A Third of Schools Don’t Have a Nurse. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.
By Colleen DeGuzman
School nurses treat children daily for a wide range of illnesses and injuries, and sometimes serve as a young patient’s only health provider. They also function as a point person for critical public health interventions. Yet many states don’t require them, and school districts struggle to hire them.
The New Vaccines and You: Americans Better Armed Than Ever Against the Winter Blechs
By Amy Maxmen
Flu, covid, and respiratory viruses kill thousands of Americans each year, but the latest batch of vaccines could save lives.
Goody Gumdrops! It’s Freakin’ Time to Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus.
Submissions are open for KFF Health News’ fifth annual Halloween Haiku competition. Send us your best scary poems — if you dare.
California prohíbe el controversial diagnóstico de “delirio excitado”
By Samantha Young
El gobernador demócrata Gavin Newsom firmó un proyecto de ley el 8 de octubre para prohibir que los forenses, doctores, y examinadores médicos incluyeran el síndrome de “delirio excitado” en certificados de defunción o informes de autopsias.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress
A bitterly divided Congress managed to keep the federal government running for several more weeks, while House Republicans struggle — again — to choose a leader. Meanwhile, many people removed from state Medicaid rolls are not finding their way to Affordable Care Act insurance, and a major investigation by The Washington Post attributes the decline in U.S. life expectancy to more than covid-19 and opioids. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews physician-author-playwright Samuel Shem about “Our Hospital,” his new novel about the health workforce in the age of covid.
Daily Edition for Thursday, October 12, 2023
“Excited delirium,” tuberculosis, housing issues, covid and RSV vaccines, food safety, gun violence, and more are in the news.
California Bans Controversial ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis
By Samantha Young
California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice.
PrEP, a Key HIV Prevention Tool, Isn’t Reaching Black Women
By Sam Whitehead
New HIV infections occur disproportionately among Black women, but exclusionary marketing, fewer treatment options, and provider wariness have limited uptake of preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drugs, which reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
House Panel to Hold Hearing on Erroneous Social Security Payments
By David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Congress is beginning to take action on the Social Security Administration’s clawbacks of payments it mistakenly made to poor, retired, and disabled Americans.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Mental health holds, “excited delirium” law, covid cases, vaccines, opioids, Kaiser Permanente workers, vaping, and more are in the news.
