Hospital Fees
Posted: 15 May 2013 Filed under: Health Care, Society | Tags: Cartoon, Health Debate, Health Issues Leave a comment »
Are We Ever Safe?
Posted: 10 March 2013 Filed under: Health Care, News, Society | Tags: Health Issues, Medical Issues, Medicine 2 Comments »Once again it is the weekend and a breath of fresh air from politics and the insects that report on it……
We all want to feel safe, right? Safe at home……safe at work……safe on line……just always prefer that feeling of safety…..then there is a place that is sanitized and we should feel a lot of emotions when there, but a feeling of being unsafe is just not acceptable……so just how sterile is a hospital?
A family of deadly germs that can withstand even the strongest antibiotics is a growing threat in American hospitals, federal officials warn. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae—CRE—have been detected in 4% of short-stay hospitals and nearly a fifth of long-term ones and authorities warn there is only a “limited window of opportunity” to prevent their spread, the New York Times reports. Cases have been reported in 42 states. “What’s called CRE are nightmare bacteria,” CDC director Thomas Frieden tells NPR. He describes them as a “triple threat” because they are resistant to even last-ditch antibiotics, can cause fatality rates of nearly 50%, and can pass on drug resistance to other bacteria. “The mechanism of resistance to antibiotics not only works for one bacteria, but can be spread to others,” Frieden warns. The CDC is urging hospitals to do all they can to contain CRE before it spreads to the community at large.
Nothing like going to a place of wellness and finding that it is a den of bacteria……..have any horror stories you would like to share?
Just How Screwed Are Patients?
Posted: 6 March 2013 Filed under: Health Care, News, Observations, Society | Tags: Health Issues, Medicaid, Medical Issues, Medicare 2 Comments »Back after hurricane Katrina my leg was crushed in a fall……and when I was looking at the bill that the EMs sent to me, which was covered under Workers Comp, I noticed a charge that was not kosher……I was charged $50 for a cervical collar and was never given one…..my leg was broken but I had all my faculties….I told the workers comp rep that was handling my case and was told that it was not important enough to challenge……I asked her just how much money does the service make on gouging? I never got an answer.
And then I saw this story and it answered my question pretty well…..
Getting Hodgkin’s lymphoma was bad enough. Then Ohio resident Sean Recchi received his hospital bill: $83,900. You can blame his limited health insurance, but Steven Brill at Time looked behind the numbers to see why MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston charged so much. What Brill found: shocking markups that hiked prices by several hundred percent or more above cost. Queried about the markups, MD Anderson said their billing practices “are complex” and “similar to those of other major hospitals.” Which is exactly what Brill found: “a uniquely American gold rush” of tax-exempt “nonprofit” hospitals across the US that are raking in huge bucks and handing administrators mega-salaries. Among his other findings:
- Hospitals are forcing Americans to spend nearly 20% of GDP on health care—double the usual for developed countries—and more than the next 10 top-spending nations combined.
- Each hospital’s internal price list, or chargemaster, is far higher than what Medicare pays for health care. Advocates have started a cottage industry helping people understand and reduce their bills.
- Brill uncovers huge markups from specific bills, like $4,000 for items like a blanket warmer, marking pen, and surgical gown. Recchi was billed $13,702 for medicine that cost MD Anderson only $3,000 to $3,500.
- Brill’s first solution: Bring all Americans under the Medicare umbrella, and charge wealthier Americans more for their medical care. At least Medicare forces hospitals to charge the proper rates. Only problem: A massive, single-payer overhaul like that won’t happen anytime soon.
- Solution No.2: Strengthen anti-trust laws to restrict the power of hospitals; this would give insurance companies more leverage to bargain over prices. Then tax hospital profits at 75%, and tack a surcharge on excessive non-doctor hospital salaries. And ban the chargemaster. Will any of this happen? Probably not, because hospitals are too powerful.
- Brill’s take on ObamaCare: It’s good for certain things, like curbing some hospital-bill collecting and getting more people insured. But ultimately it’s just bringing more customers into a grossly unfair marketplace.
- Click for the full article.
We all know that hospitals gouge the patients……and there is little we can do about it…….but crap like this drives all the rising costs of health care……but yet they are seldom held accountable…….why is that?
Why Are Suicides Climbing in the Military? Let’s Look at the Drugs Being Prescribed | Alternet
Posted: 13 February 2013 Filed under: Health Care, Military, News, Society | Tags: Health Issues, Mental Health, Veterans Leave a comment »Why Are Suicides Climbing in the Military? Let’s Look at the Drugs Being Prescribed | Alternet.
It’s The Obesity Thing…… (Again)
Posted: 14 December 2012 Filed under: Government, Health Care, Observations, Poverty, Religion, Society | Tags: Health Issues, Obesity, Postaday 2012 7 Comments »I have written 0n this many times and I usually go off after some ridiculous millionaire media type gets on her high horse about obesity and what the government should do to control it….I thought I would illustrate how a think tank would approach the subject…….and it does not matter which spectrum you want….they all approach it similarly……..
Well, this sanctimonious person thinks we have an obesity problem….I will agree with her to this point……but her answer is that we Americans must be made to eat healthy and exercise….I will agree that we all need to eat better and exercise….and there is where this woman and I part ways……her answers are that people make bad choices because they are not educated on proper nutrition…..this is where I think that she slides into the elitist bitch category…..seldom do these toads ever talking about the eating disorders that make people shrink away into skin and bones…I guess if one is skinny then it is not a problem…..
This is where I will illustrate how a decision and political position is formed by those think tanks that everyone so enjoys quoting…..
I think it is a bit delusional to think that everybody has the time to exercise, get the kids ready for school, get self ready for work….unfortunately these are excellent ways to get fit….but not everyone makes a million dollars and has any help with the chores mentioned……and not everyone can afford the high perice for healthy foods…especially if the family is large, by large I mean 4 or more persons……
My theory is poverty has more to do with eating and exercising paths……let us look at the 5 most unhealthy states…….
5–Alabama 4–Arkansas 3–Oklahoma 2–Louisiana 1–Mississippi (my state)
Now let us look at the poorest states…in this case the top 5 poorest…….
5–Texas 4–Alabama 3– New Mexico 2–Louisiana 1–Mississippi (my state)
Do you see a trend yet? 3 of the poorest states are also in the unhealthy list…..could poverty have something to do with this?
A Think Tank will take this information and tilt it to show that the sole cause of an unhealthy lifestyle is poverty……the facts are there, sports fans….
And we could go further…..we could check out how religion could figure into this…….these are the 5 most religious states……
5–Tennessee 4–Louisiana 3–South Carolina 2–Alabama 1–Mississippi (my state)
There you have the facts….3 of the least healthy states are also the most religious states…..also 3 of the most religious states are also the poorest………so could we make a inference that religion could lead to an unhealthy lifestyle?
(For all you dim witted trolls out there…….I am NOT saying that religion causes poverty or unhealthy lifestyle….only some self serving douche bag could use these facts to form an untrue premise….that is all)………
My point is…this is how think tanks work….they take some isolated facts and build a narrative………
Holy Crap! Another “Who Knew”!
Posted: 9 December 2012 Filed under: Health Care, News | Tags: Health Issues, Postaday 2012 4 Comments »Yesterday we learned that a breast implant could possibly save your life….and that was a Who Knew moment for me…..and I thought that it would be awhile before another crossed my path…..I was WRONG (it is not easy for me to say that)……..
(Newser) – Talk about a hair of the dog that bit you: A New Zealand man went into surgery after literally drinking himself blind this summer, and doctors cured him with a healthy dose of Johnny Walker Black, the New Zealand Herald reports. Denis Duthie, 65, was celebrating his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary by drinking vodka—when he suddenly found he had “gone completely blind,” he says. “I thought it had got dark and I’d missed out on a bit of time but it was only about half past three in the afternoon.”
At the hospital doctors realized Duthie probably had methanol poisoning from the vodka, which reacted badly with his diabetes medication. They wanted to treat it with ethanol, a common type of alcohol, but didn’t have any—so the registrar ran out for a bottle of whisky. Doctors dripped it into Duthie’s stomach through a tube, and lo and behold, he could see again five days later. It’s “a well established treatment,” says a medicine specialist. “If the patient’s awake they can just drink it.” Stuff reports that Duthie hasn’t had a single drink since: “I’ll be taking it easy,” he says.
See! Never know what lurks out their in the nether regions of the internet….some are pretty cool…..
What Causes Autism?
Posted: 20 October 2012 Filed under: Health Care, News, Observations | Tags: Health Issues, Postaday 2012, Public Health, Studies 6 Comments »I recall back in the early days of this lame election when the word autism was used and that of abortion and contraception in connection with autism……one candidate cited some source that was far from accurate that linked these with autism…..I bring this up because there has been another link that needs to be researched…..
A recent study published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics reveals that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is a highly-processed chemical sweetener used in many processed foods and beverages, has been identified as a major factor in the rise of autism in the United States.
The rise of autism spectrum disorders in the United States has been staggering.
“The number of children ages 6 to 21 in the United States receiving special education services under the autism disability category increased 91% between 2005 to 2010 while the number of children receiving special education services overall declined by 5%.” – Dufault et al. Clinical Epigenetics, 2012
The ingestion of heavy metals, such as mercury (Hg), into the body is having a profound effect on the neurodevelopment of children. HFCS is not only exposing children’s bodies to mercury, but it is also responsible for inhibiting the elimination of toxins and heavy metals due to how it depletes the body of the natural mineral zinc.
“…the HFCS characteristics most likely contributing to autism include the zinc depleting effect that comes from consuming HFCS and certain food colors found in processed foods, and the additional Hg exposure that may occur from the low Hg concentrations sometimes found in HFCS as a result of the manufacturing process [4,17].” – Dufault et al. Clinical Epigenetics, 2012
(Source: http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/4/1/6/figure/F3)The study concludes:
“Consumption of HFCS may lead to mineral imbalances, including Zn [Zinc], Ca [Calcium] and P [Phosphorus] loss and Cu [Copper] gain and is a potential source of inorganic mercury exposure. These mineral imbalances create multiple pathways for oxidative stress in the brain from exposure to OP [organophosphate] pesticides and heavy metals, such as Pb [Lead] or Hg [Mercury].” - Dufault et al. Clinical Epigenetics, 2012
As health authorities and the FDA continue to pay little attention to ingredients such as HFCS, it is up to us to educate ourselves, other parents and our children. The importance of eating organic, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, as well as whole foods rich in vitamins, minerals and nutrients such as Omega-3 Fatty acids, while eliminating processed foods from our diets, has never been more clear as public health epidemics skyrocket.
The study also identified the presence of mercury in vaccines and the overuse of agricultural pesticides, as potential causal factors for the increase in the rise of Autism in the United States.
Sources: http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/pdf/1868-7083-4-6.pdf
Okay is this a good study or is it the same as the egg study from the 80′s? Is this accurate or will it be debunked in a year or so? I know that we want to accuse high fructose for everything from stunted growth to zits and now autism….you thoughts?
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Are You A Donor?
Posted: 28 September 2012 Filed under: Health Care, Observations, Society | Tags: Health Issues, Medicine, Postaday 2012 2 Comments »I was recently in the hospital to have a couple of screws removed in my leg and the rest were to be snugged up….well I was talking with one of the nurses, to be honest she was a red head and really cute, so that was enough to strike up a conversation. She asked me if I was a donor. I answered honestly and said NO. She went off on the usual con about the lives that the organs will save and that we all should do what we can to help others……yada…yada……she made a good case….but….I had to let her have it!
I waited until she had finished the snow job and then I replied. The medical profession wants me to donate my organs to help others live, right? Then do hospitals donate their time and space? Do doctors donate their time and expertise? Do people get bumped off the transplant list because they do not have the money?
I smiled and said when a person gets it all free and no one has to wait because they do not have the cash…then sweetheart you can have everything I have….but since that is not gonna happen the profession can kiss my butt!
I digress……seeing this story made me think about the donor thingy….this was in The Week magazine…..
In the United States last year, more than 4,700 people died waiting for a lifesaving kidney transplant. Yet in each of the past five years, more than 2,600 kidneys recovered from deceased donors wound up going to waste, highlighting an inefficient donor-matching system in drastic need of an overhaul. What can health regulators change to ensure the much-needed organs go to people in dire need? Here, a brief guide to the problem:
Why are the kidneys thrown away?
“Some kidneys are in pristine condition when they are donated,” says Art Caplan at NBC News, “some are not.” Many donor kidneys have health problems that are only discovered after donors have died. And yet, many experts agree that a “significant number of discarded kidneys — perhaps even half, some believe — could be transplanted” if the system for allocating them did a better job of matching faster, says Kevin Sack at The New York Times.
How does the current system work?
For the past 25 years, it’s largely been a case of “first come, first served,” says Sack. The government’s Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which tracks the more than 93,000 people in need of a transplant, divides the country into 58 donation districts. When a kidney becomes available, the rules stipulate that it be offered first to the candidate in the area who has waited the longest. Extra consideration is given to children, to candidates whose blood chemistry is hard to match, and to recipients who match up well with the donor. If no recipient is found, the electronic search expands to the region before going national.
What’s wrong with that?
The outdated system fails to take into account the projected life expectancy of the recipient or the urgency of the transplant, unlike current systems for heart and lung donors. (For example, sometimes younger, healthier kidneys go to recipients who only have a few years left to live.) Some argue that record-keeping is imprecise, and the relatively short window of organ procurement — surgeons can only keep a kidney “on ice” for 24 to 36 hours — gives busy hospitals an hour or so to respond. In 2011, for example, 2,644 of the 14,784 kidneys recovered from donors were thrown away (18 percent), according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Nearly 500 of those were not transplanted because a recipient could not be found in time.
I stand by my condemnation of the donor system….the idea is a good one but it is gamed and the cash gets the organ……..my donation will NOT make some goon more wealthy!
Does Milk Do A Body Good?
Posted: 8 September 2012 Filed under: Health Care, News, Observations | Tags: Health Issues, Postaday 2012 4 Comments »Remember when your mother told you to drink your milk so you would grow up strong and healthy? But is it all that healthy?
What is up with “nature’s perfect food”?
1. It’s high in calories and saturated fat
Ounce for ounce, milk has about “the same calorie load as soda,” Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, tells The New York Times. Lactose is still a sugar, and contributes about 55 percent of skim milk’s calories. Plus, milk and other dairy products are big sources of saturated fat, “and there are very credible links between dairy consumption and both Type 1 diabetes and the most dangerous form of prostate cancer.” One serving of 2 percent milk has even been found to have the same saturated fat count as a serving of french fries.2. A lot of people can’t drink it
In the United States, as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant: Roughly 90 percent of Asian-Americans can’t drink milk, and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Jewish-Americans are similarly lactose intolerant. Recent studies suggest soy milk might not be much better: An article published in the Journal of Dentistrysuggests that soy milk encourages bacteria in our mouth to produce five to six times more acid than usual, leading to plaque, tooth decay, and cavities.3. Milk is often full of chemicals
“Commercial milk is disgusting,” says Deborah Dunham at Blisstree. The mass-produced stuff is filled with growth hormones and antibiotics used to make cows lactate unnaturally. These additives may make the milk appear white and creamy-looking, but “all of this has been blamed for skin problems, acne, allergies, inflammation of the body,” and much more. “Not to mention the fact that drinking cow’s milk is simply unnatural — no other species drinks milk from another species except us.”4. Many people are allergic
Sure, the peanut allergy is the number one food allergy in the country. But did you know that the second most common type is “milk allergy”? It affects an estimated 3 million children in the United States. Like peanut allergy, the severity of milk allergy can range from mild reactions to being life-threatening.5. You don’t need milk for strong bones
“You don’t need milk, or large amounts of calcium, for bone integrity, says the Times‘ Bittman. Not only are fracture rates the highest in milk-drinking countries, but it turns out that the biggest two factors contributing to bone strength are “lifelong exercise and vitamin D, which you could get from sunshine.” All of this isn’t to say that milk doesn’t have its health benefits, says Adam Dachis at Lifehacker. But now there seems to be a likelihood that “dairy is a food you should eat because you enjoy it and not for its claims of better health.”
It is a CON JOB! Marketing at its best! You may like milk and consume it everyday ……good for you…..but it is NOT all it is cracked up to be…….all benefits can be replaced by the consumption of other foods.
I am waiting to see when the millionaire hacks that champion a ban on sugary drinks, especially those like Mika and others in the media, will turn their attention to milk…..answer….they will not! Bet some of their high wages comes from agri-business and the like……personally, I am SICK of millionaire pricks telling people who have a hard time making 3 meals a day what they should eat….walk a mile in their shoes or keep your opinions to yourself!
If you are one of those “health nuts” this might not be the perfect food for your lifestyle. I was weaned and have not consumed much milk since and I am just as healthy, maybe more so than others who must have milk daily.
Are Vouchers A Good Idea?
Posted: 25 July 2012 Filed under: Health Care, Observations, Public Policy, Society | Tags: Health Bill, Health Issues, Health Reform, Postaday 2012 4 Comments »I think they are not……but who cares what I think? Moving on!
Well we all know what has happened with the health care thing….the conservs feel betrayed by Roberts for his vote…..all in all I think the whole health care thing is a cop out. But I have an idea that might have some substance……and could answer many questions we all have…….
Mitt goes along with Ryan that the best way to handle health care for the people is a health savings account and vouchers for those that may have a difficult time getting adequate health care…..I think it is not a workable idea but for the sake of argument I say let us try it on a part time basis……but then the question is….just how do we do that?
The first problem we have is that there is no example of how this will work…just the ramblings of think tanks and such….so how should we proceed? Without a working model there is nothing but conjecture pertaining to the concept….then where should we begin?
Okay Congress has a pretty good health care policy and it is much coveted by them and it gets sterling reports….right?
Then this is where we begin…….the Congress must, it will not be a choice, implement and enroll in a voucher system for their personal use and that of their families….this will give them a working model to use in their deliberations on the use of the voucher system…….it is only fair….after all they have a system that most of us cannot get….why not let them lead the way if this is such a great idea?
If it works well then they can speak with authority on the subject instead of repeating the ramblings of someone else……and this will help repair their sagging approval ratings because they took the lead………I mean they would get a better deal than most of the Americans working part time….why not lead? My guess is that it would not be met with enthusiasm…..vouchers are a good idea, just not for them……
If it fails to meet expectations then the opponents will have facts to work from and not the ramblings of paid academics…….what is the problem? We can kill many birds with that one stone.
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