health care

Amid Rural Doctor Shortage, Dozens Of Medical Workers Charged In Opioid Crackdown

5:28pm April 20, 2019

A recent opioid sting caught 60 people, including doctors, accused of enabling addicts. Physician Stephen Loyd tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer how the sting could affect addicted patients.

The Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth houses men for court-mandated addiction treatment.

Prison For Forced Addiction Treatment? A Parent's 'Last Resort' Has Consequences

7:13am April 20, 2019

by Deborah Becker

Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn't treatment. Others say it saves lives.

Union members picket a Stop & Shop in Dorchester, Mass., prior to the arrival of former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday.

'This Is Morally Wrong': Biden Supports Striking Massachusetts Grocery Workers

6:45pm April 18, 2019

by Callum Borchers

Thirty-one thousand Stop & Shop workers are striking in New England over proposed changes to wages and benefits. Eight days in, the strike has shuttered some stores and slowed business at others,

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.

High-Deductible Health Policies Linked To Delayed Diagnosis And Treatment

5:00am April 18, 2019

by Erika Stallings

Her employer offered only a high-deductible health plan; that meant she'd have to pay up to $6,000 out of pocket each year. Advocates for patients say this sort of underinsurance is snatching lives.

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.

How Well Do Workplace Wellness Programs Work?

3:58pm April 16, 2019

by Julie Appleby

These job-based programs can motivate employees to make some changes in behavior, research finds, but don't seem to move the dial on workers' health status or employer spending on health care.

Health & Safety

How Philadelphia Mandated Vaccinations In 1991

8:03am April 14, 2019

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, about the last time the U.S. mandated measles vaccinations.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Examining Sanders' Medicare-For-All Proposal

12:08pm April 13, 2019

Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News, describes the latest Medicare-for-all bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders and the options for single-payer coverage proposed by lawmakers.

Queue Listen Now

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

Republican State Lawmakers Split Over Anti-Abortion Strategy

3:18am April 13, 2019

Ohio is the latest Republican-led state to pass a ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. But Tennessee this week backed off on a similar bill, fearing costly legal battles. What now?

Queue Listen Now

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

Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees

9:05pm April 12, 2019

by Sarah Varney

The Adelanto ICE Processing Center houses nearly 2,000 people in California. Federal, state and watchdog reviews say the Florida-based firm that runs Adelanto fails to provide adequate health care.

Queue Listen Now

The Issue Of Medicare For All Is Dominating The 2020 Democratic Field

4:49pm April 11, 2019

by Alison Kodjak

Several 2020 Democratic candidates support Medicare for All, but what would that proposal look like in action?

Queue Listen Now