April 22, 2019

Diane’s Story

“It started with a pingpong ball of a cyst in my left breast. I had no insurance. I was afraid of doctors. I was hoping and wishing it would just go away.” When Diane first found out about Family Health Partnership Clinic from one of its volunteer doctors, it had been over 10 years since […]

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April 22, 2019

Cancer Is Especially Dangerous for Immigrants in Texas. Here’s Why

Carlos Rivera had been losing weight and living with fierce abdominal pain before being diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. He initially faced problems getting treatment because of a lack of options for Rio Grande Valley residents who were uninsured or couldn’t afford to pay on their own. Charlotte Huff/Kaiser Health News BY CHARLOTTE HUFF / KAISER HEALTH […]

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April 8, 2019

How Do the Homeless Access Healthcare?

Last week, Kaiser Health reported on the difficulty of finding California’s homeless a place to heal and the difficulty of discharging after a new state law requires hospitals to try to find a safe bed with transportation for homeless patients. The article reports that one woman had to sleep in her car the night she was discharged for […]

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March 26, 2019

NAFC Response to Affordable Care Act Announcements

Today was another busy day in Washington regarding healthcare. Late last night, the Department of Justice announced that it would side with a Texas district court’s 2018 ruling that found the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, meaning it backs overturning the whole law. There are major concerns with this position, including the removal of protections for […]

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March 20, 2019

NAFC Submits High Drug Pricing Testimony to Senate

Yesterday, the CDC released a data briefing with statistics about strategies used by adults to reduce prescription drug costs. The report found that the strategies were most commonly practiced among the uninsured compared with those with private insurance or Medicaid, as 39.5% asked their doctor for a lower-cost medication, 33.6% did not take their medication as prescribed, and […]

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March 11, 2019

NAFC Board Meets to Discuss Vision for 2019

Last week, our 13-member Board of Directors, led by Board Chair Dr. Bobby Kapur, met on Tuesday to discuss the future of the NAFC and how we can best serve our members and our patients throughout the country. The Board’s discussion centered around NAFC’s 2019 public policy objectives for advocacy work to advance the mission […]

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February 28, 2019

Uninsured Americans were ignored when Congress grilled pharma execs

Seven top pharma executives testified before Congress on Tuesday about the rising cost of medications in what some had predicted to be a watershed moment for the pharmaceutical industry. They were grilled about their pricing process, profit margins, and even their own salaries as lawmakers expressed outrage about high drug prices, including those for the lifesaving, necessary […]

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February 15, 2019

Free clinics: The little-known safety net of US healthcare

West Virginia’s largest free clinic sits on a quiet street in Charleston, the small capital city of a state often called America’s unhealthiest. Since 1982, West Virginia Health Right has offered under- and un-insured patients access to healthcare at little to no cost. “I think free and charitable clinics are the most overlooked jewel of the […]

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February 15, 2019

Free clinics: The little-known safety net of US healthcare

West Virginia’s largest free clinic sits on a quiet street in Charleston, the small capital city of a state often called America’s unhealthiest. Since 1982, West Virginia Health Right has offered under- and un-insured patients access to healthcare at little to no cost. “I think free and charitable clinics are the most overlooked jewel of the […]

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