Democrats are treating health care as a more critical issue than their Republican counterparts in Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoffs. It’s a strategy they hope will woo independents and motivate base voters. The results will determine which party controls the chamber during the first years of the Biden administration.
Democrats had hoped not only to defeat President Donald Trump but also to capture the Senate so they could make major policy changes, such as bolstering the Affordable Care Act and reducing the number of uninsured.
Former Vice President Joe Biden remains on the cusp of being declared the winner of the presidential election, and which party will control the Senate next year remains in question. The outcomes of both the presidential and Senate elections will have dramatic effects on the health agenda. Meanwhile, should President Donald Trump eke out a win, his administration is still pushing some sweeping health changes. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
In discussions of the impact Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett could have on abortion rights, many overlook related issues, including the right to birth control that the court recognized in 1965. During her confirmation hearings, Barrett refused to say whether she felt that case was correctly decided.
Under the plan pushed by Gov. Brian Kemp, the healthcare.gov website will no longer provide options for Georgia starting next fall, and consumers will need to rely on private brokers, insurance companies, agents and commercial websites.
A KHN review found more than 20 states either don’t count or have incomplete data on the use of COVID-19 antigen tests, leaving the public in the dark about the true scope of the pandemic.
State officials said they urgently needed millions more masks and gowns, internal emails show. At least 80 Georgia health workers have died from COVID-19, including after the state reopened its economy.
Richard Costigan, a well-respected fixture in state Capitol circles, has detailed his family’s ongoing experiences with COVID-19 on social media after catching the virus — he surmises — at a backyard gathering. The former Schwarzenegger aide wants people to know this virus doesn’t care who you are.
KHN executive editor Damon Darlin wades through mounds of health care policy stories — so you don’t have to.
Almost half of the nation’s rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.