Latest Morning Briefing Stories

OSHA Let Employers Decide Whether to Report Health Care Worker Deaths. Many Didn’t.

Four workers died at a facility with one of the largest U.S. outbreaks, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration never conducted an inspection. It’s a pattern that’s played out across the nation, a KHN investigation finds.

Thousands of Doctors’ Offices Buckle Under Financial Stress of COVID

Across the nation, primary care practices that were already struggling are closing, victims of the pandemic’s financial fallout. And this is reducing access to health care, especially in rural and other regions already short on doctors.

Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals

Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.

Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for COVID

COVID-19 cases are surging in California and across the U.S., and most workplaces are still open for business. As workers fear catching the disease while on the clock, why aren’t more companies footing the bill for testing employees?