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NPR

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Among The 1st To Get A Polio Vaccine, Peter Salk Says Don’t Rush A COVID-19 Shot : NPR

Given the long family experience in this field, Peter Salk said he is optimistic about a COVID-19 vaccine. But he cautioned about racing ahead before one is fully tested.

"I congratulate the impulse on the part of the federal government right now to want to speed things up as much as possible," he said. "What concerns me is knowing that in the past there have been unexpected things that have taken place with vaccines that had not been foreseen."

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Teletherapy Is A Lifeline For Isolated Patients In Emotional Pain : Shots – Health News : NPR

Psychiatrist Philip Muskin is quarantined at home in New York City because he's been feeling a little under the weather and doesn't want to expose anyone to whatever he has. But he continues to see his patients the only way he can: over the phone.

"I've been a psychiatrist for more than 40 years; I have never FaceTimed a patient in my entire career," says Muskin, who works at Columbia University Medical Center, treating outpatients in his clinical practice, as well as people who have been hospitalized. Normally, he says he walks patients to the door, shakes their hand or touches their arm or shoulder to reassure them. "Now I'm not doing that, and that's weird to me. So it's a whole new, very unpleasant world."

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Why Are Doctors Now Billing Patients For Some Phone Chats That Used To Be Free? : Shots – Health News : NPR

Cigna, her health insurer, said it would waive out-of-pocket costs for telehealth patients seeking coronavirus screening through video conferences. So Taylor, a sales manager, talked with her physician on an Internet video call.

The doctor's office charged her $70. She protested. But "they said, 'No, it goes toward your deductible and you've got to pay the whole $70,' " she says.

Policymakers and insurers across the United States say they are eliminating copayments, deductibles and other barriers to telemedicine for patients confined at home who need to consult a doctor for any reason.

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Joe Biden Proposes Lowering The Medicare Eligibility Age To 60 : Shots – Health News : NPR

In a nod to the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, and in what is clearly an overture to supporters of the "Medicare for All" plan pushed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden wants to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60.

I like this idea a lot - offers more flexibility to seniors and will help older people retire earlier and peruse other activities besides corporate jobs. 

Polio

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Earlier in the day I posted a handful of articles about the polio epidemic that my mom mentioned from her memories years ago. She noted how similar people’s fears of contacting polio was when she was young. I didn’t know much about polio but the website I shared had a lot of good information.