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 … Read more
Shopping season for Medicare coverage is about to begin. With it comes the annual onslaught of TV ads and choices to consider. People eligible for the federal government’s Medicare program will have from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 to sign up for 2025 Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the program. They … Read more
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio are meeting Tuesday for their first and only scheduled vice presidential debate. Walz, who is Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, and Vance, who is on the Republican ticket with former President Donald Trump, will make the case for their respective candidates five weeks … Read more
WASHINGTON — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes. The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon … Read more
NEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower … Read more
WASHINGTON — Johnny Cash will soon be seen in the unlikeliest of venues: the U.S. Capitol. Congressional leaders, Arkansas lawmakers and members of the Cash family will be on hand Tuesday for the unveiling of a bronze statue depicting the “Man in Black.” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., will … Read more
WASHINGTON — A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child tells her story in a new campaign ad for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Hadley Duvall says in voiceover that she’s never slept a full night in her life — her stepfather first started … Read more
WASHINGTON — Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s highest-ranking military officer, was treated successfully for early-stage breast cancer this summer, the service announced Friday. Franchetti’s stage 1 breast cancer was discovered during a routine mammogram in June, and she underwent outpatient surgery in July at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to treat it. She temporarily … Read more
WASHINGTON — With President Joe Biden away from the White House, it was left Friday to another man with Oval Office experience to stand at the front of the Rose Garden and give a rousing call to service. Martin Sheen and others from the cast of “The West Wing,” the hit drama about a liberal … Read more
NEW YORK — The federal Bureau of Prisons says it has increased staffing in recent months to make up for staggering shortfalls at the troubled New York City jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty Tuesday to sex trafficking charges. The agency’s push to fix the Metropolitan Detention Center in … Read more
