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Young adults have historically had high uninsured rates because they are less likely to have full-time jobs that offer insurance and can’t afford a plan on their own. Those who are healthy and use medical services infrequently might not see the value in buying insurance. But between 2011 and 2018, the uninsured rate among adults age 19 and 25 fell by nearly half — from 30% to 16% — as many gained coverage under Medicaid or through the ACA marketplaces, with help from income-based tax credits, according to the Urban Institute report. The ACA also made more young adults eligible to stay on their parents’ insurance by raising the age to 26, though that’s no help if parents are among the pandemic unemployed. (Gantz, 2/18)

Difficulties with access to voting reported by disabled Americans fell significantly between 2012 and 2020, according to research published Wednesday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC report found about 1 in 9 disabled respondents reported voting difficulties in 2020, compared to more than a quarter of non-disabled Americans. (Budryk, 2/17)

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a rise in stress, anxiety and depression, leading to a staggering increase in mental health disorders. Now, experts are warning that our mental health can also impact our heart health, particularly for women. Last month, the American Heart Association released a scientific statement highlighting the strong link between heart health, mental health and overall wellbeing. (2/18)

Today, hospitals in Massachusetts and elsewhere explicitly allow a pregnant person to have one partner accompany her when she is admitted for labor and delivery. But a few hospitals, including the Brigham, Tufts Medical Center, and Baystate Health, deem it unsafe for visitors to come into the triage area, where women go to assess their labor. The practice has prompted a petition, started by two childbirth and lactation specialists, which has been signed by more than 1,000 people. It calls on Governor Charlie Baker to order hospitals to “stop the separation of birthing families.” (Freyer, 2/17)

Grocery giant Kroger plans to close two stores in Seattle after the city passed a $4-an-hour hazard pay mandate for grocery workers, drawing sharp rebukes from local officials and worker advocates who point to the company’s booming sales as the pandemic continues to claim more than 2,000 lives a day. Kroger, which recorded one of its more profitable years due to strong demand during the pandemic, blamed the closures on the city’s new mandate, saying it would raise costs at the two Quality Food Centers (QFC), which were already underperforming. (Rosenberg, 2/17)

Rush Limbaugh, the talk titan who made right-wing radio financially viable in American media and himself a Republican kingmaker years before Fox News, died Wednesday after he revealed in 2020 that his lung cancer was terminal. He was 70. His death was confirmed by his wife, Kathryn, at the beginning of Limbaugh's radio show, from which he's been absent for almost two weeks. (Puente, 2/17)