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Category: NPR
Parents should be patient about getting COVID vaccines for kids, White House says
There are fresh logistical challenges, warns the White House’s COVID czar in an exclusive interview with NPR. For example, young children will be getting a smaller dose delivered via smaller needles.
Getting dental coverage added to Medicare faces pushback from some dentists
Without dental insurance, William Stork has put off getting his rotten tooth pulled; Medicare doesn’t cover the $1,000 procedure. Dentists can’t agree whether all seniors should get that benefit.
108,000 people will get medical debt relief after Stacey Abrams’ PAC gifts $1.34M
The Fair Fight Political Action Committee says its donation to the RIP Medical Debt nonprofit will benefit residents in 5 Southern states, part of Fair Fight Action’s advocacy for Medicaid expansion.
A hospital hiked the price of their healthy baby’s birth by calling it an ’emergency’
“Obstetrical emergency departments” are a new aspect of some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask baby Gus’s parents about their $2,755 ER charge.
Black and Latino families continue to bear pandemic’s great economic toll in U.S.
A new poll finds more than 55% of Black and Latino households have faced serious financial problems in recent months. And more than a quarter have depleted their savings.
The U.S. needs more nurses, but nursing schools don’t have enough slots
Across the country, hospitals are desperate for R.N.s and specialty nurses. Yet, paradoxically, the nursing pipeline has slowed, with educators retiring or returning to clinical work themselves.
In Maine, a looming vaccine deadline for EMTs is stressing small-town ambulance crews
Statewide, the COVID vaccination rate for first responders is more than 95%. But it’s not as high in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can’t function if just a few people quit.
Why helping people pay rent can fight the pandemic
A family in Houston and a plumber in Maryland couldn’t afford rent, which pushed them into crowded living quarters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that common predicament has increased viral spread.
Dr. Rachel Levine is sworn in as the nation’s first transgender four-star officer
Levine leads the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
