Journalists Document True Toll of Covid on Health Care’s Front-Line Force
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Laws Shield Hospitals From Families Who Believe Loved Ones Contracted Covid as Patients
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett
Families who believe their loved ones contracted covid-19 while hospitalized are finding they have little recourse following a wave of liability shield legislation pushed by business interests.
Labor Department Issues Emergency Rules to Protect Health Care Workers From Covid
By Christina Jewett
Citing the deaths of thousands of health care workers, the new rules will force employers to report fatalities or hospitalizations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and provide higher-quality protective gear, among other actions.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Here Comes Reconciliation
Democrats in Congress reached a tentative agreement to press ahead on a partisan bill that would dramatically expand health benefits for people on Medicare, those who buy their own insurance and individuals who have been shut out of coverage in states that didn’t expand Medicaid. Meanwhile, controversy continues to rage over whether vaccinated Americans will need a booster to protect against covid-19 variants, and who will pay for a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a mother and daughter who fought an enormous emergency room bill.
Journalists Dissect Covid Vaccines and Variants
KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan discussed vaccine production and supply chains on KERA’s “Think” with host Krys Boyd, C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” and PBS’ “NewsHour Weekend.” She also joined Newsy to discuss how federal rules restrict patients and their doctors from knowing whether someone has been infected by a covid-19 variant. Click here to hear Pradhan on […]
A Year Into Pandemic, Federal Officials Move to Better Protect Front-Line Workers
By Christina Jewett
Changes would allow N95 sales for industries other than healthcare and signal an end to the hospital practice of reusing the masks considered essential for worker safety.
Watch: COVID Patients and Families Battle to Get Benefits
KHN senior correspondent Christina Jewett describes the obstacles facing workers and their families trying to secure death benefits or workers’ compensation after COVID-19 struck.
Did CDC Delays in Up-To-Date Masking Advice Cost Health Workers’ Lives?
By Christina Jewett
Researchers say “very low”-quality research from the 2003 SARS outbreak drove guidelines on who got the best PPE, leaving those most at risk exposed.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Pause and Effect on Covid Vaccines
By Lydia Zuraw
Podcast panelists discuss a range of health policy developments, from the latest in the covid vaccination effort to the HHS budget, among other things.
Feds OK’d Export of Millions of N95 Masks as US Workers Cried for More
By Christina Jewett
In the hours before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Federal Emergency Management Agency allowed a Texas mask maker to ship the high-quality masks overseas.
