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Quick genetic test offers hope for sick, undiagnosed kids. But few insurers offer to pay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

Phil Galewitz | (TNS) KFF Health NewsJust 48 hours after her birth in a Seattle-area hospital in 2021, Layla Babayev was undergoing surgery for a bowel obstruction.Two weeks later, she had another emergency surgery, and then developed meningitis. Layla spent more than a month in neonatal intensive care in three hospitals as doctors searched for the cause of her illness.Her parents enrolled her in a clinical trial to check for a genetic condition. Unlike genetic tests focused on a few disease-causing variants that can take months to produce results, the study at Seattle Children’s Hospital would sequence Layla’s entire genome, looking for a broad range of abnormalities — and potentially offer answers in under a week.The test found Layla had a rare genetic disorder that caused gastrointestinal defects and compromised her immune system. The findings led doctors to isolate her, give her weekly infusions of antibiotics, and contact other hospitals that had treated the same condition, sai...

Many women can’t access miscarriage drug because it’s also used for abortions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

Caitlin Dewey | (TNS) Stateline.orgSince losing her first pregnancy four months ago, 32-year-old Lulu has struggled to return to her body’s old rhythms. Lulu, who asked to be identified by her first name to protect her privacy, bled for six full weeks after her miscarriage and hasn’t had a normal menstrual cycle since.Such disruptions aren’t uncommon after miscarriage, which affects roughly 1 in 10 known pregnancies. But for Lulu, they’ve also served as a persistent reminder that she couldn’t access the drug mifepristone — her preferred method of care — to help her body pass the miscarriage. Instead, her doctor prescribed a drug called misoprostol, which on its own is less effective.“I recall clarifying with her about the kind of medication I would get,” Lulu said. “When she said misoprostol … I was really shocked. I made her repeat herself.”Patients like Lulu are, experts say, a little-recognized casualty of America’s fractious abortion wars. In other contexts, both mifepristone an...

Social Security benefits in 2024: 5 big changes retirees should plan for

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

Bob Haegele | Bankrate.com (TNS)As inflation lingers, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is boosting its cost of living adjustment (COLA) for benefit checks in 2024. It’s just one of many changes announced by Social Security recently.More than 71 million people depend on one of Social Security’s benefit programs, so annual changes to the program and its payouts are always highly anticipated. While this year’s cost-of-living-adjustment is down substantially from last year’s 8.7% increase — the biggest boost in over 40 years — any extra income is welcome news for beneficiaries on fixed incomes.Here are some key changes to Social Security happening next year – and what you need to know.1. Cost of living adjustment (COLA) risesThe SSA has announced that benefit checks will rise 3.2% in 2024. The 3.2% adjustment will amount to a $59 increase in monthly benefits for the average retired worker on Social Security, beginning in January.Specifically, the average check for retired worker...

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson named AFC Offensive Player of the Week after dominating Lions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

Ravens coach John Harbaugh reacted like a lot of fans probably did watching Lamar Jackson scramble around before finding wide receiver Nelson Agholor in the back of the end zone for a first-quarter touchdown Sunday against the Detroit Lions.The quarterback covered 25.3 yards, according to Next Gen Stats, first stepping up in the pocket before spinning away from the enclosing pressure, rolling right, dancing back left and finally letting rip a 12-yard scoring pass before the pursuing Aidan Hutchinson and Derrick Barnes could corral him. His 9.24 seconds to throw was the third-longest on a touchdown pass since Next Gen Stats began tracking such data in 2016.“I’m like, ‘I can’t believe he got flushed out of the pocket,” Harbaugh said Monday. “Why wasn’t the first route open? Or maybe the route wasn’t run the right way somewhere,’ and I’m mad. And then I’m thinking, ‘Well Lamar is getting away,’ and I’m ...

The last time US yields rose so much, it sank the economy twice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

By Ye Xie and Michael Mackenzie, Bloomberg NewsThere’s a good reason why investors are amazed that something hasn’t broken in the economy yet: The last time U.S. government bond yields climbed so far, so fast, the nation plunged into back-to-back recessions.The 10-year Treasury yield — a key baseline for the cost of money across the financial system — has jumped more than four full percentage points over the past three years, briefly pushing it this week over 5% for the first time since 2007. It’s the biggest increase since the run up in the early 1980s, when Paul Volcker’s efforts to slay inflation pushed the 10-year yield to nearly 16%.In one sense, the similarities are no surprise, since Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s interest-rate hikes have been the most aggressive since then. In another, it underscores just how much times have changed.Related ArticlesBusiness | Questions you aren’t asking (but should) during open enrollment Business | Why are eggs so expe...

Maine formally requests waiver to let asylum seekers join the workforce

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Labor on Wednesday asked the federal government for a waiver to allow asylum seekers to take jobs while waiting on their cases to be heard.Labor Secretary Laura Fortman said the elimination of a 180-day waiting period for work permits would be good for asylum seekers who want to support themselves and for the state which is struggling with a workforce shortage. Maine’s unemployment rate was 2.7% in September. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bipartisan bill in May directing the labor commissioner to seek the waiver as resources and housing are strained by the newcomers. Portland, Maine’s largest city, has received more than 1,600 asylum seekers this year.“By allowing asylum seekers to work earlier, the state believes that we can begin to address – and mitigate – the financial and other resource-based issues the state and municipalities face while tackling our workforce shortage and fulfilling the d...

Mike Johnson, a staunch conservative from Louisiana, is elected House speaker with broad GOP support

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

By Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans eagerly elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.Johnson, of Louisiana, swept through on the first ballot with support from all Republicans anxious to put the past weeks of tumult behind and get on with the business of governing. He was expected to quickly be sworn into office.A lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, Johnson emerged as the fourth Republican nominee in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as GOP factions jockey for power. While not the party’s top choice for the gavel, the deeply religious and even-keeled Johnson has few foes and an important GOP backer: Donald Trump.“I think he’s gonna be a fantastic speaker,” Trump said ...

Police warn pet owners after medium-sized wildcat escapes Ontario sanctuary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police are warning that a medium-sized wildcat has escaped from an animal sanctuary in Bonnechere Valley, Ont., about 130 kilometres west of Ottawa. Police say the African serval cat could attack livestock and pets.Officers and members of Provincial Animal Welfare Services responded to a report that the cat had escaped at about 8:45 a.m. this morning. The cat is described as having pointed ears and a spotted coat, and it weighs about 25 to 30 pounds. Police are advising members of the public in the area to be cautious and report any sightings.Bonnechere Valley Township is a small rural municipality in Renfrew County that had a population of just under 3,900 people as of the 2021 federal census.

Billions for life-saving AIDS program need to continue, George W. Bush Institute tells Congress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As billions of dollars for a global HIV/AIDS program credited with saving millions of lives remains in limbo, the George W. Bush Institute is urging the U.S. Congress to keep money flowing for it.In a letter sent to Congress on Wednesday, the former Republican president’s institute pleaded with Congress to keep funding the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. The program works with nonprofit groups to provide HIV/AIDS medication to millions around the world, fund orphanages and support health systems around the world. “It is one of the most successful international development programs since World War II,” the institute, along with global leaders and humanitarian groups, wrote in their letter. “Abandoning it abruptly now would send a bleak message, suggesting we are no longer able to set aside our politics for the betterment of democracies and the world.”The program, created 20 years ago, has long enjoyed bipartisan support but re...

Hunter Biden prosecutor wasn’t blocked from bringing California charges, US attorney tells Congress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A second U.S. Attorney has testified to Congress that the prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation had full authority over filing charges, rebutting whistleblower claims that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss didn’t have the final say on the case against the president’s son. The allegation that Weiss was blocked from filing tax charges in California and Washington D.C., is one of the more explosive from Internal Revenue Service Agents who testified as part of a GOP probe that the case had been “slow-walked” and mishandled by the Justice Department. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, said he told the House Judiciary Committee behind closed doors Tuesday that he understood that Weiss had full authority to bring charges and offered him logistical support. “I did not and could not ‘block’ Mr. Weiss since he did not need my approval to bring charges in my district,” he said in a statement. That echoes testimony from Matthew Graves, the ...