Cancer Care Beyond the Cancer
February 29, 2008
A diagnosis of cancer is terrifying and something that around 1.4 million of us can expect to hear this year. More frightening is that in recent years cancer beat heart disease as the number one killer in this country. There is good news on the horizon. Increased education about cancer prevention has caused the number of U.S. lives lost to cancer to fall by 2.1 % each year between 2002 and 2004 — almost twice the 1.1% annual rate of decline noted between 1993 and 2002.
“Freedom and Unity” and Excellent Health
February 28, 2008
If you’ve ever wondered which of our 50 states has the healthiest populace, wonder no longer – someone’s keeping track. For the first time in its 18 years of rankings, the United Health Foundation has placed Vermont at number 1. The Green Mountain State has been steadily climbing in the rankings since taking 8th in 2001, up from an initial position of 16th in 1990.
- Second place went to Minnesota, down from its 1st place finish the last 4 years and in 7 other years since 1990.
- Third place went to Hawaii, followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut and Utah.
Professional Health Care Helpers
February 27, 2008
If you or a loved one have ever been diagnosed with a serious disease or admitted to a hospital, you know the stress that comes not just from the illness itself but from making sure you’re getting the best care. Overworked nurses and doctors with poor bed-side manners can be aggravating. Sometimes, if mistakes are made or directions are misunderstood, they can even be fatal.
But the average person lacks the medical expertise needed to measure the work of a provider or insurer. What’s the best course of treatment? Why is my condition not getting better? Why are the nurse and the residents giving me totally different information? How can I make sure my insurance will cover this necessary procedure?
Cancer Without Coverage
February 26, 2008
The number of uninsured Americans rose by more than 20% to 47 million from 2000 to 2006. Children and employees at every income level lost coverage during this time. With cancer as the number one cause of death in the U.S. one wonders how the uninsured fight this merciless killer.
The answer? Not so well. A recent study – the first to chart a dozen major cancer types using nationwide data - shows that those with private insurance fare better in the war against cancer than those without. The uninsured are twice as likely (and those covered by Medicaid 80% more likely) to receive a diagnosis of cancer in its late stages when it’s difficult to combat the disease. Typically, the under-insured don’t get screened for cancer as often or as thoroughly so the diagnosis is delayed, as is follow-up treatment.
Dr. Net
February 25, 2008
Around 3/4 of the U.S. go online at least occasionally, an amount that by some accounts is up 80% since 2000. It should be no surprise then that a segment of these folks are using the Internet as a resource to troubleshoot their health problems. And like the number of those who use the Internet for entertainment, information or communication, the number of e-patients is steadily increasing.
Black Market Benefits
February 22, 2008
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photo by Scott Maira |
With the ever-increasing difficulty of securing health coverage it shouldn’t be surprising that criminal agents are taking advantage of people’s desperation. Black market benefits – obtaining health coverage via medical identity theft - are a growing phenomenon. Opportunists can take the information from your health insurance card and use it to obtain medical treatment or prescription drugs without the real benefit holders’ knowledge.
Beware Drug Reps Bearing Gifts
February 21, 2008
Only 1 in 3 medical schools have policies to prevent conflicts of interest between their academic departments and the drug or medical device companies that may fund individual researchers. Only 6 U.S. medical schools are completely free from the “influence” of pharmaceutical kickbacks. While universities as private institutions set their own rules on ethics and proprieties, government can regulate medical professionals and health care.
Now Minnesota is leading the way in banning drug company gifts to doctors. In 2005, a state official decided that current law allowed the state to forbid drug makers from giving doctors more than $50 worth of food or other gifts per year. Since then, this kind of direct-to-doctor marketing has decreased, with the number of visits from drug reps declining twice as fast as the rate nationwide.
Hospitals Pushed to Prevent Infections
February 20, 2008
In the past three decades, more and more patients enter hospitals only to get sicker. The seriously ill are acquiring serious infections through the tubes they are connected to or through bedsores. This happens some two million times a year. Studies have shown that patients with hospital-acquired infections:
- spend many more days in the hospital
- undergo more extensive procedures
- are more likely to die
One out of five times hospital infections are fatal. And even if they don’t kill you, they drive up costs for everybody. Different studies have proposed different solutions:
Kids Get Worse Care
February 19, 2008
A study of children in a dozen metropolitan areas found that they got the recommended medical care from their doctors less than half of the time. This means that kids are doing worse than adults in this country when it comes to getting good doctor care. “Doctors did best with acute problems, such as upper-respiratory-tract infections, treating them correctly about two-thirds of the time. But with chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes, they gave the right care 53% of the time. The worst showing was in preventive care: 41%.”
Next President Faces Obesity
February 18, 2008
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| Clinton | Gravel | Huckabee | Keyes |
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| McCain | Obama | Paul |
As the race to determine the next President of the United States begins to pick up steam and public attention, the issue of health reform is also gaining traction. But on top of figuring out how best to revise our health coverage system, many are concerned with how to improve our actual health. A recent 2007 conference convened a host of Democratic and Republican presidential candidate advisors to discuss what the next president needs to do about obesity.
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