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Deb Wityk, a resident of the Spurgeon Manor nursing home in Dallas Center, Iowa, plans to get an updated covid shot as soon as she can. "Covid is not pretty in a nursing home," she says. (TONY LEYS/KFF HEALTH NEWS)
As COVID infections rise, nursing homes are still waiting for vaccines
Even once the shots are available, nursing homes face continuing resistance to the vaccine among nurses and aides.
Toni Says: What changes can I make during Medicare’s annual enrollment period?
Which Medicare option is right for you depends on your health and financial situation. You may be someone who has a history of serious health issues requiring expensive brand name prescription drugs or who goes to the doctor once a year for a physical and takes inexpensive generics.
Take your time and research your options.
Feds: Florida’s poor oversight of psychotropic meds puts foster kids at risk
An audit of Florida's child welfare system found multiple cases of child welfare workers failing to follow state regulations on psychotropic or opioid medication use. Illustration by Oona Tempest with KFF Health News.
A study by the Department of Health & Human Services reveals lax controls and missing records for children prescribed powerful medications within Florida’s child welfare system
Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans’ credit scores
Medical debt has sunk Penny Wingard’s credit score so low that she has struggled to qualify for loans, and applying for jobs and apartments has become a harrowing experience. On Sept. 21, the Biden administration announced plans to develop federal rules barring unpaid medical bills from affecting patients’ credit scores. (ANERI PATTANI/KFF HEALTH NEWS)
The three largest credit agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — said they would stop including some medical debt on credit reports as of last year

Latest

  1. Florida wants to more than double size of Mosaic’s ‘radioactive roads’ plan
    Yesterday• Environment
    Prayer walks, Indigenous ceremonies to raise awareness on environmental issues, are held each month in South Florida to bring attention to the "radioactive roads" bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June. The event's organizer, Garrett Stuart, said he feels called to alert the public about the potential health risks of using phosphogypsum in road construction.
  2. Toni Says: Medicare Plan F rates are exploding. Help!
    Yesterday• Health
    . You can change your Medicare Supplement Plan F anytime during the year. Medicare’s AEP is the time to change only your Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan.
  3. Half of 500,000 removed from Medicaid are children, Florida Dems warn
    Sept. 30• Health
    More than 250,000 children have been terminated from Medicaid since April, according to new state data. That's almost half of the roughly 524,000 recipients removed from the program as the state conducts the first eligibility checks since the start of the pandemic.
  5. As COVID infections rise, nursing homes are still waiting for vaccines
    Sept. 29• Health
    Deb Wityk, a resident of the Spurgeon Manor nursing home in Dallas Center, Iowa, plans to get an updated covid shot as soon as she can. "Covid is not pretty in a nursing home," she says. (TONY LEYS/KFF HEALTH NEWS)
  6. Toni Says: What changes can I make during Medicare’s annual enrollment period?
    Sept. 27• Health
    Which Medicare option is right for you depends on your health and financial situation. You may be someone who has a history of serious health issues requiring expensive brand name prescription drugs or who goes to the doctor once a year for a physical and takes inexpensive generics.
  7. 6 people died by suicide in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Experts fear more.
    Sept. 27• Hurricane
    After retiring in 2012, Arthur Schnurpel moved to Florida from Indiana to live out his dream of being close to the beach.
  8. Feds: Florida’s poor oversight of psychotropic meds puts foster kids at risk
    Sept. 26• Health
    An audit of Florida's child welfare system found multiple cases of child welfare workers failing to follow state regulations on psychotropic or opioid medication use. Illustration by Oona Tempest with KFF Health News.
  9. Is hot water hurting seagrass recovery in Tampa Bay? A new study aims to find out.
    Sept. 25• Environment
    Sheila Scolaro, a community programs scientist for the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, holds a PVC pipe as she works to attach a temperature data logger in Old Tampa Bay near Safety Harbor on Aug. 25. The estuary program has launched a five-year study to determine if warmer water temperatures are hurting seagrasses’ chance to recover.
  10. Luna accuses FDA of ‘hiding what’s in our food’
    Sept. 24• Pinellas
    Anna Paulina Luna, who represents Pinellas County in Congress, is questioning whether a loosening of food labeling requirements during the pandemic presents a risk to the public.
  11. Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans’ credit scores
    Sept. 22• Health
    Medical debt has sunk Penny Wingard’s credit score so low that she has struggled to qualify for loans, and applying for jobs and apartments has become a harrowing experience. On Sept. 21, the Biden administration announced plans to develop federal rules barring unpaid medical bills from affecting patients’ credit scores. (ANERI PATTANI/KFF HEALTH NEWS)
  12. Attorneys for All Children’s make hospital’s case in ‘Maya’ lawsuit
    Sept. 21• Health
    Maya, Kyle and Jack Kowalski leave the South Coutny Courthouse in Venice, Florida on Thursday afternoon at the conclusion of the first day of their civil lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
  13. DeSantis offers paid maternity leave to state workers
    Sept. 21• Politics
    Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition's fall banquet, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.
  14. Social Security overpays billions to people, many on disability. Then it demands money back
    Sept. 21• Health
    A year ago, Justina Worrell received a letter from the Social Security Administration saying it had overpaid her. Within 30 days, it said, she should mail the government a check or money order for $60,175.90. (Cox Media Group)
  15. Opening statements to begin Thursday in ‘Maya’ lawsuit against All Children’s
    Sept. 20• Health
    Venice resident Maya Kowalski was sheltered in Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital for three months in 2016 after the hospital reported her mom to the state's abuse hotline. Her mom later took her own life. Maya's story is the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya."
  16. Miami restaurant settles with DeSantis administration to end drag show complaint
    Sept. 19• Politics
    Kat Wilderness performs for guests during a drag brunch at R House Wynwood in Miami in April 2022.
  17. These Florida lawmakers oppose fertilizer giant Mosaic’s ‘radioactive roads’
    Sept. 19• Environment
    Mosaic's several facilities across Florida take mined phosphate, like this, and turn it into millions of tons of fertilizer a year. What's left behind is a mildly radioactive byproduct called phosphogypsum, which the company wants to use as a test ingredient in road construction. Several state lawmakers and local officials have signed a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opposing the plan.
  18. Toni Says: Moving overseas, should we keep our Medicare?
    Sept. 19• Health
    If not working full-time with company benefits, then I would advise you and your husband to remain enrolled in Medicare and keep your Medicare Supplement plan, because you can never know what will happen to your health in the future.
  19. Why public health experts say it’s unlikely that COVID-19 lockdowns return
    Sept. 16• Health
    A woman walks through a door with a sign asking shoppers to wear masks in New York on Feb. 9, 2022.
  20. There’s no sign of widespread US COVID-19 mandates. Republicans are warning of them anyway.
    Sept. 13• Politics
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, shakes hands with fairgoers after taking part in a Fair-Side Chat with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12 in Des Moines, Iowa. Republicans are responding to a late summer spike in COVID-19 by raising familiar fears that government-issued lockdowns and mask mandates are on the horizon. GOP presidential hopefuls including DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former President Donald Trump have spread this narrative.
  21. Lawsuit against All Children’s at heart of Netflix ‘Maya’ doc goes to trial
    Sept. 13• Health
    Maya Kowalski attends an April 2022 court hearing in Sarasota County over a motion for a jury trial in her family's lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. Almost five years after the lawsuit was filed, the trial will begin Thursday.
  22. Judge refuses to block Florida law restricting transgender adult care
    Sept. 12• Health
    People hold signs during a joint board meeting of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine gather to establish new guidelines limiting gender-affirming care in Florida, on Nov. 4, 2022.
  23. Popular nasal decongestant doesn’t actually relieve congestion, FDA advisers say
    Sept. 12• Health
    Sudafed and other common nasal decongestants are on display behind the counter at Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla., Jan. 11, 2005. Phenylephrine, the leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose, is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against the effectiveness of the ingredient found in popular versions of Sudafed, Allegra, Dayquil and other medications sold on store shelves. Phenylephrine replaced pseudoephedrine in many popular over-the-counter medications after a 2006 law required medicines containing pseudoephedrine to be moved behind pharmacy counters because the ingredient can be illegally processed into methamphetamine.
  24. Settlement talks afoot in Florida lawsuit over gender discussions in schools
    Sept. 12• Education
    The group Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society held a Defend LGBTQ+ Rights protest at the USF Library in 2022.
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