Lack of affordability is the biggest reason why adults in the U.S. don't have health insurance, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Nearly 15% of U.S. adults ages 18-64 were uninsured in 2019. Of these, nearly 75% said the reason was the high price tag.

After cost, reasons for lacking insurance were ineligibility for coverage, lack of interest, and confusion or difficulty in finding an appropriate plan.

Women were more likely than men to be uninsured due to lack of affordability, while men were more likely to say they didn't need or want insurance. Ineligibility was highest among Hispanic and Black individuals.

Geography Makes a Difference

Disparities in life expectancy based on where one lives have increased since 1980, according to a new AARP report. For example, Americans born in 1980 in U.S. counties with the highest life expectancy can expect to live 18 years longer than those born the same year in counties with the lowest life expectancy.

Among Americans who turned 50 in 1980, advantageous geography added 11 years compared with 50-year-olds in low life expectancy regions.

The primary reasons for the gap: economic inequality and systemic disparities like access to quality health care.

Body of Knowledge

Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins, who smell the same.

Get Me That, Stat!

Average annual insurance premiums for health insurance now top $21,300 for families, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, up 4% from last year.

Phobia of the Week

Erythrophobia: fear of the color red or of blushing

Stories for the Waiting Room

Geriatric care managers are professions, usually licensed nurses or social workers, who specialize in care for elderly persons outside of clinics and hospitals. They are especially useful for older persons who do not have supporting family nearby.

Here are some of the things a geriatric care manager can do:

— Consult on complex or challenging issues.

— Keep family members apprised about loved ones.

— Help with emotional issues.

— Construct care plans.

— Find and hire care personnel.

— Evaluate in-home care needs.

— Provide caregiver stress relief.

Best Medicine

Celebrity: "It's great to be here with all you wonderful folks at the Shady Rest Nursing Home. Does anybody know who I am?"

Resident: "No, but don't worry. Go down to the front desk and they'll tell you."

Hypochondriac's Guide

Aquagenic urticaria is an extremely rare disease. It is an allergy to water, resulting in painful rashes when exposed. There have been only 30 documented cases.

Observation

"Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky." — Albert Camus in the 1947 novel "The Plague"

Medical History

This week in 1846, the word "anesthesia" was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes in a letter to William Thomas Green Morton, the surgeon who gave the first public demonstration of the painkilling effects of ether.

Food for Thought

"Interesterified fat" is a mouthful. Basically, it's a concocted alternative to trans fats, a semi-soft fat created by chemically blending fully hydrogenated and nonhydrogenated oils. I-fat is used in pastries, margarine, frozen dinners and canned soups. Testing on these I-fats is relatively scant, but early studies suggest a link to elevated cholesterol levels.

Curtain Calls

Monica Meyer, the 70-year-old mayor of Betterton, Maryland, died in 1980 while checking the town's sewage tanks. She was alone and apparently slipped off a catwalk into 15 feet of puttylike human waste and drowned.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: DarkoStojanovic at Pixabay