Read About The Tarbaby Story under the Category: About the Tarbaby Blog
Author: John Hanno
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.
Nordstrom closes San Francisco store on grim note amid naked mannequins, empty display cases
Jessica Garrison – August 27, 2023
Nordstrom’s flagship store at the San Francisco Centre mall has closed its doors. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Nordstrom’s San Francisco flagship, which for decades occupied crucial real estate at the San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street, closed its doors Sunday.
The last days of the high-end store known for its shoes and its service were grim; ABC7 on a recent visit captured images of empty display cases and stacks of naked mannequins and interviewed an employee — whose worn black sneakers were the only part of him in the shot to protect his identity — speaking darkly about crime in the city’s once-vibrant shopping district.
During the store’s last hours on Sunday afternoon, the pattern appeared to break. An employee answering the phone said they were too busy with customers to talk.
The store’s closing has prompted yet another round of hand-wringing about the future of downtown San Francisco. Since the pandemic sent tech workers home by the thousands, with some never to return, foot traffic in the area has plummeted. Stores have closed in droves. The retail vacancy rate in the city was 6% in the first quarter of 2023, the highest in the city since 2006, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm.
In announcing the closure of Nordstrom this spring, Jamie Nordstrom, the company’s chief stores officer, said “the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully.”
But critics of San Francisco’s political leaders have jumped on the closure as yet another result of the city’s progressive Democratic leadership.
Incidentally, the headquarters of X are just a few blocks west of the now-shuttered Nordstrom, and Chief Executive Elon Musk recently tweeted that he planned to stay. He took a dig at the city in making the announcement, though.
“The city is in a doom spiral, with one company after another left or leaving,” he said. “We will not. … San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”
Though San Francisco’s mayor, London Breed, has frequently been at odds with Musk in recent months, on this she expressed a similar sentiment.
After Nordstrom announced its closure in May, Breed held a news conference in Union Square to announce funding to revitalize some streets in the area.
Earlier this month, she also announced that the city was studying the idea of turning the struggling mall that Nordstrom is abandoning into a soccer stadium.
“We know we need to combat the issues around crime and public safety and affordability and transportation,” Breed told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But I am optimistic about the future, because what we are seeing in San Francisco is something like nothing else before. We have the possibility to be whatever we want to be.”
Through Philanthropy and Activism, Bob Barker Fought Animal Cruelty
Chris Cameron – August 27, 2023
Bob Barker joins an anti-fur demonstration outside Fred the Furrier, a store on Fifth Avenue in New York on Nov. 25, 1988. (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)
Bob Barker, the longtime host of television game show “The Price Is Right” who died Saturday, made animal welfare advocacy a hallmark both of his career in show business and his life after retirement.
Over decades as the host of the longest-running game show in American television history, Barker, beginning in the 1980s, used his bully pulpit to remind millions of viewers to “help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered.”
In one instance in 1996, he powered through his announcement even as an excited contestant clung at his arm, unable to contain her joy at having just won $51,676, or $99,602 when adjusted for inflation.
He continued that tradition for more than 20 years, until his very last show on June 15, 2007.
“There are just too many cats and dogs being born,” he explained in an interview with The New York Times in 2004. “Animals are being euthanized by the millions simply because there are not enough homes for them. In the United States, there is a dog or cat euthanized every 6.5 seconds.”
Barker supported a wide range of efforts to fight what activists saw as rampant animal cruelty in American society.
As one of the most prominent allies of the movement in Hollywood, he became a strict vegetarian, stopped dyeing his hair because the products were tested on animals and quit his job as host of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants because their organizers refused to remove fur coats from the prize packages.
“I am so proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose the cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry,” Nancy Burnet, a fellow animal welfare activist who had been overseeing his care, said in a statement Saturday.
Barker put $25 million into founding the DJ&T Foundation, which finances clinics that specialize in spaying and neutering. The foundation was named after Barker’s wife, Dorothy Jo, and his mother, Matilda Valandra, who was known as Tilly.
Estimates show that the number of dogs and cats euthanized in shelters has been reduced to a fraction of what it was in the 1990s, at least partially attributable to “the drive to sterilize pet dogs and cats,” according to a 2018 study.
Barker also donated $5 million to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society at the urging of its founder Paul Watson, who used the money to buy a ship named for Barker for use in the organization’s anti-whaling campaigns.
“He said he thought he could put the Japanese whaling fleet out of business if he had $5 million,” Barker said of Watson in an interview with The Associated Press. “I said, ‘I think you do have the skills to do that, and I have $5 million, so let’s get it on.’”
Ingrid Newkirk, the president of animal rights group PETA, said in a statement Saturday that Barker had a “profound commitment to making the world a kinder place.”
Newkirk added, “To us — and to so many animals around the world — Bob will always be a national animal rights treasure.”
Barker’s efforts were born from a lifelong affinity for animals.
“I always had a pack of dogs with me,” he said in 2004, recalling his upbringing in the small town of Mission on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. “There were a lot of dogs in Mission. Not many people, but a lot of dogs.”
His dedication to opposing animal cruelty continued well into his retirement, as Barker continued to donate to organizations such as PETA, which named its West Coast headquarters in Los Angeles for Barker after he made a $2.5 million donation in 2012 for renovations.
Shocked customer outraged by company’s insensitive ‘hurricane sale’ offer: ‘Why would someone order [that]?’
Leo Collis – August 27, 2023
Hurricane Hilary has been causing chaos since forming off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, submerging the town of Santa Rosalia in Mexico and leading many residents in California to evacuate their homes.
But one business saw this as an opportunity to push a “hurricane sale,” and customers were shocked at the brazen attempt to turn the disaster into profit.
In a post on Reddit, one user screenshotted an email app notification after receiving a message from Cromulent Records in California that promised 33% off LPs since SoCal customers were “trapped in the house.”
Photo Credit: u/jmoneyawyeah / Reddit
“Trapped in the house?” one user replied. “I was trapped in a house that succumbed to rising flood waters. Being ‘trapped’ is no fun. … Stick your sale up your money grubbing a**!”
“Why would someone order something to a house that might not exist in a week,” another added.
According to the Associated Press, one person in Mexico drowned in a vehicle swept away by an overflowing stream during severe rainfall, and 850 people were evacuated from the Baja coast by Mexico’s navy as Hurricane Hilary approached.
Meanwhile, many have seen their homes and livelihoods damaged in the heavy rain and flooding.
In California, Hilary arrived August 20, bringing unprecedented rainfall to the Death Valley National Park — an area known for drought. According to CBS, the 2.2 inches of rainfall that day alone was close to the area’s annual average of 2.24 inches. It broke the previous daily rainfall record in the area of 1.7 inches.
The BBC reported nearly 26 million people in southwestern United States were under flood watch, with Hilary later classified as a Category 1 storm as it swept north.
The impact of hurricanes are likely to become more severe as global heat levels rise. According to Earth Justice, rising temperatures make hurricanes more powerful as “storm systems draw their energy from warm ocean water.”
With that in mind, reducing the extent to which planet-heating pollution is released into the atmosphere will be vital to limiting the impact of future extreme weather events.
Stool should typically look like a sausage or snake. But what your stool (poop) looks like can change from time to time. Sometimes, stool can be narrower than usual. There are various reasons why your stool may have a smaller diameter. Some causes, like constipation, might be less concerning, while others, like cancer, may be more severe. A healthcare provider can determine what is causing the change in stool shape and provide any needed treatment.
What Causes Narrow Stools?
Depending on factors like what you eat or what conditions you have, you might experience some variation in the shape of your stool.
Constipation
Constipation is a condition that makes it so that you have infrequent bowel movements, difficulty making a bowel movement, or both. The regular shape of your stool can change when you’re constipated, causing it to look narrower than usual after you strain to get it out.- ADVERTISEMENT -https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-11-1/html/r-sf-flx.html
Constipation is very common. It’s usually caused by a lack of fiber in your diet, though some medications and conditions like Parkinson’s disease can also contribute to constipation.
Producing stool that is hard, dry, and difficult to pass
Experiencing stomach bloating
Straining during a bowel movement
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a group of digestive symptoms that can cause stomach pain as well as diarrhea, constipation, or both. IBS can occur because of a problem with the movement of the intestines, an issue with the intestinal nerves, or a problem with how the brain controls intestinal functions. Even though there is an issue with the functioning of the intestines, there aren’t any structural abnormalities in your intestines.
Healthcare providers diagnose IBS from your symptoms. IBS can lead to a change in your stool’s appearance, including making it narrower than usual. Other symptoms of IBS are:
The feeling of having had an incomplete bowel movement
You may even experience symptoms that do not seem to be related to the intestines, like fatigue and difficulty sleeping.
Diverticular Disease
The lining of the intestine wall is usually smooth. When pouches develop in the wall of the intestine, it is known as diverticular disease. These small balloon-like pouches usually form from weakened areas of the intestine muscles. When the pouches become inflamed repeatedly, it can lead to scarring that narrows the inside of the intestines. The narrowing of the intestines can make it difficult for stool to come out, potentially causing narrow stools.
Changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation
Symptoms that get worse after eating and better after a bowel movement
Pain that gets worse when someone places pressure on your stomach
Symptoms that come and go or remain constant
Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer develops in the tissues of your colon or rectum. At first, you might not experience any symptoms. As the disease progresses, you might start having some symptoms. One symptom of colorectal cancer is narrowed stool. The stool can become so narrow that it is sometimes described as pencil-thin.
Anal stenosis is a rare condition that happens when the anal canal becomes narrow from scarring. This condition usually happens after surgeries hemorrhoid removal, also known as a hemorrhoidectomy, or other surgeries of the anus. Other causes of anal stenosis are chronic diarrhea, long-term laxative use, trauma, radiotherapy, tuberculosis, and other infections.
Besides narrow stools, other symptoms of anal stenosis are:
Painful bowel movements
An inability to pass stool
Bleeding with bowel movements
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Having stool that’s typically normal but occasionally narrow is not usually something to worry about. However, you’d want to see a healthcare provider if your narrow stool lasts for more than two weeks or if your stool continuously gets thinner, especially to the point that’s it’s pencil-thin.
Other signs that may indicate you should have an evaluation are:
Unexplained weight loss
Bloody stools
A feeling as though there is a mass in your rectum
No bowel movement in three days
Abdominal bloating and pain
A feeling as though your bowel isn’t emptying
If you are experiencing any concerning symptoms and have certain risk factors that make you more likely to develop colorectal cancer, it is even more critical to see a healthcare provider. These risk factors include being older, having a history of polyps, having inflammatory bowel disease, and having a family history of colon cancer.
Diagnosis
Healthcare providers usually diagnose narrow stools based on your symptoms and a physical exam. Depending on what symptoms you are experiencing and your risk factors for certain conditions, there may be a need for further diagnostic testing, like imaging scans.
Your healthcare provider may perform the following tests:
Digital rectal exam: Healthcare providers insert a gloved finger into your rectum. The purpose of this exam is so your healthcare provider can feel for any irregularities, like masses, in the area.
Complete blood cell count (CBC): A CBC is a blood test that can help detect certain conditions like infections, anemia, cancers, and diseases that affect the immune system.
Imaging tests: Some scans, like an abdominal ultrasound or an abdominal X-ray, can show intestinal problems.
Endoscopy: An endoscopy is a type of test where a healthcare provider will guide a tube with a camera on it through your intestines. There are different types of endoscopies used for which part of the body needs exploration. A flexible sigmoidoscopy can give providers a view of your rectum and lower colon while a colonoscopy can view your entire colon. The procedures can be used to check for tumors or polyps, and a biopsy can be taken from the intestines to check for cancer.
Fecal occult blood test: This test will help detect any bleeding in your intestines that the human eye can not see. It can help diagnose different intestinal disorders, such as ulcers, colitis, and colorectal cancer.
A healthcare provider may also use different criteria and charts to help classify symptoms. For instance, the Rome criteria help healthcare providers diagnose IBS. The requirements to meet the criteria include having had abdominal pain for at least one day a week in the last three months, along with two or more signs of additional symptoms that occur with abdominal pain.
Meanwhile, the Bristol stool chart is an assessment tool covering the seven different stool types. It helps healthcare providers diagnose intestinal problems such as constipation and diarrhea.
How to Get Your Stool Back to Normal
Treatment will vary based on the exact cause of your narrow-shaped stool. For example, if constipation is causing the stool change, you can try increasing your fiber intake. This can include eating whole grains, legumes, berries, apples, vegetables, and nuts. You should also drink more water to help your stool become softer. If you need additional help to relieve your constipation, talk with your healthcare provider about medications like stool softeners or laxatives.
If IBS is causing the narrow stools, you can try managing your IBS. This might include eating smaller, more frequent meals and eating meals more slowly. You can also avoid foods that cause gas and bloating, like cabbage and beans. You can consider implementing a low-FODMAP diet since the diet avoids certain carbohydrates that increase gas. Certain foods and stress can make IBS symptoms worse, so you’ll want to take note of foods or situations that induce symptoms and try to avoid them if possible. Increasing physical activity may help keep you regular too.
Diverticular disease, colorectal cancer, and anal stenosis need to be managed by a healthcare provider. Treatment would depend on which condition you have and how advanced the disease is. Diverticular disease may benefit from probiotics, fiber supplements, or anti-inflammatory medications. Colorectal cancer may require surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. Anal stenosis might need surgery.
A Quick Review
Narrow stool is not usually a concern when it happens occasionally. The temporary change in stool shape might be due to constipation or irritable bowel syndrome. If the stool stays narrow or continues to get narrower, you should contact a healthcare provider. Stool that is very thin might be a sign of colorectal cancer. Narrow stool may also be a sign of diverticular disease or anal stenosis. A healthcare provider can determine what is causing your stool to be narrow and provide proper treatment, if necessary.
China’s $10 trillion hidden debt mountain could be the ‘ticking time bomb’ that Joe Biden warned of
Joseph Wilkins – August 27, 2023
The Chinese national flag flies behind security cameras on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 2012 on the 23rd anniversary of China’s crackdown of democracy protests in Beijing.ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images
China has faced many economic problems this year, from deflation and record youth unemployment to a property crisis.
But now, an even more worrisome threat is emerging: the colossal hidden debt of China’s local governments.
Some estimates put the liabilities of China’s local financing vehicles close to $10 trillion.
For some time now, markets have been buffeted almost on a daily basis by gloomy economic news filtering out of China.
The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with a raft of economic troubles — ranging from deflation to record youth unemployment, and a deepening property crisis — and its much-anticipated post-pandemic rebound has failed to materialize.
China’s mounting economic woes prompted US President Joe Biden to call the Asian economy a “ticking time bomb”.
And now, a lesser-known, but no less ominous, economic threat is rearing its head: China’s colossal hidden-debt problem.
This mainly refers to a mountain of liabilities accumulated by the country’s local governments, mostly to fund regional infrastructure projects such as building roads and bridges. An analysis by the Chinese media outlet Caixin Global estimated the outstanding obligations of the so-called local government financing vehicles, or LGFVs, at close to a staggering $10 trillion.
The Chinese government deems such debt a form of off-the-books lending and as such, the market is opaque. Here, Insider demystifies the shadow sector and explains the significance of LGFVs to the wider Chinese economy.
What are China’s LGFVs?
These funding bodies were set up by China to facilitate financing for regional infrastructure projects. Originally established to support infrastructure projects such as highways, airports, and energy installations, the LGFVs were designed to provide funding outside of the official government constraints.
The notion of “hidden debt” was defined by China’s State Council in 2018 as any borrowing that does not form a part of on-budget government spending – in essence, off-the-books financing.
The LGFV sector has grown exponentially since the 2008 global financial crisis, when the Chinese government made efforts to ensure that the nation’s infrastructure and public services segments expand fast enough to sustain its remarkable economic growth, according to Bloomberg.
Figures from Bloomberg and the International Monetary Fund estimate the total value of LGFV debt as more than $9 trillion – not far from the Caixin assessment. The local governments’ bonds alone total at about $2 trillion, and any defaults would rock the Asian nation’s $60 trillion financial system, according to Bloomberg.
In 2023, the LGFVs’ hidden debt climbed above 50% of China’s GDP for the first time, IMF data show.
Why does this matter?
For months, China’s local administrations have struggled to turn their financing vehicles profitable – increasing pressure on the national government to prop up the ailing sector via costly interventions.
As risks tied to the sector mount, banks are unwilling to lend more, investors are turning their backs on bonds, and viable projects are harder to come by, according to several anonymous employees interviewed by Bloomberg.
As a result, the local governments have been struggling to generate enough income or raise funding to meet the costs of servicing their debt.
“The most important variable impacting China’s economic growth over the next two years will be the success or failure of local government debt restructuring,” Logan Wright, head of China markets research at Rhodium Group, told Bloomberg.
But Beijing has so far refrained from intervening in the sector, in a bid to encourage self-sufficiency.
Echoes of the property crisis
Although none of the LGFVs have actually defaulted on their debt yet, the mounting stress in the sector echoes the crisis in China’s real-estate industry, which began in 2021 and has reverberated around global markets ever since.
“A collapse in local government investment would be comparable to the economic impact of the crisis in the property market,” Wright told Bloomberg.
China’s enormous property sector accounts for about 30% of the country’s overall output. Headwinds faced by the sector include heavy debt burdens and sluggish demand for new properties. This was a contributing factor in stunting the nation’s second-quarter GDP growth, which came in at 6.3%, below forecasts of up to 7.1%.
Indeed, any turmoil originating from China’s mountainous hidden debt would send shockwaves across the global economy.
Experts are witnessing a strange new phenomenon in the demand for electric cars: ‘We call it the ‘Field of Dreams’ moment’
Leo Collis – August 27, 2023
Huge price reductions and copious availability could provide a boost to the electric vehicle market, which has already seen record sales in 2023.
Cox Automotive reported Kelley Blue Book’s findings that June’s average transaction price for a new electric vehicle ($53,438) is down 20% from a peak of $66,390 in June 2022.
Kelley Blue Book tweeted about Tesla discounts as examples of falling EV prices in June.
As noted by the Financial Times, many of the price changes trace back to Tesla’s decision to slash its prices by up to $13,000 in January. This sparked a price war among manufacturers.
With Ford making the next big move by cutting the purchase price of its Mustang Mach-E, Tesla responded by making its Model S and Model X models cheaper in March.
Ford has made further price reductions, offering savings of between $6,079 and $9,979 on seven of its F-150 Lightning models, The New York Times reported in July. NYT Business
General Motors is also among the electric vehicle manufacturers making models more affordable, with price cuts to the Bolt model announced in June.
According to Cox Automotive, nearly 300,000 new electric vehicles were sold in the United States during the second quarter of 2023. That marked a record for any quarter and a nearly 50% boost from the same time last year.
Cost reductions for the raw materials needed to make batteries for electric cars, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, have also allowed savings to be passed on to consumers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was among those to welcome the news, noting in a company earnings call that the lithium market had gone “absolutely insane there for a while.”
While there are positive signs in the electric vehicle market, supply is still far outstripping demand.
“The demand is not keeping up with production, which is the opposite story of a year ago,” Cox Automotive executive analyst Michelle Krebs told Grist. “We call it the ‘Field of Dreams’ moment. Automakers are building more, but not enough consumers have come to the field.”
But Krebs also observed that availability isn’t such a bad thing when compared to the wider market.
“A year ago, the average EV price was above the average luxury vehicle price. Today, as inventory and availability build, EV prices are moving closer to the industry average,” Krebs added.
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This all-new tiny but powerful truck proves that bigger isn’t always better: ‘A truck that actually makes sense’
Jeremiah Budin – August 27, 2023
We don’t normally think of trucks as being adorable, but one brand-new electric mini-truck from a Texas-based company is exactly that — and it’s great for the environment.
The Vanish, made by Texas-based company AYRO, is set to hit the market soon with a price of $33,990, and it’s about to embark on a statewide tour to prove its functionality and efficiency.
The AYRO Vanish most closely resembles a version of a Japanese kei truck, a type of small vehicle that is popular throughout Asia and is growing in popularity in the United States. While American-made pickup trucks currently subscribe to the “bigger is better” maxim, the increasing popularity of kei trucks shows that that is not always the case globally.
The Vanish has a hauling capacity of 1,200 pounds, nearly identical to that of a new Ford F-150 with an even longer bed. Meanwhile, AYRO says that it should have a 50% lower operating cost compared to a gas-powered pickup truck.
The truck can be configured into a flatbed, pickup bed, or food box. It will only be able to travel up to 25 miles per hour, so using it for long-distance hauls is out, but it should be more than capable of performing urban and utility work.
Electrek’s commenters were highly impressed by the tiny truck.
“Pickup trucks have gotten too big. This is a nice change,” wrote one commenter. “Those big monsters use too much fuel and are hard to maneuver and park. The trucks from the 1990s were a much better size than offerings from GM, Ford, and RAM today.”
“If the bed can carry the same loads (if not more), then hopefully it’ll make some people rethink the whole oversized pickup scenario,” wrote another. “Years ago I drove an Isuzu diesel pickup not too dissimilar to this and it could handle the loads quite nicely. Served its purpose with nothing to complain about.”
“Wow, a truck that actually makes sense!” wrote a third.
Viral video shows the shocking technique used to clear poison ivy from hiking trails: ‘[This is] really innovative’
Roberto Guerra – August 27, 2023
An Instagram Reel shows how goats are helping get rid of poison ivy along a popular forested trail.
The video was posted on the page Kut Austin (@kut_austin), which is “a community-supported public media newsroom sharing news and information on-air at 90.5 FM and online at KUT.org.”
“An army of goats is clearing poison ivy from the trails around Austin’s Lady Bird Lake,” the caption on the opening scene reads.https://www.instagram.com/p/CuupPjvpo95/embed/captioned?cr=1&v=12
The video shows an array of goats inside a forest, eating away at bushes and plants which are described in the captions as poison ivy and invasive plants.
This can apparently be an effective way of getting rid of poisonous and invasive plants, which can have adverse effects on ecosystems, like reducing biodiversity.
Herbicides are commonly used to deal with invasive and poisonous plant species, but these bring about their own problems and can be even worse for the environment than the invasive species.
There are also other natural, non-toxic ways to get rid of unwanted plants, either for your garden or for an entire forest. Among these methods are bringing in other plant species to combat the unwanted ones or simply pulling them out manually by the roots.
Bringing in animals to eat them is among the most efficient ways of taking care of the problem since they end up doing most of the work and benefit from it as well, resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship.
The Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that maintains the forested trail, came up with the idea of bringing in animals to take care of the problem.
“It’s a really innovative and creative alternative to some of the other tactics we could use to eradicate poison ivy, like controlled burns, which affect air quality, or chemicals, which affect water quality in the lake,” The Trail Conservancy’s CEO Heidi Anderson said.
Viewers of the Reel also had plenty to say.
“Through careful rotational grazing with multiple animals, it’s amazing how well an area can be maintained,” one person wrote in the comments.
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An ‘obscene’ number of kids are losing Medicaid coverage
Tami Luhby – August 26, 2023
For months, Evangelina Hernandez watched helplessly as her autistic twin sons regressed – their screaming, biting and scratching worsening. The Wichita, Kansas, resident couldn’t afford the $3,000 monthly tab for their 10 prescriptions or their doctor visits without Medicaid.
The toddlers, along with three of their sisters, lost their health insurance in May, swept up in the state’s eligibility review of all its Medicaid enrollees. Hernandez said she only received the renewal packet a day before it was due and mailed it back right away. She also called KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program, and filled out another application over the phone, certain that the kids remained eligible.
Yet, every time she inquired about the children’s coverage, she was told the renewal was still being processed. And though her partner works for an airplane manufacturer, the family can’t afford the health insurance plan offered by his employer.
“My kids are suffering. You can see it,” said Hernandez, who along with her infant daughter, remained on Medicaid thanks to coverage provisions for low-income, postpartum mothers and babies. “The medication they’re on, I can’t afford it.”
Just over a week ago, Hernandez got the call she had been waiting for: The kids’ coverage was reinstated. However, the pharmacy told her it could not immediately fill her sons’ prescriptions because it had to get their new enrollee information – and even then, she could only pick up the medication for one son because there were errors in her other son’s file.
The delays have consequences. Once they start taking the medications again, it will take about a month before their behavior starts to improve, she said.
All across the US, hundreds of thousands of children are being kicked off of Medicaid, even though experts say the vast majority continue to qualify. They are among the more than 87 million people in Medicaid and several million more in the Children’s Health Insurance Program who are having their eligibility checked and are facing possible termination of coverage for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
States regained the ability to start winnowing their Medicaid rolls of residents whom they deem no longer qualify on April 1, when a pandemic relief program expired. Since then, at least 5.4 million people have lost their benefits, according to KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Not every state breaks down their terminations by age. But in the 15 states that do, at least 1.1 million youngsters have been dropped, according to KFF. That includes Texas, where nearly half a million non-disabled children lost coverage between April and the end of July, accounting for 81% of the total disenrolled. In Kansas, Idaho and Missouri, kids make up at least half of those losing benefits.
As many as 6.7 million children are at risk of having their benefits terminated during the so-called unwinding process, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. Roughly three-quarters of them are expected to remain eligible for Medicaid but will likely lose coverage because of administrative issues, such as their parents not submitting the necessary paperwork or errors made by state Medicaid agencies.
This could lead to a doubling of the uninsured rate among children, said Joan Alker, the center’s executive director, noting that Medicaid covers about half of kids in the US.
“Children have an incredible amount at stake here,” she said. “We continue to be extremely worried as we see what’s happening around the country.”
Overall, nearly three-quarters of adults and children who have lost coverage were dropped for so-called procedural reasons, according to KFF. This typically happens when enrollees do not complete the renewal form, often because it may have been sent to an old address, it was difficult to understand or it wasn’t returned by the deadline.
Some people, however, may not return their forms because they know they earn too much to qualify or they obtained coverage elsewhere, such as from an employer.
In Idaho, there were 211,000 youngsters in the state’s Medicaid and CHIP programs in February – accounting for about half of the state’s total enrollees.
But more than 55,000 children had their insurance terminated in the first four months of the unwinding.
“An obscene number of kids are losing their Medicaid,” said Hillarie Hagen, a health policy associate at Idaho Voices for Children.
Among those processed were 33,000 children in families whom the state believes are no longer eligible. Nearly 23,000 of them were dropped for procedural reasons, Hagen said.
Also of great concern is that enrollment in Idaho’s CHIP program has fallen by 16,000 kids during the same period. Hagen expected the number to rise since CHIP has a higher income threshold than Medicaid so some children should have shifted over automatically.
One main reason why so many children – and adults – are losing coverage is because Idaho is focusing initially on households that it knows earn too much or who haven’t responded to the state in the last few years, said Shane Leach, welfare administrator for the state’s Department of Health and Welfare. Idaho continued to check enrollees’ eligibility during the pandemic, though it did not drop those who no longer qualified until now.
The department issues two rounds of notices, sends text messages and posts information in an online portal to let families know they need to return their renewal forms. Even if they miss the deadline, they can regain their coverage, he said.
“If anybody feels that they’re eligible, then reach out and reapply,” Leach said.
Children have higher income limits
Many parents may not realize that even though they don’t qualify for Medicaid anymore, their children may still be eligible because the household income limit for kids to remain covered is higher, said Jennifer Tolbert, an associate director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured. This is especially true in the 10 states – including Kansas, Florida and Texas – that have not approved the expansion of Medicaid benefits to low-income adults.
Advocates are urging parents to complete and submit the renewal documents even if they think they earn too much to qualify themselves.
In some other cases, children are possibly being dropped because their state is applying the wrong income threshold to them.
In Florida, for instance, parents in a family of four must earn less than $8,520 annually to qualify, but children ages 1 to 5 are eligible if their household income is no more than $43,500, and those ages 6 to 18 can keep their coverage if their family earns less than $41,400, said Lynn Hearn, a staff attorney with the Florida Health Justice Project, an advocacy group.
Children’s enrollment in Medicaid dropped by roughly 154,000 kids, or 5.7%, between May and July, according to a Georgetown analysis of state data. The state does not break down terminations by age.
Hearn and her colleagues have had success in restoring some children’s coverage by appealing to the state and pointing out that the family’s income is less than the eligibility threshold for kids.
Another concern is that youngsters are not being automatically referred to the state’s CHIP program, Florida KidCare, Hearn said.
“I have yet to see a case where the referral happened timely and accurately,” she said.
When asked about the advocates’ concerns, Florida’s Department of Children and Families referred CNN to a fact sheet listing the state’s outreach efforts and enrollee support, including that it has more than 2,700 employees processing cases and assisting participants.
Restoring benefits can be complicated
Once a family loses coverage, regaining it can be frustrating and time-consuming. Tanya Harris spent weeks calling Florida’s Department of Children and Families, waiting on hold for hours at a time, to restore her kids’ insurance.
The Jacksonville resident only learned in late June that they would be cut off after she called the insurer that contracts with Florida to provide her family’s Medicaid benefits. She needed to discuss her 17-year-old daughter’s upcoming spinal surgery. Harris quickly filled out the renewal paperwork on the state’s online portal but was stuck in processing limbo for well over a month.
Tanya Harris, left, spent hours on hold with Florida’s Medicaid agency to restore her children’s coverage. – Courtesy Tanya Harris
Harris, who is on long-term disability from her employer as she battles several health conditions, spoke to multiple supervisors and uploaded verifications of her and her husband’s income and address over and over again.
Though the family regained Medicaid coverage in early August, their headaches aren’t over. Some doctors won’t see the kids until they receive their new insurance information, which Harris hopes will be settled next week. And she’s still not able to get some of their medications.
Meanwhile, her 6-year-old son, who has a severe peanut allergy, cannot sit with his classmates at lunch at his new school until his doctor sends in a medicine authorization form for his EpiPen.
“It was just devastating,” Harris said of the coverage loss. “The kids didn’t get the care that they need.”
Engaging parents
Some advocates are trying to take advantage of the start of the school year to alert parents to the importance of submitting their renewal documents.
In Kansas, where nearly 46,000 youngsters have been disenrolled so far, multiple groups are setting up tables at back-to-school events, working with school nurses and doing outreach through early childhood organizations, said Heather Braum, a health policy adviser at Kansas Action for Children.
KanCare reaches out to enrollees at least four times before their renewal is due to encourage them to return the needed paperwork, said Matt Lara, communications director for the state’s Department of Health and Environment. The agency also paused procedural terminations in May and June to give folks more time to send in their packets, as well as hired extra staff to work in the call center and help process renewals.
However, more should be done to improve the system and make sure eligible children maintain their coverage, Braum said.
“Kids’ medical care in so many situations can be very time sensitive – where they’re getting therapies and treatments and prescriptions,” she said. “If it gets delayed, it can have a permanent impact on their lives. Outcomes can be very different. And that’s inexcusable to me.”
A New Hampshire local has a reputation for asking politicians tough questions. He’s also 15.
Ken Tran, USA TODAY – August 26, 2023
WALPOLE, N.H. — Quinn Mitchell held his phone in his hand as he looked up at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
It was his turn to ask a question at Desantis’ first town hall event in New Hampshire. The Granite State is known for its first-in-the-nation primary, and its voters cherish the state’s strong influence in deciding presidential nominees. Those voters have built a centrist reputation, posing tough questions to candidates no matter their party affiliation.
Mitchell is no different from those Granite Staters. At DeSantis’ town hall in Hollis, he stood up to ask him a question about DeSantis’ now-rival in the 2024 Republican primary, former President Donald Trump.
“Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power, a key principle of American democracy that we must uphold?” Mitchell asked.
There is one thing that separates Mitchell from New Hampshire’s voters: he can’t vote.
“Are you in high school?” DeSantis asked, seemingly taken aback.
Quinn Mitchell listens to Ron DeSantis at DeSantis Town Hall campaign event in Newport NH on Aug. 19, 2023 Mitchell has met a handful of politicians since he started attending campaign events in 2020 including Amy Klobuchar, Chris Christie and President Joe Biden.
Mitchell is indeed in high school. More specifically, he’s 15 years old and is going into his sophomore year. He’s too young to vote, but he’s been to dozens of candidate events in New Hampshire since the 2024 Republican presidential primary kicked off.
Over lunch in his hometown of Walpole, a small town near the border separating New Hampshire and Vermont, Mitchell told USA TODAY he felt it was his civic duty – especially when he can’t vote yet – to be involved in the Granite State’s unique democratic process.
“I feel like it’s in a way my civic responsibility to ask these questions that need to be asked. I’m here. I have the opportunity, and it’s happening in my backyard,” Mitchell said. “A lot of people are unfortunate to not have the platform to ask those questions.”
A product of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary
Mitchell describes himself as a history buff, reading books about presidential politics since he was just 8 years old. He also maintains a diverse news diet, listening to radio news regularly in his bedroom and reading newspapers across the political spectrum.
When he learned in 2019 that several candidates were gunning for the Democratic nomination he knew he “wanted to be a part of it.”
She “was a candidate I haven’t met, and I was so excited. It’s very weird because I was 11. My friends think it was the weirdest thing ever,” Mitchell said.
That moment was when he started to really involve himself in the state’s presidential primary. After he met Klobuchar, Mitchell attended one of her town halls where she encouraged him to ask a question, unbeknownst to his hobbies. The 11-year-old preteen asked her what she made of special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony to the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, which he remembered “shocked her.”
That moment was so memorable for Klobuchar, he became part of her stump speech on the campaign trail.
But perhaps his fondest memory of the 2020 Democratic primary was when he met President Joe Biden when he was still campaigning for the nomination. After a town hall, Biden motioned for Mitchell to come over and handed him a challenge coin bearing the seal of the vice president.
“He gave me a five minute lecture about what it was, what it’s supposed to mean and the importance of keeping promises,” Mitchell said. They agreed on a promise between just the two of them: the next time Mitchell sees Biden, if he brings the challenge coin, the former vice president owed him a drink.
Over the course of the next few months until the New Hampshire primary, Biden actually owed him multiple drinks. For an 11-year-old, the drink of choice was Coca-Cola.
Mitchell remembers one moment when Biden came prepared for the deal.
“He just pulled this Coca-Cola out of his pocket,” Mitchell said, laughing.
Quinn Mitchell listens to Ron DeSantis at DeSantis Town Hall campaign event in Newport NH on August 19, 2023
Before every town hall, Mitchell said he “has to study a lot” to think about a question a candidate has not talked about yet, but is also relevant to current events.
“I usually have to watch long interviews and press conferences,” he said. For some candidates, he said he spends hours going through their public statements.
“I heard you say that one of the reasons you endorsed Trump is that you really did not want (Hillary) Clinton to be president in 2016. And now based on recent knowledge that Trump was arrested, Trump was prosecuted on criminal charges, do you think that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton would have been the better bet in 2016?” Mitchell asked.
Despite Christie’s identity in the 2024 GOP race as Trump’s chief antagonist, Mitchell’s question made him go on the record. The former New Jersey governor said he would have supported Trump, regardless of his criticism.
When he asks those tough questions, Mitchell said he tries to avoid coming off as “attacking” or politically biased, explaining that he has been to so many town halls out of a pure passion for politics.
“I’ve never been about attacking somebody. I’m just gonna ask the question,” Mitchell said.
Student Quinn Mitchell, of Walpole, N.H. asks a question to Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during a campaign event at V.F.W. Post 1631, Monday, July 24, 2023, in Concord, N.H.
‘Quinn, remember me when you are president’
Mitchell said he wishes more people his age were at least somewhat as invested in politics as he is. He’s tried to get his friends to come along in the past, but they demurred.
“A lot of the people I know, they are really disinterested in politics,” Mitchell said. “I wish there was more youth engagement. I’ve tried to bring some friends but again they tell me ‘No I’m not interested. I’m just gonna play Minecraft.’”
To be fair, Mitchell said he also plays a lot of Minecraft − a popular video game – a reminder to the people around him that he is still 15 years old.
When he’s not traveling to see a candidate or attending a political event, he helps his parents with farmwork. But his other hobbies are still close to his passion for politics. In his spare time, he reads books on history and watches documentaries and older presidential debates.
“I’ll just watch hours of debates. I rewatched the 2016 debate recently,” Mitchell said. It was not a form of studying for the 2024 race, but just out of fun.
“I love watching them,” he said. He’s also tried to get his friends to watch them with him, but unsurprisingly, they’ve turned down his gracious offers.
It’s easy to think Mitchell, with his love for politics and his dedication to meeting every candidate on the campaign trail, is looking to be a politician himself.
Quinn Mitchell listens to Ron DeSantis at DeSantis Town Hall campaign event in Newport NH on Aug. 19, 2023. Mitchell takes great time and dedication preparing for campaign events, sometimes watching hours worth of interviews from politicians.
Biden, along with the challenge coin, signed a copy of his memoir for Mitchell in 2019, writing “Quinn, remember me when you are president.”
And when Christie saw Mitchell at one of his town halls in August, the former New Jersey governor introduced him to the crowd before taking his question.
Someday, Christie said, Mitchell’s political passion will put him in elected office.
“I can’t wait until I’m old enough that he does that, and I’m sitting somewhere in New Jersey watching TV and seeing Governor or Senator Quinn, and I will be completely unsurprised,” Christie said.
But if there’s anything the first-in-the-nation primary has taught Mitchell, he said, it’s that he wants nothing to do with running for office.
“It’s definitely a really good hobby. It’s not video games,” Mitchell joked. But from what he’s seen on the campaign trail, he has no interest in being a politician, saying “you can never make a mistake. It’s extremely stressful.”
Instead, Mitchell said he could see himself going into journalism, considering he has started to build a reputation as an unassuming high school student with a knack for putting prospective presidents on the spot.
He’s recently started a podcast, called “Into the Tussle” where he plans to provide his own unbiased perspective on the presidential nominating process and hopefully talk to people who can actually vote in his home state.
“You have to start somewhere,” Mitchell said. “And I just want to talk about politics.”
Quinn Mitchell listens to Ron DeSantis at the DeSantis Town Hall campaign event in Newport, NH on Aug. 19, 2023. At 15 years old, Quinn Mitchell feels it is his civic duty to show up and ask the tough questions.
