The second time Vanessa Quintero's family caught the virus, probably from her 8-year-old daughter, fewer people got sick. They and their doctors credit the protection of vaccination.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says health providers who have exploited a complicated system to charge exorbitant rates will have to bear their share of the cost — or close.
Intergenerational indoor gatherings, a.k.a, Thanksgiving dinner, still pose a COVID risk to older adults and the immunocompromised. Here's how to keep everyone safe.
An alternative to original Medicare, the private plans are run mostly by major insurers. A recent analysis estimates Medicare overpaid these insurers by $106 billion from 2010 through 2019.
The open enrollment period to buy health insurance on HealthCare.gov starts now and runs through Jan. 15, 2022. Look for more options and expanded subsidies this year — and more help signing up.
Vaccination rates in much of rural America remain low. But there's one consistent holdout demographic: seniors, many of whom remember lining up eagerly as children to get the polio vaccine.
Without dental insurance, William Stork has put off getting his rotten tooth pulled; Medicare doesn't cover the $1,000 procedure. Dentists can't agree on whether all seniors should get that benefit.
These services can make the difference between being able to live at home with family or landing in a nursing facility. But state Medicaid programs don't always pay for them.
Public health workers are going church to church and house to house in the state's secluded valleys to dispel COVID myths, ease isolation, bring aid, and convince wary residents to get vaccinated.
An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth's future.
Should people who get a COVID booster get a different vaccine from their original shot? The results of a highly anticipated study suggest that in some cases the answer may be yes.
Intensive rehabilitative therapy that starts two to three months after a stroke may be key to helping the injured brain rewire, a new study suggests. That's later than covered by many insurance plans.
![HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says doctors who are balking at the rules of the No Surprises Act aren't looking out for patients. "I don't think when someone is overcharging that it's going to hurt the overcharger to now have to [accept] a fair price," Becerra says. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Biden team's rules would push insurance premiums down by 0.5% to 1%.](/sites/default/files/styles/three_two_702x468/public/npr_story_images/2021/11/22/gettyimages-1236053656-77bb56d0cec44cda1a4955068ae26dcc6415c2d8.jpg?h=60a2d821&itok=-XK8tz-5)
