HOT TAKES: 'Elitist Snob' Mocks Riley Gaines' Education Over Criticism of Justice Jackson, and Hoo Boy

Beginning in February, health insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield was planning to set a time limit for anesthesia coverage during surgeries and procedures. Now, following days of widespread outrage at the health insurance industry generally, Anthem is walking that policy back, the insurer announced on Thursday. In mid-November, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued a press release about the policy, which was set to take effect in February in states like Connecticut, New York, and Missouri. “If an anesthesiologist submits a bill where the actual time of care is longer than Anthem’s limit, Anthem will deny payment for the anesthesiologist’s care,” they group writes. “With this new policy, Anthem will not pay anesthesiologists for delivering safe and effective anesthesia care to patients who may need extra attention because their surgery is difficult, unusual or because a complication arises.” The letter appears to have garnered little public attention until this week when several posts on social media about the policy change began circulating. The posts gained traction after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was shot and killed in New York on Wednesday in what police say was a targeted attack. Outrageous. I’m going to make sure New Yorkers are protected. https://t.co/Mqtjeu0ZD7— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 5, 2024 A spokesperson for Anthem’s parent company, Elevance Health, told The New York Times that “misinformation” about the plan contributed to Anthem’s reversal. “We realized, based on all the feedback we’ve been receiving the last 24 hours, that our communication about the policy was unclear, which is why we’re pulling back,” Janey Kiryluik, staff vice president for corporate communications, is quoted as saying. Thompson’s shooting shocked the public, but it also ignited discussions about the havoc wreaked by the US healthcare system and insurers like UnitedHealthcare. United specifically has been the subject of investigations by outlets like Stat, which found the company uses algorithms to cut off payments and deny rehabilitation care for patients. The rate at which insurers deny patient claims is a closely guarded secret, but ProPublica last year followed one chronically ill patient’s fight to get coverage from United. In some online forums, there was little sympathy for the company and Thompson’s death: Americans carry at least $220 billion in medical debt, which upends lives as insurance companies profit. The shooter’s motives are not yet clear, but shell casings discovered at the scene were found to have the words “delay” and “deny” written on them. Following the murder, healthcare companies like CVS Health began taking down webpages about corporate leadership.

You should definitely skip the base AirPods 4, which are only $9 cheaper right now. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The AirPods Pro stole the spotlight recently with an incredible discount that made them even cheaper than the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. But now the script is flipped and the AirPods 4 are currently discounted to $139 ($40 off) at Amazon. That’s a new record low for Apple’s newest pair of wireless earbuds and just $9 more than the version without ANC. The AirPods 4 are a substantial upgrade over the previous generation, with better overall sound quality and a stronger bass profile. They also borrow a couple more features from the AirPods Pro, like the Voice Isolation feature that analyzes your voice to separate it and cancel out the environment, resulting in clearer voice calls. Other features include a wireless charging case with a speaker that lets you trigger a sound from Apple’s Find My app, spatial audio with head-tracking, and adaptive audio. Active noise cancellation is solid in the upgraded pair, but since there are no canal-sealing ear tips, they won’t offer the same dampening. That’s where you’d opt instead for the AirPods Pro, which ultimately sound better and offer a few extra capabilities, like more intuitive volume controls and the ability to use them as hearing aids. But if you don’t mind making some tradeoffs, the entry-level AirPods 4 offer a lot for the money. Read our Apple AirPods 4 review. A few more deals to kick the weekend off If you need a solid pair of earbuds but you can’t justify spending close to $100 or more, the JLab Go Air Pop should have your attention right now. They’re just $9.88 ($15 off) at Walmart, which is their lowest price to date. They don’t do much but play music, but they sound decent, they’re reasonably comfortable, and you can get them in a variety of fun colors. You’ll get eight hours of runtime per charge, with an extra 24 hours available in the charging case. Today only, you can get a two-pack of black Xbox Core Wireless Controllers with a USB-C cable from Woot for $73.59 (about $46 off) with code 20PERCENT. The controllers are often on sale for $40 on their own, so you’re getting a better deal compared to buying them separately. Although Microsoft created the controllers specifically for the Xbox Series X/S launch, you can use them with older Xbox One consoles and on Windows PCs. The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, which we think is the best battery-powered video doorbell, is matching its all-time low of $99.99 ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The doorbell boasts an impressive 1536p video resolution as well as a head-to-toe view that offers better visibility for packages and visitors. While there are cheaper wireless options from Ring and competitors, they’re not quite as responsive as the Doorbell Plus. Other handy features include color night vision, live view, and two-way audio, though you’ll need to pay $4.99 a month for others like recorded video and package alerts.

The Verge Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is now available to free users on X. Several users noticed the change on Friday, which gives non-Premium subscribers the ability to send up to 10 messages to Grok every two hours. xAI launched Grok last year as a “humorous AI assistant,” but it was only available to Premium subscribers. In August, xAI added a text-to-image generation feature to Grok, which turned out to be capable of producing some questionable images. TechCrunch reported last month that Musk’s xAI started testing a free version of Grok in certain regions. Making Grok more widely available might help it compete with the already-free chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Anthropic’s Claude. xAI, which raised $6 billion in its latest funding round, is also considering launching a standalone app for Grok — something ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude already have, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Donald Trump's transition team is considering canceling the United States Postal Service's contracts to electrify its delivery fleet, as part of a broader suite of executive orders targeting electric vehicles, according to three sources familiar with the plans.

The jury at Daniel Penny's trial in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely said Friday that it is unable to reach a verdict on the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter in the incident. The panel sent a note to the judge Friday morning to report that it is...

A group of Senate Democrats have vowed to keep an open mind on President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees, Punchbowl News reported.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Democrat vice-presidential nominee on Thursday said he was a "little surprised" by the outcome of the presidential election as on the campaign trail, "it felt like … the momentum was going our way." "It felt like at the rallies, at the...

Looking for a simple and delicious holiday dessert? This 3-Ingredient Eggnog Dump Cake couldn’t be easier. All you need is eggnog, cake mix, and butter. Very Easy Clean-Up No mixer or mixing bowl needed for this recipe. Love that. Everything gets added directly to the baking dish for very easy clean-up. Want to save this recipe?Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *Email *Save How To Serve Eggnog Dump Cake Best served warm or at room temperature. I like to top it with either fresh whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A little sprinkling of nutmeg and/or ground cloves adds more holiday flavor. Ingredients 3 cups Eggnog– either homemade or store-bought. 1 box White Cake Mix– I use Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. 1/2 cup Butter cut into slivers– I use salted butter. Nutmeg and Whipped Cream– optional for serving. How To Make Prepare oven and pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Assemble. Pour 1 cup of eggnog into the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the cake mix into the baking dish in an even layer. Pour remaining eggnog on top. Evenly scatter butter pieces across the top. Bake. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. How To Tell When Dump Cake Is Done When you cake is done, it will look golden and bubbly on top and the edges will start to pull away from the sides of the pan a little. Just like cinnamon rolls, there is a little bit of personal preference when it comes to when a dump cake is done. If you want it gooey cook it for less time than if you want it a little more set and firm. Recipe Tips Do NOT Stir! The whole point of a dump cake is to dump and not stir. Buy whole nutmeg and grate it yourself. It has so much more flavor. Just run it across a microplane to grate it. Add nuts. Almonds would be my choice but pecans would also be delicious. Storage Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Pin this now to find it laterPin It More Easy Holday Desserts Crock Pot Nut Clusters No-Bake Peppermint Pie White Chocolate Haystacks Andes Mint Lush Saltine Cracker Candy Microwave Pralines Print 3-Ingredient Eggnog Dump Cake Looking for a simple and delicious holiday dessert? This 3-Ingredient Eggnog Dump Cake couldn't be easier. All you need is eggnog, cake mix, and butter. Course DessertCuisine American Prep Time 10 minutes minutesCook Time 50 minutes minutesTotal Time 1 hour hour Servings 12 Calories 284kcal Equipment9×13-inch baking dishCooking spray Ingredients3 cups Eggnog1 box white cake mix½ cup butter cut into thin sliversnutmeg and whipped cream for serving, optional InstructionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.Pour 1 cup of eggnog into the baking dish.Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly into baking dish.Pour remaining eggnog over cake mix.Evenly scatter the butter slivers on top.Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.Serve with grated nutmeg and whipped cream. NutritionCalories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 394mg | Potassium: 134mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 367IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 1mg The post 3-Ingredient Eggnog Dump Cake appeared first on Spicy Southern Kitchen.

Our first movie, January 6: The Most Deadliest Day, is now available on DVD! It's perfect for people who haven't heard of the internet, your grandparents, and film buffs who prefer to watch cinema in glorious 480p.