German environmental minister warns of 'species crisis'

Steffi Lemke has identified the "species crisis" as "the next big battle". The Greens MP said species extinction should be taken as seriously as the climate crisis.

Germany's new envrionmental minister Steffi Lemke said that protecting biodiversity is as important as safeguarding climate

The new German environmental minister, Steffi Lemke, has sounded a warning that the next global challenge will be what she calls the "species crisis."

Speaking to German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung, Lemke said: "The species crisis will be the next big battle," and added: "It directly threatens our livelihoods."

Lemke is a member of the environmentalist Green Party, part of Germany's coalition government alongside the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Free Democrats (FDP).

Biodiversity as important as climate

Climate change is one of the key challenges the new government wants to tackle.

Lemke stressed that protecting biodiversity and the climate were not mutually exclusive and were issues that needed to be tackled in tandem.

"This is not a matter of working against each other, but of working together. And as with climate protection, biodiversity has a lot to do with our production methods, lifestyles and consumption patterns. Which brings us back to the consumer," Lemke pointed out.

The minister said that protection of climate and nature could happen by storing carbon in ecosystems.

"We will renaturalize peatlands, create more natural forests, store more water — as a precaution against droughts — and thus protect and strengthen biodiversity," she told the German publication.

Lemke said that a key consideration was not letting one issue trump the other.

According to global conservation NGO the World Wildlife Fund, only 23% of species and 16% of habitats under the EU Nature Directives are in good health. These directives are biodiversity policies designed to protect or restore certain species and habitats.

The WWF says habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable agriculture and climate change are leading drivers of biodiversity loss in the EU.

According to EU figures more than 1600 species out of over 15,000 are threatened with extinction. Most of the endangered species are are marine creatures.

Half of Europe's trees are deemed to be at risk, and a fifth of amphibians and reptiles are endangered.

Finding balance

Renewable energy, specifically wind farms are seen as being critical features of the new government's plans.

Currently wind power accounts for nearly a third of the country's power generation, but there have been concerns raised about its impact on the environment, in particular, bird species, although this pales in significance to traffic and farming.

Glass-covered buildings for instance, kill about 1,000 times more birds (108 million) each year than wind farms. Around 700 times more (70 million) die in collisions with cars, trucks and trains.

The minister pointed out that one issue shouldn't take precedence or cancel another one out, and proposed a solution driven approach.

"We also know that industrial agriculture is the greatest threat to biodiversity. But no one would say: Then we won't do any more agriculture. That's how it has to be with the expansion of renewables. We are obliged to find solutions."

Lemke acknowledged that conflict could occur in some instances, but in her opinion it was not something to be fearful of.

"Of course there can be conflicts. At the same time, we have long since reached the point where the very foundations of economic activity are threatened by ecological crises. The task of a federal government is to protect the natural foundations of life and people. Balancing this is the core essence of politics. That doesn't scare me."

kb/aw (AFP, dpa)

Iraq: After tragedy, new freedoms, opportunities for Yazidi women

Historically Iraq's Yazidi community was isolated, under-resourced and very conservative. Seven years after the "Islamic State" tragedy, the community is more open to the world — and Yazidi women are benefiting.

Yazidi women have taken a leading role as advocates for their community

"We really appreciate your visit," Luqman Suleiman told a group of tourists from around Iraq and Germany recently, when he met them at the entrance of the Yazidi temple, Lalish. For the ethno-religious Iraqi minority this site in northern Iraq is the equivalent of the Vatican to Catholics, or Mecca to Muslims. Every Yazidi is expected to come here at least once in their lifetime. And these days, more outsiders are coming here too.

"It is really so important that people come here and listen to the Yazidis," Suleiman, a spokesperson and guide at the temple, said. "You shouldn't listen to other people. They may speak falsely about us."

Suleiman was talking about long-standing prejudices against his community in Iraq. Their highly secretive and ritualistic religion — traditions and rules are passed on orally and outsiders are prohibited from knowing most of them — has made the minority a target of the Muslim majority in the country.

Luqman Suleiman (second from right) at a small souvenir stand inside the Lalish compound

The Yazidi faith has been described as "dualist" because they believe that good and evil are part of the same divinity. This is also why some Iraqis have described them as "devil worshippers" and, for example, won't eat any food prepared by Yazidi hands.

It is the same sort of prejudice that made the small religious community, which is thought to number around half a million inside Iraq, a target for the extremist group known as the "Islamic State (IS)."  As the extremists took over swathes of the country in 2014, the minority's marginal status was part of the reason why the IS militants felt they could kill, rape and enslave thousands of members of the community with impunity.

Unexpected outcomes

The Yazidi minority was forever changed by the IS group's brutal assault on them. By the time the extremists were more or less pushed out of northern Iraq in 2017, thousands of Yazidis had been killed or kidnapped. Several international bodies now classify the events as a genocide. Today, around 240,000 are still living in camps for the displaced, many in grinding poverty.

But the community has also changed in some ways that were perhaps not quite so predictable.

Outsiders can tour the Lalish temple compound but many areas are only open to Yazidis

"The Yazidi community has transformed toward more openness," said Murad Ismael, head of the Sinjar Academy, an institute in northern Iraq providing education to locals in the area. "The Yazidi community has nothing to hide but I believe, in the past, many thought it was better to not discuss identity or faith. I also think the world today is more passionate and supportive to the Yazidis, which encourages them to be more open."

Newfound freedoms

One noticeable change has come in Yazidi women's rights, Suleiman told his curious visitors.

"Before the IS group came, a woman was not free to leave her village without a male guardian," Suleiman said. "But after the IS time, people have more of an open mind. Women can leave their village and catch a plane to Europe, if they want to," he said, smiling and gesturing at the sky above the hills surrounding the 4,000-year-old temple.

Previously Yazidi women had a much lower literacy rate than Yazidi men or local Muslim women

"In the past, the community would not have accepted that," confirmed Naven Symoqi, a Yazidi activist and journalist from Sinjar, the district where many Iraqi Yazidis reside. " But after many Yazidis became displaced, they ended up in different parts of Iraq and they saw different ways of doing things."

That experience, said a local in northern Iraq, who worked with Yazidis in a displaced persons' camp, has had impact. "Imagine if you come from a really isolated agricultural community without many resources, where many people were not educated beyond primary school level. And then you've been displaced, you're in a camp, and there are all these NGOs running programs on education and women's rights," the source told DW. The person requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the community with which they still work.

Women drivers

Symoqi marvels at the fact there are now driving schools for women in town. She also knows of Yazidi women studying at universities and praises Amera Atto, a Yazidi who competed in 2021's Miss Iraq contest.

Yazidi women involved in local survivor networks are also doing things they never would have before, such as traveling to cities to meet male politicians to discuss justice and compensation.

 

Because of the murders of their male relatives, many Yazidi women became heads of their own households, pointed out Abid Shamdeen, executive director of Nadia's Initiative.

His nonprofit organization, founded by Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been able to help Yazidi women set up their own small businesses, rebuild homes and access education. "We have seen that these kinds of projects have a profoundly positive impact on Yazidi women," Shamdeen told DW. "After IS' destruction, Yazidi women have very much taken the lead in advocating on behalf of their community, both locally and globally."

Yazidi women are also benefiting from better access to education and job opportunities, the Sinjar Academy's Ismael added. "There are more women employed and some even own small businesses or lead NGOs. This is really something new to the Yazidis of Iraq."

Underage marriage

Despite it's awful origins, this new attitude could be seen as a positive development. The Yazidi religion has strict rules. You cannot convert into it, nor can you leave it. Adherents may not even marry out of their own caste within the community, let alone outside of the religion.

Previously many Yazidi women were not able to travel independentl without being harshly judged

In one high-profile case from 2007, Dua Khalil Aswad, a young Yazidi woman, who was thought to have converted to Islam for love was beaten to death in public, including by members of her own family. 

In 2011, after a growing number of suicides among young Yazidi females, researchers from the International Organization for Migration conducted community interviews to find out why this was happening. They concluded "the marginalization of women and the view of the woman's role as peripheral" were to blame, alongside isolation, unhappy arranged marriages, unemployment among females and community and sectarian tensions.

More to come

Still, community members told DW that, despite recent changes, much remains to be done.

For one thing, the former camps worker explained, there's still a big difference between the way Yazidi survivors and other women in the community are treated.

In early December, Yazidis held a ceremony to bury 41 community members killed by the IS group

"Some are welcomed back by their families, others are not. Although the community doesn't like to talk about it like this, it's a bit of a disaster," the source said. "And all this [the new rights Yazidi women have] is still only possible with the permission of male family members. It's still deeply patriarchal here. Then again," they concluded, " these things take time. And once people are given opportunities, it's very hard to take them away again."

"Definitely there is still some social friction," Ismael agreed. "It will take time and education," he argued. "But I think in many ways Yazidi women led by example, during and after the genocide. [They] were at the forefront of everything that happened and in many ways became symbols of the people."

Kholoud al-Amiry assisted with this report in Iraq.

 

AFTER 'ISLAMIC STATE,' YAZIDI WOMEN LEARN TO BOX

The warm-up

The "Boxing Sisters" program was launched in late 2018 by Lotus Flower, a British NGO in Iraqi Kurdistan. Five days a week Yazidi women and girls gather for a two-hour training session in the Rwanga IDP camp. Many of these women were subjected to physical, emotional and sexual violence while held captive by the "Islamic State" (IS) before arriving at the camp.

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Beneath La Palma volcano, scientists collect lava 'to learn'

by Rosa Sulleiro

The eruption, the first in La Palma since 1971, is the longest on record on the island of around 

83,000 people.

As soon as he heard that La Palma's volcano had erupted, Australian geologist Matt Pankhurst loaded his microscope into his car and raced to catch a ferry to the Spanish island.

Like other scientists around the world, he was eager to get a first-hand look at the rare and valuable data spilling out of the Cumbre Vieja volcano off Africa's northwest coast.

"It's a huge opportunity to learn," said the scientist with Involcan, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute.

"The more observations we make closer to the time that material has come out of the volcano, the more chance we have of making a scientific impact."

A few kilometers (miles) from where the volcano shot up from flat ground on September 19, he and other scientists have set up an improvised lab in a house provided by the local authorities.

Neatly lined up on tables inside are obscure volcanic rocks collected from the ash-covered ground around the volcano, all of them labeled ahead of further analysis.

"At the moment, this is by far the most closely watched volcanic episode that has ever happened in the Canaries," Pankhurst said.

The eruption, the first in La Palma since 1971, is the longest on record on the island of around 83,000 people.

No injuries or deaths have been directly linked to the eruption, but the lava flow has destroyed 1,345 homes, mainly in the island's west, and forced more than 7,000 people to evacuate.

Australian geologist Matt Pankhurst says the volcano eruption on La Palma is 'a huge opportunity to

 learn'

'Collaborative effort'

At the foot of the fuming volcano, in an area closed to the public, scientists have been collecting lava samples, using metal sticks when it is still hot and hammers when it has cooled.

They then cut down the rocks into small samples that can be sent off to colleagues for analysis around the world.

"It's a collaborative effort," said Pankhurst.

The volcano fell silent on Monday evening and scientists are cautiously optimistic that after three months of explosions and earthquakes, the eruption may be ending.

But at a lookout providing a clear view of the volcano, Maria Jose Blanco, the director of the National Geographic Institute in the Canary Islands, warned the area was still under observation.

"To be able to say that the eruption is definitely over, these parameters need to stay at similar levels for at least 10 days," she said, standing in the square near a small church in the municipality of El Paso that has drawn scores of scientists, journalists and bystanders to watch the eruption.

At the foot of the fuming volcano, scientists have been collecting lava samples for analysis.

Further down the slope at her institute's control center, some 70 experts have worked away since the start of the eruption.

They will have to keep monitoring the volcano even after it ends as the mountain will continue to spew toxic gases for a long spell, complicating life on the island.

'Can't ignore nature'

Governments must prepare better to face future volcanic crises, because population density is only increasing, said Blanco, whose frequent media appearances in recent weeks have made her a familiar face in Spain.

"We can't live with our backs to nature and forget that this is a volcanic archipelago, that eruptions have occurred in the past and will continue to occur," she said.

Since the autumn, the slow-moving lava has covered over 1,200 hectares (about 3,000 acres) of land on its way to the Atlantic, dealing a blow to the island's two key industries—tourism and banana farming.

Also standing in the church square, Vicente Soler, a volcanologist with Spain's National Research Council, said the eruption had hit the island where it most hurt.

Volcanologist Vicente Soler says he hoped attempting to explain the eruption could 'to a small 

extent, help the local population'

"The most populated and richest area economically for agriculture is this one," he said of the land affected.

"The first month was very hard, because you saw houses burning and collapsing every day," he added.

But the scientist, also a regular commentator on Spanish television, said he was proud to have monitored the eruption and hoped that attempting to explain the event could "to a small extent, help the local population."

As Soler spoke, a young man recognized him and his trademark white hair from the news, and asked to take a selfie with him.

"Thanks for your work," the young man said, before heading off.Scientists cautious as erupting Spanish volcano falls quiet

© 2021 AFP

Leading Gabon football coach accused of raping young players, president demands probe

Sat, 18 December 2021


A former coach for Gabon’s under-17 football team, Patrick Assoumou Eyi, sexually abused young players in his care, according to a report on Thursday in British daily The Guardian. President Ali Bongo Ondimba has asked for an investigation, the African nation’s sports minister said Friday, after Eyi was suspended by the Football Federation.

The president’s call for an inquiry came a day after British newspaper The Guardian reported on accusations that Patrick Assoumou Eyi raped, groomed and exploited underage athletes in his care.

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who described the case as "very serious and unacceptable", asked "the justice minister to open an investigation in the national football community over sexual abuses committed against children, girls and boys", Sports Minister Franck Nguema said.

He had also requested a wider probe across all national sports federations to "eradicate potential sexual predators".

The Gabonese Football Federation on Friday suspended Eyi and ordered the Ethics Commission of the National Football League to officially look into the matter, the federation's spokesman Moussodji Ngoma said.

The Guardian reported that alleged victims said Eyi abused boys both as the head coach of the country's youth side until 2017, and until recently as the technical director for La Ligue de l'Estuaire, the nation's top league.

According to the newspaper, the alleged victims did not contact Gabon’s police for lack of trust in the justice system.

The coach did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.

Several more alleged victims have come forward to add to the accusations of abuse by Eyi, since The Guardian’s article, the British newspaper reported. A complaint was also registered with Fifa by the payers’ union Fifpro over the accusations.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Taiwan votes against referendums on US trade in major setback for opposition

Taiwan's opposition suffered a major setback on Saturday after voters rejected four referendums it had championed as a show of no confidence in the government.© Annabelle Chih, Reuters

The defeat of the referendums comes as Taipei faces growing military and political pressure from Beijing, and is a boost for President Tsai Ing-wen - re-elected by a landslide last year on vows to stand up to China.

China claims the democratically ruled island as its own territory.

Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang, or KMT, which traditionally favours close ties with Beijing, is hoping to make a comeback in key mayoral elections late next year.

Saturday's two most contentious referendums asked whether to ban imports of pork containing the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine on safety grounds, and whether to relocate a planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to protect a reef.

The government approved the pork imports last year, hoping to remove a stumbling block for a free trade deal with the United States, where ractopamine is widely used, and show it is a reliable trade partner.

It says the LNG terminal will secure energy supplies for the semiconductor-producing island, hit by power cuts in May.

Government officials have said the LNG terminal will be moved further offshore to minimise the impact on the reef, but Saturday's referendum sought a complete relocation.

Turnout on Saturday was low, but the government welcomed the referendums' defeat.

"Taiwan's people want to go out into the world, and are willing to actively participate in the international community," Tsai told reporters, referring to the pork vote.

Her government hopes the result will also bolster its case to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.

Asked about the vote, an official at the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, said: "We will continue to seek constructive engagement with Taiwan on issues that affect exports of U.S. food and agricultural products."

KMT Chairman Eric Chu, who assumed the role in September on a promise to revitalise party fortunes, apologised for the failure.

"Let's not be discouraged. Let's continue to work hard. We will always stand with the people. We must always represent the people's opinions and oppose the democratic dictatorship of the government," he said.

Cold weather could have been to blame for the low turnout, he added.

The KMT had also asked voters to approve a third issue, to restart a mothballed nuclear plant, saying that was the best way to ensure energy supplies. The government wants to phase out nuclear power.

(REUTERS)

'An endless tragedy': World marks International Migrants Day

FRANCE 24 

'Harnessing the potential of human mobility' is the theme for this year's International Migrants Day, celebrated this Saturday almost exactly 70 years after the Brussels conference that led to the establishment of the International Organisation for Migration. FRANCE 24 talks to François Thomas, President of SOS Mediterranée France about the scale of the migrant crisis.

© Valeria Mongelli, AP

"So far, since the beginning of this year, at least 1,340 people have lost their life in the Mediterranean Sea. This is the worst figure since 2017," François Thomas, President of SOS Mediterranné France, told FRANCE 24. "It is an endless tragedy."

Click on the player above to watch the report in full. 

Crews rescue nearly two dozen men trapped in east China coal mine

By UPI Staff

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Officials said on Friday that most of the coal miners trapped inside a mine shaft in eastern China have been rescued after more than a day underground.

Twenty-one coal miners became trapped on Wednesday night in the coal mine, located southwest of Beijing in China's eastern Shanxi province.

The first miner to be rescued made it to the surface on Friday afternoon. Later, officials said all but one had been safely pulled to the surface.

Hundreds of people worked to save the miners over the past 24 hours. Crews drained water out of the mining pit at a rate of 53,000 gallons per hour.

Officials said conditions at the mine were hazardous, as it had just one entrance that was 5 feet wide, which made it difficult to use large rescue equipment.

High demands for coal have pushed up prices and illegal mining in China, where accidents are frequent. China's mine safety body reported last week that there have been more than 300 mining accidents so far in 2021.

Authorities said they have detained seven suspects involved in the illegal digging operation and the mine owner has reportedly fled.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

SEC gives JPMorgan Chase record fine for using WhatsApp to conduct business
By UPI Staff

The fine against JPMorgan Chase is believed to be the largest ever from the SEC for record-keeping violations. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay a $125 million penalty for allowing employees on Wall Street to use smartphone apps to get around federal record-keeping laws, regulators announced Friday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the violations occurred between 2018 and 2020, during which some JPMorgan employees used WhatsApp and personal email accounts to conduct official business.

Under federal law, banking firms must keep detailed records of official business between brokers and clients so that regulators can inspect the transactions.

The SEC said the practice of using third-party communication apps was widespread at JPMorgan Chase.

Another regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, also said Friday that it fined JPMorgan $75 million for using unapproved communications.

"Since at least July 2015, JPMorgan employees, including those at senior levels, communicated both internally and externally on unapproved channels, including via personal text messages and WhatsApp messages," the CFTC said in a statement.

"None of these written communications were maintained and preserved by JPMorgan, and they were not able to be furnished promptly to a CFTC representative when requested."

"As technology changes, it's even more important that registrants ensure that their communications are appropriately recorded and are not conducted outside of official channels in order to avoid market oversight," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

The fine is believed to be the largest ever from the SEC for record-keeping violations.

JPMorgan Chase did not immediately respond to the SEC penalty.

USA FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE
Hospitals impose a 'facility fee' -- for a video visit
By Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News

Facility fees for video appointments remain rare, health finance experts say, even as the use of telehealth has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- When Arielle Harrison's 9-year-old son needed to see a pediatric specialist at Yale New Haven Health System in June, a telehealth visit seemed like a great option. Since her son wasn't yet eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, they could connect with the doctor via video and avoid venturing into a germy medical facility.

Days before the appointment, she got a notice from the hospital informing her that she would receive two bills for the visit. One would be for the doctor's services. The second would be for a hospital facility fee, even though she and her son would be at home in Cheshire, Conn., and never set foot in any hospital-affiliated building.

Harrison, 40, who works in nonprofit communications, posted on Twitter about the unwelcome fee, including an image of Marge Simpson of TV's The Simpsons with a disgusted look on her face, captioned "GROANS."

She called the billing office the next morning and was told the facility fee is based on where the doctor is located. Since the doctor would be on hospital property, the hospital would charge a facility fee of between $50 and $350, depending on her insurance coverage.

"It's just one of many examples of how this is a very difficult system to use," Harrison said, referring to the intricacies of U.S. healthcare.

Hospital facility fees have long come under criticism from patients and consumer advocates. Hospitals say the fees, which can add hundreds of dollars or even more than $1,000 to a patient's bill, are necessary to cover the high cost of keeping a hospital open and ready to provide care 24/7.

But it's not only hospital visits that result in facility fees. Over the past several years, hospitals have been on a buying binge, snapping up physician practices that often then begin charging the fees, too. Patients seeing the same doctor for the same care as at earlier visits are now on the hook for the extra fee -- because of a change in ownership.

Charging a facility fee for a video visit where the patient logs in from their living room is even more of a head-scratcher.

"The charges seem crazy," said Ted Doolittle, who heads Connecticut's Office of the Healthcare Advocate, which provides help to consumers with health coverage issues. "It rankles, and it should."

Facility fees for video appointments remain rare, health finance experts say, even as the use of telehealth has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medicare has allowed hospitals to assess a small fee for certain beneficiaries who get telehealth care at home during the ongoing national public health emergency, and people in private health plans may also be charged for them.

Harrison, however, was lucky. Doolittle reached out to her after seeing her tweet to offer his office's assistance. In Connecticut, hospitals are prohibited from charging facility fees for telehealth visits.

Connecticut imposed what may be the only state ban on telehealth facility fees as part of a broader law passed in May that was intended to help residents access telehealth during the pandemic. The prohibition on facility fees sunsets at the end of June 2023.

Pat McCabe, senior vice president of finance at Yale New Haven Health System, said he can't explain why Harrison received a notice that she'd be charged a facility fee for a telehealth visit. He speculated that her son's appointment might have been coded incorrectly. Under the new law, he said, the health system hasn't charged any telehealth patients a facility fee.

But such fees are justified, McCabe said.

"It offsets the cost of the software we use to facilitate the telehealth visits, and we do still have to keep the lights on," he said, noting that the providers doing telehealth visits are on hospital sites that incur heat and power and maintenance charges.

The American Hospital Association didn't respond to requests for comment about the rationale for facility fees for telehealth care.

As the pandemic began overwhelming the health system last year, hospitals essentially closed their doors to most non-COVID-19 patients.

Telehealth visits, which made up about 1% of medical visits before the pandemic, jumped to roughly 50% at its height last year, said Kyle Zebley, vice president of public policy at the nonprofit American Telemedicine Association, which promotes this type of care. Those appointments have dropped off and now make up roughly 15% of medical visits across all types of coverage.

Before the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services severely limited telehealth coverage for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. But with seniors more vulnerable during the pandemic, the agency loosened telehealth rules temporarily. As long as the public health emergency continues, the agency is allowing Medicare beneficiaries in urban areas to receive such care, which was previously covered only in rural areas.

And patients can get telehealth care at home rather than having to go to a medical facility for the video appointment, as was previously required. The agency also expanded covered telehealth services and the types of providers who are allowed to offer them.

Medicare lets hospital outpatient departments bill about $27 for telehealth visits for certain beneficiaries receiving care at home. Patients are generally responsible for 20% of that amount, or about $5, although providers can waive patient cost sharing for telehealth, said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF.

At the beginning of the pandemic, patients with commercial health plans were often not charged a copay for telehealth visits, said Rick Gundling, a senior vice president at the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a membership group for healthcare finance professionals. But lately, "those fees have been coming back," he said.

Facility fees for telehealth visits in commercial plans averaged $55 for the year that ended June 30, before insurance discounts, according to data from Fair Health, a national independent nonprofit that maintains a large database of insurance claims. In 2020, just 1.1% of commercial telehealth claims included a facility fee, according to Fair Health. That's lower than for 2019, when the figure was 2.5%.

Experts predict telehealth will remain popular, but it's unclear how those visits and any accompanying facility fees will be handled in the future.

McCabe said he expects the Yale New Haven Health System to reinstitute the facility fees when state law permits it.

"There are real costs in the health system to provide those services," he said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Thousands of Fred Meyer workers go on strike
By UPI Staff

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Nearly 10,000 Fred Meyers and QFC workers went on strike Friday morning demanding better pay and benefits from Oregon's largest grocery chain store.

The strike could last through Christmas if a deal isn't met with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 555. The union represents about 30,000 grocery store workers in Oregon.

Many workers' contracts have expired in the Portland area, Newburg, Bend, and Klamath Falls.

The union says that Fred Meyer didn't improve wages, healthcare, and pensions, or pay what it promised workers during the pandemic.

It also said that the company cut hazard pay over a year ago while workers continued to work through the pandemic.

Fred Meyer is also accused of illegally hiring replacement employees to fill the need for workers during the strike.

The store didn't share information that would allow workers to negotiate or bring up grievances with unfair labor practices, it said.

"They were told they were essential workers. And as time went on, that seemed to be not what the company wanted to call them anymore," union communications representative Miles Eshaia told KATU 2 News. "These are people who worked throughout the entire pandemic. They still are working through the entire pandemic, and it's really important they be compensated for that."

A spokesperson for Fred Meyer said the store was willing to come to a deal. The store reported that the average hourly pay for workers is $17.29.

The union notified the store that the strike could last until Dec. 24, affecting shoppers during the holiday season. The store will remain open during the strike, Fred Meyer and QFC said.

A strike threat, a union boycott, and the involvement of a federal mediator led to negotiations between the union and Fred Meyer two years ago.