What the No Surprises Act means for your medical bills
More Americans worry about unexpected medical bills than any other expense, according to polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2018 and 2020. Unfortunately, those bills aren’t rare: 18% of emergency visits and 16% of in-network hospital stays had at least one out-of-network charge, a 2020 Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker...
UPMC names Diane Hupp new president of Children’s Hospital
Diane Hupp has been named president of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the health system announced Tuesday. Hupp, 57, of Fox Chapel, began working at Children’s Hospital as a volunteer 36 years ago. She has since served in several administrative leadership roles, including chief nursing officer, vice president of patient...
Experts back CDC guidance recommending N95, KN95 masks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its mask guidance to recommend higher-quality N95 and KN95 masks over cloth and surgical ones that many people have worn throughout the pandemic. Cloth masks can keep 30% to 60% of particles from coming in and potentially infecting the person wearing...
Megan’s Law for nursing homes gaining traction in Harrisburg
A state lawmaker is making good on a promise to repair a flawed system that permits aging and ailing convicted sex offenders to quietly enter long-term care facilities — often unbeknownst to patients and staff — where some easily are finding their next victims. A bill set to be introduced...
Allegheny Health Network to require people wear surgical-type masks in all facilities
Allegheny Health Network officials announced changes late Friday to mask requirements for all facilities. AHN now requires all patients, visitors and care teams to wear a surgical-type, N95 or KN95 face mask. Such masks will be provided to those who do not have one. Officials said cloth face masks were...
UPMC insurance sets covid test reimbursement guidelines
UPMC Health Plan announced procedures Friday night for employers and individuals covered under UPMC insurance to get reimbursed for eligible home covid tests. The Pittsburgh-based health insurer said that it will take requests for reimbursement by mail and also is creating an online system. The health plan, associated with UPMC’s...
Study: More evidence links a virus to multiple sclerosis
There’s more evidence that one of the world’s most common viruses may set some people on the path to developing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a potentially disabling disease that occurs when immune system cells mistakenly attack the protective coating on nerve fibers, gradually eroding them. The Epstein-Barr virus has...
A new look for New Year’s resolutions as Sewickley gym goers navigate pandemic
The New Year’s resolution to get back in shape is taking on a different look in 2022. While January traditionally has been a time for setting new goals and a new start on a healthier lifestyle, living through a pandemic for nearly two years has had an effect on our...
Oakland couple walked their dog through every Pittsburgh neighborhood
Thomas Strock and Erica Silvestri took their dog Chewie on a long walk — through the neighborhoods. Yes, neighborhoods. The South Oakland couple planned out the journey to stroll through all 90 of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. They found the list of stops from VisitPittsburgh. They took their first steps on Jan....
Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned, a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but come with prohibitive prices. The initial determination from the Centers for...
Red Cross: Blood donations needed to reverse worst shortage in a decade
The American Red Cross has issued an appeal for blood donations to help reverse what officials say is the worst shortage in more than a decade as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As an incentive, people who arrange blood donations through the Red Cross website (redcrossblood.org) during January will...
In 1st, U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patientVideo
A Maryland man is doing well after surgeons and clinicians from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig’s heart Friday to save his life, officials from the health system said Monday. After being...
U.S. hospitals letting infected staff members stay on the job
Hospitals around the U.S. are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all. The move is a reaction to the severe hospital staffing shortages and crushing caseloads that the...
3 eating and drinking habits that aren’t good for your brain
Brain health is important at any age. To maintain it, you have to be mindful of what you consume. “There is growing scientific evidence that healthy behaviors, which have been shown to prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, also may reduce risk for (subjective cognitive decline),” the Centers for Disease...
Center for Organ Recovery and Education sees record-breaking number of organ donations
A nonprofit that facilitates organ, tissue and cornea donations for the region saw a record-breaking number of organ donors in 2021. The Center for Organ Recovery and Education announced Thursday that 2021 marked the third consecutive record-breaking year. The group — which facilitates donations across western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and...
How the smoking rate in Pa. compares to the nation
Nearly half a million Americans annually die as a result of smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Another 16 million Americans are living with a serious illness caused by smoking. Smoking also has an economic impact, including more than $225 billion each year spent on...
U.S. had 5 rabies deaths last year, highest total in a decade
NEW YORK — Five Americans died of rabies last year — the largest number in a decade — and health officials said Thursday that some of the people didn’t realize they had been infected or refused life-saving shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on three...
Omicron surge vexes parents of children too young for shots
Afternoons with Grammy. Birthday parties. Meeting other toddlers at the park. Parents of children too young to be vaccinated are facing difficult choices as an omicron variant-fueled surge in covid-19 cases makes every encounter seem risky. For Maine business owner Erin Connolly, the most wrenching decision involves Madeleine, her 3-year-old...
U.S. urges covid boosters starting at age 12 to fight omicron
The U.S. is urging that everyone 12 and older get a covid-19 booster as soon as they’re eligible, to help fight back the hugely contagious omicron mutant that’s ripping through the country. Boosters already were encouraged for all Americans 16 and older, but Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control and...
U.S. hospitals seeing different kind of covid surge this time
Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier covid-19 surges. This time, they are dealing with serious staff shortages because so many health care workers are getting sick with the fast-spreading variant. People are showing up...
When should you get a covid vaccine if you’re pregnant? Here’s what one study found
Health officials recommend covid-19 vaccines and boosters for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding and trying to become or planning on getting pregnant. The guidance is based on studies that show risks of severe disease are high among the group. Now, a new study of more than 1,300 pregnant patients reveals...
Researchers: 2 doses of J&J’s covid vaccine slashes omicron hospital stays
Two doses of Johnson & Johnson’s covid-19 vaccine slashed hospitalizations caused by the omicron variant in South Africa by up to 85%, a critical finding since the shot is being increasingly relied upon across the continent, researchers said. The results are a welcome bit of news as the explosive rise...
Hidden danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes, sometimes at an unspeakable cost
It was just a few days past Christmas 2020 when a 57-year-old woman with advanced dementia and a penchant for wandering the hallways stumbled into Richard Marlin Walter’s room at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. Frail, confused and robbed of her ability to speak, she couldn’t scream for help when...
Flu is making a comeback in U.S. after an unusual year off
The U.S. flu season has arrived on schedule after taking a year off, with flu hospitalizations rising and two child deaths reported. Last year’s flu season was the lowest on record, likely because covid-19 measures — school closures, distancing, masks and canceled travel — prevented the spread of influenza, or...
CDC recommends shorter covid isolation for all — from 10 to 5 days
U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the...
