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☆ Successfully applying for Social Security disability is difficult. Applying as a long Covid patient is even trickier
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Social Security disability benefits are generally available to workers who have earned enough credits through payroll taxes — typically 40 credits, though younger workers may qualify with less. Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a federal benefit available to disabled individuals who may not qualify for Social Security disability based on their work records. Allsup, which works with NASA, helped Perry get his Social Security disability benefits application approved. "That can really make or break a Social Security disability case," he said. Social Security disability benefits are aimed at long-term conditions.

☆ What long Covid patients need to know about health insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty ImagesNavigating the health insurance system is often difficult and overwhelming, even in the best of times. For patients with long Covid, a relatively new condition that frequently leaves patients with a lengthy and unpredictable list of debilitating symptoms, it can be especially nightmarish. Here's what you need to know about navigating health insurance with the condition. Long Covid patients, for example, often seek physical therapy and mental health services, she said. Clinical trials are 'worth investigating'Clinical trials, many of which are covered by health insurance plans, can be a great option for long Covid patients, Donovan said.

☆ Hong Kong to allow import of hamsters after year-long COVID ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pedestrians walk past a closed pet shop in Mong Kok district after a hamster cull was ordered to curb the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hong Kong, China, January 19, 2022. The government aims to "resume commercial imports of hamsters around mid-January," it said in a statement to Reuters. In January 2022, Hong Kong ordered a hamster cull amid an outbreak of Delta variant cases in humans that was traced back to a pet shop worker in the Chinese special administrative region. Hong Kong's pet rodent clampdown had echoed the mainland's zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19. Little Boss, the operating company which owned the pet shop at the heart of Hong Kong's hamster cull last year, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ A long-term illness crisis is threatening the UK economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Leon Neal/Getty ImagesLONDON — Along with sky-high inflation and energy costs, a Brexit-related trade tailspin and a recession in progress, the U.K. economy is being hammered by record numbers of workers reporting long-term sickness. Unlike other major economies, recent U.K. data shows no sign that these lost workers are returning to the labor market, even as inflation and energy costs exert huge pressure on household finances. The U.K. avoided mass job losses during the Covid-19 pandemic as the government's furlough program subsidized businesses to retain workers. "The U.K. was particularly vulnerable because of austerity — NHS waiting lists were rising sharply, and performance/satisfaction was falling sharply, well before the pandemic," Portes said. However, the report noted that this isn't a recent phenomenon, and the waiting list has been growing rapidly since 2012.watch now

☆ 4 major trends in health startups in 2022, after an unexpected post-pandemic dropoff in funding
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

VCs poured $13.5 billion into healthtech startups in 2022 — down nearly 50% from 2021. But a global slump and the tech downturn changed all of that, and funding into health startups fell by nearly 50% to $13.5 billion this year. AI-driven drug development and mental health startups also boomed during COVID-19 but have seen a funding dropoff in 2022. Tech that served underrepresented groups was spotlightedFrom menopause to mental health, health conditions that were billed as 'taboo' pre-pandemic have come to the forefront this year. Startups offering personalized treatments for niche issues or demographics, such as menopause app Vira Health, mental health platform MyMynd, and men's health platform Numan, all raised capital this year.

☆ Insana: Signs of slowing inflation emerge, and the Fed now risks doing too much
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Ron Insana | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Certainly, Friday's inflation data, included in the personal income and spending report, showed a marked deceleration in so-called personal consumption expenditure inflation. Over the past five months, many measures of inflation have fallen more quickly than forecast, including those most closely watched by the Federal Reserve. It now risks doing too much and pushing the U.S. economy into an entirely unnecessary recession next year. That comes at a time when seasonal and historical patterns — like the presidential cycle — favor a positive stock market performance in 2023. First, as was the case in 2021, U.S. population growth was abysmal this year, rising only 0.4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

☆ Why can't some people smell months after catching Covid? Their immune response could be the answer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers took biopsies deep inside the nasal cavities of patients struggling to regain their smell months after coming down with Covid. Millions of people around the world lost their smell for at least six months after contracting Covid. Goldstein and Jafari also said the study’s findings could provide clues to how cases of long Covid are affecting other body systems, too. “There’s not a lot of studies that have obtained biopsies of organs affected by long Covid,” Goldstein said. “Are there immune cell mechanisms … involved in other long Covid problems?”

☆ How this 31-year-old tech worker built a community to help her peers bounce back from layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

These circumstances have left many Americans unsure about the future of their careers – but Fana Yohannes is dedicated to changing that. Through her Instagram account, Here2Help, Yohannes is providing access to mentorship, networking opportunities, and resume advice to over 4,000 followers. She launched Here2Help in May 2020 as a response to the surge of layoffs caused by the pandemic. For example, I'm able to onboard so many mentors and mentees because I'm very precise in the directions that I'm writing in a post. "All of the learnings that I'm able to see from Here2Help as it comes from being a social media manager, I'm able to apply it to my day-to-day job."

☆ Long Covid patients can face a battle trying to claim benefits through their workplace disability insurance
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Many workers get disability coverage via an employerAn estimated 43% of private industry workers have access to short-term disability insurance through their employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Long-term disability insurance, which is intended to kick in when necessary after short-term disability benefits run out, is available to 35% of workers. After 10 weeks of struggling, he filed another short-term disability claim when it was clear he was not improving. Toward the end of 2021, with five doctors agreeing that his condition was disabling, he again filed a long-term disability claim. In fact, cases involving denial of long-term disability benefits for long Covid are cropping up around the country.

☆ A college instructor explains her struggles with long COVID at work and why it's important to overcome the stigma of being sick
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Renee Semarge has had long COVID symptoms for a year now, and it's making work much harder. Much of long COVID is a mystery to healthcare professionals — why it happens, how to treat it — but data shows that it has affected millions of Americans. Many other workers, however, may be hesitant to reveal that they have long COVID. Long COVID treatments "have eaten our savings"Semarge's candor about her condition at work is a departure from what her father always taught her. Long COVID treatments, she said, "have eaten our savings.

☆ New York and L.A. meet CDC criteria for masking in public. How much will masks help this winter?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Aria-Bendix-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Aria Bendix | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Philadelphia school district announced Wednesday that students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors for two weeks in January in an effort to slow transmission after the holidays. The New York City Department of Education issued a letter this week strongly encouraging students and staff to wear a well-fitting mask indoors. After three years of Covid, however, experts recognized that few people are inclined to wear masks as often as they had previously while in public spaces. But Luby said he still wears a mask in public, even when others around him do not. “I find myself in that situation a lot — I’m the only person in the room wearing a mask," he said.

☆ Long Covid medical costs average $9,500 in first six months, as patients become 'health-system wanderers'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Long Covid is a chronic illness that can carry potentially debilitating symptoms, which may last for months or years. Long Covid patients are "health-system wanderers," said Mark Newman, CEO and co-founder of Nomi Health. "There are diseases and conditions with a lot of obvious answers, and long Covid is not one of them," Newman said. In a separate study, Harvard University economist David Cutler estimated that long Covid costs patients $9,000 a year in medical expenses. Patients with long Covid racked up $9,000 in additional average medical costs per person when compared to similar people who had Covid but didn't have subsequent long-haul symptoms, Nomi Health found.

☆ In COVID U-turn, China's message to the people shifts from war to self-care
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, in one fell swoop, China cut away most of the tenets governing its stifling zero-COVID policies, effectively ending its war on the pandemic. "Be the first person responsible for the epidemic", it has said, which is emerging as China's new public health slogan. So far, China's official COVID death toll remains unchanged at 5,235 since the domestic epidemic curbs were removed. The suddenness of the policy shift has not yet been explained to the public, except that Omicron has weakened. But Beijing resident Charlie Zhang, 42, said he was not enthused about the recent dramatic changes in COVID policies, believing it would be hard for the elderly to recover from Omicron.

☆ Long Covid has contributed to more than 3,500 deaths in the U.S. since start of pandemic, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The analysts then looked more closely at these death certificates to identify language indicating long Covid played a role in the death. As a result, the analysts chose common terms for the condition including "chronic Covid," "long Covid," "long haul Covid," "long hauler Covid" and "post Covid" among others. Long Covid deaths peaked at 3.8% of all Covid fatalities in April 2022, according to the report. Seniors ages 75 and older accounted for about 57% of the 2,490 long Covid deaths with detailed demographic information. Long Covid can range widely from mild to debilitating symptoms impacting multiple organ systems that prevent people from returning to work.

☆ The Exaggeration of Long Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Marty Makary | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Long Covid is real. But public-health officials have massively exaggerated long Covid to scare low-risk Americans as our government gives more than $1 billion to a long Covid medical-industrial complex. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 20% of Covid infections can result in long Covid. But a U.K. study found that only 3% of Covid patients had residual symptoms lasting 12 weeks. Calling these cases long Covid is the medicalization of ordinary life.

☆ POTS, a debilitating heart condition, is linked to Covid and, to a lesser degree, vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Research published Monday has confirmed a link between a Covid infection and a debilitating heart condition called POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, that has been diagnosed in some patients with long Covid. POTS was also linked, to a lesser degree, to Covid vaccination with an mRNA vaccine, according to the new study. He also said that the link between POTS and Covid vaccination needs to be confirmed with further studies. Other vaccines have also been linked to POTS in early accounts, but further research did not establish a causal link. The link between an infection — including Covid — and POTS, however, is more well-established.

☆ Santa Claus rallies are a 'meaningful' trend, says financial advisor: What one could mean for investors this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Santa Claus looks on at the 98th Annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 1, 2021 in New York. If history is a guide, stock investors may be poised to get a gift over the holidays. The trend, known as the "Santa Claus rally," encompasses the last five trading days of the calendar year and the first two of the new year. In the past two decades, the S&P 500 Index — a barometer of U.S. stock performance — has increased by 0.7% a year, on average, over those seven trading days, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 was positive during those seven days in 15 of the 20 years — or 75% of the time, FactSet found.

☆ Congress may revisit the expanded child tax credit in the lame duck session. But terms may not be as generous as in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

House and Senate champions and impacted families appear at a Dec. 7 Washington, D.C., event for expanding the child tax credit during the lame duck session. Millions of children were lifted out of poverty in 2021, thanks to a more generous child tax credit that included monthly checks sent out to more families. Now, the lame duck session of Congress offers a last chance this year to renew the expanded child tax credit that lapsed in December 2021. As the end of year approaches, many Democrats on Capitol Hill have raised their voices in support of reinstating the more generous child tax credit. The child tax credit was increased in 2021 from $2,000 per child to up to $3,600 per child under 6 and up to $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17.

☆ 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.

☆ Long Covid's financial devastation: $8,000 in credit card debt, ruined retirement plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

More than a third of respondents said their income had gone down as a result of long Covid. "Long Covid is as much part of the pandemic as is the acute phase, during which the government went to great lengths to treat people and save lives," said Oved Amitay, president of the Long Covid Alliance, an advocacy group. Of the long Covid patients she has seen, only 2 out of 50 who have applied for SSDI have been approved so far, she said. Sharon Sunders long Covid patient"They may not have the resources to go through the process," Verduzco-Gutierrez said. 'There's a tidal wave of us coming'Sunders wishes the Biden administration would do more to help those financially struggling with long Covid.

☆ Future of work: Back to the office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Empty cubicles are seen as the first phase of FMC Corporation employees return to work in the office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 14, 2021. Hybrid arrangements, where workers go into the office part of the week, have gained broad acceptance as a compromise. The evolving workplace is reshaping businesses that serve office workers. The landscape for other businesses that served office workers has changed, too. The coming year could determine who ends up having the upper hand in determining what work looks like in the future.

☆ Emerging from the COVID pandemic, again
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Michele Gershberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - For much of the world, 2022 marked the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging variations of the coronavirus so far remain closely related to Omicron, without radically altering its impact. "The pandemic is over," U.S. President Joe Biden said in September, referring to the changing behavior of Americans. The World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare an end to the COVID public health emergency introduced in January 2020. Data show that the pandemic has disrupted all kinds of healthcare, from childhood immunizations to cancer screenings read more read more .

☆ 50% of women say they are behind on retirement savings. Here's why they face challenges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Women are more likely, at 50%, to say they're behind, versus just 35% of men, a new report from Goldman Sachs finds. Nearly half of women — 47% — said they are on track or ahead of schedule when it comes to their retirement savings. Women also are more likely than men to retire earlier than they planned, the report found, with 61% of women versus 50% of men. The top reasons women retired earlier was due to health reasons, family care needs or job loss. In comparison, 30% of retired men have income that reaches that level.

☆ 4 financial moves if you have — or are worried about — long Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"We're far from being done with this," McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, said of long Covid. Waiting until after developing long Covid might mean you pay higher premiums for life insurance or private disability insurance — or that insurers will deny coverage, McClanahan said. Long Covid has been linked to hundreds of potential symptoms, some of which are debilitating and serious, like damage to vital organs. For instance, there's not yet a test to determine if someone has long Covid, meaning some doctors are hesitant to diagnose or treat patients. For individuals worried they might have long Covid, McClanahan recommends creating a medical diary with detailed logs of each symptom and doctor visit.

☆ Premarket stocks: Jay Powell's dream of the 90s is dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The robust jobs market is good news for American workers, but concerning for the Federal Reserve and equity bulls alike. “To be clear, strong wage growth is a good thing,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. “But for wage growth to be sustainable, it needs to be consistent with 2% inflation.” The year-over-year wage growth rate increased to 5.1% in November, more than double that goal. Getting back to a sustainable level of wage growth and tamping inflation will require reducing demand for labor. The dream is over: For the past year, Powell has advanced the optimistic idea that wage growth could be lowered without slowing the economy into recession.

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