Affordable Care Act
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Open Enrollment for 2023 Coverage

The Affordable Care Act (ACA; aka Obamacare) Health Insurance Marketplace is set to begin its Open Enrollment period today. American healthcare consumers can sign up on the federal insurance exchange at healthcare.gov or through their state marketplaces. In recent years there has been increased confusion surrounding Open Enrollment due to changes (and proposed changes) made to the ACA under the past administrations.    Open Enrollment lasts at least 75 days — running from November 1 to January 15, 2023. Some states have longer enrollment periods, and special enrollment periods are available for those with a qualifying life event. Premiums are […]

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Health Savings News Podcast
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Health Savings News – Episode 14: Why Healthcare Costs So Much (Part 2)

Note: This is a rough transcript of episode 14 of Health Savings News and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form.   [Fundraising appeal]   [intro music] (2:09)   Evan (2:19):  Hello, and welcome to Health Savings News: the podcast about healthcare costs in America and how to save money on the often expensive care all kinds of people need. I’m your host, Evan O’Connor, joined by retired doctors, Rich Sagall and Mike Woods. Each episode we discuss healthcare costs in America, offer tips for saving money, and relevant news that affects and […]

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NeedyMeds
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A Letter from NeedyMeds President, Rich Sagall, MD

  We need your help!   Ever since I started NeedyMeds 25 years ago, all the information on the website has been free. In the beginning, there were two very part-time employees — now we have a staff of thirty. When we started, we had information about only the patient assistance programs — now we have data on 40,000 programs covering nearly 15 different types of assistance. When we started, we were doing well to get 100 visitors daily to the website — now we get 10,000 to 15,000 each weekday.   In the past, we have been able to […]

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Health Savings News Podcast
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Health Savings News – Episode 13: Why Healthcare Costs So Much (Part 1)

Note: This is a rough transcript of episode 13 of Health Savings News and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form.  Evan (00:10): Hello, and welcome to Health Savings News: the podcast about healthcare costs in America and how to save money on the often expensive care all kinds of people need. I’m your host, Evan O’Connor, joined by retired doctors, Rich Sagall and Mike Woods. Each episode we discuss healthcare costs in America, offer tips for saving money, and relevant news that affects and reflects the expensive landscape of healthcare in America. […]

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COVID-19
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Cold/flu Season During Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

The change of the seasons is in full swing throughout the country, and the United States is heading towards another cold and flu season in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. Children returning to school (which are significant sites of COVID transmission) amid the dangerous politicization of public health attempts to increase vaccination rates and promote mitigation measures such as masks and social distancing has created a risk-filled environment for many across the country.   It is vital to know the difference between symptoms for viral conditions such as a cold, the flu, and COVID-19. All three are spread in […]

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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.