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Governors in Southern states, amid a surge of delta-variant infections, are rushing to provide an experimental antibody cocktail therapy, even as they oppose measures like mask mandates and vaccine passports that health officials say can prevent infection in the first place.
As the delta variant continues to spread around the U.S., the Biden administration is taking steps to authorize covid vaccine boosters, require nursing home workers to be vaccinated and protect school officials who want to require masks despite state laws banning those mandates. Meanwhile, the U.S. House is returning from its summer break early to start work on its giant budget bill, which includes a long list of health policy changes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Local health officials find themselves once again behind the covid curve as the delta variant drives their case counts. With resources already stretched, along with the politicization of covid-19, county and state health departments in places like Missouri and Texas are making tough calls on whom to trace.
Scientists have found little evidence that the kind of masks worn by students negatively affect oxygen or carbon dioxide levels.
The U.S. Senate worked well into its scheduled August recess to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget blueprint that outlines a much larger bill 鈥 covering key health priorities 鈥 to be written this fall. Meanwhile, the latest surge of covid is making both employers and schools rethink their opening plans. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
The Florida governor鈥檚 order said schools couldn鈥檛 mandate that students wear masks and that the state could deny funding to school districts that didn鈥檛 comply.
As the nation confronts the delta variant, many consumers are again facing delays getting tested. The problem appears most acute in the South and Midwest, where new infections are growing the fastest.
Only severely injured patients are supposed to be billed for 鈥渢rauma team alert鈥 fees that can exceed $50,000.
HCA charges patients an 鈥渁ctivation fee鈥 of up to $50,000 for trauma teams at centers located in half its 179 hospitals 鈥 and they often don鈥檛 need trauma care, an analysis of insurance claims data shows.
Besides shared culture and values, a Black physician can offer Black patients a sense of safety, validation and trust. By contrast, the impact of systemic racism can show up starkly in childbirth. Black women are three times as likely to die after giving birth as white women in the United States.
The Florida governor considers the pushback he received from the online video platform to be 鈥淥rwellian.鈥 But the scientists featured at the event made specific statements YouTube deemed as 鈥渕isinformation,鈥 at odds with current public health recommendations for controlling the spread of the covid virus.
Nearly 60 organ transplants have been performed after the coronavirus 鈥渂asically destroyed鈥 patients鈥 hearts and lungs.
With schools opening up classrooms, millions of young athletes are also getting out on fields and courts. But pandemic precautions and delays are spurring conflicts among parents, coaches and doctors.
Experts agreed there鈥檚 no definitive evidence to back up the Florida governor鈥檚 assertion.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to have medical conditions that make covid especially dangerous. But a lack of federal tracking means no one knows how many people in disability group housing have fallen ill or died from the virus.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor 鈥 an outspoken former cop 鈥 has clashed repeatedly with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has limited what local officials can do to confront the pandemic. But she reached an uneasy peace with the state and is convinced that safeguards instituted by the NFL will help keep crowds safe at the NFL championship game.
It's time-consuming but worthwhile: Residents respond to messages about Covid testing and vaccines when outreach teams speak their language and make a personal connection.
Black Americans are receiving covid vaccines at a much lower rate than their white peers due to a combination of mistrust and access issues, leaving them behind in the mission to vaccinate the nation鈥檚 population.
The lack of a federal strategy on how distribution should work at the local level means that states, hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies are making decisions on their own about who gets vaccinated and when.
The state鈥檚 hospital association in September picked Mary Mayhew to be its new CEO. While leading the state Medicaid office, she was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 Medicaid expansion program.
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