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Funding is shrinking for Medicare's Part A trust fund, which pays for hospitalization and in-patient care. The funding largely comes from a 1.45% payroll tax paid by employees and employers.

Another Problem On The Health Horizon: Medicare Is Running Out Of Money

With millions of people out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare's trust fund intact.

Demonstrators pray in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on July 8, a day the court ruled that employers with religious objections can decline to provide contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ACA's future is in doubt.

The Future Of The Affordable Care Act In A Supreme Court Without Ginsburg

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg comes just as the Supreme Court was about to hear a case challenging the ACA. It could end Medicaid expansion and protections for preexisting conditions.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, testified before Congress in June on the status of the pandemic. Fauci is just one of the public health leaders and their families across the U.S. who have received death threats and harassment since the pandemic began.

Opinion: Public Health Leaders Deserve More Respect

This pandemic is like war, and federal, state and local health officers are leading the U.S. response. Yet unlike war heroes, who are lionized, they are facing unprecedented attacks and death threats.

Frank Fahland, 61, is one of hundreds of Libby, Mont., residents who has an asbestos-related disease. That makes them potentially more vulnerable to complications from COVID-19.

COVID-19 Stalks A Montana Town Already Grappling With Asbestos Disease

In Libby, Mont., an estimated 1 in 10 have an asbestos-related illness, after decades of pollution from a now-shuttered mine. With lungs already scarred, many fear contracting the coronavirus.

Izzy Benasso injured her knee while playing tennis with her father Steve Benasso in Denver. After the college student had knee surgery to repair the injury, her dad noticed her medical bills included a separate one from a surgical assistant for $1,167.

The Knee Surgeon Was In-Network. The Surgical Assistant Wasn't, And Billed $1,167

A college student's bill for outpatient knee surgery is a whopper — $96K — but the most mysterious part is a $1,167 charge from a health care provider she didn't even know was in the operating room.

Voters in Kirkwood, Mo., cast ballots on Nov. 6, 2018 that helped decide the balance of power in Congress. Next week they'll get the chance to decide whether to expand Medicaid in their state. The measure could extend health coverage to more than 230,000 more Missourians.

Will Missouri Be The Next Red State To Expand Medicaid? Voters To Decide

Advocates for expansion say it would create jobs, protect hospitals from budget cuts, bring billions of federal taxpayer dollars back to the state, and bring health coverage to 230,000 more people.

When Nancy Perez contracted COVID-19 in March, she stayed in her room for a month, isolating herself from her sons and grandson. The mutual aid group Bed-Stuy Strong regularly sent volunteers to her home with meals for her family.

'Love And Solidarity': Amid Coronavirus, Mutual Aid Groups Resurge In New York City

Filling in the gaps of a strained safety net, volunteers give their time and resources to help neighbors hit hard by the pandemic and its economic fallout.

When the pandemic hit this spring, U.S. rural hospitals lost an estimated 70% of their income as patients avoided the emergency room, doctor's appointments and elective surgeries. "It was devastating," says Maggie Elehwany of the National Rural Health Association.

Rural Hospitals Are Sinking Under COVID-19 Financial Pressures

America's rural hospitals were struggling even before the pandemic. Now, the loss of revenue from months of deferred treatments and surgeries have pulled more to the brink, as federal relief fades.

Worried registered nurses held a vigil in July at Sutter Health's Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., to remember their colleague Janine Paiste-Ponder, who caught the coronavirus, likely from a patient, and died from complications.

Some Hospitals Fail To Separate COVID-19 Patients, Putting Others At Risk

Nurses say COVID-19 patients have sometimes been housed in the same units as uninfected patients. While officials have penalized nursing homes for such failures, hospitals have seen less scrutiny.

Beware of scammers. Legitimate contact tracers will never ask you for any sort of payment or seek other financial information or your Social Security number.

How To Tell A Real COVID-19 Contact Tracer's Call From A Scammer's

A loved one's health could depend on the truth if you get a call from a real contact tracer about your exposure to the coronavirus. But beware impostors who ask you for payment or to click on a link.

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