Health Insurance Companies Shifting Costs To Avoid New MLR Laws!

Reuters is reporting that Health insurance companies are at it to beat the law. These laws include provisions such as large group plans are required to spend at least 85 cents the dollar collected on actual medical care as opposed to administrative costs. The small group plans and individual plans have to spend 80 cents on the dollar. So some of the largest U.S. health insurers are changing their accounting practices to book administration costs as medical costs in an attempt to circumvent new industry reforms, according to a U.S. Senate panel's report released on Thursday.
One insurer WellPoint Inc "has already 'reclassified' more than half a billion dollars of administrative expenses as medical expenses," according to the report. The MLR rule does not come in to effect until January 1, 2011, but according to Senator John Rockefeller, the committee's chairman insurers are "still far below" what the law will requires.
reuters

Real Men Wear Gowns, (A public service campaign designed to raise awareness among men about the importance of preventive medical testing by AHRQ)

Press Release Date: April 21, 2008

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) joined with The Advertising Council today to launch a national public service campaign designed to raise awareness among middle-aged men about the importance of preventive medical testing.

Men are 25 percent less likely than women to have visited the doctor within the past year and are 38 percent more likely than women to have neglected their cholesterol tests (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005). Furthermore, men are 1.5 times more likely than women to die from heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005).

The new campaign encourages men over 40 to learn which preventive screening tests they need to get and when they need to get them. This campaign complements AHRQ's existing efforts toward improving the safety and quality of health care and promoting patient involvement in their own health care, including the "Questions are the Answer" campaign launched with the Ad Council in March 2007 and the "Superheroes" Spanish-language campaign launched in March 2008.

"We hope this campaign will inform men about the importance of prevention and show them that they should work with their health care providers to find out what they should do to stay healthy," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.

The campaign highlights the work of the AHRQ-sponsored U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which is an independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention that systematically reviews the evidence of effectiveness and develops recommendations for clinical preventive services. "By taking steps to prevent disease and stay healthy, men can live longer and more productive lives," said Task Force Chair Ned Calonge, M.D., M.P.H. "Prevention is a decision that includes participating in regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet and finding out which preventive medical tests are right for you."

Created pro bono for the Ad Council by McCann Erickson Detroit, the public service advertising campaign includes new television, radio, print and Web advertising featuring the theme "Real Men Wear Gowns." The lighthearted ads incorporate family as a key motivating factor for men to take a more active role in preventive health. They show the target audience that being a real man means taking care of themselves (and their health) in order to be there for their families and in the future. Ad Council research showed this was a strong motivating factor for men. To view the PSAs, visit www.ahrq.gov/realmen.

"Our research conducted during the development of this campaign found that despite their increased health risks men aren't taking preventive steps and are often only visiting their doctors when they experience symptoms," said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of the Ad Council. "We are proud to continue our initiative with AHRQ with this wonderful series of PSAs designed to motivate men to take a more active role in their preventive health care.

The campaign encourages men to visit a comprehensive Web site, www.ahrq.gov/realmen. The site provides the recommended ages for preventive testing (as well as a list of tests), a quiz designed to test your knowledge of preventive health care, tips for talking with your doctor, a glossary of consumer health terms, and links to online resources where you can find more medical information.

Public service advertisements are being distributed to approximately 33,000 media stations nationwide this week. Per the Ad Council's donated media model, all of the new public service advertisements will air and run in advertising time and space donated by the media.

AHRQ

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (www.ahrq.gov) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AHRQ's mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. AHRQ's research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services.

The Advertising Council

The Ad Council (www.adcouncil.org) is a private, non-profit organization that marshals talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to produce, distribute and promote public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well-being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.

tag: health, AHRQ, Real Men Wear Gowns, Real Men, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, The Advertising Council

MRSA and STAPH, what are these?

On Friday, Dr. Jacqueline Eghrari-Sabet from Family Allergy & Asthma Care held an online chat on nbc4.com Washington, to discuss MRSA and other staph infections. The transcript of the chat is available at the link below.
I learned a lot by following the transcript. I hope NBC4.COM will give us pod casts of such interviews so that more people could benefit by not only having to read online. Podcast could be down loaded to personal music players such as iPod and listened later.
Thank you NBC4
Dr. Answers MRSA Questions During Online Chat

Tags: health, disease outbreak, STAPH, MRSA, iPod, Podcast

Sleep, less or more will hurt you the same!

LONDON (Reuters) - People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a study released on Monday.

Although the reasons are unclear, researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleep from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk of death from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death.

The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick's medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge.

The correlation with cardiovascular risk in those who slept less in the 1990s than in the 1980s was clear but, curiously, there was also a higher mortality rate in people who increased their sleep to more than nine hours.
Read more..

Tags: health, sleep, heart disease

Toy recalls in Japan too by Tomy

Update;

The mattel.com site does not seem to support Firefox properly. IE works fine. I have provided individual links below.

What do you do if you suspect you have a recalled toy?

The first step is for consumers to determine if they have a toy that has been affected by the recall. To do so, they can visit www.service.mattel.com (Check links Below)where they will find a complete list of each toy recalled, including color photos and toy model numbers. You can locate toy model numbers on the bottom of most recalled toys. You also can compare the images.

From there, you are prompted to fill out a form and Mattel will send them (via email or to a postal address) a color brochure with photos and toy numbers of every affected product, as well as a pre-paid mailing label for return of the products.

Once Mattel receives a consumer’s returned, affected products, Mattel will send the consumer a voucher for each affected product for the product’s original value. Vouchers may be used at most national retailers and are good toward any Mattel or Fisher-Price manufactured product.

Direct links by type of recall
Mattel Playsets with Magnet Hazard Recall
Barbie® Doll and Tanner™ Magnet Hazard Recall
Pixar Cars Sarge Lead Paint Hazard Recall
Fisher-Price Toys with Lead Paint Hazard Recall


For People without Internet access (Please inform you neighbors), or for those preferring phone support, they may call the following hotlines dedicated to the different product recalls:

• “CARS” Sarge character diecast vehicle Recall Hotline: 1-800-916-4997
• Fisher-Price Toy Lead Paint Recall Hotline: 1-800-916-4498
• Magnet Hazard Recall Hotline: 1-888-597-6597

TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Japanese toy maker Tomy Co. (7867.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it will voluntarily recall Mattel Inc. (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) die-cast cars following the U.S. toy giant's massive recall of toys made in China due to lead paint.

Tomy officials were not immediately available for comment, but in a statement posted on its Web site, Tomy said its subsidiary will recall "Sarge" die-cast toy cars it imported and sold in Japan since March 1 this year.

Jiji news agency reported 2,730 Matchbox cars will be recalled.

Tomy said it has not received any reports of health hazards from customers.

Mattel, the world's largest toy maker, has recalled millions of toys made in China due to lead paint and hazards from small, powerful magnets that can be swallowed and cause injury.

Reuters News

Tags: toy recall, health, mattel, tomy, mattel, fisher-price

Healthy Google, Google gets hots on your health

Since many a people talk about Google owning you, at least all the information about you, (I got that when I posted about Google Desktop for Linux). It just like worrying about privacy. Anyway I saw a quite a bit of posts on Google and Microsoft getting on health. Google Blogscoped had screenshots, Official Google Blog had Official Google Blog: Health care information matters.
But since I left a comment on gOS, I will direct you to go and see a screen shot and a Photo, and read a bit. Be healthy! Here is the best!

* How do you know you're getting the best care possible? - "There is a lot of material out there about drugs, diseases, procedures and treatments. How do you know what is trustworthy and what isn't? Search is great at finding us places with relevant information, but it is hard to know which links are reliable and which are less so."
Of course go to Meddesktop once it is up, until then try not to die!

Tags: google, Health, google Health, Meddesktop

Google is good for Search, but not for health

Patients and doctors disagree on some essential issues according to three new surveys conducted by Consumer Reports National Research Center. The survey of 39,090 patients and 335 primary-care physicians revealed discrepancies between doctors’ and patients’ perceptions of following medical advice, the role of prescription drug ads in the exam room, and the value of online research of medical conditions. The full results of the survey as well as advice on how consumers can get better care from their doctors appearED in the February issue of Consumer Reports.
n total, 39,090 patients were surveyed about their doctor visits in two parts. Consumer Reports asked 25,184 respondents to its 2006 Annual Questionnaire about visiting the doctor for treatment of their most bothersome illness. During the summer of 2006, 13,906 online subscribers were polled about preventive-care visits. (CR acknowledges that its subscribers might not be representative of the population as a whole). Consumer Reports also questioned a random sample of 335 primary-care physicians about how things look from the other side of the table.

Consumer Reports’ survey results also reveal that doctors think the health-care system works much better for drug and health-insurance companies than for primary-care doctors and their patients.

CR notes that the pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars marketing prescription drugs directly
to patients; and wining and dining doctors so they’ll prescribe them.

-- Knowing the side effects. Among patients who received prescriptions from their doctors, 31 percent reported that their doctor didn’t adequately explain possible side effects, so Consumer Reports recommends that patients should ask questions about drugs prescribed during the visit. Also, nine percent of patients said their doctor did not review their other prescriptions to check for potentially harmful interactions with the newly
prescribed drug.

-- Requesting prescription drugs. According to the survey, patients most frequently ask about advertised drugs for acid reflux, impotence, allergies, and insomnia – mainstays of the television ad lineup. Only seven percent of patients admitted to asking for advertised drugs for their most bothersome conditions.

-- Knowing the cost. Two-thirds of patients reported that doctors never brought up the costs of treatments and tests.

Consumer reports Article

Tags: Consumer Reports, health, pharmaceutical industry

Cigarette's nicotine content raised over the years, on the sly!

This week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health revealed that from 1998 through 2004, as public health campaigns were mounted to curb smoking, the manufacturers increased the amount of addictive nicotine delivered to the average smoker by 10 percent. Of 179 cigarette brands tested in 2004, an astonishing 166 brands fell into the state’s highest nicotine yield range, including 59 brands that the manufacturers had labeled “light” and 14 described as “ultra-light.” The three most popular brands chosen by young smokers — Marlboro, Newport and Camel — all delivered significantly more nicotine as the years passed. Virtually all brands were found to deliver a high enough nicotine dose to cause heavy dependence.
read more at Newyork Times.......

Be Healthy, Refer to Med Desktop

Meddesktop will be a sister (blog) site for meddesktop.com, which exist only in my head right now! But I will put it on paper and get to you as soon as I cam. Until then this will be my sole site to publish Medical and health information.