health care

A tree toppled by Hurricane Maria rests over damaged graves in the Villa Palmeras cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in December 2017.

Study Puts Puerto Rico Death Toll From Hurricane Maria Near 5,000

4:40pm May 29, 2018

by Richard Harris

The death rate is a contentious subject, in part because federal and island governments haven't responded as rapidly to the disaster as they have in other hurricane emergencies.

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Many Medicare patients don't realize they can sometimes pay less out of pocket for a prescription drug if they pay cash, instead of the insurance copay.

To Lower Your Medicare Drug Costs, Ask Your Pharmacist For The Cash Price

10:35am May 29, 2018

by Susan Jaffe

Sometimes a drug plan's copay is higher than the cash price, but insurance rules keep pharmacists from telling Medicare beneficiaries unless they ask.

While Baby Duke Brothers stayed in the NICU, his parents could watch over him via web cam.

Health & Safety

Cameras On Preemies Let In Families, Keep Germs Out

5:02am May 28, 2018

by Blake Farmer

Some hospitals are putting cameras in their neonatal intensive care units to reduce the number of people — and germs — from entering. But some NICU staff may not want to be watched around the clock.

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'Reveal' Report Finds Drug Rehab Program Forcing Addicts To Work As Indentured Employees

6:16pm May 25, 2018

In North Carolina a rehab program uses drug offenders as care-givers for elderly and disabled patients. The participants work more than 100 hours a week without pay taking care of patients and dispensing the same drugs that they were addicted to. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Reveal's reporter Shoshana Walter about her investigation.

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Some personal injury law firms now automatically target online ads at anyone who enters a nearby hospital's emergency room and has a cellphone. The ads may show up on multiple devices for more than a month.

Digital Ambulance Chasers? Law Firms Send Ads To Patients' Phones Inside ERs

6:16pm May 25, 2018

by Bobby Allyn

Personal injury law firms are using location-based mobile ads to target people as they enter emergency rooms. The trend is raising concerns among patients and health privacy experts.

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"As bad as NYU is, Aetna is equally culpable because Aetna's job was to be the checks and balances and to be my advocate," said Michael Frank, seen at his home in Port Chester, N.Y.

Health & Safety

Why Your Health Insurer Doesn't Care About Your Big Bills

2:38pm May 25, 2018

by Marshall Allen

Patients may think their insurers are fighting on their behalf for the best prices. But saving patients money is often not their top priority. Just ask Michael Frank about his hip surgery.

Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb tweeted Tuesday that he is ready to implement a right-to-try law "in a way that achieves Congress' intent to promote access and protect patients."

Health & Safety

Right To Try Act Poses Big Challenge For FDA

2:38pm May 24, 2018

by Michael D. Becker

Legislation that would give terminally ill people a direct path to get experimental treatments raises questions about how the Food and Drug Administration would safeguard patients.

Patients in the study had "significantly lower out-of-pocket costs — on the average, $500 — when they visited a physical therapist first," says Bianca Frogner, a health economist at the University of Washington.

Trying Physical Therapy First For Low Back Pain May Curb Use Of Opioids

9:52pm May 23, 2018

by Patti Neighmond

A study of patients with low back pain finds that those who got physical therapy first needed fewer pricey scans and surgeries and had "significantly lower out-of-pocket costs" for treatment overall.

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The health insurance company Anthem has introduced a policy discouraging patients from "avoidable" emergency room visits. Patients and doctors are pushing back against the program.

Anthem Policy Discouraging 'Avoidable' Emergency Room Visits Faces Criticism

4:18pm May 23, 2018

by Samantha Raphelson

Under the health insurer's policy, Anthem can retroactively restrict or deny coverage if the company decides that a visit to the emergency room could have been avoided.

California is starting to push hospitals throughout the state to lower their rates of medically unnecessary C-sections.

California's Message To Hospitals: Shape Up Or Lose 'In-Network' Status

11:55am May 23, 2018

by April Dembosky

Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, will exclude hospitals from insurance networks if they don't reduce their numbers of C-sections, back scans and opioid prescriptions.