Blog

• KHN: Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy

  March 15, 2021:   Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home,  loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one. Months ...Read more >

• KHN: Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

  March 08, 2021:   For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care exp...Read more >

• KHN: Why AstraZeneca and J&J’s Vaccines, In Use Elsewhere, Are Still on Hold in America

  March 01, 2021: By Sarah Jane Tribble The World Health Organization greenlighted emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine this month, following in the steps of the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, who are already injecting i...Read more >

• KHN: Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority

  February 22, 2021: By Judith Graham Opening another front in the nation’s response to the pandemic, medical centers and other health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors. ...Read more >

• As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them

  February 18, 2021: The WA State Alliance for Retired Americans supports Senator Karen Keiser's bill: Substitute - SSB 5020 is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee now. This article is from BenefitsPro By Harris Meyer, Kaiser Health News | February 15, 2021 ...Read more >

• KHN: As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them

  February 16, 2021: Fed up with a lack of federal action to lower prescription drug costs, state legislators around the country are pushing bills to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap payment at much-lower Canadian levels. These bills, sponsor...Read more >

• KHN: When Your Chance for a Covid Shot Comes, Don’t Worry About the Numbers

  February 02, 2021: By Arthur Allen and Liz Szabo When getting vaccinated against covid-19, there’s no sense being picky. You should take the first authorized vaccine that’s offered, experts say. The newest covid vaccine on the horizon, from Johnson & J...Read more >

• KHN Poll: Nearly Half of American Adults Now Want the Covid Vaccine — ASAP

  January 27, 2021: By Phil Galewitz                   Americans’ reluctance to get vaccinated for covid-19 is waning, according to a poll released Wednesday. Nearly half of adults surv...Read more >

• WSARA 2020 Year in Review

  December 28, 2020: The WA State Alliance for Retired Americans wishes you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday season! No Monday Alert Retiree News will be published on December 28th but we will resume on January 4, 2021! Here is a brief report of activi...Read more >

• KHN: Federal Judge Rules Medicare Patients Can Challenge ‘Observation Care’ Status

  March 30, 2020: By Susan Jaffe Hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries who have been denied coverage for nursing home stays because their time in the hospital was changed from “inpatient” to “observation care” can now appeal to Medicare for reimbu...Read more >