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A Bay Area man described himself as ādeliriousā from the pain of a quickly spreading rash, but it took six telehealth appointments, one urgent care visit, and two emergency room trips before he was finally diagnosed and treated for monkeypox.
A Houston woman was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke. That means her fetus had virtually no chance of survival, and she was at risk of an infection that could threaten her future fertility and even her life. Following Texas' law, the hospital made her wait until she was showing signs of serious infection to terminate the pregnancy.
After a car wreck, three siblings were transported to the same hospital by ambulances from three separate districts. The sibling with the most minor injuries got the biggest bill.
This episode is an interview with Dr. Thomas Fisher, author of "The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER."
The Fierro family owed a Yuma, Arizona, hospital more than $7,000 for care given to mom and dad, so when a son dislocated his shoulder, they headed to Mexicali. The care was quick, good, and affordable.
Emergency medical services are a lifeline in regions with scarce medical care. But paramedics, trained to respond to patients with life-threatening injuries, are in short supply where theyāre needed most.
Diagnosed with aggressive leukemia on a Western trip, a young man thought his insurance would cover an air ambulance ride home to North Carolina. Instead, questions about medical necessity left him with an astronomical bill.
The No Surprises Act offers protection from many surprise medical bills ā but that protection may be only as good as a patientās knowledge of the law and ability to make sure itās enforced. Hereās what you need to know.
The insurance company said that the birth of the Bull familyās twins was not an emergency and that NICU care was ānot medically necessary.ā The familyās experience with a huge bill sent to collections happened in 2020, but it exposes a hole in the new No Surprises law that took effect Jan. 1.
At Salem Health Salem Hospital in Oregon, the omicron surge is still swamping health care workers. They are ground down emotionally but keep showing up for their patients.
A St. Louis-area toddler burned his hand on the stove, and his mom took him to the ER on the advice of her pediatrician. He wasnāt seen by a doctor, and the dressing on the wound wasnāt changed. The bill was more than a thousand dollars.
As omicron sweeps the country, many hospitals are dealing with a flood of people hospitalized with covid ā including those primarily admitted for other reasons. While often milder cases, so-called incidental covid infections still drain the beleaguered health care workforce and can put them and other patients at higher risk for contracting covid.
Years in the making, a new federal law against surprise medical bills took effect Jan. 1.
Rural areas such as Echols County, Georgia, have high levels of uninsured people and profound physician shortages that compound the lack of health care options, especially in the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
Legislative crackdowns on out-of-network bills havenāt kept specialists from hitting patients with unexpected charges running into thousands of dollars.
Gunnison paramedics cover the largest response zone in Colorado. Because of covid and the lack of nearby hospital beds, patients increasingly are transported long distances, leaving few ambulances to respond to emergencies.
A record number of hospitals closed in rural America last year. For the residents of Cuthbert, Georgia, the loss has meant many problems, including delayed care for emergencies that can turn deadly.
With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee coupleās experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly decision the next time they needed help.
Certain patients who couldn't get in to see a doctor earlier in the pandemic, or were avoiding the covid risks inside hospitals, have become too sick to stay away. Many ERs now struggle to cope with an onslaught of demand.
The covid vaccination rate for first responders in the state is more than 95%. But it's lower in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can't function if even just a few people quit.
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