The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse many families up to $9,000 in funeral expenses for loved ones who died of covid-19. But fewer than half of eligible families have applied, while others have run into application problems.
As the country enters Year 3 of the pandemic emergency, people with disabilities across the U.S. are still finding it difficult to use innovations in telemedicine, teleworking, and testing.
Among many Latinos, especially recent immigrants, there is a cultural emphasis on living in harmony within one’s community — called “convivir” in Spanish. That notion may have helped drive improvements in covid vaccination and testing rates.
The omicron variant upended a system in which states shared rapid covid tests with those that needed them more. Cooperation has turned into competition as states run out of supplies, limit which organizations get them, or hold on to expired kits as a last resort.
High demand for covid screening and scarce supply have opened the door to bad actors, and officials in some states are sounding the alarm about dubious street testing operators that could put people’s personal data, their health or wallets at risk.
In California, health insurers blame long waits for therapy appointments on workforce shortages, but state lawmakers say that’s an excuse. A new law requires insurers to reduce wait times for mental health appointments to no more than 10 business days.
Theater companies and musical ensembles are restarting live performances after a crippling pandemic pause. In some conservative states, artists find creative ways to get around state laws that go against public health recommendations.
The state’s unique health system controls what hospitals can charge for services.
Hundreds of towns, cities and states across the U.S. have ignored part of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and now it’s costing them billions of dollars to comply.
In Maryland, it’s now illegal for a hospital to sue a patient who qualifies for charity care. But in many other states, that’s still a thing.