Scott Hensley
Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Hensley has worked on award-winning investigations in collaboration with journalistic partners.
He was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with the Center for Public Integrity in 2018 that exposed drug industry influence on the choices of preferred medicines by Medicaid programs. The work won the 2019 Gerald Loeb Award for audio reporting.
In 2017, Hensley was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with Kaiser Health News that showed how the pharmaceutical industry exploits government incentives intended to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases. The stories won the 2019 digital award from the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Hensley has been editing in his current role since 2019. He joined NPR in 2009 to launch Shots, a blog that expanded to become a digital destination for NPR health coverage.
Before NPR, Hensley was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal. He was the founding editor of The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, which focused on the intersection of health and business. As a reporter, he covered the drug industry and the Human Genome Project.
Hensley served on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists from 2012 to 2020.
He has a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
Before becoming a journalist, Hensley worked in the medical device industry. He remains, now and forever, a lover of Dobermans, lacrosse and Callinectes sapidus.
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Nothing beats word clouds for a quick overview of what Democrats and Republicans said in the debate about repealing federal health overhaul.
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Even a slick dance video hasn't gotten a couple of million people to sign up for Medicare subsidy. At stake is help worth about $4,000 a year that could defray the costs of prescription drug coverage for people in strapped circumstances.
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Now that the new year is upon us, here are some healthy tips for 2011. For starters, we found 25 bits of advice for dieters. And then there's a roundup of changes that the federal health overhaul could bring to you.
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Even the wonkiest among us rarely refer to the law by its given name: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. So what should we call the law remaking the nation's health care system? -
The overhaul of the U.S. health care system will lead to many more people having insurance coverage. But when it comes to the costs of care, don't expect much improvement. High prices will remain a problem.
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Health care is getting more complicated and the demands on nurses are growing. An report on the profession says nursing education needs to become more rigorous to prepare nurses for bigger future roles.
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President Obama is expected to warn insurers not to use the new health law as an excuse to raise premiums.
