Health Logic Solutions

Sleep Less, Eat More?

2010-04-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Scientists have known for years that less sleep is associated with weight gain. Now new research may help explain why. In one study, men were asked to sleep either four or eight hours. When the men slept less, they ate roughly 22 percent additional calories the next day compared with nights when they got more sleep. Read more.

Alternative Medicine Cabinet: Back Pain - [NYTimes]

2009-12-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

The Remedy - Devil’s claw. The Claim - It cures back pain. The Science - Devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), also known as wood spider and grapple, is a plant from South Africa named for the small hooks on its fruit. Known for its anti-inflammatory effects, it has been shown in recent years to work particularly well for chronic lower back pain.more.

How Mindfulness Can Make for Better Doctors [NYT]

2009-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

One night during my training, long after all the other doctors had fled the hospital, I found a senior surgeon still on the wards working on a patient note. He was a surgeon with extraordinary skill, a doctor of few words whose folksy quips had become the stuff of department legend. “I’m sorry you’re still stuck here,” I said, walking up to him. more.

When Illness Brings You Closer to Animals [NY Times]

2009-10-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Much has been written about the healing power of pets and how animals of all kinds can improve health. Scientists have even studied whether pet owners begin to look like their dogs. But sometimes, poor health brings us closer to our pets. Dana Jennings of The New York Times has shared how aggressive prostate cancer has changed his relationship with his dog Bijou and the lessons he has learned from her.
Now, today’s One in 8 Million multimedia series tells the story of Stefanie Rinza, 44, a fine antiques dealer who experienced a serious illness at age 30. Ms. Rinza relates how her poor health prompted her to seek the companionship of a rescue dog.
more.

Just how much sun is enough to meet vitamin D needs? [LA Times]

2009-10-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

You have said that people who get 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure at one time can make enough vitamin D in their skin. On what percent of the body is it necessary to get that exposure in order to convert the sun into 10,000 IUs per day? Just the face? The hands? Bare naked? The exact amount of sun exposure needed varies according to the time of day, season of the year, latitude and color of the individual's skin. (Darker skin needs more time in the sun to make the same amount of vitamin D.)The usual average of 10 to 15 minutes a few days each week applies to the face and hands of a light-skinned person in the summer. Winter exposure (even if one could tolerate it) in places such as Boston or Milwaukee won't provide enough sun for the skin to make vitamin D. An oral supplement will be needed.
more.

Understanding the Anxious Mind [NYTimes]

2009-10-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Jerome Kagan’s “Aha!” moment came with Baby 19. It was 1989, and Kagan, a professor of psychology at Harvard, had just begun a major longitudinal study of temperament and its effects. Temperament is a complex, multilayered thing, and for the sake of clarity, Kagan was tracking it along a single dimension: whether babies were easily upset when exposed to new things. He chose this characteristic both because it could be measured and because it seemed to explain much of normal human variation. He suspected, extrapolating from a study he had just completed on toddlers, that the most edgy infants were more likely to grow up to be inhibited, shy and anxious. Eager to take a peek at the early results, he grabbed the videotapes of the first babies in the study, looking for the irritable behavior he would later call high-reactive.more.

Unpacking a Big Health Insurer’s Income Statement [WSJ]

2009-09-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

In a year when everybody’s talking in sweeping, vague terms about health costs and the insurance industry, it’s useful to pause and dig into some really specific numbers to better understand how the money flows. That’s what Princeton health economist Uwe Reinhardt does today, dissecting an income statement from the health insurer WellPoint in a guest post over at the New York Times blog Economix. Here are a few of the figures. In 2008, the company’s total revenue was over $60 billion, more than 93% of which came from insurance premiums. About 6% came from fees for administering insurance for self-insured companies, and 1% came from the float.
more.

Duke Doctor Removes Wendy's Utensil From Man's Lung [NPR Blog]

2009-09-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

If you think you've seen it all, you're wrong. That's because you're not Momen Wahidi, a lung specialist at Duke, who was as surprised as anyone by the big piece of a plastic utensil he fished out of the lung of John Manley, a 50-year-old plagued by a bad cough and shortness of breath. Just take a look at the picture Wahidi snapped inside the main airway leading to Manley's left lung recently. Tilt your head to the left and squint, and you might be able to read the upside-down letters A, M and maybe even the B. more.

Borderline personality disorder grows as healthcare concern [LA Times]

2009-09-15T05:08:00.000-07:00

They have the thinnest skin, the shortest fuses and take the hardest knocks. In psychiatrists' offices, they have long been viewed as among the most challenging patients to treat. They are the kind of people who drive a friend away for interfering and subsequently berate that friend for abandonment. But almost 20 years after the designation of borderline personality disorder as a recognized mental health condition, some understanding and hope have surfaced for people with the condition and their families. Borderline personality disorder was center stage in May at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Assn. -- with multiple sessions and speakers devoted to the topic. And the message from the meeting was clear: After years during which they threw up their hands, leaders in psychiatry now want to convey a more positive message about the condition and what can be done to help those who have it. more.

Testimony--Changing Course: Trends in Health Insurance Coverage, 2000-2008

2009-09-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Executive Summary: This morning, the U.S. Bureau of the Census released the alarming news that the number of uninsured Americans hit 46.3 million in 2008, up from 45.7 million in 2007. This increase of 0.6 million uninsured would have been much worse without a growth in government-provided health insurance that covered 4.4 million people, including an increase of 3.0 million covered under Medicaid. In contrast, employment-based coverage declined by about 1.1 million individuals, from 177.4 million in 2007 to 176.3 million in 2008. more.

Federal officials urge employers to prepare for widespread swine flu outbreak [LA Times]

2009-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Reporting from Washington - Federal officials urged businesses and other employers today to prepare for a widespread outbreak of swine flu this fall that could result in high rates of sustained absenteeism and leave crucial posts vacant. Employers should cross-train workers so that vital functions are covered and must take active steps to ensure that the H1N1 virus that causes the flu does not spread, officials said. Such steps include aggressively cleaning work areas, encouraging hand-washing and sending employees home at the first hint of flu symptoms.
more.

Battling inflammation, disease through food

2009-08-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

If you want to live longer -- avoid heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer -- then pick and choose your foods with care to quiet down parts of your immune system. That's the principle promoted by the founders and followers of anti-inflammatory diets, designed to reduce chronic inflammation in the body. Dozens of books filled with diets and recipes have flooded the market in the last few years, including popular ones by dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone and Zone Diet creator Barry Sears.more.

Two Sides Take Health Care Debate Outside Washington

2009-08-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — With Republicans mobilizing against the proposed health care overhaul, President Obama, Congressional Democrats and leading advocacy groups are laying the groundwork for an August offensive against the insurance industry as part of a coordinated campaign to sell the public on the need for reform. The effort will feature town-hall-style meetings by lawmakers and the president, including a swing through Western states by Mr. Obama, grass-roots lobbying efforts and a blitz of expensive television advertising. It is intended to drive home the message that revamping the health care system will protect consumers by ending unpopular insurance industry practices, like refusing patients with pre-existing conditions.more.

It may be vitamin D's day in the sun [LA Times]

2009-08-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

It may have untapped potential in fighting or preventing disease. But are we getting enough of it in our systems? A panel will discuss whether to increase the recommended daily intake. Vitamin supplements have been both heralded and hyped over the years, only to ultimately fall from grace once research proves them to be little more than placebos in our quest for longer life or better health. But at least one substance may have true merit -- vitamin D.
more.

Americans Spend $34 Billion a Year on ‘Alternative’ Medicine [WSJ]

2009-07-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

“Complementary and alternative medicine,” a kitchen-sink description that includes everything from acupuncture treatments to glucosamine supplements, is big business.
To put a finer point on it, Americans spent $34 billion out of pocket on goods and services that fall into the category, according to an analysis out today from the federal government, based on a 2007 CDC survey. more.

Rice Krispies Complete With Snap, Crackle and Immunity [LA Times]

2009-07-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

After the FDA fired a warning shot across the bow of General Mills for touting Cheerios as lowering cholesterol, the Health Blog has been taking a closer look at what other claims are being made these days in the cereal aisle. There we saw Kellogg’s Rice Krispies with a banner proclaiming “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity” splashed across the box. Kellogg rolled out a revamped Rice Krispies product line this month that boosts the amount of vitamins A, B, C and E in the cereal to 25% of the recommended daily value from 10% of daily value, according to Susanne Norwitz, Kellogg’s director of brand public relations. Studies show that these vitamins “play an important role” in the body’s immune system and “nutritionists and dieticians generally recommend that at least 25% of nutrient intake occur at breakfast,” she wrote in an email.
more.

How a healthcare overhaul could affect you [LA Times]

2009-07-27T05:21:00.000-07:00

Reporting from Washington -- Here are some key questions regarding the effort to overhaul the nation's healthcare system: I have health insurance and I'm happy with it. Why does the nation need to overhaul healthcare?
Polls indicate that most Americans are satisfied with their coverage. But the White House and other advocates of overhauling healthcare say people are probably paying more for insurance each year. Premiums for employer-provided plans have risen four times faster than wages, and are now double their cost nine years ago. Deductibles are rising as well. Supporters of the legislation contend that healthcare costs are a drag on the economy.more.

Getting Good Value in Health Care [NY Times]

2009-07-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Like most doctors I know, every time I see a patient in clinic, questions scroll down my mind’s eye like credits at the end of a movie. Over the years, I have whittled down the number of questions, from the exhausting repertoire I memorized as a medical student to the streamlined clinical checklist I use today. Some of the questions I ask are generic: What brings you here today? What medications are you taking? Some are specialized: Was your liver transplant done “piggy back”? Have you had any episodes of rejection? But a few of the questions have nothing to do with the work I do or the care I am trained to offer. Rather, they are questions about being well and preventing disease: Are you exercising? Do you smoke? Have you had a mammogram?more.

Why the Imp in Your Brain Gets Out [NY Times]

2009-07-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

The visions seem to swirl up from the brain’s sewage system at the worst possible times — during a job interview, a meeting with the boss, an apprehensive first date, an important dinner party. What if I started a food fight with these hors d’oeuvres? Mocked the host’s stammer? Cut loose with a racial slur? more.

When Doctors Make Mistakes [NY Times]

2009-07-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

I met Ed (not his real name) during internship, the year after we both graduated from medical school. Built like a competitive wrestler, Ed was an Ivy League college graduate and one of his medical school’s top students, a 27-year-old who wanted nothing more than to become a general surgeon. Like me, he was enamored with the fearlessness that seemed to characterize the specialty. At a dinner during our first month on the job, Ed told the rest of us, “I love that nothing scares a general surgeon.” A dreamy look passed over his well-chiseled face as he continued, “They can take care of it all.” more.

On National Scale, New York Hospitals Fare Poorly on Readmissions [NY Times]

2009-07-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hospitals in New York State are significantly worse than those elsewhere in the nation at limiting patients from having to return shortly after being treated for a major illness, according to federal data released on Thursday. The new data come amid a national debate over how to reduce the rate of hospital readmissions, which cost the federal government billions of dollars a year in Medicare reimbursements.
more.

3 Biggest Health Insurance Myths

2009-07-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

Insurance often feels like a waste of money or a "hedge your bets" gamble that something bad will happen. While there may be a thousand ways to spend your hard earned cash, going without health insurance can be the costliest gamble you'll ever make. The law forces us to purchase car insurance, but health insurance is voluntary. Health insurance, however, protects our most valuable asset, our health. The question is, what is the best way to protect your most valuable asset?.more.

Living in the Moment

2009-07-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

My sister and I had inklings of a slow atrophying of my mother’s mind, perhaps of her very self, before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in April, 2008. And yet, strangely, I’d also noticed around that time she’d seemed to be more “herself.” So I felt oddly reassured at the news. The diagnosis seemed to explain something about who my mother was, perhaps who she’d been most of my life. Due to its seeming genetic component, we believed the type to be early-onset. It could have started when I was still a kid.more.

How Old Is Old Age? [NY Times]

2009-06-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

How old do you feel? And how old will you be when you reach old age? The public’s views on age and aging are explored in a new national survey on aging from the Pew Research Center, explained in a story by my colleague Sarah Arnquist. Most adults over age 50 feel at least 10 years younger than their actual age, the survey found. One-third of those between 65 and 74 said they felt 10 to 19 years younger, and one-sixth of people 75 and older said they felt 20 years younger. And at what age does old age begin? Most people in the survey said old age starts at age 68. Are they kidding? That seems way too young to me. Not surprisingly, most people over 65 have a different idea about old age. Among those getting the senior citizen discount, most say old age begins at 75. more.

Health Care With a Guarantee [NY Times]

2009-06-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

In today’s Doctor and Patient column, Dr. Pauline Chen writes about the unusual concept of “health care warranties.” With a health warranty, providers are paid a set fee for their services, but they must shoulder any added costs if patients experience avoidable complications. In her column, Dr. Chen speaks with Francois de Brantes, a nationally known advocate of health care quality who has proposed the warranty model. Mr. Brantes says: more.

Report: Medical Costs to Rise 9% Next Year [WSJ]

2009-06-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

Medical costs will grow at a slightly slower rate next year — but the growth will still outpace inflation and workers’ pay, according to a new report from the health wonks at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The medical cost trend — the measure insurers use to change premiums based on the cost and intensity of health care provided to each person — is projected to grow at 9% next year, down from 9.2% this year and 9.9% last year, the report says. The estimate is based on interviews with health-plan executives, surveys of employers and hospital-based health plans and analyst reports. Forty-two percent of the employers surveyed said they planned to increase employees’ share of health care costs.more.

What Medical Education Has to Do With Health Reform [WSJ]

2009-06-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Medicare spends $9 billion a year paying for the medical residencies where doctors get their clinical training. That training needs to change as part of the nation’s big health-reform push, argued a report out yesterday from MedPAC, the commission that advises Congress on Medicare. The report looked broadly at health-system reform, touching on a number of issues we’ve been hearing a lot about lately — the way Medicare pays doctors for volume rather than quality, for example, and how private insurers in the Medicare Advantage program are paid more than traditional Medicare programs. more.

Fitness: Making Stairs a Lure for Exercise [NY Times]

2009-06-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Climbing stairs is a well-established way to help keep fit. But many staircases don’t lend themselves to climbing. They are tucked away in hard-to-reach places and unappealingly designed and lighted. Now, researchers are urging building designers to rethink their approach to stairs — even including using music — to encourage people to use them more. Writing in The Southern Medical Journal, the researchers said that even a moderate increase in the use of stairs could play a role in helping to solve the nation’s weight problem. The lead author of the article is Dr. Ishak A. Mansi of Louisiana State University. His wife, Nardine Mansi, an architect, is a co-author. more.

When Insurance Is Bad for Your Health [NY Times]

2009-06-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Some health insurance plans are structured in a way that actually discourages patients from seeking medical care, writes Walecia Konrad in the latest Patient Money column. The investment firm Fidelity recently surveyed employees at various companies who had opted for a high-deductible health plan linked to a health savings account. About half of those workers said they or a family member had chosen not to seek medical care for minor ailments as many as four times in the past year to avoid paying the out-of-pocket expenses. more.

Medical Bills Cause Most Bankruptcies [NY Times]

2009-06-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

Nearly two out of three bankruptcies stem from medical bills, and even people with health insurance face financial disaster if they experience a serious illness, a new study shows. The study data, published online Thursday in The American Journal of Medicine, likely understate the full scope of the problem because the data were collected before the current economic crisis. In 2007, medical problems contributed to 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies. Between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by about 50 percent.
more.

Better sleep, better living [LA Times]

2009-06-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

Love and money, work and play, mood and math scores. They're just a few things related to a night's rest.

Sleep isn't just a chunk of time carved out to recharge for the following day. Increasingly, scientific evidence shows life and sleep are woven together like 800-thread-count sheets. How people fare during their waking hours has a lot to do with how they sleep -- and vice versa. Income, employment status, relationship satisfaction and hobbies all affect sleep, according to research presented last week in Seattle at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. And sleep affects health, relationships and decision-making.
more.

Cost-Effective Ways to Fight Insomnia [NY Times]

2009-06-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

How much would you pay for a good night’s sleep? If the sleep peddlers have their way, quite a bit. Sleep is a $23.9 billion industry — if you count things as diverse as mattresses, white noise machines and prescription pills — and it has more than doubled in the last decade, according to Marketdata Enterprises, a research firm in Tampa, Fla. The market for insomnia drugs alone is expected to grow 78 percent, to nearly $3.9 billion, by 2012, as drug makers scramble to bring more pills to market to compete with name brands like Lunesta, Sonata and Ambien CR.
more.

Making Sense of Exercise Advice [NY Times]

2009-06-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

Will orthotics solve a foot problem or create a new one? Is there a right or wrong way to run? Will stretching prevent injuries, or possibly cause them? Whether you’re a weekend athlete or avid exerciser, the range of conflicting advice about running and fitness can wear you out. New York Times reporter and running enthusiast Gina Kolata explores the challenges of sifting through advice from the experts in her latest Personal Best column. more.

Making Sense of Exercise Advice [NY Times]

2009-06-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dropping Out of the Big Race [NY Times]

2009-06-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

In the next few days, thousands of runners who applied for the New York City Marathon lottery will find out if they’ve won a coveted slot in the race. But once they get in, many runners have a bigger worry: will they finish? New York Times reporter Andy Lehren, who lists two Boston marathons among his nine-marathon tally, has some answers. In a first-of-its-kind analysis, Andy looks at the data on those who finished the New York City Marathon and those whose races are forever labeled “DNF” — shorthand for “Did Not Finish.”
more.

Out-Of-Pocket Health Care Costs Rise For Workers With Employer Coverage

2009-06-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

The 161 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are facing substantial increases in out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, according to a study published today on the Health Affairs Web site. The study, authored by researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and Watson Wyatt Worldwide and funded by The Commonwealth Fund, examines trends in the comprehensiveness of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) from 2004 to 2007. It finds rising rates of underinsurance and unaffordability, particularly for poorer and sicker people. In 2007, adults with employer coverage faced an average of $729 annually in OOP costs for medical services, including deductibles and other forms of cost sharing such as copayments and coinsurance. That represents a 34 percent increase from 2004, when the average OOP burden was $545. Health plans covered a slightly smaller percentage of overall expenses in 2007 than 2004, but growth in overall health spending was the chief culprit behind rising out-of-pocket costs.
more.

Texting May Be Taking a Toll [NY Times]

2009-05-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it so much their thumbs hurt. Spurred by the unlimited texting plans offered by carriers like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Company — almost 80 messages a day, more than double the average of a year earlier. The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.
more.

Vitamin D and turmeric for allergies [LA Times]

2009-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

I suffer from allergies and asthma. I started taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily several months ago. I am also taking turmeric capsules. This spring I have had no allergies, sinus infections and asthma problems. Perhaps these supplements are keeping my immune system from overreacting to pollen. In animal studies, turmeric prevents the release of histamine from mast cells (Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, September 2008). If it works similarly in humans, this would prevent allergy symptoms from developing. Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory effects on smooth muscle cells in the airways (British Journal of Pharmacology, September 2008). This might help counteract asthma.
more.

Health or Wellness - You Choose

2009-05-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

You’d have to be dead to miss the overuse of the word wellness these days. It has been picked up by the marketing industry and is being used, over-used and abused, regularly. In his book, “The Wellness Revolution” economist and marketing wizard Paul Zane-Pilzer articulates comprehensively the defining characteristics of the traditional model of medicine. He cites that it is based on and in reaction to ‘sickness’, that all medical treatments are in response to sickness and that word ‘prevention’ is also a response to sickness. He encourages alternative medicine practioners and healers to move away from the ‘sickness’ model to that of “Wellness”.
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FDA Message on Drug Ads: Don’t Bury Risk Information (WSJ)

2009-05-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Drug companies are shifting through the FDA’s latest advice on how their advertisements shouldn’t overplay drugs’ benefits while underplaying risks. As we read through the draft guidance, we were struck by the insights the agency offers up on how people in the audience digest advertising information. For instance, the FDA explains, “Memory research consistently shows that, in an experimental setting, when people process an entire list or text, they are better able to recall items at the beginning and the end than items in the middle.” So the takeaway for drug makers is that they shouldn’t bury the most important info on drugs’ risks in the middle of lengthy streams of text. more.

Blue Shield health insurance rescission case to go to trial

2009-05-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

The practice of canceling medical coverage after policyholders have become sick or injured has cost insurers millions of dollars in fines and settlements. Now, for the first time, a jury will weigh whether an insurer owes anything to a canceled policyholder. The case pits a former Cypress man against the health insurer that dropped him after a disabling car accident. Steve Hailey, a former self-employed machinist, and Blue Shield of California will be directly affected by the outcome, but the case already has influenced how insurers in California handle these rescissions.
more.

Doctor Falsified Study on Injured G.I.’s, Army Says (NY Times)

2009-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

A former surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who is a paid consultant for a medical company, published a study that made false claims and overstated the benefits of the company’s product in treating soldiers severely injured in Iraq, the hospital’s commander said Tuesday. An investigation by Walter Reed found that the study cited higher numbers of patients and injuries than the hospital could account for, said the commander, Col. Norvell V. Coots. “It’s like a ghost population that were reported in the article as having been treated that we have no record of ever having existed,” Colonel Coots said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “So this really was all falsified information.” more.

Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries Give Their Coverage Higher Ratings Than Do Those With Employer Sponsored Insurance

2009-05-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their health care, and experience fewer problems accessing and paying for care, than Americans with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), according to a study by Commonwealth Fund researchers published today on the Health Affairs Web site. The study is based on data from the Commonwealth Fund 2007 Biennial Health Insurance Survey, a nationally representative survey of 3,501 adults age 19 and older conducted between June 4 and October 24, 2007. The gap between consumers’ ratings of Medicare and ESI has widened since a similar survey in 2001. more.

The week the world held its breath: A global outbreak of swine flu phobia

2009-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

After a week in which it looked as if medical calamity was about to be heaped upon financial pandemic, yesterday brought heartening news that the "swine flu" outbreak now infecting 16 countries may not be as bad as initially feared. Dozens of test samples have come back negative from laboratories, enabling Mexico to cut the number of suspected deaths from the virus from 176 to 101. There were no new deaths overnight Friday, fewer patients with severe symptoms are checking into hospitals, and very few, if any, cases in the rest of the world are showing signs of serious illness. more.

What Are Friends for? A Longer Life (NY Times)

2009-04-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging and prolong life: their friends. Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age. more.

Wellness Programs Healthy Despite Cutbacks (Inc.)

2009-04-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

Work place health initiatives are one area where CEOs are not willing to make cuts.
Despite the struggle to contain costs, one human resources offering is proving resistant to cutbacks: company wellness programs. Traditional health benefits cover employees who fall ill. But workplace wellness programs are aimed at preventative care—they encourage workers to adopt healthier behaviors so they don't get sick in the first place. Efforts typically focus on two areas: education, which can include classes or screenings and company support for better behaviors, such as smoking cessations programs, healthier cafeteria offerings, and bike racks.
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Heart Health: Mediterranean Diet Good, Trans Fats Bad (WSJ)

2009-04-14T05:07:00.000-07:00

There’s been plenty research trying to connect the dots between diet and heart disease. But interpreting that type of research can be tricky, because it’s easy to find correlations but hard to distinguish between what’s actually causing a higher (or lower) risk of disease, and what’s merely coincidence. So an analysis published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine is a useful, if not particularly surprising, guide. Canadian researchers parsed the data from several hundred previously published studies and tried to figure out, on balance, what strong evidence exists to suggest that certain dietary patterns might raise or lower the risk of heart disease. more.

Older Workers Need Not Apply (NY Times)

2009-04-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

It’s brutal in the job market for everyone, but older Americans who are looking for work are facing a particularly rough time. Why do employers shun them? Are we — oops, they — less qualified, less hard working, less inexpensive than younger workers? The experts we asked to comment offer some blunt, if divergent, answers.
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Health plan merger speculation worries doctors and hospitals (LA Times)

2009-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Rumors of deals including a possible takeover of Humana by Aetna raise concerns over prices and a limiting of patient choice. Talk of potential mergers in the medical insurance industry has doctors and hospitals worried about health plans having too much clout over consumer choices and prices. Speculation has run rampant that some of the nation's biggest health plans may be looking to consolidate, including a possible takeover of Humana Inc. by Aetna Inc., as well as UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s interest in Coventry Health Care Inc. Already, 1 in 6 metropolitan areas in a 2008 study of more than 300 U.S. markets is dominated by a single health insurer that controls at least 70% of consumers enrolled in health maintenance organizations or preferred provider organizations, according to the American Medical Assn.
more.

Researcher Faked Data in Sleep Apnea Study (Wall Street Journal)

2009-04-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

More news on the research-fabrication front. Robert Fogel, a former assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, fabricated and falsified data in a study of sleep apnea in severely obese patients, the Office of Research Integrity at HHS said.
The journal Sleep has retracted the 2003 study, titled “Anatomic and physiologic predictors of apnea severity in morbidly obese subjects.” The research-integrity office said Fogel’s changed or falsified nearly half of the sleep data “so that those data would better conform to his hypothesis.” He also fabricated about 20% of anatomic data that supposedly came from CT scans, the office said, based on information that Fogel volunteered. more.

U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving (NY Times)

2009-04-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — After decades of steady progress, the safety of the nation’s food supply has not improved over the past three years, the government reported Thursday. And, it said, in the case of salmonella, the dangerous bacteria recently found in peanuts and pistachios, infections may be creeping upward. The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demonstrates that the nation’s food safety system, created when most foods were grown, prepared and consumed locally, needs a thorough overhaul to regulate an increasingly global food industry, top government health officials said Thursday. more.

U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving (NY Times)

2009-04-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

Believing in Treatments That Don’t Work (NY Times)

2009-04-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

In the early throes of a heart attack, caused by an abruptly clotted artery, the stunned heart often beats quickly and forcefully. For decades doctors have administered “beta-blockers” as a remedy, to reduce consumption of limited oxygen supplies by calming and slowing the straining heart. Giving these drugs in the early stages of a heart attack represents elegant medical ideology.
But it doesn’t work. Studies show that the early administration of beta-blockers to heart attack victims does not save lives, and occasionally causes dangerous heart failure. While two studies support the use of beta-blockers after heart attack, there are 26 studies that found no survival benefit to administering beta-blockers early on. Moreover, in 2005, the largest, best study of the drugs showed that beta-blockers in the vulnerable, early hours of heart attacks did not save lives, but did cause a definite increase in heart failure.
more.

Do You Know What Your Doctor Is Talking About? (NY Times)

2009-04-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

Lately when I see patients nodding their heads at the end of a visit, as if in agreement with the therapeutic plan, I can’t help but remember Jack. Jack (not his real name) had barely entered middle age when I met him, a hospital patient who suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, vascular disease and kidney failure. I spent about a week caring for him, covering temporarily for a colleague who was away, and I quickly learned from the nurses that Jack was a well-known figure on the ward. more.

New Yorkers Often Exposed to Cigarette Smoke, Study Finds

2009-04-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

More than half of all nonsmokers in New York City have elevated levels of a nicotine byproduct in their blood indicating recent exposure to cigarette smoke, a city health department study has found. The figure is surprisingly high given the city’s stringent public smoking ban, among the toughest in the country. Some 56.7 percent of nonsmokers living in the city were found to have elevated levels of the nicotine metabolite cotinine, compared with an average 44.9 percent of nonsmokers nationwide. Among the ethnic groups studied, nonsmokers of Asian descent were most often affected, with 68.7 percent of those examined showing elevated blood levels of cotinine.
more.

Weight Reports, Medical Checkups and Peanuts (NY Times)

2009-04-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

Johns Hopkins has added its name to the list of medical schools curbing financial ties with drug and medical device companies, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hopkins has barred drug and medical device sales representatives from patient-care areas and banned most free samples. The new policy bars staff from accepting gifts, including meals and entertainment, and prohibits them from bogus consulting arrangements in which physicians are paid but do not do anything substantive.
more.

Flying Healthy, From Takeoff Past Landing (NY Times - Brody)

2009-04-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

Two decades ago on a midwinter flight from New York to Chile en route to Antarctica, more than a dozen fellow travelers and I came down with bronchitis. When the Antarctic voyage got under way, so many people were sick that the ship’s doctor nearly ran out of antibiotics. Since that trip, I have diligently followed a preventive routine whenever I fly. I prepare far enough in advance to be sure I am well rested and minimally stressed when I leave. Just before the flight I take echinacea and 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C. (The immunity-boosting powers of these supplements are still much debated, but they seem to work for me.)
more.

As Economy Is Down, Vitamin Sales Are Up (NY Times)

2009-04-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

It was a nasty head cold that sent Kerry Parham to Cinagro’s, a health-food store in suburban Cleveland, for an $8 bottle of herbal supplements. If I had a job with health insurance, I probably would have gone to see a doctor by now,” said Ms. Parham, 39, who lost her clerical job at American Greetings a while back. “But instead, I’m here buying echinacea. I hope it works.” In flusher times, Ms. Parham said, she spent $50 a month on prescriptions for her asthma, allergies and other chronic problems. Now, she pays $6 a month for over-the-counter protein supplements and oregano oil capsules. “That’s an important savings for me,” she said. “It means I can rent a movie or make the kids food that they actually like.”
more.

Heart Muscle Renewed Over Lifetime, Study Finds

2009-04-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

In a finding that may open new approaches to treating heart disease, Swedish scientists have succeeded in measuring a highly controversial property of the human heart: the rate at which its muscle cells are renewed during a person’s lifetime. The finding upturns what has long been conventional wisdom: that the heart cannot produce new muscle cells and so people die with the same heart they were born with.
more.

Exams of Injured Workers Fuel Mutual Mistrust

2009-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Dr. Hershel Samuels, an orthopedic surgeon, put his hand on the worker’s back. “Mild spasm bilaterally,” he said softly. He pressed his fingers gingerly against the side of the man’s neck. “The left cervical is tender,” he said, “even to light palpation.”
Dr. Samuels, an independent medical examiner in the state workers’ compensation system, seemed to agree. As he moved about a scuffed Brooklyn office last April, he called out test results indicative of an injured man. His words were captured on videotape. more.

Hospital Ratings Affecting Care (NYTimes)

2009-04-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hospital ratings may be pushing heart surgeons to treat some very high-risk patients less aggressively, The Boston Globe reports. After state rankings found high death rates in stent patients at the prestigious Massachusetts General Hospital, cardiologists said they would stop doing surgery in high-risk patients, like those with advanced cancer. State health officials say these kinds of procedures are wasteful and put patients through unnecessary pain. more.

What Docs, Insurers, Pharma and Businesses Agree On (WSJ)

2009-03-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

A collection of health care groups calling itself the Health Reform Dialogue issued a set of recommendations today aimed at governing the debate over restructuring health care, and their ideas are generally consistent with the direction Democrats are heading. That could give a boost to the health revamp effort under way on Capitol Hill. But the group sidestepped the thorniest issues, such as whether individuals or employers should be required to buy or offer coverage, and whether a government-run health plan should be available to compete with private companies
more.

How Connected Are You to Your Doctor?

2009-03-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

For several years, I cared for a patient whom I’ll call Marcus. Compact and wiry, with a shock of white hair and blue eyes, Marcus was in his 70s when he developed liver cancer. At our first meeting, I was hesitant to put him through an operation based on his age alone. But then he mentioned the work he had done during his youth: he had been a lion tamer.
more.

Online Age Quiz Is a Window for Drug Makers (NY Times)

2009-03-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Americans yearn to be young. So it is little wonder that RealAge, which promises to help shave years off your age, has become one of the most popular tests on the Internet. According to RealAge, more than 27 million people have taken the test, which asks 150 or so questions about lifestyle and family history to assign a “biological age,” how young or old your habits make you. Then, RealAge makes recommendations on how to get “younger,” like taking multivitamins, eating breakfast and flossing your teeth. Nine million of those people have signed up to become RealAge members.
more.

Investigators Find Source of Many Foods Untraceable (NY Times)

2009-03-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Most food manufacturers and distributors cannot identify the suppliers or recipients of their products despite federal rules that require them to do so, federal health investigators have found. A quarter of the food facilities contacted by investigators as part of the study were not even aware that they were supposed to be able to trace their suppliers, according to a report by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.
more.

Health insurers offer shift on premiums (LA Times)

2009-03-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington -- The country's leading health insurers Tuesday offered to end their long-standing practice of charging sick customers higher premiums, a significant concession in the face of mounting criticism of the industry in Washington. The offer from America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Assn., whose member companies cover more than 200 million people, comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill debate a proposal to create a government-run insurance program.
more.

Spending less on food can bring weight gain

2009-03-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Cutting back on spending may not mean cutting down on calories. The more "energy dense" a food is -- i.e., the more calories it contains per unit weight -- the less it costs per calorie. For instance, the lowest-cost vegetables, per calorie, are potatoes; and the sugar in fresh raspberries is 100 times more expensive per calorie than table sugar. As prices of foods go down, the purchases of those foods go up, and vice versa. Between 2004 and 2006, the prices of very-high-calorie foods dropped by an average of 1.8%, while the prices of very-low-calorie foods went up by an average of 19.5%.
more.

Is a Food Revolution Now in Season? (NY Times)

2009-03-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

AS tens of thousands of people recently strolled among booths of the nation’s largest organic and natural foods show here, munching on fair-trade chocolate and sipping organic wine, a few dozen pioneers of the industry sneaked off to an out-of-the-way conference room. Although unit sales of organic food have leveled off and even declined lately, versus a year earlier, the mood among those crowded into the conference room was upbeat as they awaited a private screening of a documentary called “Food Inc.” — a withering critique of agribusiness and industrially produced food.
more.

Eating Food That’s Better for You, Organic or Not (NY Times)

2009-03-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

In the six-and-one-half years since the federal government began certifying food as “organic,” Americans have taken to the idea with considerable enthusiasm. Sales have at least doubled, and three-quarters of the nation’s grocery stores now carry at least some organic food. A Harris poll in October 2007 found that about 30 percent of Americans buy organic food at least on occasion, and most think it is safer, better for the environment and healthier.
more.

Having a wealth of options can lead to poor decision-making, experts say.

2009-03-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Starbucks offers consumers up to 87,000 drink combinations. Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, offers up to 1,000 channels. Sirius offers 140 different satellite radio stations for your listening pleasure.Americans have come to expect a wide array of choices, and most companies, be they car companies, clothiers or coffee shops, have been more than willing to pony up. But more choices do not always equate to happier consumers.
more.

Going Abroad to Find Affordable Health Care

2009-03-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

When Ben Schreiner, a 62-year-old retired Bank of America executive, found out last year he would need surgery for a double hernia, he started evaluating possible doctors and hospitals. But he didn’t look into the medical center in his hometown, Camden, S.C., or the bigger hospitals in nearby Columbia. Instead, his search led him to consider surgery in such far-flung places as Ireland, Thailand and Turkey.
more.

Prevention: Gains From Exercise After Heart Attack Are Lost if Exercise Stops

2009-03-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

Some important benefits of exercising after a heart attack can vanish in weeks if the exercise is stopped, a new study has found. The researchers tested F.M.D. — flow-mediated dilation, a measure of the flexibility of an artery as blood flows through it — in 228 heart attack survivors. Their arteries averaged about 4.2 percent expansion, compared with the 10 percent considered normal in healthy people.
read more.

New Financial Realities: The Response of Private Foundations (Commonweath Foundation)

2009-03-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

In recent months, the international financial system has experienced the most severe turmoil since the Great Depression of the 1930s—stresses that in September 2008 came close to completely freezing up the flow of credit that is the lifeline of all economic activity. The ensuing bankruptcies and fire sales of financial powerhouses and the government's interventions, have fundamentally changed the structure of Wall Street and international financial markets. At this point, actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, and other countries' financial overseers have brought the financial system back from the brink of collapse.
read more.

Eating Slowly (NYT)

2009-03-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, the CBS news program “60 Minutes” profiled chef Alice Waters. Ms. Waters has always been known for serving flavorful, seasonal foods at her restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. But more recently she has emerged as a food revolutionary as the voice of the “Slow Food” movement, urging people to eat local, organic foods as a healthy alternative to fast food. Her foundation also promotes the “edible schoolyard” curriculum, and lately she has called for the development of an organic garden on the White House lawn.
read more.

Bargaining Down the Medical Bills

2009-03-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

When money is tight, everything is negotiable — including your health care bills. As the economy sheds jobs and more people lose their health insurance or are forced to switch to less generous plans, doctors and hospitals are becoming accustomed to patients who are struggling financially. According to the American Hospital Association, half of their members reported an increase in the number of patients needing help with their bills. And that was in November, before the national unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent.
“It’s rough out there,” said Dr. Jacques Moritz, the director of gynecology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, who also has a private practice in Manhattan. (Full disclosure: He delivered my son five years ago, but my insurance at the time covered me in full.)
read more.

Google Searches as Early Warning for Disease Outbreaks

2009-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last summer, for a month before Canadian officials announced an outbreak of listeriosis that would kill some 20 people, Google searches seeking information on the disease were on the rise. That finding, published this week in Canadian Medical Association Journal, is the latest sign that public-health types are trying to figure out how to mine Internet search data as a potential early-warning system for disease outbreaks. Think of it as a wonkier example of Google Flu Trends, the tool Google.org rolled out last fall to mine Americans’ search patterns in an effort to track flu outbreaks.
read more.

Supremes Could Hear Challenge to SF’s Universal Health Program

2009-03-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

In San Francisco, businesses with 20 or more employees have to offer health benefits or pay a fee that funds a city health care program for the uninsured. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association has been challenging the rule in court; this week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals let stand a decision that had found the ordinance legal. Now the restaurant group says it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The story was reported on the SF Chronicle’s Web site. At issue in the case is who gets to set the rules for employer-sponsored benefits. The restaurants argue that, under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (aka Erisa), local governments don’t have the right to order businesses to provide benefits. A district court judge agreed in 2007, but his ruling was overturned last year on appeal.
read more.

A New Low in Drug Research: 21 Fabricated Studies

2009-03-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

Today the Wall Street Journal's Sarah Rubenstein shed's new light on existing controversies in Pharmaceutical studys and trials. "We’ve followed plenty of controversies around drug trials, from ghostwriting to keeping quiet about unflattering results. But the latest news is particularly eye-popping: A prominent Massachusetts anesthesiologist allegedly fabricated 21 medical studies involving major drugs. Yikes. Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., has asked several anesthesiology journals to retract the studies, which appeared between 1996 and 2008, the WSJ reports. The hospital says its former chief of acute pain, Scott S. Reuben, faked data used in the studies.
read more.

Online Soon: Industry Payments to a Med School’s Faculty

2009-03-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

The University of Minnesota’s medical school is hammering out a new conflict-of-interest policy for its faculty. The proposed policy has shrunk to two pages from 13 over the course of the past year, with some proposed restrictions being loosened, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The original version would have phased out industry funding for continuing medical education courses, which doctors and other health-care providers take to keep their licenses current. The new version allows the funding; a med school official told the Strib that some docs and nurses rely on the funding to be able to afford CME tuition.
read more.

Do Doctors and Nurses Really Want Patients to Speak Up?

2009-03-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

The party line in medicine these days is that everything should be “patient-centered,” and that everyone is better served when patients feel free to question what their doctors and nurses are doing. Signs in hospitals encourage patients to speak up and act as their own advocates. So when WSJ columnist Laura Landro recently accompanied her husband to the ER, she said to a doctor, “I have to ask you to wash your hands, according to that sign right there.” The “doctor took umbrage, gave me a speech about washing her hands 15 times a day, then gave them a cursory rinse under the faucet,” Landro writes in her column today.
read more.

Depression Can Break A Heart

2009-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

Depression almost doubles the risk of developing heart disease over 12 years, according to a long-term study of twins. The findings are to be reported today at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Chicago. Mounting evidence has found that depression makes people more vulnerable to heart trouble. Recent studies, though, find that some genes that increase the risk of heart disease also may make people more prone to depression, which has raised the question of whether the depression-heart disease link is genetic.
read more.

Report: FDA Lacks Authority Over Supplements

2009-03-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

The Food and Drug Administration does not have the information, resources or recall ability necessary to adequately regulate dietary supplements, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week.
Congress requested the evaluation of how the FDA regulates these popular products. The Nutrition Business Journal reports that 79% of adult Americans take dietary supplements. The GAO listed a number of areas in which the FDA has little oversight. For example, supplement companies don't have to tell the FDA what products they sell or ingredients they use.

read more.

Tallying Harvard Medical School’s Drug-Industry Ties

2009-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

Amid Sen. Chuck Grassley’s probe into doctors’ financial ties to the drug industry, a group of Harvard Medical School students have joined forces to tighten the school’s conflict-of-interest policies. The New York Times takes a closer look Harvard’s industry ties this morning, revealing some colorful details.
Among them: Some 1,600 of 8,900 professors and lecturers have disclosed financial ties under the school’s disclosure rules, NYT reports. There were 149 with ties to Pfizer and 130 with ties to Merck. The school’s dean, Jeffrey Flier, previously received a $500,000 research grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb and consulted for three Cambridge, Mass., biotech companies, though he told NYT those relationships were over. The prior dean sat on the board of Baxter International for half of the decade he led the school, earning up to $197,000 a year from the company.

read more.

The Story Behind the 12 Minute Doctor Visit

2009-03-01T20:17:00.001-08:00

Noted journalists and networks frequently feature stories on the brevity of the physician visit and its implicit danger. I second the cause for alarm, but beg you to avoid getting stuck in the cycle of panic this creates. Rather, look at the facts, prepare yourself, and consult additional viable resources. When your visit with the doctor is ‘too brief’, you’re dealing with an MD’s scramble to make a profit – a feat that (due to the over-taxed insurance industry) has become so elusive that some medical practices fold completely – belly up, bankrupt! Now, before you break out the Kleenex™, let’s not lose sight of the fact that many, many, physicians are doing just fine, and they approach their daily schedule with the finesse of an Olympic surfer versed in the strategy of building stamina, riding the crest of one illness or malady after another. ['Dude... you’re sick and you need 20 labs.' Or, 'Dude... you're fine. That'll be $125.00]

read more.

You're Sick - Now What? Knowledge is Power (NY Times)

2009-02-27T04:36:00.000-08:00

Are patients swimming in a sea of health information? Or are they drowning in it?
The rise of the Internet, along with thousands of health-oriented Web sites, medical blogs and even doctor-based television and radio programs, means that today’s patients have more opportunities than ever to take charge of their medical care. Technological advances have vastly increased doctors’ diagnostic tools and treatments, and have exponentially expanded the amount of information on just about every known disease. read more.

Moving the Nation from Sick Care to Wellness Care

2009-02-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

Popping a pill can cut your cholesterol. But did the doctor also prescribe cutting the stress that’s eroding your immune system? Or teach you how to exercise without worsening painful joints? Think 3 Ps: Good health care is preventive, predictive and personalized, a rarity today in a crisis-oriented care system far better at treating disease than keeping it at bay. To help change that, one of the nation’s top medical groups starts a major push this week for what patients might call whole-body wellness care.
read more.

Paying Doctors for Better Results

2009-02-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

As the medical system struggles with spiraling costs, one solution is pay-for-performance. Instead of giving doctors flat fees, insurers pay doctors based on whether they have met quality goals — such as helping patients get their diabetes or blood sugar under control.But inherent in pay-for-performance systems is a push to reduce costs. That, asks Dr. Pauline Chen, in her latest Doctor and Patient column, raises questions about how pay-for-performance will affect the doctor-patient relationship.Dr. Chen recently spoke with a colleague about his new pay-for-performance contract.
read more.

Shrinking Economy Won't Stop Rising Health Spending

2009-02-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

U.S. health spending is projected to top $2.5 trillion this year. That’s a rise of 5.5% from last year’s estimated spending — less growth than we’ve seen in recent years, but still pretty vigorous, given that the overall U.S. economy is projected to shrink slightly this year.

Indeed, the projected contraction in the nation’s overall GDP, combined with the continued rise in health spending, will mean that health spending as a percentage of GDP will climb to 17.6% this year, from 16.6% last year.

The figures were put together by Medicare’s Office of the Actuary and were published online today in the journal Health Affairs. Read more.

The Future of Health Insurance - Commonwealth Fund Programs

2009-02-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Employer-based coverage forms the backbone of America's voluntary health insurance system. Health plans offered by employers cover more than 160 million workers and their dependents, or 62 percent of the under-65 population. But rising health care costs have led employers to shift a greater share of their costs to employees or—as many small businesses have already done—to stop providing coverage altogether. In 2007, there were 45.7 uninsured, an increase of 7.3 million since 2000. About 25 million additional adults under age 65 could be considered "underinsured," with high out-of-pocket health care costs relative to their income. In recent national polls, Americans said expanding access to affordable health insurance is the most critical domestic policy challenge facing the nation. Opinion leaders in health policy, delivery, and finance share this view, with eight of 10 saying that expanding coverage is a top priority for Congress, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey.

Read more.

Invincible? Maybe not

2009-02-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

When you're 20-something you have the world by the tail -- you can do anything whether it's running rings around the old guys in a pickup basketball game or wearing trendy form-fitting clothes that show off a youthful frame.
The insurance companies have a name for this segment of the population: "The young invincibles." A report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, casts some doubt that this group of 18- to 29-year-olds is as invincible as it seems. Read
more.

Workplace Wellness Programs - Key Ingredient for Healthcare Cost Control

2009-02-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

A recent Wall Street Journal article--Wellness Programs May Face Legal Tests: Plans That Penalize Unhealthy Workers Could Get Tighter Rules--discusses the US Department of Labor’s decision to curtail the ability of employers to motivate workers to kick unhealthy habits by making health insurance more expensive for unhealthy workers than for their colleagues. Workplace wellness programs--which focus on illness prevention and chronic disease management through self-maintenance--are one key ingredient for healthcare cost control.
Read more.

Workers' Wellness Rewarded

2009-02-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Metro agencies impose surcharge for unhealthy employees and unhealthy lifestyle. Weight has always been an issue for 350 Lt. Greg Graydon. Now through the city's wellness program he is shaving off the pounds. Graydon totally supports the city’s efforts to create a healthy work force. He avoids a $1,300 annual surcharge on his insurance premiums by taking part in the program. On Monday, Kennesaw became one of 9 percent of employers nationally that offer wellness programs that impose a penalty on employees who don’t participate to improve their chronic health problems, according to a MetLife study. Read more.

Today's Healthcare Crisis

2009-02-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

Today's US healthcare system is vast, complex, and heavily inter-related with three of the major corporate industries comprising the basis of our economy. This has compromised US healthcare and without a roadmap, you are highly compromised. Once seen as one of the best healthcare systems in the world, US healthcare presently stands at #38 - behind countries like Chile, Dominica, & Morocco. President of the Commonwealth Fund, Karen Davis, M.D., attributes this fall to the sheer complexity of today's healhcare system. The return on your investment is revenues saved, a healthy staff, and a strong competetive edge.

Ailing Economy is Making People Sicker

2009-02-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

At Massachusetts General Hospital, patients whose blood pressure was in check just weeks ago now find it rocketing out of control. They blame the economy. At Boston Medical Center, obese patients who had been shedding weight are packing on pounds again as they resort to cheaper, high-calorie food and abandon gym memberships. They blame the economy.

The economic crisis is far too fresh for any government agency or professional organization to have quantified the health consequences. But during previous recessions, researchers linked spikes in unemployment in the United States and Europe to increases in deaths from heart disease, cancer, and psychiatric disorders.

Read more.

Health Premiums Linked to Wellness Program

2009-02-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Kennesaw’s city employees identified as high-risk for health complications may pay more for medical benefits unless they participate in a city-sponsored wellness program.

The council is scheduled to discuss the proposed policy today at a 7 p.m. meeting. The policy would affect known tobacco users, some overweight employees and others identified by the company’s wellness consultant as being at high risk of health complications, Mayor Mark Mathews said Sunday.

That could double their premiums, which would go from $25 a pay period to $50. Read more.