A counselor, right, navigates a client through the Medicare signup process at the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Broward County in Sunrise, Florida. Medicare open enrollment season ends Dec. 7. Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images hide caption
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"I'm ecstatic. It's a blessing that they approved this therapy," said Victoria Gray, the first person in the U.S. to undergo CRISPR gene-editing for sickle cell, of the Food and Drug Administration's decision. Orlando Gili hide caption
Esther Lau testifies on June 20 before the California Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo's bill allowing teens with Medi-Cal coverage to seek therapy without parental approval. Senate of the State of California hide caption
Activists protest the prices of prescription drug outside the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., in October 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption
Ashley Close, staff attorney at Children's Law Center, right, checks in with Dr. Ankita Khandai, center, and Dr. Candice Dawes, left, at Children's National's Anacostia clinic in Washington, D.C. Close works with doctors to help them fight for healthy living conditions for patients. Medical-legal partnerships like this are spreading nationwide. Eric Lee for NPR hide caption
Community health worker Hector Gallegos and nurse Jose Lopez gather supplies to treat homeless patients in Modesto, California. Ryan Levi/Tradeoffs hide caption
Climate-influenced disasters are making people sick. When wildfire smoke from massive fires in Canada blanketed the U.S. in the summer of 2023, emergency rooms saw a spike in admissions for lung problems but also heart attacks and other health issues. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption
A doctor assesses a radio surgery treatment plan for a patient with lung cancer, using a 4D CAT scan. Lung cancer survival rates have increased lately. Ryan McFadden/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Matthew Harris visits the primary health-care center where he worked in Brazil 20 years ago. The author of Decolonizing Healthcare Innovation: Low-Cost Solutions from Low-Income Countries says: "I really think that if people had been more receptive to learning from Brazil 20 years ago, we could have had an army of community health workers in [the U.K.] by now." Courtesy Dr. Matthew Harris hide caption
People who consistently wear hearing aids have a lower chance of falling, a new study finds. picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I hide caption
Anthony Velbis, a nurse with the homeless service agency HOPICS, checks up on Anthony Boladeres outside the RV where he's living in South Los Angeles. "It's nice being able to meet the client where they're at," Velbis says. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption
Design strategist Anna Engstrom created this sketch of a futuristic hospital that appears in Artists Remaking Medicine. She writes that she envisions "a more colorful health care future." Anna Engstrom/Procedure Press hide caption
Disease intervention specialists, like Deneshun Graves with the Houston Health Department, work to reach pregnant women at high risk of syphilis to get them testing and treatment to protect their babies. Michael Wyke/AP hide caption
"There's a lot of memories here, some good, some bad," said Danny Smith, reflecting on his years working at the now-defunct Solid Energy mine in Pike County, Ky. Smith, 51, suffers from an advanced and incurable stage of black lung disease. Rich-Joseph Facun for NPR hide caption
A worker inspects disposable gloves at a factory in Malaysia, a country that has been the top supplier of medical gloves to the U. S. and which is facing increasing competition from China. MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Kayce Atencio, who has been shadowed by medical debt for most of his adult life, had been unable to rent an apartment because of poor credit due to medical debt, he said. Recent reporting changes by credit rating agencies have removed many debts from consumer credit reports and lifted scores for millions, a new study finds. Rachel Woolf for KFF Health News hide caption
Open enrollment started Nov. 1 for Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces. Carmel Wroth/NPR hide caption
The increase in food insecurity in 2022 reverses a decade-long decline in the number of U.S. households experiencing hunger. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
For months, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) refused to hold a hearing on Dr. Monica Bertagnolli's nomination to lead the National Institutes of Health. Sanders finally held that hearing last week. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
Angels for Change founder Laura Bray took on the problem of drug shortages when the hospital ran out of the drug that her then-9-year-old daughter needed to treat her leukemia. Laura Bray hide caption
States and counties nationwide are using opioid settlement funds for law enforcement efforts, including buying new squad cars. This draws criticism that the funds should be invested in treatment instead. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images hide caption
People who consume higher amounts of red meat and processed meat are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than people who consume less, a new study finds. LauriPatterson/Getty Images hide caption
Since 2010, 150 rural hospitals have closed in the United States. Hospital leaders say that Medicare Advantage pays slowly and sometimes not at all and that this could push more hospitals to the brink. Mint Images/Getty Images/Mint Images RF hide caption
Open enrollment for Medicare begins Sunday and ads like this billboard inside California's John Wayne Airport are popping up. Marketing of Medicare plans is subject to new, stricter federal regulations this year. Leslie Walker/Tradeoffs hide caption
Striking Kaiser Permanente workers on the picket line in front of a hospital in Vallejo, Calif., on Oct. 6. A deal to avert another strike came together Friday. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Kimberley Seals Allers, was inspired to start Irth because of stories she heard from many mothers — as well as her own experience — of bias in the health care system during pregnancy and delivery. Tom Mason/The Big Idea: Birth Without Bias hide caption