Texas Archives

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccine Approval Moves the Needle on Covid

The FDA’s formal approval of the first vaccine to prevent covid-19 may or may not prompt doubters to go out and get shots, but it has clearly prompted employers to make vaccination a work requirement. Meanwhile, moderates and liberals in the U.S. House put aside their differences long enough to keep a giant social-spending bill on track, at least for now. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet 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.

Aug. 26, 2021

COVID-19

These Governors Push Experimental Antibody Therapy — But Shun Vaccine and Mask Mandates

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.

By JoNel Aleccia

Aug. 25, 2021

Rear view of schoolgirl with backpack waiting for bus while standing on footpath

COVID-19

School or ‘Russian Roulette’? Amid Delta Variant and Lax Mask Rules, Some Parents See No Difference

Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off — even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation’s first delta variant hot spots.

By Rae Ellen Bichell

Aug. 20, 2021

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Booster Time

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’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Aug. 19, 2021

COVID-19

Covid Politics and Fatigue Work Against Contact-Tracing Foot Soldiers

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.

By Amanda Michelle Gomez

Aug. 19, 2021

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Senate Acts

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 — covering key health priorities — 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’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Aug. 12, 2021

12,000 Square Miles Without Obstetrics? It’s a Possibility in West Texas

Big Bend Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in a sparsely populated region of West Texas, announced that because of a nursing shortage its labor and delivery unit must close for days at a time and patients must go instead to a hospital an hour away.

By Charlotte Huff

Aug. 2, 2021

COVID-19

At Texas Border, Pandemic’s High Toll Lays Bare Gaps in Health and Insurance

In Texas’ border communities, which are overwhelmingly Hispanic, covid-19 death rates for people under age 65 were double those in the rest of the state and three times the national average. They were also significantly higher than rates in New Mexico border areas.

By René Kladzyk, El Paso Matters, Phil Galewitz, and Elizabeth Lucas

June 23, 2021

COVID-19

Stark Racial Disparities Persist in Vaccinations, State-Level CDC Data Shows

Black Americans’ vaccination rates still trail all other groups, while Hispanics show improvement. Native Americans show the strongest rates nationally.

By Hannah Recht, Rachana Pradhan, and Lauren Weber

May 20, 2021

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Drug Price Effort Hits a Snag

Democratic leaders in Congress have vowed to pass legislation to address high prescription drug prices this year, but some moderates in their own party appear to be balking. Meanwhile, younger teens are now eligible for a covid-19 vaccine and the Biden administration reinstated anti-discrimination policy for LGBTQ people in health care. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

May 13, 2021

The Making of Reluctant Activists: A Police Shooting in a Hospital Forces One Family to Rethink American Justice

In 2015, Houston police officers stepped into Alan Pean’s hospital room, closed the door and shot him through the chest. Nearly six years later, his survival has brought the Pean family a wrenching legacy and conflicted sense of purpose.

By Sarah Varney

May 10, 2021

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Picking Up the Pace of Undoing Trump Policies

The Biden administration has started to speed efforts to reverse health policies forged under Donald Trump. Most recently, the administration overturned a ban on fetal tissue research and canceled a last-minute extension of a Medicaid waiver for Texas. That latter move may delay the Senate confirmation of President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) seeks to fight back. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s 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.

April 22, 2021

COVID-19

California and Texas Took Different Routes to Vaccination. Who’s Ahead?

California stresses equity for minority groups. Texas is all about personal choice and liberty. Both are struggling to vaccinate Latinos and contending with vaccine hesitancy among conservative communities.

By Anna Almendrala and Sandy West

April 22, 2021

COVID-19

Snag a Vaccine Appointment, Then Face the Next Hurdle: How to Get There?

For some, a vaccine appointment a few hours away is no biggie. For others, it’s a major barrier to gaining protection from the coronavirus.

By Rae Ellen Bichell

April 19, 2021

Maria Skladzien sits in her wheelchair on a sidewalk

Texas Winter Storm Exposes Gaps in Senior Living Oversight

As the recent winter storm disaster in Texas showed, many long-term care sites aren’t required to have backup power supplies or other redundancies to keep residents safe when disaster strikes.

By Sandy West

March 10, 2021

COVID-19

Covid Strikes Clergy as They Comfort Pandemic’s Sick and Dying

Spiritual leaders risk their own lives and health to tend to covid’s victims and their loved ones.

By Bruce Alpert

Feb. 23, 2021

In a chemistry lab, a male researcher holds a tube with the coronavirus virus

COVID-19

Feds OK’d Export of Millions of N95 Masks as U.S. Workers Cried for More

In the hours before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Federal Emergency Management Agency allowed a Texas mask maker to ship the high-quality masks overseas.

By Christina Jewett

Feb. 19, 2021

COVID-19

In Austin, Some Try to Address Vaccine Inequity, but a Broad Plan Is Elusive

The east side of Austin has few of the chain stores key to the Texas vaccination plan. But local officials have done pop-up vaccination events in the community to get more shots to Blacks and Latinos.

By Ashley Lopez, KUT

Feb. 3, 2021

COVID-19

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.

By Markian Hawryluk

Jan. 25, 2021

COVID-19

‘Last Responders’ Brace for Surge in Covid Deaths Across US

In some parts of the country, the surge in covid cases is overwhelming coroners, morgues, funeral homes and religious leaders. It has required ingenuity and even changed the rituals of honoring the dead.

By Cindy Loose

Jan. 4, 2021

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