Latest news with #Kunis
Express Tribune
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis spotted in Italy amid divorce rumors, show united front
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have responded to swirling rumors about their marriage with a strong public appearance in Rome, accompanied by their two children. The couple, who became the subject of speculation after Kutcher's name resurfaced in connection with Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal troubles, appeared relaxed and affectionate during their Italian getaway. Kutcher and Kunis were seen exploring the historic city with their 10-year-old daughter Wyatt and 8-year-old son Dmitri. The family visited major landmarks, including the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, pausing to take photos and toss coins—a gesture believed to ensure a return to Rome. Their affectionate display, including a kiss captured by photographers, appeared to put recent gossip to rest. Speculation first emerged in September 2024 following Diddy's arrest on federal charges. Despite rumors of a split, the couple has continued to present a united front. A source close to the couple previously dismissed the rumors as 'ridiculous and false.' The chatter intensified after past footage of Kutcher discussing Diddy's events resurfaced. In a 2019 interview on Hot Ones, Kutcher said, 'I've got a lot I can't tell,' referring to the rapper's parties. He continued, 'We just became fast friends, and we used to just hang out and watch football together—he just can't lose.' In response to ongoing speculation, an insider told PEOPLE that Kutcher 'has no involvement' in any of the charges against Diddy. 'He doesn't belong in this conversation,' the source added. Another insider shared that Kutcher now keeps his circle close, saying, 'He feels lied to, betrayed, and manipulated,' and now only truly trusts his wife, Mila. Amid the controversy, Kutcher is currently in Italy for filming Ryan Murphy's upcoming series The Beauty. Despite the heavy headlines, the couple appeared focused on family, enjoying the spring weather and soaking in Rome's rich culture with their children. Kutcher and Kunis, who met on the set of That '70s Show, married in 2015 after years of friendship. The pair have consistently emphasized their shared values and close bond. 'We lived our movies out, where we were like, 'Let's just hook up. We're both single. We both trust each other,'' Kunis recalled in a past interview. As public interest in the Diddy case continues, Kutcher and Kunis are prioritizing family and staying grounded—at least for now, far from the Hollywood spotlight.
Express Tribune
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Mila Kunis spotted dining with mystery man amid growing divorce rumors with Ashton Kutcher
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher's marriage is once again under scrutiny, with sources suggesting they may be heading toward divorce. Showbiz insiders believe the couple has struggled to recover from the backlash surrounding their public support of That '70s Show co-star Danny Masterson, who was convicted of rape. The controversy has reportedly put immense strain on their relationship, leading many to speculate that they could be the next high-profile Hollywood split. Adding to the speculation, Kunis was recently spotted in Los Angeles having dinner with a male companion, while Kutcher was nowhere in sight. Observers noted a stark contrast between her cheerful demeanor at the outing and the couple's typically tense public appearances. "She and Ashton always look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders whenever they go somewhere together," a source told RadarOnline, adding that Kunis' relaxed presence was "a nice change of pace." The couple has faced significant public backlash since 2023 when their letters of support for Masterson were leaked. Fans condemned them for urging leniency for the convicted rapist, accusing them of dismissing victims' experiences. Despite issuing an apology video, their response was poorly received, leading them to step down from their roles at Thorn, the anti-child trafficking organization Kutcher co-founded. While the scandal has deeply impacted their careers and reputation, sources say it has also taken a toll on their marriage. 'Their friends believe they are nearing the end of their marriage,' an insider claimed. The couple's continued association with Masterson's brother, Jordan, whom they were seen dining with in May, has only fueled further controversy. Ashton Kutcher has also drawn criticism for his growing involvement in artificial intelligence investments. His That '70s Show venture capital firm launched a $243 million fund in 2023 to back AI startups. Recently, he spoke at an event with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, praising OpenAI's video generation tool, Sora, calling it "pretty amazing." While his business ventures continue, his personal life remains under intense scrutiny, with many wondering whether his marriage to Kunis can survive the ongoing challenges.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘It's a death sentence': US health insurance system is failing, say doctors
American doctors are accusing US health insurance giants of causing deadly delays to vital medical procedures and care – and putting profits ahead of their patients' health. Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans, and taken months to reconsider, according to physicians who spoke to the Guardian. 'There's good evidence that these kinds of delays literally kill people,' said Dr Ed Weisbart, former chief medical officer for Express Scripts, one of the largest prescription benefits managers in the US. 'For some people, this isn't just an inconvenience and an annoyance and an aggravation. 'It's a death sentence, and the only reason the insurance companies do that is to maximize their profits. The fact that they might be killing you is not in the equation of what they care about.' Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialized world – an estimated $4.9tn in 2023 – but have the worst health outcomes, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month prompted an outpouring of public anger toward the healthcare industry. While private insurers report billions in profits every year, many patients – and their doctors – struggle to navigate a complex financial system to get what they need. Lobbyists for the insurance firms insist they are 'working to protect' people from higher costs, and stress that everyone in the space, including doctors, are responsible for making the US healthcare system care more affordable and easier to navigate. But in a series of interviews, medical professionals described their frustration with a powerful industry which had prevented them from helping patients. Dr Cheryl Kunis, a board member at the Physicians for a National Health Program and nephrologist in New York City, still thinks about what happened when one of her patients needed a PET scan. He had a tumor, and before deciding on how to treat it, Kunis and her colleagues wanted to establish if it had spread. There was a reasonable chance he would have been in better shape had there not been a six-month delay in getting the scan Dr Cheryl Kunis 'The surgeon was very honest that he only wanted to operate if the tumor was localized, and without the PET scan, he really would not be able to make that decision,' said Kunis. 'The surgeon and his office, as well as my office, spent hours on the phone. We were speaking to somebody who was sitting at UnitedHealthcare in front of a computer screen who was really not knowledgeable on the underlying medical problem or the test that we are asking for the patient to have.' After an initial denial, the patient's appeal for the scan was ultimately approved six months later. By that the time, the patient had died. 'We assume that if he had been diagnosed earlier, he may have been able to do better,' said Kunis. 'There's no way of proving it, but there was a reasonable chance he would have been in better shape had there not been a six-month delay in getting the scan.' The healthcare system is 'just really stuck in this terrible, vicious circle', she said, 'of prices constantly going up, lack of regulation and the insurance companies unfortunately having leverage over the patients who are trying to receive the care'. Health insurance companies often require 'peer to peer' reviews, where doctors are required to speak with a medical representative from a health insurance company to justify treatment. But the insurance representatives are often far less experienced, according to physicians who spoke to The Guardian, and may not even have training in the specific field they are weighing in on. 'When I have engaged in 'peer to peer' review, the peer is never a physician that has my training,' said Dr Philip Verhoef, an Intensive Care Unit physician based in Honolulu, Hawaii, and former president of Physicians for a National Health Program. 'It's kind of a farce to even call it 'peer to peer'. I've never had a 'peer to peer' conversation that was actually with a real peer.' Instead, the representatives are 'second-guessing our judgment as clinicians', he claimed. 'To be totally clear, I don't have a financial incentive to admit patients to the ICU. It's both demoralizing and insulting when a bureaucrat somewhere looks at a submitted claim from the hospital and says, 'The decision to admit to the ICU was wrong.'' Verhoef said he often sees patients coming into the intensive care unit for preventable illnesses caused by health insurance company denials, such as refusing to cover required medication, like insulin, or an inhaler for asthma. 'When people need to use their private health insurance, it actually fails them,' he added. 'Insurance is supposed to be there to cover you from financial calamity, when unfortunate things happen, and the current system that we have based on private health insurance has really failed everyone. I don't think that we're going to regulate our way out of this mess.' Much of the friction patients encounter when seeking medical care or assistance is fundamental to the insurance firms' business models, according to Weisbart. 'They don't care about you, and they see you as an expense, not someone whose health needs to be improved,' he said. 'The healthier you are, the more they want you to have them as their insurance, and the sicker you are, the more comfortable they are with you being dissatisfied with them and searching for a different insurance company. 'Once they have that money, every time somebody has to get health care, that's just an expense that they don't want to let go of.' The insurance industry's profits revolve around delaying and denying medical care, Weisbart claimed. 'When they delay your care by a day, by a week, by a month or totally deny it, it's not a random event,' he said. 'It's a calculated business strategy to maximize their profits.' Many doctors have recently expressed similar issues with private insurers. Physicians are 'forced to become insurance experts on top of our medical expertise, spending countless hours on paperwork instead of patient care,' Dr Bayo Curry-Winchell of Nevada wrote in an article for Katie Couric Media, while Dr Claudia Fagan, chief medical officer of Cook County Health, wrote in an article for Common Dreams that she had 'seen patients suffer and die in order to pad the bottom lines of corporate health insurers – and in recent years I have seen this problem getting much worse'. The solution is effectively to overhaul the system entirely and then start from scratch with the national health insurance system Dr Philip Verhoef UnitedHealthcare did not respond to multiple requests for comment. AHIP, a lobby group for the industry, said in an emailed statement: 'In the fragmented and heavily regulated healthcare system, health plans, providers and drugmakers share a responsibility to make high-quality care as affordable as possible and easier to navigate for the people we collectively serve. Health plans are working to protect patients from the full impact of rising costs while connecting them to care that is safe, evidence-based and coordinated.' Doctors who spoke to the Guardian suggested fixing problems with the US healthcare system will require more than tinkering at the edges. Both Weisbart and Verhoef argued the solution would require moving away from private health insurance, toward a single payer healthcare system, similar to other wealthy countries that provide healthcare to all. 'The solution is effectively to overhaul the system entirely and then start from scratch with the national health insurance system,' said Verhoef. 'Solutions that depend on trying to regulate the private insurance industry are simply going to fail.' There is 'no way to modestly reform a fundamental flaw in a business model', added Weisbart. 'Their business model is designed on delaying, denying and redirecting healthcare We know a much better way: the much better way is to build a system on the traditional Medicare program. Fix the things that are wrong with Medicare … and then simply provide that to everybody.' Moving to a single-payer, universal healthcare system would likely cost less than current national healthcare expenditure, according to a 2020 academic analysis – and save tens of thousands of lives each year.
The Guardian
26-01-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘It's a death sentence': US health insurance system is failing, say doctors
American doctors are accusing US health insurance giants of causing deadly delays to vital medical procedures and care – and putting profits ahead of their patients' health. Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans, and taken months to reconsider, according to physicians who spoke to the Guardian. 'There's good evidence that these kinds of delays literally kill people,' said Dr Ed Weisbart, former chief medical officer for Express Scripts, one of the largest prescription benefits managers in the US. 'For some people, this isn't just an inconvenience and an annoyance and an aggravation. 'It's a death sentence, and the only reason the insurance companies do that is to maximize their profits. The fact that they might be killing you is not in the equation of what they care about.' Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialized world – an estimated $4.9tn in 2023 – but have the worst health outcomes, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month prompted an outpouring of public anger toward the healthcare industry. While private insurers report billions in profits every year, many patients – and their doctors – struggle to navigate a complex financial system to get what they need. Lobbyists for the insurance firms insist they are 'working to protect' people from higher costs, and stress that everyone in the space, including doctors, are responsible for making the US healthcare system care more affordable and easier to navigate. But in a series of interviews, medical professionals described their frustration with a powerful industry which had prevented them from helping patients. Dr Cheryl Kunis, a board member at the Physicians for a National Health Program and nephrologist in New York City, still thinks about what happened when one of her patients needed a PET scan. He had a tumor, and before deciding on how to treat it, Kunis and her colleagues wanted to establish if it had spread. 'The surgeon was very honest that he only wanted to operate if the tumor was localized, and without the PET scan, he really would not be able to make that decision,' said Kunis. 'The surgeon and his office, as well as my office, spent hours on the phone. We were speaking to somebody who was sitting at UnitedHealthcare in front of a computer screen who was really not knowledgeable on the underlying medical problem or the test that we are asking for the patient to have.' After an initial denial, the patient's appeal for the scan was ultimately approved six months later. By that the time, the patient had died. 'We assume that if he had been diagnosed earlier, he may have been able to do better,' said Kunis. 'There's no way of proving it, but there was a reasonable chance he would have been in better shape had there not been a six-month delay in getting the scan.' The healthcare system is 'just really stuck in this terrible, vicious circle', she said, 'of prices constantly going up, lack of regulation and the insurance companies unfortunately having leverage over the patients who are trying to receive the care'. Health insurance companies often require 'peer to peer' reviews, where doctors are required to speak with a medical representative from a health insurance company to justify treatment. But the insurance representatives are often far less experienced, according to physicians who spoke to The Guardian, and may not even have training in the specific field they are weighing in on. 'When I have engaged in 'peer to peer' review, the peer is never a physician that has my training,' said Dr Philip Verhoef, an Intensive Care Unit physician based in Honolulu, Hawaii, and former president of Physicians for a National Health Program. 'It's kind of a farce to even call it 'peer to peer'. I've never had a 'peer to peer' conversation that was actually with a real peer.' Instead, the representatives are 'second-guessing our judgment as clinicians', he claimed. 'To be totally clear, I don't have a financial incentive to admit patients to the ICU. It's both demoralizing and insulting when a bureaucrat somewhere looks at a submitted claim from the hospital and says, 'The decision to admit to the ICU was wrong.'' Verhoef said he often sees patients coming into the intensive care unit for preventable illnesses caused by health insurance company denials, such as refusing to cover required medication, like insulin, or an inhaler for asthma. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'When people need to use their private health insurance, it actually fails them,' he added. 'Insurance is supposed to be there to cover you from financial calamity, when unfortunate things happen, and the current system that we have based on private health insurance has really failed everyone. I don't think that we're going to regulate our way out of this mess.' Much of the friction patients encounter when seeking medical care or assistance is fundamental to the insurance firms' business models, according to Weisbart. 'They don't care about you, and they see you as an expense, not someone whose health needs to be improved,' he said. 'The healthier you are, the more they want you to have them as their insurance, and the sicker you are, the more comfortable they are with you being dissatisfied with them and searching for a different insurance company. 'Once they have that money, every time somebody has to get health care, that's just an expense that they don't want to let go of.' The insurance industry's profits revolve around delaying and denying medical care, Weisbart claimed. 'When they delay your care by a day, by a week, by a month or totally deny it, it's not a random event,' he said. 'It's a calculated business strategy to maximize their profits.' Many doctors have recently expressed similar issues with private insurers. Physicians are 'forced to become insurance experts on top of our medical expertise, spending countless hours on paperwork instead of patient care,' Dr Bayo Curry-Winchell of Nevada wrote in an article for Katie Couric Media, while Dr Claudia Fagan, chief medical officer of Cook County Health, wrote in an article for Common Dreams that she had 'seen patients suffer and die in order to pad the bottom lines of corporate health insurers – and in recent years I have seen this problem getting much worse'. UnitedHealthcare did not respond to multiple requests for comment. AHIP, a lobby group for the industry, said in an emailed statement: 'In the fragmented and heavily regulated healthcare system, health plans, providers and drugmakers share a responsibility to make high-quality care as affordable as possible and easier to navigate for the people we collectively serve. Health plans are working to protect patients from the full impact of rising costs while connecting them to care that is safe, evidence-based and coordinated.' Doctors who spoke to the Guardian suggested fixing problems with the US healthcare system will require more than tinkering at the edges. Both Weisbart and Verhoef argued the solution would require moving away from private health insurance, toward a single payer healthcare system, similar to other wealthy countries that provide healthcare to all. 'The solution is effectively to overhaul the system entirely and then start from scratch with the national health insurance system,' said Verhoef. 'Solutions that depend on trying to regulate the private insurance industry are simply going to fail.' There is 'no way to modestly reform a fundamental flaw in a business model', added Weisbart. 'Their business model is designed on delaying, denying and redirecting healthcare We know a much better way: the much better way is to build a system on the traditional Medicare program. Fix the things that are wrong with Medicare … and then simply provide that to everybody.' Moving to a single-payer, universal healthcare system would likely cost less than current national healthcare expenditure, according to a 2020 academic analysis – and save tens of thousands of lives each year.
