Healthcare In Us

Trump signs executive order to expand access to IVF, focus on cutting cost

The Order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments

Flu season in the US is most intense it's been in at least 15 years

The U.S. winter virus season is in full force, and by one measure is the most intense in 15 years. One indicator of flu activity is the percentage of doctor's office visits driven by flu-like symptoms. Last week, that number was clearly higher than the peak of any winter flu season since 2009-2010, when a swine flu pandemic hit the nation, according to data posted Friday morning by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of course, other viral infections can be mistaken for flu. But COVID-19 appears to be on the decline, according to hospital data and to CDC modeling projections. Available data also suggests another respiratory illness, RSV, has been fading nationally. The flu has forced schools to shut down in some states. The Godley Independent School District, a 3,200-student system near Fort Worth, Texas, last week closed for three days after 650 students and 60 staff were out Tuesday. Jeff Meador, a district spokesman, said the vast majority of illnesses there have bee

Families sue over Trump's order to halt funds for gender-affirming care

A group of families with transgender children filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump's executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. PFLAG, a national group for family of LGBTQ+ people; and GLMA, a doctors organisation, are also plaintiffs in the court challenge in US District Court in Baltimore. It comes one week after Trump signed an order calling for the federal government to stop funding the medical care through federal government-run health insurance programs including Medicaid and TRICARE. Kristen Chapman, the mother of one of the plaintiffs in the case, said her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, from Tennessee in 2023 because of a ban on gender-affirming care in their home state. Her 17-year-old daughter, Willow, had an initial appointment scheduled for last week with a new provider who would accept Medicaid. But Trump signed his order the day before and the hospital said it could not provide care.

Suspect in UnitedHealthcare's CEO killing faces weapons, forgery charges

Police have arrested a 26-year-old man with a weapon consistent with the gun used to kill the head of the largest US health insurer, New York's police commissioner said Monday. The man was taken into custody after police got a tip that he had been spotted at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. They also recovered clothing, including a mask consistent with those worn by our wanted individual, Tisch said. Also recovered was a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID our suspect used to check into his New York City hostel before the shooting incident." NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny identified the suspect as Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators said. As of right now the informa

Two dozen companies working to find bird flu vaccine for cows: US agri secy

Bird flu has infected 90 dairy herds across 12 states since late March, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Three dairy farm workers also have been infected with the virus

US polls: Biden, Harris argue Democrats will preserve access to health care

President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Tuesday promoted their healthcare agenda in the battleground state of North Carolina, arguing that Democrats like themselves would preserve access to care while Republicans would reverse gains made over the past decade and a half. Fourteen years after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the White House still sees health care as a winning issue during a campaign in which Biden has sometimes found himself on the defensive when it comes to immigration or the economy. Republicans have opposed Biden's signature initiatives to lower medical costs, and they've seized opportunities to restrict abortion rights after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. "It's sick. Now they want to quote, his words, terminate the ACA, as my predecessor says," Biden said, referring to Republican former President Donald Trump. "If that were ever to happen, we'd also terminate a lot of lives as well. But we're not going to

Thousands of US healthcare workers go on strike over wages, staff shortages

Picketing began Wednesday morning at Kaiser Permanente hospitals as some 75,000 health care workers go on strike in Virginia, California and three other states over wages and staffing shortages, marking the latest major labour unrest in the United States. Kaiser Permanente is one of the country's larger insurers and health care system operators, with 39 hospitals nationwide. The non-profit company, based in Oakland, California, provides health coverage for nearly 13 million people, sending customers to clinics and hospitals it runs or contracts with to provide care. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system's employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, DC. The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency ...

US reports severe Covid community transmission amid holiday season

US Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths continue to rise, stressing the healthcare system and resulting in staffing shortages

FDA panel reviews 1st new drug in 2 decades that claims to slow Alzheimer's

One of the biggest drug decisions in decades is looming as US regulators consider whether to approve the first medicine that's claimed to slow mental decline from Alzheimer's disease

Can Amazon and co. transform health care? It's not a crazy idea

Or will they start building what they think is a mighty levee?