Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear. Some Still Died.

COVID-19 cases were climbing at Michigan’s McLaren Flint hospital. So Roger Liddell, 64, who procured supplies for the hospital, asked for an N95 respirator for his own protection, since his work brought him into the same room as COVID-positive patients.But the hospital denied his request, said Kelly Indish, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 875.On March 30, Liddell posted on Facebook that he had worked the previous week in both the critical care unit and the ICU and had contracted the virus. “Pray for me God is still in control,” he wrote. He died April 10.Roger Liddell(Courtesy of Bill Sohmer)The hospital’s problems with personal protective equipment (PPE) were well documented. In mid-March,...

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‘More Than Physical Health’: Gym Helps 91-Year-Old Battle Isolation

MONROVIA, Calif. — Most mornings, like clockwork, you could find Art Ballard pumping iron.At least five days a week, he drove to Foothill Gym, where he beat on the punching bag, rode a stationary bike and worked his abs. After he joined the gym five years ago, he dropped 20 pounds, improved his balance and made friends.At 91, he’s still spry and doesn’t take any medication other than an occasional Tylenol for aches and pains.“Doctors love me,” he said.But when California enacted a statewide stay-at-home order in mid-March, his near-daily physical exercise and social interactions abruptly ended.Ballard’s health started to deteriorate: His back hurt, his legs cramped and he started becoming short of breath. As happens too often with older people,...

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Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme

Use Our StoryThis story can be republished for free (details).A Miami entrepreneur who led a rural hospital empire was charged in an indictment unsealed Monday in what federal prosecutors called a $1.4 billion fraudulent lab-billing scheme.In the indictment, prosecutors said Jorge A. Perez, 60, and nine others exploited federal regulations that allow some rural hospitals to charge substantially higher rates for laboratory testing than other providers. The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, alleges Perez and the other defendants sought out struggling rural hospitals and then contracted with outside labs, in far-off cities and states, to process blood and urine tests for people who never set foot in the hospitals....

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Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole

This story also ran on NPR. This story can be republished for free (details). Carmen Quintero works an early shift as a supervisor at a 3M distribution warehouse that ships N95 masks to a nation under siege from the coronavirus. On March 23, she had developed a severe cough, and her voice, usually quick and enthusiastic, was barely a whisper.A human resources staff member told Quintero she needed to go home.“They told me I couldn’t come back until I was tested,” said Quintero, who was also told that she would need to document that she didn’t have the virus.Her primary care doctor directed her to the nearest emergency room for testing because the practice had no coronavirus tests.Send Us Your Medical BillDo you have an exorbitant or baffling...

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KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: High Court’s Surprising Abortion Decision

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.The Supreme Court surprised both sides in the polarized abortion battle Monday by ruling, 5-4, that a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform the procedure to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital is an unconstitutional infringement of a woman’s right to an abortion.As expected, the court’s four liberals in the case, June Medical Services v. Russo, said that the law did not provide any protections for women and merely made it harder for them to obtain an abortion and that it was nearly identical to a Texas law struck down in 2016. The four conservatives said the Louisiana law should be upheld, although that would have left the state with only a single abortion...

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Supreme Court, Rejecting Restrictive La. Law, Refuses To Roll Back Abortion Rights

Use Our ContentThis story can be republished for free (details).In a decision certain to roil the fall elections, a Supreme Court with a majority of anti-abortion justices Monday refused to use its first opportunity to roll back abortion rights. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital is an unconstitutional burden on a woman’s right.The decision in June Medical Services v. Russo effectively upholds a case from just four years ago. In 2016, in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a 5-3 majority struck down portions of a controversial Texas law, including not only the admitting privileges requirement, but also a requirement for abortion clinics...

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Conflicting COVID Messages Create Cloud Of Confusion Around Public Health And Prevention

Regina Fargis didn’t know what to do.Fargis runs Summit Hills — a health and retirement community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that offers skilled nursing, activities and communal meals for its residents, most of whom are over 60, the highest-risk category for coronavirus complications. In South Carolina, more than a hundred new cases were emerging daily. So she took precautions: no visitors, hand sanitizer everywhere and regular reminders for residents about the importance of social distancing.For a time, it worked. Many similar facilities were hit hard by the virus, but Summit Hills remained COVID-free. Summit Hills’ first cases didn’t emerge until mid-June. Three residents and four employees have now tested positive and are being quarantined....

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In Arizona Race, McSally Makes Health Care Pledge At Odds With Track Record

“Of course I will always protect those with preexisting conditions. Always.”— U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, in a campaign ad released June 22Trailing Democratic challenger Mark Kelly in one of the country’s most hotly contested Senate races, Arizona Sen. Martha McSally is seeking to tie herself to an issue with across-the-aisle appeal: insurance protections for people with preexisting health conditions.“Of course I will always protect those with preexisting conditions. Always,” the Republican said in a TV ad released June 22.The ad comes in response to criticisms by Kelly, who has highlighted McSally’s votes to undo the Affordable Care Act. That, he argued, would leave Americans with medical conditions vulnerable to higher-priced insurance.The...

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