Category: states

Baby Blues: First-Time Parents Blindsided by ‘the Birthday Rule’ and a $207,455 NICU Bill

Charlie Kjelshus needed neonatal intensive care for the first seven days of her life. The episode generated huge bills, and left her parents in a tangle of red tape that involved two insurers, two hospitals and two states.

‘We’re Not Controlling It in Our Schools’: Covid Safety Lapses Abound Across US

As President Biden calls for more support to help schools hold in-person classes, public health experts say schools can be relatively safe if they take well-known steps to prevent covid. But a KHN investigation shows many districts and states have ignored health advice or written their own questionable safety rules for schools.

California’s Top Hospital Lobbyist Cements Influence in Covid Crisis

Carmela Coyle, who represents California’s hospitals in the state Capitol, is a power player whose clout has grown during the pandemic. Though she hasn’t won every battle, she has helped shape the state’s response to the crisis.

Big Business Boosts Vaccine Effort, but It’s ‘Complex Choreography’ to Get Shots in Arms 

Corporations like Starbucks, Honeywell, Microsoft, Costco and Google are lining up to help with vaccine logistics. But the problem of the moment is supply, not systems.

Amid Covid Health Worker Shortage, Foreign-Trained Professionals Sit on Sidelines

Hospitals dealing with staff shortages during the current covid surge are unable to tap into one valuable resource: foreign-trained doctors, nurses and other health workers, many with experience treating infectious diseases. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Nevada are the only states to have eased credentialing requirements during the pandemic.

Vaccine Ramp-Up Squeezes Covid Testing and Tracing

The ability of California health officials to multitask in a pandemic will be severely tested as they scramble to find staff for vaccination sites while maintaining testing and contact tracing.

Yurts, Igloos and Pop-Up Domes: How Safe Is ‘Outside’ Restaurant Dining This Winter?

All kinds of new structures are popping up to extend the outdoor dining season. Some are safer than others.

Biden Takes the Reins, Calls for a United Front Against Covid and Other Threats

On health care, President Joe Biden made it clear that combating the covid-19 pandemic will be his top priority. “We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation,” he said. “We will get through this together.”

Patients Fend for Themselves to Access Highly Touted Covid Antibody Treatments

Months after President Donald Trump credited monoclonal antibody therapy for his quick recovery from covid-19, only a trickle of the product has found its way into regular people. While hundreds of thousands of vials sit unused, sick patients who might benefit from early treatment have been left on their own to vie for access.

Biden’s Covid Challenge: 100 Million Vaccinations in the First 100 Days. It Won’t Be Easy.

But keeping campaign promises regarding the nation’s covid response will go beyond stepping up the rollout of the vaccines.