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Kelsey Grammer Shares His Thoughts on His Cheers Co-Star George Wendt after Hearing the News of His Death.

The actor is one of the many that are remembering wendt and their time working together on the nbc sitcom. During an appeararance on Gayle King’s Siriusxm Show, Grammer Called Wendt “Extraordinary” and “Hysterical.”

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Grammer Said.

He Continued, “George was a lovely guy. Of mean, iTi’i still odd to speak to Him in a past tense right now, but it was just yesterday morning we find out. Much i liked Him and, you know, Choked up a little bit. ”

Wendt was best knowing for playing beer-loving Norm Peterson Across 11 Seasons of the NBC Sitcom. Grammer Joined The Series in Season 3 As Dr. Frasier crane before Departing for the Spinoff Frasier.

“For 11 Years, America Waited for Him to Walk Into A Every Thursday Night and Say Say funny. “He was extraordinary. He’d sort of just lope across that floor and sit down at that stool and orders that beer and say that something set on fire.”

Wendt Reprised His Cheers Role in an episode of Frasier and the short-lived spinoff Torttellis.

Other Cheers Co-Stars Who Reacted to News of Wendt Included Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman and John Ratzenberger.

Danson said in a staff he was “devastated to hear that georgie is no longer with us,” adding that it was “going to take me to get.”

Perlman Called Wendt “The Sweetest, Kindest Man of Ever Met,” and Said She Wold “Miss Him More than Words Can.”

Ratzenberger Said he was “Heartbroken to Hear About the Passing of My Friend,” Recalling that ”Shared a Stage, A Lot of Laughs, and A Front-Row to One of Television Most Beloved Friendships,” on the set of Cheers.

Listen to grammer in the video bellow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-bgdu5mm7u

AFTER SEVERAL POSSOBLE Delays, The Trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs Begin This Week.

Mid-April, The Defense Asced Judge Gold Subramanian to Push the May 12 Start Date by Two Weeks. That Request did not hold up, evidently. Two Days Later, It was requested the start date be moved back 60 days, or two months. The rapper wrote a letter nSing for the adjournment, but the start date Remained on Cours.

The Jury Selection Took Over A Week, and a Key Witness Brought on the start to the wire hours before opening stations set to take place by remaining by the US attachment for the sutrices of New York. The Trial Could Last Up to Eight Weeks.

The Bad Boy Records Founder, WHO IS CURRENTLY INCARCERED, Faces Numerous Charges, Lawsuits and Allegations for Sex Trafficking and More. The rapper did have a 1995 rape allegation at a party for biggie smalls, aka the notorious Big thrown out wex aex ahead of the trial’s beginning.

Related: HBO Staffer in, Publishing Employs Out, As Jury Selection in Sean “Diddy” COMBS ‘Sex-Trafficking Trial Continue-Update

JUDGE Lewis J. Liman, The Judge Who Is Overseeing the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni Case, Dismissed the Ripe Case AFTER THE JANE THAT BROUGHT THE ALEGINT DIDDY FAILED TO FILE HER ORNAME NAME BY THE DEADLINE OF MARCH 20. WITH CELEBRITIES FROM JAY-CARTER, IN A SINCE-DISMISSED RAPE, TO UNIT IMPLICATED IN CONTENTS Parties from Living Situations or Association with the Musician, The Trial Has Infiltrated Pop Culture as the Connections are Endless.

For a Complete Timeline of the Trial – and updates as to who testifies and the outcome, read on below. We will be updating:

May 12 – Trial Starts, Opening Statements

Form Male Stripper Service Manager Daniel Phillips Open the Trial with Graphic Details APPROXIMATEly Two Years During Who Was Paid Thousands to Have Sex With Ventura in Front of Combs, WHO Became Increasingly Vioolent.

Related: Diddy & Jay-Z Come Out Swinging Over Alleged “EGREGIOUS MISCONDUCT” by Lawyer Bebind Doses of Cases Against Bad Boy Records Founder

“He Started Directing US AFTER The Second Session,” Phillips Said of Combs and the Grambercy Park Hotel in 2012. Former Security Guard and Now officer Israel Florez Also Testified Monday.

May 13 & 14 – Cassie Ventura’s Trial Testimony

American Singer and Dancer Cassie Ventura Next Took the Stand to Testify in the Trial As a Witness for the Prosecution. Ventura Dated Diddy for Over a Decade, and in Nov. 2023, she accused Him of Ripe and abuse in a quickly settled civil Lawsuit.

Related: Cassie Ventura Lawyer Slams Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for “Disingering” Apology Video

She testified Tuesday, May 13. She aggregated to drop her owned 24 hours after she filad it in late 2023 for an undisclosed (rumored to be $ 30 million. In fact, it was for $ 20 mullion, she confirmed the afternion of wednesday, May 14. The forms Longime Girlfriend of Combs Described How He Had Controlled Aspects of Her LIFE WENTIONED ABOUTEED “Freak” sex “

“I wanted to be compressed for the time, the pain … to fix my life,” the ‘me & u’ singer Said.

May 15: Diddy OD’D, Cassie Ventura Cross-Examination

Thursday figured to the topic of Drugs Used During Diddy’s and Cassie Ventura’s Toxic Relationship, From Ecstasy, MDMA, OPIATES and GBH to More, in the Defense’s Cross-Samination of Ventura.

Much of the material that was resurfaced thighsday was already Known.

One revelation was that, in 2012, diddy overdossed During a party at the previously Hugh hefner-oughened playboy mansion.

Related: Sean “Diddy” Combs Od’d in 2012, Sex-Trafficking Trial Learns As Defense Tries to Shift Narrative to Drug Abuse & Jealousy in Cassie Ventules-Examination

“From what he told me, he took a Very Strong opiate that night, but we didn’t know what was happy, so we took Him to the hospital,” Ventura explained with nearby combs.

May 16: Ventura Reveals $ 10m Settlement from Hotel in 2016 Beating by Diddy

Friday Closed out the first weeks of diddy’s trial.

In an Unexpped Testimony, Ventualed Revealed That Has A $ 10 Million Settlement Coming from the Intercontinenatl Hotel in Century City for Diddy Beatting HER, Footage of which Hotel’s Security Cameras Captured.

Related: Sean Combs Won’t Face Charges for 2016 LA Beeting of Cassie, Da Says, Despite Video Evidence; “Cover-up” Could Warrant Position Probe

“I did not Save Cassie, nor some have said, the personal trainer and position defense witness stored.” To say that is an insult to the years of painting my wife has done to Save heself. Cassie Saved Cassie. She Alone Broke Free from Abuse, CoERVIS, Violence and Threats, “Ventura’s Husband Alex Said in a Statement Friday. All of you done is love her as she has love me. Her life is now surrounded by love, Laughter and Our Family. This Horrific Chapter is Forever Put Bebind Us, and We Will Not Be Making Additional Statements. ”

Dawn Richard, The Former Making The Band Contestant and Diddy’s Collaborator, ALSO TOK the stand for 20 minutes at the end of the day though the defense objection to her testimony. She Also Described Witnesssing Ventura “Being Attacked by Combs” in 2009. Ricard, who has a civilian suit of her own against diddy, will be back on the May 19 – Though she may be limited in what she can discuss.

Most of the rest of the prosecutation’s witnesses are not being being revealed to far ahead of time Because of Worlds for their safety. Having Said That, We Know That Ventura’s Mother is Set to Testify Nest Week, as a Former Close Friend of the Singer.

Related: Diddy Denied Bail: Sean Combs to Remain in Custody Until Trial on Sex Trafficking, Racketeering & Other Charges; Faces up to life in prison if convicted – update

May 19 – Dawn Richard Returns to the Stand

AFTER FIRST TAKING The Stand Friday, May 16, Making The Band Alumna Dawn Richard Returned Monday, May 19, With More Testimony of Abuse, Both that she experiences and observed. During her 2.5 hours at the stand, Richard Described Diddy’s Abuse of Cassie Ventura in Grat Detail while Acknowledging Her Lack of Interference.

Related: Sean “Diddy” Combs Jury Hears of Cassie Ventura Beating at La Restaurant Attended by Music Superstars & Execs

A chicago man was sentting to 50 years in federal prison for kidnapping three drivers, Including two who were sexually assaulted, the US Attorney’s Office Said.

A jury convicted andrew Anania, 29, on Kidnapping, Carjacking and Firearms Charges This Year, Acciting to the US Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors HAD SOUGHT A LIFE SENTENCE.

“Anania has repertedly show that he will not be specifically determinate by the cours; Sentenning Documents.

Anania Kidnapped An Uber Driver on March 8, 2021, in Darien, and pointed a gun at her, forcing her to drive to chicago, Said Prosecutors. Hen Made Her park in an alley where he sexuals assaulted her, afterwarding handing her antibacterial wipes and telling her to wipe herself to get Rid of any evidence of the assault, accreating to court Documents.

“Yes, I can make you will anything,” he at one point Told her while Holding her at gunpoint, accorting to courtes.

Two Days Later, he and another man, Cicero Resident Walter Moran, Kidnapped a Woman on Her Way to Way in Cicero, Where Anania Again Pointed A Gun at the Woman and Force Her to Drive to Chicago, Where Moran Into a Shootout on the Street, Prosecutut Said.

When she cried durying the shootout, anania toy her to shut up “or he’d shoot her,” Accounting to Court Documents. They latess reletased her – after anania asced moran “What they are going to do with her” – and took her car.

Later that day, cicero police were tracking the vehicle USSING its Onboard onboard System, and Annia Led Officers on a Chase with Speeds in Excess of 80 Mph, Acciting to Court Documents. He Got Away from Officers.

Anania Had previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping a Woman in her car on Feb. 27, 2021, after telling her that hepo a weapon, and he sexually assulted her, Prosecutors Said. She was able to escape the vehicle, which he was Later crashed, when traffic stopped and she realized he didn’t have a weapon.

He late LOOKED AT HIS MARCH 8 VICTIM’S Social Media Pages and Asced Another person to go to her pay and send screenshots of her pay, along with the pages of her family, accorting to courts. He Also Spent Time Looking at A Gofundme Account She Had Set Up in the Wake of the Kidnapping and Assault.

AFTER CREATING A LETTER WITH MUCH HER PERSON INFORMATION, he took Photos of it on His Phone. Later the Same Day, March 13, 2021, Anania was arrested.

Anania Committed the Offenses while Awiating Trial in a Separate Federal Firearms Case and Had been Releassed on Bond AFTER’S ATTORNEY’S BID TO KEEP HIM BARS BARS WAS DENIED.

In august 2017, he was convicted of conspiracy to commmit first-degree masonry in connection with a homicides in little village three years earlier, accorting to courtes. He was releassed in november 2018 on parole.

Months late, in February 2019, Anania was driving in little village when chicago police stopped Him, and he fled on Foot Through NeighBorhoods, Prosecutors Said. He was arrested after a brief chase. A firearm he had tossed into a yard was recovered.

On Oct. 14, 2021, Anania pleaded guilty to a charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and he was sent to 40 months in prison on Feb. 14, 2022.

Moran pleaded guilty to kidnapping and carjacking charges Last and was sent to 15 years and eight months in federal prison.

Comed Customers Are About to See a Big Spike in Their Electric Bills.

Nor the chicago sun-etes reported in november, the demand for power from Big Data Centers and a Delay in Connecting New Power Sources, Such as Solar and Wind, to the Electric Grid is Resulting in Comed Customers Seeing Monthly Bills Go 10.60 a month on average.

Mostomers Won’t See This Increase UNIL THEIR JULY BILLS ARE DELIVERED, A Spokesperson for the utility said. The Higher Price May Remain Until May of Next Year.

POWER DEMAND ACROSS The Country Has Skyrocketed As Big Data Centers and Artificial Intelligence Have Created Huge Demand. Meanwhile, New Sources of Renewable Energy, Including Wind and Solar Power, have ben Slow to get connected to an Electric Grid that spans from northern illinois to the east coast, Said Jim Chilsen, a spokesperson for the consumer watizens utility board.

“Those Generators Could Bring Down Prices,” Chilsen Said of the Solar and Wind Projects.

Coal Plants in Illinois and Across the Country Have Been Cling, and the State Has Promoted Cleaner Renewable Sources Under A 2021 Law Aimed At Fighting Climate Change. The problem is that new renewable energy isn’t getting connected fast Enough to meet Demand at the very time Older Sources of Power, Such as Coal, Are Being Shut Down.

Chilsen Blamed Police Set by the Electric Grid Operator, an Organization Known As Pjm, for the Difficulty Bringing renewables on line.

“Of Course Data Centers That Drive Up Demand Play a Role,” Chilsen Said, “But the No. 1 Reason is Poor Policy.”

State Lawmakers Also Need to Pass Legislation that Will Help Get Renewable Energy Projects Up and Running, He Added.

Pjm overses the electric grid that Powers northern illinois as well as a dose other states and the distribution of Columbia. SO POWER DEMANDS ON THE EAST CAN CAN ACTUALLY AFFECT THE PRICES CHICAGOANS PAY TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON IN THEIR HOMES.

Big Power-Generation Companies Sell Electricity to Comed and Other Utilities at a price set by a pjm auction. Comed after these increas to consumers.

Pjm Drew the Ire of Gov. JB PRITZKER LAST YEAR AFTER A PRICE-SETTING LAST LAST JULY DEERMED THAT NORTHERN Illinois Customers Wauld Be Seeing Steep Rate Hikes This Year. The Grid Operator Reformed Some of Its Police, Said Spokesman Jeffrey Shields.

Shields denied that pjm police make it harder for solar and wind projects to get started in illinois or in any other state.

El Gobernador JB Pritzker Accedió a testificar ante el comité de supervisión y reform del Gobierno (DOGE), leadership but los republicanos, de la cámara de representanttes de estados unidos, El 12 de junio junto a la Gobernadora de nueva york, katueva york, khathy hichul, khathy hichul, khathy hich Gobernador de minnesota, Tim Walz, Sobre Las políticas de inmigración de suss estados.

Pritzker recibió initialments en marzo una Solicudu del Representant James Comer, (R-Ky), President del Comité Congressional Y Había Dicho Repetidamental A Los Reporteros Evaluando as Participaría en una audience el 15 de mayo. Sin embargo, el martes, la officina de pritzker anunció Que “Comparecerrá voluntariaments” ante El 12 de junio “Before Hablar Sobre su trayctoria en Saguridad pública y la implementación estatale bipartidistas”.

En su declación Anunciando las aparitions confirmadas de los gobernadores, comer acusó a illinois, minnesota y Nueva york de “Buscar obstruir la aplicación de la Inmigración federal”.

“Los Gobernadores de estos estados Deben explicar but qué están dándole prioridad a la protección de criminiales illegales Sobre la seguridad de los ciudadanos estadunidenses, Y Deben Cuentas”, dijo comer.

Pritzker Calificó la Solicudyt de ane ante el comité uno “espectáculo partista” y defendió la Ley Trust de Illinois, Que fue firmada but El Gobernador Bruce Rouner. LA SOLICUD DEL COMITE LEGEGó Después de Que El Alcalde Brandon Johnson Participara el 5 de Marzo en una audience de Seis Horas del Comité del Congresso junto a alcaldes demócratas que representan ciudade santuario.

La Officina del Gobernador Volvió a Defender al Estado contra Las Acusations de Comer, Afirmando Que Está Cumpliendo Con Lay.

Tanto Chicago Como El Estado de Illinois Tienen Leayes Que no pronoun Que las fuerzas del Orden Locales Cooperen con el Servicio de inmigración y Control de aduuanas (ICE). Estas lees prohíben a los functionarios locales ayudar a los agentes federals de inmigración a hacer cumplir la ley de inmigración.

En 2017, El Gobernador Republicano Bruce Rauner en 2017 firmó el Trust Act, Que prohíbe a las fuerzas del ordo en todo el estado colabolar con ice.

“La Ley Trust de Illinois – said bipartisa y firmada but un Republicano – Cumple plenayen con la ley federal”, Dijo El portavoz de pritzker, Alex Gough. “A pesar de la retórica de los republicanos en el congreso, Esta ley de seguridad pública Guaranitiza Que fuerzas del orden pudan concentrarse en hacer bie mi mi -tabajo empodera a todos los myLombros del público, inadestem. Sentirse cómodos al Llamar a los officer de police ya los service de Emergencia like Necesian Ayuda ”.

Comer También Había Solicitado Documentos Y Comunications Sobre El Estatus de Santuario del Estado en.

La Administración del President Donald Trump continúa enfocándose en los estados y ciudades santuario. Hoy Miércoles, LA Secretaria del Department de Seguridad National De Estados Unidos, Kristi Noem, Planea Realizer Una Conferencia de Pensa En Afirmar Que Las Políticas de Santuario en illinois Estadunidenses ”.

Abogados de Chicago del Centro National de Justicia before inmigrants (Nijc) y de la uniión Estadunidense But Las Libertades Civils (ACLU) de Illinois Han Dicho la Toma de Trump Al Menos 22 Persons Han anytime Arrestadas Y detenidas en el área de chicago como parte de su represaión de la Inmigración. Es Es Mucho Menos de Lo Trump Esperaba, Pero Ha Afirmado Que Las Redadas de Enero Solo El Comienzo de pla plan de deportación Masiva.

Aún Así, los abogados affirmaron que los arrests infringieron el Acuerdo Castañón NavaUna Demanda Colectiva Presentada EN 2018 EN Respuea A arrests illegales but partte de agentes de ice utilizaron paradas de tráfico y otras tácticas before realist arrests.

Pritzker ha seguido adelate con una recite oleada dearitions en medios national y políticos, incluyendo un discusso político en new kue el between afternobes inComodó a la casa blanca but su lammado a los demócratas a protest las políticas de trump. El Gobernador Demócrata, Que EN Gran Medida Como Un potential Candidato Presidential before 2028, Será Centro de Atención Cuando testifique ante el congreso el próximo in the middle.

Traducido but La Voz Chicago con artificial integencia (he)

Mari Villar was slammed by a car that jumped the curb, breaking her legs and collapsing a lung. Amy Paulo was in pain from a femur surgery that wasn’t healing properly. Katie Kriegshauser suffered organ failure during pregnancy, weakening her so much she couldn’t lift her baby daughter.

All went to physical therapy, but their health insurers stopped paying before any could walk without help. Paulo spent nearly $1,500 out of her own pocket for more sessions.

Millions of Americans rely on physical and occupational therapists to regain strength and motor skills after operations, diseases and injuries. But recoveries are routinely stymied by a widespread constraint in health insurance policies: rigid caps on therapy sessions.

Insurers frequently limit such sessions to as few as 20 a year, a KFF Health News examination finds, even for people with severe damage such as spinal cord injuries and strokes, who may need months of treatment, multiple times a week. Patients can face a bind: Without therapy, they can’t return to work, but without working, they can’t afford the therapy.

Paulo says she pressed her insurer for more sessions, to no avail. “I said, ‘I’m in pain. I need the services. Is there anything I can do?’” she says. “They said, no, they can’t override the hard limit for the plan.”

A typical physical therapy session for a privately insured patient to improve daily functioning costs $192 on average, according to the Health Care Cost Institute. Most run from a half hour to an hour.

Insurers say annual visit limits help keep down costs, and therefore premiums, and are intended to prevent therapists from continuing treatment when patients are no longer improving. They say most injuries can be addressed in a dozen or fewer sessions and that people and employers who bought insurance could have purchased policies with better therapy benefits if it was a priority.

Atul Patel, a physiatrist in Overland Park, Kansas, and the treasurer of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, says insurers’ desire to prevent gratuitous therapy is understandable but has “gone too far.”

“Most patients get way less therapy than they would actually benefit from,” he says.

Hard caps on rehab endure in part because of an omission in the Affordable Care Act. While that law required insurers to cover rehab and barred them from setting spending restrictions on a patient’s medical care, it did not prohibit establishing a maximum number of therapy sessions a year.

More than 29,000 ACA health plans — nearly 4 in 5 — limit the annual number of physical therapy sessions, according to a KFF Health News analysis of plans sold last year to individuals and small businesses. Caps generally ranged from 20 to 60 visits; the most common was 20 a year.

Health plans provided by employers often have limits of 20 or 30 sessions, says Cori Uccello, senior health fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries.

“It’s the gross reality in America right now,” says Sam Porritt, chairman of the Falling Forward Foundation, a Kansas-based philanthropy that has paid for therapy for about 200 patients who exhausted their insurance over the past decade. “No one knows about this except people in the industry. You find out about it when tragedy hits.”

Even in plans with no caps, patients are not guaranteed unlimited treatment. Therapists say insurers repeatedly require prior authorization, demanding a new request every two or three visits. Insurers frequently deny additional sessions if they believe there hasn’t been improvement.

“We’re seeing a lot of arbitrary denials just to see if you’ll appeal,” says Gwen Simons, a lawyer in Scarborough, Maine, who represents therapy practices. “That’s the point where the therapist throws up their hands.”

‘Couldn’t pick her up’

Katie Kriegshauser, a 37-year-old psychologist from Kansas City, Missouri, developed pregnancy complications that shut down her liver, pancreas and kidneys in November 2023.

After giving birth to her daughter, she spent more than three months in a hospital, undergoing multiple surgeries and losing more than 40 pounds so quickly that doctors suspected her nerves became damaged from compression. Her neurologist told her he doubted she would walk again.

Kriegshauser’s UnitedHealthcare insurance plan allowed 30 visits. She burned through them in six weeks in 2024 because she needed both physical therapy to regain her mobility and occupational therapy for daily tasks such as getting dressed.

“At that point I was starting to use the walker from being completely in the wheelchair” and wasn’t strong enough to change her daughter’s diaper, Kriegshauser says. “I couldn’t pick her up out of her crib or put her down to sleep.”

The Falling Forward Foundation paid for additional sessions that enabled her to walk independently and hold her daughter in her arms. “A huge amount of progress happened in that period after my insurance ran out,” she says.

In an unsigned statement, UnitedHealthcare said it covered the services that were included in Kriegshauser’s health plan. The company declined to permit an official to discuss its policies on the record because of security concerns.

A shattered teenager

Patients who need therapy near the start of a health plan’s year are more likely to run out of visits. Mari Villar was 15 and had been walking with high school friends in Clearing near Midway Airport to get a bite to eat in May 2023 when a car leaped over a curb and smashed into her before the driver sped away.

The accident broke both her legs, lacerated her liver, damaged her colon, severed an artery in her right leg and collapsed her lung. She has undergone 11 operations, including emergency exploratory surgery to stop internal bleeding, four angioplasties and the installation of screws and plates to hold her leg bones together.

Villar spent nearly a month in Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s hospital in Streeterville. She was discharged after her mother’s insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, denied her physician’s request for five more days, making her more reliant on outpatient therapy, according to records shared by her mother, Megan Bracamontes.

Villar began going to one of Shirley Ryan’s outpatient clinics, but by the end of 2023, she had used up the 30 physical therapy and 30 occupational therapy visits the Blue Cross plan allowed. Because the plan ran from July to June, she had no sessions left for the first half of 2024.

“I couldn’t do much,” Villar says. “I made lots of progress there, but I was still on crutches.”

Dave Van de Walle, a Blue Cross spokesperson, says the insurer does not comment on individual cases. Razia Hashmi, vice president for clinical affairs at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, says patients who have run out of sessions should “explore alternative treatment plans” including home exercises.

Villar received some extra sessions from the Falling Forward Foundation. While her plan year has reset, Villar is postponing most therapy sessions until after her next surgery so she will be less likely to run out again.

Bracamontes says her daughter still can’t feel or move her right foot and needs three more operations: one to relieve nerve pain and two to try to restore mobility in her foot by lengthening her Achilles tendon and transferring a tendon in her left leg into her right.

“Therapy caps are very unfair because everyone’s situation is different,” Villar says. “I really depend on my sessions to get me to a new normalcy. And not having that and going through all these procedures is scary to think about.”

Rationing therapy

Most people who use all their sessions either stop going or pay out-of-pocket for extra therapy.

Amy Paulo, a 34-year-old Massachusetts woman recovering from two operations on her left leg, maxed out the 40 visits covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in 2024, so she spent $1,445 out-of-pocket for 17 sessions.

Paulo needed physical therapy to recover from several surgeries to shorten her left leg to the length of her right leg — the difference a consequence of juvenile arthritis.

Her recovery was prolonged, she says, because her femur didn’t heal properly after one of the operations, in which surgeons cut out the middle of her femur and put a rod in its place.

“I went ballistic on Blue Cross many, many times,” says Paulo, who works with developmentally delayed children.”

Amy McHugh, a Blue Cross spokesperson, declined to discuss Paulo’s case. She says most employers who hire Blue Cross to administer their health benefits choose plans with “our standard” 60-visit limit, which she says is more generous than most insurers offer, but some employers “choose to allow for more or fewer visits per year.”

Paulo says she expects to restrict her therapy sessions to once a week instead of the recommended twice a week because she’ll need more help after an upcoming operation on her leg.

“We had to plan to save my visits for this surgery, as ridiculous as it sounds,” she says.

Medicare is more generous

People with commercial insurance plans face more hurdles than those on Medicare, which sets dollar thresholds on therapy each year but allows therapists to continue providing services if they document medical necessity. This year, the limits are $2,410 for physical and speech therapy and $2,410 for occupational therapy.

Private Medicare Advantage plans don’t have visit or dollar caps, but they often require prior authorization every few visits. The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found last year that Medicare Advantage plans deny requests for physical and occupational therapy at hospitals and nursing homes at higher rates than they reject other medical services.

Therapists say many commercial plans require prior authorization and are stingy about approvals. Insurers often make therapists submit detailed notes, sometimes for each session, documenting patients’ treatment plans, goals and test results showing how well they perform each exercise.

“It’s a battle of getting visits,” says Jackee Ndwaru, an occupational therapist in Jacksonville, Florida. “If you can’t show progress, they’re not going to approve.”

An insurer overruled

Marjorie Haney’s insurance plan covered 20 therapy sessions a year, but Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield approved only a few visits at a time for the rotator cuff she tore in a bike accident in Maine.

After 13 visits in 2021, Anthem refused to approve more, writing that her medical records “do not show you made progress with specific daily tasks,” according to the denial letter.

Haney, a physical therapist herself, said the decision made no sense because at that stage of her recovery, the therapy was focused on preventing her shoulder from freezing up and gradually expanding its range of motion.

“My range was getting better,” Haney, now 57, says. “But functionally I couldn’t use my arm to lift things.”

Haney appealed to Maine’s insurance bureau for an independent review. In its report overturning Anthem’s decision, the bureau’s physician consultant, William Barreto, concluded that Haney had made “substantial improvement” — she no longer needed a shoulder sling and was able to return to work with restrictions. Barreto also noted that nothing in Anthem’s policy required progress with specific daily tasks, which was the basis for Anthem’s refusal.

“Given the member’s substantial restriction in active range of motion and inability to begin strengthening exercises, there is remaining deficit that requires the skills and training of a qualified physical therapist,” the report said.

Anthem says it requires repeated assessments before authorizing additional visits “to ensure the member is receiving the right care for the right period of time based on his or her care needs.” The insurer says this process “also helps prevent members from using up all their covered treatment benefits too quickly, especially if they don’t end up needing the maximum number of therapy visits.”

In 2023, Maine passed a law banning prior authorization for the first 12 rehab visits, making it one of the few states to curb insurer limitations on physical therapy.

Haney says after she won her appeal, she spaced out the sessions her plan permitted by going once weekly. “I got another month, and I stretched it out to six weeks.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose, “a family drama that reciped it World Premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater in 2024, has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it was announced monday.

The play, which was commisoked by steppenwolf, Bowed in Chicago in March 2024. IT MAVED TO BROADWAY EARLIER THIS WHERE IS CURRENTLY RUNNING AND WHERE IT RECENTLY RECEIVED SIX NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING BEST PLAY. The Show, Loosely Based on the Family of Civil Rights icon Jesse Jackson, was directly by Phylicia Rasad in Chicago and on Broadway.

When Reachhed by Phone Monday AFTHNOON, A Spokesperson for theater Company wills a Statement from Co-Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis: “Congratulations to the Brilliant Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Today’s 2025 Pulitzer for Drama for Drama for Drama Recognition of ‘Purpos,’ A Play Commissioned, Developed and Premiered at Steppenwolf Theater. works. ”

Steppenwolf Previously Won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County.”