Blake Farmer
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The Trump administration has given states ways to restrict spending on the government insurance program for low-income Americans. A Biden administration would expand Medicaid coverage.
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Plus, of all U.S. homes that include someone with a disability, 63% report serious financial hardship during the pandemic, and 37% have used up all or most of their savings.
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Some pharmaceutical companies are well into the final phase of clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine. But efforts to recruit patients from minority groups are just beginning.
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Many are worried that Labor Day will be like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when travel and celebrations fanned the flames of viral spread, especially across the U.S. South and West.
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The rare migratory birds have made a pit stop in downtown Nashville. Residents are delighted, turning out at dusk to catch a glimpse of the Purple Martins before they head south for winter.
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Congress required health plans to fully cover COVID-19 testing, but insurance companies are starting to argue they should only have to pay if patients show symptoms or tests are ordered by a doctor.
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Nationwide, coronavirus infection numbers are trending down, but several states are seeing upticks, with the heaviest impact falling on communities of color and nursing home residents.
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As states move on from social distancing, they need plenty of coronavirus testing to prevent future outbreaks. But many communities face testing bottlenecks. Tennessee has a solution.
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with WPLN's Blake Farmer from Nashville and KCUR's Peggy Lowe from Kansas City about how nursing homes are dealing with deadly outbreaks of COVID-19.
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Most available coronavirus data doesn't include ethnic or racial demographics, but public health experts say they fear the response to the pandemic will lead to predictable health care disparities.