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Medicare Advantage shopping season arrives with a dose of confusion and some political implications

Thinner benefits and coverage changes await many older Americans shopping for health insurance this fall. That’s if their plan is even still available in 2025. More than a million people will probably have to find new coverage as major insurers cut costs and pull back from markets for Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run version of the federal government’s coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and older. Industry experts also predict some price increases for Medicare prescription drug plans as required coverage improvements kick in. Voters will learn about the ...

Four reasons to get your flu shot this year

We’ve all learned a lot about how to stop the spread of germs and viruses. In fact, physical distancing and handwashing also helped reduce flu cases over the past few years. But the best weapon in our flu-fighting arsenal is still the flu shot. It’s easy to get, protects those around ...

Staying active in colder weather

Don’t be fooled by cool weather — while it seems like the time of the year to slow down and get cozy, it’s important to keep your activity level up like it’s summer all year long. Physical activity is crucial for heart health. It lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart ...

According to the Centers of Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), 13.2 million people seriously thought about suicide, 1.6 million made an attempt, and over 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to have conversations about suicide ...

Lesser known risk factors for diabetes

METRO — The International Diabetes Federation reports that roughly 10.5 percent of the adult population across the globe has diabetes. Given that prevalence, it stands to reason that millions more individuals are aware of the risk factors for the disease, particularly type 2 diabetes. The IDF notes more than 90 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which can be attributable to lifestyle factors like poor diet, lack of physical activity and overweight or obesity. The most common risk factors for diabetes are widely known, but lesser known variables also can ...

US to let more people take methadone at home

The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients to line up at special clinics every morning to sip their daily dose of the liquid medicine while being watched. The rules, built on distrust of people in the grip of opioid addiction, were meant to prevent overdoses and diversion — the illicit selling or sharing of ...