health policy

It's still early days for AI in health care, but already racial bias has been found in some of the tools. Here, health care professionals at a hospital in California protest racial injustice after the murder of George Floyd.

Health & Safety

AI in medicine needs to be carefully deployed to counter bias – and not entrench it

11:29am June 06, 2023

Powerful new artificial intelligence tools can perpetuate long-standing racial inequities if they are not designed very carefully. Researchers and regulators are taking note, but perils are vast.

Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy ( left) and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch teamed up on a series of landmark legislative health care achievements, such as the Ryan White program on AIDS treatment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the first major federal

Sen. Orrin Hatch's legacy tracks the GOP's evolution on health

5:49am April 28, 2022

by Julie Rovner

The man who forged successful alliances with Democratic health giants, such as Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Waxman, fell back on his deep conservative roots as opposition grew to the Affordable Care Act.

President Trump has promised at campaign rallies to protect patients with preexisting conditions, but he has not explained how he plans to do that.

Health & Safety

If The ACA Falls, Protecting Preexisting Conditions Could Be Harder Than It Sounds

12:20pm October 27, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Though the Trump administration is trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in court, it's vowed that people with health problems will still be able to get insured. Here's why that could be tricky.

Opponents running to Joe Biden's left say his health plan for America merely "tinkers around the edges" of the Affordable Care Act. But a close read reveals some initiatives in Biden's plan that are so expansive they might have trouble passing even a Cong

Radical Or Incremental? What's Really In Joe Biden's Health Plan

9:21pm July 20, 2019

by Julie Rovner

The Biden plan released this week is an update of the Affordable Care Act with controversial differences. Among them: a "public option" that covers abortion, and subsidized premiums for more people.

Vapor from e-cigarettes contains toxins, although fewer than conventional cigarettes.

E-Cigarettes Likely Encourage Kids To Try Tobacco But May Help Adults Quit

4:19pm January 23, 2018

While not as toxic as regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes do pose a health risk and largely contain the addictive substance nicotine, according to a major new health review ordered by the government.

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Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., has drawn up a proposed amendment to the GOP health care bill, hoping to attract enough support to pass the House.

New GOP Health Proposal Could Ditch Protections For People Who Are Sick

6:58pm April 20, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

The proposal allows states to put people with pre-existing conditions into high-risk pools and get rid of minimum health benefits for health insurance plans if they choose.

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., Sen. Chris Murphy D-Conn., Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called for Senate passage of the 21st Century Cures Act on Monday.

Mental Health Care Gets A Boost From 21st Century Cures Act

6:12pm December 07, 2016

by Liz Szabo

Early intervention for treating psychosis and grants to train more psychologists and psychiatrists are just some of the ways the legislation would change mental health services.

Lobbyists seeking to influence the 21st Century Cures Act descended on lawmakers.

Legislation That Would Shape FDA And NIH Triggers Lobbying Frenzy

6:00am November 25, 2016

by Sydney Lupkin

More than 1,455 lobbyists weighed in on the 21st Century Cures Act in this congressional cycle. Only one health bill since 2011 has garnered more attention.

How Your Health Data Lead A Not-So-Secret Life Online

5:00am July 30, 2016

by Angus Chen

Apps can make managing health care a lot easier, but most don't have the privacy protections required of doctors and hospitals. And a simple Web search can clue in advertisers to health concerns.

Watch the webcast April 20 at 12:30 p.m. ET about health care inequality from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Webcast: Health Care Inequalities In America

4:32pm April 20, 2016

by Joe Neel

NPR polls found significant differences in the quality of health care experienced by Americans, depending on income. A webcast at 12:30 p.m. ET Wednesday will examine the disparities.