Coronavirus pandemic
After the end of COVID-era benefits, 70k older Ohioans struggle to fight hunger
After Congress ended pandemic food assistance in February, 70,000 older Ohioans have seen food benefits slashed to $23 a month, in some cases down from $280. That has many making excruciating choices between food, medicine and utilities like electricity and gas, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said Wednesday. And while […]
Government programs mostly responsible for record lows in child poverty, uninsured, report says
Despite all the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, child poverty and uninsurance were at record lows last year, Census data show. And those lows are largely the result of large government interventions, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in a statement that was published Tuesday. The percentage of Americans lacking health […]
Doctors: Lots of good reasons to get the new COVID vax boost
After 27 excruciating months, most of us are ready to put the coronavirus in the rearview. But the disease caused by the virus is still killing a dozen Ohioans a day, Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said Thursday. That’s why, with the approach of fall, it’s important to get the newly […]
Going hungry: Pandemic, inflation, supply issues prompt cry for help
As state leaders spend money on other things, the Ohio Association of Foodbanks this week issued an extraordinary plea for assistance, saying many rural foodbanks are rationing food and those in other parts of the state soon will be. From the coronavirus pandemic to supply chain disruptions and inflation, to Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, […]
Ohioans go hungry as state sits on a huge stack of money
Some food banks are slashing the amounts of food they give people. At the same time, Ohio and many other states are sitting on enormous piles of cash, and a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine was vague last week when asked how the governor would like to use that money.
As pandemic ebbs, fears grow that Ohioans will be improperly forced off of Medicaid
As pandemic ebbs, fears grow that Ohioans will be improperly forced off of Medicaid. State to decertify recipients much faster than federal guidelines require.
Expert: Hard to know if COVID variant will surge in U.S. or how badly
The last thing people want to hear right now is that the coronavirus might have mutated yet again into yet another deadly variant, extending the pain, death and inconvenience of a pandemic that we long hoped would be over. However, whether the subvariant of omicron known as BA.2 will hit the United States as hard […]
Insurance focused on virtual visits? The pros and cons of a new twist in health plans
By Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people often relied on telemedicine for doctor visits. Now, insurers are betting that some patients liked it enough to embrace new types of health coverage that encourages video visits — or outright insists on them. Priority Health in Michigan, for example, offers […]
COVID-19 surge begins to ease in Ohio
A two-month surge in COVID-19 infections in Ohio appears to be easing, state data shows. On Oct. 1, the average rate of new infections by day fell to about 5,000, down from a recent high of about 7,400 per day in mid-September. While less pronounced, the number of patients in the hospital on a given […]
FDA panel backs COVID-19 booster shots only for elderly and high-risk Americans
WASHINGTON — A federal health advisory panel wrestled Friday with whether to widely authorize a booster dose of Pfizer’s two-shot COVID-19 vaccine for most Americans, ultimately recommending that a third dose be offered only to older or higher-risk individuals. The Biden administration had hoped that states could begin rolling out a wide national booster shot […]
Arizona attorney general first to sue over Biden vaccine requirement on private businesses
WASHINGTON — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit against the Biden administration’s upcoming COVID-19 vaccine rule for private companies with at least 100 employees, arguing that the federal requirement violates the U.S. Constitution. In the legal complaint, Brnovich argues that the business vaccine and testing rules President Joe Biden announced last week violate […]
As child COVID toll mounts, governor says legislature has tied his hands
Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday blamed Republican lawmakers for his inability to take stronger action against a surge in coronavirus cases — particularly among children. But he wouldn’t say they shared blame for a crisis that is putting children and adults on ventilators and straining hospital capacity across the state. And despite saying he’d like […]