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Be aware: Someone could steal your medical records and bill you for their care
After HCA Healthcare announced this month that the personal identification data of roughly 11 million HCA patients in 20 states had been exposed in a breach, people may be justifiably concerned that their own medical data and identities could be stolen. Consumers should realize that such “medical identity” fraud can happen in several ways, from […]
Everything you need to know about Paxlovid
When President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21, his physician recommended he take the antiviral drug Paxlovid. The drug significantly reduces the likelihood of hospitalization or death for someone at high risk of developing severe COVID. Biden started the five-day course that day, according to the White House, and within six days […]
History repeating itself: Vaccine, testing for monkeypox looks a lot like COVID-19 response
Andy Stone is one of the lucky ones. The New York City resident saw a tweet from a local AIDS activist saying that monkeypox vaccines would be available that day at a clinic in Manhattan. Stone, 35, and his husband booked appointments online right away and got their shots last month. “I want to do […]
Telemedicine is a hit with patients, even with its growing pains
Crystal Joseph pays for two telemedicine video services to ensure that her small therapy practice in Silver Spring, Maryland, can always connect with its clients. She’s been burned before. During one hours-long service outage of SimplePractice in late May, PsycYourMind, which offers mental health counseling and group sessions for Black patients, lost about $600 because […]
Contraception is free to women (except when it’s not)
For Stephanie Force, finding a birth control method that she likes and can get without paying out-of-pocket has been a struggle, despite the Affordable Care Act’s promise of free contraceptives for women and adolescent girls in most health plans. The 27-year-old physician recruiter in Roanoke, Virginia, was perfectly happy with the NuvaRing, a flexible vaginal […]
Even in red states, colleges and universities gravitate toward requiring masks
As students head to college this fall, hundreds of schools are requiring employees and students to be vaccinated against COVID, wear masks on campus or both. But at some schools, partisan politics have bolstered efforts to stymie public health protections. Events at the University of South Carolina, in a deeply conservative state, demonstrate the limits […]
Trouble managing money may be an early sign of dementia
After Maria Turner’s minivan was totaled in an accident a dozen years ago, she grew impatient waiting for the insurance company to process the claim. One night, she saw a red pickup truck on eBay for $20,000. She thought it was just what she needed. She clicked “buy it now” and went to bed. The […]
Doctors scramble to understand long COVID, but answers are elusive
One night in March 2020, Joy Wu felt like her heart was going to explode. She tried to get up and fell down. She didn’t recognize friends’ names in her list of phone contacts. Remembering how to dial 9-1-1 took “quite a bit of time,” she recalled recently. Wu, 38, didn’t have a fever, cough […]