As of July 2021, a total of 83.6 million Americans were insured through either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That’s almost 1 in 4 Americans, with 76.7 million insured through Medicaid and 6.9 million through CHIP. Both public health insurance programs are funded jointly by the federal and state governments. Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income […]
For some counties and cities that share a public health agency with other local governments, differences over mask mandates, business restrictions, and other covid preventive measures have strained those partnerships. At least two have been pushed past the breaking point. A county in Colorado and a small city in Southern California are splitting from their […]
After hitting record COVID numbers in January, Indianapolis Public Schools has new resources for free voluntary testing for students and staff. All district-run schools will offer rapid tests, and IPS plans to open two PCR testing locations. “We recognize the challenges our staff and families have faced accessing COVID testing,” IPS Health Services Director Megan […]
Tennessee’s Board of Medical Examiners unanimously adopted in September a statement that said doctors spreading covid misinformation — such as suggesting that vaccines contain microchips — could jeopardize their license to practice. “I’m very glad that we’re taking this step,” Dr. Stephen Loyd, the panel’s vice president, said at the time. “If you’re spreading this […]
On a snowy January morning, Luis Portillo stood in line on the side of a busy road in Silver Spring, Maryland — a suburb just north of Washington, D.C. — with about 200 other people, waiting for his turn to get tested for covid-19 at Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center. Portillo, a 65-year-old […]
Detroit superintendent says funding is helpful but the real problem is a testing shortage. The House and Senate voted to disperse $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds including $150.8 million for COVID-19 tests for schools. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday praised the bill’s near-unanimous passage in both chambers. She said the funding would deliver […]
Maine is diverting federal pandemic relief funds to health care providers to give thousands of workers cash bonuses and hire and retain new employees. Beginning this week, the state Department of Health and Human Services will begin sending out a first installment of $116 million in MaineCare payments to home and community based service providers […]
Nurse Heather Gatchet’s shift in the emergency department at Salem Health’s Salem Hospital in Oregon typically starts at 6 a.m. Before that, she packs her daughter’s lunch, drinks tea, and — to stave off her panic — calls her mom on the way to work. “My mom’s like my cup of coffee,” Gatchet said, her […]
When Diana Crouch found out she was pregnant, she started taking every precaution she could to keep herself and her baby safe. She exercised often, drank water and tried to eat right. She even stopped using her usual facial cleanser because she was worried about the chemicals. So when her doctor talked to her about […]
Snow covered the storied field of Fenway Park in Boston when Kate Yohay, in the second trimester of her pregnancy, arrived. The ballpark had become a COVID-19 vaccination site, and Yohay was getting her first shot. “That’s going to be a historical moment for me,” she says. “Like what I remember my parents describing as […]
In early January, one of the country’s top public health officials went on national television and delivered what she called “really encouraging news” on covid-19: A recent study showed that more than three-fourths of fatalities from the omicron variant of the virus occurred among people with several other medical conditions. “These are people who were unwell to begin with,” […]
After an anxious January marked by a wave of COVID-19 infections that pushed Texas hospitals and intensive care units to their limits, the number of Texans in the hospital with COVID-19 across the state has been in a steady decline for about a week, according to state health data. The decrease is the latest in […]
