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by: Associated Press and WISH Staff Reports
Posted:
Dec 23, 2020 / 03:26 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (AP/WISH) For a third straight week, more than a quarter of Indiana counties are rated with the highest risk level of coronavirus spread in Wednesday’s state update that continued to show no area in the low or moderate community spread zones.
The Indiana State Health Department tracking map labels 24 of the state’s 92 counties the most dangerous red category, down two from a week ago.
All other counties are in the next-riskiest orange rating of the four-level system.
Dec 22, 2020 / 01:26 PM EST
(CNN) Congress has finally addressed one of Americans’ biggest health care headaches: surprise medical billing.
Lawmakers included a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to stop the practice in this week’s government spending bill. The deal among key players in both the House and Senate was released earlier this month a year after the last joint-chamber agreement was announced before withering amid competing measures in the House.
At issue are the bills that patients get after receiving care from out-of-network physicians or hospitals, often in emergency situations. Roughly 1 in every 6 emergency room or in-hospital stays generated at least one out-of-network medical bill in 2017, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
Dec 21, 2020 / 07:02 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) School districts in Indiana have gone through so much this year. One of the challenges was having to switch to online learning for both students and teachers.
The future of education funding in Indiana could have questions.
Teri Ulm and Guerino “G” Cento have a son who is learning virtually in a Marion County school.
“The e-learning experience has been a nightmare. My son has autism, so he already has some deficits that we’re dealing with,” Ulm explained.
And that hasn’t been easy.
“Yes, he has an ‘A’ in their, because he’s brilliant at math, but he’s not getting that interaction that he needs. Like seeing somebody actually talking to him,” Ulm explained.
Dec 22, 2020 / 05:34 PM EST
(CNN) In this long and difficult year, pandemic fatigue has caught up with so many people who just want to be with their loved ones during the holiday season.
The reality, however, is that even as the vaccine rollout is underway the United States surpassed 18 million reported COVID-19 cases Monday. At least 319,000 people nationwide have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and this loss of grandparents, mothers, fathers, cousins, children, sisters and brothers will keep escalating as the deadly virus continues to spread from person to person.
CNN Wellness spoke with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen for her guidance about getting together safely with loved ones between now and New Year’s Day, a time families traditionally gather with relatives for multigenerational celebrations. Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School
Dec 21, 2020 / 07:58 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) The new stimulus bill provides $284 billion to extend the Payroll Protection Program, which had expired over the summer.
The bill also provides some tax relief for companies that received PPP loans and opens the door for a second round according to CPA Leslie Boyd, of Clifton Larson Allen.
“Those expenses are deductible and we have a second round for businesses that have been hardest hit where they can possibly apply for a second round of the PPP loan so that is a really big deal,” said Boyd.
There is another tax credit added to this bill for businesses that do not qualify for PPP loans, called the employer retention credit. This provides an avenue for companies to keep people working when the cash flow dictates otherwise.