Author

Lauren Weber

Lauren Weber, Midwest correspondent, is covering how America’s health system is working - and not working - for patients in that region. Based in St. Louis, her hometown, she tackles everything from rural hospital closures to health system consolidation to state and national reform promises made on the campaign trail.

Health

Testing Public Health Infrastructure In The Heartland; Global Spread of Coronavirus Fueling Concerns…

Lauren Weber Feb 13, 2020

While 15 Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. so far, tens of thousands of people have been infected worldwide and more than 1,300 have died. Global, and local fears of the spread of the respiratory virus are fueling…

Health

No Quick Fix: In Missouri, Managing Pain Without Opioids Isn’t Fast Or Easy

Lauren Weber Feb 13, 2020

While Missouri health care providers now have another tool besides prescribing opioids to patients with Medicaid, the multistep approaches required by alternative treatments create many more hoops than a pharmacy visit. File photo:…

Health

Patients Stuck With Bills After Insurers Don’t Pay As Promised

Lauren Weber Feb 10, 2020

Darla Markley and her husband, Andy Markley, of Winter Park, Florida, tried to pay off their medical bills following tests Darla had done at the Mayo Clinic in 2010. Even after Mayo wrote off some of what they owed, her disability and…

Business

Obamacare’s Star Ratings Offer A Glimmer Of Insight ― But Not For All

Lauren Weber Nov 2, 2019

A Press conference where President Obama discussed the quality of health plans due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nick-named 'Obamacare, and the insurance on the marketplace. File photo: Pixabay. ST. LOUIS — As…

Health

‘We Vape, We Vote’: How Vaping Crackdowns Are Politicizing Vapers

Lauren Weber Oct 10, 2019

Vapers were mobilized for two congressional campaigns with postcards produced by political operative Mark Block, who also started the Vape PAC political action committee. Photo credits: Lydia Zuraw/KHN Illustration; Mark Block; Getty…

Business

They Enrolled in Medical School To Practice Rural Medicine. What Happened?

Lauren Weber Oct 9, 2019

Dr. Sara Ritterling Patry, one of University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina's first graduates, practices internal medicine in Hutchinson, Kansas. With a population under 41,000, Hutchinson, Kan., isn’t the most rural community, but…

Health

Meet The Health Officials Who Alerted To Mysterious Vaping Illness

Lauren Weber Sep 25, 2019

The epidemic has prompted outrage about federal oversight of vaping, but there is also a local public health success story to be told. Doctors and regional officials in Wisconsin, Illinois and elsewhere pieced together that this…