The midterm elections will determine which party controls the House and Senate for the next two years — and that could have a major effect on the future of U.S. health policy.
With high drug prices a hot election issue, drugmakers and the Trump administration are jockeying over how to bring prices down. But critics say the proposed fixes don't have enforcement teeth.
Digital health lawyer Jodi Daniel answers questions about what people can do to control how our medical and health data is used, as smart watches, fitness trackers and other devices gain popularity.
Sometimes discoveries derived from patients' medical data become the foundation of new profit-making companies. A fledgling industry wants to help patients get a cut of the cash.
When 39-year-old Charlie Hinderliter got the flu last winter, he ended up in a medically induced coma and spent 58 days hospitalized. Serious, even fatal, complications can hit patients of any age.
Consumers favor safeguards that help people with a history of health problems still get insurance. In the heat of the midterm campaigns, politicians' arguments don't always add up.
A nonprofit in Philadelphia is making plans to open a supervised drug injection site — which is against the law. Their response to justice department threats of a crackdown? "Bring it on."
People who suffer from prolonged delirium in the hospital are likely to develop long-term mental problems like dementia. Doctors have come up with techniques they say can reduce delirium in the ICU.
President Trump packed a lot of disinformation into his op-ed column for USA Today attacking a Democratic health care proposal. Here are five points to know.
When HIV-positive people leave prison, they often lose access to medical care and the drugs that suppress the virus. It's a missed opportunity in the fight against HIV, public health advocates say.
Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. One reason may be that they face economic and cultural barriers to taking the medications that can prevent recurrence.
Philadelphia has opened a nonprofit planning what may be the first supervised injection site in the country amid threats of a crackdown from the Trump administration. City advocates say they are not backing down.
This medicine to treat opioid addiction is hard to come by — only a fraction of doctors can prescribe it. So some people trying to quit a heroin habit are turning to the black market for help.
A former health insurance executive has made it her mission to bring down high health care costs. She's demanding a better deal for employers — and the workers whose care they pay for.
"He told hospital staff that he had a gun and that he would shoot anyone who came near him," police said, adding that officers approached the man out of concern for other patients who needed care.
New short-term insurance policies will likely be cheaper than Affordable Care Act plans. But those lower prices mean they won't pay for as much health care.
College students are among the least likely to get vaccinated against the flu, which killed more than 80,000 people last winter. Experts say the reasons are a combination of fear and misperception.
A mechanical pump can be life-saving for heart failure patients or it can cause dangerous complications. Doctors can do a better job at explaining the reasons some patients may want to opt out.
Pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, often win patents for incremental changes with debatable value. Now there's a twist involving an opioid addiction treatment.
The overdose antidote naloxone could soon be available in more public places. The Veterans Administration is adding it to its automated defibrillator cabinets. Other institutions are following suit.
Medevac helicopter companies are on the congressional radar, as a funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration nears passage. Consumer protections against deceptive practices could become law.
Many hospitals that serve a large share of low-income patients will benefit from Medicare's less punishing approach to penalties for patient readmissions.
After an accident in an all-terrain vehicle crushed a doctor's left arm, he was whisked by air ambulance to the closest trauma center for specialized care. Soon he was fighting over the $56,603 bill.
NPR is looking at when and why obstetricians and gynecologists put patients on bed rest. If you've been pregnant in the past year and were advised to stay on bed rest, we'd like to hear from you.
