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Invisible Pandemic

Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom seem to want to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the fallout over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion continues even as the Senate fails — again — to muster the votes to write abortion rights into law. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Census Undercount Threatens Federal Food and Health Programs on Reservations

The 2020 census undercounted people living on Native American reservations. The money for many needed federal aid programs is tied to those population numbers.

Census Undercount Threatens Federal Food and Health Programs on Reservations

The 2020 census undercounted people living on Native American reservations. The money for many needed federal aid programs is tied to those population numbers.

Is Paxlovid, the Covid Pill, Reaching Those Who Most Need It? The Government Won’t Say

Many public health workers are unable to see how many doses of Pfizer’s antiviral treatment are shipped to their communities and cannot tell whether vulnerable residents are filling prescriptions as often as their wealthier neighbors.

1931 State Law Makes Abortion a Felony if ‘Roe’ Falls, Warns Michigan Attorney General

Dana Nessel, the Democratic attorney general of Michigan, said she would not have the authority to keep county prosecutors from enforcing the old law. Nessel also discussed the “selective reduction” abortion she had when pregnant with triplets.

Ripple Effects of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care for Miscarriages

In Texas, where anyone can face a hefty fine of at least $10,000 if they abet an abortion, medical professionals on the front lines face tough quandaries when treating patients who have a miscarriage, a scenario that could soon play out around the country if abortion restrictions tighten.

Rural California Hatches Plan for Engineered Mosquitoes to Battle Stealthy Predator

Tulare County officials hope the region will soon be a testing ground for a new generation of technology in a centuries-old war: Human vs. Mosquito.