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Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
Shots - Health News

Shots

Health News From NPR

Health Inc.

Tuesday

Home Health Workers Struggle For Better Pay And Health Insurance

Home health care workers Jasmine Almodovar (far right) and Artheta Peters (center) take part in a Cleveland rally for higher pay on Sept. 4. Sarah Jane Tribble/WCPN, Ideastream hide caption

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Sarah Jane Tribble/WCPN, Ideastream

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Home Health Workers Struggle For Better Pay And Health Insurance

WCPN News

Home health care aides often toil for low pay and in jobs without benefits, including health insurance. A million more home health care workers will be needed to meet demand over the next decade.

Home Health Workers Struggle For Better Pay And Health Insurance

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Friday

California Nurses' Union Pulls Ebola Into Contract Talks

Members of the California Nurses Association rallied in Sacramento, Calif., in May, in anticipation of contract negotiations with Kaiser Permanente that began this fall. April Dembosky / KQED hide caption

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April Dembosky / KQED

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California Nurses' Union Pulls Ebola Into Contract Talks

KQED

Ebola training, staffing and protective gear are bargaining chips as nurses in California hammer out a new contract with Kaiser Permanente. Their requests mirror the concerns of nurses nationwide.

California Nurses' Union Pulls Ebola Into Contract Talks

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Sunday

Wednesday

Proton Center Closure Doesn't Slow New Construction

Construction is continuing at the Maryland Proton Treatment Center in downtown Baltimore. It's one of three such centers under development in the Washington, D.C., region. Jenny Gold/KHN hide caption

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Jenny Gold/KHN

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Proton Center Closure Doesn't Slow New Construction

KFF Health News

A proton beam therapy center in Indiana is closing, and insurers are reluctant to cover the treatment for common cancers. But plans for three new proton therapy centers for the D.C. area are still on.

Proton Center Closure Doesn't Slow New Construction

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Tuesday

Database Flaws Cloud Sunshine On Industry Payments To Doctors

A federal database, though imperfect, will make it easier for patients to find out about the ties between doctors and industry. John Bolesky/Corbis hide caption

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John Bolesky/Corbis

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Database Flaws Cloud Sunshine On Industry Payments To Doctors

ProPublica

A federal website set to go live Tuesday will disclose drug and device companies' ties to doctors. The release marks a milestone, but could be misleading for patients checking up on their doctors.

Monday

Health Inc.

4 Years Of Lessons Learned About Drugmakers' Payments To Doctors

ProPublica

American doctors received at least $1.4 billion in payments from drug companies last year. What did the companies get for their money?

4 Years Of Lessons Learned About Drugmakers' Payments To Doctors

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Friday

Thursday

To Prevent Repeat Hospitalizations, Talk To Patients

Kevin Wierhs and Susan Johnson confer about what works and what doesn't in managing diabetes. Sarah McCammon/Georgia Public Broadcasting hide caption

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Sarah McCammon/Georgia Public Broadcasting

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To Prevent Repeat Hospitalizations, Talk To Patients

Georgia Public Broadcasting

Part of each hospital's income now hinges on keeping patients with chronic conditions healthier outside the hospital. One medical center has hired nurses and social workers to act as health coaches.

To Prevent Repeat Hospitalizations, Talk To Patients

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Tuesday

Insurance Brokers Key To Kentucky's Obamacare Success

David Combs, an insurance broker in Kentucky, wound up benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, even though early on he had figured the law would put brokers out of business. Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News hide caption

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Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News

Health Inc.

Insurance Brokers Key To Kentucky's Obamacare Success

KFF Health News

Many brokers feared the new federal health law would make them obsolete. But more than 40 percent of people who signed up for insurance via Kentucky's state exchange used a broker.

Insurance Brokers Key To Kentucky's Obamacare Success

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Avoid The Rush! Some ERs Are Taking Appointments

Michael Granillo and his wife Sonia await treatment at an emergency room in Northridge, Calif. Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News hide caption

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Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News

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Avoid The Rush! Some ERs Are Taking Appointments

KFF Health News

Nobody looks forward to sitting in the waiting room. So some hospitals are trying to improve customer satisfaction by offering online appointments. The pitch: "Wait for the ER from home."

Avoid The Rush! Some ERs Are Taking Appointments

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Friday

Tuesday

Too Few University Jobs For America's Young Scientists

Victoria Ruiz (left), a postdoctoral fellow in immunology, works with Brianna Delgado, a high school student that she mentors, at the Blaser Lab, inside NYU's Langone Medical Center in New York, NY. Ramsay de Give for NPR hide caption

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Ramsay de Give for NPR

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Too Few University Jobs For America's Young Scientists

So, you want to be a science professor? Good luck. Highly educated, relatively low-paid postdoctoral fellows may drive U.S. biomedical research, but they're training for jobs that don't exist.

Too Few University Jobs For America's Young Scientists

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Tuesday

When Scientists Give Up

Randen Patterson left a research career in physiology at U.C. Davis when funding got too tight. He now owns a grocery store in Guinda, Calif. Max Whittaker/Prime for NPR hide caption

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Max Whittaker/Prime for NPR

Health Inc.

When Scientists Give Up

They were talented, idealistic risk-takers on the road to what they thought would be important medical discoveries. But when the funding for risk-takers dried up, these two academics called it quits.

When Scientists Give Up

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U.S. Science Suffering From Booms And Busts In Funding
Leif Parsons for NPR

Health Inc.

U.S. Science Suffering From Booms And Busts In Funding

The federal budget for bioscience has undergone big swings since 2000. Some scientists are now out of work and others are abandoning the ambitious, creative ideas that fuel discovery.

U.S. Science Suffering From Booms And Busts In Funding

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