A rural community loses its hospital — a standalone ER fills the gap

May 14, 2019
Quick thinking and a $2.2 million investment preserved the emergency room.
A standalone emergency room in Georgia.
Sam Whitehead

CVS tries to gain customers ... with smiles

Apr 25, 2019
CVS and SmileDirectClub have a lot to gain from partnering.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Trump administration reverses course on ACA

Mar 26, 2019
In a filing with a federal appeals court in New Orleans Monday, the Trump administration said the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down as unconstitutional. It’s asking the court to affirm a December ruling by a Texas judge, who found that the repeal of financial penalties for not having insurance rendered the whole […]
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (C) talks to reporters with Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) (L) and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on July 18, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In Oakland and elsewhere, health care is investing in affordable housing

Mar 12, 2019
Kensington Gardens' experience is indicative of a developing trend.
Ameria Lipscomb at her Kensington Gardens apartment.
Raquel Maria Dillon for Marketplace

Full-time school nurses in short supply

Mar 11, 2019
According to a recent study, fewer than 40 percent of schools employ a full-time nurse.
Nurse Maxine Pare inside her office at Etna-Dixmont Elementary School in Etna, Maine.
Robbie Feinberg for Marketplace

How specialist agencies help Chinese mothers give birth in the U.S.

Mar 7, 2019
Expectant parents pay them tens of thousands of dollars to arrange every aspect of their trip.
The 2013 movie "Finding Mr Right" is a romantic comedy focused on Wen Jiajia, an unmarried pregnant woman from Beijing who flees to Seattle to give birth. It raised awareness of the trend of Chinese women having American babies.
Courtesy of Mtime

Cancer death rates have fallen 27 percent

Jan 9, 2019
Oncology experts say advances in cancer drugs have played a major role.
Cathy Bradley says many cancer patients stay at work because they need the health insurance their employer provides.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Flu season could be less damaging, experts say

Jan 8, 2019
During last year’s season, an estimated 80,000 people died.
A sign advertising flu shots is displayed at a Walgreens pharmacy on Jan. 22, 2018 in San Francisco, California. 
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

ER bills are expensive. And secretive.

Jan 7, 2019
In some hospitals, you could pay thousands of dollars just to sit in the waiting room.
"The costs are high — and they vary hugely from hospital to hospital," says Vox's Sarah Kliff. "Case in point: I found one hospital charging $1 for a squirt of an antibiotic ointment called bacitracin —and another charging $76."
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Big Pharma is betting big on cancer drugs

Jan 3, 2019
Bristol-Myers Squibb announced Thursday that it’s going to acquire another drugmaker, Celgene. The deal is worth about $74 billion. The combined company will have nine products with sales of more than a billion dollars a year, including some blockbuster cancer drugs. The merger is a sign that Big Pharma is betting big on cancer medications. […]
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