These services can make the difference between being able to live at home with family or landing in a nursing facility. But state Medicaid programs don't always pay for them.
An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth's future.
Public health workers are going church to church and house to house in the state's secluded valleys to dispel COVID myths, ease isolation, bring aid, and convince wary residents to get vaccinated.
Should people who get a COVID booster get a different vaccine from their original shot? The results of a highly anticipated study suggest that in some cases the answer may be yes.
Intensive rehabilitative therapy that starts two to three months after a stroke may be key to helping the injured brain rewire, a new study suggests. That's later than covered by many insurance plans.
Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to wait for surgeries and other procedures as critically ill, unvaccinated COVID patients strain the medical system.
Simone Gold isn't alone. NPR found other physicians who retained their licenses despite spreading misinformation online and to the media about effective COVID-19 vaccines and unproven treatments.
ECMO, the highest level of mechanical life support, functions as a temporary heart and lungs for some of COVID-19's sickest patients. But the waitlist is too long for many patients who need it.
Using the COVID vaccine "off-label" — whether that's for booster shots or young children — may be tempting to some vaccine providers, but the CDC warns it could get them into trouble.
If all goes to plan, Americans who got Pfizer or Moderna shots can get a third dose eight months after their last jab. Here's why health officials think you'll need one.
Mask mandates and other interventions can help stop a surge, even where vaccination rates are low, say scientists who've reviewed states' data. When the measures start and how long they last matters.
The sponsor of 4-H clubs nationally is tapping its respected roots in rural communities to promote COVID-19 vaccines. But it won't be easy, locals say. Start with trusted local voices — and listen.
When Medicare began in 1965, its backers expected benefits to expand over time, but politics have mostly stymied that. Congressional Democrats are trying again as part of a $3.5 trillion budget plan.
With bankruptcy looming in 2012, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department. Years later, that decision offers a cautionary tale to other U.S. cities as the painful rebuilding continues.
Weeks after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, doctors are struggling to figure out who should get the drug and how to use it safely.
Some patients who have had COVID-19 develop symptoms resembling early Alzheimer's. Researchers are trying to figure out whether these people are more likely to develop the disease itself.
With much of the U.S. already sweltering this summer, even avid runners, hikers and bikers are wilting. We've got 10 strategies from experts on how to enjoy hot weather exercise without keeling over.
Home health aides work for low wages, but they're critical for elderly and disabled people. A proposal to inject billions of dollars in federal funding may be an opportunity for sweeping change.
The nation's top doctor, Vivek Murthy, says misinformation will keep sowing mistrust and endangering lives unless all Americans do their part to fight it.
To keep emergency services afloat in rural areas, communities will have to go beyond volunteer-based programs to get people to distant hospitals, experts say. Meanwhile, some 911 calls go unanswered.
Seniors, their families and states are eager to keep older Americans in their homes and out of nursing homes, but those efforts are often thwarted by worker shortages and low pay.
More contagious than other variants, and maybe more likely to cause severe disease, Delta is spreading so fast in the U.S. it could cause another surge this summer or fall, according to new research.
A new CDC study finds that people who provide unpaid care for their children or adult loved ones are twice as likely as noncaregivers to have experienced depression or anxiety, or thoughts of suicide.
Run-of-the-mill runny noses and coughs are back, after a break during the pandemic's height, when so many of us were circulating less and wearing masks. Here's how to keep household viruses at bay.
