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Outside of risks from the fire's heat — and any health risks related to a long-term power outage — the main health concern in wildfire conditions is smoke, which produces particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases and asthma, as well as heart problems.

Smoke And Power Outages Near California Wildfires Hit Farmworkers Hard

October marks not only fire season in California, but also the peak of the grape harvest. In areas not imminently threatened, some workers labor through heat and smoke to save harvests and paychecks.

During recent blackouts in California, people like Fern Brown (left) and her sister, Lavina Suehead, came to a pop-up community center at the Auburn, Calf., fairgrounds to use electricity. Brown, 81, needed a treatment for her chronic lung condition.

California's Preemptive Blackouts Put A Strain On People With Home Medical Needs

People who rely on plug-in health devices or medicine that requires refrigeration are scrambling to find ways to avoid potentially life-threatening disruptions now and in future fire season shutdowns.

Arline Feilen (left) and her sister, Kathy McCoy, at their mother's home in the Chicago suburbs. The biggest chunk of Feilen's bill was $16,480 for four nights in a room shared with another patient. McCoy joked that it would have been cheaper to stay at the Ritz-Carlton.

A Woman's Grief Led To A Mental Health Crisis And A $21,634 Hospital Bill

A woman in Illinois spent five days in the hospital undergoing psychiatric care to help her through a mental health crisis. The bill she got is about the same price as a new Honda Civic.

Student demonstrators cheered in 2015 outside the Supreme Court after learning that the high court had upheld the Affordable Care Act as law of the land. But Republican foes of the federal health law are still working to have it struck down.

Stakes High For Democrats And Republicans In Bid To Rush ACA To Supreme Court

Both sides say they want the high court to quickly weigh in on a case that could invalidate the federal health law. Whatever the court decides will likely have consequences in 2020 elections.

Since its passage, the Affordable Care Act has been the subject of multiple court cases and attempts to derail it in Congress — attempts that garnered protests in 2017 and beyond. The law has survived, so far, but a key provision was struck down Wednesday in federal court.

Obamacare Takes Another Hit In Federal Appeals Court Ruling

A federal court in New Orleans has declared a portion of the health law unconstitutional, asking the lower court to reconsider the rest. This leaves the future of the law in limbo.

Families affected by preexisting medical conditions attend a Capitol Hill news conference in 2018 in support of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to the ACA, insurers could refuse to cover people who had even mild preexisting conditions — or charge them much more.

What Else Disappears If The ACA Is Overturned?

Though it has been on the books for nearly a decade, the Affordable Care Act faces a big court challenge right now that could overturn it. Here's what happens if the federal health law goes away.

Eliza Oliver helps her daughter, Taelyn, step down from the exam table after a wellness check at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Fort Scott, Kan. The child's doctor now has a medical scribe to takes notes. The visit this time seemed more "personal," Oliver says.

1 Year After Losing Its Hospital, A Rural Town Is Determined To Survive

Anger and fear have turned to pragmatic hope in the year since the people of Fort Scott, Kan., lost their hospital to corporate downsizing. A community health center remains. So far, so good.

Service dogs can be trained to provide very different types of support to their human companions, as medical students learn from interacting with "Shetland," a highly skilled retriever-mix.

High-Ranking Dog Provides Key Training For Military's Medical Students

Service dogs are a common sight at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, near Washington, D.C. But this special canine trains would-be healers how to pick the right dog for a wounded veteran.

Tom and Dana Saputo sit in their backyard with their three dogs. Tom Saputo's double-lung transplant was fully covered by insurance, but he was responsible for an $11,524.79 portion of the charge for an air ambulance ride.

The Air Ambulance Billed More Than The Lung Transplant Surgeon

After Tom Saputo underwent a double-lung transplant in 2018, he was stunned by the more than $11,000 bill for his share of a 27-mile air ambulance ride from one hospital to another.

Whistleblower Alleges Fraud At A Large Medicare Advantage Plan In Seattle

As the Trump administration calls for expanding access to Medicare Advantage, a federal whistleblower lawsuit accuses a large Medicare Advantage plan of bilking Medicare out of $8 million.

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