Category: NPR

Cadres of volunteers, mostly medical professionals, are part of a little-known federal emergency program launched in the aftermath of 9/11. Increasingly, states are deploying them against COVID-19.

President Biden on Thursday is expected to sign two executive actions aimed at expanding access to health insurance and reproductive health care.

The huge spending bill Congress passed last month included aid to rural hospitals, training for new doctors, new rules regarding mental health coverage and requirements for billing transparency.

An insurance regulation known as “the birthday rule” is tripping up couples who are putting their newborn children on the wrong policy and risk losing thousands of dollars.

Early in the pandemic, shortages of N95 respirators and other medical gear prompted panic across the world. A year later, the masks still aren’t widely available to U.S. consumers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is touting the success of his policy providing COVID-19 vaccines to everyone 65 years and older in the state. But critics say the vaccine distribution favors some groups over others.

South Dakota has administered roughly 80,000 of the 106,000 doses it has received so far, or 75%. Dr. Shankar Kurra in Rapid City says a centralized system helped for coordination.

State health officials are breathing a sigh of relief. But they are also cautious: More than 40 million Californians live in counties where COVID-19 risk is deemed “widespread.”

Merck, which previously made an Ebola vaccine, had been seen as a serious contender in the worldwide race to come up with an answer to COVID-19.

As COVID-19 vaccines roll out, doctors say it’s long past time to address the exclusion of pregnant women from research on drugs and vaccines. They say better study design is the answer.