health care

Health & Safety

Federal Legislation Seeks Ban On Shackling Of Pregnant Inmates

4:56pm December 05, 2018

Incarcerated pregnant women are often shackled during medical appointments and childbirth. A provision in a criminal justice bill aims to end the practice in federal facilities.

North Carolina Joins Lawsuit Against Health Care Data Company

4:20pm December 05, 2018

by Sean Bueter

North Carolina's attorney general is joining a lawsuit against a health data company that allegedly lost private patient data to hackers.

Currently students of color are underrepresented in medical schools, but their numbers are slowly growing.

Health & Safety

A Push For Diversity In Medical School Is Slowly Paying Off

5:19pm December 04, 2018

by Mara Gordon

American medical schools have historically been disproportionately white, but they are starting to attract more diverse students. The change may be the result of a diversity policy with teeth.

Medicare's new program will alter a year's worth of payments to 14,959 skilled nursing facilities across the U.S., based on how often in the past fiscal year their residents ended up back in hospitals within 30 days of leaving.

Medicare To Cut Payments To Nursing Homes Whose Patients End Up Back In The Hospital

12:42pm December 01, 2018

by Jordan Rau

Medicare's incentive program to discourage nursing homes from discharging patients too quickly will also give bonuses to facilities that have fewer rehospitalizations.

Kristen Philman first tried methamphetamine in her early 20s, as an alternative to heroin and other opioids. When she discovered she was pregnant, she says, it was a wake-up call, and she did what she needed to do to stop using all those drugs.

Health & Safety

Another Drug Crisis: Methamphetamine Use By Pregnant Women

11:27pm November 29, 2018

by Rhitu Chatterjee

As illegal meth use has made a comeback across the U.S., pregnant women have not been spared, doctors say. New research shows rural areas in the South, Midwest and West have been hit hardest.

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The Trump administration said Thursday it wants states to innovate in ways that could produce more lower-cost health insurance options — even if those alternatives do not provide the same level of financial or medical coverage as an ACA plan.

Trump's Move To Give States More Flexibility Undercuts Obamacare, Critics Say

8:08pm November 29, 2018

by Julie Appleby

The Trump administration offered states specific examples Thursday of how they could change the way they implement the Affordable Care Act. Critics say Trump's plan could drive up premiums for many.

The number of children in the United States without health insurance jumped to 3.9 million in 2017 from about 3.6 million the year before, according to census data.

Health & Safety

Number Of U.S. Kids Who Don't Have Health Insurance Is On The Rise

12:01am November 29, 2018

by Phil Galewitz

Economic growth usually means more kids get health insurance, but that's not been the case during the Trump years, a study shows. For the first time in a decade, the uninsured rate for children is up.

Affordable Care Act navigator Nini Hadwen (right) helped Jorge Hernandez (left) and Marta Aguirre find a plan on the health insurance exchange in Miami in 2013. Today, with fewer navigators, much of that counseling is done by phone instead of in person.

Obamacare Sign-Ups Lag As Trump Slashes Funds For Enrollment Help

7:23pm November 28, 2018

by Phil Galewitz

The Trump administration is spending $10 million this year on health care navigators — down from $63 million in 2016. Nationwide, workers are scrambling to apprise people of insurance options.

Sakran, a Johns Hopkins trauma surgeon, created the Twitter account @ThisIsOurLane and encouraged other doctors to share their experiences treating victims of gun violence.

A Trauma Surgeon Who Survived Gun Violence Is Taking On The NRA

6:21pm November 28, 2018

by Terry Gross

When Joseph Sakran was 17, he was shot in the throat after a high school football game. That experience inspired him to become a surgeon — and to speak out against gun violence.

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Shereese Hickson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012 and is unable to work. She supports herself and her son, Isaiah, on $770 a month.

Health & Safety

Chronically Ill, Traumatically Billed: $123,019 For 2 Multiple Sclerosis Treatments

11:12pm November 27, 2018

by Jay Hancock

Shereese Hickson's doctor wanted her to try a drug called Ocrevus for her multiple sclerosis. Trained as a medical billing coder, Hickson was shocked by the six-figure bill and the share she owed.

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