Author

Jenny Gold

Gold is a Senior Correspondent for Kaiser Health News and reports regularly for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered and for KHN’s print partners, including USA Today, the Washington Post, McClatchy and MSNBC. In addition, she is a frequent guest on CSPAN, NPR's On Point and The Diane Rehm Show.

Business

Verily’s COVID Testing Program Halted in San Francisco and Oakland

Jenny Gold Oct 26, 2020

Verily Life Sciences Headquarters in South San Francisco, California. Verily is Alphabet Inc.'s research organization devoted the study of life sciences. Editorial credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com, licensed. OAKLAND, Calif. — Amid…

Health

How to Weigh Evacuation Options With Both Wildfires and COVID at Your Door

Jenny Gold Aug 28, 2020

The California "River Fire" of Salinas, in Monterey County, was ignited by dry lightning on August 16, 2020, fills the sky with dark smoke and flames as it burns close to a houses on its first day. Salinas, CA. Photo credit Shutterstock…

Health

Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures

Jenny Gold May 13, 2020

Cafeteria worker Ma Jesusa Keberenge presents an employee petition to University of Washington Medical Center management on April 7, 2020. Cafeteria workers requested a deep cleaning of the Plaza Cafe and a protective barrier for cashiers…

Business

Pediatric Practices Struggle To Adapt And Survive Amid COVID-19

Jenny Gold Apr 14, 2020

Dr. Katrina Michel, a physician at Berkeley Pediatrics says even kids she’s known for years don’t recognize her in her protective gear. “When I walked into their room with a shield, mask and gown on, the kids’ eyes were wide, they were…

Health

Some Hospitals Continue With Elective Surgeries Despite COVID-19 Crisis

Jenny Gold Mar 21, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - In the same week that physicians at the University of California-San Francisco medical center were wiping down and reusing protective equipment like masks and gowns to conserve resources amid a surge of COVID-19…

Health

Is Bay Area’s ‘Unprecedented’ Lockdown The First Of Many?

Jenny Gold Mar 18, 2020

About 7 million people across the San Francisco Bay Area began to “shelter in place” Tuesday to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. Although public health officials acknowledged the orders were drastic, they also agreed they were…

Health

Testing Shortages Force Extreme Shift In Strategy By California Health Officials; Stopped Tracing…

Jenny Gold Mar 14, 2020

Limited testing capacity in California is a pressing concern, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference. The number of test kits is inadequate, the state faces a shortage of reagents needed to run the tests, and many counties can’t…

Health

Surging Health Care Worker Quarantines Raise Concerns As Virus Spreads

Jenny Gold Mar 10, 2020

In Vacaville, California, one case, the first documented instance of community transmission in the U.S., left more than 200 hospital workers under quarantine and unable to work for weeks. File photo: Pixabay. VACAVILLE, CA - As the…

Business

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Details ‘Historic’ Settlement Agreement In Sutter Health…

Jenny Gold Dec 21, 2019

Sutter Health will pay $575 million to settle a closely watched antitrust case filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (above), whose office had accused the nonprofit health care giant of using its market dominance in Northern…

Business

Affordable Mental Health Care? It’s Getting Even Tougher to Access

Jenny Gold Nov 20, 2019

In 2017, 70,237 Americans died from drug overdoses, and 47,173 from suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2018, nearly 20% of adults experienced a mental illness, according to the National Alliance on…

Business

More Vapers Are Making Their Own Juice, But Not Without Risks

Jenny Gold Nov 14, 2019

Danielle Jones reads through the recipe for Nerd Lyfe (v2) vape juice. After five years of buying her favorite flavor (red licorice) at her local vape shop, this is Jones’ first attempt at making her own e-liquid. Photo credit: Heidi de…

Business

Surprise Settlement In Sutter Health Antitrust Case

Jenny Gold Oct 16, 2019

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) when he discussed climate change, fuel efficiency standards and the wildfires in his state during a Washington Post series of conversations with public officials and industry leaders on energy…

Business

Now They Owe $0 — Half-Million-Dollar Dialysis Bill Canceled; Company Will Waive Unpaid Bill, Treat…

Jenny Gold Jul 26, 2019

After reporting by KHN, NPR and CBS, Fresenius has agreed to waive Sovereign Valentine's huge bill for out-of-network dialysis care. Photo credit: Tommy Martino for KHN. PHILADELPHIA, PA – Fresenius, one of the two largest dialysis…

Health

Man With Kidney Failure Receives “Out-of-Network” Medical Bill For $540k

Jenny Gold Jul 25, 2019

Sovereign Valentine and his wife, Jessica, wait for a dialysis machine to filter his blood. Before finding a dialysis clinic in their insurance network, the Valentines were charged more than half a million dollars for 14 weeks of the…