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☆ 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.

☆ Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Hyundai and Kia now have dozens of suppliers in Alabama, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a business group. The agency, they said, hired underage workers while they worked there. “It was my first job in the United States and this is not what you would expect to see here.”Six other former workers told Reuters they, too, saw underage workers at Ajin’s two factories in Cusseta. Herrera said he raised concerns about the underage workers with managers at SMART, but was brushed off. The officials, wearing shirts that bore Hyundai logos, inspected the assembly line even as underage workers labored there, Herrera 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.

Covid-19 hospitalizations are declining again after a surge in December and January, followed by a smaller summer uptick. Track hospitalizations in states with this NBC News analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Covid hospitalizations data. This article will be updated daily.

These psychiatric drugs are regulated by the federal government as controlled substances that have high potential for abuse and addiction but are not opioids. The impact on independent pharmacies' prescriptions of psychiatric drugs from the widening crackdown on opioids has not been previously reported. It is dedicated to mitigating the abuse of controlled substances without interfering in good-faith clinical decisions made by doctors, she said. "Pharmaceutical distributors must walk a legal and ethical tightrope between providing access to necessary medications and acting to prevent diversion of controlled substances," Esposito said in a written statement. The FDA, the HHS agency that administers the list of controlled substances, did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ 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.

☆ Around 5.5 mln people have signed up for 2023 Obamacare plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People who want to choose a healthcare plan for 2023 under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, can enroll between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. However, if they want to be covered as of Jan. 1 they generally need to choose a plan by Dec. 15. Around 1.2 million of the people who have signed up for the plans are new consumers, HHS said. In late November HHS said that nearly 3.4 million people had signed up for health plans. Companies that provide these plans include UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N), CVS Health (CVS.N), Centene Corp (CNC.N), and Elevance (ELV.N).

☆ 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.

☆ Millions suffer from long Covid — and it costs them $9,000 a year in health-care expenses, on average
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

There is no cure or approved treatment for ME/CFS; as with long Covid, patient symptoms are merely treated or managed. 'People are trying all sorts of treatments'Getting an official long Covid diagnosis can be challenging, which can compound early expenses. Like many who suffer from long Covid, Pohl seeks relief from crippling symptoms wherever it's available. "There are so many of us now that it's taking months to see professionals," she said of long Covid patients. watch nowTime alone generally doesn't cure long Covid symptoms; it often requires some form of rehabilitation.

☆ 'It's a work in progress.' How Covid has changed the life insurance marketplace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But for the life insurance industry, experts say the long-term effects aren't yet known. Faced with a staggering loss of life, insurance firms saw payouts soar during the pandemic. The demand for life insurance policies also jumped as consumers rushed to protect loved ones. Individual U.S life insurance application activity increased by 3.4% in 2021, following a record-breaking year-over-year growth of 3.9% in 2020, according to the MIB Life Index's 2021 annual report. However, the life insurance industry is still wrestling with mortality changes and how these shifts may affect the underwriting process.

☆ 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.

watch nowMichael Bryand, 35, first got Covid in September 2020. And currently, as many as 23 million Americans have what's considered long Covid, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Long Covid is 'something invisible'Michael Bryand, here with his family, first got Covid in September 2020. Ramey was a nurse in San Antonio for 30 years before she got Covid in 2020. Verduzco-Gutierrez works primarily with Covid patients, including Ramey and Bryand, through the long Covid clinic she established in 2020.

☆ 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.

The justices rebuffed Glenhaven Healthcare's appeal of a lower court's ruling allowing the family of deceased resident Ricardo Saldana to proceed with the lawsuit in a California state court. Under then-President Donald Trump in January 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prodded by nursing homes, declared that cases filed in state court involving interpretation of the PREP Act should be moved to federal court. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the Saldana case that some state law claims can remain in state court. Glenhaven has argued that personal injury lawsuits against entities that provide COVID-19 countermeasures belong in federal court. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Hospital Association and the American Health Care Association, a nursing home industry group, weighed in to support its petition to the Supreme Court.

Nov 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden's administration had wrongly interpreted an Obamacare provision as barring health care providers from discriminating against gay and transgender people. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo ruled that a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2020 holding that a law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees did not apply to the healthcare law. "Title IX's ordinary public meaning remains intact until changed by Congress, or perhaps the Supreme Court," Kacsmaryk wrote. The Obama administration introduced rules in 2016 that made clear that LGBT people would be protected under the healthcare discrimination provision. In June, the Biden administration proposed a rule to once again enshrine such protections.

The public health emergency was initially declared in January 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, and has been renewed each quarter since. "That is not the moment you want to pull down the public health emergency." The officials said a lot of work remained to be done for the transition out of the public health emergency. The government has been paying for COVID vaccines, some tests, and certain treatments, as well as other care under the public health emergency declaration. When the emergency expires, the government will begin to transfer COVID healthcare to private insurance and government health plans.

☆ U.S. flu hospitalizations highest in 10 years, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The rising flu cases come alongside pressure on hospitals from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID cases, officials said, urging people to get vaccinated and offering to assist states that may need additional support. There have been 5 million fewer doses of influenza vaccine administered to U.S. adults so far this year compared to this time last year, officials said. Flu vaccine uptake is about the same for children this year but overall is down 6% compared to before the COVID pandemic began in 2020. About 5% fewer pregnant people have received flu shots so far this season, which officials say is especially worrisome because the vaccine protects both the expecting mother and her baby, officials added. U.S. flu shots are made by Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), GSK (GSK.L) and Seqirus, a unit of CSL Ltd (CSL.AX)Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Falsehoods about how monkeypox is transmitted resurface online
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Popular Instagram posts in mid-October have recirculated false claims that monkeypox can only be transmitted by sexual relations among men. It is transmitted through droplets and close contact with an infected person, as well as through contaminated objects. The peak of new U.S. monkeypox cases so far was registered during July and August of this year, according to the CDC. Monkeypox is not exclusively transmitted in sexual relations between men. The virus can be transmitted through close contact with an infected person, droplets, and contaminated objects.

☆ Fact Check-CDC can advise childhood vaccine schedules, but vaccine mandates for school attendance are decided at state level
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

As of October 20, the CDC also provides an interim COVID-19 vaccination schedule (here), but has not yet added COVID-19 vaccination to its table of recommended childhood vaccines (here). Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Ohio do not mandate influenza or HPV vaccines, which are on the CDC’s immunization schedule (here), (here), (here), (here). During the advisory meeting, health officials emphasized that they were not voting on adding COVID-19 shots to the CDC vaccination schedule (here). Most states do not follow the entire CDC’s childhood and adolescent immunization schedule. For example, only five states or territories mandate the HPV vaccine, which is included in the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule, for school attendance.

☆ Cybersecurity Tops the CIO Agenda as Threats Continue to Escalate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Cyber and information security has been at the top of their agenda since 2020. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Gartner forecasts that worldwide information security and risk-management spending by end-users will reach $188.336 billion in 2023, up 11.3% from the current year. It’s what boards are talking about,” said Truist Financial Corp. Chief Information Security Officer Howard Whyte. He and Truist CIO Scott Case work closely to understand the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank’s changing attack surface and cybersecurity risk.

☆ Trump administration blocked CDC transit mask mandate, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But the report stated that CDC had heard from the transit industry that it wanted the federal government to issue a mandate. Cetron, who heads the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, said the agency was told by Trump administration officials that a mask requirement on mass transportation "would not happen," according to the report. Days after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the CDC issued a sweeping order requiring face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation. Reuters reported in July 2020 that the Trump administration had held extensive talks about whether the CDC should issue an order requiring transportation masking. Many U.S. conservatives opposed government mandates requiring masks during the pandemic.

The trip includes stops in California on Friday and Oregon on Saturday as Biden positions his party as a champion of consumers and lower healthcare costs at a time that inflation ranks among voters' top concerns. Most forecasts show Democrats with a slight advantage in the Senate and Republicans with a larger advantage in the House. Biden alleged that Republicans will repeal the prescription drug price caps and take away Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices if they take control. Biden was introduced by Representative Katie Porter, who has grilled bank and drug company executives on their profits in widely viewed Congressional hearings. Healthcare costs were partly to blame in the most recent month, along with food and rent.

☆ Biden to sign order seeking new prescription drug cost savings - official
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Friday pushing federal officials to drive prescription drug costs down during a pre-election trip designed to promote Democrats' health policies, an official said. Healthcare costs were partly to blame in the most recent month, along with food and rent. "Health care costs in particular are driving inflation." In August, Biden signed a $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, authorizing the federal government to negotiate prices on some prescription drugs and cap costs for the government's Medicare health program. read moreSome 65 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare programs, which have repeatedly come under fire for its cost to taxpayers.

Walmart Healthcare Research Institute, the largest U.S. retailer's new healthcare research service, will find participants for clinical trials, and Walmart also host MyHealthJourney, a patient portal that helps people find upcoming research trials and track their care. Walmart's expansion into clinical trial recruitment could bring it new streams of revenue from drug companies. Walmart is currently working with Laina Enterprises, a virtual clinical trial management platform, the retailer said in a press release. Rival Walgreens said in June it had launched clinical trial services to increase diversity in test subjects. Walmart opened Walmart Health locations in Dallas, Georgia in 2019 and now has 24 locations including in Arkansas, Florida and Illinois.

Amid concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent nuclear threats came a bit of startling news: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it spent $290 million on a drug to treat radiation sickness. Nplate, manufactured by U.S. drugmaker Amgen, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021 to treat injuries caused by acute radiation syndrome, also known as radiation sickness. Amgen will maintain the supply of the drug, an approach the HHS says lowers costs for taxpayers and allows the drug to be used in the commercial market before it expires. Chris Meekins, former deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said that he sees no cause for alarm over the purchase. Greg Burel, the former director of the Strategic National Stockpile, agreed, saying that he doesn't think the HHS' purchase of the drug is related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

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