Word: sickingly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...hour with a sheaf of policy papers. When, in the last months of her husband's life, Eleanor still pursued her own agenda for good government--berating F.D.R. for the appointment of two Assistant Secretaries of State whom she considered reactionaries--his aides tried to limit contact between the sick, weary President and his wife. Of course she had her reasons for disengaging emotionally from the marriage--primarily the discovery in 1918 of Franklin's affair with her social secretary. Today we would call the Roosevelts a dysfunctional couple. Yet they constructed rich and varied lives for themselves, filling...
Insurers make their money by spreading risk over as large a population as they can, calculating that the healthy will pay for the sick--and then some. Unless state law prohibits, they can discriminate--legally--by raising premiums for someone who, for example, has suffered a heart attack and is renewing an individual or small-group policy. Access to a growing body of predictive genetic information would permit insurers to weed out further the riskiest, hence costliest clients or at least make them pay more for their coverage even before illness strikes. Little wonder that insurers would like to know...
...word bacteria, and most folks conjure up images of a nasty germ like staphylococcus or salmonella that can make you really sick. But most bacteria aren't bad for you. In fact, consuming extra amounts of some bacteria can actually promote good health. These beneficial bacteria are available without a prescription in drug and health-food stores and in foods like yogurt. So far, the best results have been seen in the treatment of diarrhea, particularly in children. But researchers are also looking into the possibility that beneficial bacteria may thwart vaginal infections in women, prevent some food allergies...
...need only be entertaining. Star tattle proceeds from two American impulses: cynicism and sentimentality. Sentimentally we imagine that a popular artist must have hidden depths. Cynically we suspect that every star must have a guilty secret; all that power, money and spare time allow them to act out any sick whim. Gossip has become the purest form of show biz, a story that can be as short as a gerbil joke or as epic as the Monica Follies. It attaches itself to any prominent person, no matter how conventional or innocent he may appear...
Americans may get a sick feeling when they see how much health-insurance premiums will increase in a few weeks. While prices have barely risen in recent years, the average cost of health plans will go up 7% in 1999, thanks to money-losing managed-care companies and high drug prices. Some premiums may rise 20%, and the self-employed face jumps of up to 40%. One possible remedy: before the current open-enrollment season ends, earmark part of each paycheck for a tax-free medical savings account...