Monthly Archive for February 2009
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February 27, 2009
links for 2009-02-27
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"We're starting to see that people are delaying their access to health care," [Mark] Whitney said. "They are avoiding going to the physician's office, the emergency room or for other services."
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Breast cancer kills black women in Chicago at a rate 68 percent higher than white women.
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A new study suggests that the metabolic response to obesity and insulin resistance, particularly as it pertains to the liver, differs among ethnic groups in the U.S.
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A new analysis from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services indicates that a lack of access to eye care services for residents in rural and low-income areas has become a major public health crisis in America.
Posted by: Staff on February 27, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 26, 2009
links for 2009-02-26
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According to data released Tuesday by the Missouri Foundation for Health, African-Americans are two point three times as likely to receive inadequate prenatal care than whites. They are eight times more likely to contract HIV. Thirty times more likely to contract Gonorrhea and four and a half time more likely to be the target of sexual abuse
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"Our bottom line is, choose a diet that is good for your heart and there's a big range of what you can eat. Then just be reasonable about your intake. If you need to lose weight, eat less."
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Asians living in Utah are less likely to suffer from chronic health conditions and are generally in better health than the general population, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Utah Department of Health....
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The number of Americans without health insurance could rise by almost 10 million to 54 million in a decade if lawmakers fail to quickly enact policies that rein in costs and expand coverage, Congress' top budget analyst said on Wednesday.
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More than a third of New York State’s recipients of Medicaid and other public health insurance programs fail to re-enroll on time, losing coverage even though they remain eligible, because of daunting paperwork and other obstacles, according to a new study.
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Europeans with the least education have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with those with the highest education. However, smoking history accounts for approximately half of this risk, according to a study in the February 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Posted by: Staff on February 26, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 25, 2009
links for 2009-02-25
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More Americans will lose their health insurance as the economy weakens, health care becomes more expensive and fewer employers offer coverage, the U.S. Institute of Medicine said in a report on Tuesday.
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Health care costs will top $8,000 per person this year, consuming an ever-bigger slice of a shrinking economic pie, says the report by the Department of Health and Human Services, due out today.
Posted by: Staff on February 25, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 24, 2009
links for 2009-02-24
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Deep disparities also exist for nonwhite elders, some tracing to historical injustices that kept minorities from union jobs that offered pensions or steered them to low-paying manual work, according to the study. Seven out of 10 Latino and African-American senior citizens, and six out of 10 Asians, live below the survival standard.
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Women are 30 percent less likely than men to receive a critical clot-busting drug than can limit brain damage after a stroke, according to a Michigan State University study.
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Colon cancer patients who seek out more information about their care are more likely to be prescribed cutting-edge, expensive medications that aren't necessarily the best drugs for them, new research shows.
Posted by: Staff on February 24, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Seniors struggling with survival
MercuryNews.com is reporting on information out of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The report says that forty-seven percent of California senior citizens are unable to pay for their basic needs.
The problem is worse for some groups.
Deep disparities also exist for nonwhite elders, some tracing to historical injustices that kept minorities from union jobs that offered pensions or steered them to low-paying manual work, according to the study. Seven out of 10 Latino and African-American senior citizens, and six out of 10 Asians, live below the survival standard.
EXTRA: RAM Ohio is planning a 2 day health expedition on May 2nd and 3rd. Free health care will be provided with no financial restrictions or proof of citizenship required. You can get more information RAMOhio.org.
Posted by: Staff on February 24, 2009
Category: Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Senior Health
February 23, 2009
links for 2009-02-23
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One of the most vexing questions for doctors is why African Americans are much more likely to die of asthma. The easy explanation would be that they’re not getting preventive treatment, but the numbers are the same even among those with access to health care.
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Lack of access to adequate women's health care puts rural women in the US at a greatly increased risk of poor health outcomes compared with women in urban areas.
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A new study has found that people living in neighborhoods with a high number of fast-food restaurants could have a significantly higher risk for stroke
Posted by: Staff on February 23, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 19, 2009
links for 2009-02-19
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Massachusetts members of the Physicians for a National Health Program released a report today faulting the state's experiment with health reform for failing to achieve universal coverage, being too expensive and draining funds away from safety-net providers.
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MetroHealth Medical Center plans to introduce a new point-of service fee next month, changing the way it charges uninsured patients for the first time in nearly two decades.
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Blue Shield’s monthly premium for a family of four in Los Angeles with a 40-year-old primary policyholder is $1,461. That’s $401 a month, or $4,812 a year, above the cap. Anthem’s 2009 monthly premium for the same family was $1,356 — $296 a month, or $3,552 a year, above the cap.
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Using a range of data sources, we show that the cutbacks were followed by a major increase in the numbers of uninsured people, greater uncompensated care burden on hospitals, and revenue shortfalls that forced community health centers to obtain larger state grants and charge patients more.
Posted by: Staff on February 19, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 18, 2009
links for 2009-02-18
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Gov. David A. Paterson of New York has proposed allowing parents to claim these young adults as dependents for insurance purposes up to age 29, as more than two dozen other states have done in the past decade.
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Death rates from cancer — especially colon, lung and prostate cancer — continue to drop overall among African Americans, but the group still is diagnosed at higher rates, and die more often from the disease than their white counterparts.
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Black Medicare beneficiaries gained no extra benefit by having surgery in a major teaching hospital, instead of a community facility, compared with the better outcomes enjoyed by white patients, researchers here said.
Posted by: Staff on February 18, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 17, 2009
links for 2009-02-17
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Black Medicare beneficiaries gained no extra benefit by having surgery in a major teaching hospital, instead of a community facility, compared with the better outcomes enjoyed by white patients, researchers here said.
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Giving people with type 2 diabetes the opportunity to help manage their care online can substantially improve their long-term blood sugar control, new research suggests.
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In California, many women who are planning families pay higher premiums with larger deductibles to secure optional maternity coverage.
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Recent results from a Tower Hamlets PCT text messaging campaign have shown that text messaging contributes to improved attendance for Breast Screening in Tower Hamlets.
Posted by: Staff on February 17, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
The problem of 'balanced billing'
Star-Telegram.com has a lengthy article on the problem of 'balanced billing' and how it can lead to unexpected hospital bills.
[Balanced billing] happens when anesthesiologists, pathologists, radiologists and emergency-room physicians at a hospital on a health plan’s network aren’t on the network.
Those out-of-network doctors, who don’t have an agreement with the insurer for discounted fees, can demand full price.
Then, insurers can determine what portion of the bill they’re willing to pay. And the physicians can collect the remainder of the tab from patients.
In this case, a patient who was having a cardiac procedure checked to be sure his hospital and doctor were in his health insurer's network.
While they were, the anesthesiologist was not. The anesthesiologist billed the insurance company $2020 for his services and they opted to pay only $1015. The anesthesiologist billed the patient for the difference.
Several states are taking insurance companies to court over the issue of balanced billing. New York, Texas, and California have all had recent rulings or settlements in their favor.
The Health Blog has a post on balanced billing along with a spirited discussion in the comment section.
Posted by: Staff on February 17, 2009
Category: Health Care; Healthcare; balanced billing; coverage; health insurance; sick care
February 13, 2009
links for 2009-02-13
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A report from the Internal Revenue Service found that a small minority of nonprofit hospitals provide the bulk of uncompensated care for the poor, rekindling concerns about the tax-exempt industry at a time when government aid to corporations is drawing fire.
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Men have a lower life expectancy than women in all race and ethnicity groups.
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Blacks and Hispanics in Kansas are more likely than whites to smoke, have high blood pressure, and be obese or physically inactive, according to a report released on Wednesday
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The Cleveland Clinic is no longer content with merely providing care at its hospitals.
Posted by: Staff on February 13, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
February 12, 2009
links for 2009-02-12
Posted by: Staff on February 12, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
HIV/AIDS in Greater Cleveland
Cleveland State's Center for Health Equity is hosting the next in our Works in Progress Series.
"HIV/AIDS in Greater Cleveland: The AIDS Funding Collaborative's Role in Identifying and Addressing Gaps" will be presented by Laureen Tews Harbert, MPH, who is the Program Director of the AIDS Funding Collaborative at the Center for Community Solutions.
Location:
Cleveland State University, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs - Sweet Seminar Room, UR 241, 1717 Euclid Avenue.
Date:
Friday, February 13 from 3:00-4:00 p.m.
If you are interested in attending this lecture, please contact Kendra Daniel, at 216-687-4704 or k.daniel@csuohio.edu
Posted by: Staff on February 12, 2009
Category: AIDS; HIV; Health Disparities; Works in Progress
February 11, 2009
Human Rights and HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
Earl Pike speaks on human rights and HIV/AIDS in the the U.S. Presented as part of our Works in Progress Series.
Video also available at Viddler.com.
Posted by: Staff on February 11, 2009
Category: AIDS; Audio / Video; HIV; Human Rights; Works in Progress
Education Helps ESRD Patients Cut Phosphorus Levels
MedPage Today is reporting on a new study in JAMA that looks at lowering phosphorus levels in dialysis patients.
Teaching end-stage renal disease patients how to identify hidden phosphorus in fast food and at the grocery store may have a clinically relevant impact on their health, researchers said.
Lead author Catherine Sullivan, MS, RD, LD, (and Manager of Clinical Research at the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities) says in an accompanying audio report that, "it's very difficult to know when these additives are in there and how much is in there."
More information on the study can be found phosfoods.org.
Posted by: Staff on February 11, 2009
Category: About Us; Dialysis; ESRD; Patient Education; Phosphates; Phosphorus