Category: NPR

Supplemental Security Income, a federal program meant to be a financial floor for people unable to work, hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Many recipients are homeless, unable to save for an apartment.

The ACA has required health insurers to provide many medical screenings and other preventive services with no out-of-pocket cost to health plan members. But a recent court decision could upend that.

NPR’s Juana Summers speaks with Chris Rubesch, first vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, about why thousands of nurses are on strike for better work conditions.

The health care industry is obsessed with consumer satisfaction. But national patient surveys still don’t get at an important question: Are hospitals delivering culturally competent care?

A Texas judge ruled that requiring employers to provide coverage for anti-AIDS medication violates religious freedoms and is unconstitutional. The ruling could jeopardize other preventive health care.

The COVID-19 vaccine strategy may be shifting toward Americans getting yearly vaccinations, like many do with annual flu shots.

Updated COVID boosters are now available for anyone age 12 or older. The CDC is urging anyone who is eligible to sign up but some vaccine experts say some people might want to wait.

Religious rules guiding Catholic health care systems often mean their doctors can’t prescribe contraceptives or perform tubal ligations. And sometimes that leaves patients with few other options.

Americans’ life expectancy dropped for the second year in a row and is now the lowest it’s been since the 1920s. COVID-19 is driving the downward trend, according to CDC data.

For decades, the U.S. medical system has adhered to a legally recognized standard for death, one embraced by most states. Why is a uniform standard for the start of human life proving so elusive?