In the News
If Denis Winter suffered from heart failure, cancer or almost any other deadly disease, his family could rest assured that his care would be largely covered by insurance.
But Winter has Alzheimer's disease. So the extraordinary cost of his care — $8,500 a month, or $102,000 a year — is borne entirely by his wife, Linda. It is quickly draining their lifetime of savings.
For Lori Stone, getting out of prison has always been a little nerve-racking.
She's been in and out of jail since she was 18. Every time she's been released, she's lost her disability benefits and her Medicaid coverage. That meant she couldn't afford her rent or her medication for her bipolar disorder until she was able to re-enroll, which could take weeks or months -- even if she went to all her appointments on time.
At the Beacon Barn Therapeutic Farm in Thornton, West Virginia, a typical day for Molly McCartney involves feeding horses—and seeing patients. McCartney, a clinical social worker and therapist, opened her practice in a barn in her Appalachian community as a way to combine her passion for animals with a desire to help people. But McCartney is only one of a handful of therapists in her area—an issue that is pervasive across Appalachia, a region with limited options for individuals seeking mental health care. For patients who use Medicaid, the options narrow even further.
Patrick Kennedy, the former Democratic representative and scion of the liberal political dynasty, has emerged as the unlikely go-to player for companies seeking to benefit from the Trump administration's multibillion-dollar response to the opioid crisis, reaping well over $1 million in salaries and equity stakes in the firms.
Helicopters from the power company buzz across the skies of this picturesque valley, ferrying electrical poles on long wires to workmen standing on steep hillsides.
The people of Castañer, an isolated village in Puerto Rico's central mountains, view the repairs to the electrical grid warily. Crews have come and gone, and people living along the mountain roads don't expect to get power until late summer, if ever. Power finally started flowing to the center of town last month, but the grid remains unstable, and the hospital continues to rely on its own generator.
A friend will help you move, goes an old saying, while a good friend will help you move a body. And why not? Moral qualms aside, that good friend would likely agree the victim was an intolerable jerk who had it coming and, jeez, you shouldn't have done this but where do you keep the shovel?
We've known for some time now that Americans are increasingly dying younger, but the scale and nature of the problem has been a little bit murky. There was speculation that the downturn in American life expectancy was all thanks to "deaths of despair," but some experts have said that might not be the full story, and that obesity and tobacco are still major factors in American mortality.
In a widely read article on antidepressant withdrawal published on April 8, The New York Times invited readers to describe their experiences coming off the drugs. More than 8,800 people responded — teenagers, college students, new mothers, empty-nesters, retirees.
Dozens did write in to say the drugs had been lifesaving, literally so. "You fail to acknowledge that mood disorders can be lifelong, debilitating diseases requiring lifelong medical treatment," wrote Rachel S., of New York.
Grieving the death of a loved one can affect an entire family, including babies. In fact, losing a relative during pregnancy may impact the mental health of a child later in life, according to a new report.
Farmers' advocacy groups called on Congress Monday to reauthorize, "with adequate funding," a program that provides mental health services to distressed American farmers and their families.