Extreme heat safety tips, Medicare pilot program gets pushback, Revolutionary War graves catalogued in Ohio

Staying safe during extreme heat Dangerous, record-breaking heat has hit much of the nation this week, with the National Weather Service issuing an Extreme Heat Warning for the state of Ohio lasting until Thursday night. Many outdoor events have been canceled due to safety. The City of Cleveland canceled all youth outdoor sports through Friday, a Wade Oval Wednesday concert was canceled in University Circle, and the Cleveland Orchestra's free concert at Cain Park has been postponed, all due to dangerous conditions. This week, temperatures have hit the mid-to-high 90s, and Thursday the humidity will make the temperature feel as high as 107 degrees. To try to combat the heat, many cooling centers have opened around the region. We'll start Thursday's "Sound of Ideas" talking about how can to protect ourselves from heat-related injuries this week and throughout the summer. And, ahead of one of the most injury-prone holidays in the U.S., we'll ask our experts about staying safe this Fourth of July holiday. Guests: - Ellen Kazimer, Administrative Commander & Public Information Officer, Cleveland EMS - Tamanna Singh, M.D., Director, Sports Cardiology Center & Co-Founder & Co-Director, Women's Integrated Sports, Exercise, & Research Center, Cleveland Clinic & Volunteer, American Heart Association Medicare Pilot Program Ohio is one of six states testing out a Medicare pilot program that the federal government hopes will reduce fraud or waste in the system. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program WISeR, or Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction, adds prior authorization for certain services that the government deems costly and unnecessary, and it operates using artificial intelligence. The government says the program will save money at the federal level and protect patients from unneeded care, but critics say its rollout since January has been rocky, leading to errors or delayed care, and reimbursement delays of up to 8 weeks to healthcare providers. An audience member inspired us to look more into this program on a show last week about aging well. Anita in Cleveland Heights called and said she was a senior on traditional Medicare and was shocked to discover after the fact that she needed pre-approval from her insurance to see certain doctors, and was facing a hefty bill that she would now need to appeal. Guests: - Gary Katz, M.D., President, Ohio State Medical Association - Darius Tahir, Correspondent, KFF Health News Ohio Revolutionary War graves As America approaches its 250th birthday, Americans are paying a bit more attention the country's founding, and the events surrounding 1776. Over the last year, more than 500 Ohioans volunteering their time took part in collecting data about those who actually served in the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War Graves Identification Project was an undertaking from the Ohio History Connection with the purpose of verifying and documenting the final resting places of those veterans buried in Ohio. Ideastream's Drew Maziasz spoke with Krista Horrocks from the Ohio History Connection about the graves project. The final public release of the grave survey will come out on July 4. Guest: - Krista Horrocks, Project Manager, Ohio History Connection