The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Carmen Heredia Rodriguez was a reporter for 吃瓜不打烊 until June 2021.
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Experts estimate local and state health departments will have to hire 100,000 to 300,000 people as contact tracers to get the economy back on track. Many states are trying hard to hire from the racial and ethnic minority communities hit hardest by the virus.
Many travel insurance plans offer health care coverage, but they could limit how much the insurer will pay or exclude coverage for health crises like the coronavirus pandemic. That may leave foreign travelers 鈥 unfamiliar with the way the American health system works 鈥 on the hook for major expenses.
Her doctor worried she had COVID-19 but couldn鈥檛 test her for it until she ruled out other things. That test cost a bundle.
Doctors are making decisions about a patient鈥檚 recovery with an incomplete understanding of the disease caused by the coronavirus. Although federal officials have issued general guidelines, physicians said they can鈥檛 offer recovered patients who aren鈥檛 retested any guarantees about whether they could transmit the virus.
The states are allowing new enrollments this month to help ease consumers鈥 concerns about the cost of health care so that the sick will not be deterred from seeking medical attention and inadvertently spread the virus.
There is no universal protocol for a 鈥渄eep clean鈥 in trying to eradicate the novel coronavirus. Industries are tailoring sanitation efforts in accordance with what makes sense for them.
In an interview, Dennis Carroll, who until last fall headed up the emerging threats unit at USAID, spoke about the threat of more germs, like the novel coronavirus, appearing and whether the world is prepared for this pandemic.
Emergency medical technicians, ambulance crews and some firefighters are facing new threats from the coronavirus, which could put their normal contingency plans to the test.
Chinese doctors and public health officials are turning to a variety of drugs as they seek an effective treatment for patients sickened by the novel coronavirus. The evidence behind some of these medicines is flimsy, researchers acknowledge, but human trials are the only way to know whether these drugs work.
Historically, taxation has been an effective tool in reducing the number of people who smoke. So 20 states and the District of Columbia have begun implementing taxes on vaping products as they seek to stop young people from getting addicted.
Called 鈥淩eady, Set, PrEP,鈥 the federal program will provide medication that can reduce the chances of getting AIDS to at-risk patients who don鈥檛 have insurance.
Ilona Jaspers, an inhalation toxicologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, believes the common notion of comparing e-cigarettes with traditional, combustible cigarettes is the wrong analogy because the vaping products expose consumers to chemicals in a fundamentally different way.
The technology for vaping has changed over the years, and researchers are finding more evidence that the way vaping devices and e-liquids interact could harm consumers.
Private insurance plans vary in coverage for compression garments, and some fall short of meeting patients鈥 needs. Although Medicaid programs cover some of these expenses, Medicare does not.
More insurers are experimenting with paying health care providers one lump sum to cover the cost of maternity care. Physicians and insurers hope the model 鈥 known as bundled payments 鈥 will help improve health outcomes.
KHN reported this week that the University of Virginia Health System has filed 36,000 lawsuits against patients the past six years.
The drug CroFab, which has been on the market since 2000, now faces competition from a drug called Anavip. But both are expensive.
Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, but when not used well they can strain the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Wei Wei Lee, an internist with the University of Chicago Medicine, has developed strategies to make sure tech is a tool, not a barrier.
A rule proposed by the Trump administration would leave patients with limited English proficiency with fewer guarantees of a written notice that free translation services are available. It also would no longer require directions on how patients can report discrimination they experience in a medical setting.
Dr. Aletha Maybank was recently named the first chief health equity officer for the American Medical Association. In an interview, the pediatrician spoke about how racism鈥檚 impact on health affects everyone and what practices could help doctors end disparities.
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