Category: NPR

Sending the right message about the omicron variant is tricky

Scientists may not know for a couple weeks yet how risky the new coronavirus variant will be to public health. But getting out front now about what is known helps dispel misinformation, they say.

These women speak candidly about their abortions. Here’s what they want you to know

In D.C. and across the country, people gathered by the thousands in coordinated rallies to demand reproductive justice for all. The main message? Everyone loves someone who’s had an abortion.

How Black tech entrepreneurs are tackling health care’s race gap

Determined to improve the way doctors connect with their patients, a new wave of innovators are using technology to match people of color with culturally competent professionals.

More veterans with PTSD will soon get help from service dogs. Thank the ‘PAWS’ Act

Service dogs have long helped veterans with vision or mobility problems. Now the PAWS Veterans Therapy Act will help connect specially trained dogs to some veterans with symptoms of traumatic stress.

Voice-only telehealth might go away with pandemic rules set to expire

State rules were temporarily loosened in 2020 to help patients get care outside a doctor’s office. But is telehealth by phone safe and effective? State legislatures and insurers must soon decide.

Becerra defends HHS rules aimed at reining in surprise medical bills

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says health providers who have exploited a complicated system to charge exorbitant rates will have to bear their share of the cost — or close.

CDC advisers back expansion of COVID boosters for all adults

Hours after the Food and Drug Administration authorized booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine for all adults 18 years and older, a panel of experts endorsed their use with a few caveats.

The ER charged him $6,589.77 for 6 stitches, a cost that led his wife to avoid the ER

With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee couple’s experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly delay when they needed help the most.

Biden’s plan to stop surprise medical bills faces bipartisan pushback in Congress

Congress passed a law last year to shield patients from surprise out-of-network medical charges. But many doctors in the House now say the way the law is to be implemented unfairly favors insurers.

Colleges are turning to science to limit suicide contagion and help heal campuses

The new strategy is called “postvention.” It means having a plan built on truth, compassion and counseling that quickly addresses the mental health needs of friends and classmates after a suicide.