Author: Wisconsin Examiner

More than half of Wisconsin residents, including people with insurance coverage, delayed or decided to forgo health care because of the cost, according to survey results that were recently published. Some skipped a recommended medical test or treatment. Some cut pills in half, skipped doses of a prescribed medicine or decided not to fill a prescription, all out of concern they could not afford the price of their medication, according to Beth Beaudin-Seiler of Altarum, a nonprofit health care research and analysis firm. People who were less well-off were more likely to report trouble affording health care, said Beaudin-Seiler,...

As the riot of gun violence in America produces fresh massacres by the day, firearm fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge the blood on their hands, and their suicidal stance in the face of escalating carnage is that more guns are the answer. But it is worse than that. Take a close look at the arguments that gun extremists advance and a dark truth emerges. They repeatedly put defense against tyranny at the center of their claim to unfettered access to firearms. In the almost 232 years since the ratification of the Second Amendment, individual gun owners have had no substantial...

Have you heard about the national personal care shortage? If you work in the aging and disability fields or have a friend or loved one who relies on these services daily, I’m sure you have. But most people don’t know about the current crisis. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for home health and personal care aides is expected to grow by 33% from 2020 to 2030. With approximately 15 million people who rely on personal care to carry out activities in their daily life, the current shortage of care workers will only get more pronounced....

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic exposure law Congress passed earlier this year. The day after President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in August, veterans set an all-time record for benefits claims filed online and more than 136,000 have applied for benefits under the toxic exposure law as of mid-November. The VA expects the number of veterans and surviving family members applying could reach more...

An aging electric grid, fossil fuel power plant retirements and a massive renewable electricity buildout are all contributing to a boom in transmission and distribution wire projects by electric utilities across the country. In 2020, investor-owned electric utilities spent $25 billion on transmission, up from $23.7 billion in 2019, figures that the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric companies, expected to only grow going forward. Ohio-based American Electric Power, which is one of the nation’s largest electric companies and which operates the largest transmission system in the country (serving 5.5 million customers in 11 states) said last year...