Healthcare & Policy News

When the statewide lockdowns first began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most Americans accepted these measures in good faith as difficult, but necessary, sacrifices for the benefit of everyone. At the time, the only thing anyone truly understood about the novel coronavirus that causes the disease was its breathtaking speed and seemingly unstoppable lethality…

The practice of organizing “pandemic pods,” in which parents team up with other families in their neighborhoods or social circles to hire teachers for their children, is getting more and more popular by the minute. With many school districts around the country planning not to reopen classrooms this fall—or, at best, planning to offer some…

As Heritage Foundation researchers have demonstrated throughout the pandemic, the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. has been heavily concentrated in a small number of states—and among a small number of counties within states. Even though the U.S. has seen a rapid rise in cases during the last few weeks, the overall levels of concentration…

On March 25, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made one of deadliest mistakes of the coronavirus crisis, signing an executive order forcing nursing homes in his state to accept patients who tested positive for the coronavirus. Around 4,800 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 in those nursing homes from March to May—approximately 25% of all fatalities…

A lot has happened in Florida in the two weeks since I last analyzed its COVID-19 numbers. Unfortunately, not much of it is good. Florida has reported almost as many cases among its residents over the past two weeks as it did over the previous three and a half months. The newly infected population has…

What could “back to school” look like during the first fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what should it look like? What about an “exclusively virtual” education experience? What are wise precautions to take and what is unrealistic? Lindsey Burke, who directs The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy and is the think tank’s Will Skillman…

Dr. Kevin Pham, a contributor to The Daily Signal and a former graduate fellow in health policy at The Heritage Foundation, joins the podcast to discuss the rise in cases, if wearing a mask really helps, if it’s true—as The New York Times says—that the coronavirus “has infiltrated Sunday services,” with “more than 650 cases…

Access to education is foundational to American society and fundamental to the American ideal of providing equal opportunities. Yet amid COVID-19 shutdowns, many children have very limited or even no access to formal education. That has caused numerous problems for some children, including a loss in learning, an exacerbation of race- and income-based educational gaps,…

Congress likes to spend money and create new programs, but when it comes to coronavirus recovery, lawmakers need to keep it simple. Congress already has authorized more than $3.6 trillion of relief, of which to date only about half has been spent. Simple relief is effective relief. The congressional response should remain targeted at containing…

Americans’ mental and emotional health can’t be ignored in the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for mental health and substance use, joins the show to explain the physiological effects of extended isolation.   McCance-Katz is both an epidemiologist and a psychiatrist. That enables her to…

You can treat churches differently—but you can’t get away with it. That was one federal court’s message to New York leaders last week, when it called out the state’s double standards on coronavirus orders. Hypocrisy, which has been spreading faster than COVID, won’t stand up to the legal challenge, Judge Gary Sharpe warned. Liberals may…

The recent surges in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Texas, Florida, and California have forced their governors to pause their states’ reopening plans to restrict further spread and to prevent area medical systems from being overwhelmed.   Some are claiming that means reopening plans are not working and represent reckless behavior. In reality, however, the…

Relations between the U.S. and China are increasingly icy, and justifiably so given China’s mishandling of COVID-19 and its undermining of Hong Kong’s autonomy. However, even as overall tensions rise, it is important to remember that the trade dispute between the U.S. and China continues to take a toll on the U.S. economy and the…

This is part of a series on the importance of U.S. national security and achieving peace through strength. Both long have been Heritage Foundation principles and a great foundation for America’s national power. Some voices call for a reduction in defense spending to focus on COVID-19, but the need to fully fund our military never…

America’s service members long have been concerned about the lack of access to effective schools for their children. In fact, more than a third of active-duty service members have considered leaving the military altogether because of the school their child would have to attend at their next duty station. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated these…