CEO of ventilator maker speaks out as Trump invokes Defense Production Act

Chris Kiple told NBC News his company was already well on its way to rolling out thousands of ventilators to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

• Ventec Life Systems and GM Partner to Mass Produce Critical Care Ventilators in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
  PR Newswire
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  Back and forth between Trump and states in the battle over coronavirus
  ABC News Videos

Why Not Wearing A Bra During Self-Isolation Is The Best

Keep those chest prisons in your dresser drawer where they belong!

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  Food-Focused Books to Read While You're Self-Isolating
  Meredith Videos
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  Five ways to thrive while working from home during the coronavirus pandemic
  USA TODAY

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Showed Her Anger on the House Floor — and Also Her Power

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expressed her anger and her frustration as a $2 trillion relief bill that would allow for major corporate bailouts was passed in the House of Representatives. A body language expert breaks down her power.

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  AOC believes illegal immigrants deserve coronavirus relief bill money
  FOX News Videos
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  AOC Calls Bailout Bill “Shameful”
  HuffPost

Millions of Americans are about to lose their health insurance in a pandemic

Americans are about to learn something horrifying: how irrational it is for health insurance to be linked to your employment statusThe tragic effects of our battle with the novel coronavirus are seemingly endless. But arguably the most mind-blowing is this: the very pandemic that threatens to infect and kill millions is simultaneously causing many to also lose their health coverage at their gravest time of need.Here’s how: the virus has caused a public health crisis so severe that people have been forced to stay home, causing businesses to shutter and lay off workers. And with roughly half of Americans getting their health insurance from their employer, these layoffs mean not only losing their income but also their medical coverage. In other words, just as our need for medical care skyrockets in the face of a global pandemic, fewer will have health insurance or be able to afford it. According to one recent report, the cost of treatment for Covid-19 can run around $35,000. As the patient in the report exclaimed: “I was pretty sticker-shocked. I personally don’t know anybody who has that kind of money.”So, how did we get to such a dire place? Many will sadly lose their jobs over the coming weeks – with one estimate projecting as many as 30%. And as they do, Americans are about to learn something horrifying: how irrational and irresponsible it is for so many to be dependent on employers for health insurance. Take it from me. I’m a former health insurance executive who once profited from this system. It’s time for it to stop.America needs to finally get out of the business of linking health coverage to job status. Even in better times, this arrangement was a bad idea from a health perspective. Most Americans whose families depend on their employers for coverage are just a layoff away from being uninsured. And now, when many businesses are shutting down and considering layoffs, it’s a public health disaster. Across the country we’re seeing reports of layoffs in almost all industries. As we approach a global recession, some analysts suggest that a million or more US workers will lose their jobs in April alone. Consider what this means for health care in this country.We’ve seen this before. During the last big recession, researchers at Cornell University found that 9.3 million Americans lost their health insurance between 2007 and 2009. Why? As people lost work, their employer-provided insurance went away. During this time, roughly six in 10 Americans who lost their jobs became uninsured. And this problem compounds itself. If the reason you lost your health insurance is that you no longer have steady employment, how are you now going to be able to afford monthly premiums for some other private health care plan? This problem becomes particularly acute when you consider that premiums for health plans sold on exchanges are projected to soar, as well, due to “unexpected Covid-19 costs”.It’s worth noting that even in good times, the employer-based model fails to cover enough of us, with the number of Americans covered through an employer steadily dropping in general. Since 1999, the percentage of those with job-based coverage has declined by nine points. And it most certainly will drop like a rock in the coming weeks and months.It’s now clear that this system cannot handle our current reality. With so many Americans sadly on the verge of unemployment, the number that will lose health coverage will be crushing. As we rebuild our country’s economic base and reimagine the roles various industries play in our new future, we must also begin a difficult conversation about health care. If we’re dependent on jobs in order to have it, a lot of us will be left out in the cold. And at a time in our nation’s history where more will need quality care than ever before, the human cost will simply be too much to bear. * Wendell Potter, a former vice-president for corporate communications at Cigna, is president of Business for Medicare for All

Rats swarm New Orleans' streets as coronavirus precautions leave them empty

With restaurants closed save for take-out service, far less food waste is being discarded in the city's alleyways, driving the local rodent population out into the open to search for scraps.

40 Things Every House in the 70s Had That No One Sees Today

These really take us back.From Country Living

‘For the First Time in Our History,’ Ross Stores Reportedly Cancels All Merchandise Orders for 3 Months

Ross Stores has joined the growing list if retailers activating contingency plans amid the rapid rise in coronavirus cases.