Stacey Abrams speaks during a church service in Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 17. A political organization led by the Democrat is branching out into paying off medical debts. Fair Fight Action said it's donating $1.34 million from its political action committee to wipe out debt owed by 108,000 people in Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Steve Helber/AP hide caption
When Caitlin Wells Salerno and Jon Salerno's first son, Hank, was born, his delivery cost the family only $30. Gus' bill came in at more than $16,000, all told — including the $2,755 ER charge. The family was responsible for about $3,600 of the total. Rae Ellen Bichell/KHN hide caption
Los Angeles International Airport and SoFi Stadium employers spoke with potential job applicants at a job fair in Inglewood, Calif., in September. About 19% of all households in an NPR poll say they lost all their savings during the COVID-19 outbreak, and have none to fall back on. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Nurses check on a patient in a Jonesboro, Ark., ICU in August when the delta variant sparked yet another surge of serious COVID-19 cases in the region. The pandemic has only added to a longstanding nursing shortage in the U.S., statistics show. Houston Cofield/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
In between answering 911 calls, Jerrad Dinsmore (left) and Kevin LeCaptain perform a wellness check at the home of a woman in her nineties. The ambulance team in the small town of Waldoboro, Maine was already short-staffed. Then a team member quit recently, after the state mandated all health care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine. Patty Wight/Maine Public Radio hide caption
Erica Cuellar, her husband and her daughter moved in with her father in his home early in the pandemic, after she lost her job. She and her husband were worried they wouldn't be able to afford the rent on their house in Houston with only one income. In July 2020, the whole family tested positive for the coronavirus. Michael Starghill for NPR hide caption
Dr. Rachel Levine testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Capitol Hill in Washington in February. Levine was appointed to lead the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, becoming the nation's first openly transgender four-star officer. Caroline Brehman/AP hide caption
Pastor Billy Joe Lewis was all in favor when a local health worker suggested a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the parking lot of his church in Smilax, Ky. "We've still got to use common sense," Lewis says. "Anything that can ward off suffering and death, I think, is a wonderful thing." Jessica Tezak for KHN hide caption
A doctor stands at a walk-up coronavirus testing site at West County Health Center in San Pablo, Calif., in April 2020. Pandemic burnout has affected thousands of health care workers. Jessica Christian/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images hide caption
The vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The White House says Thursday that the U.S. will commit 17 million additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the African Union. Picture Alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I hide caption
Women rights activists hold up signs as they gather in Washington, DC. to protest the new abortion law in Texas. While she was instrumental to the early abortion-rights movement, many in the crown may not have known the name Pat Maginnis. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images hide caption
Hospitals in Idaho, like St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, remain full after the summer delta surge pushed many to their limits. Kyle Green/AP hide caption
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he will not enforce the county's vaccine mandate in his agency. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
Registered nurse Christie Lindog works at the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, Calif., on Sept. 2. Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Colorado's UCHealth hospital system is requiring any prospective organ transplant recipients to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Here, a man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Thornton, Colo., earlier this year. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
Evidence seized from a drug trafficking operation in central California in early 2020 included methamphetamine and fentanyl with a street value of $1.5 million, authorities said. Tulare County Sheriff's Office via AP hide caption
Dr. Scott Gottlieb led the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 to 2019. His new book discusses successes and failures of the U.S. response and how to plan ahead for future pandemics. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption
Johnson & Johnson has asked U.S. regulators to allow booster shots of its COVID-19 vaccine. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption
Studies show burnout ran rampant in health care prior to the pandemic. Now it's a full-blown crisis. PeopleImages/Getty Images hide caption
Matthew Crecelius, a traveling contract nurse who has worked in a dozen hospitals since the pandemic began, says that he can recall numerous instances where health care worker burnout has had a direct impact on patient care. Elaine Cromie for NPR hide caption
Democratic lawmakers are proposing a way to offer low-income adults Medicaid in states that have so far refused to expand the program. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke about the issue during a press conference with fellow lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on September 23, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo., is implementing a personal panic button system for hundreds of its employees. Assaults of hospital staff tripled from 2019 to 2020, the hospital says. Brandei Clifton/Cox Medical Center hide caption