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Group homes and facilities that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were hurting for staffers before the pandemic. Now the nationwide job crunch and pandemic pressures are making it even worse.
Biologic drugs, made from living organisms, and the cheaper biosimilar drugs that mimic them are more complex than chemical drugs and their generic counterparts. The Food and Drug Administration says biosimilars are as safe and effective as the biologics, and doctors agree 鈥 but they are cautious about changing the treatment regimen of patients doing well.
At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the country鈥檚 ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.
After months of burnout from the pandemic, hospitals are scrambling to fill nursing and other jobs. Some administrators, particularly in rural areas, are afraid to implement vaccine mandates that alienate their short-handed staffs.
Two days before hosting an outdoor Wilco concert, the St. Louis Music Park announced it would require proof of vaccination or a negative covid test for all ticket holders, sending some attendees scrambling and upending plans. Concertgoers, promoters and venues nationwide are all having to pivot quickly to find safer ways of enjoying live music amid the pandemic鈥檚 delta surge.
Missouri鈥檚 ambitious school testing plan landed with a thud. What it can teach us now about keeping the delta variant out of classrooms.
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.
The summer that promised to let Americans resume a relatively normal life is turning into another summer of anxiety and face masks, as the delta variant drives covid caseloads up in all 50 states. Meanwhile, the Americans with Disabilities Act turns 35, and the Missouri Supreme Court orders the state to expand Medicaid after all. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Samantha Young, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode about an Olympic-level athlete with an Olympic-size medical bill.
Missouri is the last state to create a monitoring program to help spot the misuse of prescription drugs. But some public health experts warn that the nation鈥檚 programs are forcing people addicted to opioids to seek deadlier street options.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
At the center of the nation鈥檚 delta variant outbreak, public health efforts are mired in a political turf war.
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage 鈥 through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a 鈥減ublic option.鈥 But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last month鈥檚 KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode about a very expensive sleep study.
St. Louis Blues leading scorer David Perron took 10 days to explain he had indeed been vaccinated before he caught covid-19, which knocked him from playing in the NHL playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. His case and those of other public figures raise questions about the role of celebrity in enticing people to get covid vaccinations.
Across Missouri, more than 100 schools have spent over $3.5 million 鈥 often at the taxpayers鈥 expense 鈥 snapping up ionization and other air-purifying devices in an attempt to keep kids safe from covid-19. But experts warn the largely unregulated technology hasn鈥檛 been thoroughly tested in classroom settings and is 鈥渙ften unproven.鈥
The pandemic created disruption and family stress that may have lasting effects on young children鈥檚 social and emotional development.
When estimating how well a patient鈥檚 kidneys are working, doctors frequently turn to an equation that depends on a question: Is the patient Black? Kidney experts are now debating how to remove the race adjustment and whether the question is a function of sound science. It鈥檚 considered just the first step in dismantling institutional racism in kidney care.
Racial and ethnic categories for vaccination data vary widely from one state to another, complicating efforts to distribute shots where they are needed most. In Missouri, some red flags in the data surfaced, making health officials question its usefulness.
The newly conservative Supreme Court will hear a case that could overturn the nationwide right to abortion and cause political upheaval. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 abrupt announcement that vaccinated people can take off their masks in most places has caused upheaval of its own. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Black Americans鈥 vaccination rates still trail all other groups, while Hispanics show improvement. Native Americans show the strongest rates nationally.
Pandemic lockdowns exacerbated long-standing economic pressures on pharmacies 鈥 and forced many owner-operated shops to evolve or risk closing their doors.
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