Published 5:40 pm Tuesday, November 26, 2024 By Associated Press WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The costly proposal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services immediately sets the stage for a showdown between the powerful pharmaceutical industry and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken opponent of the weight-loss drugs who, as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, could block the measure. While the rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some have labeled them miracle drugs, it would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. “It’s a good day for anyone who suffers from obesity,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told The Associated Press in an interview. “It’s a game changer for Americans who can’t afford these drugs otherwise.” The rule would not be finalized until January, days after Trump takes office. A bipartisan coalition of congressional members has lobbied for the drugs to be covered by Medicare, saying it could save the government from spending billions of dollars on treating chronic ailments that stem from obesity. While it’s unclear where Trump himself stands on coverage of the weight-loss drugs, his allies and Cabinet picks who have vowed to cut government spending could balk at the upfront price tag. Under the proposal, only those who are considered obese — someone who has a body mass index of 30 or higher — would qualify for coverage. Some people may already get coverage of the drugs through Medicare or Medicaid, if they have diabetes or are at risk for stroke or heart disease. Becerra estimated that an additional 3.5 million people on Medicare and 4 million on Medicaid could qualify for coverage of the drugs. But research suggests far more people might qualify, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimating roughly 28 million people on Medicaid are considered obese. Medicare has been barred from offering the drugs under a decades-old law that prohibits the government-backed insurance program from covering weight-loss products. The rule proposed by the Biden administration, however, would recognize obesity as a disease that can be treated with the help of the drugs. The anti-obesity drug market has expanded significantly in recent years, with the Food and Drug Administration approving a new class of weekly injectables like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound to treat obesity. People can lose as much as 15% to 25% of their body weight on the drugs, which imitate the hormones that regulate appetites by communicating fullness between the gut and brain when people eat. The cost of the drugs has largely limited them to the wealthy, including celebrities who boast of their benefits. A monthly supply of Wegovy rings up at $1,300 and Zepbound will put you out $1,000. Shortages of the drugs have also limited the supplies. Kennedy, who as Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary is subject to Senate confirmation, has railed against the drugs’ popularity. In speeches and on social media, he’s said the U.S. should not cover the drugs through Medicaid or Medicare. Instead, he supports a broad expansion of coverage for healthier foods and gym memberships. “For half the price of Ozempic, we could purchase regeneratively raised, organic food for every American, three meals a day and a gym membership, for every obese American,” Kennedy said to a group of federal lawmakers during a roundtable earlier this year. Ozempic is a diabetes drug that can stimulate weight loss.
Mumbai, Nov 30 (IANS): Congress leader Bhai Jagtap has defended his controversial remarks about the Election Commission of India (ECI), which sparked a major political controversy. Jagtap, who referred to the ECI as 'dog' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has refused to back down, asserting "his statement reflects the sentiments of crores of people". Backing his remarks, Jagtap -- a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, told IANS: "I am firm on my statement. This is not just Bhai Jagtap’s statement, but the sentiments of crores of people." He accused the ECI of undermining democracy and creating confusion in voters' minds, particularly after the Maharashtra Assembly election results. "The Election Commission is supposed to strengthen our democracy, not cause doubts," Jagtap added, questioning why the ECI did not act on alleged violations such as BJP leader Ram Shinde's comments on "involvement of money in the electoral process". He also raised concerns over the ECI's decision to erase Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) data and conduct mock polling, urging the poll body to address these issues. Bhai Jagtap also responded to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks at the Congress Working Committee meeting about the party's 'below-expectation' performance, wherein Kharge questioned the over-reliance on national leaders and urged party workers to focus more on local issues. Jagtap agreed with Kharge, saying: "What he said is true. Every political party needs to evaluate itself for improvement. If both Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi feel this way, it’s important that we address our weaknesses." On the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision not to play in Pakistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy, Jagtap, a "former cricketer" himself, insisted that sports should not be politicised. "It's a BCCI decision, and they know best about it."
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EDMONTON - Alberta election officials say they are working to get the word out as they deal with a Canada Post strike ahead of a Christmas-week byelection in Lethbridge-West. Because of the postal workers’ strike, Elections Alberta cannot send “Where to Vote” cards to voters, and it says special mail-in ballots must be shipped through a courier service or dropped off in person ahead of the Dec. 18 vote. The office has a plan in motion to inform residents using print, radio, media and online ads, and by distributing flyers across the riding with general information. Elections Alberta spokesperson Robyn Bell said if people are concerned about weather or travel plans getting in the way, there are many ways they can vote and information is available on the Elections Alberta website or by phone. She noted byelections tend to have lower turnouts than general elections, averaging only about 31 per cent of electors over the past five years. “The Canada Post strike presents a unique challenge that we haven’t seen in recent years,” she said. The last time an Alberta byelection was held so close to Christmas was on Dec. 14, 2017. Although Bell said Elections Alberta aims to be in a state of election readiness at all times, the timing of the Lethbridge vote has been a political football. The vote will fill a vacancy created July 1 when NDP Lethbridge-West legislature member Shannon Phillips resigned. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi had repeatedly urged Premier Danielle Smith to call it once both his party and the governing United Conservative Party had their candidates in place in September. Nenshi said Smith waited until the last second to call the race because, he said, lower voter turnout only benefits the UCP. “The premier had all summer and all fall to call this election, and she decided to wait till the last second because she doesn’t want people to vote,” he told reporters in the legislature Wednesday. Smith has said that she was waiting for Nenshi - who does not have a seat in the legislature - to declare his intentions to run for a seat so that two byelections could be called at once. On Monday, Smith pointed to the de facto appointment of one of her MLAs in the interim during question period in the legislature. “We have a fantastic MLA who’s been doing double duty, representing both ridings of Lethbridge-East and Lethbridge-West, and we’re grateful for his efforts in doing so,” she said, referring to Affordability Minister Nathan Neudorf. Earlier this week, the NDP’s executive director, Garett Spelliscy, penned a letter to Alberta’s chief electoral officer on Monday calling for “robust voter outreach” to ensure turnout isn’t low. He also noted that, as of Sunday, the Elections Alberta website listed the wrong election date. Bell said that was due to a human error, and all their materials have since been updated. “It’s really unfortunate that it happened in the first place - the NDP were the ones to notify us of the mistake, and we took immediate actions to correct it,” she said. The NDP candidate is Rob Miyashiro while John Middleton-Hope is running under the UCP banner. Advance voting begins on Dec. 10. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024.Renck: Who’s ruining Thanksgiving now? The nonBolievers in Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
There was a rare sight along the Fremont Street Experience over the weekend, which is no small statement. But this qualified: Tourists clad in Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and F1 apparel descended on the entertainment promenade. “The number of F1 jerseys and jackets that were out during the day, through the weekend, was huge,” Neon City Festival CEO Jeff Victor said in a phone chat Tuesday. “The (F1) event happens at night, so they were like ‘Hey, this is pretty cool, there’s a festival going on at the same time, so our eyeballs get filled with more fun stuff during our visit.” The festival averaged 60,000 unique visitors per day and night, 180,000 total. That’s a 30-percent increase over those visiting downtown Las Vegas during F1 week in ‘23. Designed as an alternative event during the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the first Neon City Festival was staged Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout downtown. All three FSE stages and Downtown Las Vegas Event Center were in operation. Alison Wonderland, Seven Lions and TroyBoi performed at DTLVEC. Russell Dickerson, the All-American Rejects and Neon Trees took over 3rd Street Stage. That is just a sampling of the entertainment offered during the festival, which also presented ample Vegas F&B offerings, art installations, by Area15, and fireworks. Victor is also vice president of operations of Circa Hospitality Group. The company is co-owned by Derek Stevens, a leading visionary behind Neon City Festival. All downtown properties have been on board as partners. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority contributed at $1 million grant to kick off the event. The FSE partner hotels added about $500K, revenue produced by the SlotZilla zipline attraction inside the FSE canopy. NCF was created to help downtown hotels return business to at least average weekend levels during F1. “Last year was just so bad, and all we wanted the festival to do in year one was get us back to kind of normal, a normal weekend level,” Victor said. “It it did that, and a little more.” The exec said business at Circa’s departments were up anywhere from 20 to 35 percent over last year. Organizers have said the first NCF would be the debut of an ongoing event. The festival is planned to run as long as F1 is held in Vegas. “Just F1 can’t fill this town, and I don’t say that critically,” Victor said. “NASCAR alone couldn’t fill this town, with similar numbers. We usually don’t have weekends with just one thing going on. When NASCAR is here, there are many other things going on ... That’s how you fill up 150,000-plus rooms.” And, draw 180,00o to the heart of Las Vegas. Top out Carrot Top has called off his shows after his Dec. 27 performance, returning Jan. 27. Why? “Sex-change operation,” the entertainer born Scott Thompson texted Wednesday. “If you wanna see me perform still as a dude, make sure you see me soon.” A bunch of laughing emojis accompanied that text. For real, he said “just taking an extra week off from my normal January break. All is good.” Tease this ... A Las Vegas producer and multi-talented performer and TV-show host are working together on a fun, new production designed for Vegas. Early stages. Huge potential. Your VegasVille Moment I pulled into the City of Las Vegas parking garage for the Carolyn and Oscar Goodman mayoral sculpture and happened upon a gentleman parked on the same floor: Richard Bryan , the former Democratic governor of Nevada (1983-1989) and ex-U.S. Senator (1989-2001). This visit was a bit of a homecoming for Bryan, to a building he doesn’t recall fondly. His family’s first Las Vegas home was on 3rd Street and Lewis Avenue, just to the north of today’s City Hall annex. “It was a dreadful, two-story apartment,” said Bryan, who lived in the dwelling from age 4 1/2 to 6. “It wasn’t like we were in danger of freezing to death or anything, but even at age 4 I knew it was dreadful.” The Bryans moved to a home in the Huntridge neighborhood, a 1,000-square-foot home he said was “like a mansion, in the nicest subdivision in town.” That was in October 1943, when Huntridge Theater was being built. The theater was finished a year later, and little Richard went to his first matinee movie (he remembers it being a Laurel & Hardy flick), which he thought cost 14 cents. It was actually 25 cents. “So I had to panhandle, one penny at a time, to get into this movie,” Bryan said. “I did it. I got the 25 cents. But I hated to raise money then, and I hated all my entire political career. I still do.” Cool Hang Alert Sax great Jimmy Carpenter plays the OG Sand Dollar Lounge on Polaris and Spring Mountain at 10 p.m. Friday. Jimmy always has the blues, and you will too. No cover. And as always, try the pizza. John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts . Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram. Recap of inaugural Neon City Festival Performances. Four stages throughout downtown hosted musical performances. Headliners and performances included: Day One: American Mile, Bubba Sparxxx, Cassadee Pope, Charlotte Sands, Dr. Fresch, Kaleido, Landon Cube, lovelytheband, NO PROOF, Pepe Orro, Pertinence and 408. Day Two: Adelita's Way, Ekoh, Filter, Krewella, Lit, Luniz, Pepe Orro, Plain White T's, The Swamp Coolers with Sara Beth, Vampires Everywhere, Violin on Fire and 24HRS. Day Three : Anabel Englund, Beauty School Dropout, elijah, Good RZN, Kaleido, Pepe Orro, Pure Sport, Makeout, Mr. Carmack, Restless Road, $ERIOU$LY?!, Swaylo, The Kruse Brothers, Thus Love, and Twista. Local Artistry: Neon City Festival's art programming was curated by Area15. Activations included neon-lit artwork by Aliume at Wink World: Portals Into The Infinite; an immersive activation by Illuminarium; and a photo opportunity with an art car creation from Las Vegas artist Henry Chang. Attendees received a sneak peek at two new attractions opening at Area15's Superplastic's Dopeameme, The Dopeameme Institute for Pleasure Research and the John Wick Experience. Pop-up shops: Festivalgoers perused a variety of pop-up shops and booths, such as Recycled Propaganda – with artwork aimed at encouraging critical thought; Tristan Shearer – a photographer exploring collodion photography; Essence Permanent Jewelry – a permanent jewelry activation; Sara Godbout – a confidence coach booth; Reapers Grip – with skateboard merch and accessories; 6k Industries – featuring jewelry, apparel, macrame and crochet; Krystal Kartel – selling jewelry and decorations made from healing crystals; House of Bills – with handmade arts & crafts; Mooncraft Gifts – featuring unique, custom jewelry; Pinup Ally – with alt fashion apparel; and many more. Culinary Experiences: Guests sampled bites from a diverse lineup of local vendors across the festival grounds. Here's the Beef, Medellin Empanadas, Super Chill, Taco Ave. and Truk n Yaki offered bold flavors at Fremont Street Experience; as Chī Asian Kitchen, Custom Pizza Truck, El Fuego Picante, Empanada Factory, Joel's Chophouse, Ole Manny's Seafood Shack, SoCal Churro, Sushito Sushi & Poke Bowl, Valery's Great Food and Wings on Wheels set up their mobile kitchens at Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC). Many enjoyed the Omaha Steaks Culinary Experience located at the DLVEC, featuring an all-you-can-eat menu including whiskey-grilled steak, filet mignon burger, shrimp ceviche and more. Daily Fireworks . A fireworks display was fired from the top of the Plaza.
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Bird flu has been detected in a backyard chicken flock in Maricopa County, following a similar outbreak earlier this month, the Arizona Department of Public Health and Arizona Department of Agriculture said in a news release Monday. The infected birds were discovered after the owner reported symptoms through the Sick Bird Hotline, state health officials said. Samples from the affected flock were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory for analysis, which confirmed the presence of the virus on Nov. 21. State officials have placed the affected area under quarantine and began steps to eliminate the virus, they said. The incident follows a similar outbreak earlier this month in Pinal County, where the virus was detected at a commercial poultry farm on Nov. 11, state health officials said at the time. They emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low; however, those working directly with infected animals face a greater risk of getting sick. Nicole Witt, Assistant Director of Preparedness at the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), stated in an email to NTD: “ADHS is collaborating with AZDA and local health departments in the response to avian influenza and will continue to monitor influenza activity in Arizona in collaboration with local health departments. While the risk to the general public remains low, workers and individuals that may be at risk for exposure to avian influenza should follow public health guidance.” The current bird flu outbreak, which began in 2022, has affected over 108 million birds nationwide, according to the CDC. The virus has also been detected in dairy cattle across 15 states since March, with a case in a pig reported last month for the first time. Arizona officials urge chicken owners to report any signs of illness in their flocks immediately. The Sick Bird Hotline (1-866-536-7593) is available for reporting suspected cases. Additionally, owners can contact their local cooperative extension office, veterinarian, or the State Veterinarian for assistance. For cases of illness in wild birds, the Arizona Game and Fish Department should be notified.