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Less than a week after NBC News detailed how the hospital system Atrium Health of North Carolina aggressively pursued former patients’ medical debts, placing liens on their homes to collect on hospital bills, the nonprofit company announced it would cancel those obligations and forgive the unpaid debts associated with them. Some 11,500 liens on people's homes in North Carolina and five other states will be released, Atrium’s parent company, Advocate Health, said with some dating back 20 years or more. The company declined NBC News’ request for an interview about the shift. When Belk could not afford to pay them, Atrium Health pursued him in court, the company confirmed. Mike Belleme for NBC News fileBelk said he was stunned to receive a phone call from an Atrium Health executive Tuesday advising him that his debts would be forgiven.

Persons: Health, Lester Holt ”, Terry Belk, Belk, what’s, Mike Belleme, “, ” Belk, Rebecca Cerese, Atrium’s, “ I’m, Terry, ” Cerese, ” Organizations: NBC, Health, Advocate, Charlotte, NBC News, North Carolina Justice Center Locations: North Carolina, Charlotte, N.C

“I’ve been battling this for over 20 years,” Belk, 68, said of his medical debt. The burden of medical debt has contributed to financial anxiety among voters and has become an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. Guill, who has multiple sclerosis, lives in Aiden, North Carolina, a rural community just south of Greenville. She volunteers with a nonprofit called Down Home North Carolina to help her neighbors gain access to Medicaid. “We have a ton of people with medical debt in the state because our insurance plans didn’t cover our medical bills,” she said.

Persons: “ I’ve, ” Belk, KFF, ”, Berneta Haynes, Terry Belk's, Mike Belleme, “, it’s, don’t, Cynthia Fisher, they’ve, PatientRightsAdvocate.org, Darcy Guill, Darcy Guill Guill, Harold Miller Organizations: National Consumer Law Center, U.S, NBC, Atrium Health, Health, American, of Public Health, Nonprofit, Affordable, The Commonwealth Fund, Urban Institute, Center for Healthcare Locations: South Dakota, Mississippi, North Carolina, American, Charlotte, N.C, United States, U.S, Aiden , North Carolina, Greenville

☆ Jessica Fern's 'Polysecure' promised a world beyond monogamy. She didn't say it would be easy.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-05 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

The psychotherapist's 2020 book, "Polysecure," has become the poly bible for an increasingly queer and fluid generation. As consensual nonmonogamy went mainstream, searches for Fern's "Polysecure" spiked. "I've heard authors joke they get a cup of coffee from their book," Fern said. When Jessica Fern and Dave Cooley opened up their relationship, Cooley was surprised at the "searing anguish" he felt about his wife seeing other men. Fern, Cooley, and Fern's partner bought the property together and settled in, planning to live there long term.

Persons: Jessica Fern, Feeld, Lionel Messi, Fern, John, nonmonogamy, Molly Roden Winter's, Miranda July's, I've, Nielsen BookScan, you've, we're, Hannah, Dave Cooley, Cooley, Esther Perel, Dan Savage, Guralnik —, Ross Geller, it's, butch barista, deblasio, Chirlane McCray, Suki Waterhouse, Allison P, Davis, Clinton, isn't, Gilmore, Diego, — they're, Fern disentangled, polyamory, Julia, Apryl, Jessica, John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth, Fern's polyamorous, she's, It's, Mike Belleme, Tobias, Lindsay, Molly Roden Winter, compersion, Fern's, —, Abby, she'd, Axios they'd, Christopher Gleason, they'd, Gleason, We've, curt, Escher, Franklin Veaux, Eve Rickert's, Rickert, aren't, I'm, Daniel Lavery, " Lavery, polysecurity hasn't, She's, pats, hasn't, polysecurity, Fern isn't, We're, Myers, Briggs, there's Organizations: New York Times, New York Magazine, SUNY, Kinsey Institute, George Mason University Locations: Costa Rica, North Carolina, Russian, Manhattan, Asheville, patrick, Fort Greene, San Francisco, Cooley, Sheepshead Bay , Brooklyn, British, polyworld, Boulder , Colorado, Vancouver, Brooklyn, COVID, Bahamas, Feeld, Fern

Those quiet times, less than three years ago, soon became a whirlwind. The flurry of activity reflects new investments in a region of North Carolina that has lagged behind: the Triad. The average income in Randolph County, which includes Liberty, is $47,000, and some jobs at Toyota will offer an hourly wage comfortably above that. More people moving into the area could breathe life into Liberty’s downtown. Mr. Kidd worried that many local workers lacked the education and skills to work at the plant.

Persons: Scott Kidd didn’t, Kidd Organizations: Liberty, Toyota Locations: N.C, North Carolina, Randolph County, Liberty, Liberty’s, Greensboro, Winston, Salem

☆ Seeds of Native Knowledge Grow in North Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Jacey Fortin | Mike Belleme | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

WHY WE’RE HEREWe’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. Cherokee, N.C., is a town steeped in Native American history, and a draw for outsiders in search of connection. Oct. 21, 2023There is a mushroom whose beige caps grow wild in the mountains of western North Carolina. But Amy Walker and Tyson Sampson have years of experience. “Tyson can tell you the scientific stuff.

Persons: Amy Walker, Tyson Sampson, Walker, ”, “ Tyson Locations: Cherokee, N.C, North Carolina

☆ A Year of Upheaval on Abortion’s Front Lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Kate Kelly | Marisa Schwartz Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Erica’s pilots that day were volunteers with Elevated Access, a nonprofit set up last year to help people obtain abortions, often across state lines. In North Carolina, an anti-abortion, church-backed pregnancy center called Mountain Area Pregnancy Services confronted a harassment incident. Before Dobbs, the group’s abortion services operated on a budget of $20,000 per month. But the dearth of pharmacies willing to offer abortion medication meant that Honeybee soon became the main provider of the online-ordered, home-delivered pills. Abortion medication — which now accounts for more than half of abortions in the United States — produces roughly 40 percent of Honeybee’s revenue.

Persons: Wade, Health “, ”, Maren Hurley, Hey Jane, Jenice Fountain, Julia Rendleman, The New York Times Erica, ” Erica, Erica, Andy, “, Gabriela Bhaskar, Dobbs, Kelsea McLain, Roe, —, McLain, Yellowhammer, Fountain, Mike Belleme, Court’s Dobbs, Jeff Porter, Porter, ” Michelle Fenton, Ms, Fenton, Sharon Chischilly, Paddy, Rachael Lorenzo, Tracy Nguyen, Honeybee, Jessica Nouhavandi, Nouhavandi Organizations: Jackson, Health, Private, Yellowhammer Fund, The New York Times, Maryland —, D.C, Cessna, Fund, Birmingham, Pregnancy Services, The New York, Services, The New York Times Indigenous, Roe, Los Angeles Locations: Dobbs v, North Carolina, Hurley’s, Alabama, Louisiana, America, Minnesota, Twin Cities, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, Wisconsin, Birmingham, Ala, Asheville, N.C, Waynesville, New Mexico, Oklahoma , Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Culver City, Calif, Roe United States, United States

☆ Prestigious Golf Courses Have a New Mantra: Short but Sweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Joe Passov | Photographs Mike Belleme For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Adam Blum, a radiologist from Cleveland, arrived at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., on a recent golf vacation, the first course he and his seven friends chose to play consisted of 13 par-3 holes, ranging from 63 to 150 yards. Why that one rather than one of the property’s five nationally ranked, championship-length layouts?

☆ When My Husband Had Surgery, Our Social Network Made All the Difference (for Both of Us)
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Beth Decarbo | Photographs Mike Belleme For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In January, my husband, Chuck, underwent roughly four hours of open-heart surgery to fix a leaky valve and clogged artery. After five days in intensive care, he was sent home from the hospital—along with verbal instructions and a 28-page document on postsurgical care. My duties—overseeing wound care, physical and breathing exercises, medication—seemed straightforward enough. But deep down, I feared that through some mistake or oversight, I would kill my husband. Conversely, because of my inexperience, ineptitude or impatience, I worried that my husband would kill me, metaphorically speaking.

In March 2020, the virus held many mysteries. Some early assumptions didn’t hold up, while other key findings wouldn’t come until much later. If we could do it all over again…

☆ When Parents Need Care, Sibling Relationships Face New Challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Clare Ansberry | Photographs Mike Belleme For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Caring for an aging parent can bring out the best—and worst—in siblings. Millions of adult children provide unpaid care for their parents or in-laws. The workload and division of responsibilities often create tensions between brothers and sisters. Arrangements work best when siblings can divvy up tasks that play to each other’s strengths. Even then, the stress of caring for parents and making financial decisions can cause rifts.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

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