Health

The Trump administration says a new plan will cut drug prices. It's not that simple

By Erin Mershon, STAT

When the Trump administration unveiled a new Medicare proposal this week to cut payments to hospitals as part of a drug reimbursement program, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price called the plan a “significant step toward fulfilling President Trump’s…

'Are you saying I'm dying?' Training doctors to speak frankly about death

By Max Blau, STAT

Doctors have a tough time being frank with patients who are dying. So they're stepping into simulators to practice telling patients the unvarnished truth.

Major insurance groups call part of health bill 'unworkable'

By Alan Fram, Associated Press

Two of the insurance industry's most powerful organizations say a crucial provision in the Senate Republican health care bill allowing the sale of bare-bones policies is "unworkable in any form."…

Transgender health care targeted in crusade to undo ACA

By Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News

Because Medicaid covers a disproportionately high number of transgender people, the potential change could heap hardship on an already embattled population.

CRISPR used to store images and a movie inside living bacteria

By Hyacinth Empinado, STAT

Forget iTunes or your old zipper case of DVDs. How about storing movies in a Petri dish of E. coli? All you need is some genetic engineering with CRISPR.

U.S. charges hundreds of people in health fraud schemes worth $1.3 billion

By Sadie Gurman, Associated Press

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the charges Thursday. Officials say those charged include more than 120 people involved in prescribing and distributing narcotics.

These stairs recycle your energy so they're easier to climb

By Roni Dengler

Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have built energy-recycling stairs that store a user’s energy during descent and return energy to the user during ascent.

How Medicaid cuts could worsen health services in rural areas

By Virginia Anderson, Kaiser Health News

Patient advocates say Republican bills to replace the federal health law would worsen rural areas’ financial straits through reductions in Medicaid funding. Such changes threaten the health of thousands of state residents, especially those in rural areas.