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Biden bill to help millions escape higher health care costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people in the United States will be spared from big increases in health care costs next year after President Joe Biden signed legislation extending generous subsidies for those who buy plans through federal and state marketplaces. The sweeping climate, tax and health care bill sets aside $70 billion over the next three years to keep out-of-pocket premium costs low for roughly 13 million people, just before the reduced prices were set to expire in a year beset by record-high inflation. As the calendar pushed closer to the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, ...

Vaccination is easy step to make schools safe

Now is the time to make sure your child is up to date on all recommended vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccine. Getting vaccinated is an important tool to keep our students safe and healthy while they are in school. The pandemic has caused a number of disruptions in people’s lives, and unfortunately many children have fallen behind on getting recommended vaccines. Children and teens can get COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines they need at the same visit. If your child is headed off to a college, university, or other institution of higher education this fall, make sure they are up to ...

Protect yourself, others from flu, COVID-19

MADELIA — While the coronavirus continues to be on everyone’s mind, it is still important to protect yourself from the seasonal flu by getting your annual flu shot. This year, Madelia Health is encouraging people to get a flu shot sooner rather than later. Since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu, people should get a flu vaccine before flu viruses begins spreading in the community. Flu vaccinations are now available at the clinics in Madelia, Truman and Lake Crystal, with no appointment necessary, ...

Monkeypox can spread to pet dogs, doctors report

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials are warning people who are infected with monkeypox to stay away from household pets, since the animals could be at risk of catching the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for months has had the advice in place as monkeypox spreads in the U.S. But it gained new attention after a report from France, published last week in the medical journal Lancet, about an Italian greyhound that caught the virus. The dog belongs to a couple who said they sleep alongside the animal. The two men were infected with monkeypox after having sex with other ...

London kids to be offered polio shot after more virus found

LONDON (AP) — Children ages 1-9 in London were made eligible for booster doses of a polio vaccine Wednesday after British health authorities reported finding evidence the virus has spread in multiple areas of the city but found no cases of the paralytic disease in people. Britain's Health Security Agency said it detected viruses derived from the oral polio vaccine in the sewage water of eight London boroughs. The agency's analysis of the virus samples suggested "transmission has gone beyond a close network of a few individuals." The agency said it had not located anyone infected ...

Biden signs ‘burn pits’ help for vets; a personal win, too

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, whose elder son Beau died of cancer years after deploying to Iraq, signed legislation on Wednesday expanding federal health care services for millions of veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from huge "burn pits." "We owe you," Biden said. "You're the backbone. You're the steel. You're the sinew. You're the very fiber that makes this country what it is." The law, which Biden described as long overdue, caps a years-long battle to ensure treatment for chronic illnesses that veterans have blamed on burn pits, which ...