The U.S. desperately needs more Black and Hispanic doctors, research shows. But financial pressures and discrimination can keep young people from even applying to med school.
Despite laws that say mental health care should be paid for on a par with other medical care, health insurance stopped covering the care a suicidal teen needed before she was stable.
Health care vans that provided COVID testing and vaccines in the pandemic are now providing a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. New access to federal funds could expand the trend.
Billing experts and lawmakers are playing catch-up as providers get around new consumer protections, leaving patients like Danielle Laskey of Washington state with big bills for emergency care.
They came to tell Congress about their "recovery plan" for physicians, which includes a Medicare pay boost and an end to some frustrating insurance company requirements.
Medicare suddenly stopped paying for the pricey drug that prolongs his life. As he waits for an appeal, this retired physician wonders if he should give up treatment to spare his family the cost.
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.
As the U.S. government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show some owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected.
U.S. doctors can now choose Amjevita instead, the first of several close copies of the popular rheumatoid arthritis drug expected this year. But industry-watchers warn consumer savings may be limited.
Most doctors get little training in the science of obesity or how to counsel people with the disease. As a result, many patients experience stigma in the exam room.
Getting abortion medication online is easier than ever thanks to regulatory changes. The practice is pushing the boundaries of the traditional doctor-patient relationship.
Instead of health insurance, the Rev. Jeff King had signed up for an alternative that left members of the plan to share the costs of health care. That meant lower premiums, but a huge hospital bill.
An examination of billing policies and practices at more than 500 hospitals across the country shows widespread reliance on aggressive collection tactics.
