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Toomey Re-Introduces Measure to Make Long-Term Care Insurance More Affordable

Washington, DC – US Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) Reintroduces a bill to make long-term care insurance more affordable. Senator Toomey’s Long-Term Care Affordability Act would allow individuals to live with their 401st Paying up to $ 2,500 for long-term care insurance each year(k), 403(b), and IRAs with no tax penalty.

“The outbreak of a chronic illness that too often requires nursing home or home care has the potential to devastate older Americans financially,” Senator Toomey said. “This legislation allows Americans to use existing retirement accounts to pay for long-term insurance – a change in common sense to increase financial security in retirement. I hope that my colleagues will support this measure together with me. ”

Retirement accounts offer a tax benefit to workers who are now putting money aside for retirement. Advance withdrawals from these accounts are generally treated as income and taxed accordingly. There are exceptions, however. For example 401(k)

Owners may be able to use their retirement account for life insurance with no tax penalty. Senator Toomey’s move would treat long-term care insurance in a similar way.

According to the US Census Bureau, 50 percent of people over the age of 65 require some long-term care, and more than half of American households contribute to retirement savings. All of them would be entitled to pay for long-term care with retirement assets under this law.

The organizations that have approved this law include:

· Alzheimer’s Association

· Alzheimer’s Impact Movement

· America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)

· American senior housing association

· Argentum

· Edward Jones

· Long-term care insurance partner

· National Association of Health Insurance Companies (NAHU)

· National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA)

· National Association of Insurance Commissioners

“Alzheimer’s is a devastating and deadly disease that affects millions of Americans,” said Robert Egge, chief public policy officer for the Alzheimer’s Association and executive director of the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM). “One of the most costly diseases in the country, for too many American families bearing the cost of caring for a loved one, is a challenge. We thank Senator Toomey for his guidance in reintroducing the Long Term Care Affordability Act. This bill could have a significant impact on families struggling to pay for care by making care insurance more accessible by allowing pension funds to be used to purchase insurance. “

“Argentum is excited to support the Long Term Care Affordability Act to help more Americans plan and meet their long-term care needs,” said James Balda, President and CEO of Argentum. “Unfortunately, one in three Americans has saved less than $ 5,000 for retirement and less than 8% have long-term care insurance. By the end of this decade, each of the 74 million baby boomers will be 65 years old and have a roughly 50% chance of becoming dependent on care at some point in life. As the need for long-term care grows, this legislation provides an extremely important means of ensuring that more Americans have the financial means to meet their care needs. ”

“The need for long-term care insurance is an important issue for aging Americans and their families,” said Janet Trautwein, NAHU CEO. “As this population continues to grow, insurers, policymakers and consumers will need to think seriously about how to plan and manage the costs associated with long-term care needs. NAHU fully supports Senator Pat Toomey’s efforts to make long-term care insurance more accessible and affordable. “

You can read a one-pager on legislation here, and the text of the invoice is available Here.

Background:

In November 2019, Senator Toomey convened the Healthcare Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee to address barriers to diagnosis, treatment, and care for Alzheimer’s patients. During that hearing, Senator Toomey outlined the need for this new legislation. You can watch it here.

Following that hearing, Senator Toomey and Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chair and Senior Member of the Subcommittee, sought input by health care providers, researchers, patients, stakeholders, states, and others to update on how this legislation evolves.

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source https://livehealthynews.com/toomey-re-introduces-measure-to-make-long-term-care-insurance-more-affordable/

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Over 2 Million Americans Signed Up for Health Insurance Thanks to Biden Provision

Health insurance can be expensive. Unfortunately, not having it could be catastrophic in the event of a major illness or injury. In fact, people without insurance routinely rack up medical debt, which can, in some cases, destroy their finances or drive them into bankruptcy.

Normally, those wishing to enroll in a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can do so from early November through mid-December. Those who miss that window generally have to wait a year before being able to enroll again.

But recognizing the dangers of having so many Americans uninsured during a pandemic, President Biden pushed for better access to healthcare. Earlier in the year, he signed an executive order allowing for a special ACA enrollment period. That period was initially set to run from Feb. 15 through May 15, but it’s since been extended three months to last until Aug. 15.

So far, over 2 million Americans have signed up for health insurance this year as a result of that special enrollment period. And that means a lot of people have taken an important step to protect their personal finances.

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The importance of having insurance

Rather than pay for health insurance, some people would rather pay for the occasional doctor appointment or medication out of pocket. This can be cheaper than having to cover certain health insurance costs like:

Insurance premiums: the fees you pay to have coverage in the first place

Deductibles: the amount you must first pay before your insurance plan starts covering your care

The problem, however, is that if you land in the hospital or require an expensive diagnostic test, like an MRI, not having insurance could mean having to spend thousands of dollars just to take care of yourself. That could force you to deplete your savings account or rack up huge bills that you pay off over time.

As such, if you’re currently without health insurance and you haven’t taken advantage of the new ACA special enrollment window, now’s a good time to get moving. Health insurance may not be as expensive as you think, especially if you’re not a high earner and can qualify for a generous subsidy. Thanks to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — the massive relief bill that was signed into law in March — there are more subsidies available to offset premium costs.

As a general rule, healthcare enrollees now won’t have to spend more than 8.5% of their income on insurance premiums. And those earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level — approximately $51,000 if you’re single or $104,800 if you’re a four-person family — are now eligible for a subsidy for the first time.

Among those who have signed up for a new plan since April 1, an estimated 34% were able to find policies that cost $10 or less per month when factoring in those new subsidies.

It’s never a good idea to go without health insurance, but during a pandemic, it’s an even more dangerous thing to do. If you don’t have health insurance, it pays to see what low-cost options may be available to you by visiting healthcare.gov.

source https://livehealthynews.com/over-2-million-americans-signed-up-for-health-insurance-thanks-to-biden-provision/

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Contraception Is Free to Women, Except When It’s Not

It has been a struggle for Stephanie Force to find a method of contraception she likes and can get without paying out of pocket, even though the Affordable Care Act promises free contraception for women and adolescent girls in most health plans.

The 27-year-old doctor-recruiter in Roanoke, Virginia, was perfectly happy with the NuvaRing, a flexible vaginal ring that women use monthly to release hormones to prevent pregnancy. But their insurer, Anthem, discontinued coverage of the branded product and switched to a generic version in early 2020. Force said the new product left her with a headache and a feeling of irritability and fussiness.

After speaking to her gynecologist, Force tried an IUD. But it made her feel worse: She had bad cramps, gained 10 pounds, and developed severe hormonal acne. She was also billed $ 248 for an ultrasound that her doctor used to guide the insertion of the device, a fee she successfully tackled.

Force also looked at some of the contraceptives approved in recent years: a non-hormonal vaginal gel called Phexxi and a vaginal ring called Annovera that can be used for a year. But Phexxi isn’t covered by her employer’s health insurance, and she would owe a $ 45 copayment for Annovera.

Despite the ACA’s guarantees of free contraception, Force’s experience shows that even for women whose health plans are regulated by law, getting the right product for free can be a chore. New types of contraception are not automatically added to the state list of required methods that insurers use to make coverage decisions. Additionally, some health plans continue to discourage the use of even long-established methods such as IUDs by requiring providers to obtain approval of the plan before prescribing it.

Consumer advocates who have looked into the issue say that federal regulations provide a procedure for women to get the contraceptive they need, but far too few people know it is an option.

Despite the ACA’s guarantees of free contraception insurance, Stephanie Force found firsthand that getting the right product for free can be a chore. Force says she was not aware of any method she could have used to cover the NuvaRing at no cost. Neither her doctor nor the insurer mentioned the possibility.(Stephanie Kraft)

Ultimately, despite the side effects she continues to experience, Force reverted to the generic version of the NuvaRing. She would prefer to be on the branded NuvaRing, which didn’t cause her any problems, and method-to-method ping-ponging left her exhausted and angry.

“I can’t believe the tires I had to overcome between September 2020 and June 2021,” Force said, “between switching from the generic NuvaRing to the IUD and then back to battle my insurance and the obstetrician’s office over the ultrasound fee. ”

In a statement, Anthem said, “Anthem’s health plans include 222 contraceptives at a cost of $ 0 on our ACA preventive list. We cover at least one product in each of the 18 contraceptive categories that are FDA cleared.

Contraception is a very personal choice, and what meets one woman’s needs cannot meet another. If avoiding pregnancy is a top priority for a woman, a practically fail-safe method like an IUD may be the solution. But for someone considering getting pregnant soon, an easily reversible method like birth control pills might be the best option. Side effects should also be considered, as women react differently to the hormones in different contraceptives.

Before the ACA required free birth control, researchers estimated that up to 44% of women’s health care expenses were spent on contraceptives. The ACA required most commercial health plans to cover a comprehensive list of FDA-approved methods without charging women. Church plans and religious non-profit organizations as well as employers and schools that reject contraception are exempt from the coverage requirement. Plans that existed according to the law are also excluded. Even uninsured women do not benefit from the mandate.

But federal regulations don’t require health plans to cover every contraceptive. Following the adoption by the Court of Auditors in 2010, the Federal Administration for Health Resources and Services developed guidelines for the prevention of women. These guidelines state that women should have free access to a list that includes the 18 FDA-approved methods, including oral contraceptives, vaginal rings and cervical caps, IUDs, implantable rods, and sterilization. According to federal regulations, health insurance must cover at least one product in each category.

But neither the HRSA guidelines nor a birth control table published by the FDA address newer methods, including the Phexxi gel, which regulates the acidity of the vagina to reduce the chances of a sperm reaching an egg. It was approved by the FDA last year.

They also don’t include fertility detection mobile apps that the FDA has approved in recent years, such as Natural Cycles, which track a woman’s temperature and menstrual cycle to help prevent pregnancy.

“There is a real need for new guidelines that keep up with new practices,” said Mara Gandal-Powers, director of birth control access at the National Women’s Law Center.

Many insurers have shied away from insuring Phexxi, said Rameshwari Gupta, director of strategic markets at Evofem Biosciences, which markets Phexxi. A box of 12 disposable applicators – consumers use one before sex – costs $ 267.50 without insurance, she said.

“When I started talking to the payers, they all said, ‘Where are you on this FDA card?'” She said.

According to an FDA spokesman, birth control is for consumer education purposes only and “was not created with the intent to make decisions about coverage.” The agency is in the process of updating it.

In a statement, HRSA said it is reviewing the evidence of contraception and expects to complete its review later this year. If it chooses to revise it, it will publish draft recommendations to update the guidelines for women prevention services. These are finalized after a public comment period and come into force one year later.

At this point, health plans are viewing Phexxi as a spermicide and only need to cover one type of spermicide at no cost, said Kristine Grow, senior vice president at AHIP, a health insurance trading organization.

“If Phexxi is indeed seen as a new ‘method’ of contraception, both the FDA and HRSA would need to make this clear,” she added.

The vaginal ring Annovera, which was approved by the FDA in 2018, is usually covered by health insurance, according to Grow, although it may not be available free of charge. The average sales price according to GoodRx is $ 2,457 per year.

Plans have made it difficult for women to access certain contraceptives, even if they are on the list of approved methods, by requiring their providers to first get approval from the insurer, often by providing evidence that the product is medically necessary.

For example, according to UnitedHealthcare’s insurance policy for Phexxi, members must have documented reasons for not being able to use eight other methods of contraception, including oral contraceptives, the contraceptive patch, a vaginal ring, injections, and spermicides, prior to approval of coverage. Providers must also confirm that they advised patients that Phexxi is less effective at preventing pregnancy than some other methods.

In a statement, UHC said it covers “a wide range” of generic and brand name options and that it is following scientific evidence to develop its list.

However, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center, consumers have a way to get the drug that is most suitable for them.

If a doctor or other health care provider determines that a patient needs a particular contraceptive even if it is not on the list of approved devices for the patient plan, federal regulations require the insurer to put in place an appropriate process for finding the patient for a waiver.

“It’s not up to the insurance company whether they cover this method; it’s up to the provider, ”said Adam Sonfield, senior editor, policy analysis at the Guttmacher Institute, a research and advocacy organization focused on women’s reproductive health.

But, according to the National Women’s Law Center report, many insurers, patients, and their providers are unaware of the requirement, and government agencies are not enforcing these so-called exemptions.

When patients are having trouble getting the method they want, “we usually recommend filing a complaint with their health insurance company,” said Gretchen Borchelt, vice president of reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center.

Stephanie Force said she was not aware of any procedure that would allow her to cover the NuvaRing at no cost. Neither her doctor nor the insurer mentioned the possibility.

She recently had an appointment with a new vendor that she hopes will make a better lawyer for her.

Michelle Andrews: [email protected], @ mandrews110

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source https://livehealthynews.com/contraception-is-free-to-women-except-when-its-not/

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Respect athletes’ mental health needs – The Daily Evergreen

When you think of professional athletes, you think of physical health – weights, exercise, protein shakes, and whatever else it takes to keep you in top shape at all times.

What people don’t consider nearly as often is the mental health of athletes.

In order to remain in your maximum physical condition, you must also remain in your maximum mental condition. Given the highly publicized nature of sport, athletes today do not have the opportunity to keep up with their mental health as well as they should.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka is one of the newest athletes to speak out on mental health this Olympic season. In one (n open letter to Time Magazine, she addressed two main issues affecting athletes’ mental health: privacy and lack of days off.

In the Osaka case, privacy had to do with media and press conferences.

On May 30, she was fined $ 15,000 for not attending a press conference at the French Open for reasons of her own mental health. Tournament officials threatened Suspension or even disqualification if Osaka continued to avoid press conferences, Osaka withdrew completely from the competition in an act of defiance and self-love.

Megan Christoferson, Senior Business Management and Hospitality Major, supports Osaka’s actions.

“I think Naomi Osaka had every right to stand up for herself as she did,” said Christoferson. “People who are known to the public keep an eye on them; everything they do is watched and criticized. Struggling with mental health is one thing, but being an athlete or a celebrity in trouble is another thing entirely. “

In her letter, Osaka talked about what it is like to experience mental health problems in public.

“In my case, I felt under a lot of pressure to reveal my symptoms – frankly, because the press and the tournament didn’t believe me,” she wrote.

A statement from tournament officials seemed to support this.

“… The Roland Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak to her to check her wellbeing, understand the specifics of her problem and what could be done to address it on the ground, ”it said in the statement.

Personally, I find this statement ridiculous. Osaka should never have been required to disclose their specific symptoms or medical history in order for their decision to be respected.

Alayna Marsh, Senior Psychology and Human Development Major, agrees. Marsh believes that anything a person finds necessary for their own mental health is their best option. Nobody else can tell.

“I can definitely say, only as a psychiatrist / HD person … not only should [athletes] advocate for their own mental health, but they should also have their coaches and their people with them who should do the same, ”Marsh said.

In her open letter, Osaka thanked the people in her life who supported her mental health as well as her business partners. She thanked them for their support, encouragement, and understanding, and reminded readers of the importance of such support systems.

However, despite all the support in the world, it is impossible to take care of your mental health without personal time to focus on what you need.

Between the travel days during the season and the long off-season, it seems likely that athletes have plenty of time to take care of their mental health.

However, when you are in public there really are no days off.

Famous athletes are often subject to as much media scrutiny and paparazzi nonsense as celebrities. Maintaining a social media presence is also a typical requirement today.

In addition, an athletic career requires constant training and work to stay in shape, even out of season.

All of this in addition to obligations for brand partnerships and personal philanthropic projects that many athletes take on create a schedule with very little time to rest.

To address this, Osaka suggested allowing athletes, like other professions in which they are exempt from media obligations, a small number of sick days.

“I think Naomi said it best,” said Christoferson. “Athletes should be given personal days and should not be expected to provide an answer as to why they need a ‘break’ to protect their own privacy and their lives away from the media and public viewers.”

However, this problem is addressed there Got to to be addressed somehow.

Mental health has become a big talk thanks to athletes like Osaka and fellow Olympian Michael Phelps, who is a mental health advocate for athletes, as well as people in the public eye like Meghan Markle.

Thanks to this and many other people, public awareness and sympathy for mental health is at an all-time high. Still, little seems to have changed so far.

Drastic steps need to be taken in society to support mental health issues – for all people of course, but during these Olympics athletes need to be part of the conversation more than ever.

source https://livehealthynews.com/respect-athletes-mental-health-needs-the-daily-evergreen/

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Here’s How Climbing Actually Works At The Olympics

How will the competition work?

Climbing is carried out in two rounds for men and women: a qualification and a final. On August 3, 20 men will compete in qualifications that include speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing with breaks between the disciplines. Eight of this round will advance to the final on August 5th. The women’s competition will start on August 4th and again 20 female athletes will compete against each other in the three disciplines on one day. The top eight will also reach the finals on August 6th.

How do the three disciplines work?

In climbing, each of the three disciplines – speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing – is viewed as an independent event. A climber can take part in one or choose all three, it just depends on his preferences. Regardless of this, there is a winner for each category, whereby his performance in one discipline has no influence on the placement in another discipline.

At the Olympics, however, it won’t quite work that way. Instead, the Olympics are a composite format that tracks the athlete’s cumulative performance in all three disciplines. This has been heavily criticized because for most climbers it doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at one discipline, another. It’s like asking a marathon runner to run over 100 meters. In view of the criticism, climbing was confirmed for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where two sets of medals are awarded per gender: one for speed climbing and one for lead climbing / bouldering. But this is how the combination of disciplines works for Tokyo 2020.

Speed ​​climbing will take place on a standardized 15m route that uses the same holds and layout every time, so climbers can practice on the exact route they will be taking all year round. It is done with a rope and the goal is to get from the bottom to the top as quickly as possible. At the Olympic Games, it is held as a bracket tournament in which two climbers head to head against each other to advance to the next round until a winner is determined. Interestingly, the Olympics decided that a false start (where an athlete leaves the ground before the start buzzer) leads to immediate disqualification.

Bouldering will be on a 4.5m wall with a number of bouldering issues, four in qualifying and three in the final. When climbing without a rope, participants have four minutes to complete one task and then take a short break before moving on to the next task. Having never seen these problems before, athletes can make multiple attempts during the four-minute time limit. The grips, wall angles, and movements will be different for each boulder, based on technical sequences and parkour-style gymnastics. Points are awarded for reaching the top of each boulder and reaching the target grip with both hands while maintaining control. If the climber cannot reach the summit, points are awarded for reaching the marked “Zone” stop about halfway up.

Each climber’s score is as follows: 2T 2Z, which means she has made two top holds and two zone holds. In the event of a tie after the determination of the results, the number of attempts for each top hold or the number of attempts for each zone hold is taken into account, with the athlete who has made fewer attempts being awarded the higher rank.

Lead takes place on a 15 m long wall with a unique route that the athletes have no prior knowledge of. Athletes are given a six-minute prior session to see the route before the competition begins. The lead discipline uses a rope and requires the climber to develop technical motion sequences and to have the stamina to stay on the wall for a longer period of time. With a total of 40 to 60 holds, each hold is worth one point and climbers only have one attempt. If they fall, their turn is over. The highest number of points is placed in 1st place, the second highest in 2nd place, and so on. A tie is broken by giving the better rank to the person who climbed the same grip faster.

How is a medal winner determined?

The combined format for the Olympic Games means that every climber must participate in all three disciplines at the same time. You are given a ranking list for each, then these are added together to determine a final number. The lowest total then wins gold. For example, if you finish 1st in bouldering, 4th in lead and 18th in speed. Place occupied, receives a score of 1 x 4 x 18 = 72.

If you want to try climbing with all that climbing, check out our roundup of the best indoor climbing facilities below.

The 10 best indoor climbing gyms in Sydney

source https://livehealthynews.com/heres-how-climbing-actually-works-at-the-olympics/

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3 states pursue public option for health coverage as feds balk

President Joe Biden has not yet kept his campaign promise to create national statutory health insurance, but three states have advanced their own plans.

Colorado and Nevada this year passed public option plans – state health insurance plans – scheduled to roll out in 2023 and 2026, respectively. You are joining Washington State, which passed its law in 2019 and went live with its public option in January.

Proponents hope that a more affordable alternative will attract residents without health insurance.

“What we have seen is that if people can afford health insurance, they will be insured and given access to health care that they would otherwise not have access to,” Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro said Democrat who supported her state’s bill.

Republican Senator Joe Hardy countered that proponents had failed to prove they could devise a financially viable public option. Hardy said he doesn’t expect this to change in the four years that Nevada gives Nevada the law to develop a plan.

“This is the classic ‘knock-knock, who is there? I’m from the government and I want to help you, ‘”Hardy said. “It would be just another government program sucking up money for the bureaucracy.”

Whether Cannizzaro’s suggestion will prove true – that people choose the public option or that it will be cheaper than commercial plans – is up in the air.

The first results of the experiment in Washington State are disappointing. In many parts of the state, the premiums for the public option plans cost more than the premiums for comparable commercial plans.

Many of the state hospitals have refused to participate in the public option, prompting lawmakers to introduce more laws this year to force participation when there are insufficient health insurance options in a geographic area. And the willingness of consumers to buy is also low. In its first year of operation, the state health insurance exchange sold only 1,443 public option plans, which is less than 1% of all exchange policies.

Michael Marchand, chief marketing officer of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, the state’s health insurance marketplace, said it was premature to evaluate the program in its first year.

In Obamacare’s earlier years, the premiums for many commercial plans were high, he said. As insurers got to know the markets better, prices eventually fell, he said.

“I knew a year wasn’t going to tell the full story of how this would play out,” he said. “We’ll have to wait a couple of years.”

Many commercial insurers and medical providers say this could be wishful thinking and question the feasibility of the Colorado and Nevada plans. They also warn that public options based on lower payments to hospitals and doctors could ultimately limit access to health care.

The health insurance industry has campaigned against public option plans in the three states.

“The concern is that these government-negotiated tariff plans would become so popular and cheaper in a public option that they would put the private market out of business and propel us towards a deposit system in the world longer term, in the next 10 to 15 years, “said Marcy Buckner, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Health Underwriters.

The group argues that the focus should instead be on strengthening the Affordable Care Act, which has reduced the number of Americans without health insurance since its inception in 2014.

State lawmakers continued to consider plans for public options to further increase health insurance enrollment. Legislators in Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Oregon have either filed bills or conducted studies of public option plans for the past three years. National polls show strong support for a public option.

Insure more people

Despite the progress made under the Affordable Care Act, an annual US Census Bureau poll found 9.2% of the population, nearly 30 million Americans, remained without health insurance in 2019.

In the two rural counties that Representative Dylan Roberts represents in the state of Colorado, the uninsured rate is nearly twice that of the national one. For many years, he said, only one airline has sold plans in each of his districts, and the rewards are well beyond the means of many of his constituents.

“My region was a lack of competition and interest rates kept rising because nothing could keep them in check,” said Roberts, a Democrat.

He began pushing for a public option shortly after his seat in 2018.

By its strictest definition, a public option plan is a plan created and administered by the government to compete with commercial plans.

Neither the Washington State plans nor those adopted by Colorado or Nevada exactly fit this definition. Instead, they are all public-private partnerships, in which commercial sponsors manage health plans that operate according to state rules.

In this August 20, 2019 photo, Linda Whaley holds up Sarah the Beagle for Harold Christiansen of Callender, Iowa to pet her during a visit to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Each state’s public option plan has its own folds.

Both Colorado and Nevada laws place limits on the cost of premiums. In Nevada, for example, premiums are initially set 5% lower than a commercial “benchmark” plan sold on the stock exchange in the same region. Finally, the law requires that the public option premium be set 15% lower than the benchmark plan.

Colorado mandates that airlines offering public option plans in 2023 set awards 6% lower than the plans they sold in 2021. They have to be 18% lower by 2025.

Washington State has not set mandatory premium levels, and premiums in public option plans are higher in many parts of the state in the first year than comparable commercial plans. In many cases, Marchand said, patient costs in the public option plans could be lower due to lower co-payments and deductibles.

Lower reimbursement by the provider

To generate savings, all public option plans would pay providers less than commercial insurers. Washington State has set the provider’s reimbursement rate at 160% of what Medicare pays. (According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, private insurers pay almost twice as much for hospital benefits as Medicare.)

Nevada’s law sets Medicare payment rates as the lower bound for reimbursement, with the actual rate being negotiated. Colorado law states that the reimbursement rate must be at least 155% of the Medicare rate, but if insurers fail to meet the premium reductions in the public option plans, the state insurance commissioner can step in to set the reimbursement rate.

These lower reimbursement rates affect hospital and physician organizations.

Chelene Whiteaker, senior vice president of government affairs for the Washington Hospital Association, said hospital finances depend on higher commercial insurance reimbursement rates to offset lower Medicare and Medicaid rates. The public option could weaken hospitals’ financial sustainability if Washington consumers push for it, she said.

“If this equation gets out of whack, we can’t make it and we have to deal with hospital closings or mergers or reductions in our services,” she said.

States have messed up the introduction of their health insurance exchanges

While the Colorado Medical Society, which represents doctors, was neutral about the bill that ultimately passed, its CEO said the burden of getting the plan up and running rests with the medical providers.

“What this bill doesn’t do at all is the total cost of care and the main reasons why everything in healthcare remains so expensive, such as inefficiencies, monopolies, drugs and a million other things,” said Bryan Campbell, CEO of the Colorado Medical Society.

Republican Jim Smallwood, Senator from Colorado, described his state’s public option as “an arbitrary rate cut for doctors and hospitals. Basically, it builds the will of the insurance commissioner to set prices for doctors and hospitals.”

Medical providers in Colorado blocked a provision that would have forced them to participate in the public option. But in Nevada, a legal requirement for participation in the state’s Medicaid program and state health plan is that doctors and hospitals must treat patients with public option.

“Monitoring this is going to be an incredibly administrative burden,” said Heather Korbulic, executive director of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.

Nina Owcharenko Schaefer, a senior health research fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, said state public options laws were a tacit recognition of the weakness of the Affordable Care Act, which established health care exchanges and expanded Medicaid. The state measures could run counter to plans by the Democrats in Congress, including the possibility of a federal public option plan, she argued.

“If Washington does one thing and states do something else, they don’t go together in the long run,” she said. “What is Washington? [state] will if Congress passes its own public option? “

She and other critics also pointed out that Biden’s American Rescue Plan temporarily increased federal tax credits to help consumers afford to buy policies on health insurance exchanges. The Democrats hope to make this additional funding permanent. If so, Schaefer asks, why do states need a public option?

One reason, according to Nevada’s Cannizzaro, is that the state could get some federal money as a reward because Nevada residents would use less of the available federal tax credits to help poorer Americans purchase business plans. Nevada could use the money for other health-related purposes, such as helping undocumented immigrants gain access to tax credits.

“We can’t wait and wait a few more years here in Nevada,” she said. “We have this uninsured population, and we don’t have time to sit down and wait to see if the federal government will take any longer-term action.”

source https://livehealthynews.com/3-states-pursue-public-option-for-health-coverage-as-feds-balk/

[livehealthynewsusa]

Take A Tour Of Tokyo’s Olympic Village Gym

It’s the Olympics that we thought would never happen, and while for some the idea of ​​the Games being held amid a global pandemic is still confusing, for others it’s the perfect escape from the monotony of lockdown. In just a few hours, the Games will officially kick off with an opening ceremony like no other, a time when social distancing restrictions and safety are a priority, risks must be calculated with every interaction, and athletes must deal with the fact that you will be on the biggest sports stage in the world World against each other, even if without spectators and without support from family and loved ones.

It’s hard to imagine how incredibly tough the last few months have been for athletes. Training for the Olympics is one thing, but taking on the world under the blanket of uncertainty that has prevailed since Covid-19 is another entirely. But now that the athletes have arrived at the Olympic Village, there is no going back. Exhibition games are underway and now, with the Olympic start date just around the corner, the sport’s top athletes are getting used to the mindset required to compete at their peak. It also means they have now traded home gyms and fitness centers for the Tokyo Olympic Village gym.

Courtesy Technogym

In order to peak and perform at their best, athletes need to be in the gym before competing, exercising and exercising. But if you were concerned that the pandemic was going to close the gym, think again. Technogym, the official supplier of exercise equipment for the Games, has given a behind-the-scenes look at the Olympic Village’s fitness setup and it seems clear that safety is a priority. According to Men’s Health UK, representatives from the company said they contributed 1,500 products and trainers at 25 fitness centers to create the Olympic Village facilities. The design was particularly challenging, however, and can best be described as a puzzle, a feature that best promotes safe practices and social distancing when athletes work up a sweat.

Courtesy Technogym

“The security protocols set by the Olympic Village Organizing Committee are very clear and precise,” said Enrico Manaresi, Technogym Press and Media Director. “It is compulsory to wear a mask, except during training and the arrangement of the strength equipment was designed with a reasonable distance. For cardio, which includes a higher number of machines, there are screens to separate the products. “

As for the atmosphere, Manaresi explains: “The atmosphere is quite positive and relaxed and the athletes are very cooperative in following the protocols given by the Organizing Committee. Our role at Technogym is to provide athletes with the best equipment for athletic training – the Skill Line, for example, was specially developed for athletic performance training – and they love it. “

Courtesy Technogym

source https://livehealthynews.com/take-a-tour-of-tokyos-olympic-village-gym/

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Black Women’s Health Advocates Applaud Legislation to Address the Uterine Fibroid Crisis

“Uterine fibroids are a health threat that urgently requires research, resources and improved treatment options.”

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Uterine fibroids, benign tumors that grow in the uterus and range from the size of a pea to a football or larger, affect an estimated 26 million American women between the ages of 15 and 50. Black women, who are most affected by fibroids, are nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed as white women and with more severe symptoms leading to increased hospital stays and infertility.

“There aren’t enough data to understand why black women have uterine fibroids more often and with more severe complications,” said Linda Goler Blount, President and CEO of the Health Imperative for Black Women (BWHI). “Uterine fibroids are a health threat that requires urgent research, community resources and improved treatment options to maintain fertility. BWHI supports this legislation because it increases funding for uterine fibroid research and leads to new evidence-based treatments and cures for women of color. ”

“The introduction of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Myoma Research and Education Act of 2021 is a monumental step for women and girls everywhere,” said Tanika Gray Valbrun, Founder and CEO of The White Dress Project. “There is still a lot of work to be done to address the uterine fibroid crisis. We need more education, more research and the full commitment of our policy makers to address health inequalities and understand why fibroids are disproportionately affecting black women.”

In addition to increasing funding for research, the Senate bipartisan bill would coordinate data collection on services for women with uterine fibroid symptoms, create a public education program to disseminate information on the incidence and prevalence of uterine fibroids in women – particularly with a focus on the increased risk in black women – and the treatment options available.

Both health initiatives will appear virtually on Capitol Hill along with the Society for Women’s Health Research July 27, 2021, which brings together patients and doctors from across the country on Speak Up Day to call for the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021 to be passed. This advocacy day coincides with the close of Myoma Awareness Month.

About the Health Imperative for Black Women:

Originally founded as the National Black Women’s Health Project in 1983, BWHI is the only national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of our country’s 21 million black women and girls – physically, emotionally, and financially. Our core task is to promote equal health opportunities and social justice for black women across their entire lifespan through politics, advocacy, education, research and leadership development. Further information is available at www.bwhi.org.

About the White Dress Project:

The White Dress Project is a patient advocacy organization committed to raising global awareness of the uterine fibroid (UF) epidemic through education, research, community and advocacy. We accomplish this mission by promoting research funding, highlighting reproductive health inequalities, educating many about fibroids and their treatment options, and strengthening a community that is committed to their best health choices and no longer suffers in silence with this chronic disease. www.thewhitedressproject.org.

Media contact (s):Priscilla Clarke, Health imperative for black women, [phone]Amber English Coleman, The White Dress Project, [phone]

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Great Health Divide | Stocking stores to supply SNAP beneficiaries

POMEROY, oh. (WSAZ) – In 2018, more than 4,800 people in Meigs County, Ohio used SNAP services.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the federal government’s largest nutritional assistance program.

SNAP offers benefits to eligible individuals and low-income families through an electronic benefit transfer card.

This card can be used like a debit card to purchase eligible groceries from authorized grocery stores.

The Food Fair in Pomeroy is the only full-service grocery store within miles.

“I’d rather come here than go to Athens every day,” said Miranda Long, a buyer.

There are convenience stores and dollar chains nearby, but these are usually not stocked with healthier food options.

“When it comes to fresh fruit and vegetables, there is no substitute for the traditional supermarket,” says Tim Forth, owner of Food Fair.

Forth and the Powell family saved the Pomeroy grocery store when it was due to close years ago. If it wasn’t nearby, residents would have to drive more than 30 minutes to the nearest grocery store.

Miranda Long stopped by to pick up a few items for her son’s birthday party. She says it’s always stocked with supplies as well as healthy and nutritious foods.

Food Fair is one of the few local shops in the area that accepts the benefits of SNAP and WIC. To become a trader who accepts these programs, you must go through an application and selection process.

“You have to have a certain amount of product to even qualify for WIC,” said Forth.

Many who take advantage of SNAP try to stretch those dollars as much as possible, which is not always easy.

“I think it’s a little more expensive to eat healthier,” Long said.

Tim Forth says grocery stores sell a larger amount of healthier food, which gives them a competitive price advantage.

“Traditional supermarkets have so much more choice,” said Forth. “Regarding various objects; Regardless of whether you want organic or something with a little more value, there is only a large selection. “

Many agree that more education could help beneficiaries and benefit recipients better understand the value of healthy, nutritious foods. Working parents may have difficulty finding the time or energy to prepare adequate and balanced meals for their family. Others may not know how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into cooking recipes.

“We can educate the public about healthy alternatives and healthy living,” said Forth. “It just pays off; lower medical costs, healthier children. “

The pandemic also put certain products and stocks under pressure, sometimes making shelves difficult to stock. Forth says it’s a responsibility they don’t take lightly.

“When we run out or have trouble getting supplies,” Forth said. “It’s a life changing event for the people of Meigs County.”

Not only are most of the products locally sourced, but the workforce is as well, and a few simple changes would benefit the entire community and every family that hugs them.

Copyright 2021 WSAZ. All rights reserved.

source https://livehealthynews.com/great-health-divide-stocking-stores-to-supply-snap-beneficiaries/

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Khosla Ventures leads Even’s $5M seed to give India the kind of healthcare their insurance doesn’t – TechCrunch

The global pandemic has exposed inefficiencies and inconsistencies in health systems around the world. Even co-founders Mayank Banerjee, Matilde Giglio and Alessandro Ialongo say this is nowhere more evident than in India, especially after the death toll hit 4 million this week.

The Bangalore-based company received Nithin in a Khosla Ventures-led round involving the Founders Fund, Lachy Groom and a group of individuals including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, CRED CEO Kunal Shah, Zerodha Founder Kamath and DST Global partner Tom Stafford.

Even a member health care company wants to cover what most insurance companies in the country can’t, including access to a family doctor as easy and accessible as other countries.

Banerjee grew up in India and said the country was similar to the United States in that it had state and private hospitals. The difference between the two is that private health insurance is a relatively new concept for India, he told TechCrunch. He estimates that less than 5% of people have such insurance, and although people pay for the insurance, it mostly covers accidents and emergencies.

This means that routine consultations, tests, and scans outside of primary care are not covered. And the policies are so confusing that a lot of people don’t realize they aren’t insured until it’s too late. That has resulted in people asking doctors to hospitalize them to cover their bills, Ialongo added.

Banerjee and Giglio ran another startup together when they realized how complicated health insurance policies are. About 50 million Indians fall below the poverty line each year, and many can no longer pay their health bills, Banerjee said.

They started researching the insurance industry and talking to hospital managers about claims. They found that one of the biggest problems was the misalignment of incentives – hospitals overwhelmed and treated patients. Instead, Even follows a similar approach to Kaiser Permanente in that the company acts as a service provider and can thus reduce maintenance costs.

It was even put into operation in February and launched in June. It is preparing to launch in the fourth quarter of this year with more than 5,000 people on the waiting list so far. The health membership product costs around $ 200 per year for an individual aged 18 to 35 and covers everything: unlimited GP consultations, diagnostics, and scans. Membership will also follow the person as they age, Ialongo said.

The founders intend to use the new funding to expand their operational team, product and integration with hospitals. They already work with 100 hospitals and have partnered with Narayana Hospital to deliver more than 2,000 COVID vaccinations so far, and more in a second round.

“It will take a while to scale up,” said Banerjee. “For us, in theory, if we get better prices, we end up being cheaper than others. Our goal is to cover the people the government can’t and to find ways to reduce the statistics. “

source https://livehealthynews.com/khosla-ventures-leads-evens-5m-seed-to-give-india-the-kind-of-healthcare-their-insurance-doesnt-techcrunch/

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Research shows mental health consequences of long-term stays in refugee camps

A new quantitative study suggests that asylum seekers are more likely to experience deterioration in mental health when they spend more time in refugee camps, backing qualitative evidence from aid agencies.

The study, led by Dr. Francisco Urzua of the Business School (formerly Cass) together with practitioners from Moria Medical Support (MMS) and scientists from Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile and the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, measured the frequency of acute mental crises from lengthy stays in refugee camps Moria on the western Greek island of Lesbos.

Key findings from the study include:

Acute psychological crises were largely linked to the length of stay in the Moria refugee camp: the longer a refugee stayed in the camp, the more likely he was to suffer a psychological crisis.

A ten percent increase in the number of days in the camp led to a 3.3 percent higher likelihood of a refugee suffering a mental crisis – a significant factor given an average length of stay of 70.6 days.

Refugees of Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian origin were hardest hit by longer stays in the refugee camps, with male refugees more frequently affected by acute psychological crises than women as the length of stay in the refugee camp increased.

The study used three months of anonymized data from MMS, a transitional clinic that was providing nightly medical services to the island between January and April 2018 at the time. This included psychological first aid (PFA) and psychiatric crisis management with patient data according to age, gender, ethnicity and length of stay in the camp.

An acute mental crisis is defined as the case in which someone injures themselves either from a non-accidentally made wound, a suicide attempt that requires hospital treatment, or a state of discomfort resulting from fear, nervous excitement, or undirected aggression.

Dr. Urzua said the results support previous claims about the quality of life in refugee camps and that measures should be taken to protect residents throughout the asylum process.

The 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey resulted in the camp population multiplying, but adequate psychological care services were not expanded or improved to the same extent. “

Dr. Francisco Urzua

“Our study extends existing qualitative evidence that the extended asylum system has negative mental health effects caused by poor living conditions in refugee camps.

“This deterioration in mental health affects not only the individual, but also has a significant impact on refugees with increasing physical violence and the destabilization of an often tight social environment, which in turn affects the mental well-being of others. Mental health deterioration is highly likely continue even after release, which makes it difficult for refugees to integrate into a new society.

“It is clear from our study and previous anecdotal evidence that mental health is a serious problem in these camps, and it is imperative that policymakers from across Europe take action and comply with the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees to protect their rights and protect the welfare of those waiting. ” and granted asylum. “

Dr. Willemine van de Wiel, doctor and coordinator of Moria Medical Support, said more needs to be done to support conditions in Camp Moria and in others in the northern hemisphere.

“During our time on the island of Lesbos, my overwhelming feeling was the frustration with the conditions in the camp – a feeling that many experienced NGO employees share.

“In our experience, refugees in many camps in the global south are better off in terms of security, shelter, access to food, sanitation and medical care.

“I hope this research will raise public awareness of the psychological effects of life in these camps and inspire the development of a more humane asylum process.”

Source:

Journal reference:

van de Wiel, W., et al. (2021) Psychological consequences of long-term stays in refugee camps: preliminary evidence from Moria. BMC Public Health. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11301-x.

source https://livehealthynews.com/research-shows-mental-health-consequences-of-long-term-stays-in-refugee-camps/

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Pro Runner Nick Symmonds Shares if He Hooked Up in the Olympic Village

It’s easy to let your imagination run wild as you imagine life in the Olympic Village, where more than 10,000 of the fittest people in the world are locked up for the duration of the Games. Stories about the village running out of condoms, for example, are legendary today.

In a new YouTube video, former pro runner and two-time Olympian Nick Symmonds delivered something like a reality check, describing his own experiences at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London.

“When I first walked into the village, it was so surreal. It’s walled, it’s safe, you have to go through security. Once inside, it’s very peaceful and you feel protected and isolated, ”says Symmonds, adding that it’s not always easy to tell which athletes are in which sports, and it’s fun to guess. An exception was a chance encounter with swimming legend Michael Phelps, who happened to be living in his dormitory.

Speaking of apartments, they’re not quite what most people would expect, says Symmonds. “You live in a tiny room that resembles a dormitory. Two beds, you have a roommate, maybe a small chest of drawers for your belongings. They’re very sparse and simple, ”he says, noting that even cardboard furniture is rumored to be used at the Tokyo Games to discourage Olympians from sleeping together. (More on that in a moment.)

For the most part, says Symmonds, it’s all business – for him at least: you’re there to compete and you’ve spent years – if not decades – preparing for this moment. So until you’ve finished your events, and then it’s all about partying. That means that the athletes who walk first, like the swimmers, have most of the time to relax and let go.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with Symmonds as track and field athletes are at the end of the competition. “The village gets louder the more people are finished. The swimmers will let you know they are done with the competition. I remember they partied so hard, ”he says, which made it all the more difficult to rest and focus on your own events.

That’s why he rented an apartment outside the village during the 2012 Games, says Symmonds, and only went in on the last two days of the event. As for all of the alleged connections that take place within those walls, Symmonds says his experience wasn’t exactly a condom-fueled bacchanie.

“That never happened for this bison. I was there to compete, ”he says. “The men’s 800s were at the end of the games. I was focused. As soon as the competition was over, I was out and on to the next one. Unfortunately, I never joined in the village – I was there to do my job and that’s exactly what I did. ”

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Mississippi argues Supreme Court should overturn Roe v. Wade

JACKSON, miss. The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn its landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and let states decide whether to regulate abortion before a fetus can survive outside the uterus, argued the Mississippi Republican Attorney General’s office in Papers that were filed on Thursday with the higher court.

“Can a state constitutionally prohibit electoral abortions before they are viable? Yes. Why? Because nothing in the constitution, structure, history or tradition supports an abortion right, ”Mississippi’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch and four of her lawyers wrote in the letter.

The arguments are a direct challenge to the central finding of the 1973 Roe v Wade court ruling and 1992 ruling on an abortion case in Pennsylvania. Both rulings stated that states should not place undue burden on abortion prior to viability. Mississippi attorneys argue that the verdicts are “outrageously wrong”.

The Mississippi case is the first major test of abortion rights in a Supreme Court nominated with three Conservative judges by former President Donald Trump.

A 6-3 Conservative majority of the three Trump nominees said in May the court would consider arguments over a Mississippi bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks. The judges will likely hear the case in the fall and decide on it in the spring.

Nancy Northup is President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which defends the only abortion clinic in Mississippi against the 15-week ban. She said Thursday that half of states are ready to ban abortion altogether if Roe is overthrown against Wade.

“Today’s letter reveals the extreme and regressive strategy not only of this law, but of the avalanche of abortion bans and restrictions that are being passed across the country,” Northup said in a statement. “Their goal is to ensure that the Supreme Court controls our right, our own bodies, and our own futures – not just in Mississippi, but everywhere.”

Republican lawmakers in several states have laws challenging Roe v. Wade enforced, including banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. A federal district judge Tuesday blocked a law in Arkansas that would ban most abortions, that the law was “categorically unconstitutional” because it would prohibit the procedure before the fetus is considered viable.

Mississippi’s 15-week law was enacted in 2018 but blocked after a challenge by a federal court. The state’s only abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, remains open and offers abortions for up to 16 weeks of pregnancy. Clinic director Shannon Brewer said about 10% of abortions there are performed after week 15.

In the United States, more than 90% of abortions occur in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Mississippi Clinic has presented evidence that viability is impossible after 15 weeks, and an appeals court said the state “acknowledged that it had found no medical evidence that a fetus would be viable after 15 weeks”. Viability occurs around 24 weeks, the point when babies are more likely to survive.

Mississippi argues that viability is an arbitrary measure that doesn’t adequately reflect the state’s interest in regulating abortion.

Mississippi law would allow exemptions from the 15-week ban in the event of a medical emergency or serious fetal abnormality. Doctors who violate the ban face compulsory suspension or withdrawal of their medical license.

“This law promotes rationally justified interests in the protection of unborn life, the health of women and the integrity of the medical profession. It is therefore constitutional, ”the Mississippi Attorney General wrote in its filing on Thursday.

The attorney presenting Mississippi’s oral arguments to the Supreme Court is Attorney General Scott G. Stewart, a former Justice Clarence Thomas officer.

Also in Thursday’s filing, Mississippi attorneys wrote that if the Supreme Court does not upset the standard that abortion restrictions should be scrutinized, the court should “at least determine that there is no pre-viability barrier to state abortion bans and “uphold Mississippi law.”

Mississippi attorneys wrote that the circumstances for women have changed since the Supreme Court rulings of 1973 and 1992.

“Adoption is now amenable and women are achieving great professional success and family life on a large scale, contraceptives are more available and effective, and scientific advances show that an unborn child has assumed human form and is months before viability,” wrote the Mississippi attorneys. “States should be able to react to these developments.”

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Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.

source https://livehealthynews.com/mississippi-argues-supreme-court-should-overturn-roe-v-wade/

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Rep. Angie Craig takes aim at ‘family glitch’ that can make health insurance super pricey

Allie Krueger is one of those people. Right now, Krueger and her husband are paying 25% of their gross income for health insurance for them and their 2-year-old child — and she’s pregnant with twins.

“I was shocked,” Krueger said in an interview, recalling how she discovered the glitch to her disbelief after she was laid off from her job of 16 years in the entertainment industry, a sector hit especially hard during the pandemic.

Krueger and her family are caught in what’s known in the health insurance world as the “family glitch” of the Affordable Care Act, whose title serves as an irony for the bureaucratic hole that could encompass more than 5 million Americans. There’s a push to address the issue, and it might be as simple as a stroke of the pen by someone in the Biden administration.

The glitch is basically this: The ACA was written so no one would be forced to pay more than 9.83% of their income for health coverage — a figure deemed affordable. Anything more than that merits a subsidy. It works for single people. And it works for any parent.

But not for the rest of the family.

So right now, Krueger’s family is being insured through her husband’s employer. He gets the subsidy, but she doesn’t. Nor does their child. And nor will the twins, one of whom, doctors have told them, will likely require surgery because of a condition the baby appears to have. (Because family insurance is available through his employer, they’re not eligible to buy insurance on the individual market, and they earn too much to qualify for government programs for the poor.)

“We can’t afford to be insured and we can’t afford not to be insured,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

“This was never the intention under the Affordable Care Act,” Craig said in an interview. “It was never the intention of Congress that it would be just 9.83% for just one family member. It should never be 25% of a family’s income. It’s ridiculous.”

The glitch actually dates back to an IRS interpretation of the ACA in 2013 — while President Barack Obama, the champion of the ACA, aka “Obamacare,” was in office.

It appears to have festered ever since, slowly gaining attention that was accelerated under the coronavirus pandemic as legions of the employed were suddenly thrust into the ranks of the unemployed — and potentially uninsured.

Craig said she had heard about the phenomenon over the years, but only in the abstract, until Krueger contacted her office.

“As we worked our way through this one individual story, all of a sudden this ‘family glitch’ idea that I had read about over the years had a name and was pregnant with twins,” Craig said. “I paid a lot more attention.”

After President Joe Biden took office, he issued an executive order requiring all federal agencies to examine policies they might have that can be altered to increase the affordability of health care. Some see that as a means by which the IRS changes its interpretation.

Craig is among them and is pushing the White House to make the change.

In a letter earlier this month to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Craig urges “swift action.”

“I’m optimistic,” Craig said. “The administration is open-minded about it.”

According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, closing the glitch — by providing subsidies to all family members covered — would cost $45 billion over the next 10 years.

For Craig, it’s a no-brainer. “The cost would be dwarfed by the savings to American families,” she said.

According to an April analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation using pre-pandemic data, most people who fall into the family glitch are paying for insurance — and spending an average of 15.8 percent of their gross income. But close to 10 percent ultimately decide to forego insurance completely. Because of the nature of the glitch, the vast majority of people affected are full-time workers and earn too much to qualify for assistance programs for the poor.

Krueger said she and her husband have been able to pay for the premiums — by draining their savings.

“We’re hanging in there, but we are privileged because we have a built-up savings,” she said. “We’re in our 30s. We’re non-smokers. We’re just a typical family. It’s my hope that we get that glitch closed so other people don’t have to go through what we’re going through.”

source https://livehealthynews.com/rep-angie-craig-takes-aim-at-family-glitch-that-can-make-health-insurance-super-pricey/

[livehealthynewsusa]

CrossFit Games 2021 Preview – What to Expect From CrossFit’s Best

After a two year hiatus, The live CrossFit competition returns to Madison, Wisconsin. From July 27th to August 1st, nearly 40 of the fittest men and women in the world will run, swim, paddle, row, swing, tear, and squat through grueling physical challenges posed by dozens of teams, teenagers, champions, and adaptable athletes a minute to a couple of hours. The individual winners will each take home $ 310,000, the highest payout in the history of the game.

The road to this year’s games is particularly long for athletes. The structure of the competition has changed again this year; there was the Open in March, the quarter-finals in early May and the semi-finals a few weeks later. During such an unusually long season, athletes had to take extra care to rejuvenate their fitness plans at the right time and take care of their bodies.

“I hate to say it, but there could be an injury or something else that will ruin your plan, so you can’t hold on to an idea. You have to be ready to go up and down, ”said Noah Ohlsen, the runner-up in 2019, before the Open.

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And while some of these competitions were in person, others were relocated from a central location and tracked online, which is a special type of mental torture, Pat Vellner, a three-time athlete of the Games, said in a recent interview. “Racing Ghost is tough,” he said. “You never know whether you will be first or last, or whether you should call or call back.”

Nonetheless, Vellner, along with many other audience favorites and alleged front runners, all made it through.

Who to watch out for at the 2021 CrossFit Games

For the women, all eyes are on Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, the four-time Games winner. As a member of Australia’s 2016 Olympic weightlifting team (she finished 14th) and possibly a 2022 Olympic team member for bobsleigh, she is arguably the fittest woman the sport has ever seen. Should she get through the weekend injury free, she’ll likely end it by being at the top of the podium.

However, don’t be surprised if you see Haley Adams, Bethany Shadburne, or Laura Horvath there too – or if that list includes one (or more) mothers. Five women, one eighth of the field, have children.

Toomey-Orr and Fraser will finish the 2020 Games together.

Courtesy CrossFit Inc.

For men, horse racing is essentially wide open following the resignation of Mat Fraser, Toomey-Orr’s former training partner and champion for the past five years. Competing are games podium veterans like Pat Vellner, Noah Ohlsen, Cole Sager and Brent Fikowski, as well as recent outbreaks like Justin Medeiros and Jayson Hopper.

Ultimately, the winner will likely be determined by a mix of strategy, programming, luck – and who is best at dealing with the known.

What events will be in the 2021 CrossFit Games?

While some events have already been announced, including a 550-yard sprint and a triad of rope climbing, ski-erg, and sandbag carrying, others have only been teased, like the first event that will be “swim long and paddle distance even longer.” Many will remain a mystery for up to a few hours (or minutes) before the buzzer sounds.

Inevitably there will be surprises. At last year’s games, which were held at The Ranch in California due to Covid-19 restrictions, the athletes completed a three-mile trail run – only to learn that they had to turn around and do everything in the opposite direction. For another year, athletes were never told the moves or rep scheme for the event called “chaos”. Instead, they worked until their judge told them they could move on.

Noah Ohlsen competes in the sprint at the 2019 Games.

Courtesy CrossFit Inc.

After such a long absence from Madison, and after only five men and women were allowed to compete against each other last year, the games are likely to be particularly challenging. This can be due to the number of events (e.g. anything over 15), the scope of the workload (such as another marathon series), the skills required (again a handstand obstacle course) or the rapid sequence of events (such as the notorious.) barn burner, wrestler 1 and wrestler 2).

Regardless of the program, however, viewers will almost certainly be relieved to get back on the stands and watch the fitness sport. Would you like to join in and tune in from home? Here is how.

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source https://livehealthynews.com/crossfit-games-2021-preview-what-to-expect-from-crossfits-best/

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A resonant tussle between “sex radicals” and a 19th-century censor

July 24, 2021

The man who hated women. From Amy’s son. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 400 pages; $ 30

M.OST PEOPLE who come to New York see a world of opportunity. When Anthony Comstock arrived in 1867, all he saw was dirt. He was shocked by the street walks, the gambling, the pubs and brothels, and the peddlers who openly advertised dirty pictures and “rubber goods” (sex toys and condoms). A devout congregationalist who grew up in Connecticut believing that women are pure and holy, he was appalled by the distribution of manuals on birth control and better sex and outraged by newspaper advertisements for products that promised miscarriages.

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As Amy Sohn writes in her colorful new book The Man Who Hated Women, Comstock capitalized on his genuine outrage. He used the state’s profanity law to confiscate personally objectionable books, assist with arrests, and close pubs, often brandishing a revolver. After Comstock urged and prayed for the 1873 federal ban on the distribution of “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” material, he used his position as the Post Office’s special envoy to crack down on anyone promoting sex for purposes other than procreation . Small and vengeful, he often resorted to deception and allegedly bragged about the number of people he drove to suicide. Many of his victims were impoverished and uneducated.

“One of the most powerful and determined men of his time, Comstock struck the health of women for almost a century,” writes Ms. Son. In an effort to protect women, he arrested many midwives and homeopaths who were providing necessary reproductive care. His state advocacy spawned various “little Comstock laws” in the states that often made it a crime to give advice on preventing conception. In 17 states and Washington, DC, a doctor was unable to discuss ways to avoid pregnancy with a patient. It was not until 1965 that the Supreme Court ruled that married women could receive contraceptives from their doctors. Single women were granted this right in 1972.

But it’s not entirely true to say that Comstock hated women, at least not all of them. He adored his mother, who died in childbirth, and loved his wife, a petite, tiny woman whom he called “Wifey”. He just didn’t trust women to think for themselves. Its rise coincided with a “rich period of radical publishing” as activists began to argue that marriages should be based on love and respect, with a fair division of labor, and enjoyable, consensual sex in leisure time. Inspired by the abolitionist movement, these renegades called for the American woman – in the words of Victoria Woodhull, a suffragist, stockbroker, publisher, and presidential candidate – “to be liberated from the sexual slavery that man maintains over her.”

Frau Sohn devotes a large part of her book to the lives of some “sex radicals” who irritated Comstock with their great ideas about marital harmony and physical autonomy. In addition to Woodhull, it includes Emma Goldman, an anarchist and work organizer, Margaret Sanger, a birth control activist, Ann Lohman, a “notorious” abortionist known as “Madame Restell,” and Ida Craddock, a sexologist, whose thoughts on mutual sexual pleasure. were made a little complicated by their claim that their lover was a ghost. Comstock followed them all.

As a bestselling author, Frau Sohn reveals the depth of her research for her first non-fiction book and occasionally exaggerates the details (once on a date, Craddock had “a satisfying dinner with spring chicken”). Sometimes she goes into exaggeration and ends up shedding her historian cloak to keep a feminist cheer. Still, she is right to highlight the work these women have done to define reproductive freedom as American law that paved the way for the birth control pill and Roe versus Wade. Comstock has been forgotten, but many of the ideas about love, sex, and marriage that he opposed are still debated today. ■

This article appeared in the Books & Art section of the print edition under the heading “Restless Virtue”

source https://livehealthynews.com/a-resonant-tussle-between-sex-radicals-and-a-19th-century-censor/

[livehealthynewsusa]

Simple Tips For Starting A Healthy Diet — Hometown Station | KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 — Santa Clarita Radio

Eating a healthy diet is one of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Eating nutritious and filling foods will keep your body energized, improve your mood, and help you maintain a healthy weight. Switching from unhealthy eating habits to healthier ones can be difficult, but it’s worth it in the long run! Read on for some simple tips for starting a healthy diet today.

Remember that there are many ways to get healthy and eat healthily. These are just a few of the ways that you can follow.

Tips for a healthy diet

One of the most important parts of a healthy diet is knowing what type of lifestyle you are planning to adopt. Your diet is your lifestyle. Information on how to decide this can be found on rawbeautysource.com as they focus on health and beauty related materials. The key is to read and get a good understanding before embarking on any diet or healthy lifestyle.

The first step is to plan your meals for the week. Write down what you will be eating and when, and make sure you have the ingredients at home or at work. This will help keep some of those unhealthy temptations away!

Enjoy your protein

Be sure to include some form of protein in every meal. Proteins are filling and help you feel full longer than other food groups. Try adding some meat or cheese to your salad, beans for lunch, an egg on toast, etc.!

Enjoy carbohydrates in moderation

Believe it or not, carbohydrates are allowed in a healthy diet! But try to limit them to one per meal. Eating carbohydrates with protein will keep you full longer, and carbohydrates are also an important source of fiber that can help regulate your digestive system.

Don’t forget vegetables! They are high in nutrients but low in calories and fill the plate making it look like more food than it is.

Monitor What You Eat

Keep track of what you are eating. This does not have to be a complete list; Just write down a few things for each day that will help you spot patterns in your eating habits. Seeing the bigger picture could lead you to choose healthier foods!

Make small, manageable changes

Next, start with small changes that are manageable and add more over time. For example, you could start by eliminating lemonade and adding a smoothie to your diet. You can also ask for a dressing as a side dish or substitute beans for meat in dishes like tacos, burritos, etc.

Keep an eye on your goals

Keep your goals in mind and don’t get discouraged as you fall behind every now and then. A few slip-ups won’t hurt your progress too much as long as they are followed by good behavior. Changing habits takes time, so don’t be discouraged if you sometimes feel like you are giving up.

Drink plenty of water

Finally drink plenty of water! Hydration is important for your body and brain to function. Make sure you drink at least 64 ounces a day to stay healthy!

The health benefits of a healthy diet are undeniable. A nutritious, filling food will provide your body with the energy it needs to function optimally and you will not get tired or sluggish all day. These eating habits can be difficult to change at first, but they’re well worth the effort! The tips provided are designed to help you get started with a healthier lifestyle that is sustainable for long-term success.

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KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes a combination of news, traffic, sports and features along with your favorite contemporary adult hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout our airwaves, on our website, and across a variety of social media platforms throughout the day. Our award-winning KHTS Daily News is now read by over 34,000 residents every day. As a living member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches the entire Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the Internet and thus reaches a potentially global audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

source https://livehealthynews.com/simple-tips-for-starting-a-healthy-diet-hometown-station-khts-fm-98-1-am-1220-santa-clarita-radio/