"I can't breathe" the last words attributed to two victims of police brutality, Eric Garner and George Floyd has become a haunting refrain of the Black Lives Matter movement. I was struck by the confluence of events we've witnessed in the past three months when I noticed someone wearing a mask emblazoned with that phrase.

"I can't breathe" were likely the last words uttered, or at least thought, by hundreds of coronavirus victims as they faced intubation and attachment to a ventilator. If and it's a big if they were lucky enough to be in a well-financed hospital with available ICU beds and staff to monitor them.

Data published in The New York Times revealed that, even accounting for differences in underlying health conditions and age, poor people living in communities with underfunded safety-net hospitals in New York City were up to three times more likely to die from their coronavirus infections than patients in hospitals managed by the same large corporations in wealthier parts of the city.

It's likely that this inequity held true in many socioeconomically and racially segregated cities from coast to coast as the pandemic spread.

And yet, both for-profit and nonprofit hospital systems have poured our health care dollars into capital improvements and continue to do so even during the pandemic, a direct result of the perverse incentives built into our health care system. When patients become customers, and health care is marketed as an exclusive luxury, public health concerns and stewardship of health care dollars fall by the wayside.

While the continuing efforts of President Donald Trump and his Republican apologists to dismantle the Affordable Care Act are reprehensible and shameful, it is also now quite evident that the accomplishments of that law were sharply limited by the concessions made to the insurance companies and other middlemen who contribute little value to our citizens' health needs.

I hope that the energy produced by the groundswell of indignation and outrage will not be wasted trying to shore up the ACA. We need a national health program that offers the same access and quality of care to every human being in America. The money saved by eliminating the health care profiteering of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries would amount to nearly $1 trillion annually. This is one-third of the country's total health care expenditures, and would easily cover the cost of extending coverage to 100 percent of Americans, with money left over to improve and expand what Medicare already guarantees.

The possibility of coverage for home care through the end of life would reduce the warehousing of our elderly in nursing homes, some of which became coronavirus death traps. Essential services like mental health care, dental and vision care should be universally available. Multiple studies have shown that a nationwide Medicare for All program would reduce the total cost of health care for over 90 percent of Americans, with any increase in taxes for the majority more than offset by lower out-of-pocket expenditures, the end of co-pays and constantly rising insurance premiums.

We must avoid the trap of allowing the for-profit hospitals and insurance companies to continue to connive to skim off the healthy, less-expensive patients, which they would certainly learn to do if we simply add a competing "public option" or "Medicare buy-in."

The health insurance industry has its knee on our necks. As surely as unregulated policing is a danger to the health of the most vulnerable among us (and by association, all of us), so unregulated profiteering in health care is making us sicker as individuals and as a society.

We must tell our elected officials to let us inspire equality, fairness, and hope for our own, our children's and our grandchildren's health by creating a system of equitable health care for all.

Dr. David Ray is chairman of the Capital District Alliance for Universal Health Care.

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Commentary: Universal health care system will save money and lives - Times Union

Nasal swab test tubes sit read for COVID-19 testing at a drive through testing site hosted by the HeroZona Foundation in the South Mountain Community College parking lot in Phoenix, Ariz. on July 9, 2020. Tests were free and vehicles waited in a line that stretched nearly 1.5 miles from Broadway Road to Baseline Road along 24th street. Earlier in the week Arizona reached number one in the world for COVID-19 cases. (Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/The Republic)

Health care workers in Arizona are struggling throughthe burdens of a public health crisis that has hospitalized thousands of Arizonansand pushed emergency rooms and ICUs nearfull capacity.

With higher than usual patient-to-nurse ratios, stringent PPE protocols and looming fears over exposing their loved ones to the novel coronavirus, health care workers in Arizona are feeling tired, dejected and desperate for lawmakers and the public to take COVID-19 seriously.

"They've been trying to do two to oneICU patients to a nurse, but that's starting to be hard,"Miranda Dunkelbarger, an ICU nurse in Apache Junction, said. Some days shesaid she's had three patients at a time.

When New York emerged as a national hotspot in March and Apriland becamethe subject of eye catching stories about overwhelmed hospitals andmass graves for the dead, health care workers in Arizonawatched in both fear and trepidation How long before it came to Arizona?

By early August, the novel coronavirus infected more than 185,000 Arizonans and killed more than 4,000. In June and July, Arizonawas thrust in the national spotlight as a global hotspot, at one pointrecording a 25% positivity rate of tests conducted,a key COVID-19 metric.

This week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, follows Dr. BradDreifuss and nurse Miranda Dunkelbarger. Dreifuss isanemergency physician based in Tucson and co-founder of HCWHosted, a coalition dedicated to building pandemic preparedness plans for communities.

Producer Taylor Seely dives into what they're experiencing and what they want people to know about their work.

Related: What's it like when you or someone you know gets COVID-19?

The best way to listen is to subscribe to Valley 101 on your favorite podcast app, but you can also stream the full episode below.

NOTE: Valley 101 is intended to be heard. But we also offera transcript of the episode.There may be slight deviations from the podcast audio.

Want to submit a question to Valley 101? Click here.

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What's it like to be an Arizona health care worker during COVID-19? Valley 101 digs in - AZCentral

COVID-19 has challenged the U.S. health care industry like no other pandemic, disaster, regulatory or payment change in modern history.

Hospitals have streamlined over the past 40 years to efficiently deliver care at the highest possible quality, but also to maximize profits or stretch limited resources. They have drilled on emergency preparedness plans.

But the COVID-19 pandemic upended cost-saving approaches and exposed weaknesses in hospital staffing strategies designed to limit nurses and other health care workers to daily inpatient volumes.

The failure of hospitals to be prepared for COVID-19 in March and April is a systemic problem that has been criticized for years by nurses and health care unions. The "short staffing" of critical departments often leads to employee dissatisfaction, burnout and resignations.

COVID-19 exposed many hospitals' lack of personnel and supplies to adequately treat the hundreds and thousands of patients requiring critical and intensive care. Of the nation's nearly 1 million hospital beds, only 10 percent are reserved for intensive care.

The federal government also was woefully unprepared, with insufficient reserves of ventilators, respirators and other personal protective equipment. A national emergency coordination plan for COVID-19 testing, use of face masks and stay-at-home orders in regions of high viral spread also failed to materialize.

Governments have underfunded public health systems for decades. As county hospitals have closed, public health clinics have been used to provide free or low-cost services for the under-insured or uninsured.

Nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and behavioral health providers also were caught flat-footed. The pandemic sliced through many long-term care facilities predominated by seniors in their 70s, 80s and 90s, many with multiple chronic diseases and weakened immune systems.

Nearly 25 percent of the deaths to COVID-19 in Michigan were at nursing homes.

Long-term underfunding of post-acute care facilities and of behavioral health care also has played a role in unpreparedness in Michigan for the influx in COVID-19 patients and community impact.

So far in Michigan, more than 84,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 with more than 6,200 deaths. Probable cases and deaths are about 5 percent higher than those totals. The infection rates and deaths also are much higher in the minority population with 26 percent of Blacks and 8 percent Hispanic groups affected, indicating to federal officials social and health inequities.

What we've learned: Within one week of the first COVID-19 positive case on March 10, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the shutdown of a number of businesses, including theaters, bars, casinos and indoor restaurant dining, to limit community spread. She has issued more than 170 executive orders and directives related to COVID-19.

Still, some question whether the state response was quick or strong enough, given that Michigan ranked in top three states for positive cases and deaths into June. As of Aug. 3, the state ranks No. 8 in death rates by population at 65 per 100,000.

Hospitals have been shoring up supply chains by investing in American companies for personal protective equipment and rethinking "just-in-time" supply and staffing strategies.

They also have reorganized medical departments to quickly pivot to critical and intensive care uses if COVID-19 volume increases.

Physicians, dentists and other outpatient health care providers are preparing for a new normal that includes social distancing patients and using telemedicine and other technologies.

Doctors of COVID-19 patients now closely watch for blood clots, place ventilated patients on stomachs and monitor organs such as lungs, heart, liver, kidneys and brain.

Unanswered questions: Big ones are when will vaccines be available; how effective will they be and how long will they last. In 2019, the influenza vaccine was 45 percent effective but only about 65 percent get inoculated. More will be needed to stifle COVID-19.

What's next: Experts say the world must be prepared to more quickly contain and then coordinate a response to the next pandemic. Doctors and hospitals are preparing for a possible second wave this fall. They say they are more prepared now than in March and April. They have stocked up on personal protective equipment, ventilators and oxygen support machines and medicines known to minimize the virus' inflammatory effects. They also can quickly reopen intensive care units designed for COVID-19 patients and more appropriately triage and isolate patients.

Rapid and widespread viral testing and vaccine development must be perfected as a first line of defense.

But the bottom line, say experts, is that after public alerts are given and containment and protections are put in place, it is up to individuals to accept shared safety rules to reduce community spread and deaths.

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What's Next: Will health care industry, individuals act on the lessons learned? - Crain's Detroit Business

Portland therapists serving the Black community say theyre at capacity as protesters and others fill their appointment slots

ZaDora Williams is busier than ever. As a therapist and social worker in Portland who services the African American community, her waitlist has grown exponentially since Portlanders began rallying around the Black Lives Matter uprising.

Many people seeking counseling services at Williams private practice, Sankofa Center for Healing, are participants in the protests spurred by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

When Williams initially noticed this trend, she looked into how the regular deployment of tear gas and munitions might be impacting her clients mental health. She was shocked to find that while chemical irritants continue to be deployed on protesters,there was little peer-reviewed research exploring this topic.

So, in June, as part of the research team at Dont Shoot Portland, she helped expose the mental and physical health risks of tear gas being deployed on Portlands demonstrators.

If youre tear-gassed, that can also bring about anxiety and trauma symptoms, she said. Just witnessing someone getting tear-gassed, you can experience vicarious trauma.

A review widely cited in that report which aided Dont Shoot Portland in landing temporary court-ordered relief on the use of tear gas under certain circumstances was particularly revealing. It showed the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after collective actions like the ones taking place in Portland are comparable to the impacts of natural disasters, terrorist attacks and armed conflicts.

Compounding the trauma of a daily life punctuated by panic-inducing crowd-control munitions are centuries of oppression of Black people. Its happening now, and its happened for a long time, said Anthony Jordan, the addiction services manager for Multnomah County. He was moved to open Agape Healing and Consulting to provide training to workplaces following the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager in Florida.

I started doing research and looking at the manifestations of slavery and family history, and the impact that slavery had on my family over time, Jordan said. It started making sense to me that this situation with Trayvon Martin had impacted me, not necessarily because of his death but because of all the other historical things that had been felt. And it was unresolved.

When Jordan spoke with Street Roots in July, hed seen 10 requests for trainings in the span of a single week; its a lot more than hed get in a week before the movement began.

Adding to the current moment is the increased sharing of photographs and video footage of violence perpetrated against Black people on TV and across social media.

Making a spectacle of violent footage on TV and across social media, Jordan said, has deep historical roots related to the lynching of Black people in public squares. The difference now is that the audience is much larger because of todays technology.

To show us in the public square doesnt seem like a new concept. Theyre not understanding the impact its having on the people who look like the people theyre showing over and over again, he said. Its like, sometimes I wonder, what is the purpose? We know he was killed by the police. Do you have to show us so much to prove the injustice?

Paired with a raging global health crisis that disproportionately affects people of color in the U.S., the psychological impact of the moment for many is impossible to ignore.

I think its exhausting. Its exhausting for more than one reason because I think a lot of Black people, before anything the pandemic, before the protesting, before any of those things they were already experiencing significant racial injustices and systemic racism, he said.

Williams said most Black therapists she knows are fielding the same influx of new patients she has seen at her practice. When she spoke with Street Roots in July, she acknowledged she was on a waitlist for therapy services herself.

Theres not enough mental health services to meet the needs of the African American community right now, she said. Thats one of the detrimental effects right now, is that people need the services because theyre fighting against the system that is oppressing them. And then you also have to be harmed during the process.

Since protesting began, Williams is seeing more clients with symptoms like hypervigilance, panic and anxiety.

A word in the name of Williams practice, sankofa, comes from the Ghanaian language Twi.

It means to go back and fetch what has been lost or taken, she said.

Its often accompanied by the image of a bird walking forward, its head turned, looking back at the path it has carved. Looking back, Williams said, is a necessary part of sustaining oneself in the present moment.

Thats kind of my approach, she said.

Williams said that to better understand the Black experience, the history of abuse in the medical and school systems must be understood. Growing up on the east side of Chicago, she couldnt help but notice how many Black children were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or punished for behavior when their symptoms aligned more closely with signs of traumatic stress.

Historical trauma is here; we feel it. Its killing us; its killing Black moms. Its due to institutionalized racism and implicit biases, Williams said.

For those seeking services that account for these culturally specific traumas,the population of therapists and counselors in Oregon is overwhelmingly white.

A report from the Oregon Health Authority in 2018 surveyed more than 3,000 professional counselors and licensed marriage and family therapists across the state, and more than 90% of respondents were white. Black therapists and counselors encompassed less than 1% of the workforce, and even fewer were Indigenous.

The numbers do little to reflect the needs of Black people experiencing the burden of racism,who are disproportionately affected by higher rates of mental health issues. The increased need for mental health services is national, NPR reported in June.

It can be challenging not seeing someone that looks like you helping you, said Jonicia Shelton,who works as a therapist at Portland Public Schools and runs her own private practice, Talks with June.

I think we forget sometimes that were impacted by white people, and that people arent taking that into consideration, she said. It is always a different feel to have someone who looks like you talk with you. Because a lot of their experiences are close to yours.

At the moment, Shelton has around 30 clients and much to her dismay she also isnt able to accept any more. When she was 5, she lost her mother, and growing up, she began unpacking the inner workings of her own familys trauma. Interactions with a social worker growing up led her to pursue mental health and social work.

Shelton urges people who can't find or afford a therapist to engage in self-care by talking to trusted mentors and unplugging from social media.

"Everybody doesnt have to see a therapist all the time," she said. "They can go to church, they have preachers, they have life coaches, they have teahcers that they love."

She said that she knows a lot of people who would make amazing therapists but that the difficulties of attaining and affording licensures stand in the way.

Williams sees that, too. She said recruitment of Black individuals to mental health fields is lacking, and its really noticeable in school systems where Black counselors and therapists are few and far between.

And then the support of, when we get Black people into those fields, what does the support look like, to sustain and keep Black people in those lines of work? she said. There are significant gaps around even practitioners just not taking the time to account for what the Black experience is, and how that may be showing up.

The concept of trauma-informed care seeks to ensure, in part, that workplaces and health care systems account for the systemic impacts that racial, historical and familial trauma may have on people. Those who lead workshops on the topic, such as Steffannie Roache, have seen an increased demand for education around it since the protests began in late May.

Roache also provides culturally specific therapy services for Black, Indigenous and people of color at her private practice, which is also at maximum capacity. Its overwhelming, she said.

Thats one of the difficult parts of whats going on right now, she said, is people trying to feel OK and do what they need to bring about social justice, but at the same time, they have their own mental health issues, anxiety and depression.

She said she is seeing far more requests than usual for her workshops and has had to turn some of them down.

In June, Roache participated in Trauma Informed Oregons web discussion series, which features the Black mental health care providers doing this work in the state. The organization, formed in 2006, seeks to share resources around trauma-informed care, and is aimed at preventing and ameliorating the impact of adverse experiences on children, adults, and families, according to its mission statement.

On one hand, Roache said, shes glad to see companies and organizations wanting to learn.

On the other hand, she said, theres a demand for us and its not just me theres a demand for us to be the teacher-trainer for free.

Roache compares the requests to asking the victim of a violent crime to teach the perpetrator about the negative impacts of their actions.

When you are wanting to engage honestly, you want people at the table to actually help make changes to policy, procedures, to make real change; then we can chat about that, she said. Its got to be more than this piecemeal, one-off check the box sort of thing.

Will this increased interest in providing more equitable mental health care practices across the state be sustained when protesting in the streets stops?

Im hoping that people will become more trauma informed, especially as it relates to race and whats going on in the world, Shelton said. I definitely think its going to continue to grow and get better as long as were in this pandemic because people will open up the doors more. We shall see.

Charley McNeely, the director of outreach, inclusion and community engagement at Trauma Informed Oregon, said sustaining the momentum will require far more than an increased interest in trauma-informed training. She seeks to highlight marginalized populations and the movement of trauma-informed care and to make sure the care is inclusive to the people who need it most.

Right now, shes documenting the experiences of people with different racial, class and gender identities during the coronavirus pandemic, and through the Black Lives Matter movement. Shes also working on providing families with information navigating the uncertain future of the upcoming school year, while working with Trauma Informed Oregon to determine how the organization will move forward through the pandemic.

She told Street Roots that trauma-informed care can be summed up in two words: meaningful relationships. And while its been challenging to craft those relationships online during the pandemic, McNeely said that the United Sates current crossroads have pushed the concepts of trauma-informed care from theory to practice.

I think it shows that theres a need for trauma-informed care to happen all the time, she said. Now is the time to make it, operationalize it and make it part of your infrastructure and how your organization operates. Its the perfect storm for that to happen, unfortunately.

Creating a more trauma-informed workplace means undertaking a whole cultural shift, McNeely said, and true change calls for better representation for people of non-dominant culture identities in the Oregon Legislature, passing laws and using inclusive language.

I think having a seat at the table from the very beginning is where it starts if you want to shift power, she said.

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Psychological impacts of this moment are overwhelming, Black mental health care providers say - Street Roots News

On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the Sonoma Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted unanimously to dissolve the Palm Drive Health Care District. LAFCOs action was recorded with the county the next day. The County of Sonoma, the successor agency for the health care district, now inherits all of the district's assets, liabilities, debts, records and taxing authority.

With the stroke of a pen or a keystroke LAFCO put an end to the 20-year saga of the Palm Drive Health Care District (PDHCD), which was founded in 2000 to provide support for Palm Drive Hospital.

The dissolution of the district will have no effect on the hospital, which was sold in 2019 to a private company, AAMG, for use as a long-term acute care facility.

Once the district sold the hospital, long-time critics, like former PDHCD board member Jim Horn, argued that the district no longer had a reason to exist and started a petition campaign to dissolve it. Under the gun of the petition, the district ultimately decided to dissolve itself and has spent the last few months negotiating the terms of the dissolution with the county. Last week, LAFCO simply took matters into its own hands and dissolved the district on its own accord.

Youd have thought that would be the end of it. Youd be wrong.

A new non-profit rises from the ashes

In a move that infuriated critics, the Palm Drive Health Care District granted $200,000 on its way out the door as seed money for a new nonprofit, the Gravenstein Health Action Coalition, which had until the dissolution operated as a subcommittee of the district, granting funds for local public health initiatives.

Critics say the $200,000 grant violates Measure W, the parcel tax measure that funded the district and for which most folks in west county pay between $100 and $155 a year. The dissolution of the district doesnt end these yearly payments. They will now be collected by the county and will continue for 15 to 20 more years, until the districts debts are paid off.

In a celebratory missive to his supporters after the dissolution of the district, Horn named this grant as one of the outstanding issues still left to be resolved.

First is the $200k in Measure W taxes that the district illegally granted in the last few weeks to a new non-profit group established by the district itself, Horn wrote. We will try to convince the county to claw back that money for use in paying down (the districts) debts.

A related question is whether the public will ever get to see the Hanson-Bridgett report, which supposedly contains a legal opinion on whether the district is allowed to use Measure W money to make such general public health grants in the first place.

The county is now the successor agency so it has the Hanson-Bridgett report, and it can decide what it wants to do about it, said PDHCD board member Richard Power, who ran on a platform of dissolving the district. They can decide whether they want to claw back the $200,000 from this new entity.

That phrase, claw back, came from an email from county assessor Erick Roesser who threatened that the county might do just that if the parcel tax proceeds didnt meet the costs of paying and administering the districts debts.

Will the hospitals new owner have to pay the county $1.2 million?

Power said that another outstanding issue is the question of whether AAMG, the hospitals new owner, will have to pay the county $1.2 million. The district sold the hospital for $2 million in cash and a $1.2 promissory note that, among other things, specified that AAMG would keep the urgent care open for at least 10 years or else pay an additional $1.2 million. AAMG closed the urgent care this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The question of whether to pursue AAMG for the additional $1.2 million is now a matter for the county to decide.

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LAFCO dissolves the Palm Drive Health Care District - Sonoma West

Health care workers of color were more likely to care for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, more likely to report using inadequate or reused protective gear, and nearly twice as likely as white colleagues to test positive for the coronavirus, a new study from Harvard Medical School researchers found.

The study also showed that health care workers are at least three times more likely than the general public to report a positive COVID test, with risks rising for workers treating COVID patients.

Dr. Andrew Chan, a senior author and an epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the study further highlights the problem of structural racism, this time reflected in the front-line roles and personal protective equipment provided to people of color.

If you think to yourself, Health care workers should be on equal footing in the workplace, our study really showed thats definitely not the case, said Chan, who is also a professor at Harvard Medical School.

The study was based on data from more than 2 million COVID Symptom Study app users in the U.S. and the United Kingdom from March 24 through April 23. The study, done with researchers from Kings College London, was published in the journal The Lancet Public Health.

Lost on the Frontline, a project by KHN and The Guardian, has published profiles of 164 health care workers who died of COVID-19 and identified more than 900 who reportedly fell victim to the disease. An analysis of the stories showed that 62% of the health care workers who died were people of color.

They include Roger Liddell, 64, a Black hospital supply manager in Michigan, who sought but was denied an N95 respirator when his work required him to go into COVID-positive patients rooms, according to his labor union. Sandra Oldfield, 53, a Latina, worked at a California hospital where workers sought N95s as well. She was wearing a less-protective surgical mask when she cared for a COVID-positive patient before she got the virus and died.

The study findings follow other research showing that minority health care workers are likely to care for minority patients in their own communities, often in facilities with fewer resources, said Dr. Utibe Essien, a physician and assistant professor of medicine with the University of Pittsburgh.

Those workers may also see a higher share of sick patients, as federal data shows minority patients were disproportionately testing positive and being hospitalized with the virus, Essien said.

Im not surprised by these findings, he said, but Im disappointed by the result.

Dr. Fola May, a UCLA physician and researcher, said the study also reflects the fact that Black and Latino health care workers may live or visit family in minority communities that are hardest-hit by the pandemic because so many work on the front lines of all industries.

The study showed that health care workers of color were five times more likely than the general population to test positive for COVID-19.

Their workplace experience also diverged from that of whites alone. The study found that workers of color were 20% more likely than white workers to care for suspected or confirmed-positive COVID patients. The rate went up to 30% for Black workers specifically.

Black and Latino people overall have been three times as likely as whites to get the virus, a New York Times analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. (Latinos can be of any race or combination of races.)

Health care workers of color were also more likely to report inadequate or reused PPE, at a rate 50% higher than what white workers reported. For Latinos, the rate was double that of white workers.

Its upsetting, said Fiana Tulip, the daughter of a Texas respiratory therapist who died of COVID-19 on July 4. Tulip said her mother, Isabelle Papadimitriou, a Latina, told her stories of facing discrimination over the years.

Jim Mangia, chief executive of St. Johns Well Child and Family Center in south Los Angeles, said his clinics care for low-income people, mostly of color. They were testing about 600 people a day and seeing a 30% positive test rate in June and July. He said they saw high positive rates at nursing homes where a mobile clinic did testing.

He said seven full-time workers scoured the U.S. and globe to secure PPE for his staff, at one point getting a shipment of N95 respirators two days before they would have run out. It was literally touch-and-go, he said.

All health care workers who reported inadequate or reused PPE saw higher risks of infection. Those with inadequate or reused gear who saw COVID patients were more than five times as likely to get the virus as workers with adequate PPE who did not see COVID patients.

The study said reuse could pose a risk of self-contamination or breakdown of materials, but noted that the findings are from March and April, before widespread efforts to decontaminate used PPE.

Chan said even health care workers reporting adequate PPE and seeing COVID patients were far more likely to get the virus than workers not seeing COVID patients nearly five times as likely. That finding suggests a need for more training in putting on and taking off protective gear safely and additional research into how health care workers are getting sick.

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Health Care Workers of Color Nearly Twice as Likely as Whites to Get COVID-19 - Kaiser Health News

DALLAS, Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Employer Direct Healthcare is excited to announce its partnership with Trend Micro, Inc. Beginning in January 2020, Trend Micro began offering Employer Direct Healthcare's SurgeryPlus benefit, a supplemental benefit providing surgical concierge services with a focus on quality care, lower costs, and a better member experience.

The members participating in Trend Micro's health plan will have access to the SurgeryPlus benefit's full-service health care concierge for over 1,400 non-emergent procedures. When they choose to utilize the SurgeryPlus benefit, members will be paired with their own dedicated Care Advocate. Their Care Advocate will assist them with everything from their selection of a surgeon, to scheduling appointments, transferring medical records, and even arranging travel, removing the stress and confusion often associated with planning for medical care.

As an added benefit, when participants elect to use a participating surgeon through the SurgeryPlus benefit, Trend Micro will waive their out-of-pocket financial responsibility (deductible and coinsurance).

John Zutter, CEO of Employer Direct Healthcare commented, "We are thrilled to partner with Trend Micro as part of their strategy to provide superior health benefits for their employees and their dependents. The current COVID-19 crisis has had profound impacts, both societally and financially. People across the country have had to put their medical needs on hold and are now struggling to navigate the system. At SurgeryPlus, we guide our clients' employees and their dependents through the health system, focusing on providing access to top-quality surgical care at fair prices."

About Employer Direct Healthcare and the SurgeryPlus Benefit

Employer Direct Healthcare is an innovative health care services business providing high-quality and cost-efficient solutions for self-funded employers and their members. The company's core product, the SurgeryPlus benefit, provides full-service surgical concierge services to covered members, managing the entire process on their behalf. The SurgeryPlus benefit helps members identify quality providers at lower costs, helping employers and their plan participants dramatically reduce surgical costs while providing satisfying outcomes for members. Employer Direct Healthcare is majority owned by Dundon Capital Partners, LLC, a Dallas-based private investment firm, founded by Tom Dundon.

Contact for Employer Direct Healthcare: 855-200-2099.

SOURCE Employer Direct Healthcare

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Employer Direct Healthcare Announces Partnership with Trend Micro, Inc. - PRNewswire

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality market was valued at $543.23 million in 2017 and is projected to grow to $1467.83 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 18.02%.

The major drivers for Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in the healthcare market are the increasing demand for robotic surgeries instead of by-pass surgeries. Rising demand for cardiovascular surgeries is another major driver. The recovery time with these technologies is much less compared to other surgeries. The improvement in the skills of trainees by learning surgical procedures using this technology is also a driver for Augmented and Virtual reality in the medical field.

The major challenge for Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in the healthcare market is the lack of visualizing the depth, where there is a chance of making mistakes in the surgeries. The other challenge is the strain that is caused to eyes due to watching screens continuously for longer durations. The low battery capacity, that is the battery lasts only for five hours where the battery has to be charged again, when the surgery takes a long time which is also a challenge in this market. The other major challenge is the equipment cost which is very high.

The base year of this study is 2017, with forecasts up to 2023. The study presents a thorough analysis of the competitive landscape, taking into account the market shares of the leading companies. It also provides information on unit shipments. These provide the key market participants with the necessary business intelligence and help them understand the future of the market. The assessment includes the forecast, an overview of the competitive structure, the market shares of the competitors, as well as the market trends, market demands, market drivers, market challenges, and product analysis. The market drivers and restraints have been assessed to fathom their impact over the forecast period. This report further identifies the key opportunities for growth while also detailing the key challenges and possible threats.

Some of the Key players in this market that have been studied for this report include: CAE Health Care, Intuitive Surgical, Hologic Inc., Philips Health care, Microsoft, Siemens Health Care, Atheer, Augmedix and many more.

Market Research and Market Trends of Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in the Healthcare Market

Key Topics Covered:

1. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Overview

2. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Executive summary

3. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Comparative Analysis

4. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Forces

5. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Strategic analysis

6. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - By Build-up system (Market Size -$Million / $Billion)

7. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - By Type (Market Size -$Million / $Billion)

8. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - By Application (Market Size -$Million / $Billion)

9. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - By End-user industry (Market Size -$Million / $Billion)

10. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - By Geography (Market Size -$Million / $Billion)

11. Augmented Realty and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market - Entropy

12. Company Analysis

13. Appendix

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Global Outlook for Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality in the Healthcare Market 2020-2025 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical companies are changing how they engage with healthcare providers, which in turn is helping providers better serve patients, according to findings of a global Accenture survey of 720 general practitioners, oncologists, cardiologists and immunologists.

For example, most providers said pharma companies are increasingly providing education on how to better treat patients remotely and help them manage their conditions in light of COVID-19.

Pharma companies are also helping patients understand where they can access labs, infusion centers or imaging centers, and are offering solutions to providers and their practices so they can more easily afford and keep stock of therapies. In the U.S., information on affordability programs that pharmaceutical companies offer have been particularly helpful.

The survey, which was conducted in May and June across China, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., indicates that many patients and providers expect these changes are here to stay.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT

While the news is mostly good, the data suggests there's more that pharmaceutical companies could be doing to support providers and patients, who want more interactions that are virtual and self-directed. For instance, 65% of providers said they value self-administration methods for patients, including auto-injectors or wearable devices -- something that has been added to more and more wish lists as the pandemic has continued.

A clear majority, 62%, said they placed value on remote monitoring tools that can track health data from the home, a number that has increased since before the pandemic. Many patients have also said that they want to go to their providers' offices less often even after the public health crisis has abated, suggesting an opportunity for pharma companies to continue to respond to the public's changing needs.

Before COVID-19, 64% of meetings with pharma sales reps were held in person. During the pandemic, this shifted to 65% of meetings held virtually. Many providers reported they expect restrictions in access to healthcare facilities will continue for some time perhaps even permanently. Indeed, 43% said they are currently restricting who can enter the office for professional reasons (i.e.: no pharmaceutical reps). Twenty-eight percent of those with restrictions said they believe it is something they may implement permanently and another 44% said they would keep the restrictions "for the foreseeable future."

But providers also said they still want to learn about new treatments and interact with pharma sales reps -- they just want to do so in different ways. Eighty-eight percent of the providers surveyed said they want to hear about new treatments despite being in the middle of the pandemic. Four in 10 providers said the likelihood of starting a patient on a new treatment has increased, as they have a greater ability to monitor patient response, more access to information on new treatments and more time to learn about them.

And in fact, 61% said they are interacting with pharma sales reps more during COVID-19 than they did before. But they want pharma sales reps to have a better understanding of their needs and the needs of their patients. For example, 58% said they have been spammed by a pharmaceutical company.

THE LARGER TREND

Despite these positive developments, many Americans are still wary of the pharmaceutical industry, with nearly nine in 10 saying they're "very" or "somewhat" concerned the industry will try to raise drug prices during the pandemic, found a June survey by the nonprofit West Health and Gallup.

Similarly, 84% are very or somewhat concerned that the general cost of care will rise, with 79% very or somewhat concerned their health insurance premiums will go up in response to the pandemic. In each of the latter two scenarios, 41% of Americans are "very" concerned.

Twitter:@JELagasseEmail the writer:jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com

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Pharmaceutical companies are improving how they engage with healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic - Healthcare Finance News

By Richard Dufour 10 August 2020

Nurses at the Cit-de-la-Sant Hospital in Laval, Montreals largest suburb, staged a sit-in Friday, July 31. They were protesting dire working conditionsincluding chronic understaffing and forced overtimethat have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sit-in was part of a growing series of demonstrations and work stoppages that have taken place at health care institutions in Quebec and throughout Canada in recent months.

Many of these protest actions have been organized on Facebook by rank-and-file workers, acting independently of the unions. Like their counterparts in the United States and internationally, these workers have been impelled to act by unsafe working conditions, in particular the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The palpable anger of health care workers is bound up with growing opposition among all sections of the working class to the ruling elites disastrous response to the health emergency and the economic fallout from the pandemic. But far from channelling this combative sentiment into a working class counteroffensive after decades of capitalist austerity, the unions are doing all they can to stifle and politically neuter it.

This was purpose of an op-ed column written by Jeff Begley, president of the FSSS-CSN, Quebecs largest health care workers union. Published last Tuesday in Le Devoir, a Montreal daily, the article was co-signed by many local FSSS-CSN union presidents.

It made extremely limited criticisms of the actions of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ)-led provincial government with the aim of pacifying the scorching anger of rank-and-file hospital and CHSLD (nursing home) workers over the governments criminally negligent response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But a careful examination of the letters contents can only fuel the growing rank-and-file rebellion against the unions impotence and misleadership.

Under the title Repeating the mistakes of the first wave is not an option, the article echoes the lie that the pandemic took Canadian authorities by surprise and that their catastrophic handling of the crisis is simply due to mistakes. In reality, it is the result of a deliberate policy of putting profit before human lives.

For years, the various levels of government in Canada and Quebec ignored the repeated warnings of public health experts, epidemiologists and other scientists about the dangers from, and growing risk of, a global pandemic, and continued and intensified the budget cuts that have ravaged the health care system for decades. This was all the more criminal given that outside of East Asia, Canada was the country to experience the worst outbreak of the 2002-3 SARS epidemic, thereby exposing the devastating consequences of austerity and health care privatizations

For two critical months after the novel coronavirus had been identified at the beginning of 2020 as a major health threat, the federal Liberal and provincial governments did nothing to protect the population and front-line health care workers. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global health emergency on January 31 for the coronavirus, the federal Liberal government waited until March 10 to even request the provinces to identify potential shortages of key medical supplies, such as ventilators and PPE.

In their Le Devoir column, Begley and the other FSSS-CSN officials attempt to sow illusions in the CNESST (Quebecs Health and Safety Commission), calling on it to force employers to increase protective measures at work. The CNESST is an integral part of the capitalist state. Its role is to protect employers from heavy lawsuits in the event of workplace accidents, and provide injured and even permanently maimed workers with meagre compensation. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the CNESST has rejected the vast majority of complaints from workers who have invoked their right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions. Half of its board of directors is made up of senior union officials, such as CSN (Confederation of National Trades Unions) Vice President Caroline Senneville and QFL (Quebec Federation of Labour) President Daniel Boyer.

Begleys letter also promotes the lie that the CAQ government, which combines anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim chauvinism with an agenda of privatization and austerity, can be relied on, or at least pressured into, prioritizing working peoples lives and livelihoods over the profits of Quebecs capitalist elite. The government, public health authorities and CNESST must take responsibility, declares Begley.

Begley makes no specific demands to address workers concernsnot even for the provision of N95 masks and other vital PPE to all hospital and CHSLD workers, or for the lifting of the emergency decrees under which the government, in the name of fighting COVID-19, has given itself the power to override all collective agreements in the health care sector and effectively conscript workers.

This only underscores that the unions will not lift a finger to protect the workers they purport to represent in the face of a pandemic that has already killed almost 9,000 people in Canada, including 5,695 in Quebec; infected more than 13,500 Quebec health care workers; and caused a global health, economic and social disaster.

Instead, Quebecs unionsand this is as true for the QFL and CSQ (Centrale des syndicats du Qubec) as it is for the CSN intend to continue and deepen the policy of close collaboration with the CAQ government that they have followed since the beginning of the pandemic.

The unions immediate response to the eruption of COVID-19 in Quebec was to proclaim their readiness to work closely with the government, and agree to an indefinite suspension of negotiations to renew collective agreements for 550,000 Quebec public sector workers. Later, when the government reversed course, on the calculation it could exploit the crisis to impose further contractual rollbacks, the unions agreed to work toward three-year interim agreements in which all questions pertaining to staffing, workloads and work rules are set aside, thereby locking in the existing ruinous working conditions for a further three years. For the past four months, the unions have kept their members in the dark, while they negotiate behind closed doors with the CAQ government on this basis.

In his article, Begley did not so much as mention the ministerial emergency orders (decrees) the government has used to reorganize workplace tasks, eliminate summer vacations, and otherwise abrogate health workers rights. That is because the unions have no intention of opposing, let alone organizing defiance of these orders, just as they have done nothing against the steady deterioration in working conditions over the past decades and the repeated use, under Liberal and Parti Quebecois governments, of emergency anti-strike laws to impose concession contracts.

Canadas union leaders have backed Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government in its bailing out of big business and the financial aristocracy with hundreds of billions of dollars, while providing working people who have lost their jobs and income because of the pandemic with a mere $2,000 per month. The unions are also supporting the reckless back-to-work campaign being mounted by all levels of government even as the pandemic continues to spread.

The treacherous role that the unions have played during the pandemic is the continuation of their decades-long suppression of the class struggle. Since the 1980s, they have systematically isolated and sabotaged workers struggles, while politically tying them to pro-austerity and pro-war parties, from the Parti Quebecois, Bloc Quebecois and Trudeaus Liberals, to the NDP.

With the pro-capitalist unions unable and unwilling to defend their interests, health care workers must take matters into their own hands to protect their own health and lives and those of the public. The fight against a resurgence of the deadly COVID-19 virus depends on workers own initiativethe formation of workplace safety committees, entirely independent of the unions.

These rank-and-file committees must establish and enforce measures to protect workers, patients and their families in health care facilities (including ensuring adequate PPE and staffing levels and humane scheduling) on the basis of what is necessary from the standpoint of health and safetynot what the government and management claim is financially affordable. They must demand a massive reinvestment of resources in health care and the protection of all workers from the economic consequences of the pandemic as part of a broader political struggle for a workers government committed to socialist policies.

Through these committees, health care workers will be able to forge close ties with working people throughout the public sector and industrynot only in Quebec, but in the rest of Canada, the US and internationallywho are facing the same big business assault on jobs, working conditions and their lives.

We urge workers who want to establish such rank-and-file health and safety committees to contact the World Socialist Web Site.

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Unions' big lie to Quebec health care workers battling the pandemic: The government will protect you - WSWS

A 65-year-old couple retiring this year should expect to spend about $295,000 on health care costs alone in retirement but quite frankly, that estimate is conservative.

The figure, calculated by Fidelity Investments as part of its annual Health Care Cost Estimate, includes Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D premiums and deductibles, but it does not include over-the-counter medications, vitamin supplements and glasses. Long-term care insurance is also not included, which on its own could be an additional thousands of dollars a month. (Fidelity also didnt take COVID-19 or related costs into account when modeling its health care cost estimates.)

Long-term care insurance covers the expenses the elderly may face when theyre no longer able to conduct certain regular activities (such as bathing or feeding) or when they need to live in a nursing home or assisted living facility. The expense was not included in Fidelitys calculation because of the sheer fluctuation in prices and variables necessary to determine the proper coverage plan, said Hope Manion, chief health and welfare actuary and senior vice president of Fidelity Workplace Consulting. To try to predict what long-term care expenses you may need is tricky and depends on the individual, she said.

See: Living in retirement during COVID-19? How to keep your cool

Some people may want to enroll in long-term care insurance, especially if they have a family history of dementia or other debilitating illnesses. The cost for coverage rises the closer someone is to retirement age, which is why Manion said people in their 40s and early 50s may want to look into plans now. The average cost of living in a semiprivate room in a nursing home in the U.S. was $6,844 a month in 2016, or $7,698 a month for a private room, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A one-bedroom unit in an assisted living facility was $3,628 a month. The cost for a health aide was $20.50 an hour.

Read: Choosing an HSA can save you money now, and make you even more later

Even without long-term care expenses, however, health-care costs are constantly increasing and future retirees will need to take that rise into account when saving and planning for their futures. The 2020 estimate of $295,000 is a 3.5% increase from last year alone, and an 18% increase from 2010. A single woman retiring at 65 in 2020 can expect to pay around $155,000 for health care during her retirement while a man at the same age may pay $140,000. This is separate from the money theyll need to pay for housing, groceries, any travel or leisure or potential inheritances they leave their loved ones (if they can or decide to do so).

Read: 5 things to know about health care in retirement

If youre thinking about your portfolio and saving strategy, you want to make sure you can take $300,000 of that depending on who you are and if youre single, half that and then look at whether or not you can live on what you saved aside from that, Manion said.

Also see: This is how much you need for retirement and how COVID-19 will change that

Along with savings strategies, Americans fortunate to have health benefits through an employer should review their offerings during open enrollment later this year. A fourth of companies said they changed employee health benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, but 79% of employees said they dont intend to spend any extra time sorting through their options.

Its a great time for employees to be digging in, Manion said. During open enrollment, employees can see if they have a Health Savings Account available to them, which offers triple-tax benefits but can be unaffordable to some participants because of its high deductibles. They should also review deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and what might be the impact of a major life event that occurred in 2020, such as a new baby or marriage.

There may also be benefits employees did not know existed or did not have much use for before, such as telemedicine, meditation services and wellness programs. With such a stressful and volatile year, some people and their workplaces are becoming more open to talking about mental health.

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Health care will cost this much in retirement but probably even more - MarketWatch

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --March of Dimes, the leader in the fight for the health of all moms and babies, and longtime partner Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc., today announced a $1.1 million grant with their latest plans to tackle America's maternal and infant health crisis, which is particularly devastating for communities of color. The partnership aims to close the health equity gap by addressing the racial disparities and social determinants of health that have disproportionally impacted Black mothers who are more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes and have premature babies compared to all other women.

The new grant will support programs in 16 states and Washington D.C with a core component of the grant focusing on health equity partnerships with more than 20 hospitals, which includes Breaking Through Implicit Bias in Maternal Healthcare training. According to the 2003 National Academies for Science, Engineering and Medicine, "racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive a lower quality of healthcare than non-minorities, even when access-related factors, such as patients' insurance status and income, are controlled." In response, March of Dimes developed this training, in collaboration with Quality Interactions, to improve patient-provider communications and treatment decisions, contributing to improved quality of care at a critical intervention point. The course provides an overview of implicit bias, its impact on the maternal infant health crisis, history of structural racism in the United States, strategies for providers to both mitigate racial bias in maternity care and to commit to a culture of equity.

The grant will also support programs for moms and babies, such as Supportive Pregnancy Care and interconception care. Through Supportive Pregnancy Care, pregnant women receive their clinical care, share support with other women at a similar stage in pregnancy, and gain knowledge and skills related to pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Interconception care programs help new moms to get information and services that promote birth spacing, smoking cessation, and mental health.

"The U.S. is in the midst of a maternal and infant health crisis, which is particularly devastating to women and babies of color. Data show that the U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations in the world for childbirth," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Chief Medical and Health Officer, Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Scientific Officer at March of Dimes. "Roughly every 12 hours a woman dies from pregnancy-related causes, and the CDC reports that 60 percent are preventable. Programs like these, supported by the Anthem Foundation, are invaluable in making a positive impact for moms and babies."

In the U.S. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causesi and Black babies are twice as likely to die before their first birthdaysii compared to their White counterparts. Systemic racial injustice has affected not only health care, but also social determinants of health, such as access to food, education, housing and jobs. These factors, together with the direct experience of racial discrimination and unequal treatment, have built a health equity gap that is directly and negatively impacting moms and babies of color.

"Anthem and its Foundation continue to lead with our commitment to improving lives and communities across our nation," said Razia Hashmi, MD, MPH, Vice President for Commercial Clinical Operations at Anthem. "For over 10 years, our partnership with March of Dimes has provided over 47,000 individuals with access to care. We are working tirelessly to create enduring change in communities across the country, and addressing the factors driving disparities in our health system and in society as a whole."

Over the past decade, Anthem Foundation has contributed close to $8 million to support March of Dimes programs aimed at reducing premature birth across the country. These programs have had a significant impact with only 7.3 percent of participants in group prenatal care delivering prematurely, compared to a national average of 10 percent.

About March of DimesMarch of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. We support research, lead programs and provide education and advocacy so that every baby can have the best possible start. Building on a successful 80-year legacy of impact and innovation, we empower every mom and every family. Visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org for more information. Visit shareyourstory.org for comfort and support. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

About Anthem FoundationThe Anthem Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc. and through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes the organization's commitment to improving lives and communities. Through strategic partnerships and programs, the Foundation addresses the social drivers that will help create a healthier generation of Americans in communities that Anthem, Inc. and its affiliated health plans serve. The Foundation focuses its funding on critical initiatives that make up its Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets: maternal health, diabetes prevention, cancer prevention, heart health and healthy, active lifestyles, behavioral health efforts and programs that benefit people with disabilities. The Foundation also coordinates the company's year-round Dollars for Dollars program which provides a 100 percent match of associates' donations, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. To learn more about the Anthem Foundation, please visit http://www.anthem.foundation and its blog at https://medium.com/anthemfoundation.

i [Petersen EE, Davis NL, Goodman D, et al. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Pregnancy-Related Deaths-United States, 2007-2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68(35):762765.]ii [Ely DM, Driscoll AK. Infant mortality in the United States, 2017: Data from the period linked birth/infant death file. National Vital Statistics Reports, vol 68 no 10. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019.]

SOURCE March of Dimes

http://www.marchofdimes.org

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Anthem Foundation and March of Dimes Address Health Inequity in Maternal Healthcare - PRNewswire

A major tenant at the new Center for Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood has received $67 million in COVID-19 money from the taxpayer-funded relief program.

The $67 million received by Florida Cancer Specialists makes it the largest recipient of Coronavirus relief funding in the Sunshine State.

Center For Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood

The money comes at a time when Florida Cancer Specialists continues to increase its market share in Floridas Friendliest Hometown. Florida Cancer Specialists is a headline tenant at the 240,000 square-foot state of the art healthcare facility, the Center for Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood. Gov. Rick Scott was the guest of honor in 2018 when Florida Cancer Specialists broke ground at Brownwood.

Gov. Rick Scott was the guest of honor in 2018 when Florida Cancer Specialists broke ground at Brownwood.

Florida Cancer Specialists has three other locations in The Villages.

Earlier this year, Florida Cancer Specialists agreed to pay a $100 million fine after admitting in federal court that it had worked with unnamed co-conspirators to limit cancer treatment options for patients. You can read the complete deferred prosecution agreement to which Florida Cancer Specialists agreed at this link: FLORIDA CANCER SPECIALISTS DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT

A $20 million state fine was also leveled against Florida Cancer Specialists which is based in Fort Myers.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has vowed that the $67 million in federal COVID-19 relief will not be used to pay the state fine.

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Tenant at Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood received $67 million in COVID-19 money - Villages-News