health care

Tens of millions of Americans are making painful sacrifices due to health care debt

4:58pm June 22, 2022

by Noam Levey

More than a 100 million people in the U.S. are burdened by medical debt. An investigation by NPR and Kaiser Health shows the painful sacrifices many are making to pay their medical and dental bills.

A mother holds her 1-year-old son as he receives the child Covid-19 vaccine in his thigh at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Mass., on June 21, 2022. The temple was one of the first sites in the state to offer vaccinations to anyone in the public.

COVID vaccines are finally here for young kids. But the logistics aren't easy

6:58am June 22, 2022

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

NPR talks to Claire Hannan, who has helped navigate vaccine rollouts in all 50 states, about some of the challenges involved in quickly getting shots out to millions of young kids.

Medical debt can place a heavy burden on the lives of patients recovering from a health crisis.

North Carolina considers new laws to 'de-weaponize' medical debt and protect patients

5:00am June 21, 2022

by Aneri Pattani

Medical debt can ruin lives, and in many states patients have few financial protections. North Carolina is considering a new law that could lead the way in shielding patients from high medical bills.

Health & Safety

A secret abortion shaped the rest of these two sisters' lives

8:55am June 18, 2022

by Paige Pfleger

Two sisters in Tennessee each got pregnant when they were young. The paths they took and the secrets they kept have shaped their lives.

The Midwest and South could see larger abortion deserts if Roe v. Wade is overturned

4:27pm June 17, 2022

by Pien Huang

About a quarter of clinics that offer abortions would shut down if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Those closures would be concentrated in the Midwest and South where abortion services are already scarce.

Some lost their homes. Some emptied their retirement accounts. Some struggled to feed and clothe their families. Medical debt now touches more than 100 million people in America, as the U.S. health care system pushes patients into debt on a mass scale.

Health & Safety

Sick and struggling to pay, 100 million people in the U.S. live with medical debt

8:21am June 16, 2022

by Noam Levey

The U.S. health system now produces debt on a mass scale, a new investigation shows. Patients face gut-wrenching sacrifices.

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Health & Safety

Medical debt upended their lives. Here's what it took from them

5:00am June 16, 2022

First, they were struck by illness and then by medical bills they couldn't pay. Here are seven stories of Americans living under the shadow of health care debt.

Burundian refugee Richard Samuel, 14, holds his homemade guitar as he waits to be transferred to Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania in 2015.

Opinion: From Kigoma to Kyiv, refugees everywhere deserve quality health care

9:10am June 15, 2022

After visiting Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, two trainees in medicine and public health at Johns Hopkins reflect on disparities in the quality of medical and surgical care provided to refugees.

Former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham arrives at a debate for Democrats seeking their party's nomination in South Carolina's governor's race on Friday, June 10, 2022, in Columbia, S.C.

Democrat Joe Cunningham to face Republican Henry McMaster in S.C. race for governor

10:27pm June 14, 2022

by Acacia Squires

Former Congressman Joe Cunningham, a Democrat who once flipped a congressional seat in deep-red South Carolina, will face Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in the race for governor in November.

A Black woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Tampa, Fla. Black Americans have died of the disease at a rate more than double that of white people.

'1619 Project' journalist lays bare why Black Americans 'live sicker and die quicker'

1:37pm June 14, 2022

by Dave Davies

Linda Villarosa says bias in the health care system and the "weathering" affect of living in a racist society are taking a serious toll on African Americans. Her new book is Under the Skin.