Category: NPR

Missouri Republicans are trying to avoid funding an expansion that would give 275,000 people health insurance. Democrats argue they are pushing ideology over the will of the people.

As the state weighs legislation that could help expand access to doulas for expecting mothers, birth workers from minority communities worry new standards could leave them on the outside looking in.

A medical team in New York City says it has performed the first complete surgical transplant of a trachea. These kinds of transplants are one of the last big transplant challenges.

Last year, Missouri voters added Medicaid expansion to the state constitution through a ballot measure. But there’s a major hiccup: the GOP-controlled legislature refuses to fund expanded coverage.

Many state Medicaid programs pay out-of-state providers much less than in-state facilities, often making it hard for families with medically complex children to get the care they seek.

Not only does the new research show the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are effective at protecting pregnant people, it also found that antibodies were present in umbilical cord blood and breast milk.

Cases are surging in some states, but the Biden administration’s chief medical adviser says “hopefully … the vaccine is going to win this one.” He urges continued mask-wearing and other measures.

NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary health at the HHS, about her trailblazing role as the first openly trans federal official confirmed by senate.

“I think people fear what they don’t understand,” says Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health and the first openly transgender person to serve in a Senate-confirmed position.

“I think people fear what they don’t understand,” says Levine, assistant secretary for health and the first openly transgender person to serve in a Senate-confirmed position.