Archive for the ‘Health Research’ Category

Finding Health Insurance For Young Adults

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

So the time has finally come. You are moving out of your parent’s house and are going to be on your own. You have a lot to do and a lot of responsibilities to take on. It’s not enough to get a job and find a place to live, you have other things you haven’t thought about yet. For one, how to obtain health insurance when you first move out of your parents house.

So how do you find good health insurance now that you are on your own? If you have a job, this could be one way the get health insurance. Most employers will carry some kind of health insurance for their employees. These plans will vary depending on your employer, but for the most part, they do a good job of covering most of what you need. Should you need additional health insurance for anything more specific like cancer or serious injury, then you can purchase that separately.

If your employer doesn’t provide insurance then you will need to find health insurance on your own. The best way to do this is to do your research and shop around for a “custom fit” that is right for you. Insurances vary tremendously in the types of plans they have. If you aren’t sure what to look for, consider the following tips.

Roland Moving Back-7

Creative Commons License photo credit: akeg

Audit Yourself

Are you a sickly person? Do you go to the doctor a lot and visit the emergency room from time to time? You may want to choose an insurance where you may pay a slightly higher premium, but will give you lower co-pays and low total out-of-pocket expenses. If you are generally healthy then you might enjoy paying a lower premium and save some money for seldom using any health services.

Live a Healthy Lifestyle

Avoid tobacco and alcohol and exercise regularly. This will give you many options for a good health insurance plan. Doing this also saves you a lot of money.

2011 You Go Girl Half Marathon - Finish Line
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Down Economy Makes Health Care Reform Challenging

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

The lingering recession has wreaked devastating havoc on the whole economy with many segments weakened beyond the capacity of most efforts to revive them.  The depressed economy has weighed heavily on one segment that was hoped to get better before it got any worse, and that is the heath care system.  Before there was any chance of the system moving a step forward after heath care reform, the recession has pushed it at least two steps back.

Census Bureau Sheds Light on Poverty Level and Health Insurance Coverage

With the wave of recent reports from the U.S. Census Bureau indicating an unprecedented  increase in the number of people living under the poverty level  and a stark increase in the number of people now covered by government health insurance, health care reform advocates are bracing for the worst.  Many of the changes that would enable the system to accommodate more Medicaid patients don’t even go into effect until 2014.

The cornerstone of the health care system, employer-based coverage, is shedding people from its insurance rolls faster than the government system can absorb them. Couple this with the fact that those who are uninsured continue to increase for people from households earning more than $50,000, as well as for foreign-born people, and the prospect for any quiet transition to the private insurance exchanges mandated under HCR is very poor.

Concerns about Costs and Discrimination Plague Health Insurance Reform

There are already concerns by many, on both sides of the issue, that the system, under health care reform, will be fraught with the problems of increasing costs and discriminatory restrictions. These issues, that are inherent in the system, will only be exacerbated as the economy continues to push more people into the ranks of the uninsured.

A reformed system that was envisioned as a solution to the inequities that plagued the poor and under-insured, is suddenly falling by the weight of an economy that is making the problem more widespread.  This could very well make the case for “repeal and replace,” especially if the current law isn’t revised to address the  obvious inadequacies of the new system.

Induced Labor Doubles Odds Of Having A C-section

Saturday, July 30th, 2011
Expecting mothers who induce labor are 1/3 more likely to require a c-section, according to a recent study.

Expecting mothers who induce labor are 1/3 more likely to require a c-section, according to a recent study.

Not many mothers look forward to having a c-section. If you’re a first-time mother, and you have your labor induced, you could be upping the odds that you’ll end up having a c-section to deliver your baby. And without affordable family insurance, a first-time mother could find the costs of a C-Section to be much more prohibitive than a traditional delivery.

A study that involved 7,800 first-time mothers, revealed that those mothers whose labor was induced rather than having it start naturally were twice as likely to need the assistance of a c-section to deliver their babies. An estimated 44% of the women in the study had their labor induced. Research data estimated that 20% of those who ended up having a c-section were failed induction attempts.

The rates of women who are having their labor induced are rising as is the number of women who require a c-section. Labor inductions have risen almost 23% as of 2006. In 2007, c-sections were performed on almost 1/3 of all U.S. births.

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Shortage of Nurses and Doctors Challenge Health Reform

Friday, July 29th, 2011

You can’t read a newspaper or a blog these days without reading more depressing news about the economic crisis, but there are some situations where – instead of a slump – business is booming; one of those is the medical school business, where a predicted doctor shortage is seeing many schools expanding to accommodate increased recruitment and enrollment.

Just 25 years ago, experts warned that a surplus of doctors was contributing to rising health care costs due an increase in unnecessary procedures. In response, many medical schools capped enrollment. Now, it seems, the problem is a shortage rather than a surplus.

Physician Shortage Happened Over Years

Warnings of a crisis-level doctor shortage have been abounding for several years, and the apparent crisis is apparently closer than ever. In response, medical schools are expanding with new classrooms, laboratories, and staff. Additionally, new medical schools are under development all over the country, from Michigan to Texas.

Americans over the age of 65 will expand rapidly beyond 2011, eventually burdening the health care system and leading to a high demand for health care workers.

Americans over the age of 65 will expand rapidly beyond 2011, eventually burdening the health care system and leading to a high demand for health care workers.

According to Dr. J. James Rohack, a Texas cardiologist, the reason behind the seemingly contradictory boom of the medical school business is actually fairly logical: The population is expanding, and people are living longer. That means the country’s need for trained and educated medical staff will increase too.

Doctor shortages are already rampant in rural and poor areas, partly because many new graduates choose higher-paying specialties rather than becoming primary care physicians. Medical experts admit that increasing enrolment isn’t necessarily the answer, but that it will help alleviate the problems caused by the shortage.

Nurse Shortages Threaten Health Care Quality Now

The doctor shortage is compounded by a problem that at present is even more of an issue for the healthcare system: a severe nurse shortage that is currently a much greater threat to the quality of healthcare.

The U.S. faces an impending shortage of health care workers - most notably nurses.

The U.S. faces an impending shortage of health care workers - most notably nurses.

It has been estimated that more than 200,000 nursing positions are currently unfilled across the country, and the shortage is expected to get even worse as the baby boom generation hits retirement. The shortage leads to decreased quality of patient care, with an increased risk of delays in healthcare, medical errors, and safety hazards.

Curiously enough, the problem isn’t that there’s a lack of people interested in entering the profession: The problem is that nursing schools simply don’t have the resources and faculty needed to train the number of nurses that the country needs. Thousands of applicants are turned down every year while facilities across the country struggle to fill vacant nursing positions.

Coordinating Care and Insurance Affordability

Friday, July 29th, 2011
Pills

Coordinated Health Care

In a recent article released by the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog, it was noted that a study in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) found that the newer theory of “coordinating care” just doesn’t save patients money. What is coordinating care? The WSJ article describes it this way: “Get a nurse or another health professional to keep track of treatments and doctor visits for patients with complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease. The coordinator should communicate with doctors and help the patients keep on top of things like their drug regimens. Then the patients won’t end up with as many costly hospitalizations.”

Now that we know coordinating of care doesn’t reduce health care and insurance costs, are there other things that we should be taking into consideration here? Read on to see what this study looked at and what implications it has.

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Pain Drug by Pfizer and Acura Pharmaceuticals Approved by the FDA

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

A new painkiller, Oxecta, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Made by Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pfizer Inc., the drug is expected to boost Pfizer’s product line, which is on the verge of the patent expiration later this year of its best-selling drug, Lipitor, used to treat high cholesterol.

Meds
How The Stock Market React?

Acura shares rose 37% to $5.30 early in trading and have continued to soar to around 75% within the last three months of this year. On the other hand, Pfizer shares were down 0.6% to $20.13 and essentially remained at that point during the same time frame.

Graph With Stacks Of Coins

How Does It Work?

Lipitor BottleOxecta is a type of oxycodone that is released immediately upon consumption. Oxecta has been designed in a way that prevents misuse and tampering. Originally, Acura joined forces with King Pharmaceuticals Inc. on the new pain drug. However, in February 2011, Pfizer acquired King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion.

The president and general manager for the primary care unit of Pfizer, Olivier Brandicourt said, “We recognize our responsibility to physicians and patients and remain committed to appropriate access to pain treatment and developing medicines to potentially address this important public health and safety issue.”

Success with new products are necessary for Pfizer, especially with the expected decline in product sales once generic competitors of Lipitor become available near the end of the year. In May, the company scored a major win when the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would be reviewing Pfizer’s experimental drug for lung cancer, Crizotinib, on a short schedule.

Also in the month of May, the company reported an increase in profit for the first quarter, even though revenue slipped due to a disappointing number of sales for Lipitor. Pfizer is braced for the patent expiration and the company plans to cut research and development costs considerably as some of their business is shed.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Charles Williams, kenteegardin, The.Comedian

Medicine on the Move

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Best of the Best The days of the trusty old stethoscope are long gone for some doctors, who are now instead carrying around portable ultrasound devices that are about the size of the average cell phone. Doctors simply put the device up to their patient’s chest and they are instantly able to peer right on through to the patient’s heart. In fact, the patient can have a look as well. Then the patient and doctor are able to inspect the blood flow, rhythm, valves and overall muscle together.

Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist from San Diego, California, says, “Why would I listen to ‘lub dub’ when I can see everything?”

Stethoscopes Outdated In a Digital Age

This amazing device, which is called the Vscan, is made by GE Healthcare, a part of the General Electric Company, has a price tag of $8,000. The Vscan is just one of the many entries in the flourishing industry of mobile health technology.

In a time when medical schools all over the world are passing out iPods with their dissection kits, wireless sensors, smartphones and other state-of-the-art tools have great revolutionary potential. A large number of doctors agree that the technology not only makes treating and diagnosing patients better on all that are involved, but it also transfigures the way that both patients and doctors think about the field of healthcare.

Mobile tools make it possible for doctors to monitor their patients’ vital signs, make notes of any changes that may occur, monitor the patients’ level of activity and even make sure that the patients are taking their medications as directed. Doctors can keep up with all of this without the patient having to come all the way into the office for a face-to-face appointment. This translates to less visits to the doctors’ office and less time in the hospital because even the most ill patients can be monitored across the distance.

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Researchers Continue To Study Link Between Depression And Weight Gain

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Depression and weight gain

For decades researchers have been studying the link between depression and the onset of weight gain. Although they have continually concluded there is a definite link between the two, it still isn’t apparent whether depression triggers weight gain or whether weight gain triggers depression.

Reviewing the data

A study that was recently published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researcher Belinda Needham, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, took a close look at the data gathered from more than 4,600 young adults who participated in a study called the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults. She specifically looked at information with regard to the participant’s body mass index, waist circumference, and depression symptoms at intervals of 5 years over a 20 year period.

Understanding the data

The data revealed that white participants who had started out with a higher level of symptoms related to depression experienced a faster rate of increase in their individual Body Mass Index (BMI), and both black and white participants showed a faster increase in their waist circumference. The study also revealed that the initial BMI and waist circumference did not have a bearing on the rate of change of symptoms relative to depression over time.

The findings

Though the findings point toward the conclusion that depression does indeed precede the onset of weight gain, Needham also pointed out that her research did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the two conditions, but rather that it was only a temporary one. She went on to say that it is quite possible there are other factors that may very well underlie the two conditions. That considered, it is still premature to say conclusively whether or not one causes the other.

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Comparing Health Options: Primary Care vs Specialist Care

Friday, June 25th, 2010
The American College of Physicians suggests that you opt out of specialist care and go for the primary care physician. Of course, health insurance companies will love for you to do that, too!

The American College of Physicians suggests that you opt out of specialist care and go for the primary care physician. Of course, health insurance companies will love for you to do that, too!

When it comes to choosing between a primary care physician (PCP) or a specialist, you’re often caught between two differing perspectives: 1. You choose the primary care physician for their knowledge of your other conditions, their wide-ranging experience, and their relative low expense when compared to specialists, OR 2. You choose a specialist because of their in-depth understanding of a particular condition and their track record treating a condition. In most cases a PCP will offer personalized health care, while a specialist will generally be less patient-facing.

What does the American College of Physicians suggest? The group believes the feds should pay more upfront for primary care, because doing so would lower costs in the long run by preventing expensive complications and helping patients to avoid hospitalization.

Weighing the Pros and Cons when Making Health Care Choices

Let’s take a look first at the good side to this proposed idea. If more money is given to primary care to begin with, rather than reimbursements later, then people would be getting the best in first-round care right away. Like noted above, this might help stave off the need to even be seen by specialists, if problems are addressed quickly and nipped in the bud before specialists need to step in.

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