Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F.

Dozens of Houston residents recently received unexpected medical bills totaling thousands of dollars for COVID tests they took back in 2020 and 2021. These bills represent balances that insurance companies did not cover, leaving patients questioning if they are required to pay these old charges.

KPRC 2 Investigates is looking into why people end up with bills for hundreds even thousands of dollars for a simple covid test. By federal law covid tests are free regardless of having insurance. So why the high fees? We are getting answers and showing you how to find a free test when you need one.

In a story published Nov. 1, 2024, about COVID-19 vaccines in Idaho, The Associated Press, citing Southwest Health District statistics, erroneously reported the number of COVID-19 vaccines the district provided in 2021 and 2024.

A boost from COVID-19 treatment sales helped bush Pfizer to a better-than-expected third quarter and higher forecast for the year.

A young woman has died after hitting a car while riding on a motorcycle in west Houston.

Authorities with Houston Police Department are investigating a shocking situation in a southern Houston backyard.

The destruction from Hurricane Helene has disrupted the high school landscape throughout southern Appalachia.

Americans will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests delivered to their home free of charge starting later this month.

A driver was killed near the Deer Park area after a wreck with a car driving towards oncoming traffic on the highway.

A body has been found in the Huntington Bayou in northeast Houston.

Starting September 10th, women will be notified if their mammograms show dense breast tissue, which can obscure cancer detection.

Various Kelsey-Seybold Clinics are reporting an increase in respiratory and viral infections.

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans were a lifeline for small businesses.

The new vaccines should be available in September.

Noah Lyles lost the Olympic 200 meters, falling to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, then collapsing on the track and being carted off in a wheelchair.

Outdoor tables saved thousands of New York City restaurants from ruin when they were forced to close their dining rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Houston residents face high fees and price gouging when cashing FEMA checks after Hurricane Beryl.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing mild symptoms, his office announced Sunday, but his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, has tested negative and remains asymptomatic.

The Norwegian government has signed a deal to start stockpiling grain, saying the COVID-19 pandemic, a war in Europe and climate change have made it necessary.

The Supreme Court has rejected two appeals related to COVID-19 vaccines from Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F.

Prosecutors say Ndem Oduu, admitted to depositing another person’s stimulus check in his own account, defrauding them of $1,200 that was meant to help the victim weather economic difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A jury has convicted five Minnesota residents and acquitted two others in a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to steal more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children.

Government advisers say it’s time to update the recipe for the COVID-19 vaccines Americans will receive in the fall.

The World Health Organization says member countries approved new steps to boost global preparedness for pandemics like COVID-19 and mpox and better respond to dangerous outbreaks.

A 13-year-old boy is facing capital murder charges after an attempted robbery turned fatal in west Houston.

Vivian Health used its proprietary data and BLS statistics to map differences in pay between registered travel and staff nurses in Texas and across the U.S.

Miles blamed the previous administration for bad financial practices. The district’s budget gap has grown to $528M, which Miles says is the reason jobs and expenses had to be cut

Many childcare centers struggled to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now Harris County is hoping to give those centers some much-needed relief.

Malaria is still a significant public health challenge in Kenya, but an important pilot of the world’s first malaria vaccine may help.

In addition to springtime seasonal allergies, people are suffering complications from that like hay fever, and skin rashes. Some are also feeling even worse with lots of upper respiratory infections across the area.

Earlier this week, Forrie J. Smith made headlines after he said he was removed from a flight about to take off from Houston, for asking to move away from a passenger wearing a mask. Now, he’s giving a few more details about what happened.

Kenyan doctors have stopped providing emergency services at public hospitals, as they escalated a national strike that entered its second week.

The nation’s top public health agency is expanding a program that tests international travelers for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

March 11 marks the day four years ago when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Harris County Commissioner’s Lesley Briones and Rodney Ellis will highlight new funding for eviction legal aid

Cy-Fair ISD’s chief financial officer announced they’re preparing to see a $38 million deficit for the upcoming school year. Karen Smith, during a board meeting, said the reason for the loss is due to end of the ‘Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund’ (ESSER) a COVID-era federal dollars and lack of additional state funding.

Keri Sprung works at the Texas Heart Institute. She’s helped research and write papers on spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) but when she developed symptoms in herself, she never made the connection.

New York prosecutors say a Brooklyn woman has been sentenced in connection with a sprawling COVID-19 fraud scheme.

China’s population fell by 2 million people in 2023 in the second straight annual decrease as births dropped and deaths jumped.

As you’re preparing to gather this holiday, could you be inviting flu, COVID or RSV into your home?

United Memorial Medical Center has agreed to pay $2 million and to make additional contingent payments to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations, the United States Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Even though cases of COVID-19 have declined considerably since the start of the pandemic, it’s still important to get tested for the virus.

According to the City of Houston Health Department, Flu cases have been trending upward over the past three weeks.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia.

The Heisman Trophy race is looking wide open for 2024.

Unlicensed men and women in the state of Texas have been caught on numerous occasions carrying out extreme medical procedures even though they are not qualified.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in sometimes angry testimony to Britain’s inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, on Thursday defended himself against suggestions that his indifference and failure to heed the advice of scientists led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Three staffers for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo are facing new charges in connection to an investigation into a $11 million COVID-19 outreach contract.

COVID-19 variant HV.1 has become the variant responsible for most COVID cases here in the United States in just a few short weeks.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, local teacher Deidre Kelly turned to TikTok to inspire her students, and she has since garnered a massive following.

The ban applies to all private businesses, including health care facilities like hospitals, which can jeopardize the health of those with compromised immune systems or other underlying conditions.

The Lone Star State’s iconic theme park brands Schlitterbahn and Six Flags would come under the same ownership as part of a merger announced Thursday.

The state of Tennessee has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal lawsuit by its former vaccine leader over her firing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation, which Republican lawmakers have been trying to pass since 2021, offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities.

Pfizer lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter as an expected COVID-19 product sales decline clipped revenue.

The COVID-19 treatments millions of have taken for free from the federal government will enter the private market next week with a hefty price tag.

While it may not be as severe as in recent years, health officials say COVID-19 cases are increasing daily, but research shows many African Americans refused or delayed getting vaccinated.

There are several illnesses going around right now. Some of the most common are COVID, respiratory syncytial virus, and strep.

The bill offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities. Senators agreed to let those entities require unvaccinated employees to wear personal protective gear or take other “reasonable” measures to manage the spread.

What’s going around in the Houston area?

A Senate panel on Tuesday advanced such a measure. The debate centered largely around the safety of the vaccine and whether doctors’ offices and health care facilities should be exempt.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is announcing $40 million in funding to help develop messenger RNA vaccines in Africa.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that symptoms can persist for weeks after common respiratory infections like the common cold.

Doses aren’t arriving at providers’ offices at uniform, predictable intervals. Shipments are largely dependent on individual providers’ ability to work out the logistics of ordering, stocking, training and paperwork.

The once-critical white COVID-19 vaccination cards are being phased out.

A Houston man who was the head of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six of his co-conspirators were sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans that the Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

A new report says the U.S. Census Bureau’s career staffers valiantly conducted the 2020 census under unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fall vaccination season is in full swing, with health officials urging both an updated COVID-19 shot and flu vaccine for most everyone.

Gatwick Airport, London’s second-busiest, is limiting flights this week, partly because of an outbreak of COVID-19 within air traffic control.

Texas and Washington D.C, are the only two parts of America spiking on the CDC weekly flu chart right now.

France is sending military forces to distribute water on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to greenlight updated versions of the Covid booster as early as Friday, according to four people familiar with the agency’s plans.

The COVID-19 virus is ever-changing and continuously evolves over time.

A brand new COVID variant labeled “BA.2.86″ has now been identified and reported in Texas.

A group of friends and neighbors meets for a weekly meal, choosing from a special menu of nutritious foods paid for by social programs meant to keep older adults eating healthy.

China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after an isolation that began with the country's borders closing in 2020.

Hundreds of people have been charged with the theft of more than $830 million in COVID-19 emergency aid following a nationwide operation conducted by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The CDC’s most recent data shows that the percentage of weekly hospitalizations per 100,000 people in Harris County due to COVID-19 has increased more than state and national rates.

New Zealand has removed the last of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, marking the end of a government response to the pandemic that was watched closely around the world.

From heat-related illness to contagious viruses, here’s what doctors across our area say is “what’s going around.”

From breathing troubles to contagious viruses, here’s what doctors across our area say is “what’s going around.”

Official figures show that German beer sales resumed a long-term downward trend in the first six months of this year after rallying in 2022 thanks to the end of most COVID-19 restrictions.

With more than 20,000 people expected to attend, White Linen Night is known as a vibrant community event that started in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by the New Orleans community that moved to Texas and missed their original event.

The Biden administration has asked a federal appeals court to block a lower court’s order limiting executive branch officials’ discussions with social media companies regarding alleged misinformation.

The Spanish government has declared an end to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and says people no longer have to wear masks in health and care centers as well as pharmacies.

As Marisol Perez fought for her life in a Texas hospital in autumn 2021, her mother, Alma Salas, sat with her every day praying.

The next round of COVID-19 vaccines will target one of the latest versions of the coronavirus.

Confidence in the scientific community declined among U.S. adults in 2022, a major survey shows, driven by a a partisan divide that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aid agencies will struggle to draw the world’s attention back to Syria at an annual donor conference hosted by the European Union in Brussels for humanitarian aid to Syrians.

An Austrian federal court says the state can’t be held liable for a COVID-19 infection from an outbreak at an Alpine ski resort as the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe The Supreme Court of Justice on Thursday announced its verdict in a long-running legal battle involving a German resident who traveled to Ischgl in March 2020 and visited several apres-ski venues before returning home six days later.

You really couldn’t pick a much prettier day or place to celebrate the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day 2023, than on the beach in Galveston.

The World Health organization declared earlier this month that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer an emergency, putting a three-year end to the virus that killed at least 7 million people and turned the world upside down.

Japan’s economy has grown at an annual pace of 1.6% in the quarter through March.

Top U.N. officials and health industry leaders are demanding that the world invest more to develop new vaccines and tackle a surge in tuberculosis fueled by the impact of COVID-19 and conflicts including Ukraine and Sudan.

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is resigning.

The World Health Organization says that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency.

The Biden administration will end the last remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week when the national public health emergency for the coronavirus ends.

The next novel from Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, his first in a decade, is a family saga set in New York City before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of people say they’ve developed tinnitus after they were vaccinated against Covid. While there is no proof yet that the vaccines caused the condition, theories for a possible link have surfaced among researchers.