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Yes, lots of us suffer from pandemic fatigue and have been getting sloppy about precautions in recent months. But with covid an ongoing menace ā and governments reluctant to return to sweeping mandates ā itās time for all of us to step up our game.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
The Rockland County case isnāt expected to cause a major outbreak, but it shows how even this rare disease can pop up in undervaccinated communities.
In a rare surprise for official Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a deal to expand the planned health bill in the Senate to include provisions raising taxes and addressing climate change. The measure would include a third year of expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, but not health care coverage for people left out of Medicaid in states that failed to expand the program. Meanwhile, the ACA goes back to court, and the Biden administration restores anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people that were rolled back by the Trump administration. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHNās Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. CĆ©line Gounder of KHN about the latest on the monkeypox outbreak.
Paxlovid has eclipsed other available therapies for preventing life-threatening covid symptoms in high-risk patients. But even as doctors praise its effectiveness, many say they have unanswered questions about prescribing the drug and want more and better data about it.
Although the disease is currently spreading almost exclusively among men who have sex with men, some cases are turning up in other populations ā and that number is likely to grow if public health officials donāt effectively nip the outbreak in the bud.
Two things happened in Washington this week that were inevitable: President Joe Biden tested positive for covid-19, and the Senate agreed to move forward on a budget bill that includes only a sliver of what Biden hoped it would. Still, the bill to allow Medicare to negotiate some drug prices, cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and extend temporary subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance premiums would represent a major step if Democrats can get it across the finish line. Meanwhile, abortion battles continue to escalate around the country, with Texas leading the way in restrictions. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNās Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. Jack Resneck Jr., the new president of the American Medical Association.
Some people living with HIV and some state health officials are raising concerns about part of the federal effort to end the HIV epidemic: a new technology that analyzes blood samples to find emerging outbreaks. The critics say itās too invasive and stigmatizing and might not be more effective than older public health approaches.
Sexual health clinics are scrambling to properly track, test, and treat hundreds of monkeypox patients. So far, it isnāt going well.
As the country faces a rise in new infections driven by the omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus, about 70% of people 50 and older who got a first covid-19 booster shot haven't received the recommended second one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many undervaccinated Americans have lost interest, and others arenāt sure whether to get boosted again now or wait for vaccines reformulated to target newer strains of the virus.
Spurred on by opposition to pandemic-related health mandates, a coalition of religious liberty groups, conservative think tanks, and Republican state attorneys general has filed a cascade of litigation seeking to rein in the powers of public health authorities.
A ballot measure that would have taxed California millionaires to boost public health funding will not be on the November ballot. But the tech titans who bankrolled the effort say they are negotiating with Gov. Gavin Newsomās administration to get more money without imposing new taxes.
Existing drugs still treat most infections. But that has discouraged investment in new drugs that will be needed when ā not if āthe old ones fail.
A rapidly changing landscape for abortion has left patients, providers, employers, and lawmakers alike wondering what is and is not legal and what to do next. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress have resumed negotiations on legislation to lower drug prices and, potentially, continue expanded insurance subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHNās 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.
As Ukrainians settle in California, many are tapping Medi-Cal. But in some counties, particularly Sacramento, the health department doesnāt have enough interpreters.
Some health experts said measures underway by state and federal officials wonāt lower ozone pollution to safe levels across nine counties of Coloradoās Front Range.
Public health officials say monkeypox is not as dangerous as covid and can be handled well with current treatments and if those at risk use caution. But the rollout of vaccines has been slow and led to angst among some at-risk people.
The bulk of the funds provided in the gun reform law known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act are for expanding mental health services. Will it help improve mental health outcomes and stem violence?
The pandemic disrupted all sense of normalcy for U.S. hospitals, so federal officials are proposing to pause financial penalties against the facilities and to block public access to key hospital safety data ā such as the frequency of falls and sepsis ā because of concerns that the data isnāt accurate enough. But consumer advocates are furious about the proposal.
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