TV News LIES

About four million Americans have dropped out of Affordable Care Act insurance coverage this year as costs soared due to the loss of enhanced subsidies.

The figures released late Friday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offer the most complete look to date at what happened to enrollment after Republicans in Congress failed to extend enhanced ACA subsidies at the end of last year.

The loss of those subsidies spiked many people’s premiums by double digits; the new coverage numbers likely reflect the sticker shock Americans experienced.  

Unable to pay, they dropped their coverage.

The report from the health and human services assistant secretary for planning and evaluation said that an estimated 19.2 million people are enrolled in ACA plans as of February.

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Authorities in France have placed more than a third of the country under a red heat alert, cancelled some outdoor sports events and restricted alcohol consumption at the nationwide Fête de la Musique event amid a brutal heatwave forecast to push temperatures above 40C.

Level 1 or 2 heat alerts were issued on Sunday for about 53 million people, just over 75% of the population. A record 35 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were put on danger-to-life red alert, with another 45 under an orange warning.

France’s ecology minister, Mathieu Lefèvre, said on Sunday that 14 more departments would be on red alert on Monday. “We do not see temperatures falling before the end of the week,” he said, demanding “great prudence and a great many precautions”.

The national meteorological service Météo-France said: “Very high temperatures are setting in for the long term,” with a heatwave of “exceptional severity and duration” likely to break monthly and possibly all-time records.

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One morning early last July, Micha Bitsinnie arrived at work to an onslaught of messages from confused families.

New Mexico’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had just issued a directive mandating the state’s child welfare department seek custody of all newborns who had been exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. Some parents wondered whether medications that they were taking for addiction recovery, such as methadone, would flag their cases. Healthcare providers wondered whether the fentanyl in an epidural counted as a drug exposure.

Bitsinnie supports families as a policy manager at the non-profit organization Bold Futures, which advocates for policies that keep families together. Research shows that children prenatally exposed to substances do best when they can remain in their families and receive supportive services to treat any withdrawal symptoms they experience.

Bitsinnie is also a member of the Navajo nation, and she immediately noticed that the new directive appeared to be in tension with laws protecting the sovereignty of New Mexico’s Native tribes. Those laws stipulate that tribes must be immediately notified about a child welfare case involving a Native child so that they can take jurisdiction of cases involving their citizens.

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An influenza outbreak has reportedly sickened more than 150 recruits in training at Lackland air force base in San Antonio, Texas.

The outbreak comes just weeks after the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ended mandatory flu vaccination for the military, citing the need for bodily autonomy for servicemembers.

“We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities,” said Hegseth in an April social media video. “In this case that includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.

“Your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable,” said Hegseth.

At least 159 recruits have fallen ill, according to the New York Times and ABC News. After Hegseth made influenza shots optional, only about 40% of recruits opted to get vaccinated, air force officials told the New York Times.

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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced a $700 million investment into behavioral health programs, indicating an emphasis on faith-based recovery organizations.

Kennedy, a recovered heroin addict, announced a $96 million funding opportunity for the Trump administration’s Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program, along with $612 million in funding opportunities for other behavioral health programs.

Speaking at the Easterseals treatment center in Clinton Township, Mich., Kennedy said, “One of the features of our STREETS is opening up funding once again for faith-based organizations. The Biden administration actively discouraged funding to faith-based organizations for recovery. We think they’re critical.”

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On Wednesday, the New York Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the last seconds of the game, the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

This stunning achievement was thrilling for fans to watch — and stressful. For passionate fans, the rollercoaster of a close sports game can wreak havoc on your blood pressure and heart. That’s when the emotional anguish and electric atmosphere of watching a a nail-biting game, or “fanxiety,” can feel all too real.

In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death for adults, and multiple studies have found that cardiac events spike during and right after major sports games.

A 2022 study published in Current Problems in Cardiology reviewed cardiovascular studies related to watching sports and found that die-hard soccer, rugby, football and baseball fans had higher risks of dying from a cardiovascular event, particularly when fans watched close games of the final stages of competitions. The risk was higher with people who had a history of coronary artery disease.

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