KHN

Half the states are rolling back strict policies that have kept family members out of nursing homes because of fears of spreading the coronavirus.

While COVID-19 cases continue to surge in more than half the country, the Trump administration has decided its top priority is for schools to open for in-person learning this fall. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands Trump a victory in a case to limit the reach of the birth control benefit under the Affordable Care Act. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Sarah Varney about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month.”

Across the country, the recession has cut state revenues at the same time the COVID-19 pandemic has increased costs, forcing state lawmakers into painful decisions about how to balance their budgets. Health care is one of the targets even in the midst of a health care crisis.

Unlike earlier in the year, most hospitals are not proactively canceling elective surgeries, even in some places seeing spikes in coronavirus patients.

Check out KHN’s video series — Behind The Byline: How The Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.

A federal study finds 35% of people 60 and older were vaccinated for shingles by 2018, up from 7% in 2008, but low-income people and those who are Black or Hispanic are far less likely to get vaccinated.

In a 7-2 ruling in a case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, the court said employers with a “religious or moral objection” to contraceptives should not be forced to insure women for those services.

People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.

Health care workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis have spent exhausting months working and self-quarantining off-duty to keep from infecting others, including their families. Encountering people who indignantly refuse face coverings can feel like a slap in the face.

A rule finalized this spring by the Trump administration permits employers and insurers not to apply drug company copayment assistance toward enrollees’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for any drug.

Skip the numbers. Focus on the mask.