The action is intended to build upon the existing program for Medicare drug price negotiations, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration.
Category: NPR
Vaccine expert worries child measles deaths are being ‘normalized’
Measles is an extremely contagious disease. It’s also extremely preventable. There’s a vaccine. It’s highly effective.
For decades it has made measles outbreaks in the U.S. relatively rare, and measles deaths rarer still. But the U.S. has now seen more than 700 measles cases this year, and 3 deaths so far with active outbreaks across six states.
The federal response is under scrutiny because Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has made a career spreading false information about vaccines.
What are this administration’s views on vaccines, and what do they mean for what is already one of the worst U.S. measles outbreaks this century.
Kennedy publicly promised he would support vaccines. Dr. Peter Marks, who was forced out as the nation’s top vaccine regulator says his department isn’t doing enough.
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What will it take to get measles under control?
It’s been 25 years since measles was officially “eliminated” from the United States.
That’s a technical term. In public health, it means measles has not had a steady twelve month spread.
Right now there are measles cases in several states The biggest number of cases are in West Texas where two kids have died.
A quarter of a century after measles was officially eliminated in the US, the disease is once again spreading in West Texas, New Mexico and there are cases in several other states. What can be done to get the virus under control?
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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
When medical bills arrive in the mail, you have options
Just because a medical bill arrives in the mail doesn’t mean you have to pay that exact price. NPR’s Life Kit has tips to eliminate, reduce or negotiate a medical bill.
Supreme Court to decide if states can strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds
At issue is whether a state, in this case, South Carolina, can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from its state Medicaid program, even though Medicaid funds cannot generally be used to fund abortions.
Long wait times for appointments at your doctor? You can now become a ‘member’
There’s a critical shortage of primary care doctors across the country, and long wait times for appointments. In response, there are 12,000 “concierge” medical practices now operating in the U.S. that charge patients membership fees. But is this trend …
With measles on the rise, what we can learn from past epidemics
As the U.S. health system grapples with new outbreaks and the risk of old diseases making a comeback, we’re looking to the past to inform how people in marginalized communities can prepare themselves for how the current administration might handle an e…
From singing on the world’s stages to fighting for caregivers’ rights
Home health care workers are in demand across the country, and in Nevada caregivers are heading to the state capital to demand a raise. One of them is someone who came to the profession through an unlikely path.
‘An Arm and a Leg” podcast explores the cost of health care in the U.S.
Read the full post on NPR Topics: Health Care
Adult day programs can be a big help for caregivers, participants and families
Adult day care services can be a huge help for participants and their families. We spend the day at one facility in Vermont and ask why this option isn’t more available in the U.S.
