Category: NPR

Examining Health Care Spending Since Obamacare

NPR’s Noel King talks to David Wessel of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution about health care spending since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law 10 years ago.

New Report Shows That An Alarming Number Of Children Are Being Poisoned By Opioids

A new study finds that children are being poisoned by opioids, and a growing number of them in recent years are ending up in pediatric ICUs for lifesaving procedures.

Texas Set To Implement Tough Surprise Billing Law After Loophole Gets Shot Down

Texas will enact a law on Jan. 1 to prevent consumers from getting hit with surprise medical bills. The law survived last-minute efforts to write rules that would have gutted it.

Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra On Latest Challenge To Affordable Care Act

NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra about the latest lawsuit news surrounding legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act.

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down ACA Mandate

An appeals court has ruled the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, but stopped short of striking the whole law down.

Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules ACA Individual Mandate Unconstitutional

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, but stopped short of saying that the whole law is invalid.

Obamacare Takes Another Hit In Federal Appeals Court Ruling

A federal court in New Orleans has declared a portion of the health law unconstitutional, asking the lower court to reconsider the rest. This leaves the future of the law in limbo.

Some Push To Change State Laws Requiring HIV Disclosure To Sexual Partners

Not disclosing HIV status to a sexual partner can land you in prison in Ohio and other states, even if they don’t contract the disease. A move is underway to embrace medical science and change that.

Some Big Health Care Policy Changes Are Hiding In The Federal Spending Package

The bill includes some policy surprises and increases in fundings for several key public health priorities. And it cuts the few remaining taxes that were paying for Obamacare.

Scientists Reach Out To Minority Communities To Diversify Alzheimer’s Studies

Black and Hispanic people often don’t volunteer for studies of Alzheimer’s disease, despite their risks for developing it. Researchers are working to make studies more inclusive, but it’s not easy.