Mind & body, in brief

US workers with family health cover through their job now pay $7,471 a year toward it, up 9%, or $621, from 2025, a survey by KFF, a US health research nonprofit, found. [1]

The whole yearly price of that cover, with the employer's part included, rose 5% to $28,303. [1][2]

Over the same year wages rose 3.7% and prices in general 2.7%. [1]

Among large firms, 44% made workers pay a bigger share this year, and 21% raised deductibles or other charges for most care. [1] A deductible is the amount a person pays before the insurance starts paying.

Workers at firms with fewer than 200 staff pay $9,687 a year for family cover, $2,847 more than at bigger firms. [1]

Yet small firms' family cover costs a little less in total, $27,288 against $28,592, because their workers pay 37% of it and large-firm workers 25%. [2]

Small firms have less pull with insurers, and one costly illness weighs more in a small group, Business Insider reports. [5]

Workers at small firms also face a bigger deductible for one person: $2,624 on average, against $1,772 at large firms. [1]

Matthew Rae of KFF said keeping a family insured now costs about as much as a new car every year. [4]

About 157 million Americans under 65 get health cover through a job. [1] US health spending is projected at $6.0 trillion this year, 18.7% of the economy. [8]

Consulting firms expect bigger rises in 2027: Aon projects 9.5% and Marsh 8.2%, Marsh's highest since 2003. [3] PwC, from a survey of the specialists who price health plans, projects 9%. [6]

Phifer, an Alabama maker of insect screens, kept its health costs flat this year, which it puts down to free primary care through on-site clinics and direct deals with doctors. [3]

Why it matters. The next test is open enrollment for 2027 plans, when workers see next year's deductions from their pay; consulting firms Aon and Marsh project employers' costs rising 8.2% to 9.5%. [3]

The share of working-age US adults with no health insurance rose from 8.9% in 2024 to 11.2% in 2026, a Commonwealth Fund survey published on Thursday found. [7] The fund, a US nonprofit that supports health research, blames the end of extra federal help with Affordable Care Act plan prices. [4][7] It also blames the end of pandemic rules that kept people on Medicaid, US public cover for people on low incomes. [7] Cost kept half of the uninsured from care they needed. [7] Among workers with job cover, 43% skipped care because of what it would cost them. [4]

Why it matters. Medicaid cuts and new limits on Affordable Care Act plans start in 2027, and STAT reports they will make cover harder to get. [7] Even among insured workers, 31% had medical debt, and about three in four people surveyed, including 45% of Republicans, said the US government should make sure everyone has cover. [4]

In England, 80,000 children and young people have waited more than a year for an appointment with community health services, almost 11 times the number of adults. [9] The figure is from the yearly State of Care report by the Care Quality Commission, which inspects health and care services in England. [9] Waits for adults in the same services have improved, and there are more GP appointments and shorter waits for planned operations. [9] The number of health visitors and school nurses is still falling, the report says. [9]

Why it matters. Experts quoted by the Guardian said children's conditions are getting worse and harder to treat as they wait. [9] Dr Ronny Cheung of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said too many miss crucial chances to improve their health and development. [9]

Large companies are buying up care homes for older people in England, the Care Quality Commission says in the same report. [10] The five biggest firms raised their share by 26% in two years, helped by US property investors, and now own one home in seven. [10] Small care homes that also give nursing care are down by a quarter over 14 years. [10] Home help is splitting the other way: almost a third of services care for four or fewer people. [10]

Why it matters. The regulator warns the change can bring higher prices and lower quality, and could undermine England's planned national care service. [10] Care England, which speaks for care providers, says energy bills and employer taxes are making small homes unviable. [10]

From 1 January 2027, 44 US states must make many adults on Medicaid meet work requirements to keep their cover. [26] People judged 'medically frail' are exempt, and KFF has published a study of how SNAP, the US food aid scheme, has handled the same kind of exemption. [26] In SNAP each state decides, so Wisconsin's form asks a doctor only to say someone is unfit, while Maryland's asks whether they can sit, stand or walk. [26] The new Medicaid rule tells states to check 12 months of medical claims before asking people for papers. [26]

Why it matters. From January 2028 the rule limits how far states can take a person's own word, and audits can find a state at fault if it approves too many without proof. [26] So who keeps cover may depend partly on which state they live in. [26]

Mehmet Oz, who runs the US agency that pays for Medicare, cover for people over 65, and Medicaid, joined officers in Queens, New York, at dawn on Tuesday as they searched offices. [7] They handed warning letters to almost 100 providers whose Medicaid bills were far above their peers'. [7] The providers run New York's Social Adult Day Care program, which gives meals, care and company to disabled adults. [7] Two providers were arrested on Wednesday, accused of taking more than $500,000 from Medicaid. [7]

Why it matters. The providers must now show documents to back their bills, and Oz called the program 'a plague to the state'. [7] Some say the Trump administration's fraud drive is aimed mostly at states that vote Democratic, such as Minnesota and California. [7]

Calley Means, a senior adviser in the Trump administration, has resigned less than two weeks before the US midterm elections. [11] He was a key figure in 'Make America Healthy Again', the health movement around US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [12] He gave no reason, but STAT says Politico reported he was frustrated at delays to a new US definition of ultra-processed food. [11] Means has never worked as a health professional, and he founded Truemed, a company that helps people spend money from tax-favoured health savings accounts on supplements and fitness kit. [12]

Why it matters. Doctors had criticised his support for raw milk and his opposition to fluoride in drinking water. [12] STAT says his exit leaves the movement on shakier ground before an election that may act as a vote on it. [11]

Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, a small country next to Switzerland and Austria, has used his veto for the first time to block a bill easing its abortion law. [13] Parliament passed the bill narrowly last month after about a quarter of voters signed a citizens' petition. [13] It would have allowed abortion up to 12 weeks. [13] Today abortion is allowed only in narrow cases, such as rape or a risk to the woman's life, and since 2015 women may legally travel abroad for one. [13]

Why it matters. Campaigners estimate about 40 women a year go abroad, often to Austria or Switzerland, paying the cost and arranging childcare. [13] The prince said he is open to lifting the ban on sharing information about abortion. [13]

Adults with ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are asking for a health service of their own in Northern Ireland. [14] Unlike other parts of the UK, the region has no publicly funded adult ADHD service. [14] Rebecca Bryson and her husband, who both have ADHD, pay about 4,000 pounds a year for private reviews and medicine. [14] A child can be diagnosed, but at 18 'you're on your own', she said. [14] Northern Ireland's health department says demand exceeds capacity and any new service must be affordable. [14]

Why it matters. One man, Jordan Young, went to England for a private diagnosis paid for by his grandmother's insurance. [14] A GP, Allen McCullough, said he will not take part in prescribing for patients seen privately when he gets no details of who diagnosed them. [14]

Northern Ireland's Department of Health has taken back 1.5 million pounds from a planned haematology centre in Belfast, the head of the Belfast Health Trust told politicians on Thursday. [15] Haematology is the care of blood diseases, and the unit is for cancer patients whose immune systems are very weak. [15] The money was to move 80 staff out of part of Belfast City Hospital to make room. [15] The unit is already a year late and is now due in March 2031. [15]

Why it matters. One assembly member, Diane Dodds, said patients in the city hospital lack proper isolation from infection. [15] Trust chief executive Jennifer Welsh called it a substantial risk to the project. [15]

Samaritans, the charity whose volunteers answer calls from people at risk of suicide, has closed its branch in Omagh, Northern Ireland, after more than 50 years. [16] The branch had about 20 active volunteers covering Fermanagh and Tyrone, and had not offered face-to-face support since March 2020. [16] The charity says this is not part of a wider plan, reported last year, to close more than 100 of its branches. [16] Its free line, 116 123, still answers anywhere in the UK and Ireland, day or night. [16]

Why it matters. Local councillor Barry McElduff wants a meeting with the charity and says there is a great need for the service. [16] Volunteers fear the next branch is too far away for them to keep doing shifts. [16]

A home exercise and diet plan helped people waiting for a liver transplant become less frail, a study published on Wednesday in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology found. [7] Teams from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh followed 355 patients on plans aiming at 150 minutes of activity a week. [7] Two-thirds scored better on a frailty test of grip strength, standing from a chair and balance. [7] Those who came to at least three follow-up visits gained at least 0.4 points on that test, a gain linked to about half the risk of dying while waiting. [7]

Why it matters. Many people who need a new liver do not live long enough to get one, and the frailest patients often gained the most. [7] The authors want a larger trial to confirm it. [7]

Head and neck cancer patients who began 'survivorship care' before their radiation ended were more likely to finish it on time, a study in JAMA Otolaryngology found. [22] Survivorship care looks after swallowing, diet, teeth, movement and mood alongside the cancer treatment. [22] Among 471 patients at a clinic in Pittsburgh, 62% of those seen early finished radiation on time, against 48% of the others. [22] Three years on, 60% of the early group were alive and free of cancer, against 39%. [22]

Why it matters. The study shows a link, not proof that the early care caused it, and the team plans a trial. [22] In a 2024 survey, only one in five accredited US cancer programmes said most of their patients got such care. [22]

HSV-1, the herpes virus that causes cold sores, changes how the brain's own immune cells work, a study in mice in PLOS Pathogens found. [23] These cells, called microglia, normally clear away dead cells and waste and trim the links between nerve cells. [23] Six days after infection, the share of microglia sending out chemical alarm signals was over 30 times higher than in uninfected mice. [23] Genes for their everyday cleaning work were turned down. [23]

Why it matters. Loss of that cleaning work has also been seen in Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, the authors note. [23] Nobody yet knows whether the change lasts after the infection, or whether it happens in people. [23]

A review of 25 studies with 4,060 people found that those taking weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide and Mounjaro ate fewer calories on average. [21] The drugs copy GLP-1, a hormone the gut releases after eating, and they slow how fast food leaves the stomach. [21] But the studies rarely recorded when people felt sick and how badly. [21] So they cannot tell eating less because of feeling full from eating less because of nausea. [21]

Why it matters. Other analyses suggest nausea explains only a small part of the weight people lose. [21] A smaller meal can be welcome for one person and a struggle to eat enough for another, and the two need different help. [21]

Americans drank about the same amount of coffee in 2018 as in 2003, roughly 13 ounces, or 380ml, a day. [20] But they got nearly 40% more calories from it: 60 a day instead of 43. [20] Researchers at Tufts University found the main cause was non-dairy creamer, which more than doubled. [20] By 2018 creamer added 18.5 calories a day, more than sugar's 16 or milk's 11. [20] The study used diet records from 30,000 adults and is in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. [20]

Why it matters. Non-dairy creamers can be high in saturated fat, the lead author said. [20] The data stop in 2018 and rely on people remembering what they ate and drank, which the authors say can be wrong. [20]

Judi Dench, the 91-year-old British actor, said on Thursday that her failing sight means she can no longer act on stage or in films, or read. [17][18] She was diagnosed in 2012 with age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that slowly takes away sight. [17] She can no longer recognise faces and sometimes nearly hugs the wrong person, she told BBC Radio 4. [18] In 2023 she said she could not see on film sets, and last year that she could no longer go out alone. [17]

Why it matters. Her account shows the disease taking things one at a time: scripts, then film sets, then going out alone, then faces. [17] Since at least 2023 she has learned her lines by having friends repeat them to her. [17]

Hollie Sharman, 25, went to hospital four or five times a week with chest pain that doctors could never explain, the BBC reports. [19] She was later diagnosed with health anxiety, which clinical psychologist Kirren Schnack describes as constant worry about being seriously ill when a person is not. [19] Its signs include checking the body, searching symptoms online and asking others for reassurance again and again. [19] Each search sent Sharman back: weak legs, read online, became a sign of heart failure. [19]

Why it matters. Schnack says others go the other way and avoid doctors altogether for fear of the worst. [19] Sharman, also diagnosed with health-related OCD, says the anxiety no longer controls her life. [19]

The brain places whole numbers and fractions on one shared map, ordered by size like a number line, a study in PLOS Biology found on Thursday. [24] Researchers at a French brain-imaging unit scanned 20 adults as they compared fractions and whole numbers. [24] A part of the brain known for handling numbers lit up in a pattern set by each number's size, not its digits. [24] So a quarter sat near zero, even though it contains the digit 4. [24]

Why it matters. Volunteers were slower and made more mistakes with fractions, and the team says the study cannot explain why fractions are harder to learn. [24] All 20 spoke French, so the map may differ in other languages. [24]

Carrion crows picked the right side of a screen in about 235 milliseconds on average, twice as fast as monkeys and people in earlier tests, a study in Science found. [25] They were right 74% of the time, about as often as primates, the group that includes monkeys and humans. [25] Andreas Nieder's team at the University of Tuebingen also found brain cells in the birds that predicted their choices. [25] Crows lack the layered outer brain that mammals have. [25]

Why it matters. Nieder suggests small brains with short wiring, tightly packed nerve cells and a warmer body may explain the speed, but says the question is wide open. [25] The study used only two birds. [25]

A company owned by RJ Reynolds, a big US tobacco maker, is mailing scented, colourful adverts for Vuse Pro vape pods in berry, peach, watermelon and fresh mint. [27] Critics say they copy the scratch-and-sniff adverts it agreed to stop 20 years ago, in a deal with 39 US states over flavoured cigarettes and children. [27] Brian King of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, once a top US tobacco regulator, has reported them to officials. [27] The company says the mail went only to adults whose ages were checked and who asked for it. [27]

Why it matters. Vapes are the tobacco product US young people use most, King said. [27] Earlier this year the US drug regulator, the FDA, adopted a policy that in effect let many flavoured vapes still under review go on sale. [27]

A study of 149 countries from 2000 to 2020 sorted them into four stages of city growth and asked what drives asthma in children and teenagers at each stage. [28] Fine dust in the air, called PM2.5, was worst while cities grew fastest. [28] But new asthma cases peaked later, when growth slowed and the air was being cleaned up. [28] At that later stage, high temperatures and obesity were the main risks, and in the most built-up countries green space and wind helped protect children. [28]

Why it matters. The study, published on 23 October in npj Urban Sustainability, says each stage needs its own public health measures. [28] It compares whole countries over time, not individual children. [28]