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Health Care

A rainstorm passes over Interstate 94 in Morton County, N.D., on May 25. Inclement weather and long travel distances to medical providers present serious access barriers for seniors here, many of whom are not able to drive or are uncomfortable driving in low-visibility conditions. Tim Evans/for NPR hide caption

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Tim Evans/for NPR

Don Fitterer, 81, sits for a portrait at his home in Glen Ullin, N.D., on May 23. Fitterer is a participant in the Western Morton County Aging in Community program, which connects older adults in the medically underserved area of western Morton County with a variety of resources that can improve their quality of life. Tim Evans for NPR/‎ hide caption

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Tim Evans for NPR/‎

Cindie Haakenson is seen through a window of her home as the family farm is reflected before her on May 21 in Willow City, N.D. Despite a preference to remain at home, Cindie's husband, Sherwood Haakenson, needed to move to a 24-hour long-term care center. Tim Evans/for NPR hide caption

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Tim Evans/for NPR

Why farmers worry about the costs of long-term care

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In this photo illustration, vials of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are displayed on a counter at a Walgreens Pharmacy in California during an outbreak in 2015. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Measles cases are up and childhood vaccinations are down

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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event in Potterville, Mich., on Thursday. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

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Alex Brandon/AP

Planned Parenthood hosted a mobile health clinic that provides vasectomies and medication abortion, at an "Into Action!" event in Chicago on Monday. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

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Keren Carrión/NPR

From vasectomies to abortion pills, Planned Parenthood sets up mobile clinic near DNC

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Medical instruments are pictured at the Actors Fund's Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic on March 23, 2011, in New York City. Researchers found that the odds of getting a formal dementia diagnosis in the U.S. differed based on location. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Logan Health in Kalispell, Mont., has experienced three data breaches in the past five years. Those cyberattacks exposed the names, phone numbers and addresses of hundreds of thousands of patients. The hospital later settled a lawsuit related to the incidents for $4.2 million. Aaron Bolton/Montana Public Radio hide caption

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Aaron Bolton/Montana Public Radio

Radio Rural Hospital Cybersecurity

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Dr. Ala Stanford's new memoir is Take Care of Them Like My Own. Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Simon & Schuster

When poor Black communities were struggling with COVID, this surgeon stepped in

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“Welcome to modern abortion care,” says Angel Foster, who leads operations at what’s known as the MAP, a Massachusetts telehealth provider sending pills to people who live in states that ban or restrict abortion. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption

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Elissa Nadworny/NPR

"Everything that we are as human beings is in our brain," Dr. Theodore Schwartz says. Brian Marcus
/Penguin Randomhouse
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Brian Marcus
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For this brain surgeon, the operating room is 'the ultimate in mindful meditation'

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New blood tests that help detect Alzheimer's disease are opening up a new era in diagnosis and treatment, doctors say. Marcus Brandt/picture alliance/Getty Images hide caption

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Marcus Brandt/picture alliance/Getty Images

Alzheimer's blood tests

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Marvin Ruckle, who has worked as a NICU nurse at an Ascension hospital in Kansas, said problems caused by the cyberattack nearly led him to administer the wrong dose of a narcotic to a baby. Travis Heying for KFF Health News hide caption

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Travis Heying for KFF Health News

Cyberattack led to harrowing lapses at Ascension hospitals, clinicians say

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Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on June 3. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Why Anthony Fauci approaches every trip to the White House as if it's his last

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Books sit on a shelf at a clinic that provides abortion care on April 30, in Jacksonville, Fla. A six-week abortion ban that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed went into effect on May 1. Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America

Abortion bans that grant exceptions to 'save the life of the mother' are a gray area

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The abortion drug Mifepristone, which was approved by the FDA, is part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Supreme Court's decision will keep the drug on sale for now. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America

Supreme Court rejects challenge to FDA's approval of mifepristone

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Nurses Lisa Stambolis and Ashley Gresh of the Neighborhood Nursing team talk with Percy Jones. Members of the nursing team visit his apartment building weekly, and Jones credits them with easing his worries about recovering from a hernia surgery when he couldn't get a timely appointment with his doctor. Dan Gorenstein/Tradeoffs hide caption

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Dan Gorenstein/Tradeoffs

Tradeoffs for Carmel (not NPR One audio)

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When patients use telehealth or visit health care centers closer to home, the overall climate impact of health care can be reduced. NoSystem images/Getty Images/E+ hide caption

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NoSystem images/Getty Images/E+

Fat Joe arrives at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 13. The Bronx-born rapper sat with NPR's A Martínez to discuss how he advocates for price transparency and what he wants politicians in D.C. to do about it. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP hide caption

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Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

FAT JOE ON HEALTHCARE COSTS

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Scenes from the Medical center of Elberton, in Elberton, Georgia, a clinic that serves a rural population. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

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