(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 1, 2022) Diabetes deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the second year in a row last year. Florida diabetes patient Vanessa Akinney on her way to see a doctor. (Photo from Associated Press)

The death toll from diabetes in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the second year in a row last year, and experts recommend a federal "anti-diabetic" mobilization, like the fight against AIDS.

The panel called on Congress to expand strategies to combat diabetes, including strengthening "healthy eating" standards, a "sweet drink tax," a "paid maternity leave" law, and improved low-income housing.

Diabetes took 87,000 American lives in 2019 and is the seventh leading cause of death in the country. The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has robbed many resources for treating diabetes and exacerbated the lethality of the "epidemic" of diabetes.

Diabetes deaths will rise 17 percent in 2020 from 2019 and another 15 percent in 2021, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Paul Hsu, an epidemiologist at the UCLA School of Public Health said that the sharp increase in two consecutive years is a shocking warning. Hsu added "Type 2 diabetes is not difficult to prevent, but it still takes so many lives, it is really sad."

The National Council on Clinical Care, convened by Congress, calls on the federal government to provide more comprehensive approaches to preventing the most common form of diabetes, type 2 (acquired), especially for those who have been diagnosed with life-threatening symptoms to provide the best possible care.

About 11 percent of the U.S. population, or 37 million people, has diabetes, the committee said, a long-term condition estimated at one in three people based on current life expectancy trends.

The committee's report to Congress and the Department of Health stated that the diabetes problem in the United States is not a purely medical care problem, but a social problem involving diet, housing, business, transportation, and the environment.

It recommends that Congress create a "National Office of Diabetes Policy" to coordinate government departments and oversee measures beyond public health policy. Committee chairman William Herman, a professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Michigan, said the office would be similar in nature to the White House's "National AIDS Policy Office" and should operate independently of the Department of Health.

The cure for diabetes in the U.S., Herman said, can’t just start with medicine, it’s about “integrating all the federal ministries and combining their strengths.”

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 30, 2022) Kraft Heinz raised wholesale prices starting in March. (Photo from Reuters).

Packaged food giant Kraft Heinz has warned distributors of imminent price hikes on some of its most popular items as inflation continues to weigh on overall household goods.

The company warned in a letter to wholesale suppliers this week that it was preparing to raise prices on a variety of consumer staples starting in March.

For example, 12-ounce Velveeta Fresh Packs are up 6.6% and three-packs of Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon are up 30%.

Meanwhile, the company's cold cuts and beef hot dogs will rise about 10%, coffee will rise 5%, and some Kool-Aid and Capri Sun beverages will rise about 20%, the letter said.

A Kraft Heinz spokesman said in a statement, "Due to persistent and unprecedented global supply shortages, coupled with other extreme inflationary pressures in raw materials, labor and transportation, we are forced to take action to offset the escalating escalation. cost pressure.” "We're not the only ones raising prices, but the industry as a whole is facing the same challenges," he said.

The spokesman stressed that the price increases "are not for all products, but only for those with the greatest cost pressure."

The company noted that it only sets prices for wholesale customers, and that retailers have complete discretion over what prices they want to sell.

The spokesman also said Kraft Heinz was taking other steps to "fight inflation," including adding larger-size packaging and offering some more affordable price points.

Rising raw material costs, coupled with labor shortages and ongoing supply chain disruptions, have forced many businesses to raise prices for consumers.

Poline plans to raise prices by 8 percent in February for Tide and Gain laundry detergent, Downy fabric softener and Bounce de-static paper.

Meanwhile, Domino's will cut its $7.99 takeaway pizza from 10 to 8 pieces as it faces an "unprecedented surge" in food costs.

Little Caesar's raised the price of its iconic $5 Hot-N-Ready pizza to $5.55, up 11 per cent and the first increase in nearly 25 years. However, the company said it would offer 33 percent more pepperoni.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 31, 2022) Rettig, the 49th head of the IRS, called on the public to file their taxes aggressively. (Screenshot of video conference)

The Minority Media Center held a special meeting on the 28th, inviting IRS officials to speak "2022 tax season - what your audience needs to know about the IRS."

Topics of the day included how taxpayers can file better so they can get their tax refunds as soon as possible, the ability of the IRS's phone service and how to get faster service, how the tax returns that haven't been processed before will affect this year's tax returns, the economy Impact stimulus payments, child tax credit advances, and more.

The 49th head of the IRS, Chuck Rettig, attended the meeting and pointed out that tax filing should not be a matter of anxiety for the public, but an opportunity for eligible people to receive tax benefits and funds. There are many tax incentives, bailouts, and other funds this year, and it is very simple for the public to obtain these incentives, if they file their taxes accurately and immediately.

Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer (Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer) Ken Corbin said that if people file their taxes now, they can get their tax refunds as early as early March and urge everyone to actively file tax returns. He also introduced some tax benefits this year. For example, employees with an annual income of less than $57,414 may be eligible for the Income Tax Credit (EITC). The new rules require that you do not have to be under 65, and you can even apply for certain investment income.

Most of the online tax preparation software is charged, not free. He recommends that the public can use the free tax preparation service (VITA) of the Internal Revenue Service. The public can see the link if they log in to the official website. If you still need help, VITA is also providing volunteers in the community to help with tax returns. If you are worried about meeting offline because of the epidemic, VITA volunteers can also help people file tax returns online, and people can use their mobile phones to make video calls, which is as easy as a video conference that day. That's why he recommends that people install the IRS mobile app, where all these functions can be done.

When asked if the tax filing deadline would be extended this year, the two officials said there was no change to the timeline. They encouraged the public to follow the IRS's social media accounts to get notifications faster and more directly, or to visit the official website to learn more about this year's new policies. The official website is available in various languages ​​for the convenience of multi-ethnic people.

(Source: World Journal)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 28, 2022) The Red and Blue Card website publishes nursing home staff turnover and weekend nurse duty details to allow the public to compare the quality of nursing homes. The picture shows an 85-year-old resident in a nursing home in Florida. (Getty Images)

The Biden administration launched a new service measure for the federal health insurance plan (Medicare) on the 26th. It will publish the details of the staff turnover rate and weekend nurse duty in the nursing home on the "Care Compare" page of the federal health insurance website, which is convenient for consumers to compare the quality of care in nursing homes.

After the outbreak of a new round of the epidemic, although the nursing home has strengthened vaccination, the number of infections and deaths is still increasing, and the quality of the staff is very important to the service quality and safety of the nursing home.

If consumers want to get information about nursing homes, they can log in to the Care Compare website and search for any nursing home, and then click on the "View Staffing Information" page to know the details of nursing staff on weekends as well as nurses and management staff turnover.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) said they did a comparative study of employee turnover and service quality and found that if employee turnover decreased, the overall quality of care in nursing homes improved. A measure of low nurse turnover is the proportion of nursing staff who stop working within a year. Starting this summer, CMS will use information such as employee turnover to evaluate the service quality of nursing homes, which will be reflected in the form of five stars.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, director of CMS, said: "The importance of nursing home staff has become increasingly prominent during the epidemic, and we hope that our announcement will help improve the quality of service. People living in nursing homes and their families can also find valuable information from our website.”

The success of nursing homes depends on the quality of service, and CMS said that if the turnover rate of nursing staff is low, it will deepen the familiarity with residents of the nursing home, to detect any signs that patients may develop more quickly.

CMS said that the management turnover rate provided by the website can reflect the stability, leadership, and daily operation of the nursing home, and plays an important role in ensuring the quality of services.

CMS said the information on nursing and management staff posted online will not increase the paperwork workload for nursing homes because it is information that has been reported to the government but has not been released to the public in the past.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)