Julie Rovner

Feds Funding Effort To Tie Medical Services To Social Needs

Julie Rovner

Even when medical care is available, people often can't maintain good health if they lack stable housing, access to healthful food or can't get to and from medical appointments.

Nurse practitioner Rachelle Quimpo begins an ear exam on Shreya Sasaki at a Kaiser Permanente health clinic inside a Target retail department store in San Diego, Calif., as Dr. Heidi Meyer watches via video. Kaiser says it will train medical students to provide good care beyond traditional medical settings.

NPR Health

Kaiser Permanente's New Medical School Will Focus On Teamwork

Julie Rovner

The California-based health care provider plans to enroll its first students in 2019. It's the latest of 20 U.S. medical schools opened in the past decade to boost the number of primary care doctors.

NPR Health

Medical Students See Their Mentors As Marauding Monsters

Julie Rovner

Comics drawn by medical students show the intimidation and abuse they say they get from their supervisors. Depression is more common in young physicians, too. That's not good for doctor or patient.

(Left to right) NYU medical students Brian Chao, Michael Lui, Hye Min Choi, and Varun Vijay take the team approach to learning about the anatomy of cells, and how disease can disrupt them. Analyzing big data sets is now a routine part of their studies, too.

NPR Health

Medical Students Crunch Big Data To Spot Health Trends

Julie Rovner

It's not enough anymore to learn how to size up the symptoms of a particular patient, say specialists in bioinformatics. Modern doctors need to learn to see patterns in huge data sets, too.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has ideas about how to rein in health costs that hit consumers in the pocketbook. But would they work?

NPR Health

Does Hillary Clinton Have The Prescription For Out-Of-Pocket Health Costs?

Julie Rovner

Democrat Hillary Clinton has proposed policy changes that would cap how much insured people have to pay for prescription drugs and put limits on the share of costs beyond premiums that consumers bear.

A Medicaid office employee works on reports at Montefiore Medical Center in New York in late 2014. New York expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act and enrollment surged.

NPR Health

Obamacare Enrollment Triggers Drop In The Uninsured Rate

Julie Rovner

The sizable jump in Americans with insurance, due in large part to the implementation of the federal health law, is unprecedented since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago.

The U.S. Congress returns to work in Washington, D.C., Tuesday after the summer recess ends.

NPR Health

Congress Weighs Budget Cuts For Wide Range Of Health Programs

Julie Rovner

As federal lawmakers return to work, they faces tough choices about the budget, worrying advocates for medical research, teen pregnancy prevention and other health initiatives.

NPR Health

'Defunding' Planned Parenthood Is Easier Promised Than Done

Julie Rovner

Some Republican candidates for president claim they have defunded Planned Parenthood in their states already. But the truth, others say, depends on how you define "defund."

Protesters rally on the steps of the Texas state capitol on July 28 to condemn the use of fetal tissue for medical research.

NPR Health

Calls To Cut Off Planned Parenthood Are Nothing New

Julie Rovner

Flashback to the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan tried to restrict funding for Planned Parenthood. Efforts in Congress have continued since then, with the latest focused on fetal tissue research.

NPR Health

Administration Prods States To Scrutinize Insurers' Rate Hikes

Julie Rovner

In a letter to state regulators, the Obama administration says rates shouldn't be allowed to go up as much as some insurers are proposing for plans sold to individuals on the health exchanges.