Lured in by misleading websites that impersonate the ACA marketplace, people who try to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans are ending up with bare bones, non-ACA compliant junk insurance instead. time.com/7329578/affo...

The NFL changed its rules to try and prevent head injuries; the NCAA, high school, and youth football leagues have not done the same. If they did, “ it would substantially reduce the number of individuals who develop CTE,” multiple people told me. time.com/7326264/is-n...

Anti-abortion communities are using private and public money to install baby boxes—devices where people can anonymously surrender infants—in fire stations and hospitals. In June 2020 there were just 29 of these devices in the U.S., now there are more than 350. My story: time.com/7299476/baby...

Many parents can't find after-school programs for their kids. This year, disappearing federal funding and staff shortages is making the problem even worse. time.com/7318911/afte...

"The real question is: is there any reason to be pushing high-fat dairy? And no, I don’t think we have a case that’s a good thing to do.” The Trump administration wants to get whole milk back in schools. Nutritionists aren't so sure it's a good idea. time.com/7316536/is-w...

Oh look, I'm featured on KQED in a story about that time I was pregnant 5 years ago and the sky turned orange and San Francisco couldn't breathe: www.kqed.org/science/1998...

"Costs of equipment like food warmers and refrigerators have gone up dramatically since the pandemic; Soltanmorad says she was recently quoted $11,000 for a piece of equipment that cost just $2,500 in 2019."

MAHA wants to change school lunches, which it says are "poisoning" children. But to get processed food out of meals, schools will have to build new kitchens, hire more staff, and overcome chronic budget shortages: time.com/7311868/heal...

Mississippi had already received an "F" from the March of Dimes for its maternal and infant health outcomes. Then its infant mortality rates got even worse. time.com/7312122/miss...

Childcare centers are closing across the country after the expiration of federal and state money that helped them survive the pandemic. time.com/7309693/dayc...

I was on CBS Morning News today to talk about why women are leaving the workforce in droves. Check out the link here: www.cbsnews.com/video/why-mo...

What's wild is that while 212,000 women 20 and older have left the labor force since January, among women 25-34 years old, 330,000 have exited during the same time period.

Return-to-office policies are not proven to make companies more productive. Many CEOs who reported women quitting said they were struggling to fill jobs because of that loss of female employees and that their overall workforce productivity is down. time.com/7306896/wome...

"For many women, this is more than an economic problem: it’s a depressing reminder that the brief period of time when work-from-home reigned—when balancing family and work was actually sometimes possible—is over."

After a pandemic boost, women's labor force participation is falling again. Why? A combination of strict RTO policies and vanishing childcare funding: time.com/7306896/wome...

Falling funding for domestic violence support groups is leading to shuttered shelters, closed hotlines, and a reduction in resources for survivors. "People are going to die," one advocate told me. time.com/7305918/dome...

I sat through an all-day FDA hearing on fluoride supplements so you didn't have to! Dentists, doctors, and, um, science, were on the defensive. time.com/7305009/fda-...

I wrote about the seniors who are "too rich" for Medicaid but too poor to afford the long-term care they need. Their numbers are growing as the country ages and will likely grow more with Medicaid cuts. time.com/7304510/seni...

In many states, one health insurer has a monopoly on the market. That drives up prices and worsens care. In Alabama, BCBS has 94% market share. time.com/7302346/heal...

Rural hospitals are closing across the country. Why? It's probably not what you think. time.com/7298891/rura...

Violence in intimate relationships increased 7-10% in regions that added abortion restrictions after Dobbs, a new study finds: time.com/7295172/abor...

“I have gone down to Haiti nine times, and I have never seen the level of decay that I saw when I worked in Florida,” one dentist told me, about Floridian teeth.

America’s teeth are in bad shape, and dentists say that looming policy changes like Medicaid cuts and bans on fluoridation will make them even worse. time.com/7291226/amer...

Learn more about 81 here from an old piece by @alanasemuels.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/business/arc... and the need for better road systems from City Limits by @megankimble.bsky.social

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was just asked if the administration has cut any funding to autism. The answer is yes: time.com/7279068/trum...

Americans spend countless hours on the phone battling with their health insurance companies. It's time for the employers who buy these health insurance policies to do something about it: time.com/7284610/figh...

I wrote about the new surgeon general pick, Casey Means, who believes drugs are overprescribed and many health problems can be solved by changes in lifestyle. She also wrote an AI-assisted poem that pretty much sums up MAHA if you are into that type of thing. time.com/7284235/dr-c...

Even as RFK Jr. fearmongers about autism, the Trump administration cut funding for autism research, @alanasemuels.bsky.social reports. time.com/7279068/trum...

It might surprise people, but the Department of Defense spends millions of dollars to research autism because of the number of autistic kids of US servicemembers. But the Trump administration cut funding via @time.com @alanasemuels.bsky.social time.com/7279068/trum...

1/ Time just published an article by @alanasemuels.bsky.social listing sweeping Trump admin cuts to autism research and support, even as RFK Jr., HHS Sec, commits to finding the "cause" of autism. We need to look at what people do, not just what they say. Here’s a thread on what’s being cut.

What happens after birth is changing under Trump. A CDC division coordinating newborn hearing screening was decimated in HHS cuts, and a committee recommending what rare diseases babies are tested for was dissolved. time.com/7278169/baby...

Oh man I was such a National History Day nerd

Food safety inspections aren't keeping pace with what's mandated by law and the FDA is cutting funding to states. Then came the mass layoffs. Why advocates say the HHS layoffs came at a difficult time for food safety in the U.S.: x.com/AlanaSemuels...

“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”

21. As an economic correspondent for TIME, @alanasemuels.bsky.social covers the workplace, consumer issues, retail, gender, and technology. She has won awards from @sabew.bsky.social and is a four-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.

I wrote about people who hated health insurance so much they quit it and instead joined health sharing websites where they ask strangers to help with their healthcare bills. Surprisingly, they like resoundingly like it better. #CrowdHealth time.com/7269608/crow...

Trucking is one of the largest occupations in the US. #JobQuality in the trucking sector has far-reaching implications. Join me TODAY, March 19 for the Aspen Institute event: “Driving the Economy: The Essential and Undervalued Work of Truckers.” RSVP: as.pn/trucking

tl;dr: smaller farms, less agribusiness. Turns out giant factory farms are much less robust to disease and related problems. “This is why Canada has plenty of eggs — and the U.S. doesn't”

Another ominous development: The Social Security Administration is no longer allowing parents in Maine to register newborns for SSNs at hospital after birth, is instead requiring them to visit a Social Security Office to register their children. www.pressherald.com/2025/03/06/s...

How Trump's attacks on DEI and environmental justice actually end up hurting the poor, white communities that voted for him: time.com/7261440/trum...

Low Medicaid reimbursement rates already disproportionately hurt women and children: time.com/6972880/mate... time.com/7024080/why-...

As America ages, so does its workforce. I visited Vermont, the state with the highest share of older workers in the nation, to see what that looks like: time.com/7260357/agin...

regret to inform everyone this is a real guy who could be pope

Over on X, simple tweets by my colleague Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal Constitution have been blocked. They were nothing but video of a town hall held by Rep. Rich McCormick R-GA where he was asked questions about DOGE

This is the top of the homepage of DOGE.GOV. If you click where it says "read more," it automatically diverts you to X. You can't get even basic information about what they're saying without going to X.

“Then there's the question of whether parents want merchandising to shape the programming. If it feels normal for writers to create a show that commercializes, a threshold has been passed when toymakers create a show for kids with one eye turned toward getting their parents to buy products.”

Parents! Do you ever wonder why Paw Patrol toys/clothes/food/toothpaste/etc seems ubiquitous even if your kid doesn't watch the show? I have some answers for you: time.com/7221756/paw-...

I wrote about what consumers lose if the CFPB is defanged: time.com/7222139/cons...

DOGE has fired more CFPB employees; here is the letter they received Thursday night terminating their employment