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Medicare is funded by a combination of money paid directly to the federal government from paychecks and taxes paid by working Americans. Most dental procedures and tests are not covered under traditional Medicare.

Democrats Hope To Beef Up Medicare With Dental, Vision And Hearing Benefits

When Medicare began in 1965, its backers expected benefits to expand over time, but politics have mostly stymied that. Congressional Democrats are trying again as part of a $3.5 trillion budget plan.

With physician offices not seeing patients with COVID-19 symptoms in April, Timothy Regan said he had little choice when Denver Health directed him first to its urgent care facility and then to its emergency room. "I felt bad, but I had been dealing with it for a while," he says.

ER Visit For COVID-19 Symptoms Stuck Man With A $3,278 Bill

A dad in Denver tried to do everything right when COVID-19 symptoms surfaced. But he got a surprising bill from his insurer, which had waived cost sharing for treatment of the coronavirus infection.

Medicare Advantage health plans have enrolled nearly 27 million members, or about 45% of people eligible for Medicare. A recent analysis finds Medicare overpaid the private health plans by more than $106 billion from 2010 through 2019 because of the way the plans charge for sicker patients.

Medicare Advantage's cost to taxpayers has soared in recent years, research finds

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.

Pastor Billy Joe Lewis was all in favor when a local health worker suggested a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the parking lot of his church in Smilax, Ky. "We've still got to use common sense," Lewis says. "Anything that can ward off suffering and death, I think, is a wonderful thing."

Kentucky's backroad churches may be key to saving hospitals overwhelmed by COVID

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.

Pamela Winn, a registered nurse by training, was pregnant when incarcerated in 2008. After a miscarriage, she was put into solitary confinement for what she was told was medical observation. That eight months in solitary scarred her for life, she says.

COVID precautions put more prisoners in isolation. It can mean long-term health woes

An estimated 300,000 people were held in solitary confinement in the U.S. at the height of the pandemic. Advocates are pushing to limit the practice, citing lasting harm to prisoners' health.

After two student suicides over one October weekend, UNC students created a makeshift memorial on the Chapel Hill campus. To reduce the risk of suicide contagion, any memorial sites or activities should be limited, experts say, and should not glorify, vilify or stigmatize the deceased student or their death.

Colleges are turning to science to limit suicide contagion and help heal campuses

The new strategy is called "postvention." It means having a plan built on truth, compassion and counseling that quickly addresses the mental health needs of friends and classmates after a suicide.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, appears before a Senate committee in July. Many public health leaders say letting the agency go so long without a permanent director has demoralized staff and sends the wrong message about the agency's importance.

The FDA Has Been Without A Permanent Leader For 8 Months As COVID Cases Climb

Dr. Janet Woodcock, an administrative veteran of the Food and Drug Administration since the 1980s, has been acting director of the agency since January. Why is the permanent job so hard to fill?

Insurers sometimes don't cover certain contraceptive methods for free, though they are supposed to cover most by law. Even for long-established methods, like IUDs, insurers sometimes make it hard for women to get coverage by requiring preapproval.

Contraception Is Free To Women, Except When It's Not

The Affordable Care Act requires most insurers to cover a comprehensive list of FDA-approved birth control methods at no cost. But insurers often make it hard for women to get the products they want.

Travis Warner of Dallas got tested for the coronavirus at a free-standing emergency room in June 2020 after one of his colleagues tested positive for the virus. The emergency room bill included a $54,000 charge for one test.

The Bill For His COVID Test In Texas Was A Whopping $54,000

A businessman from Dallas got a PCR test for the coronavirus at a suburban emergency room. The charge for his test was "egregious" but not illegal, say health care analysts. Here's what happened.

Leslie Clayton, a physician assistant in Minnesota, says a name change for her profession is long overdue. "We don't assist," she says. "We provide care as part of a team."

Physician assistants want to be called physician associates, but doctors cry foul

PAs say the new title would clarify that they work in a team and don't require direct oversight by M.D.s. Doctors say it obscures the fact that PAs have less education and training than physicians.

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