Latest California Healthline Stories
How Rural Communities Are Losing Their Pharmacies
More than 1,000 independent rural pharmacies have closed since 2003, leaving 630 communities with no retail drugstore. As 41 million people stuck in pharmacy deserts make do, the remaining drugstores struggle to survive.
Cómo las comunidades rurales están perdiendo sus farmacias
Las farmacias de las esquinas, que alguna vez estuvieron tanto en las grandes ciudades como en los pueblos rurales, están desapareciendo de muchas áreas del país, dejando a unos 41 millones de estadounidenses en lo que se conoce como “desiertos de farmacias”, sin fácil acceso a las farmacias.
‘No Mercy’ Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning “Where It Hurts” podcast.
Firefighters on Front Lines, No Strangers to Risk, Push Back Against Covid Vaccine Mandates
Among the people still reluctant to get vaccinated — and pushing against mandates — are firefighters, many of whom also respond to medical calls as paramedics and EMTs and have witnessed the ravages of the pandemic firsthand.
Bye-Bye to Health Insurance ‘Birthday Rule’? Kansas Lawmaker Floats Fix
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) introduced a bill to do away with a health insurance rule that dictates which parent’s plan becomes a new baby’s primary insurer. This could save some parents from unexpected, sometimes massive medical bills. Davids took up the issue after a KHN/NPR Bill of the Month story on one family’s unexpected $207,455 NICU bill.
‘It Didn’t Really Stick With Me’: Understanding the Rural Shrug Over Covid and Vaccines
Fort Scott, Kansas, was hit hard by the pandemic, and it no longer has a hospital. But residents remain skeptical about the impact of the coronavirus.
Pfizer’s Newest Vaccine Plant Has Persistent Mold Issues, History of Recalls
After nearly a decade’s worth of federal inspections, reprimands and corrective action plans, has Pfizer fixed the facility that will be filling vials of its covid vaccine?
Baby Blues: First-Time Parents Blindsided by ‘the Birthday Rule’ and a $207,455 NICU Bill
Charlie Kjelshus needed neonatal intensive care for the first seven days of her life. The episode generated huge bills, and left her parents in a tangle of red tape that involved two insurers, two hospitals and two states.
Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals
Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.
‘No Mercy’ Chapter 7: After a Rural Town Loses Hospital, Is a Health Clinic Enough?
In Fort Scott, Kansas, the Community Health Center’s big green-and-white sign replaced Mercy Hospital’s name on the front of the town’s massive medical building. In the final chapter of Season One: “No Mercy,” we have an appointment to see what’s inside.