Affordable Care Act

Supporters of insurance coverage for birth control rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court in March.

As Supreme Court Sends Back Birth Control Case, Both Sides Claim Victory

4:14pm May 16, 2016

by Julie Rovner

The Supreme Court gave lower courts additional instructions to try and reach an accommodation on balancing religious rights and no-cost access to contraception.

Watch the webcast April 20 at 12:30 p.m. ET about health care inequality from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Webcast: Health Care Inequalities In America

4:32pm April 20, 2016

by Joe Neel

NPR polls found significant differences in the quality of health care experienced by Americans, depending on income. A webcast at 12:30 p.m. ET Wednesday will examine the disparities.

UnitedHealth Group, based in Minnetonka, Minn., says it expects to lose $650 million on health exchange plans this year. Many people who bought the plans are in relatively poor health, the company says.

UnitedHealth To Leave Most Obamacare Exchanges In 2017

3:38pm April 19, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

Blaming a lack of profitability, UnitedHealth says it will drop out of most health marketplaces insurance exchanges next year. The insurer's first quarter profits in 2016 were $1.6 billion.

Nuns and others opposed to the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday.

Health & Safety

Supreme Court Takes Up Birth Control Access Yet Again

3:09pm March 23, 2016

by Julie Rovner

For the fourth time in five years, the justices consider a requirement of the Affordable Care Act that most health plans provide women access to birth control without copays.

There's been considerable debate as to whether identifying people with prediabetes could have health benefits.

HHS Says Diabetes Prevention Program Will Save Medicare Money

12:30pm March 23, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

The program was tested in YMCAs around the country, and helped people lose about 5 percent of their body weight in a year. The goal is to make it a Medicare-eligible prevention program.

Signups Exceed Expectations For Montana's Medicaid Expansion

11:00am March 23, 2016

by Eric Whitney

Almost twice as many people as expected have signed up for Medicaid, and it has saved Montana $3 million so far, according to a progress report. But the program still has critics.

Ohio residents feel split about Obamacare

Split Views On Health Overhaul In Ohio

7:29am March 11, 2016

by Sarah Jane Tribble

A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that people in the politically important state of Ohio are divided over Obamacare.

Queue Listen Now

Hospitals Adapt ERs To Meet Patient Demand For Routine Care

5:38pm March 10, 2016

by Abe Aboraya

Many Floridians and other Americans turn to the ER for problems that aren't emergencies, a poll suggests, even though the experience can be unpleasant. Some ERs are striving to change their image.

Queue Listen Now

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has unveiled a health care plan that starts with repealing Obamacare.

Trump Health Plan Recycles GOP Staples And Adds A Populist Wrinkle

6:07pm March 03, 2016

by Scott Hensley

Donald Trump drew fire in recent debates for his lack of specifics on how he would change the country's health care system. He released a plan Wednesday that is unlikely to satisfy critics.

Blue skies in San Juan, Puerto Rico belie the U.S. territory's struggle with massive debt. The islands have a generous health care program that covers nearly everyone, but economists say it has never been adequately funded.

Puerto Rico's Growing Financial Crisis Threatens Health Care, Too

5:01pm March 03, 2016

Unless Congress and the White House can agree on a funding fix for Medicaid in the U.S. territory, many worry that Puerto Rico's health care system could collapse when stopgap funding ends next year.