The Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth houses men for court-mandated addiction treatment. Robin Lubbock/WBUR hide caption
Health Care The state of health care, health insurance, new medical research, disease prevention, and drug treatments. Interviews, news, and commentary from NPR's correspondents. Subscribe to podcasts.
Health Care
Union members picket a Stop & Shop in Dorchester, Mass., prior to the arrival of former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday. Scott Eisen/Getty Images hide caption
The out-of-pocket expense of mammograms, MRIs and other tests and treatments can be several thousand dollars each year when you have a high-deductible health policy. Lester Lefkowitz/Getty Images hide caption
A large new study finds mixed results for the effectiveness of programs aimed at motivating healthful behavior — such as more exercise and better nutrition — among employees. Erik Isakson/Getty Images/Tetra images RF hide caption
In the Tennessee Capitol, state Rep. Matthew Hill took heat from abortion-rights proponents last month who had gathered to protest a bill he favored that would ban abortions after about six weeks' pregnancy. That legislation was eventually thwarted in the Tennessee Senate, however, when some of his fellow Republicans voted it down, fearing the high cost of court challenges. Sergio Martinez-Beltran/WPLN hide caption
A guard escorts a detained immigrant from his "segregation cell" back into the general population at the Adelanto Detention Facility in November 2013. Today the privately run ICE facility in Adelanto, Calif., houses nearly 2,000 men and women and has come under sharp criticism by the California attorney general and other investigators for health and safety problems. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption
Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees
Kaiser Health News
Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2019 on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption
Prosecutors charged 24 people in an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare, one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever investigated by the FBI. Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
The North American porcupine has a cute face, but it has upward of 30,000 menacing quills covering much of its body. The slow-moving herbivore uses them as a last-resort defense against predators. Lindsay Wildlife Experience hide caption
HHS Secretary Alex Azar at a White House roundtable discussion of health care prices in January. Azar tells NPR his office is now in "active negotiations and discussion" with drugmakers on how to make HIV prevention medicines more available and "cost-effective." Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption
How HHS Secretary Reconciles Proposed Medicaid Cuts, Stopping The Spread Of HIV
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will lead the Senate Finance Committee's questioning Tuesday of executives from pharmacy benefit managers about drug costs. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry. Most assaults come from patients and patients' families. Phil Fisk/Cultura RF/Getty Images hide caption
Facing Escalating Workplace Violence, Hospital Employees Have Had Enough
Before it closed March 1, the 25-bed Columbia River Hospital, in Celina, Tenn., served the town of 1,500 residents. The closest hospital now is 18 miles from Celina — a 30-minute or more drive on mountain roads. Blake Farmer/WPLN hide caption
Economic Ripples: Hospital Closure Hurts A Town's Ability To Attract Retirees
Things in Venezuela are so bad that patients who are hospitalized must bring not only their own food but also medical supplies like syringes and scalpels as well as their own soap and water, a new report says. Barcroft Media/Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Carlos Gutierrez examines a young girl at a shelter in El Paso that was set up for recent migrants. The girl's mother said her daughter's deep cough arose while the family was in immigration custody. Anna Maria Barry-Jester/Kaiser Health News hide caption
If a doctor's office is like Blockbuster, Hims feels more like Netflix. It's a way to skip the long waits and crowds and get generic Viagra, hair growth treatment and other medicine and vitamins with minimal interaction with a health care provider — for better and worse. PeopleImages/Getty Images hide caption
A medical assistant administers insulin to an adolescent patient who has Type 1 diabetes. Cigna's pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, says it covers 1.4 million people who take insulin. Picture Alliance/Getty Images hide caption
Surprise bills happen when patients go to a hospital they think is in their insurance network but are seen by doctors or specialists who aren't. PeopleImages/Getty Images hide caption
President Trump says Republicans will pass "a great health care package" after the 2020 election. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption
A certified nursing assistant wipes Neva Shinkle's face with chlorhexidine, an antimicrobial wash. Shinkle is a patient at Coventry Court Health Center, a nursing home in Anaheim, Calif., that is part of a multicenter research project aimed at stopping the spread of MRSA and CRE — two types of bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. Heidi de Marco/KHN hide caption
Liu Yuejin of China's National Narcotics Control Commission speaks at a Beijing press conference on Monday. He announced that all fentanyl-related drugs will become controlled substances, effective May 1. Sam McNeil/AP hide caption
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, speaks to state legislators in 2018. Bevin, who is running for re-election this fall, asked the federal government to impose work requirements on many people who receive Medicaid. Bevin's predecessor, a Democrat, did not seek these requirements when he expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act. Timothy D. Easley/AP hide caption
Both Democrats and Republicans have introduced proposals that would impose a cap on out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs for Medicare patients. But it's still unclear whether those moves will gain a foothold. Jeffrey Hamilton/Getty Images hide caption