Medicaid enrollees fear losing health coverage if Congress enacts work requirements
It took Crystal Strickland years to qualify for Medicaid, which she needs for a heart condition.
Strickland, who's unable to work due to her condition, chafed when she learned that the U.S. House has passed a bill that would impose a work requirement for many able-bodied people to get health insurance coverage through the low-cost, government-run plan for lower-income people.
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CNET
25 minutes ago
- CNET
Struggling to Sleep in the Summer Heat? 10 Cooling Hacks to Help You
It depends on the person, but most health experts agree that the ideal temperature for sleep is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit or 18 degrees Celsius. In the summertime, it can be hard to maintain this chilly temperature in your bedroom, especially if you don't have an air conditioner or turn off your AC at night to save money on your energy bill. Here are some simple sleep hacks that you can use during the hot summer months to keep cool and minimize sweat while you're trying to snooze. 10 sleep cooling hacks other than AC 1. Freeze your sheets and pillowcases An hour or two before you go to bed, toss your sheets and pillowcases in the freezer, and no, they won't come out stiff as a board. They will stay icy long enough to help you fall asleep without feeling overheated. Read more: Best Cooling Sheets 2. Also throw your socks in the freezer Along the same lines as freezing your linens, you can also freeze your socks for cooling relief. Extremities like your fingers, feet and toes are sensitive to temperature changes and play a role in regulating temperature. Keeping your feet cool can help cool down the rest of your body. 3. Use house fans to make your own AC Fans are much more energy efficient and budget friendly than an air conditioner. They use about 1% of the electricity that AC does. So, take advantage of fans and strategically place them around your room. Try placing a fan next to your bedside with a bowl of ice water in front of it. The ice will create cold air that the fan will blow toward you. Next, face a window fan outwards to blow the hot air from your bedroom outside. 4. Use a wet towel layer Lay a damp towel on your bed over your sheets to give your body some cooling relief while you fall asleep. I recommend that you lay a dry towel underneath the wet one to avoid soaking your mattress with water, which can damage the foam in your mattress. The towel won't stay cold for the entire night, but it should stay cool enough that you can drift off to sleep. 5. Don't sleep in the nude You may see advice on the internet suggesting that you should sleep in the nude to stay cool. That might work if you sleep cool, but it won't do much for you if you get sweaty. If you're hot, it's beneficial to wear lightweight pajamas (such as cotton) that can wick the moisture away. Otherwise, your body is free to sweat all over your sheets.6. Use cooling bed linens If a new mattress is out of your budget, you can opt for cooling sheets or pillows for relief. Search for sheets made with breathable fabric like organic cotton, linen, or bamboo. Bamboo absorbs sweat and helps you stay cool, and organic cotton does a great job of wicking away moisture. 7. Consider a cooling mattress Many mattresses retain heat, especially beds made with standard memory foam. A mattress with cooling technology can actually make a big difference in how comfortable you sleep. It can either provide extra airflow and breathability or offer an actively cool-to-the-touch sensation that draws heat away from you, like Brooklyn Bedding Aurora. Watch CNET sleep expert Owen Poole review the best cooling mattresses of 2025. 8. Block out the daytime sun and heat Blackout curtains can prevent your bedroom from getting too hot during the daytime, especially in the summer. Not only do they keep your bedroom dark, but they also reflect heat, stopping it from entering through the windows, which can also help cut down your electricity bill. 9. Sleep on the first level of your home The bad news for people in two-story homes or an upper-level apartment is that hot air rises, so the top story of your house will be warmer than the bottom floor. But you can beat the heat a little by sleeping on the bottom story of your home when you need relief. 10. Drink ice water before bed Drink a significant amount of water before bed to try and counteract the night sweats. Also, avoid alcohol before bedtime as it can promote dehydration, making it more difficult for your body to regulate temperature and keep you cooler. For more, check out our guide to natural sleep aids, the best way to take a power nap and how to train yourself to be a back sleeper (and why you should). If all else fails, these are our picks for the nest portable AC units.
26 minutes ago
The GOP's big bill would bring changes to Medicaid for millions
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been clear about his red line as the Senate takes up the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act: no Medicaid cuts. But what, exactly, would be a cut? Hawley and other Republicans acknowledge that the main cost-saving provision in the bill – new work requirements on able-bodied adults who receive health care through the Medicaid program -- would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. All told, estimates are 10.9 million fewer people would have health coverage under the bill's proposed changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. That includes some 8 million fewer in the Medicaid program, including 5.2 million dropping off because of the new eligibility requirements. 'I know that will reduce the number of people on Medicaid,' Hawley told a small scrum of reporters in the hallways at the Capitol. 'But I'm for that because I want people who are able bodied but not working to work.' Hawley and other Republicans are walking a politically fine line on how to reduce federal spending on Medicaid while also promising to protect a program that serves some 80 million Americans and is popular with the public. As the party pushes ahead on President Donald Trump' s priority package, Republicans insist they are not cutting the vital safety net program but simply rooting out what they call waste, fraud and abuse. Whether that argument lands with voters could go a long way toward determining whether Trump's bill ultimately ends up boosting — or dragging down — Republicans as they campaign for reelection next year. Republicans say that it's wrong to call the reductions in health care coverage 'cuts.' Instead, they've characterized the changes as rules that would purge people who are taking advantage of the system and protect it for the most vulnerable who need it most. House Republicans wrote the bill with instructions to find $880 billion in cuts from programs under the purview of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has a sprawling jurisdiction that includes Medicaid. In the version of the bill that the House passed on a party-line vote last month, the overall cuts ended up exceeding that number. The Kaiser Family Foundation projects that the bill will result in a $793 billion reduction in spending on Medicaid. Additionally, the House Ways & Means Committee, which handles federal tax policy, imposed a freeze on a health care provider tax that many states impose. Critics say the tax improperly boosts federal Medicaid payments to the states, but supporters like Hawley say it's important funding for rural hospitals. 'What we're doing here is an important and, frankly, heroic thing to preserve the program so that it doesn't become insolvent,' Speaker Mike Johnson said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, has denounced the bill as an 'assault on the healthcare of the American people' and warned years of progress in reducing the number of uninsured people is at risk. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the GOP's proposed changes to federal health programs would result in 10.9 million fewer people having health care coverage. Nearly 8 million fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid by 2034 under the legislation, the CBO found, including 5.2 million people who would lose coverage due to the proposed work requirements. It said 1.4 million immigrants without legal status would lose coverage in state programs. The new Medicaid requirements would apply to nondisabled adults under age 65 who are not caretakers or parents, with some exceptions. The bill passed by the U.S. House stipulates that those eligible would need to work, take classes, or record community service for 80 hours per month. The Kaiser Family Foundation notes that more than 90% of people enrolled in Medicaid already meet those criteria. The legislation also penalizes states that fund health insurance for immigrants who have not confirmed their immigration status, and the CBO expects that those states will stop funding Medicaid for those immigrants altogether. Republicans have cited what they call the out-of-control spending in federal programs to explain their rationale for the changes proposed in the legislation. 'What we are trying to do in the One Big Beautiful Bill is ensuring that limited resources are protected for pregnant women, for children, for seniors, for individuals with disabilities,' said Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., in a speech on the House floor. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso argued that Medicaid recipients who are not working spend their time watching television and playing video games rather than looking for employment. Republicans also criticize the CBO itself, the congressional scorekeeper, questioning whether its projections are accurate. The CBO score for decades has been providing non-partisan analysis of legislation and budgetary matters. Its staff is prohibited from making political contributions and is currently led by a former economic adviser for the George W. Bush administration. While Republicans argue that their signature legislation delivers on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, health care isn't one of the president's strongest issues with Americans. Most U.S. adults, 56%, disapproved of how Trump was handling health care policy in CNN polling from March. And according to AP VoteCast, about 6 in 10 voters in the November election said they wanted the government 'more involved' in ensuring that Americans have health care coverage. Only about 2 in 10 wanted the government less involved in this, and about 2 in 10 said its involvement was about right. Half of American adults said they expected the Trump administration's policies to increase their family's health care costs, according to a May poll from KFF, and about 6 in 10 believed those policies would weaken Medicaid. If the federal government significantly reduced Medicaid spending, about 7 in 10 adults said they worried it would negatively impact nursing homes, hospitals, and other health care providers in their community. For Hawley, the 'bottom lines' are omitting provisions that could cause rural hospitals to close and hardworking citizens to lose their benefits. He and other Republicans are especially concerned about the freeze on the providers' tax in the House's legislation that they warn could hurt rural hospitals. 'Medicaid benefits for people who are working or who are otherwise qualified,' Hawley said. 'I do not want to see them cut.'
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Best Rice for Diabetics That Won't Spike Your Blood Sugar
If you've been watching your blood sugar or have been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor has undoubtedly told you to rein in the amount of carbohydrates you eat. But choosing the right kind of carbs is also key, since refined carbs like white rice have a more pronounced effect on blood sugar than complex ones. So, what is the best rice for diabetics? We reveal the top varieties of rice that won't spike your blood sugar. White rice is on the American Diabetes Association's 'eat less' list for good reason. 'Generally speaking, if you're eating white rice as a staple in your diet, it can spike insulin levels and blood sugar levels when it's part of your daily consumption,' notes Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, a preventive cardiology dietitian and certified diabetes educator. But that doesn't mean people with diabetes need to give up rice entirely. A scale known as the glycemic index (GI) ranks carb-containing foods on a scale of 0 to 100, based on how much they increase blood sugar after eating. And according to Reema Patel, MD, diabetes and metabolism endocrinologist at Old Bridge Medical Center in New Jersey, white rice has a GI of 70 to 90. The processing and refining that white rice undergoes strips away its bran and germ, she explains. 'That removes its fiber and other nutrients, which is why white rice becomes high-GI.' That's a concern, since a study in the International Journal of Advances in Medicine showed that eating high-GI white rice made it tougher for people with type 2 diabetes to control their fasting blood glucose and HbA1C levels compared to other rice types. It goes without saying that your best bet is scaling back on refined grains like white rice whenever possible. So that begs the question: What is the best rice for diabetics? Whole-grain rice varieties are better GI choices, since they retain their high-fiber germ and bran. And as Dr. Patel notes, they're higher in antioxidants, compounds that enhance cells' sensitivity to insulin. Here, the types of rice she recommends for diabetics or those watching their blood sugar, along with their GI values: Red rice: GI 55 Brown rice: GI 50 Wild rice: GI 45 Black rice (aka forbidden rice): GI 35 If white rice is still your favorite, three simple steps can make it more diabetic-friendly and reduce the risk of a glucose spike: Just cook, cool and reheat before eating. 'When you cook rice and allow it to cool, it undergoes a molecular process called retrogradation where some of the starch is converted into resistant starch that is less digestible,' explains Tiffany Bruno, MS, RDN, director of education at Switch4Good. 'This means it will not raise blood glucose levels as much, even after it is reheated.' Indeed, a study in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that blood sugar surges were 31 percent lower after eating cooked and cooled white rice than after eating freshly-cooked white rice. Even the best types of rice for diabetics are high in carbohydrates, so Dr. Patel advises limiting your intake to 1/3 to ½ cup per day. Also smart: Eating your rice in conjunction with foods that assist in blood sugar and insulin balance. 'My biggest tip is to add fiber to the meal to help slow digestion and reduce the blood glucose spike that naturally occurs after consuming carbohydrates,' says Bruno. 'Vegetables and beans are the best way, so think of something like a chickpea curry or refried beans with roasted veggies.' Dr. Patel also recommends adding protein sources such as salmon, chicken, tofu and edamame to rice. Protein also slows carbohydrate digestion and glucose absorption. And in a British Journal of Nutrition study, incorporating protein into meals blunted the blood-sugar climbs caused by white rice. Finally, bear in mind that the impact that rice has on blood sugar levels can vary from person to person. 'Every person has a different blood sugar response to rice, and every patient has their own blood sugar and HBa1C goals,' notes Dr. Patel. That's why she stresses that it's important to work with your physician to monitor your blood glucose on a regular basis. More ways to manage your blood sugar: The Best Low-Sugar Fruits to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar Naturally Love Cheese? These Options Are Blood Sugar-Friendly and Safe for Diabetics The 5 Best Sugar Substitutes Diabetics Love—They Taste Great and Keep Blood Sugar Steady! This content is not a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Always consult your physician before pursuing any treatment plan.
