KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Alabama’s IVF Ruling Still Making Waves
Lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are scrambling to react to the ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization are legally children. Abortion opponents are divided among themselves, with some supporting full “personhood” for fertilized eggs, while others support IVF as a moral way to have children. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews University of Pittsburgh law professor Greer Donley, who explains how a 150-year-old anti-vice law that’s still on the books could be used to ban abortion nationwide. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Grief Grew Into A Mental Health Crisis And A $21,634 Hospital Bill
By Laura Ungar
She spent five days in the hospital undergoing psychiatric care. The bill she got is about the same price as a new Honda Civic.
Readers and Tweeters Find Disadvantages in Medicare Advantage
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
The Pandemic Almost Killed Allie. Her Community’s Vaccination Rate Is 45%.
By Sarah Varney
As the delta variant overtakes Mississippi and other undervaccinated parts of the country, one 13-year-old girl’s experience with covid and MIS-C shows a community’s reluctance to embrace public health precautions and continued vulnerability to the pandemic.
Readers and Tweeters Defend Front-Line Nurses and Blind Us With Science
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy
By Melissa Bailey and Shoshana Dubnow
Federal records show a steep decline in staff covid cases since December, when health care workers at thousands of nursing homes began getting their shots. Still, many are reluctant to get vaccinated.
Comparing Death Tolls From Covid to Past Wars Is Fraught
By Will Stone and Carrie Feibel, NPR News
Covid-19 has now killed more Americans than World War II did. That fact helps some people put the viral death toll in perspective, while others find it offensive.
Hospitals’ Rocky Rollout of Covid Vaccine Sparks Questions of Fairness
By Phil Galewitz
The lack of a federal strategy on how distribution should work at the local level means that states, hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies are making decisions on their own about who gets vaccinated and when.
Signs of an ‘October Vaccine Surprise’ Alarm Career Scientists
By Liz Szabo and JoNel Aleccia
President Donald Trump has the legal power to authorize a COVID vaccine over the objections of the Food and Drug Administration and vaccine manufacturers. Such a move could further erode public trust in a vaccine and foist an unsafe shot on Americans.
Lifetime Experiences Help Older Adults Build Resilience to Pandemic Trauma
By Judith Graham
These seniors use coping strategies to keep them socially active yet safe from the coronavirus.