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☆ Millions at risk of losing Medicaid in the spring under provision tucked inside $1.7 trillion federal spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tucked inside a more than 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion bill that funds the federal government through September is a provision that would eliminate the Medicaid coverage protections from the public health emergency. "Whereas right now since the Covid-19 public health emergency started, states were not allowed to terminate Medicaid coverage." The public health emergencyi, first declared in January 2020 by the Trump administration, has been renewed every 90 days since the pandemic began. People generally lose Medicaid coverage if their income rises and falls outside the program's parameters. HHS estimates that about a third of those who will lose Medicaid coverage will qualify for tax credits for marketplace insurance.

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company negotiates directly with drugmakers. So far, that's been the strategy for the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. In October, Cost Plus Drug Company announced a partnership with Capital Blue Cross. Cuban said he wanted Cost Plus Drug Company to be as transparent as possible on pricing. Cost Plus Drug Company is considering a test program for insulin that would offer a 90-day supply of insulin, or a total of 12 vials, for $170.

☆ We can help battle the ‘tripledemic’ with this commonsense solution
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Molly Weston Williamson | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Others should join them as the fight for federal paid sick time rights continues. Three years into a pandemic, nearly 1 in 4 private sector workers in the U.S. still don’t have a single paid sick day. Millions more do not have paid sick time to care for sick children. Paid sick time is also an investment in one of our most powerful tools to build up children’s fragile immune systems: vaccination. We must act now to ensure that everyone has the paid sick time they need for themselves and their families.

The vast majority are either unvaccinated or have received just one of the two recommended doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, according to City of Columbus Public Health. The outbreak, the largest in the U.S. since 2019, is happening as resistance to school vaccination requirements is spreading across the country. The percentage of parents who said they were against vaccination requirements for school was even higher. "As I think about the challenges that we have to public health vaccine, misinformation is among the biggest threats," she said. "Here in Ohio, we have some pretty active anti-vaccine groups," said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health.

☆ Opposition to U.S. school vaccine mandates rose during pandemic -survey
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Shawana Alleyne-Morris | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That was up from 16% in a 2019 Pew Research Center poll conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, KFF researchers said. Most were either unvaccinated or had received just one of two recommended doses of MMR vaccine, according to City of Columbus Public Health. Opposition to required childhood inoculations was strongest among those who identified as Republican in the survey, with 44% now opposed to childhood school vaccine mandates, up from 20% before the pandemic. Among those identifying as Democrats, 88% still support school vaccine mandates. Although childhood vaccine recommendations are made by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, school immunization requirements are set by individual states.

☆ White House announces steps to counter winter wave of Covid infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — White House officials on Thursday announced steps to provide more Covid testing, vaccinations and supplies as case numbers tick up in another winter wave of coronavirus infections. The Biden administration says it will offer more free at-home Covid tests, boost efforts to vaccinate nursing home residents and prepare supplies that can be sent to states in need. Starting Thursday, the White House will make another round of free Covid tests available by allowing households to order up to four at-home tests from Covidtest.gov. The administration official said the White House expects infections to continue to rise as more people gather indoors for holiday celebrations in the coming weeks. The senior administration official said the administration has distributed 6 million courses of Paxlovid to local communities and indicated that it is confident there will be enough supply to meet demand.

Annual gun deaths, ages 1 through 18 2021: 3,597 3,000 2,000 1,000 2000 ’10 ’20In May, the nation watched as horror unfolded in Uvalde, Texas. Last year, nearly two-thirds of gun deaths involving children — 2,279 — were homicides. Most homicides involved Black children, who make up a small share of all children but shoulder the burden of gun violence more than any others, a disparity that is growing sharply. Last year, suicides made up nearly 30 percent of child gun deaths — 1,078. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that has tracked deaths and injuries related to gun violence since 2014, compiles location and other data for thousands of fatal shootings.

☆ You can still sign up for 2023 health insurance through the public marketplace — but waiting past Dec. 15 can delay coverage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

FamVeldIf you don't have health insurance lined up for next year, there's still time to get private coverage through the public marketplace. The deadline is Dec. 15 — Thursday — to sign up on Healthcare.gov for a health plan to take effect Jan. 1. Most marketplace enrollees — 13 million of 14.5 million — qualify for federal subsidies (technically tax credits) to help pay premiums. For enrollees who get subsidies, coverage is generally dropped after three months if premiums are not caught up. That's been the case even if a worker wanted their dependents covered too — meaning the actual cost of family coverage could far exceed that threshold.

☆ Health insurance is helping cool inflation. But 'it's not a very good reflection' of what people pay, cautions economist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Health insurance prices fell by 4% in October and 4.3% in November, according to the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation. Health insurance costs had been rising steadily, within a band of roughly 1.5% to 3% a month since October 2021, according to CPI data. That decline in prices on paper is due to the unique way in which the BLS calculates health insurance inflation, economists said. "It's not a very good reflection of prices consumers are going to be seeing," said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. Consumers who get health insurance through the workplace paid $1,327 in health premiums for single coverage in 2022 and $6,106 for family coverage, KFF said.

☆ Long Covid is distorting the labor market — and that's bad for the U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

She eventually learned that the balance issues and ear pain resulted from a damaged vestibular nerve, a known effect of long Covid. She found that 2 million to 4 million full-time workers are out of the labor force due to long Covid. For one, many of the hundreds of potential long Covid symptoms are invisible to others, even if disabling for the afflicted. Why the long Covid labor gap mattersJerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, mentioned Sheiner and Salwati's long Covid research in a recent speech about inflation and the labor market. That burden will continue to rise if long Covid patients don't start recovering at greater rates, she said.

☆ Abortion was a hot topic in the 2022 midterms. Here's how an abortion clinic in Ohio plans to move forward after the end of Roe v. Wade.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The executive director of an independent Ohio clinic shares her plans for keeping the business open. At the same time, abortion clinics are navigating the new normal. While abortion access is temporarily restored in Ohio, limited timelines mean the viability to run an independent clinic is shrinking. Sri Thakkilapati, the interim executive director at the Cleveland independent abortion clinic Preterm, is trying to balance the two realities. It's always been our mission to destigmatize abortion and support patients through whatever reproductive-health decisions they make.

☆ Want a successful first date? Consider making it a sober one
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

As a rule, Tres Reeves doesn't drink alcohol on a first date. "I recommend not going to a bar on a first date because you don't know what perception it will give." "One date I went on we had a picnic because she liked being outdoors and I'm always hungry," he says. 'Covid really redefined what a date was'"Covid really redefined what a date was," says Logan Ury, Hinge's Director of Relationship Science. " In March 2020, online alcohol sales grew 234% from a year prior, according to Nielsen data.

☆ Popular Medicare Advantage plans have 'clear cases of overpayments and improper billing of US taxpayers,' advocates and analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The original Medicare program is offered directly through the federal government. "There hasn't been enough of an indictment of Medicare Advantage plans," Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens League, told Insider. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the share of all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will grow to 61% by 2032. The politics of Medicare AdvantagePoliticians, primarily Republicans, have done their part to promote Medicare Advantage over the original Medicare plans since President George W. Bush overhauled the program in 2003. Johnson said Medicare Advantage was so popular among conservatives because it shifted financial responsibility from the government to patients.

☆ Fact Check-Finding that most people dying from COVID-19 are vaccinated does not mean vaccines don’t work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Statistics that show the majority of deaths from COVID-19 are among vaccinated people reflect the fact most people are vaccinated, not that the vaccines are ineffective, as implied in a social media post. Similar statistics show COVID vaccines continue to reduce the risk of dying and severe illness, an expert told Reuters. The data cited in the article show the majority of COVID-19 deaths are among vaccinated people, particularly the elderly, a group that is nearly 94% vaccinated in the United States. CDC Data cited in the same article shows that vaccination continues to reduce risk of death across all age groups. Reuters has previously factchecked similar misleading claims that a large proportion of COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated people reflects poor vaccine effectiveness (here) (here) and (here).

☆ As overdoses soar in rural America, more clinicians are prescribing addiction medications
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Tony Leys | Kaiser Health News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

The Health Resources and Services Administration, which aims to improve health care for underserved people, offers many of these grants. But the use of methadone for addiction treatment is tightly regulated, due to concerns that it can be abused. Federal regulators approved Suboxone in 2002, opening an avenue for addiction treatment in towns without methadone clinics. Or a patient’s primary doctor could take over the buprenorphine treatment after an addiction treatment specialist stabilizes a patient. Storjohann said some health care professionals believe addiction treatment would lead to frustration, because patients can repeatedly relapse.

☆ Long Covid may be 'the next public health disaster' — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Norpel is one of millions of Americans with long Covid, also known as long-haul Covid, post-Covid or post-acute Covid syndrome. Key symptoms: Long Covid has been linked to more than 200 symptoms, according to The Rockefeller Foundation. Duration: There's no consistent definition of how long symptoms must persist for someone to be considered a long Covid patient. What experts do know is that for some, long Covid symptoms can last months or even years. "I don't know if it's for the rest of my life or not," Hurst said of feeling long Covid symptoms.

☆ Despite ongoing Covid risks, more employees consider cutting back on health-care benefits
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Almost 159 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. Health insurance plansFor starters, consider what your health coverage costs you. But "don't just look at the monthly cost of your health insurance," Cosgray advised. To be able to use an HSA, you need to be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan, or HDHP. Other voluntary benefits offered through an employer can provide additional protection, including hospital indemnity insurance, critical illness coverage and accident insurance.

☆ Medicare open enrollment ends Dec. 7. Here's why it's important to evaluate your 2023 coverage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In between eating leftover turkey and hunting for bargains amid holiday sales, be sure to review your Medicare coverage, if you haven't already. The program's annual open enrollment period, which began Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7, is when you can make changes, which will take effect Jan. 1. Although you aren't required to take action — your current plan generally would renew automatically — experts recommend determining whether it still is the best fit. Despite how prevalent changes are to plans each year, most beneficiaries do not compare their current coverage with other available plans. Just 29% did in 2020, according to a recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

People who got the updated booster shots after two or more shots of the original vaccine were compared to another group of people who received only two or more doses of the original vaccine. The updated booster shots performed better in preventing infections in all adult age groups, with higher vaccine efficacy seen in people who waited longer before getting the updated booster, the CDC found. He noted that studies have shown longer intervals between Covid vaccine doses can lead to higher antibody levels. Previous Covid infections may be underreported, the agency said, and low uptake of the updated boosters could have affected the results. New subvariants BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 are on the rise in the U.S., she said, and it’s unclear how the updated boosters will perform against those strains.

☆ Which to Choose: Medicare or Medicare Advantage?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Paula Span | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Which to Choose: Medicare or Medicare Advantage? Medicare Advantage plans, like traditional Medicare, are funded by the federal government, but they are offered though private insurance companies, which receive a set payment for each enrollee. The proportion of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans has hit 48 percent. Which is better: Medicare or Medicare Advantage? Credit... Kenny Holston for The New York Times Unlike most Medicare Advantage plans, traditional Medicare does not include drug coverage.

The law allows the government to choose 10 drugs to negotiate from among the 50 costliest drugs for Medicare. Even so, Republicans will "chip away" at the drug price negotiation provision and its implementation, said Joel White, founder and president of Horizon Government Affairs. Biden is unlikely to weaken his signature domestic achievement, said Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Even Republican support for the drug pricing provision is not guaranteed because it is popular with voters across the political spectrum, he said. "All Republicans voted against drug price negotiation, but they have to tread carefully in any effort to weaken it."

☆ Weight loss startups offer access to new drugs, but do they provide good care?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Darius Tahir | Kaiser Health News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Now a wave of startups offer access to a new category of drugs coupled with intensive behavioral coaching online. These patients pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, to access new drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, along with online coaching to encourage healthy habits. (That price includes generic drugs, but not the newer GLP-1 agonists, like Wegovy.) The firms say they’re on the vanguard of weight care, both citing the influence of biology and other scientific factors as key ingredients to their approaches. Found said older generics like zonisamide are more accessible than the GLP-1 agonists advertised on social media and their own website.

☆ Here are 4 ways to take advantage of your health-care expenses before the end of the year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Take advantage of reaching your deductibleIf you've met your plan's deductible, you may be able to pay less for qualifying health-care services before the end of the year than you would after the deductible resets Jan. 1. Once you've met your plan's deductible, you may or may not face copays or coinsurance — it depends on your plan's out-of-pocket maximum, which may be higher. See if you can get the medical expense tax deductionThere is a tax deduction for medical expenses, although it comes with parameters that prevent some taxpayers from using it. For starters, you can only deduct health-care expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Its gains grow tax-free, and as long as withdrawals are used for qualifying medical expenses, tapping those funds also comes with no tax.

The ballot measure amended the state constitution to enshrine expansion for Medicaid health care coverage to all adults who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Eliot Fishman, the senior director of health policy for the health care advocacy group Families USA, said that in South Dakota parents with practically any work income were ineligible for Medicaid. It took over two years, because advocates first pursued the process in South Dakota in October 2020. Supporters cheer for South Dakota Gov. Medicaid expansion, however, would not remain its focus.

Both have highlighted policies that limit health care access in Georgia, such as its new six-week abortion ban and a decision by Republican Gov. Georgians have witnessed health services dwindle before and during the pandemic, straining the state’s medical system even as regional health care costs rise. Nearly half of Georgia’s 159 counties have no OB-GYN, according to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce. Some see the shutdowns as exacerbating racial disparities in health care access in Atlanta, where a 2018 Trulia analysis found 25.3 health care providers per 10,000 residents in the city’s majority-white census tracts, compared with 9.8 in majority-Black tracts. “I’m looking at somebody that is going to be for the community,” she says, “that’s going to help us with the health care — bring it closer to us.”

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