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Health insurance premiums to double next year on individual market

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DENVER — Premiums will double next year for Coloradans who buy their health insurance on the state’s individual market, with higher-income families facing increases of $10,000 or more, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced Monday.

Marketplace customers face a double hit this year. The monthly “sticker price” of health insurance ...Read more

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Residents to see 78% average cost increase for Affordable Care Act exchange plans if subsidies expire

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

CHICAGO — Illinois residents will pay an average of 78% more across the state for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange if Congress does not extend enhanced premium tax credits — the issue at the heart of the current government shutdown — state regulators said Monday.

Illinois residents who have health insurance ...Read more

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Officials show little proof that new tech will help Medicaid enrollees meet work rules

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

This summer, the state of Louisiana texted just over 13,000 people enrolled in its Medicaid program with a link to a website where they could confirm their incomes.

The texts were part of a pilot run to test technology the Trump administration says will make it easier for some Medicaid enrollees to prove they meet new requirements — working, ...Read more

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Innovation in epilepsy care: Alternatives to medication seek to reset, repair brain, expert explains

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHOENIX — Medication has long been the cornerstone of treatment for people with epilepsy, but it doesn't stop seizures for everyone and may come with significant side effects. New options in use or under development include devices and gene and cell therapies aimed at resetting or rehabilitating the brain circuits that cause seizures, explains...Read more

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Ask the Pediatrician: How to talk with kids about tragedies and other traumatic news events

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

After any crisis or disaster, families often struggle with what they should say to children and how to help them cope.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents, teachers, child care providers and others who work closely with children to review information about the event and present it in a way that their child can understand, ...Read more

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Eye implant reverses blindness in study co-led by Pitt researcher

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A team co-led by a Pitt professor was able to restore sight to blind patients with advanced macular degeneration, according to a report published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was conducted in Europe by a team of researchers including senior author José-Alain Sahel, who moved from his native France to join ...Read more

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'Cancer doesn't care': Citizen lobbyists unite to push past Washington's ugly politics

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Mary Catherine Johnson is a retired small-business owner from outside Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times.

Lexy Mealing, who used to work in a physician’s office, is from Long Island. She’s a Democrat.

But the women share a common bond. They both survived breast cancer.

And when the American Cancer Society Cancer ...Read more

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Despite the hoopla, vaccines should be in reach this cough-and-cold season

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

For people whose autumn agenda includes getting vaccinated against respiratory diseases — COVID, flu, and, for some, RSV — this year may be surprisingly routine.

Following several confusing months this summer when federal officials announced and then retreated from changes to COVID vaccine recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control ...Read more

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GOP talking point holds ACA is haunted by 'phantom' enrollees, but the devil's in the data

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The idea that Affordable Care Act marketplaces are riddled with fraud has become a major talking point among Republicans, as lawmakers in Congress argue about whether to extend the enhanced tax credits that are helping offset the cost of health care marketplace coverage for low- and middle-income people. Those ACA subsidies expire at the end of ...Read more

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Contaminated meat was linked to 1 in 5 UTIs, according to a study out of Southern California

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

There's been a long-standing belief that urinary tract infections are largely caused by poor personal hygiene. New research, however, suggests that many cases may actually be caused by infections of E. coli bacteria from contaminated meat purchased in grocery stores.

UTIs are common — globally there are 400 million cases a year — and can ...Read more

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It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a chemtrail? New conspiracy theory takes wing at Kennedy's HHS

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace spotted a gray plane overhead that he believed was releasing chemicals to make him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous.

He shared his concern with reporters, acknowledging it sounded a little like “...Read more

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States jostle over $50B rural health fund as Trump's Medicaid cuts trigger scramble

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — Nationwide, states are racing to win their share of a new $50 billion rural health fund. But helping rural hospitals, as originally envisioned, is quickly becoming a quaint idea.

Rather, states should submit applications that “rebuild and reshape” how health care is delivered in rural communities, Centers for Medicare & ...Read more

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Private Medicare, Medicaid plans exaggerate in-network mental health options, watchdogs say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.

The investigators allege that some insurers effectively set up “ghost networks” of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health ...Read more

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Republican moderates press leadership on health credit extension

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — Thirteen moderate House Republicans are urging party leadership to find a path toward extending enhanced expiring health care tax credits once the government reopens.

“Let us be clear: significant reforms are needed to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most,”...Read more

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Family health insurance premiums hit another record: $26,993

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The price tag of health insurance from employers keeps getting bigger across the U.S., and the increases this year are fueling concerns over medical spending across all health insurance markets.

The average annual premium for family health insurance rose about 6% this year to nearly $27,000, according to widely watched survey results released ...Read more

Boost your HSA savings with these smart and savvy moves

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

HSAs or Health Savings Accounts provide a powerful triple tax benefit — on contributions, growth, and withdrawals — but they remain a woefully underused retirement tool.

They are so underutilized that Fidelity Investments found that one in two Americans is unfamiliar with the HSA and its triple tax benefits. There’s even a National HSA ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Love those hearts of palm!

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

True to their name, hearts of palm are the creamy white vegetable harvested from the inner core, or heart, of certain palm trees.

The folklore

Native to South and Central America, hearts of palm (as well as the nuts, bark, and leaves of the palm tree) have been used by indigenous people for thousands of years, dating back to Mayan times. ...Read more

5 snacks that can actually make you happier

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

You know the feeling: You’re a little irritable. Distracted. Sleepy. Anxious. You can’t quite focus, but it’s not quite mealtime. What can help? A snack — but not just any snack. While snacking sometimes gets a bad rap, certain foods are packed with nutrients that help regulate mood, support brain health, and give you the steady energy ...Read more

How accurate is information from your online health support group?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Taking part in an online support group has many benefits, such as convenience, camaraderie, and encouragement. “It’s social support you don’t always get from a busy clinician’s office. Someone in the group might say, ‘I went through this, too. Hang in there, it will get better,’” says Kasisomayajula Viswanath, a health ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Setting boundaries for your well-being

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m a people-pleaser by nature and have difficulty saying no or setting limits in my relationships. How can I start to create healthier boundaries in a kind yet firm way?

ANSWER: People have various types of relationships, including partners, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances. Different ...Read more