(NewsUSA) - Medical tests done by clinical laboratories are an essential part of health care. However, repeated Medicare reimbursement cuts to clinical laboratory services could threaten patients’ access to common tests used to diagnose, monitor and manage serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.     

A new campaign, called Stop Lab Cuts, is working to fix this problem and is urging Congress to pass the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA) this year.     

SALSA is intended to reform the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) passed by Congress in 2014, which has led to three rounds of payment cuts to laboratory services since the law was enacted.     

PAMA put Medicare reimbursement for clinical laboratory tests on an unsustainable path of multiyear cuts and relied on a narrow sample of clinical laboratory test prices to set Medicare rates, according to the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA), the national trade organization representing clinical laboratories that provide diagnostic services across the United States.     

Congress has acknowledged the potentially harmful effects of PAMA and has taken bipartisan legislative action three times to delay cuts. Now, on the cusp of the next scheduled round of cuts, SALSA has been introduced to reform PAMA and protect access to laboratory tests, according to ACLA.     

SALSA has support from both parties in the House and Senate and from patient, provider and hospital groups.     

“Without congressional action this year, laboratories across the country will face a fourth round of cuts to reimbursement. These cuts could reduce access to testing and undermine the laboratory infrastructure essential for day-to-day care and needed to respond to emergencies such as COVID-19 and monkeypox. Ongoing cuts to payment will also stifle innovation and investment in new screening and diagnostic tests,” ACLA leadership said in a statement.   

Reforms proposed in SALSA include:     

• Ensuring that representative data is used in Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) rates and alleviating the reporting burden on labs by using statistical sampling.     
• Setting a limit of 5% on how much a CLFS rate could be increased or decreased from year to year.       
• Improving the types of private payor data used to set CLFS rates.     
• Increasing the length of time between data reporting from three years to four years.     

America needs a strong clinical laboratory infrastructure to support the delivery of routine patient care, and passage of SALSA would help protect access to the most common laboratory tests on which so many of America’s seniors depend, according to ACLA. 

(TVA) - As food costs continue to rise, many people are seeking creative solutions to stretch their dollars and reduce wasted food. Buying and cooking food in bulk helps save money, as well as time and resources. However, frugal shoppers then face the challenge of how to safely store their bounty for future meals.     

And … what about leftovers? Even the best storage bags and containers, when sealed properly, lock in damaging oxygen which can cause mold, oxidation and bacteria to set in.     

The right storage solutions can help extend the shelf life of everyday food and other products at home. MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) is a patented system designed to help consumers keep food safely for longer periods by using nitrogen to maintain freshness and deter spoilage. This technology has been used by food processors and packers since the 1930s and is now available to the general public. Fruits, vegetables, cheese and meats stay fresher.     

“Using MAP, the bad air inside packaged products is exchanged and replaced by good air,” says MAPWARE creator Gary Growden.     

"Natural Preserve is simply highly filtered air, leaving 100% safe, natural, organic, inert nitrogen,” he explains.     

The MAPWARE natural storage system allows consumers to use MAP safely and effectively right at home. With MAPWARE, oxygen inside the container is reduced or eliminated, thereby lowering the chances of bacteria and oxidation setting in that can cause food to spoil.     

Here’s how it works: Place food in a MAPWARE container, seal with the locking lid, and use a specialized canister of their foodgrade nitrogen to flush out the bad air, leaving food sealed similar to the way it came from the store.     

The products in the MAPWARE line include specialized canisters of nitrogen and the MAPWARE series of bowls with lids, available in a range of sizes. In addition, the Zip and Zap bags are MAP-compliant zipper bags that can fit easily in the freezer, fridge or pantry and are perfect for meats, cookies, breads, fruits and vegetables, snacks and any other cooked or uncooked foods. Other MAPWARE products include specialized clips and caps that can be attached to bags of store-bought products, such as bread and buns.     

The MAPWARE products help prevent food waste and save money, so they benefit your wallet as well as the environment.     

MAPWARE’s Gary Growden  received the “Inventors Recognition Award” for the “Most Innovative and Best New Invention” by the International Housewares Association.       

The MAPWARE products are completely recyclable, reusable and renewable.     

Visit Mymapware.com for more information.

(NewsUSA) -  

“Ruin: A Novel of Flyfishing in Bankruptcy”
by  Leigh Seippel       

A thoroughly engrossing novel about a young couple’s struggle to come back from financial catastrophe. Having fled their urban life, they begin to build a new life together in a rural setting, only to have it fall apart all over again in ways that could never be predicted.  

Former hedge fund owner Frank Campbell has gone bankrupt and lost the entire inherited fortune of his artist wife. The couple takes refuge in an abandoned Hudson Valley farm shared with a resident herd of congenial goats.  

Frank tries to build a new business, but it is not the answer. Only when he turns to flyfishing, traveling the world in search of the ever more perfect and elusive trout (and one memorable carp), does he find his way forward.  

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3zncGJK.

“KGB Banker”
by William McCormick and John Christmas  

A pulse-pounding international thriller spanning the globe. A return trip to the land of his ancestors is about to turn deadly for one whistleblowing Chicago banker.  

When financial executive Bob Vanags takes a job at  the ominous Turaida Bank in Latvia, he hopes to learn of his heritage and to fight economic fraud in Eastern Europe. Instead, Bob finds himself pulled into a world of political intrigue, blackmail and murder.    

Aided by his son David, his beautiful colleague Agnese and a fearless Latvian journalist named Santa Ezeriņa, Bob begins to unravel his employer’s darkest secrets, discovering their sins and conspiracies beyond his wildest fears. Secrets that Turaida wants to keep hidden, even at the cost of Bob’s life.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3MLchUz.

“Double Exposure”
by Jeanee Sacken  

It’s November 2015. Seasoned war photojournalist Annie Hawkins returns home after an assignment to find her life falling apart. She’s under investigation for an incident that happened six months earlier in Afghanistan. Her best friend’s daughter is still missing, apparently with her Taliban boyfriend. Her daughter and friends are fundraising to rebuild the Wad Qol Secondary School for Girls and expect Annie to deliver the money.  

When Annie returns to Afghanistan to cover peace talks between the government and the Taliban, she goes to Wad Qol, where she discovers that not everyone wants the new school. Sabotage delays construction, and when a worker ends up dead, it’s clear the militants are to blame. It’s also obvious that they know exactly where Annie is.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3M8n5fn.

“Mirth”
by Kathleen George  

“You cannot fail to fall in love with Harrison Mirth.”  

“Mirth” chronicles the struggles of a writer, Harrison Mirth, a romantic man who writes about love and tries to find it through three marriages, in three cities, and always with renewable hope. Amanda is first -- New York City and youth. Maggie is second and spans the middle-age years -- Upstate New York. Liz, the third, from Pittsburgh and the senior years, sees him as a man sheltering a secret lake of sadness, but somehow always upbeat, cheerful, a willful optimist, forever innocent. To her, that is irresistible.  

Margot Livesey, author of “The Boy in The Field,” calls the book “a dazzling portrait of a man who lives up to his name, and of those who love him. A wonderful novel.”

Purchase at .

NOTE: BookTrib’s Bites is presented by Booktrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - Every family’s financial situation is unique, with different challenges, opportunities and cultural considerations affecting their decisions about money. For some -- particularly families who have immigrated from Latin America, where financial services are less regulated than in the United States -- a mistrust of financial institutions may also influence decision-making.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Latino households are five times less likely than white ones to have a banking relationship. Other research has found that financial challenges facing the Latino community range from higher debt and lower household wealth to less awareness of, or access to, diverse financial products.

Although this can make planning for your family’s future seem complicated and overwhelming, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional has the education and experience to help you make sense of your financial options and chart a path to reach your short- and long-term goals. CFP® professionals also make a commitment to the CFP Board to act as a fiduciary when providing financial advice to clients, which means they have agreed to put their clients’ best interests first.

Here are three tips for building trust and making the most of a partnership with a CFP® professional:

1. Look for a CFP® professional with international expertise. If your family members don’t live near you, estate planning can be challenging, so make sure you prioritize that with your planner. Cross-border issues need to be taken into consideration to minimize financial consequences. Make sure you ask your financial planner to give examples of how they’ve dealt with similar client issues in the past.

2. Include your family in the planning process. If your focus is on taking care of your family as a unit -- or you rely on your closest relatives for advice -- it may be smart to involve your partner, parents and children in your financial plan. This enables you to work together as a family to align your financial plan with the family’s well-being. It can also accelerate relationship-building with your financial planner as they learn about your values, culture and unique traditions.

3. Make sure your financial plan covers your needs. Most plans include cash flow planning, retirement, education, taxes and estate planning. Including plans for establishing credit, debt management and asset protection is also important. Don’t be afraid to ask your planner questions about financial structures and products that you’re not familiar with, or have them explain the advantages and disadvantages of different options. You can also ask your planner for illustrations or other graphic representations of your options. Visit LetsMakeAPlan.org to find a CFP® professional in your area and for more tips on making a solid financial plan.

Getting started on a comprehensive financial plan today will prepare you for a more secure tomorrow.

Helping your baby develop a healthy microbiome can help support their immune and digestive health for life. Here's an easy breakdown of six factors that help ensure the right microbes are introduced into your baby's tummy at the right time. 

Hint: you can keep the dog! 

See full-sized image here.

"CK Mondavi and Family wines are a tradition that has been in our family for four generations," says 4th generation Riana Mondavi.

"Passion has kept our family business going and I can say for all of us in this next generation, we are extremely humbled to carry on a wine legacy that was started by our great grandparents so long ago. We are also wholeheartedly committed to continuing the Mondavi family tradition for generations to come."

Riana and other "G4" family members including Alycia Mondavi, Angelina Mondavi, Giovanna Mondavi, Lia Mondavi, and Lucio Mondavi, are continuing to steward the family's winemaking institution as official brand ambassadors, the major shareholders of their family business. Two G4 members now serve as representatives on their Board of Directors. Their fathers, Marc Mondavi and Peter Mondavi, Jr., remain co-proprietors of the company, but this next generation of cousins is now more involved in the direction of the business.

CK Mondavi and Family was started by their great grandparents, Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, Italians who turned a mid-western grape-shipping business into a wine legacy. Eventually, the G4's grandfather, Peter Mondavi, Sr., took over the family business and continued to work tirelessly to ensure the business would be around for generations to come. Today, they continue to honor their grandfather's legacy in everything they do.

All of the G4 grew up on and around their family's Napa Valley estate, learning the business from a very young age. They played tag in the vineyards, picked grapes at harvest, worked in the cellars, and came to love their family business. It's no wonder that they are now playing a larger role and are being groomed to steward the company in to the future.

Each member of the "G4" brings his own approach and expertise to the business. Their collective expertise encompasses a range of talent and skills that will benefit every part of the family business - winemaking, management, engineering, finance, marketing and sales. This next generation remains committed to continuing to produce consistently delicious everyday wines from grapes that are 100 percent sourced from California vineyards, and sustainable farming techniques and winemaking practices that are more typically found with expensive wines. They are the first and only wines that are 100 percent "Made in USA Certified."

The G4 members of the iconic Mondavi family are in place to move the company forward while ensuring best wines and best practices with each bottle that carries their name.

You can find them online at CKMondavi.com, or on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram @CKMondaviWines.

Now dozens of companies are clamoring to have a piece of the fashion subscription box pie - and nearly all of them are achieving some level of success - whether it's small start-ups like Nadine West that cater to women only or Silicon Valley giant Stichfix, which just had a major IPO.

Yet virtually no one has addressed the most obvious need in the industry: a clothing service tailored for just big and tall men.

Nearly every single study ever published, including those from the Center for Disease Control, agree that American men are getting larger every year. To illustrate this point, consider this: the average American man has a waistline of 40 inches, yet it's unusually hard to find a variety in fashionable men's clothing with more than a 38-inch waistline.

To this point, it seems hard to believe that this market is only now truly being served, and first to market is a small, Austin, TX-based company called Maximus Box. (Clients can choose from three different subscription levels starting from $69 a month and stylists at Maximus Box then pick out and mail the clothes and accessories.)

Founder Wes Riddick says his own personal struggles with finding fashionable clothing for big and tall men were validated with research and Twitter surveys that summarized that half of all men and women in the plus-size category report difficulty with the shopping process, in terms of sizing and fit.

They would also prefer their clothes to be reasonably priced, and online shopping rates are typically too high in this category, according to the research and survey.

"I'm a big and tall man myself, but don't want to be relegated to ill-fitting or unfashionable clothes," Riddick says.

"Far too much of the big and tall clothing available was too boxy or had a lumberjack look that just doesn't appeal to me. I figured I couldn't be alone in this, so I created Maximus Box and offer fashion-forward clothing at low prices," says Riddick.

For more information, visit https://maximusbox.com/

"To say we were disorganized is putting it mildly."

Like so many Americans, they didn't have a plan for their money.

The problem is often not how much money a family makes, but that they have no idea what they're spending it on. Seventy-eight percent of full-time workers say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent report from CareerBuilder. Worse, most feel it will always be that way. But it doesn't have to be.

Financial experts agree that the best way to break the vicious cycle of scrambling to make ends meet is by having a written budget and sticking to it. Leslie heard about a website, EveryDollar.com and the EveryDollar budgeting app that makes it simple to create a budget, manage money, and track spending. They signed up, set up their budget, and they've stuck to it for years. "We paid off $165,000 in debt since we got started. Now we're in a position to be completely debt-free, including our house and rental property, in the next three years."

The "B" word has gotten a bad rap. Budgeting sounds hard. It sounds restricting. Frankly, it sounds boring. But people who've made budgeting the center of their financial behavior have discovered quite the opposite. The technology behind apps like EveryDollar make budgeting easy. Rather than feeling restricted, they say it feels as if they have permission to spend - just not permission to waste.

Sierra Schmidt was surprised by how much having a budget changed her attitude. She's a single mother in Spokane, Washington, whose bills include daycare, rent, and student loans. "I felt so far behind every month, and things seemed hopeless," she says.

"Now, I keep track of every dollar, and the numbers are right in front of me. I'm getting ahead instead of falling behind. Every month I feel more confident that I can wipe out the debt that's been so stressful."

Sierra and Leslie empowered themselves to take control of their money. You can too. Creating a budget and sticking to it could change your life and help you take control of your money in the new year.

EveryDollar is a free budget app that allows users to create customized monthly budgets, and seamlessly track expenses, income and savings from the convenience of their computer and phone. It's available for both iOS and Android devices. EveryDollar launched in March 2015 and now has more than three million users.

Learn more by visiting www.everydollar.com.

The most common symptoms of meal-triggered indigestion or Functional Dyspepsia are nausea, bloating, belching, inability to finish a normal-size meal, feelings of fullness and pressure in the upper belly and upper-belly pain or burning.

But sufferers may find help with FDgard, a new non-prescription medical food specially formulated for the dietary management of meal-triggered indigestion or Functional Dyspepsia, which affects an estimated 1 in 6 adults in the U.S.

FDgard is the only non-prescription medical food clinically studied for this relatively common but frustrating condition, and it's available in local pharmacies nationwide. Each FDgard capsule contains targeted-release microspheres of caraway oil and l-Menthol, the primary component found in peppermint oil, engineered for release in the upper belly, where discomfort most often occurs. The combination of caraway oil and l-Menthol have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing or improving dyspepsia discomfort, including feelings of pain and burning, early fullness, pressure, and bloating, which makes FDgard an ideal pre-meal companion to help control meal-triggered symptoms.

Based on results of two peer-reviewed and presented studies at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in October 2017, FDgard showed a high level of patient satisfaction and rapid improvement of Functional Dyspepsia symptoms. In a first-ever clinical study conducted in eight centers across the U.S., known as FDREST (Functional Dyspepsia Reduction and Evaluation Safety Trial), FDgard showed significant reduction and rapid relief of Functional Dyspepsia symptoms in 24 hours. In a second real-world, patient-reported outcomes study of 600 patients, called FDACT (Functional Dyspepsia Adherence and Compliance Trial), the findings showed a high level of patient satisfaction and overall symptom relief with FDgard.

More and more doctors are turning to FDgard for the management of meal-triggered indigestion or Functional Dyspepsia. In fact, in a recent nationwide survey of 200 gastroenterologists, FDgard was the number-one-recommended herbal product for Functional Dyspepsia.

"Functional Dyspepsia can have a significant impact on one's quality of life," says Michael Epstein, M.D., F.A.C.G., A.G.A.F., a leading gastroenterologist and Chief Medical Advisor of IM HealthScience, LLC.

"People are afraid to eat, they are afraid to go out to restaurants, they are afraid to sit down and enjoy a meal with friends," he says. "I explain to my patients that what we are dealing with is not a life-threatening medical condition."

Dr. Epstein says that in his experience, FDgard is a great addition for fast relief of frustrating Functional Dyspepsia symptoms, especially since some patients want to take a natural product with minimal side effects. "I appreciate having this effective, non-prescription option for my patients, so more patients can proactively manage their Functional Dyspepsia symptoms."

He explains that the combination of l-Menthol and caraway oil works synergistically to address the pain, pressure and early fullness that people with meal-triggered indigestion or Functional Dyspepsia experience.

FDgard should be taken under a doctor's supervision; the usual adult dosage is two capsules twice daily. FDgard is available in the digestive aisle at Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid nationwide.

Learn more by visiting www.fdgard.com.

They never want to miss a moment with their kids, but also feel the pressure to be present at work.

Getting updates throughout the day makes working moms feel more connected to their kids, and Messenger Kids, a new app available in the US for iOS, Android and Fire tablets, is making it easier for working moms and their kids to talk.

Messenger Kids puts the power to communicate in the hands of children and lets them reach out to mom whenever they need to.

"After talking to thousands of moms and working with the Working Mother Research Institute, we've found that 84 percent of moms wish they could have a brief look into how their child's day is going. Most feel there's a need for apps that let kids connect with people they love, but also have the level of parental control parents want," says Antigone Davis, Facebook Global Head of Safety.

Communication apps such as Messenger Kids have many benefits, including:

•  Connection. Apps are a great way for children to connect with the people they love. With Messenger Kids, kids can video chat and message with parent-approved contacts once their account is set up by a parent or guardian.

•  Creativity. An app should be fun and allow kids to express themselves within the limits set by parents. Messenger Kids features a library of specially chosen GIFs, frames, stickers, masks and drawing tools that let them decorate photos and videos and have more fun with video chats.

•  Control. Messenger Kids helps ease parents' concerns about how children are using devices and whether they are using apps that are age-appropriate. It also gives parents more control. Parents fully control the contact list and kids can't connect with people that their parent does not approve.

•  Convenience. Apps, especially those built for kids, must be easy to set up and use. Once the account is established, the home screen shows kids at a glance whom they are approved to talk to and when those contacts are online. In addition, parents can chat with kids through their regular Messenger account, so it's convenient for both parent and child.

This Mother's Day, and every day with Messenger Kids, moms never have to miss a moment.