Health Care

Aetna to exit health insurance exchange, leaving millions without coverage

Health insurer Aetna will exit the federal health insurance exchange next year. Forbes contributor Bruce Japsen tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe that will leave around a million people without coverage.

New financial pressures forcing Planned Parenthood to close some clinics

Planned Parenthood is closing some clinics that offer abortions, even in states where abortion has broad protections, due to new financial pressures.

Some states are reviving plans to require adults to work in order to get Medicaid

Under the new Trump administration, some states are reviving plans to require adults to prove they are working in order to get Medicaid. When Arkansas did this in 2018, 18,000 people lost coverage.

When medical bills arrive in the mail, you have options

Just because a medical bill arrives in the mail doesn't mean you have to pay that exact price. NPR's Life Kit has tips to eliminate, reduce or negotiate a medical bill.

A Seattle doctor was investigated for fertility fraud. The case highlights tension between patient, physician rights

KUOW reviewed hundreds of pages of Washington Medical Commission documents and state legal codes and found a tension the agency faces: balancing a doctor’s right to due process with a patient’s desire for more information about the people they trust with their health care.

Supreme Court to decide if states can strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds

At issue is whether a state, in this case, South Carolina, can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from its state Medicaid program, even though Medicaid funds cannot generally be used to fund abortions.

Long wait times for appointments at your doctor? You can now become a 'member'

There's a critical shortage of primary care doctors across the country, and long wait times for appointments. In response, there are 12,000 "concierge" medical practices now operating in the U.S. that charge patients membership fees. But is this trend worsening the ongoing shortage of primary care doctors for everyone else?

'An Arm and a Leg" podcast explores the cost of health care in the U.S.

Production of cheaper alternatives to name brand obesity drugs will stop on Wednesday

Large-scale compounding facilities have to stop making tirzepatide, the main ingredient in blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound, Wednesday.

Tips to lower your medical bill

Just because a medical bill arrives in the mail doesn't mean you have to pay that exact price. NPR's Life Kit has tips to eliminate, reduce or negotiate a medical bill.