Emergency Room

Ben Norris, 65, used to live on the streets. Now he's taking part in a pilot project in Oregon that uses Medicaid funds to pay for housing and rent for people who are homeless or in danger of becoming so. Celeste Noche for NPR hide caption

A billing mistake by an in-network Florida emergency room landed Sara McLin's then-4-year-old son in collections. Zack Wittman/KHN hide caption

Diagnosing and treating patients was once an ER doctor's domain, but they are increasingly being replaced by health practitioners who can perform many of the same duties and generate much the same revenue for less than half the pay. Phil Fisk/Image Source via Getty Images hide caption

Laura Polizoti, a family intervention specialist at Youth Villages, discusses strategies with Haley that would be more beneficial for both her and her mother Carmen. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption

When Dr. Tiffany M. Osborn received her COVID-19 vaccination shortly after vaccines became available in late 2020, she felt hopeful about the pandemic's trajectory. A year later, she's sad and frustrated to see so many COVID patients in the ICU. Matt Miller / Washington University School of Medicine hide caption

A team of nurses, patient care technicians and a respiratory therapist prepare to return a COVID patient to their back after 24 hours of lying on their stomach. That posture makes it easier to breathe and is a critical part of treatment for COVID patients in hospitals. Alan Hawes/Medical University of South Carolina hide caption

When Caitlin Wells Salerno and Jon Salerno's first son, Hank, was born, his delivery cost the family only $30. Gus' bill came in at more than $16,000, all told — including the $2,755 ER charge. The family was responsible for about $3,600 of the total. Rae Ellen Bichell/KHN hide caption

A Teton County emergency medical services volunteer outside the Benefis Teton Medical Center in Choteau, Mont. Aaron Bolton/Montana Public Radio hide caption

Emergency room physicians are seeing a drop in admissions for heart attacks and strokes. They worry patients who have delayed care may be sicker when they finally arrive in emergency rooms. Studio 642/Getty Images/Tetra images RF hide caption

MedStar Washington Hospital Center's "ready room" in Washington, D.C., has mostly been used to house emergency supplies — but some storage carts have been moved out to make way for patient assessment stations. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

Until very recently, the separate company that runs the emergency department at Nashville General Hospital was continuing to haul patients who couldn't pay medical bills into court. Blake Farmer/WPLN hide caption

In most states, undocumented immigrants with kidney failure have to receive dialysis as an emergency treatment in hospital emergency rooms. Some advocates say kidney transplants for undocumented immigrants would be a cheaper way to treat the problem. JazzIRT/Getty Images hide caption

Matt Gleason fainted at work after getting a flu shot, so colleagues called 911 and an ambulance took him to the ER. Eight hours later, Gleason went home with a clean bill of health. Later still he got a hefty bill that wiped out his deductible. Logan Cyrus for KHN hide caption