Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is pushing a new “No Taxes on Healthcare Act” that would let households deduct up to $25,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs, including health insurance premiums they pay themselves.

This proposed deduction would be in addition to the standard deduction, which most taxpayers currently claim.

The proposal comes on ...Read more

The holidays are coming up and they almost always involve family gatherings, office parties, neighborhood get-togethers, and special holidays meals, all with lots and lots of food. For most of us, it’s a chance to enjoy food and drink that maybe aren’t a part of our usual fare. But if you have food allergies, these celebrations can literally...Read more

There’s nothing like an energy crash to throw your day for a loop. This can be especially frustrating when you have things to do and places to be — or if you’re just trying to stay awake during the dark afternoons of winter. It may be tempting to grab a caffeinated drink and hope for the best, but it’s not your only option. Food can fuel...Read more

Rosy cheeks might be cute in holiday cartoons, but in real life, the redness can signal a chronic inflammatory skin disease called rosacea. It can spread all over the face, leading to ruddy skin, angry-looking pimples, burning sensations, eye irritation, and even a disfigured nose. Unfortunately, rosacea’s early and middle stages often go ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I spend my workday looking at a computer screen and then use my phone to browse social media and text with friends in the evening. The combined time on these devices is giving me neck pain and stiffness. Are there ways to prevent or reduce the nagging neck pain?

ANSWER: On average, people spend three hours and 15 minutes on ...Read more

With the tax-free money in a health savings account, a person can pay for eyeglasses or medical exams, as well as a $1,700 baby bassinet or a $300 online parenting workshop.

Those same dollars can’t be used, though, to pay for most baby formulas, toothbrushes — or insurance premiums.

President Donald Trump and some Republicans are pitching...Read more

CHICAGO — Carey Carlock never imagined she’d have so much trouble finding a therapist for her teenage child.

She was a hospital CEO, on the board of a prominent local mental health organization and well connected. Yet the Oak Park mother couldn’t locate a therapist in her community who took her health insurance.

“I found that to just ...Read more

The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native American tribes in sparsely populated areas and in need of significant improvements to health care access.

Federally recognized tribes can’t ...Read more

ROCHESTER, Minn.— A new year offers new beginnings and an opportunity to reset your eating habits after the holidays. Andrea Delgado, a Mayo Clinic dietitian, says it's best to eliminate what you don't need, including party food leftovers.

If your refrigerator is holding onto less-than-healthy holiday leftovers into the new year, it is OK to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether COVID-19 vaccines caused deaths in adults, as part of a safety review that earlier appeared to just be focused on children.

The investigation, being conducted across different divisions of the FDA, comes at a time when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans plan to vote this week on a likely futile plan to counter Democrats’ push to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies as health care costs for more than 20 million people are set to spike on Jan. 1.

Neither the Republican legislation announced Tuesday nor Democrats’ proposed three-year extension are expected to ...Read more

BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey is demanding congressional Republicans vote to extend a set of tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to prevent what she calls skyrocketing health care costs across the country, as well as here in Massachusetts.

Healey held a press conference Tuesday at the State House demanding the extension and ...Read more

The government shutdown may be over, but Congress still hasn’t solved the biggest problem left on its plate: Extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies to avoid a doubling of insurance premiums or replace them with something new altogether. Lawmakers have committed to a vote in December.

While public debate about the issue has centered...Read more

The United States is poised to lose its measles-free status next year. If that happens, the country will enter an era in which outbreaks are common again.

More children would be hospitalized because of this preventable disease. Some would lose their hearing. Some would die. Measles is also expensive. A new study— not yet published in a ...Read more

Elisabeth Yoder’s son, Darragh, was 15 months old in August when he developed what at first looked to his parents like hand, foot, and mouth disease. The common viral infection generally clears up in less than a week, but Darragh’s condition worsened over several days. His skin turned bright red. Blisters gave way to skin peeling off his ...Read more

About 400,000 Californians could find it difficult to afford health coverage from their Obamacare plans next month as subsidies expire and premiums skyrocket.

And chances are shaky Congress will provide much help before Jan. 1, even as an unpredictable election year looms.

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in session this week and next before ...Read more

At La Belle Bridal Boutique in Beaver, Abigail Bailey is shopping for a Hailey Bieber-inspired corseted lace wedding gown. About a dozen friends and family members have joined her, toasting non-alcoholic champagne in celebration of a day made possible by an experimental brain surgery.

About a year ago, Bailey was so sick from illness and ...Read more

Medication-delivering drones and telehealth at local libraries are among the ideas state leaders revealed in November for spending their share of a $50 billion federal rural health program.

The Trump administration, which has promised “radical transparency,” said in an FAQ that it plans to publish the “project summary” for states that ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to approve new recommendations delaying the child hepatitis B vaccine for infants Friday, providing a win for the Make America Healthy Again movement while troubling many health officials in Baltimore and across the nation.

If enacted, the new policies would have the Centers ...Read more

Recent weeks have brought good news about vaccines, with studies indicating that flu vaccination reduces heart disease, shingles vaccines can prevent or slow dementia, and a single human papilloma virus shot protects a girl from cervical cancer for the rest of her life.

But in the upside-down world of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert ...Read more