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Record number of Americans sign up for ACA health insurance
By Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller, Kaiser Health News A record 13.6 million Americans have signed up for health coverage for 2022 on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the Biden administration announced last month. President Joe Biden’s top health advisers credited the increased government subsidies, which lowered out-of-pocket costs, for the surge in enrollment. They […]
During a COVID-19 surge, ‘crisis standards of care’ involve excruciating choices
By Matthew Wynia, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus As the omicron variant brings a new wave of uncertainty and fear, I can’t help reflecting back to March 2020, when people in health care across the U.S. watched in horror as COVID-19 swamped New York City. Hospitals were overflowing with sick and dying patients, while […]
4 New Year’s resolutions for a healthier environment in 2022
By Viniece Jennings, Agnes Scott College When many people think of New Year’s resolutions, they brainstorm ways to improve themselves for the year ahead. What if we expanded those aspirations to include resolutions that benefit our communities, society and the planet, too? It might not be a typical approach, but it can broaden your horizons […]
Congress should extend a helping hand to small businesses still on the road to recovery
By Greg Manger This holiday season seems merrier and brighter with the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic hopefully behind us. But for many small business owners like me, the holiday cheer can’t mask the feeling that a winter storm is gathering and that small businesses across the country will need a hand — not a handout […]
Laws shield hospitals from families who believe loved ones contracted COVID as patients
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News After Amanda Wilson lost her son, Braden, 15, to COVID-19 in early 2021, she tried to honor his memory. She put up a lending library box in his name. She plans to give the money she saved for his college education to other teens who love […]
How common is the ‘Common Era?’ How A.D. and C.E. took over counting years
By Miriamne Ara Krummel, University of Dayton On Dec. 31, people from cultures all around the world will be raising a toast to welcome in A.D. 2022. Few of them will think about the fact that A.D. signals “anno Domini,” Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” In A.D. temporality – the one acknowledged […]
Health experts worry CDC’s COVID vaccination rates appear inflated
By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News For nearly a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online vaccine tracker has shown that virtually everyone 65 and older in the United States — 99.9% — has received at least one COVID vaccine dose. That would be remarkable — if true. But health experts and state officials […]
What will 2022 bring in the way of misinformation on social media? 3 experts weigh in
By Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University; Dam Hee Kim, University of Arizona, and Ethan Zuckerman, UMass Amherst At the end of 2020, it seemed hard to imagine a worse year for misinformation on social media, given the intensity of the presidential election and the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. But 2021 proved up to the […]
What is the Fed taper? An economist explains how the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus
By Edouard Wemy, Clark University Tapering refers to the Federal Reserve policy of unwinding the massive purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities it’s been making to shore up the economy during the pandemic. The unconventional monetary policy of buying assets is commonly known as quantitative easing. The Fed first adopted this policy during the […]
Spending $2 trillion on child care, health care and climate change won’t make inflation any worse
By Michael Klein, Tufts University One of the main concerns raised by critics of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is that it will drive up inflation, which is already running at the fastest pace in four decades. The Senate is currently considering a roughly US$2 trillion bill passed by the House that would […]
U.S. Supreme Court lets enforcement of Texas abortion law continue but allows legal challenges
By Reese Oxner, The Texas Tribune The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the legal challenge brought forward by abortion providers against Texas’ abortion restriction law may continue, bringing new life into the fight against the statute but also drawing the ire of abortion providers who criticized the ruling for not blocking the law […]
Why is inflation so high? Is it bad? An economist answers 3 questions about soaring consumer prices
By William Hauk, University of South Carolina Consumer prices jumped 6.8% in November 2021 from a year earlier – the fastest rate of increase since 1982, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published on Dec. 10, 2021. The biggest jumps during the month were in energy, used cars and clothing. The Conversation U.S. asked […]