For decades, nonprofits, health insurers and hospitals have been trying to solve the problem of the people who need the emergency room again and again. Here are some of the lessons they've learned.
Just 18 facilities were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals so far. Advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are needed to widen the reach and keep health care in rural communities.
Medicaid provides health care for tens of millions of low-income Americans. Now, for the first time, it's being used for housing and rent for people who are homeless or in danger of becoming so.
A Florida woman tried to dispute an emergency room bill, but the hospital and collection agency refused to talk to her — because it was her child's name on the bill, not hers.
Increasingly, private equity firms shape staffing decisions at hospital emergency rooms, research shows. One apparent effect: Hiring fewer doctors and more health care practitioners who earn far less.
At many U.S. hospitals, children and teens are stuck in the emergency department for days or weeks because psychiatric beds are full. Massachussets has a simple, yet promising solution.
A group of doctors trains health care providers to treat miscarriage in the emergency department. This could be increasingly important in states where abortion is outlawed.
Alan Hawes hopes his photos of health care workers and COVID patients will show the toll of this pandemic — and convince the unvaccinated to get their COVID shots.
Alan Hawes hopes his photos of health care workers and COVID patients will show the toll of this pandemic — and convince the unvaccinated to get their COVID shots.
Obstetrical emergency departments are a new aspect of some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask baby Gus' parents about their $2,755 ER charge.
Starting treatment for addiction in the emergency room greatly improves the chances recovery will last, experts say. Cutting red tape, hiring advocates and Uber vouchers can all make a difference.
ER doctors wanted to hospitalize the young man to help ease his withdrawal from opioid dependence. But he declined because he couldn't afford it. His mom says no one told him he had financial options.
To keep emergency services afloat in rural areas, communities will have to go beyond volunteer-based programs to get people to distant hospitals, experts say. Meanwhile, some 911 calls go unanswered.
Some people have skipped care because of finances or fear of the virus, doctors say. Others find medical practices closed to new patients. Many are suffering health consequences, an NPR poll finds.
