As States Impose Abortion Bans, Young Doctors Struggle — And Travel Far — To Learn the Procedure
By Sarah Varney
The number of medical schools and residency programs where aspiring physicians can learn to perform abortion procedures continues to shrink, a byproduct of the anti-abortion legislation being enacted in multiple states.
Which Companies Aren’t Exiting Russia? Big Pharma
By Sarah Varney
U.S. and global drug manufacturers invested in Russia’s sizable pharmaceutical industry contend international humanitarian law requires they continue manufacturing and selling their products there, even while condemning the Ukraine invasion. Not everyone agrees.
Watch: One City’s Effort to Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
By Sarah Varney and Jason Kane, PBS NewsHour
In Hartford, Connecticut, public health leaders engage barbers and faith leaders to combat vaccine skepticism in the Black community.
HIV Preventive Care Is Supposed to Be Free in the US. So, Why Are Some Patients Still Paying?
By Sarah Varney
The Department of Labor issued rules in July clarifying that health plans need to cover the costs of prescription drugs proven to prevent HIV infection, along with related lab tests and medical appointments, at no cost to patients. More than half a year later, the erroneous billing continues.
In Super-Vaxxed Vermont, Covid Strikes — But Packs Far Less Punch
By Sarah Varney
With its highest-in-the-nation vaccination rates, Vermont offers a glimpse of what’s possible as the U.S. learns to live with coronavirus.
Watch: No Extra Resources for Children Orphaned by Covid
By Sarah Varney and Jason Kane, PBS NewsHour
Grieving children face grave risks to their well-being, both in the short and long term. But there is no concerted government effort to help the estimated 140,000 children who have lost a parent in the pandemic.
Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
By Sarah Varney
Add nursing homes to the list of industries jolted by Amazon’s handsome hourly wages. Enticed by an average starting pay rate of $18 an hour and the potential for benefits and signing bonuses, low-wage workers are fleeing entry-level elder care for jobs packing boxes.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Taking a Shot at Gun Control
The U.S. House passed a package of bills seeking to keep some guns out of the hands of children and teenagers, but its fate in the Senate remains a big question mark. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission takes on drug and hospital prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Cori Uccello of the American Academy of Actuaries about the most recent report from Medicare’s trustees board.
Watch: More Long-Covid Cases Seen in Kids
By Sarah Varney
While covid is generally mild in children, doctors report a growing number of long-haul covid symptoms and MIS-C cases, particularly among Black and Latino children.
What Will It Take to Boost Vaccinations? The Scene From Kentucky’s Back Roads
By Sarah Varney
With Kentucky in the grip of a covid surge, public health workers are taking their vaccination campaign house to house and church to church, trying to outmaneuver the fantastical tales spread on social media and everyday hurdles of hardship and isolation.