Kaiser Family Foundation: U.S. Health Care in the Era of Coronavirus

American health care has seen dramatic changes over the past decade. Obamacare reduced the number of uninsured citizens, but rising prices and deductibles have made care unaffordable for many. Medicaid has become the nation’s largest payer and now pays for half of all long-term care. Now the coronavirus pandemic is challenging the health care system in unprecedented ways. All this is happening within the context of a presidential election within a highly polarized country. How will the health care system—and American voters—respond? Kaiser Family Foundation Senior Vice President Dr. Jennifer Kates will be joined by Dr. Josh Michaud, KFF’s associate director of global health policy. A former infectious disease epidemiologist with both the U.S. Department of Defense and the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Michaud is an expert on the types of models being used to forecast the arc of COVID-19 cases.They will discuss the current and probable future states of the pandemic and the responses by the government, health-care system and public. Note: Kaiser Family Foundation CEO Drew Altman is unable to participate in this evening’s session due to health reasons (which, fortunately, are unrelated to the coronavirus; he has temporarily lost his voice). We’ll have Drew Altman back on Monday, May 4, at noon, by which time the pandemic may have crested. We’ll discuss how the health-care system has fared, how the public has responded, and what the impact on the 2020 election is likely to be. This program is generously supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and a collaborative of local funders and donors. We are grateful for their support and hope others will follow their example to support the Club during these uncertain times.

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