I Found My Secret to Feeling Younger and Stronger. The Pandemic Stole It Away.
What’s a 67-year-old to do when COVID-19 shuts down the volunteering gigs that were his personal fountain of youth?
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Going Home for the Holidays? For Many Americans, That’s a Risky Decision
Public health officials have urged Americans to hunker down, but people are still planning trips and contemplating ways to mitigate the risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus.
Read MoreA Battle-Weary Seattle Hospital Fights the Latest COVID Surge
Harborview Medical Center was at the epicenter of the first wave of coronavirus in the U.S. Staffers have a better understanding of the disease as cases surge, but fatigue and a lack of backup staff are big challenges.
Read MoreKHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccines Coming Soon but COVID Relief Bill Still Stalled
Even as the Food and Drug Administration nears emergency authorization for the first vaccine to protect against COVID-19, Congress remains at loggerheads over a COVID relief bill that could also provide the funding to fully distribute the vaccines. Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden announced the first members of his health team. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Mackert of the University of Texas-Austin, an expert on communicating public health information.
Read MoreTrump Plan May Set Clock Ticking on Many Health Rules — Setting Off Alarms
The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed that the new administration review about 2,400 regulations that affect tens of millions of Americans, on everything from Medicare benefits to prescription drug approvals. Those not analyzed within two years would become void.
Read MoreFarmworkers, Firefighters and Flight Attendants Jockey for Vaccine Priority
Everyone — from toilet paper manufacturers to patient advocates — is lobbying state advisory boards, arguing their members are essential, vulnerable or both — and, thus, most deserving of an early vaccine.
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What Seniors Can Expect When COVID Vaccines Begin to Roll Out
At least two vaccines could get federal emergency use authorizations this month. Nursing home and assisted living residents will be among the first to receive inoculations. Here’s a guide on how that rollout may proceed.
Read MoreWith Becerra as HHS Pick, California Plots More Progressive Health Care Agenda
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has already begun discussing California health care priorities with Xavier Becerra, tapped this week by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his Health and Human Services secretary.
Read MoreDialysis Industry Spends Millions, Emerges as Power Player in California Politics
Over the past four years, the dialysis industry has spent $233 million on both political offense and defense in California. Most of it went toward protecting its revenues against ballot initiatives, but the industry also strategically worked the corridors of the state Capitol.
Read MoreIn Becerra, an HHS Nominee With Political Skill But No Front-Line Health Experience
Despite his lack of front-line experience, Democrats see the California attorney general as an important ally to shepherd a progressive agenda on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, reproductive health services and immigration.
Read MoreAs More Red States Legalize Marijuana, Some Officials Try to Nip It in the Bud
Recreational marijuana may face resistance from GOP-dominated state governments despite being voted into law in Montana, South Dakota and Arizona.
Read MoreIt’s Time to Scare People About COVID
Our public messaging about the virus should explain the real costs — in graphic terms — of catching the virus.
Read MoreWith Pandemic Surging, Ohio Gov. DeWine Dials Back His Aggressive Response
The governor won praise around the state for his early efforts to combat the coronavirus, but as the crisis wore on and President Donald Trump played down the threat, Ohio Republicans began to grow restless with DeWine’s stance, and concerns for his reelection campaign in 2022 are rising.
Read MoreDemand for COVID Vaccines Expected to Get Heated — And Fast
With two vaccines against coronavirus disease poised for release within weeks, experts say they expect attitudes to shift dramatically from hesitancy to “Beanie Baby”-level urgency.
Read MoreXavier Becerra in His Own Words: ‘Health Care Is a Right’
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. As attorney general and during his 24 years in Congress, he has staked progressive positions on health care issues, fighting the Trump administration on contraception, suing a major California health system for monopolistic behavior and calling himself a supporter of single-payer health care.
Read MoreTracking COVID’s Spread Inside a Tight-Knit Latino Community
Contact tracing for COVID-19 in a Latino immigrant community has some unique challenges. But as public health officials in Telluride, Colorado, are showing, using resources from inside those communities can help track and contain the coronavirus.
Read MoreA Child’s Death in the Heartland Changes Community Views About COVID
As America enters a dark winter with no national directives against COVID-19, Washington, Missouri, faced the same dilemma numerous other communities are grappling with: enact restrictions to curb the pandemic or leave people to their own will? Then a local 13-year-old died.
Read MoreSenate Republicans Throw the Brakes on Timing for Becerra Hearings
Republican spokespeople for the committees responsible for vetting Health and Human Services nominations said the Senate may not hold hearings on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the department, until the Senate approves committee assignments for the new Congress. That could delay the start of the process.
Read MoreLast Call for COVID: To Avoid Bar Shutdowns, States Serve Up Curfews
Authorities are ordering early closures — generally around 10 p.m. — to curb the spread of COVID-19. But will the coronavirus observe this curfew?
Read MoreFear and Loathing as Colleges Face Another Season of Red Ink
When campuses stay open, COVID infections spread widely, and sometimes kill. But by closing dorms and dining halls, scores of smaller schools face finances so ruinous they could be fatal for their institutions.
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