Medical debt is a huge problem in America. It's estimated that 43 million Americans owe $75 billion in past-due medical bills.
Medical debt is highest in states that refused to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare).
Studies show that in states that expanded Medicaid through the ACA, the percentage of nonelderly, low-income adults with medical debt dropped from 43% to 30% from 2012 to 2015. In states that did not, the number only fell 7%.
Missouri has the seventh-highest number of adults 18 to 64 who have past due medical debt, with 30.6%. The state is one of the 14 that refused to expand coverage under the ACA.
Should the state continue to refuse expansion, it will miss out on $17.8 billion in federal funding from 2013 to 2022.
The United Church of Christ and the Deaconess Foundation found a brilliant way to wipe out $12.9 million in medical debt for low-income families in the St. Louis area. They partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit organization, to buy the debt that would have been purchased by a debt collection agency.
Hospitals and other health organizations sometimes sell off debt they deem uncollectible to collection agencies for pennies on the dollar. The debt collection agencies then profit off the payments they receive from the outstanding debt.
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Fourteen UCC congregations raised about $60,00 for the program and the Deaconess Foundation contributed $40,000 to the campaign. Altogether, the organizations spent around $100,000 to eliminate nearly $13 million in debt.
"How better could our $40,000 have been invested in campaigns in this community?" Rev. Starsky Wilson, president of the Deaconess Foundation, told St. Louis Today.
"How better could the churches of the United Church of Christ have spent the more than $60,000 that they have invested in this campaign? How better could $12.9 million be put on purpose in our community so that our children live in a better world?" he continued.
In the coming days, 11,108 families will receive notices in the mail that their debt had been paid off by the churches.
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"I feel like it's going to be a life-changer for me and my family," Teara Norris, 34, one of the recipients, told St. Louis Today. "I am going to be able to not worry and stress about the medical bills that I have. … It's going to prepare me to take care of my family."
via OhioMHAS Public Affairs / Flickr
The effort was also a push for the state of Missouri to expand Medicaid coverage throughout the state. Missouri's Republican Governor Mike Parsons has refused to expand coverage in the state calling it a "massive tax increase that Missourians cannot afford."
There is a petition to get a ballot measure that would expand Medicaid on the November 2020 ballot. If approved, the Missouri Medicaid Expansion Initiative would require the state government to provide Medicaid for persons under the age of 65 whose incomes are equal to or below 138 percent of the official poverty line as set forth in the ACA.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."