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Medicaid grew a lot during the pandemic. Soon, it will shrink again. : Shots
George Mink Jr. is a health care outreach worker in Delaware County, Pa. He worries about what will happen when vaccines are no longer paid for by the federal government. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY) Kimberly Paynter/WHYY hide caption toggle caption Kimberly Paynter/WHYY George Mink Jr. is a health care outreach worker in Delaware County, Pa. He worries about what will happen when vaccines are no longer paid for by the federal government. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY) Kimberly Paynter/WHYY Robert, who lives in Philadelphia, knows signing up for Medicaid can be tricky with his ADHD, so he brought his daughter along to help him fill out the paperwork. “If we miss one little detail, they…
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Therapy by AI holds promise and challenges : Shots
Just a year ago, Chukurah Ali had fulfilled a dream of owning her own bakery — Coco’s Desserts in St. Louis, Mo. — which specialized in the sort of custom-made ornate wedding cakes often featured in baking show competitions. Ali, a single mom, supported her daughter and mother by baking recipes she learned from her beloved grandmother. But last February, all that fell apart, after a car accident left Ali hobbled by injury, from head to knee. “I could barely talk, I could barely move,” she says, sobbing. “I felt like I was worthless because I could barely provide for my family.” As darkness and depression engulfed Ali, help seemed…
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Obamacare hits a record number of signups : Shots
The Very affordable Treatment Act health insurance plan marketplaces just strike a report: Virtually 16 million people signed up for the insurance policies also regarded as Obamacare. That is about a million much more people than signed up for ACA well being insurance plan last calendar year, and enrollment is even now open up on Health care.gov and in most condition marketplaces until Sunday, January 15. (Enrollment is open up till January 31 in California, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, it is open right until January 23.) What is driving the upward development? The massive cause is that the programs are less costly for…
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On time or late? It’s a cultural debate : Shots
Are you, like me, chronically late? Do you squeeze in “one more thing” before you leave home, only to lose track of time? Do you frequently show up to meetings or gatherings 15 minutes or more after you intended? Have you been told by your friends and family that you’re being disrespectful and not valuing their time? Maybe it’s partly their problem, anthropologists (goaded by an NPR reporter with a stake in this) say. Maybe your peers obsessed with being on time are actually holding a narrow — and relatively newly established — perspective. Maybe they’re off base in thinking that for time to be meaningful it needs to be…
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A health insurance alternative left a pastor with a big hospital bill : Shots
Jeff and Kareen King received a hospital bill for $160,000 a few weeks after Jeff had a procedure to restore his heart rhythm. Bram Sable-Smith/KHN hide caption toggle caption Bram Sable-Smith/KHN Jeff and Kareen King received a hospital bill for $160,000 a few weeks after Jeff had a procedure to restore his heart rhythm. Bram Sable-Smith/KHN Kareen King calls it “the ultimate paradox”: The hospital that saved her husband Jeff’s heart also broke it. What Happened Jeff King, of Lawrence, Kan., needed his heart rhythm restored to normal with a procedure called an ablation — sooner rather than later, his doctor said. Jeff asked the hospital for a cost estimate,…
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Goals for a healthy 2023? Keep them low-key and sustainable : Shots
It’s 2023, and after the last couple years we’ve all had on this planet, a lot of people are not in the mood for goal-setting. In fact, for many of us, maybe the best advice right now is to just lean back and get better at doing nothing. (Seriously, this is NPR giving you permission to relax. It’s for your own good.) Still, if you find yourself taking stock of your life and health and looking for ideas to reset, science has your back. Here are a handful of evidence-based suggestions from NPR’s recent health reporting that could help you refresh body and mind. The best part? These ideas are…