Author: Evan O'Connor

Thyroid Awareness Month

January is Thyroid Awareness Month. The thyroid is a small hormone-secreting organ in the neck that helps regulate the body’s metabolic needs. When the thyroid isn’t producing enough hormone the body slows all of its functions, a condition known as hypothyroidism. Alternatively, an overactive thyroid could produce too much hormone sending the body’s systems into overdrive causing a condition called hyperthyroidism.   Your thyroid’s function is incredibly important to many of the body’s systems, including heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and skin. If something is wrong with the thyroid there are a wide variety of symptoms that may occur. Hypothyroidism often […]

Medicaid Work Requirement

Medicaid is the United States’ public health insurance program for people with low incomes and chronic health conditions. Medicaid covers one in five Americans; mostly children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. The Affordable Care Act (ACA; aka Obamacare) expanded Medicaid coverage to include the working poor (those who make 138% of the Federal Poverty Level or below) who do not typically have access to affordable care. Thirty-two states have implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. Some states, along with the Trump administration, have pushed for imposing a work requirement for Medicaid recipients.   Of the 25 million affected by the […]

State of Healthcare 2017

Health care in America was a constant subject of conversations in public venues and political forums in 2017. There has been confusion about health insurance, failed legislation, Executive Orders reversing Obamacare guidelines, tax plans affecting healthcare costs, and the failure to fund healthcare programs that cover millions of low-income Americans. People in the United States continue to count healthcare costs as a major concern. We at NeedyMeds prefer to remain apolitical, but it is difficult to avoid the partisan nature of the changes in health care in America since the Trump administration’s inauguration last year. Donald Trump ran on the […]

NeedyMeds in 2017

We’re wrapping up 2017 here at NeedyMeds, and it’s been a big year for us. We celebrated twenty years of providing information to those in need and we have kept true to our original mission to provide information on programs that help people who can’t afford medications and healthcare costs.   We have helped over 57,000 on our toll-free helpline in 2017, and saved users over $44 million on their prescriptions with the NeedyMeds Drug Discount Card. This year we began a new partnership with Healthcare Storylines to bring you the NeedyMeds Storylines app—a free self-care smartphone app that makes […]

Tips for National Influenza Vaccination Week

This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week in the U.S. Established by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2005, this week highlights the importance of continuing flu vaccination through the holidays and beyond. Vaccines against the flu are the best defense against the virus and developing flu-related complications.   The CDC holds National Influenza Vaccination Week in December as vaccinations tend to drop quickly after the end of November, leaving many vulnerable during the holiday season. Going on vacation or having relatives visiting from afar can expose people to different strains of the flu than what they have […]

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.