A Rural Georgia Community Reels After Its Hospital Closes
By Andy Miller
A record number of hospitals closed in rural America last year. For the residents of Cuthbert, Georgia, the loss has meant many problems, including delayed care for emergencies that can turn deadly.
Wartime Trauma Hits Close to Home for Scholar of Dementia
By Grace Galletti
The federal government is putting up $7.2 million for a study into the correlation between war trauma and dementia in Vietnamese immigrants. Oahn Meyer, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis who is leading the study, wonders whether her mother’s dementia is linked to trauma she suffered during the Vietnam War.
West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats’ Plan for Seniors’ Dental Care
By Phil Galewitz
In West Virginia, older residents often go without dental care, and a quarter of people 65 and older have no natural teeth, the highest rate of any state in the country. But a powerful senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has rebuffed efforts to add a dental benefit to Medicare.
Suit by Doctors, Hospitals Seeks Change in How Arbitrators Settle Surprise Billing Cases
By Julie Appleby
The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association are not arguing to halt the law that protects patients from unexpected bills from providers they didn’t know were outside their insurance network. Instead, they want to change the rules for the mediators who will settle the dispute between insurers and providers.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Much Ado About (Vaccine) Mandates
The fight over covid vaccines continues to intensify, with Republicans on Capitol Hill pushing — with some success — to cancel President Joe Biden’s “test regularly or vaccinate” requirement for private employers. Meanwhile, abortion is not the only health issue before the Supreme Court this term. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Daily Edition for Thursday, December 9, 2021
Panel Recommends Making California An Abortion ‘Sanctuary’: If people can't access abortion services in their own states, California should help fund their travel here to get the services they need. That's according to a report released Wednesday by a council convened by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which issued 45 recommendations for expanding abortion access both for California residents and those living elsewhere. Read more from KQED, The Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Some Montana Nonprofit Hospitals Fall Short of Peers in Required Charitable Giving
By Katheryn Houghton
Montana nonprofit hospitals receive millions of dollars in tax exemptions as charities each year in exchange for giving back to their communities. A KHN review found that some of Montana’s richest medical centers are falling behind most state and national hospitals.
Never Mind Toys, It’s Time to Ask Santa for Crutches and Catheters
By Rachana Pradhan
As hospitals juggle holiday covid surges and all their other patients, the global supply chain crisis has left them short of critical supplies.
Health Experts Worry CDC’s Covid Vaccination Rates Appear Inflated
By Phil Galewitz
Accuracy issues raise red flags because the data is used to plan and direct resources in the nation’s continuing response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Sex Apps for Gay Men Join Forces to Fight Online Insults
By David Tuller
A San Francisco-area group that pushes for healthier internet behavior aims to show that being mean isn’t sexy and can lead to mental anguish and unsafe sexual encounters.
