Kaiser Health News

• OSHA Let Employers Decide Whether to Report Health Care Worker Deaths. Many Didn’t. November 30, 2020
  Four workers died at a facility with one of the largest U.S. outbreaks, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration never conducted an inspection. It’s a pattern that’s played out across the nation, a KHN investigation finds.
  Aneri Pattani and Robert Lewis and Christina Jewett
• ‘An Arm and a Leg’: How to Avoid a Big Bill for Your COVID Test November 30, 2020
  Tests for the coronavirus are supposed to be free. And, usually, they are. But sometimes … things happen. Here’s how to avoid getting a surprise bill for a test.
  Dan Weissmann
• Thousands of Doctors’ Offices Buckle Under Financial Stress of COVID November 30, 2020
  Across the nation, primary care practices that were already struggling are closing, victims of the pandemic’s financial fallout. And this is reducing access to health care, especially in rural and other regions already short on doctors.
  Laura Ungar
• How Pharma Money Colors Operation Warp Speed’s Quest to Defeat COVID November 30, 2020
  A Trump administration maneuver allows executives who are leading the federal effort to keep investments in drug companies that would benefit from the pandemic response.
  Rachana Pradhan
• After Kid’s Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion November 25, 2020
  It was a surprise even in a family of lawyers. The process called “subrogation” began with one Nevada family’s health insurer denying their claim for an emergency room visit after 9-year-old fell off his bike.
  Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News
• Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for COVID November 25, 2020
  COVID-19 cases are surging across the U.S., and most workplaces are still open for business. As workers fear catching the disease while on the clock, why aren’t more companies footing the bill for testing employees?
  Hannah Norman, Kaiser Health News
• California Businesses Go From Simmer to Boil Over Newsom’s Fine Dining November 25, 2020
  Small-business owners struggling to remain afloat are increasingly defying new shutdown orders, in some cases pointing to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s French Laundry dinner as a reason not to comply.
  Bernard J. Wolfson and Anna Almendrala
• Lost on the Frontline: Explore the Database November 25, 2020
  As of Wednesday, the ongoing KHN-Guardian project is investigating 1,413 deaths of U.S. health workers in the fight against COVID-19. Today we add four profiles, including a teacher of nurses who had lost her daughter to COVID-19 and a physician who died waiting in an emergency room. You can explore our interactive database, now containing […]
  The Staffs of KHN and The Guardian
• Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals November 24, 2020
  Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.
  Alex Smith, KCUR
• For Nurses Feeling the Strain of the Pandemic, Virus Resurgence Is ‘Paralyzing’ November 24, 2020
  COVID-19’s toll weighs heavily on nurses, who can suffer stress and other psychological problems if they don’t believe they are able to help their patients sufficiently.
  Charlotte Huff