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Trump wrongly said health insurers will pay for all coronavirus treatment

As coronavirus cases multiply in the United States, one concern Americans have is what they can expect to pay if they seek treatment.

13 Mar 2020

Study sheds light on the practice of defensive medicine

Doctors face tough choices during difficult childbirths -- often involving the decision of whether to perform a cesarean section operation. And in the background lies a question: To what extent are these medical decisions motivated by the desire to avoid liability lawsuits?

12 Mar 2020

Language used on Facebook changes before emergency department visit

A new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that the language people use on Facebook subtly changes before they make a visit to the emergency department.

12 Mar 2020

Coronavirus puts prisons in tight spot amid staff shortages, threats of lockdown

Federal prison union officials and inmate advocates warn that the combination of chronic understaffing, a new leave policy and the realities of coronavirus quarantines could lead to the first nationwide federal prison lockdown since 1995.

12 Mar 2020

Hackensack Meridian Health's CDI launches rapid response coronavirus test

Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, is pleased to announce that the Center for Discovery and Innovation has created a test to dramatically reduce the time it takes for diagnosing COVID-19.

12 Mar 2020

Post-diagnosis disparities drive worse outcomes for Black and Hispanic children with brain cancer

Cancer researchers have known for years that Black and Hispanic patients have worse outcomes than their non-Hispanic White peers.

12 Mar 2020

Donald Trump’s wrong claim that ‘anybody’ can get tested for coronavirus

To show that his administration has been fast and effective in its response to the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump claimed that anybody who wants to get tested for the respiratory disease caused by the virus can do so.

12 Mar 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Coronavirus goes viral

This was the week the coronavirus hit the U.S. in general and Washington, D.C., in particular in a big way.

12 Mar 2020

Uninsured older adults in China less likely to receive needed inpatient care

A new study, published this week in the International Journal of Health Services, found that older adults without health insurance in China were 35% less likely to receive needed inpatient care compared to those with job-based health insurance.

12 Mar 2020

The startling inequality gap that emerges after age 65

In an era when "deaths of despair" — from substance abuse and suicide — are on the rise among middle-aged Americans, those who reach age 65 are living longer than ever.

12 Mar 2020

Researchers encourage a synergistic relationship between AI and family medicine

Attention all family medicine physicians: Identify a computer scientist with expertise in artificial intelligence (AI). Pick up the phone. Make a connection.

12 Mar 2020

Tampons, pads and politics mesh in new push for access to menstrual supplies

Geoff Davis' gray Kia sedan is chock-full of tampons and maxi pads.

12 Mar 2020

COVID-19 epidemic is now an official pandemic

The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status, spanning 114 countries and territories, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared. The novel coronavirus that emerged three months ago has rapidly infected more than 126,000 people, taking the lives of more than 4,600.

12 Mar 2020

Bowel cancer on the up in England’s young adults

A new study published in March 2020, in the British Journal of Surgery (BJS), shows that the number of young adults with bowel cancer is rising at an alarming rate in England.

11 Mar 2020

Skin sensors for antenatal surveillance in developing countries

A new study published in March 2020 in the journal Nature Medicine reports the use of a wireless system of skin-mounted sensors to monitor the health of newborn babies in an inexpensive and versatile platform that can be adapted to the vast majority of healthcare settings with ease.

11 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous the best way to abstain

Researchers from the Stanford School of Medicine have found that utilizing the help of a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous could be the best possible way for those with alcohol dependence to abstain. This finding came from a review article titled "Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12‐step programs for alcohol use disorder," published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review.

11 Mar 2020

Striking health inequities between dually enrolled and nondually enrolled older Medicare beneficiaries

In the United States, income inequality has steadily increased over the last several decades. Given widening inequities, health care leaders have been concerned about the health outcomes of older Americans who experience poverty, particularly because prior studies have shown a strong link between socioeconomic status and health.

11 Mar 2020