Latest news with #SunshineAward
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Post seeks your questions about aging, healthcare and ways to finance it
The explosion is coming: The number of people 85 and older will nearly double in the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Census and, unless there's a miracle that halts aging, it's likely to increase the demand for healthcare like never before. Early signs foretell that the cost of medical care and living into advanced age with the right support is going to be an expensive proposition, fraught with complex and costly decisions. Medical service inflation is increasing faster than the general inflation rate: by 3.1% compared with the general inflation rate of 2.3%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The golden years might start looking a little less shiny, even for people who have saved their entire lives to enjoy this tropical paradise. The costs of long-term care, should one need it, can destroy generational wealth. A recent survey from CareScout, an information network of long-term care providers, found that the cost of a private room in a Miami-area nursing home averages about $12,714 a month. It's an expense most haven't saved for and don't have any idea how much it's going to cost, according to KFF, a national health policy research group. Looming in the background: Pressure to change Medicaid, which provides healthcare for the poorest residents and funds about 62% of Florida's nursing home residents and a labor shortage of people willing to do the lowest-level medical support jobs that involve bedpans, laundry and home help. Trying to navigate a complex and costly healthcare system in a world that's speeding up can be frustrating. These issues and others are why The Palm Beach Post is starting a new series of health columns focused on navigating the financial and physical challenges likely to emerge as more and more people reach advanced age and their children confront a reality there's no preparing for. We want to hear what questions you have as you and your loved ones enter new territory. Post insurance reporter Anne Geggis will take your questions about the ways to plan for living the best life even into advanced years. Geggis has more than 10 years' experience covering health and health governance, first at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, where she won the national Society of Professional Journalist's Sunshine Award, and then the Gainesville Sun, where she covered cutting-edge research at the state's chief academic medical center. She'll take your questions about health care and preparing for the future with advice from a wide range of experts. This column starts with you and your concerns, email them to her at ageggis@ or fill out the form below to submit your questions on healthcare and aging. Look for her first column in June. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Send us your questions about aging, healthcare and ways to finance it
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC's new governor: Why Stein and other top leaders may have fewer chances to talk to each other
Greetings and welcome to the governor edition of our Under the Dome newsletter. I'm Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer's Capitol bureau chief. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein ran his first Council of State meeting on Tuesday, shifting two chairs up to the head of the conference table in the Department of Transportation Building, where the group of 10 statewide elected officials gather monthly. Or at least they have been, while Stein was attorney general. Now that he's governor, Stein is moving Council of State meetings to only six times per year instead of the usual monthly 12 meetings. I attended Tuesday's meeting, where new Labor Commissioner Luke Farley objected to the change. Former Gov. Roy Cooper tended to cancel a few meetings a year, but six is still much less than the previous administration. I asked Stein after the meeting about Farley's request, and Stein said he would talk to him about it. We'll see if the meetings resume. Top elected officials in North Carolina, unlike some states, meet as a Council of State to make some decisions, including those involving state property. On Tuesday, State Auditor Dave Boliek questioned one of the property matters, about payments to Raleigh-Durham International Airport by the Department of Transportation. He said the documents about it on the agenda weren't clear, and he didn't want to vote for it. After a DOT staffer explained more about it, giving a clearer explanation of why a payment was backdated, Boliek gave his support. 'Let me say I appreciate the information, but I do have to say that the way this was written up is really convoluted. And it ought to be written so at least an average lawyer can understand it,' he said. After being satisfied with his answer, Boliek and Stein had a brief exchange about ensuring clarity on the agenda items going forward. The meetings aren't just about property matters, as they end with a roundtable of updates, which for me as a reporter is often where the news is. It is a chance for each of them to briefly update each other, and the public, about what they are doing. All of their salaries, and billions of dollars spent by the state agencies they run, are funded by taxpayers. When it was Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey's turn to speak, he said what those who were in the room for the former State Treasurer Dale Folwell era were already thinking: Now Boliek is the councilor who asks all the questions, as did Folwell before. Farley's move, too, is reminiscent of Folwell. It was Folwell who objected, on several occasions, to remote Council of State meetings during the coronavirus pandemic, which Cooper continued even after other government groups returned to in-person meetings. Folwell, a Republican, also began airing the meetings on Facebook Live, making him arguably the most transparent elected official in the state, because he was the only one doing it. Folwell once received the Open Government Coalition's Sunshine Award for his work to make government more transparent. Council of State members' votes are needed on some major decisions made by the governor, which was a stress point during Cooper's handling of COVID-19. Three members of the Council of State kept their seats: Causey, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. The new members are Farley, Boliek, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Treasurer Brad Briner. Hunt previously served in the state House and Senate, and Jackson also served in the state Senate, as well as one term in Congress. The Junior League of Raleigh, which hosts the Inaugural Ball, canceled it in January because of the weather. The Junior League and Empire Eats donated food to several local schools, a Junior League spokesperson said, including 10 elementary, middle and high schools. The Junior League rescheduled two inaugural events for April, and tickets are still available to purchase. Details: ▪ A cocktail reception for the 10 statewide elected officials on the Council of State will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 4 at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. Tickets cost $175 and include beer, wine and heavy hors d'oeuvres. ▪ The Inaugural Ball for Stein will be held from 9 p.m. to midnight April 5 at Marbles Kids Museum. It is black tie and includes dancing, food and beer and wine. Tickets cost $250. Coming up Monday on our Under the Dome podcast, I'm joined by our Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia, and we talk about the firehose of news from the new Trump administration, the Raleigh protest that focused on Elon Musk, the latest on the airliner and Black Hawk helicopter crash in Washington, and other news. You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at
