ORLANDO, Fla. — At the request of several states across the country that filed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food restriction waivers, the government is implementing one change set to impact millions, whether they like it or not.
SNAP will now ban certain items from eligibility for purchase with benefits. It’s a costly change, according to the Associated Press — one that could initially cost grocery retailers in the United States $1.6 billion, and then $759 million annually if it continues.
What You Need To Know
As of Jan. 1, five states implemented changes to what can be purchased with SNAP
Items like soft drinks, candy, prepared/processed desserts and energy drinks are now banned from being purchased with SNAP benefits in five states and will be banned in other states later in the year
The five states already implementing the changes are Iowa, Indiana, Utah, Nebraska and West Virginia. Florida will begin the ban on April 20, 2026
According to the USDA, the initiative is an effort to tackle obesity and “Make America Healthy again”
Effective Jan. 1, five states began restricting SNAP recipients from purchasing items like soft drinks, energy drinks, candy and certain prepared foods.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, West Virginia and Utah are leading the way on the effort, but 18 additional states — including Florida — have also made the request to change their state SNAP agency’s restrictions. Florida is among more than 12 states that will see those changes implemented later this year.
The changes are part of the government’s efforts to tackle the obesity epidemic and push to “Make America Healthy Again.” The SNAP food restrictions waiver allows state SNAP agencies a two-year period to experiment with changes that also could improve the efficiency of the program.
According to the Healthy SNAP Florida website, the changes will be implemented in the state on April 20, and will promote healthy food options for families by prohibiting the purchase of products that are considered bad for consumers.
The National Retail Federation, according to AP, predicts the change initially will result in longer lines at grocery stores as people adjust to what they can and cannot buy.
It could also result in consequences for retailers if they do not comply. The USDA stated there will be a 90-day grace period at first, followed by a warning for the first offense. After that, retailers could lose their authorization to accept SNAP benefits and would have to reapply and undergo an administrative review.
The changes apply to in-store purchases and grocery delivery services.
Long defined by high prices, shortages and weekly injections, drugs including Wegovy and Zepbound are expected to be easier to access and afford. And new options for people averse to needles are coming.
“The GLP-1 landscape is expected to broaden significantly,” said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina. “For the first time, medical obesity treatment will move away from a one-size-fits-all model.”
Weight loss pills
GLP-1 pills for weight loss may mark the most significant shift yet.
Last month, Novo Nordisk won Food and Drug Administration approval for the first GLP-1 pill for weight loss. The medication, marketed as the Wegovy pill, is expected to be widely available this month.
Dr. Shauna Levy, medical director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center, said the pills will be a great option for patients who prefer oral medications or who have struggled to access the injectable versions.
“With so much product in the market, I hope the competition will further reduce prices,” Levy said.
A month’s supply of the pills is expected to be cheaper than a month’s supply of injections.
Novo Nordisk hasn’t announced the list price for the Wegovy pill yet, but it has said that the two lowest doses will cost $149 a month for people paying in cash and not using insurance. The lowest dose of the Wegovy injection, by comparison, is $349 a month for people paying in cash.
Starting Monday, the two higher doses of the pills will be priced at $299 a month for people paying in cash. For those with insurance that covers the drugs, out-of-pocket costs could be as low as $25 a month, according to the company.
Dr. Daniela Hurtado Andrade, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, said the lower prices will most likely expand access. Still, she noted, the most drastic weight loss in the trials came from the highest dose, which means people would likely have to pay more if they want to lose more weight.
Even $149 a month for some is still too expensive, she said.
“It’s something that needs to be discussed with patients,” Andrade said, “because they may have expectations that are not real.”
Levy said that one drawback to the pill is that it must be taken on a strict schedule to get the best results: every morning on an empty stomach. In a late-stage clinical trial, people who adhered to the schedule lost 16.6% of their body weight, on average. That fell to 13.6% when people didn’t take the pill exactly as prescribed.
“I think we need to consider that the efficacy of these medications is decreased if they are not taken consistently, and I am curious to see how they perform in real life,” Levy said. There’s a bit more flexibility around Lilly’s pill, which still must be taken daily but can be taken any time of the day.
Chris Mertens, 35, of Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, said he had no trouble remembering to take the Wegovy pill every morning, which he did as part of a clinical trial in late 2022. Though he didn’t know it at the time, he got the real medication, not a placebo.
When he began the trial, he weighed about 260 pounds, with a body mass index of around 32, and hoped to get closer to 200 pounds. After a year and a half on the medication, Mertens said he lost about 40 pounds, eventually plateauing at around 220. The weight loss, he said, gave him more energy at work and at home and changed his relationship with food.
A stronger injection
Lilly is getting closer to finishing its clinical trials on what could be the most powerful GLP-1 drug yet, called retatrutide.
Like Wegovy and Zepbound, retatrutide is a weekly injection. It targets GLP-1 and GIP, the same two hormones targeted by Lilly’s blockbuster drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. Retatrutide also targets a third hormone, called glucagon, which may further boost weight loss.
Lilly said in December that in a Phase 3 clinical trial, patients taking the highest dose of the experimental injection lost nearly 29% of their body weight on average after about 16 months — more than has been seen with any GLP-1 drug currently on the market.
The trial included roughly 450 adults with obesity or who were overweight and had knee osteoarthritis.
“These are numbers we simply didn’t think were possible just a few years ago,” McGowan said.
The medication’s high effectiveness, however, may come with a tradeoff of more intense side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting. Lilly reported a dropout rate of 18.2% for patients who got the drug compared with 4% in the placebo group. By comparison, the dropout rate for the highest dose group in a separate trial for Zepbound was just 6.2%.
“More is not always better,” McGowan said. “In real-world practice, those discontinuation rates may be even higher.”
Andrade said the medication could be helpful for people with severe obesity, who may still have trouble losing weight on the existing GLP-1 medications, although she’d like to see more data on the side effects.
A Lilly spokesperson said the company is completing seven additional trials on retatrutide, which are expected to be completed in 2026. It could file for FDA approval as early as this year.
Prices and partnerships
Access to the drugs has also expanded through cash-pay programs.
Lilly first started offering cash discounts for certain doses of Zepbound in 2024, through its LillyDirect program. Novo Nordisk later followed with NovoCare Pharmacy in March, selling Wegovy at a discounted price for cash payers.
In 2025, some major retailers followed. Costco in October announced it would sell Wegovy and Ozempic for $499 a month for customers paying cash, and Walmart has rolled out a comparable arrangement with Lilly for Zepbound.
In 2026, the Trump administration will launch the self-pay platform TrumpRx.gov. The website will not sell prescription drugs directly but will connect people to drugmakers’ discount websites.
Dr. Susan Spratt, professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, said the partnerships will “only improve access.” The question, she added, is whether the discounts will be enough to improve access to everyone who could benefit from the medications. “They are still quite expensive,” Spratt said.
Levy said the self-pay options would make the drugs easier to get, particularly for people whose insurance doesn’t cover them.
Many of the self-pay options connect patients with doctors on telehealth who will determine if they qualify for the drugs and write a prescription.
“I think there is potential for increased access with deals for cheaper products at Walmart and Costco,” Levy said, “but I really want to make sure patients are treated and are followed by obesity medicine specialists or providers who really know what they are doing with anti-obesity medications.”
Long defined by high prices, shortages and weekly injections, drugs including Wegovy and Zepbound are expected to be easier to access and afford. And new options for people averse to needles are coming.
“The GLP-1 landscape is expected to broaden significantly,” said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina. “For the first time, medical obesity treatment will move away from a one-size-fits-all model.”
Weight loss pills
GLP-1 pills for weight loss may mark the most significant shift yet.
Last month, Novo Nordisk won Food and Drug Administration approval for the first GLP-1 pill for weight loss. The medication, marketed as the Wegovy pill, is expected to be widely available this month.
Dr. Shauna Levy, medical director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center, said the pills will be a great option for patients who prefer oral medications or who have struggled to access the injectable versions.
“With so much product in the market, I hope the competition will further reduce prices,” Levy said.
A month’s supply of the pills is expected to be cheaper than a month’s supply of injections.
Novo Nordisk hasn’t announced the list price for the Wegovy pill yet, but it has said that the two lowest doses will cost $149 a month for people paying in cash and not using insurance. The lowest dose of the Wegovy injection, by comparison, is $349 a month for people paying in cash.
Starting Monday, the two higher doses of the pills will be priced at $299 a month for people paying in cash. For those with insurance that covers the drugs, out-of-pocket costs could be as low as $25 a month, according to the company.
Dr. Daniela Hurtado Andrade, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, said the lower prices will most likely expand access. Still, she noted, the most drastic weight loss in the trials came from the highest dose, which means people would likely have to pay more if they want to lose more weight.
Even $149 a month for some is still too expensive, she said.
“It’s something that needs to be discussed with patients,” Andrade said, “because they may have expectations that are not real.”
Levy said that one drawback to the pill is that it must be taken on a strict schedule to get the best results: every morning on an empty stomach. In a late-stage clinical trial, people who adhered to the schedule lost 16.6% of their body weight, on average. That fell to 13.6% when people didn’t take the pill exactly as prescribed.
“I think we need to consider that the efficacy of these medications is decreased if they are not taken consistently, and I am curious to see how they perform in real life,” Levy said. There’s a bit more flexibility around Lilly’s pill, which still must be taken daily but can be taken any time of the day.
Chris Mertens, 35, of Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, said he had no trouble remembering to take the Wegovy pill every morning, which he did as part of a clinical trial in late 2022. Though he didn’t know it at the time, he got the real medication, not a placebo.
When he began the trial, he weighed about 260 pounds, with a body mass index of around 32, and hoped to get closer to 200 pounds. After a year and a half on the medication, Mertens said he lost about 40 pounds, eventually plateauing at around 220. The weight loss, he said, gave him more energy at work and at home and changed his relationship with food.
A stronger injection
Lilly is getting closer to finishing its clinical trials on what could be the most powerful GLP-1 drug yet, called retatrutide.
Like Wegovy and Zepbound, retatrutide is a weekly injection. It targets GLP-1 and GIP, the same two hormones targeted by Lilly’s blockbuster drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. Retatrutide also targets a third hormone, called glucagon, which may further boost weight loss.
Lilly said in December that in a Phase 3 clinical trial, patients taking the highest dose of the experimental injection lost nearly 29% of their body weight on average after about 16 months — more than has been seen with any GLP-1 drug currently on the market.
The trial included roughly 450 adults with obesity or who were overweight and had knee osteoarthritis.
“These are numbers we simply didn’t think were possible just a few years ago,” McGowan said.
The medication’s high effectiveness, however, may come with a tradeoff of more intense side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting. Lilly reported a dropout rate of 18.2% for patients who got the drug compared with 4% in the placebo group. By comparison, the dropout rate for the highest dose group in a separate trial for Zepbound was just 6.2%.
“More is not always better,” McGowan said. “In real-world practice, those discontinuation rates may be even higher.”
Andrade said the medication could be helpful for people with severe obesity, who may still have trouble losing weight on the existing GLP-1 medications, although she’d like to see more data on the side effects.
A Lilly spokesperson said the company is completing seven additional trials on retatrutide, which are expected to be completed in 2026. It could file for FDA approval as early as this year.
Prices and partnerships
Access to the drugs has also expanded through cash-pay programs.
Lilly first started offering cash discounts for certain doses of Zepbound in 2024, through its LillyDirect program. Novo Nordisk later followed with NovoCare Pharmacy in March, selling Wegovy at a discounted price for cash payers.
In 2025, some major retailers followed. Costco in October announced it would sell Wegovy and Ozempic for $499 a month for customers paying cash, and Walmart has rolled out a comparable arrangement with Lilly for Zepbound.
In 2026, the Trump administration will launch the self-pay platform TrumpRx.gov. The website will not sell prescription drugs directly but will connect people to drugmakers’ discount websites.
Dr. Susan Spratt, professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, said the partnerships will “only improve access.” The question, she added, is whether the discounts will be enough to improve access to everyone who could benefit from the medications. “They are still quite expensive,” Spratt said.
Levy said the self-pay options would make the drugs easier to get, particularly for people whose insurance doesn’t cover them.
Many of the self-pay options connect patients with doctors on telehealth who will determine if they qualify for the drugs and write a prescription.
“I think there is potential for increased access with deals for cheaper products at Walmart and Costco,” Levy said, “but I really want to make sure patients are treated and are followed by obesity medicine specialists or providers who really know what they are doing with anti-obesity medications.”
Democrats forced a 43-day government shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for a solution to save their 2026 political aspirations. President Trump floated a way out, only to back off after conservative backlash.
In the end, no one’s efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date. A House vote expected in January could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed.
The change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who don’t get their health insurance from an employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare — a group that includes many self-employed workers, small business owners, farmers and ranchers.
It comes at the start of a high-stakes midterm election year, with affordability — including the cost of health care — topping the list of voters’ concerns.
“It really bothers me that the middle class has moved from a squeeze to a full suffocation, and they continue to just pile on and leave it up to us,” said 37-year-old single mom Katelin Provost, whose health care costs are set to jump. “I’m incredibly disappointed that there hasn’t been more action.”
Subsidies helped reduce costs since pandemic
The expired subsidies were first given to Affordable Care Act enrollees in 2021 as a temporary measure to help Americans get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats in power at the time extended them, moving the expiration date to the start of 2026.
With the expanded subsidies, some lower-income enrollees received health care with no premiums, and high earners paid no more than 8.5% of their income. Eligibility for middle-class earners was also expanded.
On average, the more than 20 million subsidized enrollees in the Affordable Care Act program are seeing their premium costs rise by 114% in 2026, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.
Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the U.S., which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans.
Some enrollees, like Salt Lake City freelance filmmaker and adjunct professor Stan Clawson, have absorbed the extra expense. Clawson said he was paying just under $350 a month for his premiums last year, a number that will jump to nearly $500 a month this year. It’s a strain for the 49-year-old but one he’s willing to take on because he needs health insurance as someone who lives with paralysis from a spinal cord injury.
Others, like Provost, are dealing with steeper hikes. The social worker’s monthly premium payment is increasing from $85 a month to nearly $750.
Lori Hunt of Des Moines, Iowa, spoke with CBS News during the congressional stalemate in October and said she “couldn’t afford” health insurance without the subsidies.
“I’d have to cancel my insurance,” Hunt said, joking that her insurance would consist of “thoughts and prayers.”
Hunt survived breast cancer three years ago and was laid off from her job in 2025. Without the subsidies, she expected her ACA premium would jump to about $700 per month. “It would be more than my mortgage payment,” Hunt said.
Many expected to go without coverage
Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies will drive many of the 24 million total Affordable Care Act enrollees — especially younger and healthier Americans — to forgo health insurance coverage altogether.
Over time, that could make the program more expensive for the older, sicker population that remains.
An analysis conducted last September by the Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund projected the higher premiums from expiring subsidies would prompt some 4.8 million Americans to drop coverage in 2026.
The impact could be greatest in Florida, which has the largest number of ACA enrollees of any state — more than 4.7 million, according to KFF data. Texas is next, with more than 3.9 million, followed by California, Georgia and North Carolina.
KFF Data/CBS News
Kylie Barrios, a 30-year-old Florida resident, said she expected to be among those losing coverage.
“Our health insurance premium is effectively tripling from 2025 to 2026,” she told CBS News in December, saying it would rise from about $900 to $2,500.
Provost, the single mother, said she is holding out hope that Congress finds a way to revive the subsidies early in the year — but if not, she’ll drop herself off the insurance and keep it only for her 4-year-old daughter. She can’t afford to pay for both of their coverage at the current price.
But with the window to select and change plans still ongoing until Jan. 15 in most states, the final effect on enrollment is yet to be determined.
Last year, after Republicans cut more than $1 trillion in federal health care and food assistance with Mr. Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill, Democrats repeatedly called for the subsidies to be extended. But while some Republicans in power acknowledged the issue needed to be addressed, they refused to put it to a vote until late in the year.
In December, the Senate rejected two partisan health care bills — a Democratic pitch to extend the subsidies for three more years and a Republican alternative that would instead provide Americans with health savings accounts.
In the House, four centrist Republicans broke with GOP leadership and joined forces with Democrats to force a vote that could come as soon as January on a three-year extension of the tax credits. But with the Senate already having rejected such a plan, it’s unclear whether it could get enough momentum to pass.
Meanwhile, Americans whose premiums are skyrocketing say lawmakers don’t understand what it’s really like to struggle to get by as health costs ratchet up with no relief.
Many say they want the subsidies restored alongside broader reforms to make health care more affordable for all Americans.
“Both Republicans and Democrats have been saying for years, oh, we need to fix it. Then do it,” said Chad Bruns, a 58-year-old Affordable Care Act enrollee in Wisconsin. “They need to get to the root cause, and no political party ever does that.”
Barrios, who said she has generally voted Republican, said she would like politicians to “act on those values that they … claim to protect.”
“The whole system feels as though it’s failed and isn’t advocating for me as a small business owner, as somebody who wants to become a mom and have a family,” she said.
When Ashlee Chaidez’s black Lab mix, Duck, charged toward her and rubbed his face — a little more gray than the last time she had seen him — against her cheek, she knew her struggles over the past several months had been worth it.
Six months ago, Chaidez, 27, and 6-year-old Duck were living out of her car around the Front Range. Chaidez dropped Duck off at doggy daycare to get him out of the summer heat while she delivered orders for Instacart, narrowly earning the money to board her beloved dog.
Chaidez barely broke even financially, was off her mental health medication and needed help, she said. But the thought of giving up Duck — her best friend and reason for getting up in the morning — while she sought inpatient psychiatric care was a blow that felt insurmountable.
After reaching out to animal shelters, Chaidez learned about a program through the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that finds foster caregivers for people’s pets while they recover from addiction, abuse or mental health problems.
Through that program, Duck lived with a foster family while Chaidez got back on her feet.
“One of the main things preventing me from getting help was that I didn’t want to give him up because he’s my family,” Chaidez said. “This gave me the peace of mind to get the help I needed, and I don’t think I would be where I am now without this program.”
The program, Pawsitive Recovery, launched in Denver in 2021 and is so popular that the organization is looking to expand it across the country.
“This program gave me a lot of hope when I didn’t really see any,” Chaidez said.
Serena Saunders got sober from alcohol about five years ago through an inpatient program. The former veterinary technician told her therapist at the time that she wished she could work with dogs while going through recovery. That was the impetus for Pawsitive Recovery, a nonprofit Saunders started out of her Denver home, where she cared for the cats and dogs of people in recovery.
Two years ago, Saunders met an employee with SPCA International who became interested in her work. The longstanding animal advocacy organization hired Saunders and folded her nonprofit into their mission.
“It was probably the best decision of my life,” Saunders said.
Pawsitive Recovery partners with mental health treatment and sober living facilities across Colorado. People who need inpatient care but have pets they don’t want to leave behind get referred to the SPCA and connected with a foster caregiver.
The organization and its host of volunteers care for around 30 to 40 animals at a time — mostly cats and dogs, although Saunders has looked after 10 tarantulas in her office and found temporary homes for guinea pigs, too.
The fosters are typically volunteers from the recovery space — therapists, people in long-term recovery, parents of family members impacted by addiction, Saunders said. (Anyone interested in volunteering or getting connected with the program can find information at spcai.org/our-work/pawsitive-recovery.)
Sometimes, due to challenges like homelessness, the pets have trauma that can lead to behavioral issues, Saunders said. The program partners with a training facility in Brighton that takes on behaviorally challenged animals, she said.
Ashlee Chaidez, right, hugs SPCA volunteer Sara Broene after being reunited with her dog, Duck, after six months apart while Chaidez sought psychiatric care, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Hounds Town dog daycare and boarding in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
They also have a standing arrangement with local boarding facility Hounds Town, which can take in pets quickly, Saunders said. A fast placement can be critical if a client is escaping a domestic violence situation and needs to leave right away, she said.
“We are not limited to dogs that are in perfect shape,” Saunders said. “We can take broken ones, too, which is amazing because the dog and the person get to heal simultaneously.”
Pawsitive Recovery commits to fostering pets for six months, giving the person in recovery time to figure out their next move, Saunders said. The SPCA charges $100 per month for a boarding fee, which Saunders described as an accountability tool for the person in recovery.
“It’s part of their responsibility, having a little skin in the game when it comes to the care of their animal,” Saunders said. “If they’re in treatment, a lot of these people are not working, so what we do is set up a fundraiser for them, and as they start rebuilding their life, they can go in and make payments. It’s all situational.”
For Chaidez, the program was life-changing.
She got the medical care she needed, secured a job at a Starbucks in Vail and got her own apartment.
When times in recovery got hard, the thought of reuniting with her furry friend kept her motivated, she said.
Ashlee Chaidez give a kiss to her dog, Duck, after being reunited after six months apart while Chaidez sought psychiatric care, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Hounds Town dog daycare and boarding in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
“I didn’t really notice how much he helped me out until I didn’t have him anymore,” Chaidez said. “He’s my best friend. He’s the whole point.”
On the day of reunification — a Saturday in mid-December — Chaidez grew nervous that Duck might not remember her or might be angry with her for leaving him.
But Duck was elated to see his favorite human again.
“I took a big sigh of relief because I made it,” Chaidez said.
That night, when Chaidez crawled into bed with Duck sleeping at her feet, she realized what a big milestone she had achieved.
“I did it,” Chaidez said. “I was in my own place, I have my own bed, my dog is back, and it really clicked. Even though it was so hard to give him up, I made the right decision.”
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.
In the end, no one’s efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date. A House vote expected in January could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed.
The change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who don’t get their health insurance from an employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare — a group that includes many self-employed workers, small business owners, farmers and ranchers.
It comes at the start of a high-stakes midterm election year, with affordability — including the cost of health care — topping the list of voters’ concerns.
“It really bothers me that the middle class has moved from a squeeze to a full suffocation, and they continue to just pile on and leave it up to us,” said 37-year-old single mom Katelin Provost, whose health care costs are set to jump. “I’m incredibly disappointed that there hasn’t been more action.”
The expired subsidies were first given to Affordable Care Act enrollees in 2021 as a temporary measure to help Americans get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats in power at the time extended them, moving the expiration date to the start of 2026.
With the expanded subsidies, some lower-income enrollees received health care with no premiums, and high earners paid no more than 8.5% of their income. Eligibility for middle-class earners was also expanded.
On average, the more than 20 million subsidized enrollees in the Affordable Care Act program are seeing their premium costs rise by 114% in 2026, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.
Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the U.S., which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans.
Some enrollees, like Salt Lake City freelance filmmaker and adjunct professor Stan Clawson, have absorbed the extra expense. Clawson said he was paying just under $350 a month for his premiums last year, a number that will jump to nearly $500 a month this year. It’s a strain for the 49-year-old but one he’s willing to take on because he needs health insurance as someone who lives with paralysis from a spinal cord injury.
Others, like Provost, are dealing with steeper hikes. The social worker’s monthly premium payment is increasing from $85 a month to nearly $750.
Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies will drive many of the 24 million total Affordable Care Act enrollees — especially younger and healthier Americans — to forgo health insurance coverage altogether.
Over time, that could make the program more expensive for the older, sicker population that remains.
An analysis conducted last September by the Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund projected the higher premiums from expiring subsidies would prompt some 4.8 million Americans to drop coverage in 2026.
But with the window to select and change plans still ongoing until Jan. 15 in most states, the final effect on enrollment is yet to be determined.
Provost, the single mother, said she is holding out hope that Congress finds a way to revive the subsidies early in the year — but if not, she’ll drop herself off the insurance and keep it only for her four-year-old daughter. She can’t afford to pay for both of their coverage at the current price.
Last year, after Republicans cut more than $1 trillion in federal health care and food assistance with Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill, Democrats repeatedly called for the subsidies to be extended. But while some Republicans in power acknowledged the issue needed to be addressed, they refused to put it to a vote until late in the year.
In December, the Senate rejected two partisan health care bills — a Democratic pitch to extend the subsidies for three more years and a Republican alternative that would instead provide Americans with health savings accounts.
In the House, four centrist Republicans broke with GOP leadership and joined forces with Democrats to force a vote that could come as soon as January on a three-year extension of the tax credits. But with the Senate already having rejected such a plan, it’s unclear whether it could get enough momentum to pass.
Meanwhile, Americans whose premiums are skyrocketing say lawmakers don’t understand what it’s really like to struggle to get by as health costs ratchet up with no relief.
Many say they want the subsidies restored alongside broader reforms to make health care more affordable for all Americans.
“Both Republicans and Democrats have been saying for years, oh, we need to fix it. Then do it,” said Chad Bruns, a 58-year-old Affordable Care Act enrollee in Wisconsin. “They need to get to the root cause, and no political party ever does that.”
TAMPA, Fla. — New year, new me. That’s a phrase often heard at the start of the new year, especially when it comes to being healthy and weight loss.
What You Need To Know
In recent years, there have been breakthroughs with medication and surgical procedures when it comes to obesity
In recent years, there have been breakthroughs with medication and surgical procedures. But for some communities, there is still a struggle.
Numbers show there is a racial disparity when it comes to obesity. There is a group of women in the Bay Area that is determined to change those numbers.
With their hands shivering, their walking shoes on and good conversation, getting in a workout on the Tampa Riverwalk is a piece of cake for these sisters now. But it hasn’t always been this way.
They shared photos of themselves just a few years ago battling obesity.
Vanessa Cowans shared photos of herself before her weight loss journey a few years ago. She has since lost more than 100 pounds.
“They help me. I help them. We talked about things, shared recipes. We go work out together, walk together. We’ve tried several different gyms,” she said. “I mean, I knew I was overweight, and I knew it was the biggest I’ve ever been and the heaviest I had been my whole life, but I just felt like, ‘I’m functioning, I’m OK.’ But not being able to get up a flight of stairs without feeling literally like I can’t breathe, that was a lot.”
A “before” photo of the three sisters.
She said she went to her doctor, where she got a nutritionist, a weight loss pill and eventually GLP 1 injections to help keep the weight off.
Her older sister, Charlotte Dixon, was also struggling with obesity. She took notice.
“Right when we first started, my A1C was getting high, and the doctor told me one more time, You’re getting ready to get on medication,” Dixon said.
It didn’t take long for their younger sister, Sharrel Cox, to join in too. Like her sisters, her health was on the line.
“I have dilated cardio myelopathy. So, I have a lot of meds that kind of help me retain weight,” Cox said. “So, I didn’t realize that until I got more educated. And once that weight started falling off, my health skyrocketed and got a lot better. So just by seeing them putting their effort first saved my own life.”
She feared having to go on a heart transplant list, but she says now that’s no longer a worry.
Her patients use everything from weight loss surgery, pills and GLP-1 injections to treat obesity, along with diet and exercise.
“There are known risks with obesity, and those known risks are nine plus types of cancer that you’re at risk for. All of the heart conditions, all the liver conditions, all the kidney and sleep apnea and arthritis and all of those things.” Wiles said. “Those are the real things we live with every day that we can make better.”
She currently treats all three sisters, and she said they’re the kind of patients whose stories will impact and educate entire communities.
“That’s why I try to educate my patients so that they can educate the community and their friends and their family and everybody who has something to say about it,” she said. “There’s so much misunderstanding when it comes to this disease. Forever they’ve been told eat less, push away from the table. Exercise more and this can be fixed.”
For those who do have something to say about weight loss or they’re just thinking about it, Cowans has the same kind of advice she gave to her sisters.
“Start somewhere. Take the first step. Start somewhere,” she said.
Starting New Year’s Day, some food-stamp recipients around the U.S. will be banned from using the government nutrition assistance to buy candy, soda and other foods.
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from purchasing certain foods. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have urged states to strip foods regarded as unhealthy from the $100 billion federal program.
“We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create,” Kennedy said in a statement in December.
The efforts are aimed at reducing chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes associated with sweetened drinks and other treats, a key goal of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again effort.
Confusion for SNAP recipients?
But retail industry and health policy experts said state SNAP programs, already under pressure from steep budget cuts, are unprepared for the complex changes, with no complete lists of the foods affected and technical point-of-sale challenges that vary by state and store. And research remains mixed about whether restricting SNAP purchases improves diet quality and health.
The National Retail Federation, a trade association, predicted longer checkout lines and more customer complaints as SNAP recipients learn which foods are affected by the new waivers.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen of people trying to buy food and being rejected,” said Kate Bauer, a nutrition science expert at the University of Michigan.
The new restrictions are the latest source of concern for SNAP recipients. Food aid distributed under the program, which is used by 42 million Americans, was interrupted during the 43-day U.S. government shutdown. Reliance on food stamps typically surges during economic downturns, such as the sharp slump that followed the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.
Nearly 62% of SNAP participants are in families with children, while roughly 37% are in households with older adults or people with disabilities, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank.
Roughly 14% of U.S. households reported food insecurity on average between January and October, up from 12.5% in 2024, according to Purdue’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability.
While the prevalence of food insecurity around the U.S. fluctuates month to month, the overall rate had been declining since 2022, when an average of 15.4% of households were food insecure as inflation hit 40-year highs following the pandemic.
Retailers fear impact
A report by the National Grocers Association and other industry trade groups estimated that implementing SNAP restrictions would cost U.S. retailers $1.6 billion initially and $759 million each year going forward.
“Punishing SNAP recipients means we all get to pay more at the grocery store,” said Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director for the anti-hunger advocacy group Food Research & Action Center.
The waivers are a departure from decades of federal policy first enacted in 1964 and later authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which said SNAP benefits can be used for “any food or food product intended for human consumption,” except alcohol and ready-to-eat hot foods. The law also says SNAP can’t pay for tobacco.
In the past, lawmakers have proposed stopping SNAP from paying for expensive meats like steak or so-called junk foods, such as chips and ice cream.
But previous waiver requests were denied based on USDA research concluding that restrictions would be costly and complicated to implement, and that they might not change recipients’ buying habits or reduce health problems such as obesity.
Under the second Trump administration, however, states have been encouraged and even incentivized to seek waivers – and they responded.
“This isn’t the usual top-down, one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said when he announced his state’s request last spring. “We’re focused on root causes, transparent information and real results.”
How many people are affected
The five state waivers that take effect Jan. 1 affect about 1.4 million people. Utah and West Virginia will ban the use of SNAP to buy soda and soft drinks, while Nebraska will prohibit soda and energy drinks. Indiana will target soft drinks and candy. In Iowa, which has the most restrictive rules to date, the SNAP limits affect taxable foods, including soda and candy, but also certain prepared foods.
“The items list does not provide enough specific information to prepare a SNAP participant to go to the grocery store,” Plata-Nino wrote in a blog post. “Many additional items — including certain prepared foods — will also be disallowed, even though they are not clearly identified in the notice to households.”
Marc Craig, 47, of Des Moines, said he has been living in his car since October. He said the new waivers will make it more difficult to determine how to use the $298 in SNAP benefits he receives each month, while also increasing the stigma he feels at the cash register.
“They treat people that get food stamps like we’re not people,” Craig said.
SNAP waivers enacted now and in the coming months will run for two years, with the option to extend them for an additional three, according to the Agriculture Department. Each state is required to assess the impact of the changes.
Health experts worry that the waivers ignore larger factors affecting the health of SNAP recipients, said Anand Parekh, a medical doctor who is the chief health policy officer at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“This doesn’t solve the two fundamental problems, which is healthy food in this country is not affordable and unhealthy food is cheap and ubiquitous,” he said.
Duke Health will limit hospital visitors starting Jan. 6, 2026 out of concern due to the rise of respiratory illnesses.
The Duke University Health System stated in a press release that hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers will temporarily limit patient visitations, effective Tuesday, Jan. 6. The release did not say when these limitations will be lifted, but it did say that the restrictions will be reviewed if and when respiratory illness cases decline.
Daytime visitors of hospital and ambulatory surgery patients will be limited to no more than two people aged 12 and older. Overnight visitors must be at least 18 years old unless they are the parent or caregiver of a pediatric patient.
The restrictions are part of a multi-step approach to protect patients and prevent the spread of influenza, RSV and COVID-19 across the health system.
The temporary initiatives effective on Jan. 6 include:
Patients may receives no more than two visitors at one time. Additional visitor guidelines apply for some patients.
Children under 12 are not permitted to visit hospitals or units without prior approval from health care providers and for special circumstances.
Visitors are urged to wear masks while visiting patients and to wash their hands frequently.
Visitors with fever, cough or other flu-live symptoms should stay at home.
WESTWOOD — As 2025 comes to a close, AAA Northeast urges those who plan to take part in year-end holiday celebrations to designate a sober driver.
In December 2023, 1,038 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes nationwide — with more than a quarter of those fatalities occurring during the Christmas and New Year holiday periods according to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nighttime driving is significantly more dangerous than daytime driving: 30% of drivers involved in fatal crashes between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. were drunk.
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Manifesting, experts say, isn’t just about vision boards or positive thinking. It starts with reflection. Many yoga instructors encourage people to get grounded, look back on the year they had and release the guilt that often comes with feeling like they didn’t do enough.
What You Need To Know
As the new year begins, many people are looking ahead — setting goals, making resolutions and hoping for a fresh start
But experts say before rushing into “doing more,” there’s real value in first slowing down
As 2026 approaches, wellness professionals say reflection and manifestation can be powerful tools for moving forward with intention rather than pressure
Rather than focusing only on what you want to achieve, the owner of Granville Yoga suggests asking yourself what you want to feel more of in the new year
Maybe you weren’t as productive as you wanted to be. Maybe you spent the year simply trying to get through it, and that’s OK. Others may realize they actually accomplished a great deal — they just haven’t taken the time to pause and recognize how far they’ve come.
Kelli Biehle, owner and instructor at Granville Yoga, said checking in with yourself is essential before setting intentions for the year ahead.
Instead of judging the past, she encourages reframing it — viewing experiences and accomplishments as information. Rather than focusing only on what you want to achieve, she suggests asking yourself what you want to feel more of in the new year.
“We’re go, go, go, and we’re always looking for that next thing, right? We’re trying to get to the next career goal or whatever,” Biehle said. “Our tagline of the studio is listen to your body to hear what’s on your mind that like, feel that like your body knows. Your body knows already. You just have to slow down enough to like, actually take stock and see what it’s trying to tell you.”
She said awareness is a critical first step. From there, manifestation begins with gratitude — intentionally acknowledging the people and moments you’re thankful for.
Biehle recommends starting with reflection and release: looking back on the past year with gratitude while letting go of what no longer serves you. From there, she suggests clarifying intentions in areas like health, career, and relationships — being specific about what you want, such as financial security rather than simply “more money.”
Visualization is another key step. Closing your eyes and imagining yourself living your goals — and allowing yourself to feel the emotions associated with achieving them — can help make those goals feel more tangible. Using present-tense affirmations, such as “I am healthy” or “I love my body,” can also help train the mind to believe change is possible.
Finally, she emphasizes taking action by breaking big goals into smaller, achievable steps for the first few months of the year.
One practical tool Biehle recommends is journaling to help process the past year. She suggests writing about what did and didn’t serve you — and why — focusing especially on how certain situations made you feel.
She also encourages answering the question, “What would it take?” For example: What would it take to start a business? To become a yoga teacher? To go back to college?
Another exercise is writing down what excites you, then repeatedly asking yourself why — digging deeper each time. The final step is defining what success looks like for you personally, and understanding why it matters.
“Sometimes I think that we get really focused on goals and we get really focused on this outer version of success. And I think as a whole society, we would really benefit a lot from thinking about what types of success we want and what actually makes us be like a successful human being, not a human doer,” Biehle said.
For those who don’t enjoy journaling, Biehle said writing notes in a phone or even talking things out loud can be just as effective. The key, she said, is getting thoughts out of your head and into conscious awareness.
“Sometimes stillness isn’t really possible, you know, just for life reasons and so it can also look like these times of reflection can look like not putting in your earbuds for the first ten minutes of your walk, or the first ten minutes on the, the bike, whatever it is,” Biehle said. “It looks different and the idea of just finding some time to reflect is what is important here.”
Above all, she reminds people to be kind to themselves. Growth and success look different for everyone, and progress isn’t about rushing to a destination — it’s about honoring the journey along the way.
For more information about Granville Yoga and new year yoga classes, click here.
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Polk County father is honoring his son’s legacy after the 6-year-old suddenly died just days before Christmas.
What You Need To Know
Jarvis Washington, father to his son, 6-year-old Mes’sia, is honoring his 6-year-old son, Mes’sia, by launching an autism awareness foundation after his sudden death
Mes’sia was nonverbal and on the autism spectrum
Washington said Mes’sia was his usual self when he dropped him off at school on Dec. 17, but later that day, the child became unresponsive in class and died unexpectedly
Mes’sia’s family is still waiting for the official cause of death from the medical examiner’s office
Jarvis Washington stood outside his home, reflecting on some of his last fond memories of his son, Mes’sia.
“He was a very playful, very lovable child,” Washington said.
Washington said Mes’sia was his usual self when he dropped him off at school on Dec. 17. Later that day, the child became unresponsive in class and died unexpectedly. Washington said doctors believe pneumonia may have contributed to his son’s death.
“And from the consistency of them trying to save his life, he went into a form of cardiac arrest,” Washington said.
Mes’sia’s family is still waiting for the official cause of death from the medical examiner’s office, a process that could take weeks or longer.
Since learning of Mes’sia’s death, community members have rallied to help raise money for funeral expenses. Washington said remaining funds will go toward a foundation he plans to launch in his son’s honor. Mes’sia was nonverbal and on the autism spectrum.
“His legacy now is going to help other individuals who are very special, very gifted, and sometimes overlooked because of perceived barriers — physical or mental — that can ultimately provide solutions to the world,” Washington said.
Washington said the organization will be called The World Is Mine Foundation, named after a message Mes’sia often carried with him.
“When he passed away, he still had on one sock, and on it, it said, ‘The world is mine,’” Washington said. “I held onto it for a couple days and thought about my son’s legacy. He reminded me we’re a lot bigger than what we perceive.”
Washington said it is a reminder that will live on forever.
WASHINGTON — Flu is rising rapidly across the U.S., driven by a new variant of the virus — and cases are expected to keep growing with holiday travel.
That variant, known as “subclade K,” led to early outbreaks in the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. In the U.S., flu typically begins its winter march in December. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported high or very high levels of illness in more than half the states.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Flu is rising rapidly across the U.S., driven by a new variant of the virus — and cases are expected to keep growing with holiday travel.
That variant, known as “subclade K,” led to early outbreaks in the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. In the U.S., flu typically begins its winter march in December. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported high or very high levels of illness in more than half the states.
The CDC estimated there have been at least 7.5 million illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from flu so far this season. That includes at least eight child deaths — and is based on data as of Dec. 20, before major holiday gatherings.
Some states are particularly hard-hit. New York’s health department said the week ending Dec. 20 marked the most flu cases the state had recorded in a single week since 2004: 71,000.
It’s far too soon to know if this flu season will be as severe as last winter’s.
But it’s not too late to get a flu shot, which health experts say can still prevent severe illness even if someone gets infected. While this year’s vaccine isn’t a perfect match to the subclade K strain, a preliminary analysis from the U.K. found it offered at least partial protection, lowering people’s risk of hospitalization.
According to the CDC, only about 42% of adults and children have gotten a flu vaccination so far this year.
The flu virus is a shape-shifter, constantly mutating, and it comes in multiple forms. There are two subtypes of Type A flu, and subclade K is a mutated version of one of them, named H3N2. That H3N2 strain is always harsh, especially for older adults.
Subclade K’s mutations aren’t enough of a change to be considered an entirely new kind of flu.
But they’re different enough to evade some of the protection from this year’s vaccine, said Andrew Pekosz, a virus expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Will subclade K make people sicker?
The CDC said it’s too soon to know how severe this season will be.
Flu seasons dominated by any version of H3N2 tend to be bad, with more infections overall and more people becoming seriously ill. But Hopkins’ Pekosz cautioned it will take time to tease apart whether this subclade K version simply spreads more easily or also is more dangerous.
That question aside, the CDC notes there are some prescription medicines to treat flu — usually recommended for people at high risk of complications. But they generally need to be started a day or two after symptoms begin.
The CDC and major medical societies all recommend a flu vaccine for just about everyone age 6 months and older. Despite lots of recent misinformation and confusion about vaccines, the flu recommendations haven’t changed.
Flu is particularly dangerous for people 65 and older, pregnant women, young children and people of any age who have chronic health problems, including asthma, diabetes, heart disease and weak immune systems.
The vaccines are brewed to protect against three influenza strains. Despite concern over that new H3N2 variant, they appear to be a good match against H1N1 and Type B flu that may also circulate this year, Pekosz said.
There are shots for all ages, as well as the nasal spray FluMist for ages 2 to 49. For the first time this year, some people may be eligible to vaccinate themselves with FluMist at home.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
An Idaho-based company is recalling nearly 3,000 pounds of raw ground beef that may have been contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
The recall involves 16-ounce vacuum-sealed packages labeled “Forward Farms Grass-Fed Ground Beef.” Affected packages were produced Dec. 16 and have a label telling customers to use or freeze the meat by Jan. 13. The affected beef also bears the establishment number “EST 2083” on the side of its packaging.
The meat was produced by Heyburn, Idaho-based Mountain West Food Group and was shipped to distributors in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which announced the recall Saturday, didn’t say which retailers may have sold the meat. The USDA and Mountain West Food Group didn’t respond to messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The USDA said there have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of the meat. The issue was discovered in a sample of beef during routine testing.
The USDA said the type of E. coli found can cause illness within 28 days of exposure. Most infected people develop diarrhea, which is often bloody, and vomiting. Infection is usually diagnosed with a stool sample.
The USDA said customers who have purchased the affected products should either throw them away or return them to the place they were bought. The agency also advises all customers to consume ground beef only if it has been cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Flu is surging across the U.S., sending thousands more people to the hospital and hitting young children especially hard, as doctors warn the season still has a long way to go.
Flu activity is at “high” or “very high” levels in 32 states and jurisdictions, based on data from the week ending Dec. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday — up from 17 the week before. At least 7.5 million have gotten sick since the season began in October.
Hospitalizations nearly doubled in a single week, rising to 19,053, up from 9,944 the week prior, according to the CDC. About 3,100 people have died from flu this season. The number of pediatric deaths rose to five, up from two the week before.
Doctors say they expect to see an increase in flu cases for at least the next several weeks, with illnesses not leveling off until the end of January or possibly February.
“Just looking at the trajectory of the curve, it’s really a pretty sharp increase that we’re seeing, and it’s not anywhere close to peaking or leveling off,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, a senior infectious disease physician at Mass General Brigham in Boston.
New states reporting high levels of flu include California, Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida.
Several states that were already in the CDC’s “very high” category are now at the top end of the range. Those states are New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Louisiana and Colorado.
2025-26 Influenza Season Week 51 ending Dec. 20, 2025. (CDC)
Dr. Jennifer Goebel, attending physician at South Shore University Hospital, Northwell in New York, said the hospital began seeing a rush of flu cases around Thanksgiving, maybe even a bit earlier.
“I don’t remember seeing flu cases this early and in this many numbers,” Goebel said. “It seems worse. Just a tremendous amount of volume.”
Dr. Donald Yealy, the chief medical officer of the UPMC health system, which has hospitals in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, said that for the past two weeks, he’s seen “a dramatic uptick” in the number of people coming in with acute respiratory infections.
“The biggest set of those are people with suspected influenza,” Yealy said. “And of those that we have adequate testing, it’s disproportionately influenza A.”
Who is hardest hit this flu season?
Doctors say infants and young children through age 4 have been among those hit hardest.
As cases rise, however, Dr. Lauren Siewny, the medical director of Duke University Hospital Emergency Department in North Carolina, said school-aged children and young adults are also coming in sick with the flu.
Older adults and people with chronic conditions are more likely to need hospitalization, Siewny added. Beds are also tight, she said, with cases of Covid and RSV overlapping with flu patients.
“We have built-in plans for these surges, and we prioritize the sickest patients first,” Siewny said.
Yealy said they’re seeing the flu hit all age groups, although the vast majority of people who require admission or advanced care are unvaccinated.
They’re also seeing a small uptick in Covid, norovirus and RSV cases, but the majority of cases that come in are the flu.
“We’re in the winter viral season,” he said.
Goebel, of South Shore University Hospital, also said they’re seeing cases across all age groups, adding, “We’re really just kind of seeing it across the board.”
Is the new variant a ‘super flu’?
The dominant strain right now is Influenza A — specifically a fast-spreading, mutated H3N2 strain called “subclade K.” H3N2 generally is thought to cause more severe illness, which may explain the sudden rise in hospitalizations.
The mutated strain, dubbed by some as “super flu,” emerged over the summer and includes changes to a key surface protein, which can make it harder for the immune system to recognize the virus. It’s also being blamed for a severe and early flu season in the United Kingdom and Japan.
Dr. Wenqing Zhang, who heads the World Health Organization’s unit for global respiratory threats, wrote in a recent blog post that current data don’t suggest an increase in disease severity from the new strain.
“Although the genetic shift makes a notable evolution in the virus,” Zhang wrote.
What are the flu variant symptoms?
Dr. Molly Fleece, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said symptoms have been pretty much the same compared to previous flu seasons.
“Symptoms start acutely,” she said. “People have higher fever, shaking, chills, cough, shortness of breath and muscle aches.”
Symptoms can be more severe, especially if a person is unvaccinated, Fleece said. Older adults and those with underlying medical conditions have also reported more serious complications, including pneumonia, muscle breakdown and seizures.
Goebel said patients are also reporting headaches or fatigue, and in some cases nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
“If patients are having shortnesss of breath, if patients are having high fever despite taking Tylenol and Motrin around the clock or really any concerns at all, we advise them to seek medical attention,” she said.
Should I get my flu shot?
Doctors say it’s not too late to get a shot.
This year’s flu shot has a component of H3N2, although it doesn’t match perfectly with the mutated strain, Fleece said. “That’s because the subclade mutated and spread after the vaccines were already selected for the year.”
But that doesn’t mean the vaccine isn’t effective, she added.
“It may mean that more people will be susceptible to getting the flu … but we know from historical data the vaccine is still very effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death.”
Yealy said the shot “essentially arms your body with the appropriate response before you get infected.”
“This year’s seasonal vaccine can help provide protection,” he said.
Other winter viruses circulating
Flu is dominant right now but Covid infections are slowly increasing nationwide, according to data from WastewaterScan, an academic program through Stanford University in partnership with Emory University. Covid levels are high in the South, Northeast and Midwest.
Norovirus infections, which spiked in late November, are still high and continuing to rise.
Respiratory syncytial (RSV) is starting to take off, especially in the South, the WastewaterScan data shows.
Doctors say it’s possible to have more than one viral infection at a time, a situation that can cause worse illness.
“Having one virus doesn’t actually shun another one off,” Yealy said. “The bigger issue is having one of the respiratory viruses and it worsening a second condition.”
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Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Patrick Martin and Kaan Ozcan | NBC News
It’s a beauty technique that’s exploding. Depending on your age, you might not have heard of it. It’s called micro-needling.
In less than a decade, it’s expected to become a $1.3 billion industry.
Business is buzzing at Enrichment Skin Solutions in Brooklyn Park. The owners demonstrated a microneedling session, showing WCCO the 12 tiny needles is a pen that move rapidly across the face.
“Microneedling is basically a procedure where there are little tiny needles placed on the face and miniature punctures in the face and that can help to stimulate collagen growth,” said Dr. Elizabeth Farhat, a dermatologist with Allina Health.
The process started in the 90s after a plastic surgeon noticed scars improved after patients underwent tattooing without pigment. Now, the common practice can help with wrinkles, acne or scars,
“I think it’s become popular because it’s less invasive so less downtime than things like laser or chemical peels,” said Farhat.
At Enrichment Skin Spa they use numbing cream, and they typically do the procedure on the face, but newer research from the National Institute of health shows it may help hair regrow too.
“Anything that’s stimulating cells and hair follicles is gonna help grow hair so anything where we are gonna generate new growth is gonna be helpful,” said Farhat.
And with the benefits, it seems the pokes have piqued interest.
Microneedling generally is not covered by insurance. Sessions can be around $500, and several sessions are need over a nine month period.
Search and rescue personnel responded to a snowmobile incident in Grand County on Wednesday, and two injured snowmobilers were flown to hospitals.
The Christmas Eve incident occurred in the Church’s Park area and involved a single snowmobile with two riders. Authorities provided no further details about how the snowmobilers ran into trouble or the nature of their injuries.
The Grand County Search and Rescue was joined by Grand County EMS and the sheriff’s office to extricate and transport the riders to a helicopter landing zone in Church’s Park, according to a Friday news release. Because of the nature of the injuries and the location of the incident, two medical helicopters from Flight for Life and HealthOne Airlife were dispatched.
Each injured snowmobiler was transported for further medical care. Other snowmobilers in the area helped first responders treat the injured parties.
Imagine you’re snuggled up under your warmest blankets in the most comfortable position on your bed. As you slowly drift off into the land of dreams, it hits you like a ton of bricks: your bladder screams at you to empty it. Reluctantly, you dragged yourself to the bathroom to take care of it and returned to bed. Depending on the person, the inconvenience can make it difficult to fall back asleep. A full bladder has rudely awakened us during the night.
This is why a new hack is circulating online to prevent your bladder from disturbing your sleep: drinking Sprite Zero before bed.
What is the Zero Sprite bedtime trend?
According to We Got This Covered, former NFL coach Pratik Patel shared in September on X his method for preventing his bladder from disrupting his sleep. By cracking open a can of Sprite Zero before hitting the hay, he claims it prevents him from waking up to use the restroom. Because it contains sodium citrate, potassium citrate, carbonated water, and no caffeine, he calls it the formula for ‘elite hydration.’ Combined with his supplement PreSleep, the soft drink recipe aids him to ‘sleep like a zombie.’
Regardless, social media users quickly jumped on the bandwagon to participate in what is dubbed the ‘Sprite Zero sleep trails.’
Man questions the viral trick
TikTok creator Nick Komodina (@nickkomodina_official) discusses this with over 580,000 viewers. “OK, serious conversation,” he says, dragging a 20-oz Sprite Zero bottle. “Apparently, there is a thing that everybody’s squawking about that if you drink a Sprite Zero before bed, you do not get up to go pee.”
It may sound counterintuitive, since one way to reduce it is to limit fluid intake before bed, according to the Cleveland Clinic. However, the ingredients are allegedly a formula for a melatonin dose. “Because it is the perfect balance of minerals and electrolytes. It’s 60 [milligrams] sodium, 180 [milligrams] potassium,” he explains, mentioning two of the ingredients.
Skeptical, the content creator wants to run a test. “I’m gonna drink this entire thing before bed tonight, and I’m gonna let you guys know,” Komodina concludes.
What did viewers think of this sleep hack?
The comments section quickly weighed in. Ultimately, many were not persuaded and demanded that Komodina post an update.
“9 [TikToks later,] we still don’t know the results,” one viewer remarked.
“Wellll any updates?” another asked.
In addition, others cited firsthand experience to debunk the method.
“You wake up with acid reflux first and then have to use [the bathroom],” one commenter shared.
“I’ve been drinking Sprite Zero for a long time. Still wake up to use the bathroom,” a second revealed.
“[Not ]true. I wake up a million times a night,” a third concurred.
Did the Sprite Zero hack work?
After viewers repeatedly demanded it, Komodina delivered the results the following morning. “All right, I just woke up. I drank a little more than half of this before bed last night,” he said in a video update, holding the same Sprite Zero bottle but half empty.
“I did eat dinner pretty late and I drink a lot of water. So, I think that did play a variable.” His bladder disrupted his sleep. “I did in fact wake up in the middle of the night and go pee,” he shared.
How does soda affect sleep?
Whether it has sugar or not, the Sleep Foundation advises against drinking soft drinks before bed. In addition to triggering the bladder, the carbonation in these beverages can cause bloating and acid reflux. So, a stomachache could interrupt your sleep, according to Real Simple.
Melody Heald is a culture writer. Her work can be found in Glitter Magazine, BUST Magazine, The Daily Dot, and more. You can email her at: [email protected]
At first, Everly Green’s parents didn’t understand why her doctors wanted genetic testing. Their daughter was behind on her milestones at 18 months, but was gradually making progress, and they expected that to continue.
Then, when she turned 2, the seizures started. She suddenly began to lose skills. Three months later, Everly needed a feeding tube. Now, at 8, she can only move her eyes, allowing her to communicate via a screen.
Everly, whose family lives in Fort Collins, has a rare mutation in a gene called FRRS1L, pronounced “frizzle,” which affects how cells in her brain communicate. Her parents, and other members of the tiny community of children with the condition, have worked with researchers and small-scale manufacturers to develop a treatment that could restore some of her ability to move — but only if they can raise $4 million to develop and test it.
Everly clearly understands what happens around her and loves school, where she learns in a mainstream classroom with support and has several best friends, said Chrissy Green, Everly’s mother. Still, she wants to do things she can’t, such as holding toys on her own or going on the occasional family trip with her brothers, Green said.
“These kids are in there, they want to play like other kids, they just can’t move,” she said.
Green is co-president of the foundation Finding Hope for FRRS1L, which is collecting funds for the next stage of drug development. Children with FRRS1L gene disorder, the foundation’s website says, “are trapped in a body they can’t move, however still retain high cognitive function, understanding, communication and awareness.”
Worldwide, only a few dozen children currently have a diagnosis of the same mutation in FRRS1L, meaning there’s little interest from drug companies. Families are on their own to fund research and, if all goes well, convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the treatment is safe and effective enough to go on the market.
And, even if they succeed with the FDA, they’ll still face a battle with insurance companies that may not want to pay the steep price for a drug to correct a faulty gene. (Even though the families aren’t looking to make a profit, these types of treatments are expensive, and the company under contract to do the manufacturing isn’t doing it for free.)
Chrissy Green sits with her daughter Everly, 8, as her two boys Colton, 9, left, and Ryle, 4, play at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Normally, drug companies take on the financial risk of turning basic research that’s often publicly funded into treatments, with the hope of eventually making a profit. For gene therapies, that model can break down because of the small number of patients. Green’s FRRS1L foundation knows of about three dozen patients worldwide, though other children with unexplained seizures could have the mutation.
A drug that treats so few patients will never be profitable, so parents are largely on their own in trying to fund research and development, said Neil Hackett, a researcher who has worked with families on gene therapies and advised the FRRS1L foundation. Usually, they can’t do it unless they happen to have one or more business-savvy parents with the time and resources to run a foundation while caring for a child with complex needs, he said.
“They need specific expertise, which is not easy to find, and they need massive amounts of money,” he said.
Steve Green supports his daughter Everly’s head as the family plays with toys together at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
When they first received Everly’s diagnosis, her doctor told the family to make the most of the time they had left, because medicine couldn’t offer anything to extend her life or reduce her symptoms, Green said. She didn’t initially question that, but focused on loving her daughter and trading tips for daily life with other families via Facebook.
Green connected with a mother in London who had a child the same age as Everly. Viviana Rodriguez was exploring whether researchers had found any evidence to suggest they could repurpose existing drugs to reduce FRRS1L symptoms.
Everly Green, 8, lies next to her mother, Chrissy Green, as she reads to her at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Through a “providential” series of events, one of Rodriguez’s contacts knew a doctor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who worked on gene therapies. That doctor had read a paper from a German researcher who bred mice with the FRSS1L mutation so he could study it. The German scientist had given the mice a gene therapy as part of his experiments, but his work wasn’t focused on the clinical applications, Green said.
Green and Rodriguez, along with a small group of other parents, formed the foundation to raise $400,000 for the UT Southwestern researchers to breed their own group of FRSS1L mice and give them a gene therapy in a study that was set up to show results. The mice that received the gene therapy had near-normal movement after it took effect, she said.
“We saw major recovery in the animals, so we’re really hopeful for our kids,” she said.
The next step was testing for toxic side effects, then finding a manufacturer who could do the complicated work of inserting the corrected gene into a harmless virus, Green said. If they can raise the necessary money and all goes as expected, children could receive their doses through a clinical trial starting in September, she said.
Colton Green, 9, pushes his sister Everly, 8, into the family’s living room at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Many treatments that look promising in mice don’t pan out in humans. Even if they do, foundations must navigate the complex process of getting permission from the FDA to sell the treatment, Hackett said. Then they face the separate battle of convincing insurance companies, or national health systems serving patients in other countries, that they should pay for it, he said.
Theoretically, a foundation could keep a treatment in reserve for patients diagnosed with the FRSS1L mutation in the future, but that likely isn’t feasible, Hackett said.
“At the end, I think you have to turn it over to a commercial entity, and I don’t think anyone knows what that looks like,” he said.
Green is hopeful, however, that the treatment she’s trying to fund will not only help children like Everly, but also ease the path for future gene therapies.
“All the diseases can kind of help each other move forward,” she said.
Chrissy Green lifts her daughter Everly, 8, out of bed at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
