[MUSIC FADES IN]
Shumita Basu: Good morning! It's Thursday, October 5th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show… the fight to identify tens of thousands of migrants who died at sea, how employers in Indiana won a battle to lower healthcare costs, and the beautiful Vermont town that's banning tourists.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Basu, Narrating: But first, let's take a quick look at some major stories in the news. Ukraine says dozens of people are dead following a Russian missile strike that hit a shop in the northeast. The victims include a 6-year-old boy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls it a “deliberate terrorist attack” by Russia. Here in the U.S., the race for Speaker of the House is starting to shape up. Early Republican candidates to replace Kevin McCarthy include Steve Scalise, the Majority Leader, and Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. There could be a floor vote as soon as next Wednesday, but the timing will depend on how divided the GOP is over who to choose.
The Biden administration is approving construction of a wall along the Texas border, saying it's needed to help prevent illegal entries. This is the first time the Biden administration has used federal power to approve new border walls, something that happened several times during the Trump years. The latest move is a reversal of Biden's campaign pledge, when he said there would "not be another foot of wall constructed" under his leadership.
The newest Nobel laureate for literature is Norwegian author and playwright Jon Fosse. The Prize was awarded to him today, for what the Academy said was a minimalist style that manages to express, quote, "the most powerful human emotions of anxiety and powerlessness in the simplest terms."
And in sports, the U.S. women's gymnastics team is on top again. Simone Biles led them to a record seventh consecutive team title at the world championships in Belgium. This was the 33rd major championship medal for Biles, making her the most decorated woman gymnast ever.
[SOLEMN MUSIC]
Over the last decade, the Mediterranean Sea has become a mass grave. Millions of migrants, most from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, have tried to cross the sea into Europe, and many never make it. At least 28,000 migrants are missing and presumed dead. The true number is likely much higher.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Louisa Loveluck: Only 13 percent of those bodies are ever recovered by European authorities, and the vast majority are never identified.
"Washington Post" reporter Louisa Loveluck spent some time talking to the few experts who are trying to identify these lost lives, and to the families of people who've gone missing at sea.
Loveluck: When a person goes missing, it really is described as the wound that does not heal. It gnaws away at families. Ambiguous loss, this condition that they often suffer from, is linked to depression. It is linked to a host of medical health conditions. And so, this does not end with a body in the sea. This has ramifications that continue for generations.
European governments don't do much coordination to share information about migrant deaths, and they provide little money to help recover bodies or identity the dead. Loveluck told us she spoke to a forensic pathologist, whose lab at the University of Milan identifies migrant remains. She said the lab receives no state funding. Experts say the biggest reason why identification efforts are underfunded is the lack of political will.
Loveluck: More often than not, the priority, certainly for European governments, is stopping migration. They put money into reinforcing detention centres to which migrants who are captured can be kept. It's also incredibly politically difficult, these governments will say, for them to put money into the identification of migrants because they think they would be seen to be soft on the issue.
One activist told Loveluck that when spring comes around, she knows more migrants will attempt the trip, and that means more will die. She often asks herself, "How many people are we going to lose this time? How many mothers are going to call me to ask about their missing son or daughter?"
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
Now to State of the State, our ongoing series that looks at local issues and how they impact the people who live there. Today, we're going to Indiana, and the issue is skyrocketing health care costs for families and businesses.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
See, employee healthcare is one of the biggest expenses for American companies. It costs $22,000 on average to insure a family. Companies pay roughly $16,000 of that, employees pick up the rest. These prices have been steadily rising for years and, recently, companies in Indiana said they'd had enough.
"Wall Street Journal" health-insurance reporter Anna Wilde Mathews told us about the big numbers driving that.
Anna Wilde Mathews: In Indiana, and really sort of nationwide, employers are typically paying a lot more than the federal government pays through the Medicare program. And that hasn't always been obvious to employers. For a long time, those prices were kept pretty secret. But they're becoming increasingly transparent.
<v So Indiana employers started a campaign to raise awareness and do something about it. A coalition of employers bought ads criticizing high prices, which would appear on patients' phones when they visited hospitals. One ad, for example, showed a young girl with a breathing apparatus over her mouth and nose, with a message that said>"Why can't Mom and Dad afford her hospital bills?" They also hired trucks with billboards criticizing hospitals to circle the Indiana State Capitol. And representatives from some of the biggest companies in the state testified to lawmakers.
Hospitals fought back with their own ads, defending their practices, claiming they had reduced prices. They warned that price fixing could mean a reduction in services. And they accused the group of employers of being anti-free market.
Ultimately, Mathews told us, this employer-led push in Indiana was successful. It got a bipartisan group of lawmakers to target and reduce healthcare costs with new legislation that'll end some charges starting in 2025.
Mathews: For one thing, it blocked facility fees in certain locations owned by the state's largest non-profit hospital systems. Facility fees, as a lot of people might know from getting bills that include them, are sort of fees that are added on to the cost of a service when it's received in a hospital setting, typically a hospital outpatient setting. Those fees are allowed, and hospitals say they're very important in helping hospitals pay their own costs and their overhead.
The new law will also require hospitals to submit detailed pricing data to the state. A task force will review the numbers and compare them to Medicare rates. And lawmakers say they're ready to do more if healthcare costs don't come down enough.
Indiana's experience is having a ripple effect nationwide. Employer groups around the country, from Texas to Florida and Maine, are now pushing for new legislation to reduce hospital costs.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
If you asked an AI image generator to come up with the best image of fall foliage, it would probably show you something that looks a lot like Sleepy Hollow Farm in Pomfret, Vermont. It's a real place, a 115-acre private property built in the late 1700s. It's got a classic red farmhouse, a barn, and at this time of year, really picturesque fall foliage. A little too picturesque, maybe. The town says it's being overrun by influencer tourists and is deciding to close roads to non-residents.
"NBC News" went to the town to see what all the fuss is about. In recent years, there have been lines of cars parked along the road, and swarms of people all wanting to get that perfect fall picture. Videos with the hashtag "sleepy-hollow-farm" have hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.
[START NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
TikToker: It's worth dealing with the crowds because this is the most picturesque place in Vermont.
[END NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
But Sleepy Hollow Farm is a private residence, and locals say these crowds are just too disruptive. Emergency vehicles can't get around. There have been complaints of influencers damaging property and verbally assaulting residents. One local, Amy Robb, explained to "NBC" that these aren't just people coming to take quick selfies. Some of them are doing big productions.
[START NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Amy Robb: We see people in dressing rooms, like, they bring dressing rooms to change in different outfits and take pictures.
[END NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Another resident says she gets it, Vermont is really pretty. And people are welcome to enjoy the region's foliage, just not in Pomfret. Her suggestion: try driving up Interstate 89, where there are plenty of beautiful trees showing off their fall colors.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article cued up for you. It's a murder mystery about a man known as the "Fudge King" of the Jersey Shore. An "Atavist Magazine" reporter tries to solve this decades-long cold case.
If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story.
Enjoy that listen, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]