�鶹Ů��

All Coverage

�鶹Ů�� Health News' 'What the Health?'

For ACA Plans, It’s Time to Shop Around

Episode 321

Nov. 2, 2023

It’s Obamacare open enrollment season, which means that, for people who rely on these plans for coverage, it’s time to shop around. With enhanced premium subsidies and cost-sharing assistance, consumers may find savings by switching plans. It is especially important for people who lost their coverage because of the Medicaid unwinding to investigate their options. Many qualify for assistance. Meanwhile, the countdown to Election Day is on, and Ohio’s State Issue 1 is grabbing headlines. The closely watched ballot initiative has become a testing ground for abortion-related messaging, which has been rife with misinformation. This week’s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of �鶹Ů�� Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachana Pradhan of �鶹Ů�� Health News.
Listen Now
Diagnosis: Debt

Medical Debt Is Disappearing From Americans’ Credit Reports, Lifting Scores

As credit rating agencies have removed small unpaid medical bills from consumer credit, scores have gone up, a new study finds.

By Noam N. Levey

Nov. 2, 2023
‘Worse Than People Can Imagine’: Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Breeds Chaos in States

As Medicaid programs across the nation review enrollees’ status in the wake of the pandemic, patients struggle to navigate the upheaval.

By Phil Galewitz, Katheryn Houghton, Brett Kelman, and Samantha Liss

Nov. 2, 2023
The Health 202

The AMA May Reconsider Single-Payer Health Care

By Julie Rovner

Nov. 1, 2023
Medical School on Cherokee Reservation Will Soon Send Doctors to Tribal, Rural Areas

Native Americans and rural residents are underrepresented in medical schools. But in this new program, 25% of students are Indigenous and half are from rural areas.

By Arielle Zionts

Nov. 1, 2023
Payback: Tracking Opioid Cash

Gubernatorial Candidates Quarrel Over Glory for Winning Opioid Settlements

Some gubernatorial candidates are sparring over bragging rights for their state’s share of $50 billion in opioid settlement funds. Many of the candidates are attorneys general who pursued the lawsuits that produced the payouts.

By Aneri Pattani

Nov. 1, 2023
The Health 202

Street Medicine Practitioners Are Getting Paid. Now They Want Higher Rates.

By Angela Hart

Oct. 31, 2023
An Arm and a Leg

John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (Part 2)

Season 10, Episode 3

Oct. 31, 2023

The high price of lifesaving tuberculosis drugs makes them inaccessible to many who need them most. On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” hear how a decades-long global fight to reform drug patents is helping to lower the cost.
Listen Now
Medical Debt and Nurse Shortages Haunt Winning Halloween Haikus

Entries for our fifth annual Halloween haiku contest left us terrified. Based on a review by our panel of judges, here’s the winner and runners-up — plus the original artwork they inspired.

Oct. 31, 2023
Start Shopping: Enrollment Begins Nov. 1 for Most Obamacare Insurance Plans

More than 16 million Americans who buy their own health insurance through state and federal marketplaces have until Jan. 15 to compare prices, change their coverage, or enroll for the first time.

By Julie Appleby

Oct. 31, 2023
Bill Of The Month

When That Supposedly Free Annual Physical Generates a Bill

Completing a routine depression screening questionnaire during an annual checkup is cost-free under federal law. But, as one woman discovered, answering a doctor’s follow-up questions might not be.

By Julie Appleby

Oct. 30, 2023
Dads Drive Growth in California’s Paid Family Leave Program

The number of men in the state taking paid family leave to bond with a new child has risen nearly 20% since the start of the pandemic.

By Phillip Reese

Oct. 30, 2023
News Analysis

A New Era of Vaccines Leaves Old Questions About Prices Unanswered

The CDC’s RSV vaccination recommendations beg the question: How much should an immunization that will possibly be given to millions of Americans cost to be truly valuable?

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

Oct. 27, 2023
Primary Care Disrupted

Smaller Employers Weigh a Big-Company Fix for Scarce Primary Care: Their Own Clinics

Company health clinics are most common at large workplaces, but some small employers say they see advantages, too: healthier workers, lower costs, and better access to primary care.

By Phil Galewitz

Oct. 27, 2023
Watch: California and Feds Invest in Health Care for Homeless People

�鶹Ů�� Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses big developments in street medicine, both statewide and nationally.

Oct. 27, 2023
�鶹Ů�� Health News' 'What the Health?'

The New Speaker’s (Limited) Record on Health

Episode 320

Oct. 26, 2023

The House finally has a new speaker: Mike Johnson (R-La). He’s a relative newcomer who’s been a lower-level member of the House GOP leadership. And while he’s an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on other health issues is scant. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health appears on track to be getting a new director, and Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement experiment is off to a very slow start. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join �鶹Ů�� Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
Listen Now
Navigating Aging

Doubts Abound About a New Alzheimer’s Blood Test

Quest Diagnostics is selling a blood test online to consumers. But results may not be reliable or easy to interpret. And it isn’t covered by insurance.

By Judith Graham

Oct. 26, 2023
Storing Guns Away From Home Could Reduce Suicides, but Legal Hurdles Loom

Safe storage maps show gun owners where to put their firearms for safekeeping if they experience a mental health crisis. The idea has support among some gun enthusiasts, but legal obstacles threaten wider adoption.

By Aaron Bolton, MTPR

Oct. 26, 2023
Residents of a Rural Arkansas County Grapple With Endemic Gun Violence

Rural gun homicides have often been overshadowed by violence in cities. But they are taking their toll on small communities ill-equipped to deal with the challenges.

By Renuka Rayasam

Oct. 25, 2023
California Expands Paid Sick Days and Boosts Health Worker Wages

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.

By Don Thompson

Oct. 25, 2023

Morning Briefing

Thursday, April 30, 2026 • 9:14 a.m. ET

Read All News Summaries

Noticias en español

Florida retrasa la ampliación de seguro médico infantil mientras aumenta el número de niños sin cobertura

By Daniel Chang

April 28, 2026
La ayuda que más necesitan muchos estadounidenses mayores

By Paula Span

April 27, 2026
En Connecticut, los médicos ahora demandan a pacientes por facturas impagas más que los hospitales

By Noam N. Levey, Katy Golvala, CT Mirror, and Jenna Carlesso, CT Mirror

April 27, 2026
En California, legisladores buscan proteger a pacientes bajo custodia del ICE

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

April 22, 2026
Tu nuevo terapeuta: conversador, indiscreto… y difícilmente humano

By Darius Tahir

April 17, 2026