Indianapolis, IN - Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, a subsidiary of Elevance Health, Inc. and one of the largest health insurers in the country, has announced that it may reverse a recently instituted policy that link payments to the pressing of a button every three minutes during invasive procedures. A surgical team trying to find the Anthem BCBS button, which appears in a new location every morning, before Mrs. Gunderson has to pay out of pocket for her emergency appendectomy "This was all a big misunderstanding," Elevance Health, Inc. CEO Gail Koziara Boudreaux explained. "I want to be extremely transparent and say that this was never, and I mean absolutely never about avoiding paying for medically necessary surgeries. We merely wanted to streamline the process of ensuring that any procedures are done in an efficient and timely fashion according to well-established clinical guidelines." Since the new policy went into effect last month, physicians performing surgical procedures have been required to press a button every three minutes until completion. The percentage of the patient's bill covered by the insurance company decreases over time with more pushes of the button. If three minutes elapse without a push, any charges occurring after that point are not covered at all. Many experts speaking out against the policy change have called on Anthem to reverse the proposal amid a barrage of concerns and complaints from people across the country. According to Blake Lambswool, a physician and prominent online critic of insurance companies, and police departments for some reason, one strategy that may be playing an important role in the possible reversal is the notification of legislators in affected states. "The recent murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare might also help change some minds. I'm completely against public executions in all forms, but that guy was a monster and I'm not exactly upset that he's dead. Just sayin'. But seriously, murder is bad. Still, what do they expect people to do with guys like that? Not murder them? Anyway, I'm happy that Anthem might come around."

Leawood, KS - The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has announced a partnership with organizational consultant Marie Kondo aimed at tackling the widespread problem of inappropriate polypharmacy in older Americans. AAFP "Declutter your Pillbox!" campaign spokesperson Marie Kondo, shown here with the two children that made the cut during the Winter Tidying of 2022 "Adults over the age of 65 are more likely to have multiple medical conditions and a third of them are taking five or more prescription medications every day," AAFP president Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP explained. "More medications means a higher risk of side effects and unintended problems caused by interactions between drugs when taken together." Inappropriate polypharmacy refers to when patients are taking excessive or unnecessary medications, and it can lead to falls, cognitive impairment, and interactions where a medication aimed at treating one condition might worsen another or even cause a new one. According to Marie Kondo, many patients are prescribed medications that don't align with their life and health goals. "Patients and providers should ask themselves, does a prescription blood pressure medication spark joy when taken or prescribed? If not, maybe it's time for a change." One of the world's most influential people according to Time magazine, Marie Kondo invented the revolutionary KonMari Method™ as a simple but powerful organizing system. Though initially developed for dealing with household clutter and deciding which of your kids is your favorite, the system uses a criterion that is as universal as it is transformative: choose what sparks joy. Using this key metric, millions of people around the world have learned to listen to their inner voices, and Kondo expects that this will work for cholesterol lowering medications as well as it does for fondue pots and old sweaters. "Each patient has their own unique set of experiential variables that plays a role in determining what medications spark joy," Kondo revealed during a keynote address at the AAFP Family Medicine Experience (FMX) conference in September. "And healers will find that the KonMari Method™ can bring clarity to the medication reconciliation process whenever a patient is discharged from the hospital." The application of the KonMari Method™ to a patient's list of prescribed medications will involve gathering them all together to decide which, if any, spark joy, something Kondo describes as the feeling of warmth, positivity, peace, comfort, nostalgia, or excitement. According to the best-selling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (2011), which has been published in more than 30 countries, following this philosophy will acknowledge the usefulness of each medication and help patients to learn more about themselves. "Whether it's the bedroom closet or the pillbox, clearing space can raise self-esteem, shift energy, and make room for meaningful change in our lives."

Miami, FL - When police officer Chad Blaze was out walking the jet black 14-month-old Havanese he had recently adopted from a local animal shelter, the last thing on his mind was the possibility of a fentanyl overdose. But thanks to his training with the Miami Police Department, and the six doses of Narcan that he always keeps in the pockets of his relaxed-fit utility cargo pants, both Corporal Blaze and Chauncey survived. And today they are sharing their experience in the hopes of educating dog owners on the dangers of fentanyl exposure. "We had just gotten to the dog park near my condo when it happened," Blaze explained. "Chauncey began to act erratically after sniffing one of the other dogs, pulling on the leash and barking. He was afraid for his life and began to panic, and he was breathing faster than usual with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. I was scared, but that's when the training kicked in." In the line of duty, Corporal Blaze has had more than his fair share of experience with this dangerous and mysterious drug, which some police toxicologists believe is like heroin on crack, and then on steroids. In addition to suffering from one of the first known cases of mosquito-borne fentanyl overdose, Blaze continues to have chronic fentanyl overdose symptoms almost two years later. "I've come a long way, but knowing that there are traces of fentanyl still somewhere in my body that could strike at any moment is enough to give me a panic attack. And I worry about Chauncey because we just don't know much about the effects of fentanyl on dogs, because there aren't doctors for animals."

I'm at the Movies! by Zoo Knudsen We dodged a bullet last year. Thanks to the SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023, the world came perilously close to never being able to experience the highly anticipated sequel to the 2022 smash hit The Pumpkids Movie: Rise of the PumpKing . Luckily disaster was averted, and I was invited to an exclusive preview of the what this critic is calling one of the best animated movies I've ever seen, and I've seen several. Don't worry though, I won't spoil any of the fun. And trust me, you don't want to know what happens until you see it up there on the big screen. You need the full IMAX experience. There won't be a dry eye, or a dry seat, in the house because this movie has as much heart as it does hyperrealistic graphic imagery involving the torture and murder of a number of the citizens of Pumpkinland and Turnip Mountain, including mashing, peeling, dicing, juicing, and carving. Yes, the pulp in this fiction definitely flies in this very kid-unfriendly cartoon masterpiece. I love Halloween! It's definitely my favorite holiday because I get wear clothing and make-up in public that might get me in a lot of trouble any other day of the year. And I love a good scary movie. To be honest, I am a little surprised at Pixar going the "hard R" route for the sequel of a beloved children's classic, but sometimes you have to take a big risk to get a big reward. And every scene rewards the viewer with a visual feast of humor, pathos, and eldritch horror. In The Pumpkids Movie: Rise of the PumpKing , the queen of Pumpkinland was voiced by Queen Elizabeth. Sadly, she died before being able to reprise her role. But thanks to the power of artificial intelligence combined with hundreds of hours of recorded speeches and interviews, you can barely tell that it isn't her shouting out everyone's favorite catch phrase, this time with about 15% more stank on it! Picking up where the last movie left off, with Jack Pumpkin having defeated the Pumpkin Witch Agnes O'Pumpkin, again voiced by Judi Dench's sister Trudi, rescued the pumpkids from the acid mines deep within the caverns of Turnip Mountain, and discovered the location of the Patch of Destiny, the true adventure is only beginning. In order to become the PumpKing and earn the right to wield the Pitchfork of Power, Jack must unite the pumpkins and the turnips by slaughtering everyone who stands in his way. But did he really murder all those innocent gourds and root vegetables? Was it only a vision of what might be? Could there be a better way, perhaps with the help of the pumpkids? Who, or what, are the pumpkids? And which of your favorite characters will survive to appear in the final installment of the Pumpkids trilogy? Hey, I said no spoilers and I meant it! Director Chazz Jonz has said in interviews that their intention was to combine the childish innocence of the source material with the cosmic dread and emphasis on forbidden and dangerous knowledge commonly associated with the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Charles M. Schulz. They wanted to explore madness, religion, and superstition in human society as an inevitable outcome, and the dangers inherent in unfettered scientific discovery. It's also a musical. I think they succeeded. The Pumpkids Movie 2: The Patch of Destiny will be in theaters this Friday!