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Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Health insurance costs spike for businesses, workers after pandemic

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance in California rose at twice the pace of inflation over the past three years, squeezing workers’ paychecks and small businesses alike.

More than 17 million Californians have health insurance through their job, according to a survey released in November by the health information group KFF. The ...Read more

Peter Nelson/Dreamstime.com/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: Why bullying hurts all children and what parents can do about it

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Every day, thousands of kids suffer the fear, shame and frustration of being bullied. More than 19% of children aged 12 to 18 say they have been targeted by peers, with a frightening number of cases happening online. Here's what every parent needs to know about bullying and the actions that can help stop it.

Kids can be cruel, as the old saying...Read more

Skyrocketing Affordable Care Act premiums are pushing some to extreme measures

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Mary Jo Armstrong and her ex-husband, William, didn't exactly remarry for love. They remarried for health insurance.

After 18 years of marriage and a divorce, finalized in 2014, the Upper Burrell, Pennsylvania, couple found themselves side-by-side again Dec. 18. Joining them — not in a church or courthouse, but over a Microsoft Teams call —...Read more

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What's the deal with ... banana water?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

If a can of coconut water and a banana smoothie had a baby, it might be banana water. The latest plant-based hydration beverage on the market is being touted as "the peel good beverage" that offers "a bunch of nutrients." And it's drumming up attention on social media.

"Boyfriend says it has aromatics of slightly overripe banana," one Reddit ...Read more

RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/TNS

A Colorado family is trying to raise millions to test gene therapy that could help kids trapped in bodies they can't move

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

At first, Everly Green’s parents didn’t understand why her doctors wanted genetic testing. Their daughter was behind on her milestones at 18 months, but was gradually making progress, and they expected that to continue.

Then, when she turned 2, the seizures started. She suddenly began to lose skills. Three months later, Everly needed a ...Read more

HECTOR AMEZCUA/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Could expiring health insurance subsidies be revived retroactively?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — There is still hope for getting help with health care premiums for Obamacare policies next year.

Though enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, policies are ending Wednesday, there’s a possibility Congress and President Donald Trump can apply them in 2026 so they wind up helping people all year.

“While ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Salmonella outbreak tied to raw oysters reaches Maryland

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — A Maryland resident is among at least 64 people in 22 states who have fallen ill after being infected with the same strain of salmonella linked to raw oysters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of those sickened nationwide, 20 people were hospitalized as of Tuesday. No deaths have been reported. Federal ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Georgia requests $1.4 billion to transform rural health care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ATLANTA — By New Year’s Eve, the Trump administration is scheduled to award one-time grants to states to “transform” their rural health care, and Georgia is asking for $1.4 billion.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration has submitted an application with a long list of proposed pilot projects, including drop-in telehealth “pods,” health...Read more

KFF Health News//TNS

Guns marketed for personal safety fuel public health crisis in Black communities

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA — Leon Harris, 35, is intimately familiar with the devastation guns can inflict. Robbers shot him in the back nearly two decades ago, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. The bullet remains lodged in his spine.

“When you get shot,” he said, “you stop thinking about the future.”

He is anchored by his wife and child ...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

States advance medical debt protections as federal support turns to opposition

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Lawmakers in several states are working to expand medical debt protections for patients, even after the Trump administration reversed course and told states they don’t have authority to take action on credit reporting.

In Alaska and Michigan, legislators are nonetheless advancing bills to keep medical debt off consumer credit reports.

The ...Read more

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

US health care in 2025: Chaos, costs, and controversy without real progress

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The year 2025 has been one of the most turbulent years in modern U.S. health care. The headlines were explosive, the rhetoric dramatic, and the controversies nonstop. Yet for all the hoopla and upheaval, the medical care Americans receive now, month in and month out, looks no better than what they experienced on Jan. 1 — but far more expensive...Read more

Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images North America/TNS

A year of discovery: 10 Mayo Clinic research breakthroughs moving medicine forward

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ROCHESTER, Minn. — From AI-powered drug discovery to regenerative therapies and next-generation neurology tools, Mayo Clinic researchers made significant strides in 2025 toward predicting, preventing and treating some of the world's most serious and complex diseases.

These discoveries reflect progress across three major innovation ...Read more

Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times/TNS

Public health emergency declared for Washington after flooding

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SEATTLE — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency for Washington after dozens of communities across the western side of the state were pummeled by flooding.

The declaration, issued Christmas Eve, is meant to address ensuing health impacts caused by the flooding, back-to-...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

'Truly an amazing act': Idaho doctor donates year's salary to cure blindness

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOISE, Idaho — One Treasure Valley doctor is putting off his retirement and doing something “profound” with his last year in the emergency room.

Stuart Clive, who was a longtime St. Luke’s Medical Center emergency room physician, is donating an entire year’s salary in an effort to cure blindness for thousands of people.

Clive works ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts' health department warns residents about possible measles exposures in multiple locations

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — An out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in the region earlier this month has been diagnosed with measles, according to health officials who are warning the public of possible exposures in multiple locations.

The visitor arrived at Boston Logan airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m...Read more

Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Salmonella linked to raw food sickens people across 22 states

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning about consuming raw oysters, citing an ongoing salmonella outbreak.

In total, 64 people have reported getting sick with 20 hospitalizations across 22 states, the CDC said.

Pennsylvania and New York both have the most cases with 17 total.

“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

States eager for final decisions on $50 billion health care fund

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — States are expecting clarity within days for a key feature of Republicans’ signature budget reconciliation law — a $50 billion rural health care fund that has an end-of-year deadline for the administration to announce its plans.

The wide-ranging law reduces health spending by about $1 trillion over a decade, primarily from ...Read more

A 5-step plan for parents of children with special needs, from a financial planner

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Raising a child with special needs presents unique and long-term financial planning considerations.

Parents need to focus on ensuring their child has the care, resources and support they require — today, and, quite often, well into adulthood and their own retirement.

This level of planning often involves complex financial decisions and, in ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Understanding dates

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: What’s the difference between expiration dates and “best by” or “sell by” dates?

A: The terms expiration date, “best by,” and “sell by” are often confused, but they do have different meanings and purposes.

Expiration: This is the last date the manufacturer recommends using the product for safety reasons.

Best By/Best ...Read more

The best cool-season vegetables to enjoy all winter long

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Colorful, nutritious winter vegetables — crops that thrive in the cooler months or are harvested in the fall and maintain their flavor and health benefits throughout the winter — play an important role in the eating-seasonally movement. This lifestyle trend, which promotes packing your plate with food grown naturally at that time of year in ...Read more