Going It AloneWhen BuyingA Health Policy
http://ping.fm/SrZmP

College graduates, In the market for health insurance?
http://www.health-insurancecalifornia.com

F.D.A. Warns Against Use of Popular Cold Remedy http://ping.fm/U19kc

Summer Travel? Need Travel Insurance? http://ping.fm/XNnRG

Obama urges doctors to back health care plan proposal:
http://ping.fm/jRG4R

First Batch of Swine Flu Vaccine:
http://ping.fm/hkeIA

GPS shoes for Alzheimer’s patients

This would be an amazing shoe. As Alzheimers becomes more common the need for something like this shoe grows everyday.

———————————————————————————————–

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A shoe-maker and a technology company are teaming up to develop footwear with a built-in GPS device that could help track down “wandering” seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

“The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 30 feet, anywhere on the planet,” said Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project.

“Sixty percent of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease will be involved in a ‘critical wandering incident’ at least once during the progression of the disease — many more than once,” he said Friday.

The shoes are being developed by GTX Corp., which makes miniaturized Global Positioning Satellite tracking and location-transmitting technology, and Aetrex Worldwide, a footwear manufacturer.

Carle said embedding a GPS device in a shoe was important because Alzheimer’s victims tend to remove unfamiliar objects placed on them but getting dressed is one of the last types of memory they retain.

He said a “geo-fence” could be placed around a person’s home and a “Google Map” alert sent to a cell phone, home or office computer when a programmed boundary is crossed.

“The shoe we intend on developing with Aetrex should help authorized family members, friends, or caretakers reduce their stress and anguish by enabling them to locate their loved ones instantly with the click of a mouse,” said Chris Walsh, chief operating officer of GTX Corp.

The companies said they plan to begin testing the product by the fourth quarter of the year.

———————————————————————————————–

This sounds like an amazing way to use today’s technology. I know from my own family how Alzheimer’s patients get mixed up and lost. Having this shoe would save a lot of time my family has spent driving around trying to find our loved ones.

 

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090605/hl_afp/usithealthcompanygtxaetrex/print

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

818-709-8442

www.health-insurancecalifornia.com

President Pivots on Taxing Benefits

The new plan is to tax employer-sponsored health care to get the money needed for Health Care reform in this Country. As of now, employer-sponsored health care is not taxed and would bring a lot of extra money that is needed.

———————————————————————————————–

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 3, 2009

 

President Obama, in a pivot from some of his harshest campaign rhetoric, told Democratic senators yesterday that he is willing to consider taxing employer-sponsored health benefits to help pay for a broad expansion of coverage.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Obama expressed a willingness to consider changing the existing tax exclusion. The decision would probably anger liberal supporters such as labor unions, but such a tax change would raise enormous sums of money as Congress and the White House are struggling to find the estimated $1.2 trillion needed to pay for health-care reform over the next decade.

“Yeah, it’s something that he might consider,” Baucus told reporters after the meeting between Obama and Democratic lawmakers. “That was discussed. It’s on the table.” Obama had summoned about two dozen senators to the White House to keep up the pressure to enact a comprehensive health-care overhaul this year.

White House officials moved quickly to clarify that taxing the health insurance provided by businesses is not Obama’s first choice, but aides refused to rule out the possibility.

“The president made it clear during the campaign that he has serious concerns about taxing health-care benefits, and he has introduced his own revenue proposal, which he reiterated in today’s meeting,” spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

Obama instead urged senators to reconsider his proposal, which would raise federal revenue by reducing itemized deductions such as charitable contributions and mortgage payments for the wealthiest Americans, according to one adviser in the meeting. Obama included that idea in his budget, reporting that it would raise $317 billion over 10 years, a sizable “down payment” on the cost of health-care reform. But Congress immediately labeled the proposal a non-starter.

Private-sector businesses spend about $518 billion a year on their workers’ health insurance, benefits that are not taxed. If workers had to pay taxes on their health coverage, it would raise $246 billion in revenue each year, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

Tax treatment of employer-sponsored health care cuts across party lines: Prominent Republicans such as Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) support imposing a tax on certain health plans, while Democrats such as Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) say that a tax would unfairly hurt middle-class workers with good benefits.

Health analysts from across the political spectrum have pressed for changing the tax treatment, arguing in part that the exclusion provides the greatest tax relief to high-salaried workers with generous insurance plans.

Last month, Baucus said he did not support eliminating the exclusion but was eyeing a benefit cap. Experts have outlined two likely approaches: taxing health benefits for workers above a certain income level; or taxing benefits over a certain value, perhaps $14,000 a year.

Administration officials meeting with lobbyists in recent days have projected that a benefit cap might generate $35 billion a year, though Finance Committee staffers said the number could be much higher.

Nevertheless, the issue represents treacherous politics for Obama, given his attacks on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who advocated a similar approach during the campaign.

“For the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits,” Obama said in September. “Apparently, Senator McCain doesn’t think it’s enough that your health premiums have doubled. He thinks you should have to pay taxes on them, too.”

Strongly desiring to declare a health-care victory this year, Obama is now taking a more nuanced approach, aides said. “His style of leadership is to say, let’s not get bogged down; let’s keep moving forward,” said one senior adviser who was in yesterday’s meeting. “He’s not ruling anybody’s ideas out.”

Staff writer Michael D. Shear and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

———————————————————————————————–

Obama hopes to get a Health Care system set up by the end of the year? This seems to be a larger task then maybe he thought during the campaign. Now leaning toward the direction the Senator McCain had in mind for this country.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

818-709-8442

www.health-insurancecalifornia.com

State may cut federally funded health insurance for children

More news on cutting Childrens Health Care to save money for the State.

———————————————————————————————–

Thomas Bustos, who is 11, doesn’t understand what health insurance is. All he knows about the proposed elimination of the state program that covers him and his 9-year-old brother is his mother is scared.

In an avalanche of cuts to California’s budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed elimination of the Healthy Families insurance program juts out like a razor-edged boulder. California would become the first in the nation to eliminate a program — funded by the federal government and individual states — providing medical, dental and vision care to children in families who don’t qualify for Medicaid. That encompasses about 910,167 children across the state and 20,632 in Ventura County.

To qualify, a single parent with two children ages 6 through 18, must make at least $18,324 and no more than $45,780.

Misty Navarro, Thomas’ mother, makes $18 an hour as an office supervisor in a pediatric clinic. In Healthy Families, her premium is $12 a month. Without the program, she could cover her kids through her employer but it would cost $300 a month.

She doesn’t have the money. She will barely make the $750 a month rent for the Santa Paula town home the family is moving into thanks to a government housing program.

Like many others in Healthy Families, if the program is cut she would likely end up on Medi-Cal’s shared cost program, meaning her kids might have to rack up as much as $1,500 in healthcare in a month before the government would pay.

Essentially, she’d be uninsured, scrambling to find ways to continue the treatment Thomas gets to control his weight and minimize his risk of diabetes. If he needed two $1,200 CT scans like he did after jumping off a table when he was 3, she’d be cooked.

“You’re putting yourself in debt,” she said. “It’s awful to have medical bills.”

Minimize the damage

The proposal is just that. Advocates expect Democratic legislative leaders to fight to keep at least part of the program but predict the possibility of significant cuts.

The early childhood program, First 5, bailed out Healthy Families a year ago when the state was considering freezing the program because of a $17 million shortfall. A First 5 Ventura County spokeswoman said officials are waiting to see final cuts to various children’s programs before deciding how to respond. But if the program that costs the state $400 million is eliminated, a complete rescue would be financially impossible.

“It’s way beyond our capacity,” said Robin Godfrey, local director of special projects.

Ventura County Health Care Agency officials are trying to make sure that even if families do lose insurance, they continue to bring their children to county clinics designed to serve as a safety net for the vulnerable. They cite other state programs that provide funding for immunizations, screenings and care for children with chronic conditions like diabetes. They said they work with parents in self-pay discount programs to keep care affordable.

Even without Healthy Families, children will still be able to get the care they need, said Dr. Michelle Laba, medical director of the county’s Mandalay Bay Women and Children’s Medical Group in Oxnard.

“Our focus and goal is to take care of a patient regardless of their ability to pay,” she said. “That’s what we work with on a day-to-day basis.”

Quitting jobs

Observers predict there would be increases not only at county clinics but also at other community clinics, urgent care centers and emergency rooms. The facilities are designed to deal with the growing number of people who have no place else to go, but higher traffic could eventually bring longer wait times and a heightened temptation to put off care.

There could be a dramatic increase in children who don’t get preventive care and end up fighting diabetes, asthma or obesity, said Dr. Heather Nichols, a Santa Paula pediatrician.

Parents might also pursue desperate ends. They might quit their jobs just so they qualify for full Medi-Cal benefits though eligibility could tighten in other budget cut proposals. Or married couples might get divorced to lower their income and give their children a better shot at care.

“I think they would find loopholes,” Nichols said.

Across the state, about 53 percent of the children covered by Healthy Families are Latino. Some providers predict some of those families would take their children south of the border to have tonsils or appendixes removed.

“They’re going to show up at emergency rooms. They’re going to show up at health centers and some are going to show up in Mexico, in Tijuana,” said Antonio Alatorre, chief operating officer for Clinicas Camino del Real, a group of community clinics in Ventura County.

Possible layoffs

Hospitals and clinics already face harsh budget cuts. Eliminating Healthy Families could cost the county about $8 million from lost revenues and the cost of providing uncompensated care.

If the proposed cut isn’t averted, there’s at least a possibility it could bring layoffs, said Mike Powers, director of the Health Care Agency. He wouldn’t speculate where jobs might be lost.

“What I’m also saying is we have to watch it unfold,” he said. “It’s a possibility. We don’t want to over-react to proposals. Layoffs are a last, last resort.”

Clinicas is suing the state to try to stop Medi-Cal cuts eliminating coverage for adult dental care, optometry, mental health and many other services. Officials of the community clinic group said the cuts could bring as many as 150 layoffs.

Eliminating Healthy Families would mean the loss of about $1 million in revenue for Clinicas and as much as another $1 million in added cost for caring for uninsured children. That could mean even more layoffs.

Advocates of Healthy Family talk of how cutting the program would eliminate as much as $800 million in matching money from the federal government. They talk of how eliminating the program jeopardizes preventive treatment that helps drive down the societal cost of healthcare. They talk most about children.

“We would basically just be punishing children for their parents’ poverty,” said Nichols.

No defense

What’s startling is the people proposing the cuts don’t challenge any of the assertions. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance, said eliminating Healthy Families would have been unthinkable as recently as four months ago.

But the state faces a projected $24 billion shortfall and voters rejected a tax increase extension and other proposed budget balancing measures.

“The fact that we can put this god-awful proposal on the table is a testament to how dramatically the recession has affected this state,” said Palmer, adding that state officials understand the consequences. “The governor is acutely aware of the impact. He gets up in the middle of the night worrying about it.”

The proposed budget hit list is long. It includes eliminating the state’s welfare program, closing nearly all state parks and eliminating home healthcare for hundreds of thousands of seniors and disabled people.

“It’s awfully tough choices and few alternatives,” said taxpayers advocate Jere Robings of Thousand Oaks, fielding questions about Healthy Families. “If there is no money, there is no money.”

———————————————————————————————–

Cutting such programs will leave about 910,000 children without any health care. Its nice to see what the Mandalay Bay Woman & Childrens center said, they would still provide care for the children even without Healthy Familes.

 

Source: www.venturacountystar.com

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

818-709-8442

www.health-insurancecalifornia.com

Kennedy Readies Health-Care Bill

All the different ideas for Health Reform are starting to come together.

———————————————————————————————–

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 6, 2009

 

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has laid down the first marker in this year’s debate over how to revamp the nation’s health-care system, writing a bill that would put strict new requirements on individuals and businesses to purchase insurance.

As expected, the ailing chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and his staff have crafted comprehensive legislation that would guarantee health coverage for every American — but would require the vast majority to contribute to the cost, according to a draft of the bill obtained last night by The Washington Post. Some small businesses and low-income workers would be eligible for subsidies.

While at least five congressional chairmen are working on health-care reform bills, Kennedy is the first to complete detailed legislative language. The draft provides a partial road map for how the nation might address health coverage gaps and problems such as rising costs and inferior quality.

The 170-page bill, dubbed the “American Health Choices Act,” does not include cost estimates or specifics on how to pay for the expansion.

Perhaps its most controversial element is the creation of a new government-sponsored health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. Republicans and industry groups have opposed the so-called “public option,” arguing it would undermine the private marketplace and could lead to a “single-payer” system. President Obama reiterated his support for the public option earlier this week.

Under the approach crafted by the Kennedy staff, doctors and hospitals serving patients in the new public insurance plan would be paid 10 percent above current Medicare rates. The bill suggests the costs of the program would be covered through premiums.

“This is a draft of a draft,” Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley said. Committee Democrats, he said, “are still discussing legislative options among themselves and Republican colleagues.”

He did not dispute the contents of the document, which closely tracks with summaries circulated by the Kennedy team last week.

Much of the bill is modeled after sweeping state health-care reform enacted three years ago in Massachusetts. In addition to the requirements on businesses and individuals, the bill would create new insurance exchanges, called “connectors,” that would essentially enable individuals to shop for insurance. Kennedy would allow families earning up to 500 percent of the poverty level — $110,000 — to buy insurance on a sliding scale with government subsidies.

A markup of the bill by Kennedy’s committee is tentatively set for June 16. The Senate Finance Committee hopes to release its proposal June 17 and begin markup on June 22.

———————————————————————————————–

Having the government subsidies for Health Insurance will open up the option of Health Insurance to a lot of Americans who were never in the postion to be able to have it before.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

818-709-8442

www.health-insurancecalifornia.com