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Biden wins, but his health agenda dims with GOP likely to hold Senate

Former Vice President Joe Biden secured the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House on Saturday, major news organizations projected, after election officials in a handful of swing states spent days in round-the-clock counting of millions of mail-in ballots and early votes.

8 Nov 2020

Biologic or targeted synthetic DMARDs reduce dementia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The incidence of dementia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is lower in patients receiving biologic or targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) than in patients who receive conventional synthetic DMARDs, according to a new study.

6 Nov 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Change is in the air

Assuming former Vice President Joe Biden becomes President-elect Joe Biden and Republicans retain control of the Senate, the health agenda could be very different from what Democrats campaigned on.

6 Nov 2020

Older men are underdiagnosed and undertreated for osteoporosis

A new study reveals that many older men who experience a fracture are still underdiagnosed with and undertreated for osteoporosis.

6 Nov 2020

Longtime health advocate Donna Shalala loses house reelection race

Rep. Donna E. Shalala of Florida, the first-term Democratic member of Congress and former Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration, lost her campaign for reelection Tuesday.

5 Nov 2020

It’s open enrollment. Here’s what you need to know

California's annual health insurance enrollment season for individuals and families kicks off this week against a dramatic backdrop: the hotly contested presidential election; a pandemic raging out of control in much of the U.S.; and, on Nov. 10, a Supreme Court hearing of a case that could end the Affordable Care Act and strand millions without coverage.

4 Nov 2020

‘Is this worth my life?’: Traveling health workers decry COVID care conditions

David Joel Perea called from Maine, Vermont, Minnesota and, ultimately, Nevada, always with the same request: "Mom, can you send tamales?" Dominga Perea would ship them overnight.

4 Nov 2020

United States is falling behind in the health care of older population, study shows

An international study led by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers has determined that the United States is far from the most effective healthcare provider for those 50 and older among 23 countries, ranging from Austria to the United States.

3 Nov 2020

$Feds approve fractious Georgia plan to change ACA marketplace$

Feds approve fractious Georgia plan to change ACA marketplace

With the Trump administration announcing two days before Election Day that Georgia's healthcare.gov website will no longer provide options for residents shopping for plans starting in 2022, consumers will need to rely on private brokers, insurance companies, agents and commercial websites.

3 Nov 2020

New articles focus on policy considerations for post-COVID presidency

The Gerontological Society of America's highly cited, peer-reviewed journals are continuing to publish scientific articles on COVID-19.

3 Nov 2020

How COVID death counts become the stuff of conspiracy theories

In the waning days of the campaign, President Donald Trump complained repeatedly about how the United States tracks the number of people who have died from COVID-19, claiming, "This country and its reporting systems are just not doing it right."

2 Nov 2020

‘His lies are killing my neighbors’: Swing-state health workers try to defeat Trump

Dr. Chris Kapsner intubated his first COVID-19 patient — a 47-year-old man who arrived short of breath at an emergency room in Minnesota's Twin Cities — back in April.

2 Nov 2020

A $200 debit card won’t do much for seniors’ drug costs

If they've been listening to President Donald Trump, seniors may be expecting a $200 debit card in the mail any day now to help them pay for prescription drugs.

30 Oct 2020

Democrats link GOP challengers to Trump’s COVID record, efforts to undo Obamacare

In a tweet to his 78,000 followers Sunday, U.S. Rep. Harley Rouda, a Democrat from Orange County, California, described his Republican opponent Michelle Steel's attendance at an indoor fundraiser without a mask as "sickening."

30 Oct 2020

The Trump Medicaid record: Big goals, yet few successes

President Donald Trump entered office seeking a massive overhaul of the Medicaid program, which had just experienced the biggest growth spurt in its 50-year history.

29 Oct 2020

Sen. Graham complains that 3 blue states get a third of ACA funding

Sen. Lindsey Graham has never been a fan of the Affordable Care Act — even though it's helped dramatically lower the number of uninsured people in his home state of South Carolina.

29 Oct 2020

Study analyzes racial disparities in end-of-life care

In a new medical records analysis of racial disparities in end-of-life care, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and three collaborating institutions report that Black patients voluntarily seek substantially more intensive treatment.

29 Oct 2020

New dataset can help analyze multiple storms, track health outcomes

Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones can severely impact human health in communities across the country, but data for these events is limited, especially in a format that is easy to link with human health outcomes.

29 Oct 2020

Studies suggest the need for a new home-time metric to judge hospital readmissions

Two new studies suggest Medicare's system of penalizing hospitals if too many patients are readmitted within 30 days should also look at whether the patients were well enough to remain in their home during that time.

28 Oct 2020

Study provides perspectives of individuals with disabilities on health care policy

Politicians discuss the ins and outs of health care while trying to win votes, but for some Americans, policymakers do not seem to be listening. University of Kansas researchers have published a study about perspectives of individuals with disabilities on health care policy, and respondents overwhelmingly stated access to health care is vital and they would like policymakers to pay more attention to their needs.

28 Oct 2020