US Congress approves first step for repealing Obamacare

WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in passing a critical measure that marks the first major step toward repealing outgoing President Barack Obama's landmark but controversial health care reforms.

The House's near party-line vote of 227 to 198 approved a budget blueprint which provides Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, with a framework for dismantling the Affordable Care Act.

But one week before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a sense of urgency has swept over Washington about what his party will put forward as a replacement for the law, with Democrats warning of disastrous consequences should Republicans act too hastily.

"This resolution essentially fires the starting pistol... for repealing Obamacare," said Representative Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican.

"This is a critical first step to deliver relief to Americans struggling under this law," House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow members, describing as a "rescue mission" the latest effort to unwind Obamacare.

"This experiment has failed," and "we have to step in before things get worse."

The Senate passed the resolution Thursday. It received no Democratic support in either chamber, highlighting the intensely partisan fight that lies ahead.

The resolution provides Republicans with a powerful tool, called reconciliation, which allows repeal legislation to proceed through the 100-member Senate with a simple majority, protected from a Democratic filibuster that requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome.

Trump made repeal of the law a central plank of his insurgent campaign, and he sounded triumphant ahead of the vote.

"The 'Unaffordable' Care Act will soon be history!" he tweeted early Friday.

Days earlier he said the Republicans ought to repeal and replace Obamacare quickly and "simultaneously."

During a Thursday town hall style event Ryan said he was on board, and that he envisioned action on a plan "within the first hundred days."

'CUT' AND RUN?

Unwinding Obamacare will be a monumental task. Republican leadership is moving carefully, stressing it does not want to "pull the rug out from anyone" who might lose coverage if there is no replacement plan on offer.

But there is debate among Republicans about how -- and how fast -- to proceed.

Charlie Dent, one of nine House Republicans who voted against the resolution, expressed "reservations" about quickly repealing parts of Obamacare without a credible replacement at the ready.

"I think the repeal plan needs to be fully developed and better articulated prior to moving forward," he told CNN.

The White House touts Obamacare as a success, saying more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance through the law.

The Affordable Care Act forbids insurance companies from denying health care due to pre-existing conditions, abolishes lifetime caps on care, and allows children to stay on their parents' plans until age 26, three provisions that have proved popular nationwide.

Ryan insists the Republican plan that moves forward will include its own versions of such provisions.

Democrats warn that scrapping the law could result in tens of millions of Americans losing coverage.

"They want to cut benefits and run. They want to cut access and run," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said of Republicans, and accused Ryan of peddling "mythology" about the law.

House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries offered harsher criticism about Republican efforts to swiftly dismantle the reforms, despite not formulating a viable replacement plan in the last six years.

"All you have is smoke and mirrors, and the American people are getting ready to get screwed," Jeffries said on the House floor.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Medical delivery drones take flight over Rwanda

"Three, two, one, launch!" And with that, catapulted from a ramp, the small fixed-wing drone buzzes into the air towards its pre-programmed destination, the Kabgayi hospital two kilometers away.

On Friday Rwanda inaugurated a drone operation that its backers hope will kickstart a revolution in the supply of medical care in rural parts of Africa, in the first instance by delivering batches of blood to 21 clinics in the west of the country.

Maternal mortality rates in Africa are among the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), largely due to postpartum hemorrhage caused by lack of access to simple blood transfusions.

Rwanda is no exception, and the situation here is worsened by the topography of a country dubbed "the land of a thousand hills" as well as intense seasonal rains making the transport of blood by road often long and difficult.

Blood "is a very precious commodity so you cannot just stock a lot of it in every single heath center," said Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline, a California-based robotics company that designed the 15 drones and the base housing them in Muhanga, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the capital Kigali.

FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT
Rinaudo hopes his drone delivery system will "allow the Rwandan government to instantly deliver life-saving transfusions to any citizen in the country in 15 to 30 minutes."

US package-delivery giant UPS and global vaccine alliance Gavi have invested $1.1 million (one million euros) in the Zipline project, one of a handful on the continent seeking to harness the potential of delivery drones to overcome poor infrastructure.

For the Rwandan government blood delivery by drone is not cheaper, but it promises to be much faster.

The drones dubbed "Zips" are shaped like a fat-bellied miniature plane with a two-metre (six-foot) wingspan.

They are battery-powered with a range of around 150 kilometers, weigh 13 kilos (29 pounds) and can carry a cargo of about 1.5 kilos, or three bags of blood.

Flying at up to 70 kilometers per hour, it is predicted each drone could make as many as 150 deliveries a day.

At the tent that serves as a launch station, Zipline technicians monitor the drones from laptops while others prepare the payload: small cardboard boxes with paper parachutes that will hold the transfusion blood and be dropped from a height of around 20 meters.

As the test flights were carried out curious residents peered through the fence, watching as the drones were flung into the air, returning after dropping their cargo at the hospital, and landing on an inflatable mattress.

Zipline plans to open a second base in Rwanda next year meaning the whole of the tiny country will be within range.

"These flights will save lives," said Gregg Svingen, head of communications at UPS. "Today it is blood, tomorrow it will be vaccines."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

San Francisco nurses protests closing of elder care program

In a rally held by the California Nurses Association (CNA), registered nurses said they could not stand by and watch their patients in the Home Health Care Program at UCSF Medical Center no longer receive vital health care.

This, as the program is slated to end on September 30, after 16 years of service.

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s outrageous. We’re angry and sad that our institution where we pour our heart and soul into taking care of our patients and our community would consider cutting what is a vital service,” said Erin Carrera, RN of the California Nurses Association.

According to CNA, 56 positions will be lost when the program ends in September, however, it does not compare to the thousands of patients who will lose out on services.

In a statement from UCSF, the program faced difficulty in financial stability, citing how reimbursement from insurers could not keep up with costs of the program. UCSF also cited how they decided to shift financial resources toward education since they are an academic medical center.

The nurses say that UCSF can easily support the program because its revenues have gone up in the past five years.

“Health care should be a right, not a privilege and we should be putting patients…patient care before profits, simple as that,” said Carrera.

San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim stood with the nurses calling for the need for more health care for the medically under-served.

“This program keeps costs down and also provides equal sharing between our private sector and our public sector to serve our entire community,” said Kim.

According to UCSF health, current patients will be assisted in finding appropriate providers for their home care needs and that the program employees will also be assisted in finding positions within or outside UCSF.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

It's Health Plan Open Enrollment Time: Navigating Your Benefit Options

With open enrollment at U.S. companies right around the corner, many workers will find themselves sifting through mounds of paperwork trying making sense of the benefit options awaiting them.

This year's enrollment season gets even more complicated with an expanded health insurance marketplace as part of the president's Affordable Care Act. While more options mean price points will be more competitive, it can also make finding the right plan daunting.

Many consumers just don't understand the health plan choices they need to make and that means they could be wasting money or unnecessarily paying out-of-pocket expenses.

To cut through the confusion, many turn to a trusted financial expert. Conversely, savvy financial advisors typically reach out to clients as open enrollment approaches.

"I send a note to working clients saying that if they are facing open enrollment, they should contact me," said Roger Wohlner, a certified financial planner with Asset Strategy Consultants.

As health-care costs outpace annual inflation at a clip of 4 percent, with some estimates pegging even higher costs in coming years, companies increasingly have adjusted insurance offerings to mitigate their own cost for offering coverage.

What this means is that more employers are steering employees into consumer-directed health plans, which generally require workers to take more control over how health-care dollars are spent.

"You really need to look at all options and changes before you make a decision," said Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner who is co-CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial. "Your overall decision should be predicated on past medical expenses and what you anticipate (spending) going forward."
The number of large employers offering only a consumer-directed health plan continues to rise, with 22 percent of firms planning to implement such plans for 2014, up from 19 percent this year, according to a survey released in August by the Washington, D.C.-based National Business Group on Health. Already, 72 percent offer such plans, the survey found.

Basically, it's getting more complicated. No longer will choices be limited to low-deductible plans where coverage choice is based solely on in-network or out-of-network coverage or a focus on preventive or catastrophic care coverage.

Consumer-directed health plans all have one thing in common: They are tax-advantaged accounts. Included in those plans are health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement arrangements.

FSAs are funded through pretax payroll deductions and can be used for eligible medical expenses. The IRS contribution limit now is $2,500, with the amount scheduled to be adjusted yearly for inflation.

The downside is FSAs are use-it-or-lose-it accounts, meaning unused funds at either year-end or an employer-imposed deadline are forfeited.




Wohlner advises clients who use FSAs to evaluate their medical expenses and adjust contributions accordingly.

"If you see your expenses were lower this year (than your 2013 commitment), don't contribute as much for next year," Wohlner said.

Additionally, FSAs no longer can be used to fund over-the-counter expenses because of provisions in the Affordable Care Act. In past years, FSA owners with unused funds could stock up on needed OTC medications.

FSAs are not used in conjunction with high-deductible plans -- that's what HSAs are for.

HSAs must be coupled with a high-deductible plan. IRS guidelines for 2014 dictate the deductible must be at least $1,250 for self-only coverage or $2,500 for family coverage. But, the 2014 pretax contribution limit to an HSA is higher than for an FSA -- $3,300 per individual and $6,550 per family -- and unused funds remain in the account.

Another appeal is an HSA's portability -- it can move with the employee from job to job.

Tom Henske, a certified planner with Lenox Advisors, advises clients to use HSAs if they are offered.

"Clients generally will worry about 12 to 24 months from now, not 12 to 24 years," Henske said. "But we don't see any end in sight for rising costs. We don't know where this is going. So workers should build a war chest."

Certified financial planner Jennifer Cray agrees.

"It's really a way to save for retirement," said Cray, who works for Investor's Capital Management.

Another benefit to HSAs over FSAs is that they require less guesswork, Henske explains.

"Deciding how much to put into an FSA is just a guesstimate of how much you need," Henske said.

Health reimbursement arrangements increasingly are being explored by companies. In fact, Jenkin has seen a growth in their use specifically among small-business owners.

The biggest difference between an HRA and that of an FSA or HSA is that it is owned by the employer. The company funds it, but the employee uses the money for qualified medical expenses.

Although workers cannot contribute to an HRA, they are not taxed on the employer's contributions. The company, meanwhile, gets a tax break -- which is why some companies view such accounts as a way to mitigate their rising health-care costs, according to some financial experts.

Federal law also allows significant flexibility in how employers implement HRAs.

Behavioral health coverage, including mental health and substance abuse, fall under the jurisdiction of federal law requiring certain levels of coverage. Exact coverage, including deductibles and allowable visits, varies from state to state.

Additionally, many companies also offer dental and vision coverage.

"It's usually very cheap relative to health insurance, so it's almost always worth getting," Cray said. "But make sure your doctors are in network."

She adds that for workers with children, vision and dental coverage can be more crucial because of unanticipated costs such as orthodontic care and eye glasses or contact lenses. And, typically, preventive care such as routine dental cleanings and vision checks are low cost.

The bottom line, Jenkin said, is employees need to evaluate the full picture of insurance options before blindly committing with little thought.

"Look at your options," he said. "And really give thought to how you build an overall construct that meets your needs."

source: dailyfinance.com

Hair loss, pimples linked to stress

MANILA – If you are shedding hair more than usual or develop dry, itchy skin, you may need a change of scenery or lifestyle.

According to dermatologist Dr. Grace Beltran, hair loss and skin problems may be caused by too much stress.

Beltran said stress can induce pimples, lesions and rashes, which may develop into a skin disease affecting a person’s entire body.

“Ang stress pwedeng directly mag-induce ng skin lesions, pwede ding may genetic problem to begin with tapos na-aggravate ng stress,” she told dzMM’s “Magandang Gabi, Dok.”

“The more stressed you are, the more sensitive you become,” she added.

Beltran said shedding and thinning of hair is also linked to stress, and may occur 3 to 4 months after a stressful episode in a person’s life, including sickness, surgery and pregnancy.

Beltran said a person experiencing stress should try and control it by relaxing, engaging in a new hobby or a change in lifestlye.

“Baguhin mo ‘yung lifestyle mo. Kapag nai-istress ka na, do something about it. Parang mag-liwaliw ka na kaunti,” she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

The Health Care Cost Article Every American Should Read

Every American should read this piece on health care costs, from Steven Brill, of Time Magazine. It’s 11 pages of excellent journalism that will enlighten and enrage you, as it highlights the “why” of skyrocketing health care costs in the U.S.

There is an epic battle going on between health care providers and insurers. And providers are winning as they consolidate and increase their negotiation leverage. The result? We all pay more. Absurd levels more.

Mr. Brill examines a number of actual patient medical bills and compares costs to what you would pay on Amazon or elsewhere for the same product, as well as what Medicare and insurers might pay for services – and what unfortunate patients without health insurance are forced to pay.


Below are some specific examples of ridiculousness that stood out to me:

• Common items like generic Tylenol coming with a charge of $1.50 PER PILL while you can purchase a bottle of 100 for $1.49 on Amazon.
• Hospitals that are “non-profit” in name only, with net annual profits of $500 million+, even after paying high level executives millions. The article gave the example of the non-profit MD Anderson (part of the University of Texas), who’s CEO, Ronald DePinho, receiving total compensation of $1,845,000 – two and a half times the salary of the chancellor of the entire university.
• MD Anderson charged $7 each for “ALCOHOL PREP PAD.” This is a little square of cotton used to apply alcohol to an injection. A box of 200 can be bought online for $1.91.
• Stamford Hospital charged 11 times its costs on lab work, on average.
• 14 administrators at New York City’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center are paid over $500,000 a year, including six who make over $1 million.
• With $2.586 billion in revenue, New York City’s Montefiore Medical Center (a non-profit) is more than six times as large as the New York Yankees. It’s CEO makes $4,065,000, chief financial officer makes $3,243,000, executive vice president makes $2,220,000, and head of its dental department makes $1,798,000.

As wells as some broad facts/statistics on health care costs that stood out:

• In the U.S., we spend almost 20% of GDP on health care, compared with about half that in most developed countries.
• Americans spend more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia.
• We’re likely to spend $2.8 trillion this year on health care. That $2.8 trillion is likely to be $750 billion, or 27%, more than we would spend if we spent the same per capita as other developed countries, even after adjusting for the relatively high per capita income in the U.S. vs. those other countries.
• Every hospital has a document called a “chargemaster”, which acts as a price catalog for every service/medicine/etc. they provide. Prices for the chargemaster are not in conformity between providers and seem to be arbitrarily set and automatically increased each year.
• Under Internal Revenue Service rules, nonprofits are not prohibited from taking in more money than they spend. They just can’t distribute the overage to shareholders — because they don’t have any shareholders.
• Aware of the leverage that drug companies — especially those with unique lifesaving products — have on the market, most developed countries regulate what drugmakers can charge, limiting them to certain profit margins. In fact, the drugmakers’ securities filings repeatedly warn investors of tighter price controls that could threaten their high margins — though not in the U.S.
• The difference between the regulatory environment in the U.S. and the environment abroad is so dramatic that McKinsey & Co. researchers reported that overall prescription-drug prices in the U.S. are “50% higher for comparable products” than in other developed countries. Yet those regulated profit margins outside the U.S. remain high enough that Grifols, Baxter and other drug companies still aggressively sell their products there.
• More than $280 billion will be spent this year on prescription drugs in the U.S. If we paid what other countries did for the same products, we would save about $94 billion a year.
• Congress prohibits the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices with drugmakers. Medicare is forced to add 6% to the average sales price, by Congressional law. In the areas of the country where Medicare has been allowed by Congress to conduct a competitive-bidding pilot program, the process has produced savings of 40%.
• Medicare has an overall administrative and management cost of about two-thirds of 1% of the amount of the claims, or less than $3.80 per claim. According to its latest SEC filing, Aetna spent $6.9 billion on operating expenses (including claims processing, accounting, sales and executive management) in 2012. That’s about $30 for each of the 229 million claims Aetna processed, and it amounts to about 29% of the $23.7 billion Aetna pays out in claims. (GE note: Medicare can negotiate prices that are a fraction of what insurers can and their administrative costs are 10% of insurers. On top of that, there is no 20% profit payout to Medicare, and no lavish CEO salaries in the other 80%. Please tell me why we are better off with Aetna and like insurers?)

My Thoughts on Steven Brill’s “Bitter Pill” article:

 

Despite my appreciation for almost all 20,000 words of this article, I take one rather big exception to his conclusion. Brill’s uses the entire article to explain why costs are so high – and he compares how effective Medicare is at examining costs, negotiating lower prices, and being more efficient than private insurers. Some of his recommendations at the end of the article are spot on, but he doesn’t close the circle and make the ultimate recommendation that his months of painstaking work pointed towards – the need for single payer in the marketplace.

The author, who has conservative leanings, goes as far to say we should heavily tax profits, put caps on profits, and expand our current single-payer Medicare (by lowering the age from 65 to 60), but doesn’t go as far to say we should move over to single-payer completely. Why? Cowardice? Political angst against him? I don’t know. But as this article highlights, the numbers don’t lie. There is no politics behind numbers – the lowest cost options should win out for the American people. Brill takes you up 99% of the way up the grueling, unexplored summit, then turns around and says, “oops, forgot the flag.”

If the government (Medicare single payer) is that much more efficient and leveraged in negotiating payouts and limiting costs, I’ll sign up and pay for that insurance plan vs. my existing, any day. Unfortunately, we don’t have that option. We should all want it though, because ultimately, all of these costs are passed along to every one of us. Private insurance is nothing but an inefficient non-government tax that distributes these outrageous costs while taking an additional 20% middle-man surcharge. With private health insurer payouts gone, and more leverage, our shared costs would plummet.

source: 20somethingfinance.com

Obama's New Health Insurance Markets Are on the Way

WASHINGTON -- Buying your own health insurance will never be the same.

This fall, new insurance markets called exchanges will open in each state, marking the long-awaited and much-debated debut of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The goal is quality coverage for millions of uninsured people in the United States. What the reality will look like is anybody's guess -- from bureaucracy, confusion and indifference to seamless service and satisfied customers.

Exchanges will offer individuals and their families a choice of private health plans resembling what workers at major companies already get. The government will help many middle-class households pay their premiums, while low-income people will be referred to safety-net programs they might qualify for.

Most people will go online to pick a plan when open enrollment starts Oct. 1. Counselors will be available at call centers and in local communities, too. Some areas will get a storefront operation or kiosks at the mall. Translation to Spanish and other languages will be provided.

When you pick a plan, you'll no longer have to worry about getting turned down or charged more because of a medical problem. If you're a woman, you can't be charged a higher premium because of gender. Middle-aged people and those nearing retirement will get a price break: They can't be charged more than three times what younger customers pay, compared with six times or seven times today.

If all this sounds too good to be true, remember that nothing in life is free and change isn't easy.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, when coverage takes effect in the exchanges, virtually everyone in the country will be required by law to have health insurance or face fines. The mandate is meant to get everybody paying into the insurance pool.

Obama's law is called the Affordable Care Act, but some people in the new markets might experience sticker shock over their premiums. Smokers will pay a financial penalty. Younger, well-to-do people who haven't seen the need for health insurance may not be eligible for income-based assistance with their premiums.

Many people, even if they get government help, will find that health insurance still doesn't come cheaply. Monthly premiums will be less than the mortgage or rent, but maybe more than a car loan. The coverage, however, will be more robust than most individual plans currently sold.

Consider a hypothetical family of four making $60,000 and headed by a 40-year-old. They'll be eligible for a government tax credit of $7,193 toward their annual premium of $12,130. But they'd still have to pay $4,937, about 8 percent of their income, or about $410 a month.

A lower-income family would get a better deal from the government's sliding-scale subsidies.

Consider a similar four-person family making $35,000. They'd get a $10,742 tax credit toward the $12,130 annual premium. They'd have to pay $1,388, about 4 percent of their income, or about $115 a month.

The figures come from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation's online Health Reform Subsidy Calculator. But while the government assistance is called a tax credit and computed through the income tax system, the money doesn't come to you in a refund. It goes directly to insurers.

Obama's law is the biggest thing that's happened to health care since Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s. But with open enrollment for exchange plans less than 10 months away, there's a dearth of consumer information. It's as if the consumer angle got drowned out by the political world's dispute over "Obamacare," the dismissive label coined by Republican foes.

Yet exchanges are coming to every state, even those led by staunch GOP opponents of the overhaul, such as Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Nikki Haley of South Carolina. In their states and close to 20 others that are objecting, the exchanges will be operated by the federal government, over state opposition. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has pledged that every citizen will have access to an exchange come next Jan. 1, and few doubt her word.

But what's starting to dawn on Obama administration officials, activists, and important players in the health care industry is that the lack of consumer involvement, unless reversed, could turn the big health care launch into a dud. What if Obama cut the ribbon and nobody cared?

"The people who stand to benefit the most are the least aware of the changes that are coming," said Rachel Klein, executive director of Enroll America, a nonprofit that's trying to generate consumer enthusiasm.

"My biggest fear is that we get to Oct. 1 and people haven't heard there is help coming, and they won't benefit from it as soon as they can," she added. "I think it is a realistic fear."

Even the term "exchange" could be a stumbling block. It was invented by policy nerds. Although the law calls them "American Health Benefit Exchanges," Sebelius is starting to use the term "marketplaces" instead.

Polls underscore the concerns. A national survey last October found that only 37 percent of the uninsured said they would personally be better off because of the health care law. Twenty-three percent said they would be worse off in the Kaiser poll, while 31 percent said it would make no difference to them.

Insurers, hospitals, drug companies and other businesses that stand to benefit from the hundreds of billions of dollars the government will pump in to subsidize coverage aren't waiting for Washington to educate the public.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, for example, are trying to carve out a new role for themselves as explainers of the exchanges. Somewhere around 12 million people now purchase coverage individually, but the size of the market could double or triple with the new approach, and taxpayers will underwrite it.

"Consumers are expecting their health insurance provider to be a helpful navigator to them," said Maureen Sullivan, a senior vice president for the Blues' national association. "We see 2013 as a huge year for education."

One goal is to help consumers master the "metals," the four levels of coverage that will be available through exchange plans: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

Blue Cross is also working with tax preparer H&R Block, which is offering its customers a health insurance checkup at no additional charge this tax season. Returns filed this year for 2012 will be used by the government to help determine premium subsidies for 2014.

"This tax season is one of historical significance," said Meg Sutton, senior advisor for tax and health care at H&R Block. "The tax return you are filing is going to be key to determining your health care benefits on the exchange."

Only one state, Massachusetts, now has an exchange resembling what the administration wants to see around the country. After six years in business, the Health Connector enrolls about 240,000 Massachusetts residents. It was created under the health overhaul plan passed by Republican former Gov. Mitt Romney and has gotten generally positive reviews.

Connector customer Robert Schultz is a Boston area startup business consultant who got his MBA in 2008, when the economy was tanking. Yet he was able to find coverage when he graduated and hang on to his insurance through job changes since. Schultz says that's freed him to pursue his ambition of becoming a successful entrepreneur -- a job creator instead of an employee.

"It's being portrayed by opponents as being socialistic," Schultz said. "It is only socialistic in the sense of making sure that everybody in society is covered, because the cost of making sure everybody is covered in advance is much less than the cost of putting out fires."

The Connector's executive director, Glen Shor, said his state has proven the concept works and he's confident other states can succeed on their own terms.

"There is no backing away from all the challenges associated with expanding coverage," Shor said. "We are proud in Massachusetts that we overcame what had been years of policy paralysis."

source: dailyfinance.com

Swine flu kills 24 in Middle East

Twenty-four people have died of the swine flu in the last month in the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Israel, officials said.

Assad al-Ramlawi, director general of the Healthcare Department in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said four Palestinians died after contracting the H1N1 virus in the West Bank and Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 21 since the start of winter, the Saudi Gazette reported.

Ramlawi said 600 people, 30 of them in the Gaza Strip, have been diagnosed with the virus. Most of those who died because of the flu had a weak immune system or an existing illness, he said.

In Jordan, two people died of swine virus this month and 95 cases have been registered with authorities, Ammon News, citing Health Minister Abdullatif Wreikat, reported during the weekend.

In Israel, a 3-year-old boy died of the flu last week and at least four people with the virus, some listed in serious condition, have been hospitalized, an unnamed Health Ministry official told the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz. The boy suffered from a chronic illness before he contracted the virus, the official said.

source: upi.com

6 things you need to know about cancer

MANILA, Philippines – In celebration of National Cancer Consciousness Week, here are some things you need to know about this disease, which is characterized by unregulated cell growth.

In an interview on “Mornings@ANC” on Wednesday, executive director Rachael Marie Rosario of the Philippine Cancer Society debunked myths about cancer and shared the most common types of the disease.

1. Cancer is not just a health issue.

Rosario made it clear that cancer also has social, economic and development implications, and may even affect a person’s rights.

“It impacts on human rights in a way because people need access to hospitals, to treatment, and most especially in the last stages when probably there is pain. There’s a right for all of us not to be in pain,” she said.

“There is burden on your families. It’s not just you, but mainly it’s you,” she added. “Here in the Philippines for now, you have to spend out of pocket for these expenses, although PhilHealth and the DOH (Department of Health) are trying to help us with this.”

2. Cancer is not just a disease of the wealthy, elderly and developed countries.

According to Rosario, cancer is a global epidemic that affects all ages, with low- and middle-income countries bearing a disproportionate burden.

“Children also get affected. And it’s not limited to the wealthy,” she explained.

“Poverty can actually have an impact on getting cancer because we are less educated. And cancer can also cause poverty because it is expensive at times,” she added.

3. Cancer can be cured.

It is not automatically a death sentence, said Rosario, who maintained that some types of cancer can be cured at its early stages.

The problem, she said, is that most Filipinos do not undergo regular checkups, with others refusing to see a doctor even if they start feeling something wrong with their bodies.

“Generally, we say that if you get it or we diagnose it early on, then the chances for getting a cure are higher. The problem with us is that sometimes, when we sense something is wrong, we don’t go see the doctor,” she said.

“We always say that it might be bad news, that ‘I don’t want to go.’ But it’s there and you can’t just go into a wishful thinking mode or wish it away or pretend it’s not there,” she added.

4. Cancer can be prevented.

With the right strategies, more than one in every three cancer cases can be prevented, according to Rosario.

The key, she said, is living a healthy lifestyle and having regular checkups.

“We can prevent it and there are things that we can do,” Rosario stressed. “[For example] Do not smoke. If you are not smoking, do not try to smoke. If you are smoking, try to quit. If you cannot quit, then don’t go near other people when you smoke because they can get secondhand smoke.”

Rosario said some of the “preventable” cancers include lung, oral cavity (through tobacco control), liver (through a Hepatitis B vaccination), cervix (through a HPV vaccination), stomach, colon/rectum (through a healthy and balanced diet), skin (by avoiding extreme exposure to sunlight), breast (through regular self-breast examinations), thyroid and prostate.

5. Lung cancer is the top cancer among men in the Philippines.

Second on the list is liver cancer, followed by colon/rectum cancer.

The rest, according to Rosario, include prostate, stomach, leukemia, brain/nervous system, pharynx, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and kidney.

6. Breast cancer is the top cancer among women in the Philippines.

Cervix cancer ranks second, followed by lung, colon/rectum, ovary and liver.

The second half of the top ten, meanwhile, include uterus, leukemia, thyroid and stomach.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

FDA orders recall of 6 S.Korean noodle brands

MANILA - Philippine authorities have ordered the recall of six brands of South Korean noodles from local shops after they were reported to contain a cancer-causing chemical.

The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement dated Thursday that the noodles made by Nongshim Co, "will be off the shelves immediately", and called on the public to report if they were still being sold.

"The government is also undertaking inspection, collection and testing of other brands of noodles not currently identified to be contaminated as a precaution," the statement on the agency's website said.

The Philippine agency said its South Korean counterpart had found that the six brands contained "benzopyrene, a chemical with carcinogenic potential" in its tests.

The statement did not say if the Philippine agency had tested the Nongshim brands itself. Spokesmen of the local FDA could not be contacted for comment.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam have all reportedly had similar recalls of the same brands of South Korean noodles over similar health fears.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Stem cell therapy a cure-all? Not so fast

MANILA, Philippines – It’s supposed to cure various illnesses such as cancer, spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease. Is stem cell therapy the cure-all that it is touted to be?

Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said it is important to note that stem cell treatments are still at the experimental stage.

"The advisory is very clear. This is still an investigative form of therapy. Anecdotal reports are not enough evidence to say there is treatment,” he said in an interview on ANC's Talkback with Tina Palma.

He said there are only two standard stem cell therapies considered effective and acceptable to the medical community.

"To date, I can only name two cases that are considered standard therapy. That is bone marrow transplantation--one for severe cancer, blood cancer and the other one is bone marrow transplantation after chemotherapy for any type of cancer,” he said.

Herbosa said the Department of Health cannot confirm yet if stem cell treatment is indeed effective against certain diseases.

Dr. Tranquilino Elicaño Jr., an oncologist who availed of the treatment in April in Frankfurt, Germany, said stem cell therapy cured his high blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and uric acid.

He had 12 injections of cells, which came from lambs.

“After a month, I had my blood tests. Everything went down to normal,” Elicaño said.

Elicaño also said he is not taking medication anymore because he has regained his health.

Anecdotal case

Dr. Michelle de Vera, deputy director of the Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine at The Medical City, said that while Elicaño’s illnesses seem to have been cured, his is still an anecdotal case.

"There's not a whole lot of people with the same kinds of illnesses that are treated with the same kind of treatment. It cannot be generalized yet," she said.

She said out of the 350 patients who underwent stem cell therapy at The Medical City, they had no records of any patient whose condition worsened.

She said some patients did not get any better despite the treatment.

"People have to be very careful in claiming," de Vera added.

Herbosa also clarified that having a younger skin after the therapy is just a side effect, and is not the treatment's main purpose.

Role of media

Herbosa said the media played a role in the sudden popularity of stem cell treatment.

"You have popularized it beyond what the knowledge can actually support," he said.

"It may have side effects that are not yet known."

He said the health department is not regulating the proliferation of stem cell treatment facilities but urged the public to listen to official advisories.

"We won't regulate but we'll make a research protocol, validate it scientifically."

De Vera also said that each case has to be documented and they would have to determine which laboratories are capable of providing the treatment.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

U.S. kids consume too much salt

ATLANTA, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. children eat nearly as much salt in their diet as adults -- an average of 3,387 milligrams a day -- more than double than they should, officials say.

Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, said it's recommended children eat 1,500 milligrams a day.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found the number of obese youth increased 74 percent for every 1,000 milligrams of increased sodium intake per day -- compared with only a 6 percent increase among normal-weight young people.

"It's very disturbing that this nation's children and teens consume too much salt in their diets at school and home. High blood pressure, once viewed as an adult illness is now affecting more young people because of high sodium diets and increasing obesity," Brown said in a statement. "While new nutrition standards for school meals are helping, progress is slow."

More than 75 percent of sodium in the U.S. diet comes from processed and restaurant foods, as well as beverages, Brown said.

Too much sodium is linked to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and other health problems, Brown added.

"The salt we all eat daily is becoming a major public health issue and current approaches to sodium reduction in the United States have not been effective," Brown said. "We must make the reduction of sodium a national priority."

source: upi.com

Governors aside, feds building health care markets

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Don't look now: The feds may be gaining on GOP governors who've balked at carrying out a key part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

Opponents of the law say they won't set up new private health insurance markets called exchanges. But increasingly it's looking like Washington will just do it for them.

That means federal officials could be calling the shots on some insurance issues that states traditionally manage, from handling consumer complaints to regulating plans that will serve many citizens.

Unless Mitt Romney wins in November, that could turn into a political debacle for those dug in to fight what they denounce as "Obamacare."

"You're kind of rolling the dice if you think (Obama's health care law) will go away," said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, a Republican. If Romney can't make good on his vow to repeal the overhaul, "you are just giving up a lot of authority."

The law envisioned that states would run the new markets, or exchanges, with federal control as a fallback only. But the fallback now looks as if it will become the standard option in about half the states - at least initially.

It would happen through something called the federal exchange, humming along largely under wraps on a tight development schedule overseen by the Health and Human Services Department in Washington.

Exchanges are online markets in which individual consumers and small businesses will shop for health insurance among competing private plans. The Supreme Court's health care decision left both state exchanges and the federal option in place.

The exchanges are supposed to demystify the process of buying health insurance, allowing consumers to make apples-to-apples comparisons. Consumers will also be able to find out whether they're eligible for new federal subsidies to help pay premiums, or whether they qualify for expanded Medicaid.

It's all supposed to work in real time, or close to it, like online travel services. Open enrollment would start a little over a year from now, on Oct. 1, 2013, with coverage kicking in the following Jan. 1.

Eventually more than 25 million people are expected to get coverage through exchanges, including many who were previously uninsured. As exchanges get more customers, competition among insurance plans could help keep costs in check.

But only 14 states and Washington, D.C., have adopted plans for their own exchanges: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. Some could still backtrack.

Kentucky and Minnesota are pushing forward with their own exchanges, and others may be able to partner with the federal government. States face a Jan. 1, 2013, deadline for Washington to sign off on their plans.

Meanwhile, the federal exchange is advancing.

HHS contractors are working feverishly to design and test computer systems that would make the federal exchange come alive. It's a top priority for the Obama administration, which is guarding the details closely. Estimated price tag: at least $860 million.

The government is "on track in moving aggressively to set up this market structure," Mike Hash, the HHS official overseeing the effort, told industry representatives, state officials and public policy experts at a recent Bipartisan Policy Center conference. "We're on track ... to go live in the fall of 2013."

"I think the pressure is on them to deliver, and I fully expect they will," said Jon Kingsdale, who was the founding director of the nation's first health insurance exchange, created under then-Gov. Romney's health care overhaul in Massachusetts.

Now a consultant to states, Kingsdale says he expects the federal exchange to look very much like the one already operating in his home state.

There will be a website, and you'll be able to put in your ZIP code and get a list of available health plans. There will be a section where you can find out whether you qualify for subsidies, or whether you might need to look at Medicaid. There will be cost calculators to allow you to compare different levels of coverage: platinum, gold, silver and bronze. There will be tools that allow you to see whether your doctor or hospital is with a particular plan.

In an interview, HHS official Hash said the government is undaunted by the prospect of running exchanges in half the states or more.

"What we are talking about building here is a system that is really using 21st century technology, and it's not dependent like in the past on bricks and mortar or how many (federal employees) you have," said Hash. "Information technology produces the opportunity for efficiency. It's much more easily scalable if you need to do it for a larger number of individuals."

Paper applications also will be accepted. And Hash expects people will have plenty of help to navigate the system, from volunteers to insurers advertising to reach new customers.

The government has awarded two big technology contracts for exchanges.

HHS rejected an Associated Press request to interview the contractors.

Virginia-based CGI Federal Inc. is building the federal exchange. Maryland-based Quality Software Services Inc. is building what's called the federal data services hub, an electronic back office that will be used by the federal exchange and state exchanges to verify identity, income, citizenship and legal residence.

Running the data hub will involve securely checking sensitive personal information held by agencies such as the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security Department.

The administration says consumers should not notice any difference between the federal exchange and marketplaces run by the states. State regulators disagree.

"I think we would be giving up something," said Praeger, the Kansas insurance commissioner. "It would have much more of a federal flavor than a Kansas flavor."

Praeger wants Kansas to have a state-run exchange, but GOP Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican state legislators are opposed. If opponents prevail, the state will have a federal exchange.

But conservatives are raising yet another argument in hopes of shutting down federal exchanges.

Led by Cato Institute economist Michael Cannon, several opponents say the letter of the complex law precludes the government from subsidizing coverage through the federal exchange. They say the law allows only tax credits to help consumers pay premiums in state exchanges, not the federal exchange, and that's the way Congress intended it. If states don't set up exchanges, that would starve the health care overhaul of money and cause it to unravel, they contend.

But the IRS and two nonpartisan congressional units - the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation - conducted their own analyses and concluded that subsidies are available in both types of exchanges, federal and state-run. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., one of the law's principal authors, says that's exactly how Congress intended it.

At the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, spokesman Scott Holeman says, "At this time, we don't have any reason to question the federal government's interpretation of the statute."

The dispute may wind up in court but probably wouldn't get resolved until after the exchanges are up and running.

source: asianjournal.com

Breastfeeding gets a boost

Almost half of all babies born in the United States -- 47.2% to be exact -- are still breastfeeding at 6 months, and the rate at which mothers are initiating breastfeeding of their newborns has had its highest jump in a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

That news comes on the day that a provision of the Affordable Care Act takes effect that will make breastfeeding easier and less expensive for mothers who spend part of their days away from their babies. Starting Wednesday, insurers will be required to reimburse for comprehensive lactation support and counseling for new mothers without co-payments, and to underwrite the rental of breast pumps and other lactation equipment that would allow mothers to express their milk.

The healthcare reform law also requires employers to provide nursing women adequate break time and a private place other than a bathroom for expressing milk in the year following the birth.

Among babies born in the United States in 2009, 76.9% were breastfed at least once, 47.2% were still being breastfed at 6 months and 25.5% were still being breastfed when they reached their first birthday, said the CDC report. All of those figures represent a jump of about 2 percentage points over breastfeeding rates in 2008. And they are well above breastfeeding rates measured in 2000, when 34.2% of infants were still being breastfed at 6 months and 15.7% at 12 months

Despite medical and government recommendations that women breastfeed their babies exclusively for at least six months, only 16.3% of American babies are fed only breast milk by that age, the CDC reported. At three months, 36% of babies get all their nutrition from breast milk.

Breastfeeding is linked to a wide range of benefits for both mother and baby. Babies who have been breastfed have lower rates of middle ear infections, colds and gastroenteritis and are at lower risk of dying of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, developing type 2 diabetes or becoming obese. Mothers who breastfeed drive down their risk of breast and ovarian cancer, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

In a state-by-state breakdown of breastfeeding practices, the CDC showed Utah, Oregon, Vermont and New Hampshire to be among the nation's breastfeeding champions, with rates of breastfeeding at 6 and 12 months well above the national average. Among the states with the lowest rates of breastfeeding were those which, not coincidentally, have the highest rates of diabetes and obesity, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and West Virginia.

California showed rates of breastfeeding well above the national average, with 87.6% of babies born in 2009 initially breastfeeding, 56.1% still nursing at 6 months and 31.1% still nursing at 12 months.

The report also makes it clear that more U.S. hospitals and maternity centers are offering new mothers support for breastfeeding. Nationally, hospitals improved by 5% their breastfeeding-friendly policies, the CDC reported.

source: latimes.com

Wall Street Journal savages Romney over 'tax confusion'

WASHINGTON - The Wall Street Journal launched a scathing rebuke of Republican Mitt Romney on Thursday, saying "confusion" over his position on a health care mandate could cost him the election against President Barack Obama.

The conservative, pro-business paper said the Romney campaign was "slowly squandering an historic opportunity" by failing to produce a coherent, unified position on the Obama-backed mandate which requires Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a fine.

Romney pushed through his own health care reforms while governor of Massachusetts, and he deemed the individual mandate which he supported in that plan a "penalty."

After the Supreme Court ruled that the health care law was constitutional under Congress's power to levy taxes, a top Romney advisor said Monday it was "correct" that Romney agrees with the president and believes the mandate's fine should be called a penalty and not a tax.

Romney on Wednesday sought to unify his campaign message, but in conceding last week's ruling and saying the mandate was a "tax" after all, he stumbled badly, the Journal said.

The candidate failed to elaborate on the tax-versus-penalty issue, and the newspaper offered a blistering critique, saying "Romney's tax confusion" looked "politically dumb."

"If Mitt Romney loses his run for the White House, the turning point will have been his decision Monday to absolve President Obama of raising taxes on the middle class," the Journal's opinion piece began.

"In a stroke, the Romney campaign contradicted Republicans throughout the country who had used the Chief Justice's opinion to declare accurately that Mr. Obama had raised taxes on the middle class."

The paper said Romney made the "unforced error" because he did not want to be pinned as a flip-flopper, a label that stuck during the Republican primaries when rivals attacked him for changing positions on issues like abortion.

"The tragedy is that for the sake of not abandoning his faulty health-care legacy in Massachusetts, Mr Romney is jeopardizing his chance at becoming president," the Journal said.

It also took issue with Romney's "insular" campaign staff which "thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it's Mr Obama's fault."

The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, whose chief executive Rupert Murdoch on Sunday tweeted a much-discussed warning to Romney.

Murdoch wrote on Twitter that Romney ought to hire some "real pros" and "get on the front foot soon" if he wants to defeat Obama in November.

The Journal said Romney, currently on a week-long break from the campaign, and his staff were enabling Obama's attacks on Romney as an out-of-touch multi-millionaire.

"The rich man obliged by vacationing this week at his lake-side home with a jet-ski cameo," the paper said, referring to photographs of Romney and his wife Ann buzzing around New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee on a watercraft.

source: interaksyon.com