Health

WASHINGTON - Arizona residents can expect to see the largest rate increases in the nation when open enrollment for Obamacare begins next week, but advocates say those increases should be offset by similarly large increases in tax credits for consumers.

PHOENIX – Better get the Band-Aids out. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against nasal spray flu vaccinations, saying it's less effective than the shot.

PHOENIX – It seems like a normal room: There’s a can of hairspray by the mirror, a red trash can by the desk, an extension cord plugged into the wall and a teddy bear wearing a tie-dye shirt on the bed.

WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell predicted Wednesday that 13.8 million people will sign up for Obamacare when open enrollment begins Nov. 1, even though they will face fewer options and higher premiums in states like Arizona.

Cronkite News is working on a series of stories on concussions in high school athletes. We would like to hear from anyone who has experienced a concussion playing high school sports, as well as parents, trainers or coaches who might know someone who has.

As part of the Cronkite News investigation about prescription opioid use, we'd like to learn more about drug rehabilitation centers.

PHOENIX – Shared syringes can lead to shared diseases among opioid users, according to a Phoenix organization determined to improve safety.

WASHINGTON - A south Phoenix congressional district posted one of the nation's largest decreases in people without health insurance since the start of the Affordable Care Act, according to a recently released analysis of Census Bureau data.

TUCSON – Pima County's Medical Examiner reported 17 fentanyl-related deaths last year, up from seven in 2014 – a deadly trend involving one of the most potent synthetic opioids in the world.

PHOENIX – For someone like Marsha Burton, who is diabetic, has high blood pressure and relies on food banks to help her put food on the table, affording certain types of foods that help her manage her medical condition can be difficult.

PHOENIX - RimaAnn Nelson is the right choice to take over the Phoenix VA Health Care System, according to Department of Veterans Affairs undersecretary David Shulkin, despite objections from Arizona's congressional delegation and her record of managing a facility that failed to meet sanitation standards that potentially put thousands of veterans at risk of being exposed to HIV.

WASHINGTON - Two years after problems with health care were first uncovered at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital, an inspector general's report released Tuesday said patients there "continued to encounter delays in obtaining" care.