President Joe Biden speaks about Hurricane Ian during a visit to FEMA headquarters, Sept. 29, 2022, in Washington. The U.S. on Friday sanctioned more than 1,000 people and firms connected to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including its Central Bank governor and families of National Security Council members, after President Vladimir Putin signed treaties absorbing occupied regions of Ukraine into Russia, in defiance of international law. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Millions of Medicaid recipients could find relief in the form of food shopping funds as the Biden administration begins approving state requests to use the coverage for groceries.
It's part of a larger movement that identifies "food as medicine" as priority in a person's healthcare plan.
A study by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities found a correlation between food insecurity and poor health. People that lacked access to nutritious food options showed increased risk for chronic problems like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and mental health disorders.
The move is being met with opposition from those who say including food in Medicaid coverage is an unnecessary expansion.
"This is really the first I've seen the federal government push food and air conditioners and other things as allowable. We already have the SNAP program," Gary D. Alexander, head of the Medicaid and Health Safety Net Initiative for Paragon health Institute, told The Wall Street Journal.
Last year, pilot programs in Arkansas, Massachusetts and Oregon were tested that allowed the states to spend millions in federal and state funds on health needs and included variations of healthy-meal preparation and nutrition counseling.
"We're able to cover cooking classes and nutrition classes," James Schroder, interim director of the Oregon Health Authority said. "We can do up to six months of what we call 'food and veggie RX.' And up to six months of medically tailored meals."
People ages 19 through 24 who were at high risk for long-term poverty were able to receive coverage for nutritional services in Arkansas, while Massachusetts provided home-delivered meals for up to six months as well as "food prescriptions."
Schools, shops, banks and Iceland's famous swimming pools shut on Tuesday as women in the volcanic island nation — including the prime minister — went on strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.
A group of 33 states including California and New York are suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people’s mental health and contributing the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.
In a courtroom showdown five years in the making, Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen testified Tuesday that he worked to boost the supposed value of the former president's assets to “whatever number Trump told us to."
Republican Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House speaker, withdrawing hours after winning the internal party nomination once it became clear he would not have enough support from GOP colleagues for the gavel.
Eighty-five-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz spoke of a “hell that we never knew before and never thought we would experience” as she described the harrowing Oct. 7 assault on her kibbutz by Hamas militants and the terror of being taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney and prominent conservative media figure, reached a deal with prosecutors Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
