The virulent bird flu virus H5N1 might be on the verge of triggering a devastating pandemic, like it did in 1997. The canarys in the coalmine are actually minks, in Spain, which succombed to H5N1 last October. USDA recorded 110 outbreaks in other mammals in 2022-2023. Will it reach pandemic status in either poultry or people? At this point, nobody knowns for sure, but it may be wise to prepare for the worst.
More:
“Tracking the bird flu, experts see a familiar threat — and a virus whose course is hard to predict,” Helen Branswell, STAT
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Image Disclaimer:This blog post is not intended to substitute for the advice of qualified physicians, virologists, epidemiologists, airline reservation clerks, ornithologists, pharmacists, travel agents, or licensed health, veterinary, and aviation professionals. Contact your health care provider if you suspect you have a medical problem, buy only AMA-certified poultry feed, and confirm departure time before going to the airport.
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The U.S. healthcare system is still reaping the fruits of colonization.
“Since 1960, 150,000 Filipino nurses have come to work in the US. It began with the US colonization of the Philippines under the guise of “benevolent assimilation” and has increased due to a series of US immigration policies. It has resulted in a pipeline that allows the US to draw nurses from the Philippines every time it faces a shortage.”
“Why the US has so many Filipino nurses,” Christina Thornell, Vox
Related:
“’Similar to Times of War’: The Staggering Toll of COVID-19 on Filipino Health Care Workers,” Nina Martin and Bernice Yeung, ProPublica
“An estimated 50 million Americans—or 20% of all adults in the country—have donated to a crowdfunding campaign to help cover somebody’s medical expenses, according to a survey from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.”
“Websites like JustGiving, Fundly, and GoFundMe have risen to prominence in recent years as Americans struggle to pay for rising healthcare costs. Medical fundraisers have become so popular on GoFundMe—over 250,000 medical campaigns are run each year—that the website now publishes guides on how to fundraise for insulin or gender confirmation surgery.
The survey has prompted renewed calls for Medicare for All this week. Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders reiterated his support for the policy on Twitter. ‘Enough is enough,’ he tweeted. ‘No one should have to beg for money to get the health care they need in the richest country on Earth.’”
More:
“Millions of Americans Rely on Crowdfunding for Medical Expenses,” Emma Coleman, Route Fifty.
“Republicans could try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in U.S. elections next month, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday, calling a failed 2017 push to repeal the healthcare law a ‘disappointment.’
In a forecast of 2019 policy goals tempered by uncertainty about who would win the congressional elections, McConnell blamed social programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, for the fast-rising national debt.”
GOP candidate Donald Trump told a Pennsylvania press event/rally that he’ll implement the Republican health care policy and “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”
Barack Obama:
“They spend like an hour, ‘we’re going to repeal Obamacare.’ Okay. And then what are you gonna do? Well, then we’re going to repeal it and we’re going to give you something great. Okay. What? Well, something.”
“You watch the press conference and what you realize is they got no plan. They want to repeal because ideologically they’re opposed to the idea of helping these 20 million people get health insurance. It’s not like they don’t even have a pretense of a plan. They don’t even have a semblance of a plan. There’s not even a hint of a plan. Not even a mote. Not even a—there’s no plan. Nothing, zero, nada.”
“Obama: GOP Doesn’t Have ‘A Pretense Of A Plan’ To Replace Obamacare,” Allegra Kirkland, TPM Livewire
More:
“Trump’s Health Plan: Pay Your Own Medical Bills Using Money You Saved,” James Hamblin, The Atlantic
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You know the GOP healthcare plan House Speaker Paul Ryan promised would be a better replacement for the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”)? Turns out it’s not a plan, it’s a white paper — you know, kind of like a plan, but without all those nerdy numbers and pesky details. Expect the white paper snow job next week.
More:
“Paul Ryan’s Promised Obamacare Replacement Plan Shockingly Turns Out Not to Exist Again,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
Related:
“Trump’s healthcare plans trouble GOP,”Peter Sullivan, The Hill
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Before leaving DC for their usual four-day weekend, the Republican-dominated Congress voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and replace it with … nothing. Don’t panic, you still have health insurance; the president quickly vetoed the GOP bill.
While this is the first time the Senate passed such a bill, the GOP-dominated House has voted to repeal the ACA sixty-two times.
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drew upon his rigorous Jesuit education in rendering his closely-reasoned dissenting opinion in King vs Burwell. His considered judgement:
“Adults who are obese now outnumber those who are merely overweight, according to a new report in the journalJAMA Internal Medicine.
A tally by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.”
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