health care

Postpartum care falls short for Black women. One mother is trying to fix that

4:50pm August 16, 2022

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Jade Kearney, CEO and cofounder of She Matters, a digital platform aimed at addressing disparities in postpartum healthcare for Black mothers.

Rural communities with struggling hospitals often turn to outside investors willing to take over their health care centers. Some are willing to sell the hospitals for next to nothing to companies that promise to keep them running.

Health & Safety

Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies

12:03pm August 16, 2022

by Blake Farmer

Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they're selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.

After years of carrying medical debt from the premature birth of her daughter, Terri Logan recently discovered a nonprofit called RIP Medical Debt had paid off her bills.

This group's wiped out $6.7 billion in medical debt, and it's just getting started

6:47am August 15, 2022

by Yuki Noguchi

Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.

Queue Listen Now

Supporters stand in front of a pile of fire burned wreckage at Knoxville's Planned Parenthood on Jan. 6.

How gender-affirming care may be impacted when clinics that offer abortions close

6:59am August 14, 2022

by Juliana Kim

After a Planned Parenthood in Knoxville, Tenn., burned down in January, patients relying on gender-affirming care scrambled to find support elsewhere.

Health & Safety

The Latino community is facing issues with misinformation on abortions

9:10am August 13, 2022

by Daniel Estrin

NPR's Daniel Estrin speaks to Elizabeth Estrada of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice about the spread of abortion misinformation in the Latino community.

Queue Listen Now

Abortion-rights advocates are using social media to reach young people who have more questions than ever about how to get an abortion.

Health & Safety

Long uncertain, young people's access to abortion is more complicated than ever

7:00am August 13, 2022

by Megan Burbank

As more states restrict abortion, the obstacles for minors who need the procedure are growing. Abortion-rights advocates warn the legal upheaval is leaving young people confused and without options.

This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle.

Q&A: The polio virus was detected in New York City wastewater. Do you need to worry?

1:45pm August 12, 2022

by Jaclyn Diaz

The highly infectious viral disease can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and even death in some cases. Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated if they haven't been.

Health & Safety

The FDA recommends 3 home tests if you're exposed to COVID to boost accuracy

5:46pm August 11, 2022

by The Associated Press

Previously, the FDA had advised taking two rapid antigen tests over two or three days to rule out infection. But the agency says new studies suggest that protocol can miss too many infections.

A room in a Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinic in Waukegan, where abortion providers from Wisconsin are helping to provide access to more patients from their home state now that abortion is nearly banned there.

Abortion is legal in Illinois. In Wisconsin, it's nearly banned. So clinics teamed up

6:06am August 11, 2022

by Kristen Schorsch

After Wisconsin left an 1849 near-total abortion ban in place, some providers began commuting to Illinois to treat patients. These Planned Parenthood partnerships could be a model for the future.

Queue Listen Now

Louisiana's abortion ban has doctors worried about patients — and their own careers

5:26pm August 10, 2022

by Rosemary Westwood

Louisiana's abortion ban makes an exception if the fetus would not survive birth or to save a patient's life. But doctors say they fear that vague wording puts their patients and careers at risk.