Good morning! The weekend edition is 762 words, a 3 minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Government vs TikTok

• Free MIT education for lower-income families

• Test your typing speed and accuracy

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Today’s Big Story

Insurance Co. Reverses Time Limit on Anesthesia

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the largest health insurers, reversed a planned policy change after widespread criticism.

• The policy would have tied payments for anesthesia services to how long a patient was under anesthesia. Anthem said the change aimed to clarify guidelines and was based on metrics from Medicare and Medicaid, but maternity patients and those under 22 would have been exempt.

• Critics, including the American Society for Anesthesiologists, argued the policy ignored the unpredictable nature of surgery and put profits over patient care.

• Public backlash spread across social media and users urged people in affected states to contact their legislators. Some officials, like Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, worked directly with Anthem to ensure the policy wouldn't affect their states.

• The reversal came a day after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, another major insurer, was shot in New York City, though no direct connection between the events was mentioned. The manhunt for the killer is on day 4. (See updates here)

Saturday’s Quick Hits

• The USDA announced Friday that the national milk supply must be tested for bird flu. Raw milk handlers, like transporters and processors, must provide samples to the USDA when asked. The agency says the testing will help to detect H5N1 outbreaks in dairy herds and stop its spread. So far, 718 herds in 15 states have been affected. (More)

• US job growth bounced back in November after being slowed by hurricanes and strikes. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, showing a cooling job market, which could lead to another Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month. Employers added 227,000 jobs in November and 56,000 more jobs were added as revisions for September and October. (More)

• House Republicans blocked a Democratic push to release the Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. The House voted 206-198 to send Rep. Sean Casten’s resolution back to the committee, which previously decided against making the report public. (More)

• Romania's top court annulled the first round of its presidential election days after allegations broke of a Russian-coordinated online campaign to boost far-right candidate Calin Georgescu. The Constitutional Court's decision was based on declassified intelligence that revealed a massive effort involving thousands of social media accounts on platforms like TikTok and Telegram. (More)

• A federal appeals court upheld a law requiring ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, to sell the app or face a US ban. The court rejected TikTok’s argument that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users. Lawmakers from both parties support the ban, citing national security concerns over TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government. (More)

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced delays in the Artemis program, pushing back the next two missions to return astronauts to the moon. The Artemis mission to orbit the moon is now set for April 2026, while the landing mission using SpaceX’s Starship is planned for 2027. (More)

• A judge dismissed the second-degree manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny in Jordan Neely’s NYC subway death after jurors deadlocked. The jury will continue deliberating on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of four years. (More)

Weekly Dose of Positive

• A couple who first met at a Spina Bifida camp as kids reconnected years later and married in 2015. In 2018, they adopted baby Hadley, who also has Spina Bifida. This July, the couple celebrated their ninth anniversary and five years as a family with Hadley. (More)

• Poverty in Latin America dropped to its lowest level in 33 years in 2023, led by progress in Brazil. About 27.3% of the population lived in poverty, down 1.5 percentage points from 2022 and over 5 points since 2020. (More)

• Starting next fall, MIT will offer free tuition for families earning under $200,000. The university will cover all other expenses like housing, dining, and books for Families earning less than $100,000. (More)

• An 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome saved his 14-year-old sister by alerting her about a fire in their Colorado home. The siblings escaped safely before flames engulfed the house. (More)

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