In an effort to be "weight-inclusive," Amazon's One Medical lets patients skip the scale, a company executivewroteinYahoo Life.
Providers at the primary care clinics first ask patients if they are OK with being weighed then give them the option of not seeing the number on the scale, according to the July 5 article by Natasha Bhuyan, MD, vice president of in-person care for One Medical.
"We know that weight is not the end-all, be-all when it comes to health, and that there are other factors doctors can use to measure someone's health," Dr. Bhuyan wrote. "At the end of the day, we’d rather create a safe environment a patient feels comfortable visiting than drive patients away from seeking care."
All One Medical clinicians receive special training on being weight-inclusive and focusing on "health gain rather than weight loss," according to the article.
A growing number of health systems are starting to charge patients for asking for their physicians' advice through online patient portals, such as MyChart. Here are some hospitals and health systems partaking in the trend:
Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine said it will begin charging for some MyChart messages July 18. Johns Hopkins patients who send messages through the Epic EHR patient portal can expect to be billed if the matter takes more than five minutes of a provider's time and is for a new medical issue or symptom requiring an assessment or referral, a medication adjustment, chronic condition check-in and management, or a flare-up or change in a chronic illness.
Seattle-based UW Medicine said it plans to start charging for MyChart messages on June 27. Patients will be charged for new issues (medications, symptoms, chronic disease changes, referrals) or requests to fill out medical forms. Messages, which will be billed in 10-minute increments, will range in cost from $7 to $28 with Medicaid, $14 to $52 with Medicare and $27 to $98 for people with no insurance.
Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health began charging for patient portal messages after receiving an influx of them in recent years. The health system said it has billed for less than 1 percent of its MyChart messages since the change went into effect in July, for an average charge of $10. The fees apply only to a new healthcare complaint or a problem that has not been discussed recently.
Cleveland Clinic began billing patients for electronic messages through Epic's MyChart patient portal in November, but has said less than 1 percent of the 110,000 weekly emails its providers received have been billed. According to Cleveland Clinic, Medicaid patients are not charged and Medicare beneficiaries without a supplemental health plan would owe between $3 and $8. The system's maximum charge, affecting those with high deductibles on private insurance plans or without coverage, would be $33 to $50 for each exchange.
The HHS Office of Inspector Generalreleasedits final ruling on information blocking on June 27, stating that any individual or entity that commits information blocking could face up to a $1 million penalty.
Enforcement of this new rule will begin Sept. 1 and will affect health IT developers, entities offering certified health IT, health information exchanges and health information networks, according to the ruling.
The organization will investigate information blocking cases that fall into the following categories:
Those that resulted in, are causing or had the potential to cause patient harm
Cases that impacted a provider's ability to care for patients
Cases that cause financial loss to federal healthcare programs, government or private entities
Bankruptcy filings in the U.S. jumped markedly in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year according to data released this week by Epiq Bankruptcy.
The firm reported commercial Chapter 11 "reorganization" bankruptcies surged 68%, with filings for small businesses climbing by 55%. Chapter 13 filings that allow individuals to repay a portion of their debts jumped by 23% in the first half of the year.
"The first six months of 2023 saw a nearly 70 percent increase of total commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcies," said Gregg Morin, Vice President of Business Development and Revenue at Epiq Bankruptcy. "This trend points to the economic trials businesses are facing right now, which are impacted by rising interest rates, inflation, and increased borrowing costs, to name a few."
The U.S. saw a sharp uptick in bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2023. (iStock / iStock)
Bankruptcy experts say myriad factors have contributed to the increase in Americans and businesses being pushed to the point of insolvency.
"This past year, rising inflation, higher interest rates and the conclusion of government stimulus programs have put significant strain on U.S. consumers," said Amy Quackenboss, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Quackenboss noted consumer credit card debt is at historically high levels as individuals and families struggle to pay for the higher cost of necessary household goods and services. She told FOX Business "some are facing foreclosure on their homes because the cost of refinancing is prohibitive due to rising interest rates."
Kevin Carey, ABI’s immediate past president, pointed to rising mortgage rates as another possible contributing factor to the rise in bankruptcies. He explained that Chapter 13 bankruptcies typically involve consumers who have defaulted on their mortgage payments and are trying to stop the foreclosure process by restructuring their debt with the lender.
A constable knocks on a door before posting an eviction order in Phoenix, Arizona. Experts say a rise in Chapter 13 bankruptcies this year could be due in part to a rise in individuals falling behind on mortgage payments. (John Moore/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Carey, an expert in business restructuring and senior counsel at global law firm Hogan Lovells, said businesses are being hit with high borrowing costs and having more difficulty obtaining financing.
"I think we're still in a post-pandemic hangover where some businesses are either not recovering or recovering very slowly," he told FOX Business.
Carey said owners of commercial real estate are also having difficulty paying their mortgages and that market is experiencing deep problems as tenants give up space because companies have been unable to draw workers back to the office. He added, "That's a distress I think that's going to continue for the near term."
The expert said it is difficult to predict whether bankruptcies will continue to rise, but noted there are indications that things could get worse. Carey and Quackenboss both said the upcoming expiration of the student loan repayment moratorium in a few months could drive more individuals into filing.
"We are Closing" sign posted in small business door, Queens, New York. New data shows small business Chapter 11 bankruptcies jumped 55% in the first half of 2023 compared to the first six months of last year. ((Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
While he believes bankruptcy filings for both individuals and businesses will continue to increase, Carey does not see a crisis situation right now.
According to Epiq's data, there were over 200,000 total bankruptcy filings nationwide in the first six months of this year, up 17% from the more than 185,000 total filings during the same period last year.
"There was a period of time when there were a million bankruptcy filings a year," Carey said. "I don't think we're going to get to that place again, at least not yet."
The White House is facing backlash about its decision to reactivate interest for student loans as part of its “on-ramp” repayment program, which progressives and advocates argue isn’t enough to help struggling borrowers.
The program aims to help those who can’t repay their loans when payments resume this fall by removing the threat of default or harm to credit ratings for 12 months if bills aren’t paid. It’s one of the only routes the Biden administration argues it could have taken since ending the payment pause that ultimately became part of the debt limit deal President Biden struck with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).The so-called “Plan B” for providing student loan relief was laid out late last week hours after the Supreme Court struck down a program the White House attempted to implement that would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student loans dependent upon earnings. The alternative route aims to help borrowers make their journey to repayments easier.
But the president’s plan has failed to satisfy stakeholders and some Democratic lawmakers are panning the return of interest being accrued on for certain student loans for the first time since March 2020.
“There is already so much confusion,” Natalia Abrams at Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) said.
Borrowers are set to start repaying their student loans in October after interest begins accruing again in September. The president said that the on-ramp program would at least help alleviate some pressure on borrowers by not having their debt sent to collectors or credit scores impacted from October 2023 to September 2024.
The White House believes it has come up with the best option they could give borrowers, considering the debt agreement, which was signed into law in June.
“The law requires us to end the payment pause this summer. We believe in the rule of law, and plan to follow it,” a White House official told The Hill.
The official added that the on-ramp program aims “to protect the most vulnerable borrowers.”
But the White House explanation has not been enough for advocates and even some Democrats.
“People should not be incurring interest during this 12-month on-ramp period. So, I highly urge the administration to consider suspending those interest payments,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. Some note that ending the pause and restarting interest is part of the deal negotiated with McCarthy.
“The student loan pause suspended both monthly payments and interest for many borrowers since March of 2020. The debt ceiling deal negotiated by the White House spells an end to the pause,” said Debra Dixon, who served as chief of staff at the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Education Department under former President Obama.
She said the latest program softens the impact for borrowers who haven’t made a payment or accrued interest in the past three years, noting that was the best option the administration had after its first attempt was struck down.
“This softens the monthly payment part of the pause. If interest were also to be suspended during the grace period, then both elements of the pause would be back in place as if an end had never been negotiated. Softening the adjustment for borrowers as payments resume is the best the administration could do,” said Dixon, a principal at Ferox Strategies.
White House officials Friday made sure to stress that the on-ramp action is not an additional pause extension, as the Biden administration had been criticized by Republicans for continuing to extend the repayment pause until he struck the deal limit deal this spring.
But, Republicans are still criticizing the administration, despite the fact that interest is starting back up.
Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said the pause on consequences for missing payments is a “a violation of the debt ceiling agreement.”
But, student loan advocates argue Biden is able to extend a pause and not violate the deal with McCarthy because they say the deal was specific to the president extending the pause under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act.
“The agreement was that while it codified ending the payment pause, it didn’t give the president explicit directions as far as who to collect the debt from and how much he collected and so there is some room there for the president to shape the restarting of payments,” Cody Hounanian, executive director at the SDCC, said.
House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) poses for a photo following a press event to highlight the introduction of the “Parents Bill of Rights” on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (Annabelle Gordon)
The administration also saw pushback on its new student debt relief plan, which uses the Higher Education Act as opposed to the HEROES Act to try to forgive loans.
The process will take months to complete as the proposal needs to go through a “negotiated rulemaking” process, so details about how much borrowers could receive or who will qualify will not be available for some time.
Democrats have been quiet regarding concerns with the new debt relief plan, but student loan advocates have not.
Hounanian said advocates are concerned about the amount of time it will take for the program to be implemented while, he argued, the president had other options at his disposal.
“According to some of the legal experts we work with, [Biden] has the option to do a preliminary rule that would allow them to start canceling the debt for folks who had their applications approved while they create a final rule through this process,” Hounanian said.
“There are actually several options available to the administration including allowing for a much faster rollout. It is not a binary option,” he added.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) found there is reasonable cause to believe South Carolina violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of adults with serious mental illness.
The DOJ said in a report released Thursday that the Palmetto State failed to provide sufficient services to prevent institutionalization and instead subsidized stays in adult care homes.
The department described the adult care facilities as “congregate, segregated settings,” in which residents often have “little contact with people without disabilities.”
“People with disabilities should not be isolated in institutions for years on end when they can and want to live in their own homes,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, in a press release.
The Justice Department pointed to a lack of community-based mental health services in the state, such as supported employment and permanent supportive housing, for the frequent placement of adults with serious mental illness in adult care homes.
“I hope that the violations identified by the Justice Department can be remedied so that these South Carolinians will be able to leave the shadow of institutional living and instead live in and contribute to their communities,” said Adair Ford Boroughs, U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, in the press release.
Most Americans in anew surveyreleased on Thursday said they do not feel financially secure.
The survey from finance company Bankrate found that just 28 percent of Americans said they feel completely financially secure, compared to 72 percent who said they do not.
While 46 percent said they believe they will be financially secure someday, 26 percent said they will likely never be financially secure, the survey found.
Men, white Americans and Boomers were all more likely to say they feel completely financially secure, with 30 percent of men, 31 percent of white Americans and 32 percent of Boomers saying as much.
However, older generations were also more likely to say that they would never become financially secure compared to younger generations. While 13 percent of Gen Z and 19 percent of millennials said they would never reach financial security, 30 percent of Gen X and 35 percent of Boomers said the same.
A large share of Americans blamed the state of the economy for holding them back financially, with 63 percent pointing to high inflation, 48 percent citing the overall economic environment and 36 percent pointing to rising interest rates, the survey found.
In order to achieve financial security, Americans polled said they would need to make about $233,000 a year. In order to feel rich, respondents said they would need about $483,000 a year.
However, the median income for a full-time, year-round worker in 2021 was $53,888, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Bankrate survey was conducted by YouGov from June 5-7 with 2,521 U.S. adults.
