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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to renewed interest among policymakers, the media, residents, and their families in nursing home regulation and oversight, as residents and staff are at increased risk of infection due to the highly transmissible nature of the coronavirus, the congregate nature of facility settings, and the close contact that many workers have with patients. This issue brief answers key questions about nursing home oversight under Medicare and Medicaid and explains how federal policy has changed in light of COVID-19.

With schools nationwide preparing for fall and the federal government encouraging in-person classes, key concerns for school officials, teachers and parents include the risks that coronavirus poses to children and their role in transmission of the disease. A new KFF brief examines the latest available data and evidence about the issues…

As schools prepare for Fall, this brief examines what’s known about children and COVID-19, including the risk the virus poses to children and the risk of children becoming infected and transmitting to others, and the experiences of other countries that reopened classrooms.

This data note quantifies the availability of providers capable of providing critical care in each state relative to state-level population. It finds that the number of intensivist physicians is substantially smaller than that of “second-line” providers that sometimes provide critical care, such as hospitalists, pulmonologists, and anesthesiologists, lending credence to longstanding concerns that intensivists are in short supply in the U.S. at baseline.

This brief survey examines how the public views the motivations of doctors, nurses, insurance companies, and drug companies when it comes to making profits vs. working for the public good. It updates a question asked in 2005 to measure how views have changed over time.

At almost 27 weeks since the first coronavirus case appeared in the United States, we have reached 4 million cumulative cases — only 15 days since crossing 3 million. While cases are climbing at increasing rates and the economy continues to suffer, the debate around the safety and feasibility of reopening schools for in-person instruction continued this week as state and local officials released their decisions around in person or online learning and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its own guidance on reopening schools.

A new KFF analysis finds that 80 percent of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. to date were age 65 or older, though the share varies considerably by state — from a high of 94 percent in Idaho to a low of 70 percent in the District…

The pandemic is increasingly taking an emotional toll, with a majority of U.S. adults (53%) saying that worry and stress related to coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health. It’s the highest share so far. Women, young adults, Black people and those struggling financially are among the most affected. Learn more in this Chart of the Week.

This analysis examines the extent of state-level variation in the share of COVID-19 deaths accounted for by older adults, using data from the CDC as of July 22, 2020, for the week ending July 11, 2020.

Newly updated and expanded, the Peterson-KFF Health System Dashboard compiles data on the U.S. health system’s performance in four areas: access and affordability, health and well-being, health spending, and quality of care. Users can explore trends over time, as well as disparities and differences across demographic groups.