During Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter, Christians focus on their relationship with God. Protestants, once skeptical, now embrace Lent. Scott Hubbard advocates embracing it as a path to refocus and encounter Jesus. Lent is seen as an opportunity for spiritual growth and reflection, to gain more than we give up.
During Lent, some people commit to fasting (refraining) from certain foods or drinks or giving up certain pleasurable activities or habits during the 40 days before Easter.
Some people choose to do something, like performing a service to others, doing a meditative or spiritual activity, or some repetitive action to remind them of the season.
In this article, Scott Hubbard explains how Protestants first rejected, but now embrace Lent and offers resources on observing Lent in a new way.
Consider the days ahead as an opportunity — as one more path you might walk to focus your scattered attention, warm your heart’s affections, and meet the risen Jesus afresh.
What if you fasted regret? What if your friends fasted comparison? What if your generation fasted escapism? What if your community fasted spectatorship? Trigger a spiritual revolution with this daily devotional for Lent.
Decrease life’s unnecessary details and increase your relationship with the Lord so you can live in awe of Christ’s resurrection!
40 Days of Decrease is a guide for those hungering for a fresh Lenten/Easter experience. Dr. Alicia Britt Chole guides you through a study of Jesus’ uncommon and uncomfortable call to abandon the world’s illusions, embrace His kingdom’s realities, and journey cross-ward and beyond.
I have used this devotional from Alicia Britt Chole. Using this affiliate link to the paperback or Kindle versions helps support this blog, thanks for considering.
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Dress yourselves in burlap and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly..
Jeremiah 6:26, NLT
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Many people find using their phones a convenient way to read and meditate on the Bible. And it’s easy to do so with the Dwell Bible App.
With Dwell you can listen to and read the Bible and special devotional offerings for Advent, Lent, and throughout the year.
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Beyond Fasting
If we want to make the most of this annual opportunity (Lent), we’ll do more than just give something up.
We’ll silence ourselves before the Sovereign who became a servant. We’ll fasten our eyes upon him as he teaches and heals and smiles and weeps — the only upright man in a world of cracked and curved impostors
Scott Hubbard
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In this post I talk about my recent elective surgery and the shockingly high six-figure hospital bill. I offer a KFF Health News article detailing various patients’ exorbitant medical costs, emphasizing the importance of understanding medical bills, insurance coverage limitations, and potential avenues for reducing charges.
This information is current as of the date of original publication or update. It may have changed by the time you read this. I invite you to fact-check what you read here.
Please do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment purposes. Before making health decisions, discuss with your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.
My Hospital Surgery Bill
Recently, I underwent an elective surgery to treat a painful but not life-threatening condition. It’s been a long time since I needed any type of surgery.
I received a message from the hospital about the projected cost of my procedure and one-night hospital stay. My husband has been in the hospital a few times over the past few years, so I knew to expect a large number. But I still gasped when I saw the 6-figure number following the dollar sign.
Now this is a non-life-saving, one-and-a-half-hour surgery, with a one-night stay in the hospital (sometimes a same-day surgery) that will “cost” my insurance companies and me over 100K! The only thought in my mind was “I’m so glad I have good insurance coverage.”
Of course, that astronomical number is nowhere close to what the insurance will actually pay, but that’s another issue. (see number 7 below) . But it caused me to notice this article from KFF Health News and pass it along to you.
Insured and uninsured. Job-based and government-funded. Comprehensive and short-term. Part of a sharing ministry. So many people with different health insurance situations asked the same questions:
Why do I owe so much? And how am I going to afford it?
As millions of Americans grapple with the rising cost of health insurance next year, the “Bill of the Month” series is approaching its eighth anniversary. Our nationwide team of health reporters has analyzed almost $7 million in medical charges, more than $350,000 of that this year.
Of this year’s 12 featured patients, five had their bills mostly or fully forgiven soon after we contacted the provider and insurer for comment.
Our mission, though, is to empower every patient with the information needed to understand, manage, and — if push comes to shove — fight their own medical bills. Here are our 10 takeaways from 2025.
1. Most insurance coverage doesn’t start immediately. Many new plans come with waiting periods, so it’s important to maintain continuous coverage until the new plan kicks in.
One exception: If you lose your job-based coverage, you have 60 days to opt into a COBRA policy. Once you pay, the coverage applies retroactively, even for care received while you were temporarily uninsured.
2. Check out your coverage before you check in. Some plans come with unexpected restrictions, potentially affecting coverage for care ranging from contraception to immunizations and cancer screenings.
Call your insurer — or, for job-based insurance, your human resources department or retiree benefits office — and ask whether there are exclusions for the care you need. Ask specifically about per-day or per-policy-period caps, and what you can expect to owe out-of-pocket.
3. “Covered” does not mean insurance will pay, let alone at in-network rates. Carefully read the fine print on network gap exceptions, prior authorizations, and other insurance approvals. The terms may be limited to certain doctors, services, and dates.
4. Get a cost estimate in writing for nonemergency procedures. If you object to the price, negotiate before undergoing care. And if you’re uninsured and receive a bill that’s $400 or more than the estimate, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a formal dispute process.
5. Location matters. Prices can vary depending on where a patient receives care and where tests are performed. If you need blood work, ask your doctor to send the requisition to an in-network lab. A doctor’s office connected to a health system, for instance, may send samples to a hospital lab, which can mean higher charges.
6. When admitted, contact the billing office early. If possible, when you or a loved one has been hospitalized, it can help to speak to a billing representative. Ask whether the patient has been fully admitted or is being kept under observation status, as well as whether the care has been determined to be “medically necessary.”
7. Ask for a discount. Medical charges are almost always higher than what insurers would pay, because providers expect them to negotiate lower rates. You can, too. If you’re uninsured or underinsured, you may be eligible for a self-pay or charity care discount.
8. There’s help available for Medicaid patients. If you get a bill you don’t think you should owe, file a complaint with your state’s Medicaid program and, if you have one, your managed-care plan. Ask whether there is a caseworker who can advocate on your behalf. A legal aid clinic or consumer protection firm specializing in medical debt can also help file complaints and communicate with providers.
9. Your elected representatives can help, too. While a call from a state or federal lawmaker’s office may not get your bill forgiven, those officials often have an open line of communication with insurance companies, local hospitals, and other major providers — and advocating for you is their job.
Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by KFF Health News and The Washington Post’s Well+Being that dissects and explains medical bills. Since 2018, this series has helped many patients and readers get their medical bills reduced, and it has been cited in statehouses, at the U.S. Capitol, and at the White House.
Do you have a confusing or outrageous medical bill you want to share? Tell us about it!KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.
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Exploring the HEART of Health
By the way, my surgery and hospital stay went well, and I am recovering nicely.
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Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.
I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.
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Dr. Aletha
Raymond and I on a recent vacation. My surgery should help me continue to enjoy traveling and fun with my family.
Did you know the U.S. may lose its measles-free status due to a significant outbreak affecting over 2,400 people? Dr. Ralph Abraham, the new CDC deputy, downplays this issue, attributing it to unvaccinated communities. Experts express concern over rising cases and stress the importance of vaccines amid loosening requirements.
This information is current as of the date of original publication or update. It may have changed by the time you read this. I invite you to fact-check what you read here.
Please do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment purposes. Before making health decisions, discuss with your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.
I’m sharing this article originally published on KFF Health News. I have added hyperlinks for additional context. I have also added additional information for context, these are indicated in italics
After a year of ongoing measles outbreaks that have sickened more than 2,400 people, the United States is poised to lose its status as a measles-free country.
Before entering public office, Abraham practiced medicine and veterinary medicine for decades. He represented Louisiana in Congress from 2014 to 2020 and was appointed surgeon general of Louisiana last year.
“It’s just the cost of doing business with our borders being somewhat porous for global and international travel,” Dr. Abraham said. “We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated. That’s their personal freedom.”
Infection from Abroad vs. Domestic
Infections from other countries, however, accounted for only about 10% of measles cases detected since Jan. 20, 2025, the official start of the deadly measles outbreak in West Texas, which spread to other states and Mexico. The rest were acquired domestically.
This marks a change since the U.S. eliminated measles in 2000. Measles occasionally popped up in the U.S. from people infected abroad, but the cases rarely sparked outbreaks, because of extremely high rates of vaccination. Two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine strongly prevent infection and halt the virus’s spread.
Measles DNA detectives
To maintain its measles elimination status, the U.S. must prove that the virus has not circulated continuously in the nation for a year, between Jan. 20, 2025, and Jan. 20, 2026. To answer the question, scientists are examining whether the major outbreaks in South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, and Texas were linked.
Health officials confirmed that the main measles virus strain in each of these outbreaks is D8-9171. But because this strain also occurs in Canada and Mexico, CDC scientists are now analyzing the entire genomes of measles viruses — about 16,000 genetic letters long — to see whether those in the United States are more closely related to one another than to those in other countries.
The CDC expects to complete its studies within a couple of months and make the data public. Then the Pan American Health Organization, which oversees the Americas in partnership with the World Health Organization, will decide whether the U.S. will lose its measles elimination status. And that would mean that costly, potentially deadly, and preventable measles outbreaks could become common again.
“When you hear somebody like Abraham say ‘the cost of doing business,’ how can you be more callous,” said pediatrician and vaccine specialist Paul Offit, in an online discussion hosted by the health blog Inside Medicine on Jan. 20, 2026.
Dr. Offit is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
“Three people died of measles last year in this country,” Dr. Offit added. “We eliminated this virus in the year 2000 — eliminated it. Eliminated circulation of the most contagious human infection. That was something to be proud of.”
Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, disparaged the Trump administration’s focus on finding genetic technicalities that may spare the country’s measles-free status. “This is the wrong thing to pay attention to. Our attention has to be on stopping the outbreaks,” she said.
“If we keep our status, it should be because we have stopped the spread of measles,” she said. “It’s like they’re trying to be graded on a curve.”
Jennifer Nuzzo is a nationally and globally recognized leader on global health security, public health preparedness and response, and health systems resilience.
HHS and CDC Vaccine Policy Shifts
Dr. Abraham said vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles but that parents must have the freedom to decide whether to vaccinate their children. Several states have loosened school vaccine requirements since 2020, and vaccine rates have dropped. A record rate of kindergartners, representing about 138,000 children, obtained vaccine exemptions for the 2024-25 school year.
The Trump administration impeded the CDC’s ability to assist West Texas during the first critical weeks of its outbreak and slowed the release of federal emergency funds, according to KFF Health News investigations.
However, the agency stepped up its activity last year, providing local health departments with measles vaccines, communication materials, and testing. Dr. Abraham said HHS would give South Carolina $1.5 million to respond to its outbreak, which began nearly four months ago and had reached 646 cases as of Jan. 20.
If the CDC’s genomic analyses show that last year’s outbreaks resulted from separate introductions from abroad, political appointees will probably credit Kennedy for saving the country’s status, said Demetre Daskalakis, a former director of the CDC’s national immunization center, who resigned in protest of Kennedy’s actions in August.
And if studies suggest the outbreaks are linked, Daskalakis predicted, the administration will cast doubt on the findings and downplay the reversal of the country’s status: “They’ll say, who cares.”
Indeed, at the briefing, Dr. Abraham told a reporter from Stat that a reversal in the nation’s status would not be significant: “Losing elimination status does not mean that the measles would be widespread.”
Data shows otherwise. Case counts last year were the highest since 1991, before the government enacted vaccine policies to ensure that all children could be protected with measles immunization.
Lauren Sausser contributed reporting.
Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News public health local editor and correspondent, covers efforts to prevent disease and improve well-being outside of the medical system, and the obstacles that stand in the way. Before joining KFF Health News in 2024, she was a senior reporter at Nature covering health inequities, global health, infectious diseases, and genomics. She earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in evolutionary biology.
The cover illustration is a 3D graphic representation of a spherical-shaped, measles virus particle, that was studded with glycoprotein tubercles. Those tubercular studs colorized maroon, are known as H-proteins (hemagglutinin), while those colorized gray, represented what are referred to as F-proteins (fusion).
The F-protein is responsible for fusion of the virus and host cell membranes, viral penetration, and hemolysis. The H-protein is responsible for the binding of virions to cells. Both types of proteinaceous studs are embedded in the particle envelope’s lipid bilayer.
Illustrator: Alissa Eckert, Content provider:CDC/ Allison M. Maiuri, MPH, CHES, Public Domain
Exploring the HEART of Health
I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.
Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.
I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.
Use this search box for related posts on this blog or other topics of interest to you.
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