States Pull Back on Covid Data Even Amid Delta Surge
As covid case numbers rise nationwide, Georgia and some other states have restricted the case count data they share publicly.
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As covid case numbers rise nationwide, Georgia and some other states have restricted the case count data they share publicly.
The FDA鈥檚 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鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
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.
Despite widespread consensus on the importance of addiction treatment in the ER, many hospitals fail to screen for substance use, offer medications to treat opioid use disorder or connect patients to follow-up care. But some are working to change that.
Nonprofit hospitals of all sizes have been trying their luck as venture capitalists, saying their investments improve care through the creation of new medical devices, health software and other innovations. But the gamble at times has been harder to pull off than expected.
The man famous for taking on Big Tobacco in the '90s, and winning, launched a series of ill-fated national lawsuits against nonprofit hospitals. This episode is the first in a series looking at the origins of charity care.
College and grad students with chronic health conditions as common as asthma and diabetes may need to clear hurdles to make sure their health needs are covered by insurance if they go to school far from home.
Nursing home operators acknowledge that large numbers of staff members are not getting the shots but fear a federal vaccination mandate could drive away workers in a tight labor market.
Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off 鈥 even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation鈥檚 first delta variant hot spots.
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.
North Carolina claims to be the 鈥淣ation鈥檚 Most Military Friendly State.鈥 Now veterans are trying to capitalize on this dedication to the troops to persuade lawmakers to pass medical marijuana legislation. It鈥檚 an advocacy model that has led to success for pro-cannabis efforts elsewhere.
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.
Pharmacy benefit managers have curtailed in-person audits of pharmacy claims during the pandemic, switching to virtual audits done by computer. That has markedly increased the number of claims they can review 鈥 and the chances for payment denials 鈥 squeezing pharmacies and bringing in more cash for the benefit companies.
Community Health Systems, a large, for profit hospital chain, shrank from more than 200 to 84 facilities. It is continuing to sue patients for hospitals that now exist as little more than legal entities.
The Supreme Court, come autumn, will consider a Mississippi law that bans nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That鈥檚 hardly the most restrictive abortion law passed in the South. How did anti-abortion views become concentrated in the South?
Restrictive abortion regulations enacted across the South require women to drive across state lines to find safe services. With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a challenge to Roe v. Wade, abortion rights defenders say long drives and wait times could become the norm across much of America.
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.
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