ECMO Life Support Is a Last Resort for Covid, and in Short Supply in South
Hospital discharge day for Phoua Yang was more like a pep rally. On her way rolling out of TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, she teared up as streamers and confetti rained down on her. Nurses chanted her name as they wheeled her out of the hospital for the first time since she arrived […]
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How Charity Care Made It Into the ACA
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Charity care is one tiny provision in the giant Affordable Care Act, and it can make a big difference for patients who face huge bills. How did it get into the law? One Republican senator made sure the ACA required nonprofit hospitals to act more like charities […]
‘Religious’ Exemptions Add Legal Thorns to Looming Vaccine Mandates
In Northern California, the pastor of a megachurch hands out religious exemption forms to the faithful. A New Mexico state senator will “help you articulate a religious exemption” by pointing to the decades-old use of aborted fetal cells in the development of some vaccines. And a Texas-based evangelist offers exemption letters to anyone — for […]
Even in Red States, Colleges Gravitate to Requiring Vaccines and Masks
As students head to college this fall, hundreds of schools are requiring employees and students to be vaccinated against covid, wear masks on campus or both. But at some schools, partisan politics have bolstered efforts to stymie public health protections. Events at the University of South Carolina, in a deeply conservative state, demonstrate the limits […]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Future of Public Health
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. The covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on public health, a key part of the health care system that […]
Las exenciones “religiosas” agregan más complicación a los mandatos de vacunación que se avecinan
En el norte de California, el pastor de una mega iglesia reparte formularios de exención religiosa a sus feligreses. Un senador estatal de Nuevo México ayudará con este documento, apuntando al uso de células fetales en el desarrollo de algunas vacunas, décadas atrás. Y un evangelista con sede en Texas ofrece cartas de exención a […]
Florida Spine Surgeon and Device Company Owner Charged in Kickback Scheme
A Florida orthopedic surgeon and designer of costly spinal surgery implants was arrested Tuesday and charged with paying millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes to surgeons who agreed to use his company’s devices. Dr. Kingsley R. Chin, 57, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the founder, chief executive officer and owner of SpineFrontier, a device […]
California Set to Spend Billions on Curing Homelessness and Caring for ‘Whole Body’ Politic
OAKLAND, Calif. — Living unmedicated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Eugenia Hunter has a hard time recalling how long she’s been staying in the tent she calls home at the bustling intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland’s hip Uptown neighborhood. Craft coffee shops and weed dispensaries are plentiful […]
Listen: Many Schools Are Buying High-Tech Air Purifiers. What Should Parents Know?
This is a collaboration between KHN and “Science Friday.” Listen to the conversation between KHN senior correspondent Christina Jewett and Science Friday’s host and executive producer, Ira Flatow. As students return to school, parents are getting a lot of mail about what schools are doing to better protect kids in the classroom — including details […]
Colorado Clinic’s Prescription for Healthier Patients? Lawyers
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — In her 19 years of living with cerebral palsy, scoliosis and other ailments, Cynthia Enriquez De Santiago has endured about 60 surgeries and her heart has flatlined at least four times. But the most unusual doctor’s referral of her life came last year: Go see an attorney. Enriquez De Santiago sought […]