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Fertility health coverage is still hard to come by in many states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

By Tim Henderson, Stateline.orgAs fertility rates drop and more women postpone childbirth into their 30s and 40s, more states are considering mandating that private insurers cover fertility treatments to help people start a family without the crushing out-of-pocket expenses.Such laws would help people such as Miraya and Andy Gran of Bloomington, Minnesota, who ended up spending $102,000 to have their now 2-year-old daughter, Isla, through in vitro fertilization after trying other expensive options. Miraya Gran has since become an advocate for state laws requiring insurance coverage for fertility treatments.“I had a lot of resentment and a lot of anger on top of the financial sacrifice. I just thought it was wrong. I don’t want other parents to go through this,” Gran said.Twenty-one states require such coverage, but a proposed mandate failed to pass the Minnesota legislature this year. With the exception of New York, Medicaid programs do not cover fertility treatments.Minnesota was o...

Sen. Sanders says millions of people can’t find a doctor. He’s mostly right

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

By Michelle Andrews, KFF Health News“Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be seen.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a July 19, 2023, press releaseSen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. has long been a champion of a government-sponsored “Medicare for All” health program to solve long-standing problems in the United States, where we pay much more for health care than people in other countries but are often sicker and have a shorter average life expectancy.Still, he realizes his passion project has little chance in today’s political environment. “We are far from a majority in the Senate. We have no Republican support … and I’m not sure that I could get half of the Democrats on that bill,” Sanders said in recent remarks to community health advocates.He has switched his focus to include, among other things, expanding the primary care workforce.Sanders introduced legislation in July that would invest $100 billion over five year...

Berkeley woman arrested on suspicion of threatening Southern California school board president

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of threatening violence against the president of the Chino Valley school board, which recently approved a polarizing policy to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender. Berkeley resident Rebecca Morgan, 52, was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 1, on suspicion of threatening a public official after an investigation identified her as one of those who made threats against members of the Chino Valley Unified School District board, a city of Chino news release states.The Chino Police Department learned of the first threat against the board Friday, July 21 — the day after the school board passed the policy in a lengthy and contentious meeting that saw state schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond leave the session after being told to sit down when his time at the podium was up.The first threat was linked to an out-of-state resident and Chino police worked with local authorities on the case, the release states.“Over the week, several other threatening...

Pac-12 survival: Oregon, UW reportedly to depart for Big Ten, pushing conference to the brink

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

The Pac-12 lurched toward extinction Friday as Oregon and Washington reportedly prepared to accept membership invitations to join the Big Ten.Yahoo reported that the Big Ten is in “the final stages of negotiating an expansion to 18 teams,” with the Ducks and Huskies set to join USC and UCLA next summer to create a western arm.The momentous development would prevent the Pac-12 from completing a media rights deal and trigger a chain reaction that would lead to the dissolution of the 108-year-old conference.Without the Pacific Northwest powers committed, Arizona is expected to swiftly accept an invitation to the Big 12, with Arizona State and Utah to follow soon after.The remaining four schools — Stanford, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State — would face uncertain futures as tenants of an otherwise empty conference.Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff faced a series of late-breaking obstacles as he tried to salvage the conference, the most serious being the B...

AP sources say Oregon and Washington are being invited to join the Big Ten

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — AP sources say Oregon and Washington are being invited to join the Big Ten.Source

La primera píldora para la depresión posparto está lista; se espera que FDA la apruebe el sábado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

Se espera que la Administración de Drogas y Alimentos decida el sábado si aprueba la primera píldora para la depresión posparto.El medicamento, llamado zuranolona, se toma diariamente durante dos semanas. En un par de ensayos clínicos en los que participaron mujeres que experimentaron depresión grave después de tener un bebé, el medicamento mejoró los síntomas, como ansiedad, problemas para dormir, pérdida del placer, poca energía, culpa o aislamiento social, tan pronto como tres días después de la primera píldora.El medicamento fue desarrollado conjuntamente por las compañías farmacéuticas Biogen y Sage Therapeutics. Si se aprueba, se convertirá en el primer tratamiento para la depresión posparto que se puede tomar en casa. La única otra opción disponible es una inyección intravenosa que la FDA aprobó en 2019. Requiere que los pacientes permanezcan en un hospital durante dos días y medio.La Dra. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, directora del Centro de Trastornos del Estado de Ánimo de la Mu...

Homeless camp cleared out, but where will they go now?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Friday morning, crews and first responders arrived at 22nd and Stout streets downtown for a sweep of a homeless encampment.This sweep was the first of new Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's term. He said the encampment was rat-infested, and health and safety necessitated the move. Johnston, alongside the district's first-year Council Member Darrell Watson, visited the encampment Thursday, a day before this sweep, to ensure people knew this would be happening and to provide resources. Related: Mayor Mike Johnston declares emergency over homelessness in Denver The issue for some was that the city did not have a permanent place or shelter for these people to go to."This is a temporary Band-Aid on a much bigger solution," said Justin Paris, one person advocating on the scene.Sweeping the encampment without ensuring housing for the people involved is something Johnston said he wouldn't do."I think that’s very shameful, because he said he would not sweep people unless he had s...

An unclaimed $50K Colorado Powerball ticket expires Sunday. Is it yours?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Do you have an old Powerball ticket sitting at home? You might want to double-check the numbers, because the Colorado Lottery has an unclaimed winning ticket that is worth $50,000.According to the lottery, a Powerball ticket purchased back in February has been sitting unclaimed for several months. Per the lottery rules, players have 180 days to claim their winnings, and this specific ticket expires this Sunday, Aug. 6. $11.5M Colorado Lotto+ ticket sold in Centennial The ticket was purchased on Feb. 6 at the Huck Finn Exxon at 1517 Florida Road in Durango. So, if you happened to be traveling down south and purchased a ticket, you could be $50,000 richer.The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing were: 5-11-22-23-69, PB: 7, PP: 2, Double Play numbers: 14-19-58-59-68, PB: 16.At that time, the Powerball jackpot was $747,000. However, the Powerball jackpot continued to grow until July 20 when one ticket sold in California claimed the $1.08 billion prize. What happen...

NTSB releases report on February runway scare at Logan Airport, says charter jet pilot took off without permission

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

Federal investigators said Thursday that the pilot of a charter jet took off without permission, creating a “conflict” with a JetBlue plane that was preparing to land on an intersecting runway at Boston’s Logan International Airport in February.A screen grab from video shot from the JetBlue cockpit captures the moment that the Learjet operated by charter service Hop-A-Jet crossed the runway just in front of the JetBlue plane.Pilots of the JetBlue Embraer jet estimated they were about 30 feet (9 meters) off the ground when they saw a plane cross in front of them — the captain said he couldn’t estimate how close they were to the smaller plane, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The JetBlue pilots were able to pull up and circle around and land safely.The captain of the Hop-A-Jet said he heard air traffic controllers tell him to line up and wait before taking off — and even repeated the order back to the controller — “but in his m...

Column: Hollywood is spending more than ever. Where is the money going?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:06 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune (TNS)Streaming platforms have been spending more on television programming than at any other time in history. And yet, as the Hollywood actors and writers strikes have made clear, that money isn’t going to most of the workaday people who make these TV shows. So where is the money going? Let’s make some educated guesses.In 2022, Netflix spent $16.7 billion on content. Over at Warner Bros. Discovery, that number was $18 billion.How does that compare to what TV networks were spending 25 years ago? A 1997 report on the FCC’s website titled “TV Programming Costs” gives us a snapshot. The cost is broken down by licensing fees paid per week, or what TV networks were paying to license shows from the studios that actually made them (for example, NBC licensed “Friends” from Warner Bros).For the ‘97-’98 TV season, NBC was spending the most, with $29 million a week in licensing fees. If we assume those shows had 22-episode seasons, the total spend on scripted program...