The economy is sick and in desperate need of a transfusion of new ideas. Everyone hopes that President Obama’s proposals for a revamp of the health care system will prove successful, but in the meantime how do you keep the sick economy from having a negative effect on your own health?

Even for the insured, the cost of copays and other out-of-pocket expenses add up quickly, whether you’re single or have a family. If you’re feeling the pinch, you’re not alone – according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 53% of respondents said they had cut back on their health care to try and save money.

Many respondents reported an increased use of over-the-counter medications or home remedies, rather than scheduling a visit to their doctor. Others said they didn’t fill prescriptions to save money; some even skipped treatment or tests that their doctor recommended.

Ignoring your doctor’s instructions could prove risky if you have a serious medical condition. But no matter health status, you can cut down on some of the costs of healthcare without having to neglect your health. What can you do?

• When you visit a doctor, make sure you’re prepared. Take along all the information the doctor might need, including paperwork and medical records if necessary. Take note of whether your health has changed recently, including energy or weight fluctuations. If you have any questions you want to ask, make a note so you don’t forget them. Being prepared for a doctor’s visit cuts down on the need for repeat visits, and helps save on copays.
• Get your test results over the phone. Most of the time you won’t need to return to your doctor to get test results, so there’s no reason to spend money on the copayment when it’s not necessary.
• Consider setting up a flexible spending account when open enrollment comes around. Flexible spending accounts let you put pre-tax dollars aside to fund certain types of medical expenses.
• Call an organization such as the Patient Advocate Foundation (800- 532-5274) if you have a chronic disease and want some help with getting the most out of your insurance plan.
• If you’re uninsured, then consider visiting a store clinic. In some locations, retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart now run clinics where you can receive routine medical care for about half the price of a doctor’s visit.
• Try and track down locations where you can receive free medical screening. Organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help you locate such programs.
• Request a quote for affordable health insurance here. Our system is able to connect you with leading health insurance carriers from across the country, and it could save you a lot of money on premiums or health care costs.

photo credit: effekt!

The $787 billion economic stimulus package that was signed into law last week includes one or two health-related measures that haven’t been widely publicized, but which are no less important for it.

One of these is the $1.1 billion that has been assigned for a study to compare the effectiveness of a large number of medical treatments, drugs, surgeries, and other current standard medical procedures and devices. A council of fifteen federal employees will be set up to coordinate the research and advise the President and Congress on where the money would best be spent.

The program is a response to growing concerns that doctors have little solid evidence on which to base the value of many of the treatments that are currently considered standard.

(more…)

Japan’s overcrowded, understaffed hospitals are in danger – and so are the people who rely on those hospitals when they need emergency medical care. An elderly Japanese man who sustained head injuries after being struck by a motorcycle waited ninety minutes in an ambulance – while paramedics phoned fourteen different Tokyo hospitals, trying to find a hospital that would accept the man for treatment. All the hospitals refused to admit the injured man, saying they lacked the equipment and staff needed to treat him. The paramedics arrived at the accident site just a few minutes after the 69-year-old man was injured, but ninety minutes and fourteen hospitals later, the man died just a short time after paramedics finally located a hospital that would accept him for treatment. The man died from the shock caused by the loss of a large amount of blood – a condition which the man might have survived if he had received treatment earlier.

(more…)

After being accused of overcharging millions for health care insurance, one of America’s biggest insurers has agreed to a $50 million settlement pay-out.

Hundreds of people made complaints about charges made by Oxford Insurance, and its parent company UnitedHealth Group. The parent company claims that its reimbursement rates are based on “independent research from across the health care industry,” but an investigation by the New York Attorney General’s office revealed that it’s actually Ingenix, a research firm owned and operated by UnitedHealth Group, that supplies the data.

This isn’t just a case of conflict of interest, however – it gets much worse.

According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Ingenix has been manipulating the data, allowing UnitedHealth Group’s Oxford Insurance to pay less for reimbursement of its customers.

(more…)

Trees are good for your health – they suck up carbon dioxide and release oxygen, help reduce greenhouse gases and provide welcoming shade during the summer. But those aren’t the trees that have recently been in the news for helping to improve the health of many Americans. This time it’s family trees that are up for discussion – and electronic ones, at that.

Importance of Knowing Your Health History

The importance of knowing your family medical history can’t be emphasized strongly enough, according to Acting Surgeon General Steven Galson, whose office has been in charge of a new initiative to promote the use of a website where users can grow an electronic family tree to find out where their health risks lie.

(more…)

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) was approved by the federal government in 1985, but in the intervening 23 years thousands of Americans have found that the scheme isn’t as useful as it seems. Now, with the economic crisis putting millions out of work, the failings of COBRA are beginning to be revealed, in all their dubious glory.

Under COBRA, workers who lose their jobs can still retain the employer healthcare that job provided. They can retain the healthcare for up to eighteen months, but they must pay for the full price of upkeep once their employment terminates. While employed, they pay only a portion of the premium, with their employer footing the bill for the remainder. But after their employment is terminated, they’ll pay both shares.

It sounds like a great idea – and it works in theory – but the reality is that to maintain their healthcare after losing their jobs, the average worker must pay as much as 30% of their unemployment check. When a family, rather than a single person is involved, that figure can rise to an astonishing 84%.

(more…)

Universal healthcare could be useful in more ways than one. With more than half a million jobs lost in America in November (the biggest decline in a single month in more than thirty years), the country is in dire straights. Nearly 7% of the nation is wholly unemployed, and a total of 12.5% are either unemployed or barely working. That’s 19.3 million Americans who have little or no work.

The incoming administration is preparing a stimulus package to be introduced in the New Year, intended to get the economy ticking over again by investing billions in infrastructure. The package may include upgrading school buildings, upgrading public buildings to improve energy efficiency, building of bridges and roads, extending the reach of broadband internet, and improving electronic record keeping for medical billing.

(more…)

It’s still kind of hard to believe that there are so many uninsured individuals in America. Over time, a lot of folks begin to wonder who is truly at fault. The health care system in the States isn’t as great as it should be or as we would like it to be. Access to affordable health care is decreasing each day and those who have pre-existing health conditions give up hope of ever finding a plan that will approve them or one that will give them affordable rates. There are people in other countries living with a universal health care system and it seems to be working rather well; in fact, dollar for dollar, some countries outperform the U.S. by 500% or more.

(more…)

photo credit: Dashu Pagla

Imagine constructing a human being synthesized completely through science—a seemingly supernatural fabrication of life. You may think Frankenstein. You may visualize Iron Man. But it’s called bionics.

The field of bionics doesn’t necessarily create entire human beings, but rather constructs body parts for better human functionality. People have been losing body parts and use of body parts since the beginning of time. Non-functioning limbs have been replaced with plastic, wood and even steel.

(more…)

All through the month of December, Sylvia tried to ignore her slowly-worsening cough and chest congestion. Although she worked more than forty hours a week at two part time jobs, she had no health insurance and couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit. Her cold would get better on its own, she reassured herself.

It didn’t. She was delirious by the time friends finally took her to the emergency room on New Year’s Eve. The doctors diagnosed pneumonia. Three weeks later, she died of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Would universal healthcare have saved her life? You decide.

(more…)