Health Inc. : Shots - Health NewsAs 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.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new suppliers have jumped into the market for surgical masks. Some have touted FDA certificates that don't have any regulatory meaning.
Aleksandr Zubkov/Getty Images
hide caption
It wasn't easy in early March to get a test in the U.S. confirming you had the coronavirus — scarce availability of tests meant patients had to meet strict criteria linked to a narrow set of symptoms and particular travel history.
Ted S. Warren/AP
hide caption
Gilead Sciences, maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir, has come up with a price for the COVID-19 treatment that was less than some analysts expected.
ULRICH PERREY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
Some cities, such as Washington, D.C. are offering free coronavirus testing for people who've attended protests. Where free tests aren't available, some people may find insurance refuses to cover precautionary testing.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
hide caption
Insurers May Only Pay For Coronavirus Tests When They're 'Medically Necessary'
Monday
Costs have gone up for addiction treatment centers in recent months, as they have had to invest in teletherapy and personal protective gear. "We are at risk for not having the funding that we need to keep our doors open," says one medical director.
Maskot/Getty Images
hide caption
The first patient enrolled in Pfizer's COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, receives an injection in May. Pfizer's candidate for a coronavirus vaccine is one of number that are in various stages of development around the world.
University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP
hide caption
Dr. Ming Lin was fired from his position as an emergency room physician at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington after publicly complaining about the hospital's infection control procedures during the pandmic.
Yoshimi Lin
hide caption
Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O'Day speaks at a meeting with President Trump and members of the White House coronavirus task force on March 2.
Andrew Harnik/AP
hide caption
Anna Davis Abel, a graduate student studying creative writing at West Virginia University, couldn't get tested for COVID-19 until her doctor ruled out other possible illnesses.
Rebecca Kiger for KHN
hide caption
Despite recent changes in insurance policy, some patients say doctors and insurers are charging them upfront for video appointments and phone calls — not just copays but sometimes the entire cost of the visit, even if it's covered by insurance.
sesame/Getty Images
hide caption
Only 28% of the factories that make active ingredients for pharmaceuticals for the domestic market are located in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg via Getty Images
hide caption
All 84 residents of Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside, Calif., were evacuated from the facility in early April after 39 residents tested positive for the coronavirus.
Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
hide caption
Emergency medical technicians wheel a patient into the ER of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Emergency hospitalizations related to COViD-19 can be costly. Fine print in the HHS rules regarding the CARES Act seem to spare patients at least some of the financial pain.
Stan Grossfeld/Boston Globe via Getty Images
hide caption
Paramedics and hospital workers prepare to lift a COVID-19 patient onto a hospital stretcher outside the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus, the Bronx, Tuesday, April 07, 2020, New York City.
John Moore/Getty Images
hide caption