Jul 15 Disability rights groups voice issues with Starbucks’ plastic straw ban as company responds By Molly Enking After Starbucks announced on July 9 it would phase out plastic straws from its stores by 2020, disability rights activists were concerned the policy would exclude some people with disabilities. Continue reading
Jul 15 Watch 10:17 In Oregon, adult foster care offers support for the elderly By Joanne Elgart Jennings In a bid to meet the demand for long-term care in the U.S., which is expected to grow in the coming years, some states are turning to adult foster care to offer aging adults physical assistance and emotional support. NewsHour… Continue watching
Jul 14 Pulses of light restored hearing in gerbils. Could that lead to higher-tech cochlear implants? By Justin Chen, STAT Could light one day be used to restore hearing? To try to answer that question, a team of German bioengineers surgically installed coiled strips of optical fibers in the ears of deaf gerbils. Continue reading
Jul 13 Most nursing homes are not adequately staffed, new federal data says By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News The data, analyzed by Kaiser Health News, come from daily payroll records Medicare only recently began gathering and publishing from more than 14,000 nursing homes, as required by the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Continue reading
Jul 12 What happens to your Social Security payments when one spouse dies By Philip Moeller When Social Security was created, family benefits did not drop off sharply when one spouse died because few women were in the workforce. But with the first baby boomers now age 72, the volume of very difficult survivor situations will… Continue reading
Jul 11 Watch 6:30 Funding cuts, premium increases and the future of Obamacare President Trump’s effort to eliminate the Affordable Care Act was stymied by the Senate last year, but he hasn't stopped trying to undermine it. William Brangham asks New York Times health care correspondent Margot Sanger-Katz about recent funding reductions for… Continue watching
Jul 11 Watch 10:46 Amid new hurricane season, Maria still taking a toll on Puerto Rico’s elderly By Jason Kane and Sarah Varney, Kaiser Health News As Puerto Rico enters another hurricane season, the island’s elderly residents find themselves especially vulnerable. A recent study found some 4,600 Puerto Ricans perished in the months following Hurricane Maria--including many who died because of delayed medical care. Special correspondent… Continue watching
Jul 11 Watch 2:57 Why we shouldn’t call midlife blues a ‘crisis’ As he interviewed subjects for a book on age and happiness, author Jonathan Rauch noticed a theme: people in their middle age felt dissatisfied with life, and they were ashamed of it. Indeed, recent studies have found happiness and contentment… Continue watching
Jul 11 Where does the United States stand on breastfeeding? By Laura Santhanam Despite pressure from the Trump administration to water down resolution that promoted breastfeeding during the World Health Assembly, breastfeeding rates in the U.S. have risen in recent years, but there's still room for improvement, experts say. Continue reading
Jul 10 These states could ban abortion if the Supreme Court upends Roe v. Wade By Julie Rovner, KFF Health News Reversing the landmark case would not automatically make abortion illegal across the country, but it would return the decision about abortion legality to the states. Continue reading