Ars Technica: Patient dies after ransomware attack reroutes her to remote hospital. “A woman seeking emergency treatment for a life-threatening condition died after a ransomware attack crippled a nearby hospital in Duesseldorf, Germany, and forced her to obtain services from a more distant facility, it was widely reported on Thursday.”
health care
Washington Post: Medicaid rolls swell amid the pandemic’s historic job losses, straining state budgets
Washington Post: Medicaid rolls swell amid the pandemic’s historic job losses, straining state budgets. “The unlikely portrait of Medicaid in the time of coronavirus looks like Jonathan Chapin, living with his wife and 11-year-old daughter in a gated community in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Chapin had a thriving Reno, Nev., production company, We Ain’t Saints, booking bands, managing weddings, hosting 600-strong karaoke nights at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino. When the novel coronavirus came, forcing northern Nevada’s entertainment industry to go dark, he said, ‘everything I knew all disappeared’.”
Daily Beast: The Young Should Get COVID-19 Vaccine Before the Old & Sick
The Daily Beast: The Young Should Get COVID-19 Vaccine Before the Old & Sick. “We are faculty at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California who have spent decades studying health economics and epidemiology. One of us is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Having seen firsthand the real risks of rapid, asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 among younger adults, we disagree with some of the recommendations. Asymptomatic spread is shutting down schools and universities nationwide and threatening surrounding communities. We argue that this pandemic requires a different model for making vaccination choices.”
ProPublica: A Doctor Went to His Own Employer for a COVID-19 Antibody Test. It Cost $10,984.
ProPublica: A Doctor Went to His Own Employer for a COVID-19 Antibody Test. It Cost $10,984.. “When Dr. Zachary Sussman went to Physicians Premier ER in Austin for a COVID-19 antibody test, he assumed he would get a freebie because he was a doctor for the chain. Instead, the free-standing emergency room charged his insurance company an astonishing $10,984 for the visit — and got paid every penny, with no pushback. The bill left him so dismayed he quit his job. And now, after ProPublica’s questions, the parent company of his insurer said the case is being investigated and could lead to repayment or a referral to law enforcement.”
Connecting Vets: VA canceled millions of appointments during pandemic, may have put veterans at risk by not following up, report says
Connecting Vets: VA canceled millions of appointments during pandemic, may have put veterans at risk by not following up, report says. “The Department of Veterans Affairs was forced to cancel more than 11 million appointments from March to June during the coronavirus pandemic, but didn’t follow up on more than 3 million of those, potentially putting veterans at risk, according to a recent watchdog report.”
AP: Politics slows flow of US virus funds to local public health
AP: Politics slows flow of US virus funds to local public health. “Since the pandemic began, Congress has set aside trillions of dollars to ease the crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and Associated Press investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. Others, like in Minnesota, were slow to do so.”
BBC: Coronavirus and the cancelled kidney transplant
BBC: Coronavirus and the cancelled kidney transplant. “Lockdown has resulted in a dramatic change in the lives of many young people – and this is especially true for Mali Elwy. The 19-year-old student was due to receive a kidney transplant from her brother Morgan on 24 August, but the operation has had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.”
New York Times: A Hospital Forgot to Bill Her Coronavirus Test. It Cost Her $1,980.
New York Times: A Hospital Forgot to Bill Her Coronavirus Test. It Cost Her $1,980.. “Ms. [Debbie] Krebs had a clear memory of the experience, particularly the doctor saying the coronavirus test would make her feel as if she had to sneeze. She wondered whether the doctor could have lied about performing the test, or if her swab could have gone missing. (But if so, why had the laboratory called her with results?) The absence of the coronavirus test made a big price difference. Insurers, Ms. Krebs had heard, were not charging patients for visits meant to diagnose coronavirus. Without the test, Ms. Krebs didn’t qualify for that protection and owed $1,980. She called the hospital to explain the situation but immediately ran into roadblocks.”
ProPublica: How Many People in the U.S. Are Hospitalized With COVID-19? Who Knows?
ProPublica: How Many People in the U.S. Are Hospitalized With COVID-19? Who Knows?. “The Trump administration told hospitals to stop reporting data to the CDC, and report it to HHS instead. Vice President Mike Pence said the information would continue to be released publicly. It hasn’t worked out as promised.”
Yahoo News: Miami-Dade ICUs at 146% capacity with coronavirus patients, according to federal document
Yahoo News: Miami-Dade ICUs at 146% capacity with coronavirus patients, according to federal document. “Hospitals in the Miami area have been so overwhelmed by coronavirus patients that intensive care units are now operating well beyond full capacity, according to a federal pandemic update obtained by Yahoo News. The information comes from the ‘senior leadership brief’ for July 27 prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, and distributed to federal agencies involved in the pandemic crisis. The document includes detailed analyses on various aspects of the crisis, from emerging hot spots to supply chain updates.”
AP: As virus surges in some US states, emergency rooms swamped
AP: As virus surges in some US states, emergency rooms swamped. “A fast-rising tide of new coronavirus cases is flooding emergency rooms in parts of the United States, with some patients moved into hallways and nurses working extra shifts to keep up with the surge. Patients struggling to breathe are being placed on ventilators in emergency wards since intensive care units are full, officials say, and the near-constant care they require is overtaxing workers who also are treating more typical ER cases like chest pains, infections, and fractures.”
New York Times: The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus
New York Times: The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus. “Early numbers had shown that Black and Latino people were being harmed by the virus at higher rates. But the new federal data — made available after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — reveals a clearer and more complete picture: Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups.”
Newsweek: Family of Man Who Died of Coronavirus Hit With $1 Million Hospital Bill
Newsweek: Family of Man Who Died of Coronavirus Hit With $1 Million Hospital Bill. “Florida family received a claims summary from a hospital totaling more than $1 million over a relative who died from the novel coronavirus. A picture of the claims summary was posted to an Instagram account June 28. The account holder, workshoppgh, wrote a lengthy post about the $1,123,600 bill and said: ‘No one should have to face this virus alone and make it out to get bills like this.'”
AP: Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus
AP: Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus. “The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. Marshaled against a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million in the U.S., killed more than 126,000 people and cost tens of millions of jobs and $3 trillion in federal rescue money, state and local government health workers on the ground are sometimes paid so little, they qualify for public aid. They track the coronavirus on paper records shared via fax. Working seven-day weeks for months on end, they fear pay freezes, public backlash and even losing their jobs.”
Reuters: U.S. group raises pricing recommendation for Gilead’s remdesivir in COVID-19
Reuters: U.S. group raises pricing recommendation for Gilead’s remdesivir in COVID-19. “Gilead Sciences Inc’s (GILD.O) antiviral remdesivir could be priced up to $5,080 per course based on benefits shown in COVID-19 patients, a U.S. drug pricing research group suggested on Wednesday, above its prior recommendation of around $4,500.”
