health care

Between 1999 and 2014, the number of deaths in the U.S. from prescribed opioids quadrupled. Meanwhile medical students were getting very little training on how to spot patients who are at risk for addiction, or how to treat it.

As Opioid Epidemic Surges, Medical Schools Try To Keep Pace

2:00pm July 27, 2016

by Natalie Jacewicz

Most medical schools offer little teaching about opioid addiction, even though there is unmet demand for treatment in many areas. Stanford University's medical school is trying to change that.

When your health insurer reclassifies a prescription drug you take from tier 1 to tier 2, it can sharply increase the portion of the drug's cost that you're expected to pay.

Insurers May Share Blame For Increased Price Of Some Generic Drugs

6:31pm July 26, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Consumers often blame drug companies for the rapidly rising costs of some commonly used generic drugs. But changes made by insurers influence the price of these drugs, too, it turns out.

A chronic shortage of donor hearts places doctors in an ethical dilemma.

Should Doctors Game The Transplant Wait List To Help Their Patients?

6:13pm July 24, 2016

by Matthew Movsesian

A cardiologist knows how to game the system to get his patients bumped up the list for a heart transplant by giving them care they don't need. Is that being a good doctor — or a moral failure?

$1 Billion Health Care Fraud Took Advantage Of Medicare In Florida, Agents Say

3:18pm July 22, 2016

by Bill Chappell

Investigators say Philip Esformes, 47, used his access to thousands of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to perpetrate a massive and profitable fraud.

Justice Department Moves To Block 2 Health Insurance Mergers

6:27pm July 21, 2016

by John Ydstie

The Justice Department and a number of states filed suit today to block two big mergers in the health insurance industry. Anthem was planning to acquire Cigna, and Aetna sought to buy Humana. Justice Department officials said they had no doubt the mergers would reduce competition and hurt consumers.

Queue Listen Now

The Department of Justice is suing Anthem to block a proposed deal to buy rival Cigna and to block another proposed health insurance merger between Aetna and Humana.

Justice Department Moves To Block 2 Big Health Insurance Mergers

5:48pm July 21, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

The Justice Department says proposed deals between Aetna and Humana as well as Anthem and Cigna would increase the cost of medical care for Americans. The deals are worth a combined $91 billion.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence took questions from the media as he and his wife, Karen, left their New York hotel to meet with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 15. Pence has drawn criticism from the left and the right for various health car

As Indiana Governor, Mike Pence's Health Policy Has Been Contentious

4:17pm July 21, 2016

by Jake Harper

Pence signed into law some of the tightest abortion rules in the U.S., and was slow to respond to Indiana's heroin and HIV crises, critics say. But he compromised with Obama to expand Medicaid.

The physical therapy workouts a rehabilitation facility offers can be a crucial part of healing, doctors say. But a government study finds preventable harm — including bedsores and medication errors — occurring in some of those facilities, too.

Rehab Hospitals May Harm A Third Of Patients, Report Finds

11:35am July 21, 2016

by Marshall Allen

Patients sent to rehabilitation facilities to recover from medical crises or surgery too often suffer additional harm from the care they get there, according to research by U.S. health officials.

Kathy Snook, Terri Anderson and Gary Snook traveled from Montana to Dr. Forest Tennant's office in West Covina, Calif.

Montana's 'Pain Refugees' Leave State To Get Prescribed Opioids

5:24pm July 20, 2016

by Corin Cates-Carney

With rising awareness of opioid abuse, some pain patients say doctors are less likely to prescribe them. One Montana sufferer goes to great lengths to get his prescription — he flies to California.

An anti-abortion demonstrator outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in March. Last month the high court struck down a Texas law that imposed tight regulations on abortion providers.

Anti-Abortion Groups Take New Aim With Diverse Strategies

4:39pm July 20, 2016

by Julie Rovner

After a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last month reaffirmed a woman's right to an abortion, anti-abortion groups are rethinking their approach. And they don't all agree on the best next steps.