PHOENIX - Arizonans still have time to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The deadline is Dec. 23 for insurance that takes effect Jan. 1.

Diane Brown, director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group, said the more than 600 organizations that make up the Cover Arizona Coalition will be staging enrollment events in every part of the state this weekend.

"There are a number of organizations participating in enrollment fairs that have beefed up the number of certified counselors that can assist individuals throughout the state," she said.

Brown said the trained counselors can help determine if someone qualifies for financial assistance through the health insurance marketplace or through AHCCCS, the state's Medicaid program.

There are other options to sign up for ACA insurance besides the HealthCare.gov website, Brown said. People can enroll using a national toll-free number (800-318-2596), mail in a paper application or visit a trained counselor in their community to compare options and apply in person.

"Here in Arizona, you can call 211 or click on 211Arizona.org to find certified counselors that can assist you with the application process."

Trained counselors are available in every county in the state, she said.

Brown cited another key provision of the ACA that takes effect in January for everyone with health insurance.

"Starting Jan.1, health insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to people that have pre-existing conditions," she said. "That is really important for many Arizonans that have been living with chronic disease."

Brown said it's also important for people who have been covered by Arizona's Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan or by KidsCare-2 to obtain new insurance. Enrolling through the Health Insurance Marketplace, she said, may be their best option for obtaining financial assistance with their new insurance policies.


get more stories like this via email

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration

The all-natural beauty world has a new darling. In an effort to turn away from “toxic” cleansers and “chemical-filled” moisturizers, some celebrities and content creators are now touting the wonders of a new and unlikely skincare product. It’s beef tallow, also known as rendered cow fat.

But what does slathering cow fat on your skin really do? And is it worth the cost to the environment and animals? Unfortunately, this seemingly natural and wholesome skincare solution is just another facet of factory farming. And on top of that, it isn’t particularly effective as skincare.

What Beef Tallow Is and Why It’s Marketed As Wholesome

For centuries, people have rendered fat from animals for a variety of uses, from cooking to making candles to skincare, like balms and soaps. Beef tallow is simply rendered beef fat, made by cooking down cow fat slowly into a liquid. Tallow’s first use dates all the way back to the Bronze Age.

Today, tallow promoters often reference its long history, associating the product with traditional farming methods. Some tallow products are also marketed as ethical or sustainable. But as Pamela Vesilind, associate professor of law at Vermont Law, explains to Sentient, “‘sustainable’ and ‘ethical’ remain [legally] unregulated terms” in the United States. Practically speaking, she adds, the term “ethical” in advertising “is so subjective it is meaningless.”

The tactic of marketing tallow as wholesome and natural is presented in contrast to other products made in labs. It’s a rhetorical strategy you might recognize, also used to market “natural” animal meat in opposition to “processed” plant-based alternatives. This tactic can be traced back to the meat industry, and conveniently ignores the fact that animal products, whether meat or skincare, must also go through substantial (and grisly) processing in order to become usable.

How Beef Tallow Is Made

Many tallow skin products today are labeled and marketed as “grass-fed,” or “handmade in small batches.” Some tallow producers promote, and even label, their products as specifically “not vegan” — in some cases as part of the broader “trad wife” and/or homesteading trend. While some tallow beauty products sold online may originate from a maker’s own cows, this is not the norm across the market. After all, 99 percent of livestock farmed in the U.S. are raised on factory farms.

Beef tallow is made from parts of the cow that are not sold as meat, and are transported instead to rendering plants. It’s made by melting the fat to separate it from impurities, proteins or water. As a result, tallow is often touted as an eco-friendly byproduct of the meat industry.

In reality, however, sales of rendered animal fat actually bolster the meat industry, which is anything but eco-friendly.

The U.S. market for rendering and meat byproduct processing is worth $7.3 billion. Not only does the sale of the rendered fat bring in additional revenue, it also cuts the additional costs of having to otherwise safely dispose of the leftover fat as biowaste. In other words, the rendering industry props up the business of factory farming.

To dispel the wholesome tallow myth even further: nearly 95 percent of the U.S. rendering market is collectively controlled by two massive corporations, Tyson Foods and Darling Ingredients. Tyson claims to control 20 percent of meat production in the U.S., with 38 percent of revenue derived from beef production. An investigation by the Guardian earlier this year also found that Tyson Foods’ slaughterhouses dumped 371 million pounds of pollutants into U.S. waterways between 2018 and 2022.

Beef production is one of the worst types of farming for the planet, thanks to methane-spewing cow burps, and massive land use for pasture and feed crops. In this way, buying tallow from factory-farmed cows contributes to environmental degradation, just like buying factory-farmed beef to eat does.

Does Beef Tallow Skincare Even Work?

On top of tallow’s connection to factory farming, it turns out that the benefits of slathering cow fat on your skin are largely unremarkable.

Beef tallow skincare is more fad than fact, Desiree Stordahl, director of applied research and education at research-based skincare brand Paula’s Choice, told Elle magazine. “While it’s true that beef tallow contains some antioxidants and omega fatty acids that could have potential benefits for skin, there are much better ways to get those kinds of ingredients that were developed and tested specifically for skin.”

Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Raja Sivamani agrees. He tells Sentient that while tallow does have some vitamin A, which contains retinol, the amount of retinol is not standardized, and is not likely to be as concentrated as it is in conventional products.

Standard retinol has far more evidence to back it up than tallow. In one of many studies, for example, a clinical trial of women between 40 and 55 years old who applied retinol every day for a year found it reduced the appearance of crow’s feet by 44 percent and skin discoloration by 84 percent.

While tallow’s high saturated fat content may work with some skin types, for issues such as acne, Sivamani says, “it could make it worse. It’s not one size fits all.”

Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Beef Tallow

According to Sivamani, the skincare industry is now “overwhelmingly moving toward cruelty-free” products. Consumers are demanding it, and “there is a huge push for vegan products.” There are many vegan alternatives to tallow-based moisturizers, even for consumers seeking natural, one-ingredient products. Sivamani suggests cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil, virgin olive oil, coconut oil and jojoba oil. And for those looking for an effective alternative to retinol, he suggests bakuchiol-based serums.

The Bottom Line

Though for some online influencers, beef tallow may seem like an easy sell,, from a dermatological perspective, Sivamani says tallow is “just moisture.”

Ultimately, tallow beauty products are largely produced using unsustainable farming practices, and offer little in terms of proven effectiveness.


Jessica Scott-Reid wrote this article for Sentient.


get more stories like this via email

The holidays are the busiest time of the year for many people, including scammers.

Oregonians lost $136 million to holiday shopping scams last year, according to a new study. Although older people tend to lose higher dollar amounts to a scam, the Federal Trade Commission said scammers steal from young adults more often.

Carmel Perez Snyder, associate state director of AARP Oregon, said the most common cons this year revolve around online shopping, charities and gift cards. She acknowledged victims of scams can feel embarrassed but they should never be blamed for falling for a trap.

"A scam is just like somebody being held at gunpoint," Snyder explained. "They are robbed by very professional people who are very good at what they do."

Snyder pointed out crypto scams have been big this year, in which the victim is led through a series of steps, ending with all their money converted to cryptocurrency. Once the money has been converted, Snyder said, there is no way to trace it or get it back.

The best way to avoid scams, Snyder emphasized, is to never give personal information to anyone over the phone. If they claim they're from the IRS or your bank, hang up and call the agency or business to confirm. Snyder added if their request comes with a threat -- that you're going to be arrested or you need to keep something a secret -- it's a scam. The goal is to play on people's emotions so they aren't thinking clearly and are more likely to follow nefarious instructions.

"They get them that way by making them scared, having a sense of urgency, making them think 'this great deal is going to go away tomorrow,'" Snyder outlined.

Snyder stressed if you suspect a scam, it is important to report it. You can call the AARP Fraud Watch Helpline or the Federal Trade Commission and your local police. Even if they cannot do much about it, it is critical they are able to track the scams going on in the community.

Many folks are still expecting holiday packages this week, and the United States Postal Service is warning customers not to fall for what are known as smishing scams.

Smishing, said John Hyatt - a strategic communication specialist with the USPS - is the practice of sending fake text messages to smart phones, asking users to click on a link to resolve a zip code or other issue with a pending package.

He warned that personal data is what the sender is after.

"Basically, criminals trying to obtain personally identifying information about a person," said Hyatt, "such as accounts, user names, passwords, dates of birth, credit card numbers - things like that."

In 2020, the Internet Crime Complaint Center reported over 240,000 victims of smishing, phishing, and other fraudulent schemes - costing over $54 million, with the average person losing about $800.

Smishing texts can be relentless this time of year, but Hyatt said you should never follow the message prompts.

"When you get a suspicious text message," said Hyatt, "if you click on those links, it will take you to a website that could be downloading onto your phone - and once you submit that information then they use it for nefarious purposes."

Hyatt said you will only receive text messages from the USPS if you have gone online and registered for such services.

"You can sign up to receive text messages about a tracking number," said Hyatt, "or you can go into the tracking service and put the number in and then ask for text message updates, or even an email update on usps.com."

He said the USPS informed delivery program is being used by millions of Americans to receive legitimate messages about what packages are on the way.

Go to the USPS.com website for more information.




get more stories like this via email