Irreversible lung disease has started to show up among young workers who cut, grind and polish countertops made of increasingly popular "engineered" stone. The material is more than 90% silica.
On the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, many families struggling financially can get health care, thanks to Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, their neighbors on the Missouri side don't qualify.
Never mind a runner's high — the buzz some people say they get after a run. Neuroscientist Benedict Kolber was more interested in how to generate pain relief via a brisk walk. It can really work.
Medical and genetic data from more than a million Americans are now in scientific databases. Some programs hoard the data, while others share widely with scientists, hoping to speed medical discovery.
President Trump promises he has a "phenomenal" health plan if the ACA is overturned in court. Here's a glimpse, according to analysts and his advisers, of what might be included in a GOP health plan.
We're all different and that's good, says the U.S. Supreme Court justice. Her new children's book about embracing diversity portrays kids of all abilities working together to create a gorgeous garden.
Disability rights advocates say transportation giants Lyft and Uber are not doing enough to ensure equal transportation access as required under federal law.
No ordinary pair of shorts, these were designed by Harvard scientists to work with the wearer's own leg muscles when walking or running, and might make a soldier's heavy loads easier to carry.
A person with a disability may be practically invisible in some countries — or the target of cruel comments. Global activists gathered in Oregon to learn how to change laws and attitudes.
A day camp in Nashville uses "constraint-induced therapy" to help kids who have physical weakness on one side — often because of a stroke or cerebral palsy — gain strength and independence.
Pittsburgh International Airport has opened a 1,500-square-foot "sensory space" to help people on the autism spectrum decompress during travel. Soothing colors and private, soundproof rooms are a hit.
An interdisciplinary team in San Francisco uses acupressure, massage, counseling and other methods, as well as medicine, to help kids get relief from chronic pain. But such pediatric centers are rare.
This week, NPR profiled a Montana man who was billed nearly half a million dollars for 14 weeks of dialysis, after being caught in a dispute between insurer and the dialysis provider. Now he owes $0.
There's still much research to be done before the device is routinely useful. But one man was able to use it to gently grasp his wife's hand and feel her touch — an emotional moment, he says.
The federal government wants to deploy several new tools for catching insurers that have overcharged Medicare $30 billion in the past three years alone. But the insurance industry is balking.
In January, California expects to enroll 138,000 undocumented, low-income residents under age 26 in the state's version of Medicaid. But young adults say their parents need health care coverage, too.
The ACA is again being put to the test, after a lower court judge ruled the massive health law unconstitutional. The case might yet ricochet back to the Supreme Court ahead of the 2020 election.
Two new reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have found widespread problems in hospice care and say the government needs to open its scorecards on hospice care to the public.
A new documentary tells the story of America's first inpatient unit dedicated to the care of people with AIDS. Nurse Cliff Morrison helped create 5B in 1983, and worked on it with Dr. Paul Volberding.
The median air ambulance bill is more than $36,000 and is seldom covered by health plans. So far, legislative hurdles and industry pressure have kept Congress from stepping in.
Bonnielin Swenor has dedicated her life to helping vision-impaired patients. She also has low vision herself — and she is fighting to increase the presence of disabled people in science and medicine.
Having to come up with $1,000 unexpectedly can be a challenge for anyone. NPR's recent poll on rural health found that especially true for one group: people with disabilities.
Workers in nursing homes, hospital ERs and other health facilities are required by law to notify police whenever they notice likely signs of physical or sexual abuse. But that's often not happening.
