Journalists Review Public Views on Vaccines and the Arc of Covid Testing
KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan discussed how the public opinion of vaccines has changed in the past year with Newsy on Tuesday and how supply chain disruptions hurt hospital care with KCRW’s “Press Play” podcast. Click here to watch Pradhan on Newsy Click here to hear Pradhan on KCRW Read Pradhan’s “Never Mind Toys, It’s Time […]
‘The Charges Seem Crazy’: Hospitals Impose a ‘Facility Fee’ — For a Video Visit
When Arielle Harrison’s 9-year-old needed to see a pediatric specialist at Yale New Haven Health System in June, a telehealth visit seemed like a great option. Since her son wasn’t yet eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19, they could connect with the doctor via video and avoid venturing into a germy medical facility. Days before […]
Seeking Refills: Aging Pharmacists Leave Drugstores Vacant in Rural America
Ted Billinger Jr. liked to joke that he would work until he died. That turned out to be prophetic. When Billinger died of a heart attack in 2019 at age 71, he was still running Teddy B’s, the pharmacy his father had started more than 65 years earlier in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. With no other […]
Covid Shots for Kids Are Scarce — And Demand Is Mixed — In Rural Montana
When children ages 5 to 11 were approved for Pfizer’s lower-dose pediatric covid-19 vaccine in November, Annie Edwards was eager to get her daughter Hannah, then 5, the shot because of underlying health conditions she has stemming from her premature birth. “She was on a ventilator for the first month of her life. Throughout this […]
After ‘Truly Appalling’ Death Toll in Nursing Homes, California Rethinks Their Funding
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — About 1 in 8 Californians who have died of covid lived in a nursing home. They were among the state’s most frail residents: nearly 9,400 mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles whom Californians entrusted to a nursing home’s care. An additional 56,275 confirmed covid cases among nursing home residents weren’t fatal. “The […]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Oh, Oh, Omicron
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. This week, the U.S. passed the milestone of 800,000 dead from covid-19, as hospitals are starting to fill following […]
Colorado Hospitals in ‘Critical Condition’ as State Weathers Another Surge
Harold Burch’s home has a spectacular view in Paonia, a rural part of Colorado’s Western Slope at the foot of Mount Lamborn. But the landscape has been little consolation to the 60-year-old as he has battled a cascade of health problems during the pandemic. “It’s been a real rodeo,” Burch said. “It’s been a lot […]
‘An Arm and a Leg’: She Fights Health Insurers for Fun — And Wins
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. Health insurance is like some medieval horror, law professor Jackie Fox says. But, funny thing: She also says insurance fights are easy. For her. She’s been helping people win them for 30 years. For Fox, it started when an […]
With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates on the Ground Push for Over-the-Counter Naloxone
Treatment for addiction is available. For help, call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP), or visit findtreatment.gov. GREENSBORO, N.C. — Louise Vincent figures her group, the North Carolina Survivors Union, saves at least 1,690 lives a year. The harm-reduction and syringe service program distributes the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone to people who […]
Con más muertes por sobredosis, defensores claman por una naloxona de venta libre
GREENSBORO, Carolina del Norte.- Louise Vincent cree que el grupo que lidera, North Carolina Survivors Union, salva al menos 1,690 vidas al año. El programa de servicios de jeringas y reducción de daños distribuye naloxona, el medicamento que revierte las sobredosis por opioides. La investigación sugiere que este enfoque es eficaz, ya que las personas […]