Month: November 2022

2022-11-15T05:01:00

(BPT) – With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many Americans are already planning to host a delicious dinner for family and friends.

The turkey, of course, is the centerpiece of the traditional holiday dinner. In fact, an estimated 46 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving, according to the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Milo’s Tea Company spills the tea on the secret to a flavorful and juicy bird as well as a recipe for a celebratory cocktail you and your guests can toast with as you share your messages of gratefulness around the table.

Known for their iconic sweet tea, Milo’s Tea Company brews fresh, all-natural tea that tastes just like homemade. With simple, natural ingredients, Milo’s has been a trusted name in the beverage space for over 75 years.

For the star of the show, brine your bird in a mixture of Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea, rosemary, garlic, lemon and onion. The sweetness from the tea combined with aromatics enhances the flavor and color of the turkey and sets the stage for succulent meat.

Milo’s Sweet Tea Turkey Brine

Ingredients:

1 gallon Milo’s Sweet Tea

3 large onions, quartered

8 garlic cloves, peeled

10 cups of ice

1 cup kosher salt

4 lemons, sliced

5 sprigs rosemary

Step 1

In a large stock pot, combine Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea and kosher salt. Heat just to boiling, stirring frequently until salt is dissolved. Add onion, lemon, garlic and rosemary. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Step 2

When the broth mixture has cooled, pour it into a clean 5-gallon bucket. Stir in the ice.

Step 3

Wash and dry your turkey. Making sure you have removed the innards, place the turkey, cavity side up, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Cover and place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 4

Remove the turkey, carefully draining off the excess brine, and pat dry. Discard excess brine.

Step 5

Cook the turkey as desired, reserving the drippings for gravy.

Click here to watch a step-by-step video of the Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea Turkey Brine recipe.

Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider

While one gallon of tea will go a long way to improve the taste and texture of your turkey, you can also add this famous tea to your menu as part of a sweet and oh-so pretty holiday cocktail. With the flavors of apple, cinnamon and anise mixed with Milo’s Sweet Tea and sparkling wine, you can mix this recipe up as you cook your beautifully brined turkey.

Ingredients

32 oz. apple juice

18 oz. Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea

Mulling Spices (including cinnamon sticks and star anise)

2 small apples, diced

1 bottle of sparkling wine*

Instructions

Fill a large pitcher with the apple juice, sweet tea, cinnamon, star anise and diced apples. Stir and chill for 2 hours. Add sparkling wine. Pour into champagne flutes. Garnish with an apple slice and cinnamon stick.

*For sparkling mocktail version, try ginger ale!

2022-11-15T07:31:00

(BPT) – Imagine going to the doctor for a routine appointment and being diagnosed with a disease you have never heard of, can barely pronounce, and for which there is no cure. Stuart Miller of Cartersville, Georgia, doesn’t have to imagine — he lived it. Miller discovered in routine lab work while applying for life insurance that he had a high level of protein in his urine, called proteinuria. Eventually, Miller was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a rare kidney disease that causes inflammation in the kidneys, damaging their function over time.

An estimated 60-80 per 100,000 people in the United States currently live with a rare kidney disease. While chronic kidney disease (often called CKD) is known to most, little is commonly known about rare kidney disease. As a result, people living with rare kidney diseases can face challenges in getting diagnosed and finding resources and support.

“When I finally got the diagnosis of a rare kidney disease, it was a shock. I knew nothing about it at first,” said Miller. “But it has really re-prioritized my life and everything I do.”

Today, Miller is determined to be his own best advocate and help educate others about rare kidney disease. Here are three things he wants everyone to know about life with rare kidney disease:

1. A rare kidney disease diagnosis can be confusing and isolating

Miller recounts his reaction upon receiving his rare kidney disease diagnosis. “When my nephrologist told me I had IgA nephropathy and there was no cure for it, I had no idea what to do. How could I prepare to fight a disease I had never heard of? Who would I turn to for advice, when no one around me has ever experienced this before?”

For those who receive a rare kidney disease diagnosis and are unsure of next steps, an organization that provides more information about rare kidney diseases — such as IgA Nephropathy Foundation or NephCure Kidney International — can be a helpful first step in better understanding their diagnosis.

2. Finding others who relate to rare kidney disease can be transformative

As Miller discovered during his 15 years of living with rare kidney disease, “it’s important to meet other people who know what you’re going through, and who can tell you you’re not alone.”

To address the challenges faced by people living with rare kidney disease, Travere Therapeutics, the IgA Nephropathy Foundation (an organization that Miller is actively involved with) and NephCure Kidney International have partnered up to launch the RKD & Me campaign.

This new, multi-year initiative — co-created by people living with rare kidney disease and their caregivers — aims to amplify their unique lived experiences to educate the public and empower the newly diagnosed. This movement will further establish the acronym, RKD, and provide a common space for those living with RKD to share their stories with each other, as well as the people who surround them.

3. It is important to find the things that bring you joy, and lean into them

“When you realize your kidneys might fail and your life may be shorter than you want, you need to find things that will help get you through each day,” said Miller, whose IgA nephropathy progressed to kidney failure, at which time Miller received a living donor kidney transplant. “You need to do everything you can to make your life feel complete.”

For Miller, his ability to continue doing ordinary, everyday things with the people he loves most has been his greatest source of joy. He relishes his daily walks with his West Highland White Terriers and will never miss a chance to cook with his wife of 40 years, whom he calls his best friend and “lifesaver.”

Miller’s diagnosis also sparked his passion for advocacy. “I want to do as much as I can to support the RKD community,” he said. “Helping them understand that they’re not alone means a lot to me.”

If you or someone you know can benefit from hearing the real stories of people living with rare kidney disease, visit RKDandMe.com or follow #RKDandMe on social media.

2022-11-15T08:45:00

(BPT) – The art of gift-giving is a process that’s admittedly a bit more difficult than meets the eye. If you’re someone who struggles to find a perfect present that says, “I think you’re great,” take solace in the fact that you’re not alone. A recent survey from Drizly, a beverage alcohol e-commerce shop, found that 39% of people say the hardest person to buy a gift for is their significant other.

This holiday season, finding that irreplaceable, unreturnable, never-miss gift is easier than downing a Yuletide fruitcake.

According to Drizly, 84% of respondents said they enjoy receiving alcohol as a gift. Whether you’re buying a holiday gift for a family member, celebrating a special occasion or looking to send something thoughtful to a long-distance friend, a bottle of wine, Champagne, whiskey or other drink can be easy to send and easy to pick out, with the right tools, of course.

Here are a couple of ways to up your gifting game this holiday season:

1. Order a last-minute gift (and get some help from the experts when picking it out)

It’s easy to lose track of all the gifts you need to buy during the holiday season. Forgot someone on your list and aren’t sure what to get? Don’t sweat it. Drizly’s guided gift shopping helps you find the perfect bottle based on your friend or family member’s tastes and interests. Just answer a few quick questions about their booze preference and voila: the perfect gift bottle. Best of all, you can get it delivered on-demand, so your gift arrives on time for the holidays, even if you’ve missed shipping deadlines from other stores. Just don’t let ’em know you left it till the last minute.

2. Bring the perfect bottle to a holiday party

You don’t want to be the person who shows up to the holiday party empty-handed. If you need help finding the perfect bottle to bring to the next get-together and keep the holidays spirited, check out Drizly’s gifting hub. With one of the widest selections of barrel-aged bourbons, local craft beers, fancy bubbly bottles and every type of drink in between, you’ll be sure to make that invite list next year.

3. Send a thoughtful gift that goes the distance

The holidays and other celebrations are a great time to delight friends and family with a gift that lets them know you’re thinking of them. Whether it’s a bottle of buttery chardonnay or a small-batch reposado tequila, choose the delivery date on Drizly for a cross-country present delivered to their doorstep in 2-5 days or schedule delivery from a local store in their area up to two weeks in advance. To make it even more special, you can even customize your order with an e-card to wish them well from afar.

No matter how you celebrate this holiday season, the gift of drinks helps your recipients savor life’s moments.

2022-11-15T10:01:00

(BPT) – When was the last time you had an eye exam? If you can’t remember, it’s time to make an appointment. Even if your vision seems fine, it’s important to get an eye exam every year.

It helps to have anchor points throughout the year that serve as reminders for things like important appointments! For example, open enrollment season is the best time to assess what coverage you have and should use before the year ends and what you might need as you’re planning ahead. If you miss your open enrollment, you still have options with individual plans that can be purchased anytime, like VSP^® Individual Vision Plans. Most VSP plans include a fully covered eye exam, a frame allowance and a variety of lenses options.

Most people assume that if they’re healthy and their vision is good, they must have healthy eyes. However, an annual eye exam can catch signs of other health conditions early, when treatment may be most effective.

An annual eye exam keeps more than your eyes healthy

During an annual eye exam, your eye doctor can assess the health of your eyes through a series of tests to assess your vision and check for eye diseases. One of the most familiar tests is the eye chart that has rows of letters that get smaller and smaller, which are used to measure the sharpness of your vision. Other vision tests will evaluate your field of vision, pupils’ reactions to light, eye alignment and much more.

When an eye exam includes dilatation of the pupils, it allows your eye doctor to see into the back of the eye (e.g., blood vessels) where evidence of 273 chronic diseases can be detected even before other physical symptoms emerge, ranging from high cholesterol and high blood pressure to some types of cancer and kidney disease.

Most commonly, this test can help detect diabetes-related eye disease. In fact, one in five people with diabetes discovered their disease through an eye exam. Diabetes is the leading cause of vision loss in adults ages 18-64, and there are often no obvious signs or symptoms.

Is your eye exam covered?

So why do many Americans forgo an annual eye exam when it can do so much for overall health? Unfortunately, some employer-sponsored plans don’t include routine vision coverage. Or, if you’re retired and eligible for Medicare, some Original Medicare plans don’t include routine vision coverage and thus do not cover an annual eye exam.

According to Review of Optometric Business, only 50.3% of U.S. adults have some type of vision insurance or managed vision care coverage. Without insurance, affording an annual eye exam and glasses can be a financial burden. Also, while some plans offer some vision coverage, you may find that not all eye care exams or materials like glasses and contacts are covered by your insurance plan.

What to look for this Open Enrollment Season

Open enrollment season is a great time to see what vision coverage options your insurance offers, if at all. You may decide you need to supplement your coverage with a separate vision plan.

Good news is there are easy options if you’re not covered or to supplement your current insurance specifically for eye care, such as VSP Individual Vision Plans. These flexible, convenient, affordable vision plans range from $13 to $30 depending on plan choice, but all cover your annual eye exam and offer a generous frame allowance. Even if you miss open enrollment, you don’t have to worry because you can get vision benefits with VSP anytime. You can even cover yourself and other family members under the same plan and only pay for what you need. Best of all, your benefits can begin the same day you buy a plan and can complement existing Medicare coverage.*

Don’t wait until you experience vision issues to schedule an eye exam; it’s one of the easiest things you can do to take care of your eye health and your overall health. See VSP Individual Vision Plan options available in your state at VSPDirect.com.

*Check your Medicare Plan to see if your vision care needs are covered and/or if a VSP Individual Vision Plan is right for you. VSP Vision Care does not coordinate benefits with Medicare.

2022-11-15T14:55:00

(BPT) – Nobody likes unexpected medical bills — such as for an ambulance, or an out-of-network doctor at an in-network hospital — and the No Surprises Act enacted Jan. 1, 2022, was designed to fix the problem. Unfortunately, flawed implementation of the act has caused new problems that could ultimately reduce access to care for patients. Imagine, for example:

• Not being able to see your favorite physician — such as the anesthesiologist who helped you manage the pain when you delivered your first child — because they are no longer in your network.
• Waiting many months for an elective surgery because there is limited anesthesiology staff at the hospital where your surgeon works.
• Having insurance companies disrupt your network of physicians while making huge profits from your insurance premiums.

With insurance open enrollment season underway, it’s important that consumers understand how the flawed implementation of this important legislation may affect the networks of physicians they’ve relied on. Michael W. Champeau M.D., FASA, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), explains the No Surprises Act, what went wrong and how it can be fixed:

Q. What is the No Surprises Act?

A. The No Surprises Act was passed by the U.S. Congress, which worked very hard to ensure patients were protected from surprise medical bills and that doctors would be treated fairly by insurance companies. ASA fully supports the law. The law created a new way for insurers to pay out-of-network physicians fairly for their services. But unfortunately, that is not happening.

Q. What happened?

A. Not surprisingly, it’s very complicated. But the bottom line is, government agencies are failing to implement the No Surprises Act in the way Congress intended. As a result, the number of anesthesiologists who are in-network is actually shrinking, which is not what Congress wanted. The way the government implemented the law also severely diminishes a physician’s ability to negotiate fairly with insurance companies to determine how much they are paid for treating patients. Research has shown the rate insurance companies use to determine the payment is being miscalculated and misused, and physicians and other health care providers are being underpaid for patient care. For example, insurance companies are using payment rates from primary care practices to determine payment rates for high-risk anesthesia services.

Q. Doctors and many health care providers have high salaries, so is it really that big of a problem?

A. The reality is providing specialty care such as anesthesia for surgery and emergency room care is costly and COVID-19 only added to the financial stress. Those costs are higher for specialists and vary widely in different parts of the country. Yet insurance companies are not taking those details into account.

Q. How do these issues affect access to care?

If doctors aren’t paid fairly, the financial strain may cause some to close their doors or relocate to a part of the country where practicing their specialty is less expensive. And that means some patients may not be able to receive care at the nearby hospital, or may have to wait months for needed care, especially if they live in a small town or rural area. The same problem may arise in cities with a large number of patients who are on Medicare or Medicaid. This may delay their diagnosis and treatment if they have an illness or injury.

Q. So it’s just a matter of concern over payment?

A. There are other problems with this system. Although research shows the amounts being paid by insurance companies may violate the No Surprises Act, physicians who use the process in the law to dispute the payment have to wait months for a resolution. Even worse, in some cases, insurance companies are forcing physicians to either accept slashed payment rates or be forced out of the insurer’s network. This happened recently in North Carolina where insurance companies reduced their payment rates to anesthesiologists and other specialists by nearly 40%.

And in a growing number of cases, insurance companies are canceling their contracts with physicians outright, so they are not in-network. When doctors are removed from the network, patients may no longer be able to see their doctor of choice — something consumers may be concerned about but have no control over as they select health plans for 2023.

It’s important to note insurance companies are reporting massive profits. Where is all of the money going?

Q. So what is the answer?

A. We fully support banning surprise medical bills and removing the patients from the crossfire between insurance companies and physicians. ASA has sent the Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), which is part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a letter proposing nine recommendations that will help ensure physicians can continue to practice medicine and provide quality health care to patients. Additionally, ASA joined the American College of Emergency Physicians and American College of Radiology to support a new lawsuit brought by the Texas Medical Association, which focuses specifically on how the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process still fails to comply with the No Surprises Act’s intent. ASA urges the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury and their leaders to ensure its fair implementation.

“The implementation of the No Surprises Act has empowered insurance companies not to negotiate, and their stance is ‘take it or leave it.’ But I am confident we can fix this problem to ensure fair pay and continued access to care,” said Dr. Champeau. “As an anesthesiologist in a small practice, I experienced similar issues when California passed a balanced billing law and at first, 100% of the payment dispute decisions went to insurance companies. Everyone recognized that was not right, nor good for patients. Ultimately, the law was changed to improve fairness. We’ve seen vast improvements in payments and overall physician satisfaction with the process.”

2022-11-15T08:15:00

(BPT) – Whether you’re a DIYer wanting to transform your home or a professional designer, each decision you make about the quality of finishes impacts the overall look of a room. From thoughtfully selected color palettes to carefully curated textures, each finish decision you make can bring a room from ordinary to extraordinary — so it’s worth the effort to be intentional about these design choices.

The good news is, there are modern design collections available today that are specially created to work together for maximum visual impact, making it easier to find options that make sense both separately and together to turn the rooms of your home into elegant, sophisticated spaces.

Mid-century modern meets Scandinavian design

Certain design aesthetics go very well together, and that’s certainly the case with mid-century modern and Scandinavian design. You may have heard that less is more, and that’s certainly the case with these design aesthetics, which both favor clean, simple lines, preferring curves over straight edges, along with a tendency toward visual minimalism. One difference between the two? While Scandinavian design usually incorporates more natural materials like wood, mid-century modern embraces the use of metals and glass.

Combining these complementary aesthetics together and bringing them into the contemporary era, Kohler Lighting’s Tone Collection draws inspiration from designers such as Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen — who used natural elegance and sculped simplicity — together with bold visual statements and use of glass and metals for a fresh take on mid-century modern style. Within the collection, you can find a variety of stylish and refined lighting options including chandeliers, pendants and ceiling mount designs to illuminate and enhance any room in your home.

Blending minimalism, warmth and thoughtful functionality, these lighting fixtures are versatile enough to improve the visual appeal of any space in your home. Even better, these contemporary pieces were created to complement the Kohler Tone faucet collection for a cohesive overall home design.

The beauty of mixed metals

To add depth to a space as well as more visual interest and sophistication, today’s designers draw on techniques such as combining mixed-metal finishes to provide pleasing contrasts and a sense of varied textures.

For example, the Tone One-Light Sconce is a beautiful example of the collection’s interplay of materials and finish: Their softly curved backplate supports a sleek T-arm topped by a flared finial and suspends a stylized tulip clear glass shade, its exaggerated size contrasted by an overall minimalist design. This sconce is available in Polished Chrome, Brushed Nickel, Brushed Moderne Brass, Matte Black, Matte Black and Polished Chrome, or Matte Black and Brushed Moderne Brass.

You can also choose the versatile, solution-driven design of a Tone Two-Light Sconce, with unique creativity that adds to its overall elegance and charm. A single rounded backplate raises slightly from the wall, extending a sleek T-style metal arm support upon which two individual metal and stylized tulip glass shades are suspended, each topped with a flared finial, completing the design. This sconce is available in Polished Chrome, Brushed Nickel, Brushed Moderne Brass, Matte Black, Matte Black and Polished Chrome, or Matte Black and Brushed Moderne Brass.

Another benefit of choosing from this collection is that each light fixture is quality tested to ensure that it will remain beautiful for years to come. The fixtures also offer easy installation, with color-matched finishes and diffusers for soft, ambient light that will suit almost any lifestyle and room design.

Before you begin your next home design project, explore the exciting new possibilities for lighting at Kohler.com.

2022-11-15T09:01:00

(BPT) – Is it true that it’s better to give than to receive? Many people really do believe that’s true, especially when they’re donating to kids facing critical illnesses. One example of an organization that loves to give is Snappy, which has just reached the donation milestone of giving $1 million to Make-A-Wish through customer donations via the company’s gifting platform — helping to provide over 100 life-changing wishes for children battling critical illnesses. This accomplishment was achieved one year after the award-winning online gifting platform first launched their partnership with Make-A-Wish in November, 2021.

The two organizations decided to make the most of this important milestone by joining forces to throw an epic “wish send-off” party that was “out of this world” for space fanatic Connor, just in time for his birthday.

The Snappy team, Connor’s medical staff, Make-A-Wish representatives and Connor’s close family and friends gathered at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. This was just in time for Connor’s 9th birthday and right before his upcoming wish trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to meet NASA engineers.

“We are thrilled to grant Connor’s wish in celebration of our donation milestone,” said Hani Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Snappy. “We’re grateful for our partnership with Make-A-Wish and all our gift recipients who donated their well-deserved gifts through our platform to make this happen.”

Most importantly, the party was a big hit with the birthday boy.

“I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful birthday celebration, trivia contest and AMAZING tour of the Intrepid and the Enterprise shuttle,” said Connor’s mom, Carol. “Connor was over the moon (no pun intended) with excitement, and he chattered all the way home in the car before he fell asleep. It meant so much to him!”

The million-dollar milestone was made possible through the support of Snappy’s ever-growing community of over 2,500 customers, plus the generosity of gift recipients who chose to donate the value of their gift to Make-A-Wish through the Snappy platform, providing hope for kids and their families, including:

• Dylan, age 6, who wished to have a Yorkie puppy.
• Gabrielle, age 8, who wished to be a mermaid.
• Alex, age 8, who wished to be a train conductor.

“Our initial goal was to help raise $250,000 for Make-A-Wish in the first year of our partnership. We’re proud to say that we’ve actually quadrupled our goal, with plenty of time to spare,” added Goldstein. “Kindness and giving have always been at the heart of our company, and we hope to gift as many wishes as we can.”

The curated gifting platform aims not just to help companies recognize their employees and thank corporate clients, but also to make a difference in the world through philanthropy, sustainability and inclusion.

“Experiencing a wish being granted can be a pivotal moment in a child’s healing journey, bringing joy and a sense of normalcy back into their lives,” said Leslie Motter, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish America. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating this incredible milestone and thankful for their support, helping us deliver hope to wish families nationwide.”

Learn more about how you and your company can give to help kids see their wishes come true at Wish.org.