Want Fries With That Vaccine? Even at a Fast-Food Restaurant, Pop-Up Clinics See Slow Traffic
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A few months ago, the boxy, teal truck parked outside a McDonald’s in this Inland Empire city might have drawn hundreds of people willing to stand in line for hours under the scorching sun. The truck is San Bernardino County’s mobile vaccine unit, which brings covid-19 vaccines directly to people. But […]
How a Doctor Breaks Norms to Treat Refugees and Recent Immigrants
AURORA, Colo. — Fatumo Osman, a 65-year-old Somali refugee who speaks limited English, was in a bind. She made too much money at a meal prep service job so she no longer qualified for Medicaid. But knee pain kept her from working, so her income had dropped. She could reapply for Medicaid, get her knee […]
Bye-Bye to Health Insurance ‘Birthday Rule’? Kansas Lawmaker Floats Fix
When Kayla Kjelshus gave birth to her first child, the infant spent seven days in the neonatal intensive care unit, known as the NICU. This stressful medical experience was followed by an equally stressful financial one. Because of an obscure health insurance policy called the “birthday rule,” Kjelshus and her husband, Mikkel, were hit with […]
The Pandemic Made Telemedicine an Instant Hit. Patients and Providers Feel the Growing Pains.
Crystal Joseph pays for two telemedicine video services to ensure that her small therapy practice in Silver Spring, Maryland, can always connect with its clients. She’s been burned before. During one hours-long service outage of SimplePractice in late May, PsycYourMind, which offers mental health counseling and group sessions for Black patients, lost about $600 because […]
Watch: More Long-Covid Cases Seen in Kids
The vast majority of the pandemic’s 4.1 million covid infections in children have been mild. However, doctors are concerned about a growing number of long-haul covid cases and a rare but dangerous inflammatory disease, particularly among Black and Latino children. KHN correspondent Sarah Varney, in collaboration with PBS NewsHour, reports on the phenomena. This story […]
As Holdout Missouri Joins Nation in Monitoring Opioid Prescriptions, Experts Worry
Kathi Arbini said she felt elated when Missouri finally caught up to the other 49 states and approved a statewide prescription drug monitoring program this June in an attempt to curb opioid addiction. The hairstylist turned activist estimated she made 75 two-hour trips in the past decade from her home in Fenton, a St. Louis […]
Readers and Tweeters Connect the Dots on Topics From Vaccine Development to Long Covid
Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. A Concerned Taxpayer Takes Stock of Vaccine Efforts Your recent article “Novavax’s Effort to Vaccinate the World, From Zero to Not Quite Warp Speed” (July 19) seems to reveal Maryland-based Novavax […]
Contraception Is Free to Women, Except When It’s Not
For Stephanie Force, finding a birth control method that she likes and can get without paying out-of-pocket has been a struggle, despite the Affordable Care Act’s promise of free contraceptives for women and adolescent girls in most health plans. The 27-year-old physician recruiter in Roanoke, Virginia, was perfectly happy with the NuvaRing, a flexible vaginal […]
Facing Headwinds on New Alzheimer’s Drug, Biogen Launches Controversial Campaign
Do you sometimes lose your train of thought or feel a bit more anxious than is typical for you? Those are two of the six questions in a quiz on a website co-sponsored by the makers of Aduhelm, a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. But even when all responses to the frequency of those experiences are […]
After 18 Months, Sutter Antitrust Settlement Finally Poised for Formal Approval
More than 18 months after Sutter Health agreed to a tentative settlement in a closely watched antitrust case joined by the California Attorney General’s Office, the judge presiding over the case indicated she would sign off on the terms, pending agreement on attorney fees. The nonprofit health care giant, based in Sacramento, stood accused of […]