health care

Minnesotans Question State's Ailing Insurance Marketplace

7:09pm August 04, 2014

by Elizabeth Stawicki

Minnesota spent millions on creating its health care website, and while the state's added 180,000 people to insurance coverage, some are asking whether it was worth it for the state to go it alone.

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Traditional warning labels on medicine boxes tend to be long on confusing language, critics say, but short on helpful numbers.

Health & Safety

How Well Does A Drug Work? Look Beyond The Fine Print

12:31pm August 01, 2014

by NPR staff

A husband and wife who are doctors have been working on fact boxes for drugs that, like nutrition labels for foods, would more concisely convey a medicine's benefits and risks.

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After 5 Weeks Of Haggling, Congress Inks Bipartisan VA Bill

7:40pm July 28, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

Congress has reached a bipartisan deal to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs, after nearly two months of tense negotiations.

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Federal Court Throws Out Health Care Subsidies In 36 States

1:38pm July 22, 2014

Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News explains a federal appeals court ruling Tuesday that overturns subsidies provided to low- and middle-income people in states that use the federal health exchanges.

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Dr. Charu Sawhney examines patient Mang Caan. Sawhney supports the Affordable Care Act, but has been frustrated by how difficult it is to find specialists who accept some of the plans her patients bought.

Patients With Low-Cost Insurance Struggle To Find Specialists

1:00pm July 18, 2014

by Carrie Feibel

A Houston internist who supported the Affordable Care Act now finds that many of her patients who bought less expensive coverage have trouble getting the specialized care they need.

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Bryan McDonel and his father, Mike, both served multiple tours in Iraq with the National Guard. Bryan was first prescribed painkillers before his deployment, and his dependence on medication prompted a downward spiral.

A Growing Number Of Veterans Struggles To Quit Powerful Painkillers

3:31pm July 16, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

Service members are prescribed narcotic painkillers three times as often as civilians. For some vets, dependence on those pills becomes a bigger problem than their original ailment.

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Many servicemen and women are prescribed a mountain of pills for PTSD, pain and other conditions. But some don't want to be on those meds, so they stop taking them — against doctors' orders.

Veterans Kick The Prescription Pill Habit, Against Doctors' Orders

6:28am July 13, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

There's overmedicating and self-medicating, but some vets are "de-medicating." Prescribed multiple drugs to deal with PTSD and pain, they've stopped taking them — without authorization.

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What Looks Like Overcharging By Your Hospital Might Not Be

12:10pm July 10, 2014

by Eric Whitney

In 2012, Medicare was rocked by allegations that hospitals were systematically overcharging the program by miscoding electronic medical records. A study released Wednesday took another look.

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Health & Safety

Study Could Lead to Changes in High Blood Pressure Treatment

6:00pm July 06, 2014

A new study conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center calls into question the commonly accepted medical advice that lower blood pressure is always better.

Are Life Spans Getting Longer? It Depends On How Wealthy You Are

8:07pm June 23, 2014

by Kelly McEvers

While life expectancies are getting longer for those who are well off, life spans for poor women are actually getting shorter. The stories of two women, from two different places, illustrate the gap.

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