(NAPSI)—Migraine is a debilitating neurological disease that affects one billion people worldwide, but it is not just an adult disease. For the 1 in 10 children diagnosed with this complex and incurable condition, it can be a daily battle that affects academic performance, impacts friendships, and leads to diminished quality of life. And many struggle for years before receiving a proper diagnosis.

The Problem

Despite the lifelong consequence of untreated migraine, the landscape of evidence-based pediatric migraine care remains shockingly limited. Many prescription medications have not been evaluated in children or adolescents and were not originally developed for migraine treatment. In fact, only one migraine medication is FDA-approved for acute treatment in children as young as 8 years old, and no medications have been approved for preventive use in this age group. Additionally, they are often poorly tolerated, disruptive to normal activities, and require an adult to manage and properly administer medication to minimize adverse events.

An Answer

Fortunately, there is a non-drug alternative. Unfortunately, certain insurance companies are refusing to cover it. The Nerivio Remote Electrical Neuromodulation (REN) wearable is redefining what is possible for migraine care. It is the only FDA-cleared, non-drug treatment available for people with migraine ages eight and above, offering both migraine relief and prevention. Despite its proven efficacy, many families face an insurmountable barrier: high cost due to lack of insurance coverage.

“Any treatment with evidence of efficacy is something I discuss with my patients,” says Dr. Ryan P. Williams MD, EDM, a pediatric neurologist and headache specialist with Children’s Specialty Group and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters—a network of comprehensive pediatric services. “I have noticed more families are seeking effective, non-medication options, and the Nerivio REN wearable fits that need perfectly. However, the cost of the treatment without insurance coverage prevents many patients from accessing it. Of those I prescribe it to, only about half can afford to move forward.”

One Child’s Story

For Kieran Johnston, a 15-year-old migraine patient, non-drug treatment has been transformative. Migraine was an exhausting battle when relying on medications that left him nauseated and sometimes sleepy. The Nerivio REN wearable offered a way to manage his migraine disease without the systemic side effects of drugs. Using the treatment every other day for prevention and for relief when a migraine starts, Johnston has reduced his school absences from 6 or 7 days a month to just 1 or 2. He’s back to playing soccer and football with friends—activities he often missed when using migraine medication.

Still, Johnston’s family is paying out of pocket for this non-drug, non-disruptive treatment.

“We thought about stopping because it’s expensive,” says Johnston. “But it works so well that we decided to keep using it. I just wish it was covered by insurance for our family and so more kids like me could try it.”

Dr. Williams emphasizes that early and effective treatment can make a significant difference for pediatric patients, reducing the risk of developing chronic migraine later in life. “Insurance companies should cover all safe and effective treatment options, and the Nerivio REN wearable deserves to be one of those options, so we can not only treat early, but safely, effectively, and, if desired, without drugs.”

Families and healthcare providers alike are urging insurance companies to take notice and prioritize evidence-based, non-drug treatments for migraine. With growing evidence and real-world success stories, many believe it’s time for insurers to provide equitable access for drug-free options, including the Nerivio REN wearable.

Learn More

Patients, caregivers, and advocates can visit NerivioCovered.com for resources to help fight for better coverage and close the gap in pediatric migraine care.

An additional dose of the 2024/2025 COVID-19 vaccine six months after the first dose adds a key layer of protection against severe illness for older Americans and people with weakened immune systems.

(NAPSI)—Americans are living nearly a decade longer than they were in the 1970s. That’s great news – but staying healthy into your 80s and beyond requires extra care and an eye towards prevention. The protection provided by vaccines plays a key role in helping keep you healthy and preventing severe illness and potential long-term complications, especially for older adults and individuals with immunocompromised conditions.

As people age, their immune system naturally weakens – it becomes slower at recognizing and fighting off viruses. At the same time, lungs become more vulnerable, and chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes can make it harder to recover from illnesses such as COVID-19. Similarly, people of all ages with weakened immune systems – whether from certain health conditions or medications – face a higher risk of severe illness because their bodies also struggle to mount a strong defense. In both cases, a reduced ability to fight infectious respiratory disease increases the risk of serious complications and hospitalization.

Vaccines Help Keep You Healthy

That’s why staying up to date on vaccines – especially for COVID-19 and other infectious respiratory illnesses like flu, measles, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, and RSV – is essential as we head into spring and summer. Vaccination helps boost our body’s immune response and provides an added layer of protection when traveling and gathering with friends and family. In fact, according to data from the 2024/2025 season, COVID-19 vaccination was associated with:

• A 45 percent lower risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 for older adults;
• A 40 percent lower risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 for older adults with weakened immune systems;
• A 33 percent lower risk of emergency department or urgent care visits from COVID-19 among adults 18 and older

Why It Matters Now

COVID-19 isn’t just a seasonal concern, it can surge at any time of the year, including during the spring and summer. Early in the pandemic, spikes were often associated with colder months, but we now know that outbreaks can occur during any season because the virus keeps changing so it can spread more easily from person to person. This makes staying up to date on vaccination even more important.
Spring into Summer with an Extra Layer of Protection

Immunity from previous doses can wane over time, leaving individuals – especially those 65 and older or with a weakened immune system – more vulnerable to severe illness. If you fall into one of these groups, it’s recommended that you receive another dose of the 2024/2025 COVID-19 vaccine six months after your first dose to help maintain protection.

Talk to your healthcare provider to learn whether you should get another dose of the latest COVID-19 vaccine so you can enjoy time with family, travel, and everything else this season brings.
Learn more at: CVEEP.org/stayprotected.

When the temperature climbs, it’s a hot idea to get your HVAC system professionally cleaned.

(NAPSI)—As the weather warms, many homes begin to shift into cooling mode. Air conditioners are turned on, windows are closed to keep the heat out, and people start spending more time indoors to escape rising temperatures. So this can be an excellent time to think about not only comfort, but air quality inside your home. One of the most important, yet often overlooked, ways to prepare for the warmer months is by cleaning your HVAC system’s air ducts.

Why the Ducts

Over the course of the winter, your HVAC system likely worked hard to keep your home warm and comfortable. During this time, dust, dirt, pet dander, mold spores, and other debris can build up in the ductwork. When you make the seasonal switch to cooling, all of that built-up gunk can start circulating through your home, affecting the air you and your family breathe every day. For individuals with allergies, asthma, or other respiratory concerns, this can lead to discomfort or even health complications.

That means now’s the time to schedule a professional HVAC system cleaning. A clean HVAC system improves indoor air quality, supports healthier living conditions, and helps your equipment run more efficiently. When air ducts are clogged with contaminants, your system has to work harder to push air through, which increases energy consumption and can shorten the life­span of your equipment. Cleaning your ducts can help reduce energy bills, improve airflow, and eliminate unpleasant odors caused by dander and mold inside the system.

Beyond personal comfort, there’s a bigger picture to consider. A clean HVAC system contributes to a healthier environment as well as a healthier home. By improving your system’s efficiency, you’re reducing the energy needed to keep your home cool, which supports energy conservation and sustainability.

What to Watch For

There are a few signs that it may be time to schedule a professional HVAC cleaning:

1. You notice more dust than usual around your home, even after cleaning.
2. You or your family experience increased allergy or respiratory symptoms.
3. There’s a musty or stale smell when the system runs.
4. You’ve recently completed a home renovation or construction project.
5. It’s been several years since your last duct cleaning.

Whom to Look For

To ensure your system is cleaned properly and thoroughly, always hire a certified professional. It helps to know that NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association) sets the industry standard for HVAC cleaning, and certified professionals follow a strict code of ethics and best practices to ensure the job is done right.

Learn More

Visit BreathingClean.com to learn more about the importance of HVAC system cleaning and find a NADCA-certified professional in your area, so this season, you take the steps to breathe cleaner, fresher air all summer long.

(NAPSI)—Americans are struggling with rising healthcare costs, driven in large part by unchecked hospital pricing practices. When large hospital systems abuse their pricing power, local employers, small businesses, working families, and communities feel the resulting impacts—through soaring premiums, shrinking wages, and cuts to services we all rely on. The result: higher healthcare costs, fewer options, and risks to patient care.

So, who pays?

In reality, everyone does. Healthcare costs are rapidly outpacing both inflation and wage growth, increasing the burden on employers and working families to make up the difference. As a result, data show premiums are steadily rising – today, the average annual premium for a family of four exceeds $25,000. For now, employers are paying roughly $19,000 of that cost, while employees contribute more than $6,000 from their paychecks a year, on average – not to mention the added burden of increased cost-sharing, such as copayments and coinsurance. Moreover, the average premium for family coverage under employer-sponsored health plans has increased by 24 percent in the last five years. This is not sustainable.

Employers want to offer competitive and comprehensive health coverage but keeping up with rising prices presents new challenges each year. More than half of employers report needing to make cost-cutting changes, like scaling back benefits or shifting costs to workers, according to a 2024 nationwide survey of employers. For most families, this means higher healthcare premiums and smaller paychecks, making everything from your monthly grocery budget to planning for home improvements or a vacation harder – or completely out of reach.

Now, employers are pointing to concerning trends in spending that could make it financially unsustainable to provide healthcare benefits within the next five to 10 years.

What’s behind these concerning trends?

Hospital bills are the leading driver of healthcare costs for working families, per a 2023 report from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. In 2023, Americans collectively spent $1.5 trillion on hospital care—equaling nearly a third of total healthcare expenditures in the US.

Spotlight on three hospital pricing practices and how they drive higher healthcare costs

Behind these eye-popping numbers is a troubling reality: large hospitals and health centers have built sophisticated pricing mechanisms that maximize their profits at the expense of local employers and working families. We believe in continuing to provide the healthcare services working families depend on, and so we call on policymakers to rein in these abuses with greater transparency, accountability, and oversight.

Profiting off a program intended to benefit patients

One example of such practices is how non-profit hospital systems are exploiting the 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B program), a little-known government program that is intended to help low-income patients access care. The 340B program provides hospitals with deep discounts on medicines that they then turn around and mark up for employers that provide health benefits. Ultimately, employers are forced to either cover the added costs of these hospital markups or pass them on to their employees.

“[There is a] large and growing body of evidence that 340B is often a shell game that has a substantial impact on commercial healthcare prices,” says Shawn Gremminger, President & CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. “Hospital prices and healthcare premiums continue to rise across the country with employers and employees bearing the brunt.”

Data show that between 2005 and 2023, the 340B program exploded from $2.4 billion to $66.3 billion as hospitals turned it into a profit engine, using the proceeds to buy up additional physician groups and hospitals, expanding their reach into affluent areas where they can further exploit the 340B program by accessing patients with employer-sponsored insurance. These practices are leading to large, consolidated hospital systems that can dictate healthcare costs by curbing competition, reducing choices, and driving up prices for everyone – all while their profit margins grow.

Buying up local hospitals and practices and limiting options for care, which often comes at a higher cost

Another troubling trend in hospital pricing is the ever-growing consolidation of hospitals and health systems. When hospitals merge, prices jump. Data show hospital mergers may lead to price increases that can range anywhere from 3-65%. When hospitals acquire local doctors’ offices, patients are left with fewer options and often face higher costs for the same services. Research suggests the expansion of the 340B program may be contributing to this consolidation, particularly affecting rural communities as larger hospital systems are incentivized to purchase 340B-eligible rural health centers and specialty outpatient practices to extend their 340B footprint.

Deploying opaque business practices

Perhaps most alarming is hospitals’ deliberate lack of transparency. One in four hospitals do not comply with federal price transparency requirements, according to a 2024 report from Advisory Board. Many hospital contracts contain “gag clauses” that prevent employers from accessing or sharing their own healthcare price data. This allows hospital systems to set prices that bear no relation to actual costs of care, leaving employers on the hook for surging prices—case in point, a recent report by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions found that employers and other plan sponsors pay anywhere from 150-700% of Medicare rates for identical hospital services.

Learn More

For more information on efforts to ensure fair pricing, visit hospitalpricingabuse.org.

Dietitian answers 5 key questions

When it comes to weight loss, many people track their macros — i.e., their proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. However, as a humble nutrient, fiber is often overlooked. But what if this is the missing ingredient to weight loss success? Can fiber supplements replace whole foods? In this podcast, a nutritionist answers readers’ questions about fiber and more.

Nowadays, the internet is awash with articles, charts, and recipes centered around eating more protein — anything from a 30-gram-protein breakfast to high-protein drinks and more — to naturally lose weight. And although the key to achieving good weight loss results is indeed a higher protein intake, there is a nutrient that is often overlooked: fiber.

Fiber is crucial not only for digestive functioning but overall health. Studies have shown it can lower LDL cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, and protect against heart disease. Newer research also shows that fiber may promote weight loss and enhance sensitivity to insulin.

However, statistics show that less than 5 percent of Americans realistically meet their recommended daily fiber intake, which is on average up to 34 grams (g)Trusted Source for adult men and about 28 g for adult women. So, how can we eat more fiber?

What is fiber, and why is it important for our bodies? How can we tell whether we are eating enough fiber? Is it right to call fiber nature’s Ozempic?

Let’s differentiate between soluble and insoluble fiber while discussing the ideal daily intake for different people. We’ll also touch on how fiber supplements like psyllium husk compare with whole foods, weighing their benefits for our well-being. We will also look at how fiber plays a crucial role in fighting insulin resistance and its potential role in supporting weight management goals.

To discuss this and more is registered dietitian Lisa Valente, MS, RD. Lisa holds a Master of Science in nutrition communications from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and she completed her dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

What are the best high-fiber foods?

After the podcast recording, for the readers of MNT, we also asked Lisa what her top favorite high fiber foods were.

“I will say frozen berries, fresh too, but frozen berries tend to be a little bit higher in fiber for a fruit. And when you buy them frozen, they’re just more affordable and easier to have on hand. [T]hey don’t go bad on you in a day — so, you can add those to smoothies or mix them into oatmeal or yogurt,” she said.

Lisa said her second choice would be whole wheat pasta and shared a fun fact about fiber.

“Brown rice only has one gram more of fiber than white rice, but whole wheat pasta has significantly more than white pasta. [It creates] like this nice fiber-rich carbohydrate base to your dinner to add some vegetables or protein to,” she said.

Her third choice was chia seeds.

“I sprinkle them on oatmeal, but you can also make chia seed pudding where you soak them with some milk or non-dairy milk and add a little bit of fruit. They’re very filling and they not only have fiber, but they also have omega-3 and a little bit of protein. So I feel like they’re sort of this tiny but mighty little seed where you can check off a lot of nutrition boxes at once. So if I had to pick three, that’s a good starting place for me,” she told us.