Category: NPR

Hospital-owned clinics that are miles away should be reimbursed at the same rates as an independent doctor, but not more, Medicare says. That new rule could save taxpayers $380 million in 2019.

The search giant’s push into artificial intelligence as a tool for health improvement is a natural evolution for a company that has developed algorithms that reach deep into our lives through the Web.

A recent opioid sting caught 60 people, including doctors, accused of enabling addicts. Physician Stephen Loyd tells NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer how the sting could affect addicted patients.

Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn’t treatment. Others say it saves lives.

Thirty-one thousand Stop & Shop workers are striking in New England over proposed changes to wages and benefits. Eight days in, the strike has shuttered some stores and slowed business at others,

Her employer offered only a high-deductible health plan; that meant she’d have to pay up to $6,000 out of pocket each year. Advocates for patients say this sort of underinsurance is snatching lives.

These job-based programs can motivate employees to make some changes in behavior, research finds, but don’t seem to move the dial on workers’ health status or employer spending on health care.

NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, about the last time the U.S. mandated measles vaccinations.

Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News, describes the latest Medicare-for-all bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders and the options for single-payer coverage proposed by lawmakers.

Ohio is the latest Republican-led state to pass a ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. But Tennessee this week backed off on a similar bill, fearing costly legal battles. What now?