One in four millennials and generations Z cannot cover their rent or mortgage due to medical debt, even though they have insurance.

This was revealed by a Analysis conducted by the insurer HealthCare.com, which notes that younger generations of Americans are mired in medical debt that makes it difficult for them to afford a safe roof over their heads.

Zillennials or generation "Z" are those born between 1997 and 2010, while Millennials or generation "Y" are those born between 1981 and 1996, according to the Pew Research Center. This would indicate that those under 40 years of age have more problems paying off their medical debts.

According to the study, more than half of Millennials (52 percent) and Generation Xers (48 percent) born between 1965 and 1980) said their credit scores have suffered because of medical debt, making it harder for them to access loans. 

Meanwhile, 2 in 3 members of Generation Z (68 percent) who have health insurance but are facing medical debt reported that their coverage was not sufficient to pay for the services they received, indicating that it is more difficult for them to access them.

In addition, it details that more than half of American adults with incomes below 25 thousand dollars have had their medical bills sent to debt collectors, which affects their credit history and, to make matters worse, makes it more difficult for them to finance their debt.

Notably, 22 percent of Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) with medical debt plan to dip into their retirement savings, while 22 percent of Gen Zers with medical debt say they will turn to crowdfunding—voluntary contributions made through digital platforms—to pay their health care bills.

Debt triggers vary by generation, as while the most common cause of medical debt for Gen Z and Millennials was seeking care after an accident or injury (26 and 25 percent, respectively), for Gen X, the most common trigger was chronic illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease (18 percent).

A similar number of Baby Boomers cited chronic disease as the leading cause.  

Men are more likely than women to crowdfund medical debt.

Although men and women are equally likely to have them, they may take different approaches when it comes to paying for them. 

Men are more likely than women to turn to credit cards (27 vs. 19 percent), retirement savings (15 vs. 11 percent) or crowdfunding (13 vs. 8 percent). 

The analysis found that 55 percent of men and 45 percent of women with medical debt say they have tried to negotiate a reduction, but triggers also vary by gender.

Men (18 percent) are more likely than women (10 percent) to say their medical bills were related to chronic pain. 

Among men with health care debt, the primary medical expense leading to debt was accident and/or injury (21 percent), while for women, the most common reason was chronic illness (17 percent), followed closely by accident and/or injury (16 percent).

According to the Urban Institute, Communities of color are the hardest hit when it comes to medical debt, with one in four having their bills in collections.

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Communities of color face great challenges and threats following Georgia's redistricting, so activists are focusing their efforts on the fight to achieve voting maps that determine political representation and fair access to resources over the next ten years.

For Susanna Scott of the Georgia Redistricting Alliance, a transparent redistricting process is essential to good democracy.

This was stated during a press conference organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Ethnic Media Services, where he stressed that "when voters have faith in the redistricting process and believe that it has been carried out fairly, they feel more committed to the political process and have faith in the government."

"It is our responsibility to denounce the flaws in the redistricting process and demand better from our legislators!" he said.

For her part, Poy Winichakul, a staff attorney for voting rights at the Southern Poverty Law Center, noted that this is the first redistricting cycle in which Georgia has not been covered by the Voting Rights Act, following the 2013 repeal of protections under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which previously would have required the Justice Department to take a second look at all types of maps, including at the county level.

“What we’re seeing right now is that the drawing of districts has not been transparent, has not had a public hearing or input from the public — it’s being usurped by the state legislature that draws district lines without even much input from local elected officials, in order to make sure they get the maps they want.”

She also said she is concerned about how quickly things are moving on redistricting in Georgia, and how little the public has had a chance to weigh in on these maps that have a lasting impact at the local level for the next decade.

Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause, said democracy can only work if everyone is fully and equally represented, regardless of race, party affiliation, zip code, and many other aspects.

“The attacks on our right to vote have not stopped at our ballot boxes, they are playing out in our local redistricting process. State legislators want to control our communities from the kitchen table to trash collection to how our local representatives are elected,” she stressed.

"We need federal and state protection, but also a legislature that really works for the community and the people, and not for its own interests," he added.

Laura Judge, a Cobb County resident and parent, said she is disappointed by several actions by the Cobb County School Board, which she said seems to be mostly just checking boxes and not trying to help students.

"Every time we have gone to the School Board to make our voices heard, we seem to have hit a wall. They are not responsive to public testimony, and some Board members have argued with other members as if they were asking important questions."

He added that the president of the Cobb County School Board recently changed the rule requiring a majority for a measure to be considered. 

In that regard, he noted that the State Legislature has presented a map for the Cobb County School Board that defends the current majority at the expense of fair representation for the votes of the African-American community.

“State legislatures are rushing through their maps while refusing to listen to the community. Our children are forced to live in a toxic environment when parents do not have a fair voice to defend their needs and interests.”

Literacy rates across Georgia, she noted, have been falling after elected board members tried to introduce an overhaul of literacy instruction, “and when we tried to update our methods, it wasn’t even considered because of School Board policy.”

Added to this are issues of anti-Semitism and discrimination against children with learning differences, “it feels like diversity, equity and inclusion are not being addressed at all,” she said. “Our voices are not being heard as we continue to pay taxes to the School Board and watch our money being squandered.”

Finally, Laura Judge strongly urged all Georgians “to stand against this attempt to reduce our voice,” to take an active role in confronting politicians and the passage of redistricting maps in Georgia that disenfranchise their community, and to “redouble efforts to mobilize members of their community against this attack on our voice.”

Finally, Maariya Sheikh and Sadie McIntyre, students and activists from the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, spoke out in support of a fair redistricting in Georgia that takes into account the voice of all.

“We are the future, and the future is a diverse, multiracial democracy — drawing maps that suppress local control and silence communities of color is a threat to that future,” said Maariya, a Muslim American living in Cobb County.

For her part, Sadie said that “redistricting determined whether people received civil rights protections or fully funded schools, and that ‘whether you live in Powder Springs, Athens or Lawrenceville, you deserve to elect your leaders instead of them electing you.’”

Despite efforts by politicians in the state legislature to diminish their voices, activists in Georgia communities have pledged to continue advocating for fair representation. 

Hundreds of new redistricting maps in Georgia, which will be ready for the 2022 elections, are awaiting the Governor's signature. Candidate filing for the 2022 Georgia primary election begins on March 7.

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Las tropas rusas siguen asaltando Kiev. Volodímir Zelenski, presidente de Ucrania, ha afirmado en un mensaje de vídeo para su nación que el ejército ruso está preparando su ofensiva final y tomará el control de Kiev durante la mañana del sábado al domingo por la tarde.

En el discurso televisado de Rusia a las fuerzas ucranianas, Vladímir Putin llamó a rebelarse para mantener el poder mientras continúa su ataque contra Ucrania.

Los débiles intentos de cooperación empiezan a tambalearse y parece difícil que cualquiera de los dos bandos, Rusia o la OTAN, se reúnan en Minsk. 

Con esta escalada militar de Rusia vienen dos amenazas: graves repercusiones militares si Finlandia o Suecia se adhieren a la OTAN –siendo así consideradas enemigas de Rusia– y provocar «consecuencias militares» al desplegar parte de la Fuerza de Respuesta que contiene unos 40 mil efectivos en Europa del Este.

El 18 de febrero, el presidente Zelenski emitió una petición desesperada informando a los ucranianos de que los soldados rusos estaban atacando su capital con toda su fuerza; sin embargo, no podían acercarse a más de 20 millas debido al intenso fuego de artillería dirigido hacia ellos una vez que llegaban a su alcance fuera de los límites de la ciudad –«ametrallamiento»–. Esto se confirmó poco después cuando aparecieron imágenes que mostraban tanques rusos.

El viernes, los ucranianos se unieron para luchar por su capital, Kiev. Las autoridades ucranianas han aconsejado a los residentes que se queden en casa y preparen cócteles molotov para defenderse de las fuerzas rusas que entraron el jueves en un distrito del norte de la ciudad.

Ante el impacto de los misiles en Kiev, el presidente Volodímir Zelenski, instó a los ucranianos a defender su país con él, mientras se enfrenta a la creciente presión de Putin y de la comunidad internacional.

Esta mañana, en Kiev, los ucranianos han luchado por su capital después de que el presidente ucraniano instara a los residentes a defender su país, el presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, fue presionado por las comunidades internacionales y se impusieron sanciones de la Unión Europea a Putin. Los líderes de la OTAN emitieron una declaración en la que se comprometían a seguir suministrando armas a Ucrania, incluidos sistemas de defensa aérea, en una cumbre de emergencia celebrada esta semana.

A partir de ahora, en Kiev, los ucranianos luchan por su capital mientras el presidente Volodímir Zelenski les insta a hacerlo. Con la creciente presión del gobierno de Rusia y después de haber sido sometido a sanciones por los miembros de la Unión Europea que están preocupados por lo que está sucediendo allí. La inusual reunión celebrada hoy entre los líderes de la OTAN promete un nuevo intento de mantenimiento de la paz que incluye el suministro a Ucrania de más armamento, como sistemas de defensa aérea.

El presidente ruso Vladímir Putin instó a los soldados ucranianos a deponer las armas, dando a entender que no tenía intención de establecer conversaciones de paz con ellos.

Putin también se refirió al nuevo gabinete ucraniano como una banda de drogadictos y neonazis, sugiriendo que no tenía intención de entablar conversaciones de paz.

El viernes, el portavoz del Kremlin dijo que Putin estaba dispuesto a que representantes de Rusia visitaran Bielorrusia para debatir con una delegación ucraniana, tras hablar con el líder chino Xi Jinping. La oferta se produjo después de que Zelenski propusiera a principios de esta semana que podría haber algún tipo de «estatus neutral» para Ucrania que le permitiera una mayor autonomía con respecto a Rusia, conservando el ruso como lengua oficial.

La Unión Europea congeló los activos de Putin y de su ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Serguéi V. Lavrov; mientras tanto, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, ha informado de que para el viernes se prevé anunciar sanciones contra el presidente Vladímir Putin, después de que el primer ministro británico, Boris Johnson, pidiera a otros líderes de la OTAN que excluyeran a Rusia del SWIFT (el mecanismo de pagos que utilizan los bancos de todo el mundo).

Ya son 7 los periodistas asesinados en México en lo que va del año. Ayer por la noche medios de comunicación de Sonora informaron el asesinato del director del portal de noticias El Informativo, Jorge Camero Zazueta, quien fuera baleado a la salida del gimnasio en el que entrenaba.

El periodista, quien también fuera exsecretario particular del alcalde Luis Fuentes Aguilar del municipio Empalme en Sonora, murió tras ser víctima de un ataque armado en la colonia Libertad.

De acuerdo con medio locales, Camero, de tan solo 28 años de edad, recibió al menos tres impactos de bala de un grupo de hombres armados que arribaron al lugar a bordo de motocicletas.

Camero fue columnista en el portal noticioso, y apenas dos semanas atrás había renunciado a su trabajo como secretario particular de Fuentes Aguilar, por lo que regresó a tomar las riendas de su medio de comunicación.

Esta misma semana, se dio otro crimen contra un integrante de medios de comunicación. La conductora de televisión, Michel Simon, originaria de Veracruz, fue hallada sin vida en un paraje del Ajusco en la Ciudad de México, con la cual ya sumaban seis los periodistas asesinados en México.

Este mismo mes, el 10 de febrero, fue ultimado el periodista Heber López Vásquez en el municipio de Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. 

Dichos nombres se unen a los asesinados en enero: José Luis Gamboa, director de un portal de internet, en el estado de Veracruz; el fotógrafo independiente Margarito Martínez; la periodista Lourdes Maldonado en la ciudad fronteriza de Tijuana; y Roberto Toledo, colaborador del portal de noticias Monitor Michoacán, quien fue baleado en la ciudad de Zitácuaro en Michoacán.

La prensa en México vive uno de los momentos más oscuros. A nivel mundial, el país se ha colocado en segundo lugar de los lugares más peligrosos para ejercer el periodismo, mientras que desde la silla presidencial su labor es atacada casi a diario.

La situación no ha pasado inadvertida ha generado protestas y reacciones de rechazo por organizaciones nacionales e internacionales.

El tema de los periodistas asesinados en México inclusive ha levantado la ceja de altos funcionarios de EE. UU., entre los que se encuentra el secretario de Estado, Antony Blinken, quien a través de su cuenta de Twitter dijo: «El alto número de periodistas asesinados en México este año y las continuas amenazas que enfrentan son preocupantes. Me uno a los que piden más rendición de cuentas y protección para periodistas mexicanos. Mi corazón está con los seres queridos de los que dieron su vida por la verdad».

Por su parte, el presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, contestó que el funcionario estadounidense estaba «mal informado» o actuaba de mala fe.

"He is misinformed, because otherwise he would be acting in bad faith. Of course it is very regrettable that there are murders of journalists. It is just that in all cases action is being taken. There is no impunity. If the head of the State Department intervenes, then I think that he does not know, he is not well informed," he said in his morning press conference.

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