While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace spotted a gray plane overhead that he believed was releasing chemicals to make him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous.

He shared his concern with reporters, acknowledging it sounded a little like “...Read more

WASHINGTON — Nationwide, states are racing to win their share of a new $50 billion rural health fund. But helping rural hospitals, as originally envisioned, is quickly becoming a quaint idea.

Rather, states should submit applications that “rebuild and reshape” how health care is delivered in rural communities, Centers for Medicare & ...Read more

Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.

The investigators allege that some insurers effectively set up “ghost networks” of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Thirteen moderate House Republicans are urging party leadership to find a path toward extending enhanced expiring health care tax credits once the government reopens.

“Let us be clear: significant reforms are needed to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most,”...Read more

The price tag of health insurance from employers keeps getting bigger across the U.S., and the increases this year are fueling concerns over medical spending across all health insurance markets.

The average annual premium for family health insurance rose about 6% this year to nearly $27,000, according to widely watched survey results released ...Read more

HSAs or Health Savings Accounts provide a powerful triple tax benefit — on contributions, growth, and withdrawals — but they remain a woefully underused retirement tool.

They are so underutilized that Fidelity Investments found that one in two Americans is unfamiliar with the HSA and its triple tax benefits. There’s even a National HSA ...Read more

True to their name, hearts of palm are the creamy white vegetable harvested from the inner core, or heart, of certain palm trees.

The folklore

Native to South and Central America, hearts of palm (as well as the nuts, bark, and leaves of the palm tree) have been used by indigenous people for thousands of years, dating back to Mayan times. ...Read more

You know the feeling: You’re a little irritable. Distracted. Sleepy. Anxious. You can’t quite focus, but it’s not quite mealtime. What can help? A snack — but not just any snack. While snacking sometimes gets a bad rap, certain foods are packed with nutrients that help regulate mood, support brain health, and give you the steady energy ...Read more

Taking part in an online support group has many benefits, such as convenience, camaraderie, and encouragement. “It’s social support you don’t always get from a busy clinician’s office. Someone in the group might say, ‘I went through this, too. Hang in there, it will get better,’” says Kasisomayajula Viswanath, a health ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m a people-pleaser by nature and have difficulty saying no or setting limits in my relationships. How can I start to create healthier boundaries in a kind yet firm way?

ANSWER: People have various types of relationships, including partners, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances. Different ...Read more

As the federal shutdown continues, states have been forced to fall back on their own resources to spot disease outbreaks — just as respiratory illness season begins.

The shutdown has halted dashboards and expert analysis from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors indicators such as wastewater to provide early ...Read more

In Kentucky, patients drive up to two hours to see Dr. Manikya Kuriti, one of the few endocrinologists who serve the rural communities surrounding Louisville.

Kuriti’s husband, a pulmonologist, drives from Louisville to small hospitals an hour south and north, in Indiana, to help small teams treat critically ill patients.

Rural communities ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia called new evidence presented by President Donald Trump’s administration weak and untrustworthy in a blistering legal response to federal efforts to investigate its doctors providing gender-affirming care.

CHOP’s response, filed late Monday in federal court in Philadelphia, came in ...Read more

NEW YORK — On a busy street in Queens, New York, just around the corner from a halal hot chicken sandwich restaurant and a barber shop, the Long Island City Health Center welcomes its patients into a brightly lit waiting room, painted baby blue and filled with soft white and gray seats.

A woman working behind the desk on a recent weekday ...Read more

COLUMBUS, Miss. — April Hines has battled with her weight since she was a teenager.

But in the past couple of years, she’s fallen from 600 pounds to 385, and her blood pressure and blood sugar levels are down, too. “I’m not as fatigued as I used to be, and I’ve been able to go back to church,” she said.

Hines, 46, credits her ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Last year's flu season was the worst California had seen in years — and state health officials warn this year could potentially be just as bad.

While forecasting disease isn't an exact science, there are some troubling signs. In Asia, the flu has made an early comeback, and quickly swelled to epidemic proportions in Japan and ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Sixty years old, living as a couple in the Sacramento area or California's Central Valley? Figuring your income next year will be about $85,000?

The premium increases for that couple are likely to be among the nation’s steepest, if enhanced federal subsidies for people using Obamacare-inspired health insurance policies are ...Read more

There are many stresses that come with being an LGBTQ+ youth: fear, isolation, bullying, feeling as if the world hates you, loved ones pressuring you to change.

Those realities come into sharper view in the first release of findings from an ongoing study by the Trevor Project to track the mental health of about 1,700 youth across the U.S. over ...Read more

With shakeups at a key federal agency that releases vaccine guidelines, it's been a confusing past few months regarding immunization for younger people.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in June fired all 17 members on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, leading to outrage among independent medical societies and the formation...Read more

Most young people who experience suicidal thoughts keep those thoughts to themselves. They might not bring it up on their own unless they are asked directly. Any time your adolescent visits their pediatrician, for any reason, they may be asked a simple question "Have you been having thoughts of killing yourself or ending your life?"

The ...Read more