As COVID hospitalization rates stabilize, at least for
now, and federal and state COVID relief funding dries up,
travel nurse contracts that were plentiful
and lucrative are vanishing. And after the pressure
cooker of the past two-plus years led to staff turnover and a
rash of early retirements, hospitals nationwide are focused on
recruiting full-time nurses.
The pandemic has generated gigabytes of data that make clear
which U.S. groups have been hit the hardest. More than 700,000
people 65 and older died. Men died at higher rates than women.
The American Hospital Association has analyzed the rising
hospital and healthcare input costs and the challenges these
organizations are continuing to face as their resources are
strained and the industry hemorrhages workers.
The healthcare sector is continuing its slow upward trajectory in
job growth. The newest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) report found that the sector gained 34,000 jobs
during the month of April.
After nearly a decade at the helm of Palmdale Regional Medical
Center, CEO Dick Allen is retiring, effective May
16. He joined the hospital in the fall of 2012, not
quite two years after the region’s newest facility opened, in
2010. He followed in the footsteps of Robert Trautman, who led
the transition from the former Lancaster Community Hospital to
PRMC.
“Not-for-profit hospitals’ weak operating performance can be
excused by strong investment returns. But when that shifts, it
becomes a massive problem,” said Jordan Shields, a partner at
Juniper Advisory. “When systems have weak operations, coupled
with negative investment returns, they can eat through their
endowments incredibly quickly.”
Travel nurses have held the upper hand for most of the pandemic,
with providers willing to pay hundreds of dollars an hour for the
temporary help needed to care for patients during the public
health emergency.
The COVID-19 pandemic may be waning, but California’s hospitals
are still reeling from the economic fallout that has cost them
$20 billion in the past two years and put more than half of
hospitals in the red.
Governor Gavin Newsom convened the coalition in support
of CARE Court, which will provide individuals with
severe mental health and substance use disorders the care and
services they need to get healthy.
SINCE FEBRUARY, THE nurses at Mary Washington Hospital in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, have had an extra assistant on their
shifts: Moxi, a nearly 6-foot-tall robot that ferries medication,
supplies, lab samples, and personal items through the halls, from
floor to floor. After two years of battling Covid-19 and related
burnout, nurses say it’s been a welcome relief.
The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use
authorization to a new COVID-19 test that can detect infections
with only a sample of a patient’s breath, using a device that can
yield results in less than three minutes.
Since San Clemente’s one standard hospital closed in 2016, the
closest emergency rooms are up to half an hour away from
residents – a majority of whom surveyed last year enjoyed their
quality of life in the south county coastal enclave, but not the
distance from critical healthcare.
CMS has published more guidance on the No Surprises Act,
including new FAQs surrounding new surprise billing
requirements and providing good faith estimates.
City of Hope’s new chief clinical operating officer will lead
clinical operations at the organization’s main campus in Los
Angeles and throughout its network of more than three dozen care
locations in southern California.
COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest
levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much
needed break to healthcare workers and patients alike following
the omicron surge.
Safety-net hospitals, federally qualified health centers and
laboratories may have to cut staff and hours and limit patient
access if Congress and President Joe Biden cannot come to an
agreement over further COVID-19 pandemic relief.
When the end of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, it could create
major disruptions for a cumbersome U.S. healthcare system made
more generous, flexible and up-to-date technologically through a
raft of temporary emergency measures.
U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster
for people age 50 and older, a step to offer extra protection for
the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds.
Programs benefiting nurses will receive hundreds of millions of
dollars with the recent passage by Congress of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.
Los Angeles-based Cedars Sinai investigators have developed an
artificial intelligence technology that’s expected to make it
easier to predict whether a person will have a heart attack, the
system said this week.
Moderna announced Thursday that it’s asked the US Food and Drug
Administration for authorization for a second Covid-19 booster
shot for everyone 18 and older.
The AHA is urging CMS to require Medicare
Advantage (MA) plans to waive prior authorizations during PHEs so
care can be streamlined when it is most necessary.
The Department of Health and Human Services will seek to sustain
and expand access to telemedicine after the federal government
declares the COVID-19 public health emergency to be over,
Secretary Xavier Becerra said Friday
Community clinics in California that have been waiting for more
than a year to be reimbursed for COVID-19 vaccinations may soon
be flooding state officials with tens of millions of dollars in
bills.
Scientists from Cedars-Sinai report research findings have opened
the possibility to a new therapy for COVID-19 patients, a
discovery made in a biologic substance created by reengineered
human skin cells.
USC Verdugo Hills Hospital (USC-VHH) has ratified a new
contract with the California Nurses Association, which represents
the hospital’s 300 registered nurses.
An Oxnard hospital is teaming up with a historically Black
medical school in developing a residency program that aims to
bridge cultural and diversity gaps separating doctors and
patients.
L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan,
was fined $55 million for failing to authorize care thousands of
poor and at-risk members, causing health-threatening treatment
delays, California regulators announced Friday.
Healthcare employers made more hires last month than during any
period since September as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations
continued to steadily decline.
The American Hospital Association is urging Congress to
address workforce challenges facing healthcare facilities,
calling the issue a national emergency. In
a letter submitted to the House Energy and Commerce
Committee March 1, the group said the workforce challenges “are a
national emergency that demand immediate attention from all
levels of government and workable solutions.”
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the Americans who test
positive for Covid-19 can receive antiviral pills for free at
local pharmacies and community health centers under a new program
that launches this month.
The White House is planning to unveil its wide-ranging strategy
for the next phase of the pandemic response on Wednesday morning,
according to an internal document obtained by POLITICO.
Health systems are looking forward to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s new focus on hospital beds and
admissions to determine a community’s COVID-19 risk level, though
they are concerned about pulling back safety precautions amid an
ongoing pandemic.
Close to 3 in 10 Americans should continue wearing masks in
indoor public areas, including schools, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said Friday, but millions of others no
longer need to, based on new guidance that incorporates federal
COVID-19 data from hospitals.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will use a “transformative” $25
million gift from an anonymous donor
to fund initiatives that support its nursing
workforce.
As the world approaches the second anniversary of
the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic by the World
Health Organization, on March 11, more nations are rolling out –
or are discussing the possibility of — fourth doses of
coronavirus vaccine for their most vulnerable.
Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled out a strategy Thursday for the “next
phase” of managing Covid-19 in California that focuses more
intently on early detection of variants, stockpiling high-quality
masks and contracting with a manufacturer of at-home rapid tests.
The BA.2 virus — a subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant
— isn’t just spreading faster than its distant cousin, it may
also cause more severe disease and appears capable of thwarting
some of the key weapons we have against Covid-19, new research
suggests.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reviewing its
mask guidance, shifting its focus to Covid hospitalizations as a
key measure of the severity of the outbreak and future guide for
determining whether health safety protocols need to be tightened,
according to the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Researchers revealed on Tuesday that an American, described as a
middle-aged woman of mixed race, has likely been cured of HIV
after undergoing a new transplant procedure using donated
umbilical cord blood.
MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long
Beach has joined the second phase of Cherished Futures
for Black Moms & Babies – a two-year cohort, with three
other LA County hospitals, Communities Lifting Communities (CLC),
the Public Health Alliance of Southern
California (Alliance) and the Hospital Association
of Southern California (HASC) — a collaborative effort
to reduce Black maternal and infant health inequities in LA
County.
While the winter coronavirus wave in California is receding fast,
it could be a while before Los Angeles County lifts its indoor
mask and vaccine mandates, the county’s top health official said
Thursday while urging football fans to take precautions when
gathering for the Super Bowl.
Two years into the pandemic Jackie Hansen still left home only
for doctor visits, her immune system so wrecked by cancer and
lupus that COVID-19 vaccinations couldn’t take hold.
What we want to see is that the omicron surge continues to
decrease, that we don’t see another variant of concern emerge,
that we start to come out of the other side of this,” said Dr.
Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health.
Evidence is mounting that American health care workers are
quitting in large numbers. The health care sector has lost
nearly half a million workers (PDF) since February 2020, and
new data suggest that during the pandemic 18% of health care
workers have quit and 12% have been laid off.
Healthcare employment was more resilient than expected in January
as companies picked up hiring even as COVID-19 hospitalizations
reached a record high.
Medicare will start paying for home COVID-19 tests purchased at
participating pharmacies and retailers, CMS told CNN on
Wednesday. It anticipates the option will be available in the
early spring.
UW Health recently had 3,600 nursing shifts to fill over a
six-week period. The integrated health system, like so many
across country, has turned to staffing agencies to fill workforce
gaps. But that created friction between its in-house staff and
travel nurses, who are often being paid at least twice as much.
Despite, or perhaps because of, an aggressive last-minute push by
progressive activists ahead of a crucial deadline, legislation to
create a government-run universal health care system in
California died Monday without coming up for a vote.
City Of Hope is looking to expand its “research, innovation and
specialized cancer care” to more patients nationally now that its
$390 million purchase of Cancer Treatment Centers of America
acquisition has closed, the health system’s chief executive says.
President Biden said Thursday that a record 14.5 million
Americans got private health insurance for this year under the
Obama-era health law, thanks to help from his administration.
New data show that vaccines still protect against a spinoff of
the Omicron variant, a welcome sign as the world keeps a close
eye on the latest coronavirus iteration.
Two years since Los Angeles County’s first confirmed COVID-19
case, the latest surge — driven by the highly contagious omicron
variant — seems to be receding, even as more than 26,000 new
cases were reported Thursday.
Pfizer has begun a study comparing its original COVID-19 vaccine
with doses specially tweaked to match the hugely contagious
omicron variant. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech announced
the study on Tuesday.
Pharmacies and health centers around the country have begun
distributing the first of the 400 million N95 masks the
White House is sending out to combat the fast-spreading omicron
variant of the coronavirus.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, sounded cautiously optimistic on Sunday
that the Omicron wave was peaking nationally in the United
States and that the coronavirus cases could fall to
manageable levels in the coming months.
The omicron surge this winter has not only swamped U.S. hospitals
with record numbers of patients with COVID-19, it has also caused
frightening moments and major headaches for people trying to get
treatment for other ailments.
In news sure to cheer the exhausted parents of toddlers
everywhere, the Food and Drug Administration could approve a
COVID-19 vaccine for kids under the age of 5 as soon as next
month.
As front-line healthcare workers continue to be spread thin by
the pandemic and high numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations, four
California healthcare organizations will receive a combined $8.7
million in federal funding to combat burnout and promote mental
health among staffers in an attempt to curb attrition.
Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines aren’t
just preventing infections with the contagious Omicron variant —
they’re also keeping infected Americans from ending up in the
hospital, according to data published on Friday by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks
available for free to Americans starting next week, now that
federal officials are emphasizing their better protection against
the omicron variant of COVID-19 over cloth face coverings.
It’s still too early to predict whether Omicron’s rapid
spread will help push coronavirus from the pandemic phase to
a more manageable endemic phase — but “I would hope that that’s
the case,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the federal
government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare
workers can continue while appeals are pending at lower
courts.
Researchers at UCLA have inched closer to finding a cure for
human immunodeficiency virus by targeting infected cells that
could be lying dormant in the body.
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the government will
double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be
distributed free to Americans, along with “high-quality masks,”
as he highlighted his efforts to “surge” resources to help the
country weather the spike in coronavirus cases.
California’s hospital system is in danger of collapse as
skyrocketing COVID-19 cases, severely ill patients and sick staff
push hospitals past their capabilities, the California Hospital
Association warned today.
Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron
wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in
the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off
dramatically.
“While hospitalizations have not reached levels experienced last
winter, this comes as the health care delivery system faces some
new challenges,” said Adam Blackstone, vice president of the
Hospital Association of Southern California, which represents OC
hospitals.
Health insurance companies must reimburse policyholders for up to
eight at-home COVID-19 tests per person each month under federal
guidance published Monday.
L.A. County is launching a new test collection program aimed at
expanding access for people unable to make appointments.
It’s called the Pick Up Testing Kit program and it works just how
you’d expect. County residents can pick up PCR test kits and
return completed tests at one of 13 designated locations across
the county.
Pfizer will have a COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets
the Omicron variant ready by March, the pharmaceutical
company’s chief executive said Monday.
The healthcare sector once again showed little change in
employment numbers in December, according to the newest Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report, issued Friday
morning.
This week, California lawmakers will take up the latest attempt
to get all state residents covered under the same health plan —
an idea referred to as single payer health care — that’s been
sparking debate at the Capitol for the past five years.
Today, Governor Newsom’s Administration unveiled a
proposed $2.7 billion COVID-19 Emergency Response
Package – including a $1.4 billion emergency appropriation
request – to bolster testing capacity, accelerate vaccination and
booster efforts, support frontline workers, strengthen the health
care system and battle misinformation. The Governor’s budget also
calls for new legislation to implement supplemental paid sick
leave policies given the current situation being driven by the
Omicron variant to better protect our frontline workers.
When a health-care system crumbles, this is what it looks
like. Much of what’s wrong happens invisibly. At first, there’s
just a lot of waiting. Emergency rooms get so full that “you’ll
wait hours and hours, and you may not be able to get surgery when
you need it,” Megan Ranney, an emergency physician in Rhode
Island, told me.
Centene Corp. has completed its $2.2 billion acquisition of
Magellan Health — and changed who it is. The Clayton,
Missouri-based company had been focusing mainly on managing
Medicaid plans for low-income people.
COVID-19 cases in California are exploding — much like they are
throughout the rest of the country and world — thanks largely to
the incredibly contagious omicron variant, which in little more
than a month has invaded our lives, easily claiming its title as
the dominant strain of this infernal virus.
The White House is finalizing details with the U.S. Postal
Service to deliver 500 million coronavirus test kits to
households across the country, according to four people familiar
with the plans, kick-starting a key part of President Biden’s
response to the raging omicron variant.
Moderna booster shots, Pfizer booster shots and Johnson & Johnson
booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine are now available,
following a thorough in-depth review process from the
Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Things might seem pretty grim on the pandemic front right now.
The U.S. is only a few days into the third calendar year of the
pandemic and nearly 500,000 new COVID-19 cases are being counted
daily.
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned on
Wednesday against complacency about the Omicron variant of the
coronavirus, saying the sheer number of cases could strain
hospitals despite signs of lower severity.
Los Angeles County firefighters are transporting patients to
hospitals in their trucks rather than ambulances, an
unprecedented move required because of surging coronavirus cases
within the county Fire Department and among paramedic companies.
New year, new coronavirus term? Many people around the
world kicked off 2022 by searching for more information about
“flurona,” after Israel reported that two young pregnant women
had tested positive for both the coronavirus and the flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday
explained the scientific rationale for shortening its COVID-19
isolation and quarantine recommendations, and clarified that the
guidance applies to kids as well as adults.
Adolescents ages 12-17 should receive a booster dose of Pfizer’s
COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty), the CDC’s Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP) said on Wednesday.
Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron
variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from
earlier COVID-19 surges.This time, they are dealing with serious
staff shortages because so many health care workers are getting
sick with the fast-spreading variant.
California will extend its mask mandate for indoor public spaces
for another month as an unprecedented wave of coronavirus
infections spawned by the highly transmissible Omicron variant
continues to wash over the state.
Effective today, federal law bans many types of out-of-network
medical bills and puts the onus on doctors and health insurance
companies to resolve their payment disputes.
Adolescents ages 12-15 can now get a booster dose of
Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) under emergency
use authorization (EUA), the FDA said on Monday.
Within weeks, the Omicron variant has fueled thousands of new
COVID-19 hospitalizations among U.S. children, raising new
concerns about how the many unvaccinated Americans under the age
of 18 will fare in the new surge.
California is ready for a surge in new coronavirus infections as
a much more contagious version of the disease spreads to holiday
parties and family gatherings forced indoors by a series of
winter storms.
More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of
COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record
at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the
highly contagious omicron variant.
As the West Coast monitors the skyrocketing COVID-19 cases
concentrated in the eastern half of the country, hospital
administrators in Los Angeles are watching local case numbers
creep higher.
The pandemic and growing staffing crisis are impacting a number
of key financial areas in healthcare, possibly forcing a
reevaluation of the care that hospitals can provide.
Worried that a new COVID-19 wave could overwhelm understaffed
U.S. hospitals, federal officials on Thursday loosened rules that
call on healthcare workers to stay out of work for 10 days if
they test positive.
The American Red Cross, which provides about 40 percent of the
nation’s blood supply, is experiencing its worst blood shortage
in over a decade and has warned that some hospitals may have to
delay surgeries and other medical procedures if the situation
worsens.
Oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 is now on the table
following FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for
nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), the agency announced on
Wednesday.
More than a dozen digital health startups will get federal
support to tackle COVID-19 disparities, the Health and Human
Services Department announced Tuesday.
Hospitals will get staff reinforcements, Federal Emergency
Management Agency aid and additional personal protective
equipment to help fight the latest COVID-19 wave under an
expanded pandemic response strategy the White House unveiled
Tuesday.
Angela Meriquez Vázquez initially experienced mild cold symptoms
when she was diagnosed with COVID in March 2020. This acute phase
lasted three months until Vázquez began to develop increasingly
worrying symptoms which included blood clots, mini strokes,
seizures, and newly developed food allergies.
Healthcare workers in California will be required to get a
booster shot against COVID-19, Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Tuesday
afternoon. “With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking
immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our
hospitals are prepared,” he said.
California is poised for a surge in new coronavirus infections as
a far more contagious version of the disease spreads among
holiday parties and family gatherings forced indoors by a series
of winter storms. But experts say the nation’s most
populous state is likely to avoid the worst scenario — spikes in
hospitalizations and deaths — because most Californians have
either been vaccinated or already been infected.
There’s no reprieve in sight next year for the ongoing nursing
shortage that has been exacerbated by COVID-19, experts
say. A shortage of nurses will be intensified as employees
leave because of burnout, retirement, contract labor
opportunities, taking care of family, or refusing to take the
COVID-19 vaccine, according to a recent report by report
released by Moody’s Investors Service.
The COVID-19 omicron variant is “just raging around the world,”
the White House’s top medical adviser said Sunday as President
Joe Biden prepares to issue “a stark warning of what the winter
will look like” for unvaccinated Americans.
Physician pay increased as the labor market tightened, although
the pay bump isn’t expected to slow the wave of doctors retiring
or leaving the field, according survey results published
Thursday.
L.A. County is reporting more than 3,000 new COVID cases on
Friday, the highest daily total in months. And we’re seeing more
cases of the new omicron variant. At least 38 have been
confirmed.
A California hospital with a national reputation in virtual
reality (VR) for pain, patient stress management, patient
education, and maternal care has deployed that same technology to
help its frontline nurses combat stress, anxiety, and burnout.
The scientific quest for a universal coronavirus vaccine received
a boost Wednesday, as three top federal researchers, including
Dr. Anthony Fauci, outlined a path to develop new vaccines that
could tackle a variety of ailments including Covid-19, some
common colds and future viruses.
Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pill reduced the risk of
hospitalization or death by 89 percent in high-risk patients
who’d been experiencing symptoms for three days or less,
according to final results from a trial of 2,246 adults the
company released Tuesday.
Booster doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus
vaccines are likely to offer a substantial increase in protection
against the new and highly transmissible Omicron variant,
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said Wednesday, adding that “at this point,
there is no need for a very specific booster” designed especially
to fight Omicron.
“We are overwhelmed,” said a tweet from Mayo Clinic’s
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine team. The plea was signed by
CEOs from nine other hospital systems in Minnesota as well.
The Biden administration announced several actions Monday to
improve “customer service” from the federal government, including
initiatives affecting the provision of telehealth, maternity care
for Medicaid beneficiaries, and healthcare services at the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading quickly in
several countries where it has been discovered. Even if it causes
only mild disease — and that’s far from certain — that could
still mean many people end up in the hospital and dying.
The new omicron variant is substantially more contagious and
reduces the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, but people who
are fully vaccinated are still largely protected against severe
disease, according to a study from South Africa released Tuesday.
Starting Wednesday, Californians will once again be required to
wear masks indoors in public places regardless of vaccination
status, state health officials announced today.
Most of the 43 cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant found in the
United States were mild and occurred among vaccinated people, but
boosters are effective against it, according to a report the CDC
released Friday.
The novel coronavirus forced hospitals to quicken the pace when
it comes to safety improvement, which was a departure from what’s
normally a glacial pace. As the virus continues to mutate,
hospital administrators now see that some of the changes they
implemented to react quickly back in 2020 should stay in place.
A powerful House chairman introduced a bill Thursday that would
permanently remove restrictions on where Medicare patients can
access telehealth services but would make other telehealth
coverage policies only temporary.
In research likely to galvanize U.S. support for booster shots,
scientists found that Israel’s aggressive campaign to shore up
waning coronavirus immunity with a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
has saved lives and reduced new infections across the age
spectrum.
Los Angeles County health officials are warning of the beginnings
of a winter surge as new coronavirus cases totaled 1,715 on
Thursday. Three weeks ago, before Thanksgiving, the county was
reporting around 1,000 cases a day.
Hospital and physician groups on Thursday announced their plan to
sue the federal government over its plan for addressing disputes
about surprise medical bills, which tilts toward using prevailing
rates paid for services.
Federal health officials on Wednesday authorized a new COVID-19
antibody drug for people with serious health problems or
allergies who can’t get adequate protection from vaccination.
The number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 reached
200 million Wednesday amid a dispiriting holiday-season spike in
cases and hospitalizations that has hit even New England, one of
the most highly inoculated corners of the country.
More than 40 people in the U.S. have been found to be infected
with the omicron variant so far, and more than three-quarters of
them had been vaccinated, the chief of the CDC said Wednesday.
But she said nearly all of them were only mildly ill.
The California Medical Association (CMA) and the California
Hospital Association (CHA) today sent a joint letter to
the California Congressional Delegation, urging immediate action
to eliminate or delay the Medicare payment cuts that are
scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2022.
President Joe Biden pledged Monday that his social agenda
legislation would deliver tangible savings on prescription drugs
for all Americans. Relief that consumers have clamored for is now
in sight, he asserted.
A report from a large hospital complex in Tshwane, the epicenter
of the Omicron outbreak in South Africa, suggests the variant may
cause less severe disease, but warns that it’s too soon to draw
conclusions.
As the omicron coronavirus variant spreads in southern Africa and
pops up in countries all around the world, scientists are
anxiously watching a battle play out that could determine the
future of the pandemic. Can the latest competitor to the
world-dominating delta overthrow it?
The arrival of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the U.S.
has health officials in some communities reviving contact tracing
operations in an attempt to slow and better understand its spread
as scientists study how contagious it is and whether it can
thwart vaccines.
A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are
squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers
and temporary pharmacy closures.
New York announced three more cases of the omicron variant of the
coronavirus Saturday, bringing the number of state cases linked
to the new variant to eight.
Even as more and more states report their first cases of
the omicron variant, it’s still the super
contagious delta variant that’s driving nearly all new
Covid-19 cases in the United States.
Vaccination with a booster dose of COVID vaccine is expected to
offer “some degree of cross protection” against the Omicron
variant, said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, during a White
House COVID-19 Response Team briefing on Friday.
President Biden will announce a new plan Thursday afternoon for
combating the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The plan
includes a new campaign to increase uptake of booster shots, new
policies meant to provide Americans with free at-home coronavirus
tests, and more stringent policies on international travel.
By the time cancer is discovered, it’s often too late to change
its course. Close to half of cancers will already have spread,
making death — whether within months, five years, or 10 years
— a near certainty.
A panel of experts gathered by the Food and Drug Administration
on Tuesday narrowly endorsed drugmaker Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral
pill, moving the drug a step closer to becoming the first pill
authorized by the agency to treat the coronavirus.
Supreme Court justices on Monday were skeptical that the Health
and Human Services Department fairly interpreted Medicare law
when it changed the formula for disproportionate share hospital
calculations.
What can the healthcare industry learn from the e-commerce
industry? As healthcare providers are aiming to provide patients
with smoother experiences when they engage online, many are
taking their cues from the simple and frictionless consumer
journeys of the e-commerce industry.
After the reprieve of a long Thanksgiving weekend, today will
likely serve as an unwelcome reminder for Californians that the
pandemic is far from over.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday that the Biden
administration is investing $1.5 billion from
the coronavirus aid package to address the health
care worker shortage in underserved communities.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case seeking to
reverse cuts to the 340B Drug Program next week, and
the outcome could have consequences for all providers, even those
who don’t access the discounted medicines.
The top U.S. infectious disease official, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told
President Joe Biden on Sunday it will take about two weeks to
have definitive information on the new coronavirus variant
Omicron that has sparked new travel restrictions and shaken
financial markets.
Galleri, a new blood test by health care company GRAIL, is one of
the most advanced blood biopsy tests. It works by looking for
fragments of DNA in a person’s blood that indicate the presence
of more than 50 types of cancer.
Pfizer announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine provided
long-term protection against the virus in a late-stage clinical
trial among adolescents ages 12-15.
The logjam at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach —
which handle 40% of all waterbound imports to the U.S. — has
triggered shortages of everything from computer chips to paper
products to kitchen appliances, and drawn the attention of
President Joe Biden. But, while many people are worrying about
delayed Christmas gifts, many Californians are grappling with
shortages of lifesaving medical supplies.
A group of U.S. senators and representatives penned a letter to
the COVID-19 Response Team and other agencies on Wednesday,
urging them to investigate allegations of overpricing by nurse
staffing agencies relied on to fill gaps in hospital staffing
during the pandemic.
The FDA expanded the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for
Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines to include booster shots
for all adults, the agency said on Friday.
Seven out of 10 U.S. hospital workers were vaccinated against
COVID-19 as of Sept. 15, according to a Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention study issued Wednesday.
When Greta Christina fell into a deep depression five years ago,
she called up her therapist in San Francisco — someone she’d had
a great connection with when she needed therapy in the past. And
she was delighted to find out that he was now “in network” with
her insurance company, meaning she wouldn’t have to pay out of
pocket anymore to see him.
Congress’ action this week is a victory for Black maternal health
advocates like Charles Johnson, who’s been pushing for more
support for Black mothers after his wife died from childbirth
complications.
Flu outbreaks on college campuses most likely indicate a bad flu
season ahead, but experts say the unpredictable nature of the flu
virus means it’s too soon to know for sure how this season will
unfold.
Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Tuesday to authorize its
experimental pill for COVID-19, setting the stage for a likely
launch this winter of a promising treatment that can be taken at
home.
If you’ve ever had a serious illness or cared for someone who
has, you know how quickly the medical bills can pile up: from
labs, radiology clinics, pharmacies, doctors, different
departments within the same hospital — some of them in your
insurance network, others not.
Today, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said
vaccine requirements are working, as the nation is averaging
300,000 first shots per day, the highest rate since early this
summer. This week, 9 million vaccines were administered in the
United States.
California has begun positioning equipment and locking in
contracts with temporary health care workers in preparation for
another possible winter surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Gavin
Newsom said Wednesday.
What are the healthcare provisions in the two infrastructure
bills making their way around Capitol Hill? If you think it’s
just about hearing coverage in Medicare and negotiating drug
prices, think again.
The Biden administration will buy 1.4 million additional courses
of a pill developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to
prevent or treat COVID-19, a purchase worth around $1 billion,
the companies announced Tuesday.
A bipartisan group of senators aim to permanently expand
telehealth reimbursement eligibility for additional providers
like physical therapists in a bill proposed on Thursday.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expanding
coverage for the use of telehealth technology in underserved
areas and for the delivery of mental health services.
The federal government has been intent on broadening the
categories of people eligible for additional injections since the
first booster shots were authorized for emergency use in late
September.
Even as the Covid delta wave ebbs in the U.S., millions
of people with compromised immune systems remain trapped in an
anxious and sequestered limbo. A considerable portion of this
population, research indicates, remains highly
vulnerable to the coronavirus even after three or four
vaccine shots.
Healthcare employment rebounded somewhat in October after a dip
in September. The healthcare industry added an estimated
37,200 jobs in October after a slight decline in September, when
the industry shed 1,000 jobs—a revised count that shows a much
smaller decrease than the government’s previous report. The
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published its
latest preliminary jobs data on Friday.
As the U.S. braces for a potential new wave of the virus this
winter, there are promising signs that the first pill to
treat COVID-19 in some at-risk Americans could be
available by the end of the year.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for substantial
investment in public health. Journalist Anna Maria Barry-Jester,
in an investigation published in California Healthline and the
Los Angeles Times last week, reported that the need is pressing
and that the time is ripe to formulate solutions.
Flus and colds could be more prevalent this year because they
didn’t spread as much last year due to pandemic restrictions. We
answer questions about the flu vaccine and how to stay protected.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will require
COVID-19 vaccines for all employees at Medicare and
Medicaid-participating healthcare facilities by Jan. 4, and the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require all
employees at businesses with 100 or more workers to be vaccinated
by the same date or get tested for the virus weekly, the agencies
announced Thursday morning.
A government advisory committee on Wednesday recommended that all
U.S. adults younger than 60 be vaccinated against hepatitis B,
because progress against the liver-damaging disease has stalled.
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