Blog

• KHN: Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars

  February 10, 2022: The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals — including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country — for having the highest numbers of patient infections and potentially avoidable complications. ...Read more >

• Medicare to Pay for Home Covid Tests

  February 04, 2022: On Thursday the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to make over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests available to people with Medicare at no cost by “early spring.” CMS's initial OTC testing policy applied to privat...Read more >

• COVID-19 Widows Struggle to Get Survivors Benefits as Social Security Offices Remain Closed

  February 04, 2022: In addition to causing pain, misery and death to millions of infected Americans, the coronavirus pandemic has forced Social Security offices to close in-person operations, and many children and spouses are experiencing long delays in processing their...Read more >

• Florida Alliance’s Lawsuit Against the State’s Restrictive Voting Law Goes to Court

  February 04, 2022: Witness testimony began Monday in a lawsuit challenging the state of Florida’s restrictive voting law. The Florida Alliance is a plaintiff in the suit, which is being held by teleconference due to the pandemic. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sign...Read more >

• The Alliance and the AFL-CIO Celebrate Black History Month, Lunar New Year

  February 04, 2022: "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now," Martin Luther King Jr. famously said. Since February 1 was both the Lunar New Year — also known as the Chinese New Year — and the first day of Black History Month, the ...Read more >

• KHN: Pandemic-Fueled Shortages of Home Health Workers Strand Patients Without Necessary Care

  February 03, 2022: Frail older adults are finding it harder than ever to get paid help amid acute staff shortages at home health agencies. Several trends are fueling the shortages: Hospitals and other employers are hiring away home health workers with better pay and...Read more >

• Nursing Home Staff Shortage Worsens as the Pandemic Continues

  January 28, 2022: Staff members of nursing homes across the country continue to quit in droves as a result of low wages and poor working conditions during the pandemic. Poor working conditions and lack of COVID-19 protections in long term care facilities have pushe...Read more >

• Key Senator Still Pushing for Legislation to Lower Drug Prices

  January 28, 2022: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (OR) told Bloomberg News this week that a new version of the Build Back Better Act could be reintroduced with a focus on lowering prescription drug costs, expanding access to health care and increasing clea...Read more >

• Alliance Takes More Action to Protect Voting Rights

  January 28, 2022: The Alliance called on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) on Thursday to stop permitting state elections offices to require that people provide their full Social Security numbers when submitting a voter registration form, explaining in a p...Read more >

• KHN: Why Medicare Doesn’t Pay for Rapid At-Home Covid Tests

  January 25, 2022: What group is especially vulnerable to the ravages of covid-19 even if fully vaccinated and boosted? Seniors. And who will have an especially tough time getting free at-home covid tests under the Biden administration’s plan? Yes, seniors. ...Read more >