Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2013 | The most important part of health status may be the knowledge and behaviors that lead to that status. With healthcare reform upon us, people still know very little about healthcare reform …

Healthcare costs are not only a problem affecting budgets, taxes and government waste.  Healthcare costs also mean that healthcare policy and healthcare reform effectively happen through the spending of big dollars by individuals and immediately benefiting individuals who are part of the healthcare industry.  The people who are to be affected by the social investment and who ultimately must change behaviors to impact their health status are quite distant from the decision making and from the economy that healthcare reform creates.  Ultimately, healthcare costs and consequences will be more impacted by the kitchen table decisions of millions of families than by the billions of dollars that health professionals, consultants and go-betweens will garner from the current healthcare reform top down process.

“As government officials, community organizations and advocates gear up the consumer information and assistance efforts that will surround this fall’s open enrollment for the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), much of the public remains confused about the status of the health law, according to the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Four in ten Americans (42 percent) are unaware that the ACA is still the law of the land, including 12 percent who believe the law has been repealed by Congress, 7 percent who believe it has been overturned by the Supreme Court and 23 percent who don’t know whether or not the ACA remains law. And about half the public says they do not have enough information about the health reform law to understand how it will impact their own family, a share that rises among the uninsured and low-income households.”

More via Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2013 | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Filed under: access to education, Blogosphere, Civic Engagement, consumers, Education Policy, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, health reform, Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior in health, health information, health reform and community preparedness

Women’s Health | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Visit the Kaiser Foundation website by clicking below to get the facts on women’s health.

“Select a subcategory on the left to see how the indicators compare across the states. Results will be shown as a table, map, or trend graph as available.”

via Women’s Health | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Filed under: Abortion, access to education, Aging, Behavioral Health Outcomes, Blogosphere, consumers, Feminization of Poverty, Gender, Gender Policy, Health and Exercise, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Public Health, Public Policy, Women's rights, gender and health, health issues, understanding healthcare reform, women's health, Women's health month

Visualizing Health Policy: The Role of Medicaid and Medicare in Women’s Health Care | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

When you consider that all of our health depends on those 9 or so gestation months and on the first three years of life for a healthy foundation, then we need to also understand that the health of adult women impacts everyone else.  Women’s health is community health..  Because of the childbearing function, women’s health is central to public health.

• “This month’s Visualizing Health Policy infographic provides information about the role of Medicaid and Medicare in women’s health care: the proportion of US women who are covered by Medicaid and Medicare; how women comprise the majority of those covered by the Medicaid and Medicare programs and the majority of those receiving long-term services and supports (such as home health care); how women on Medicaid are poorer and sicker than women with private coverage; how Medicaid is a primary payer for women’s reproductive health services; and how women on Medicare spend more than their male counterparts on medical care and also have higher rates of health problems and social challenges.”

via Visualizing Health Policy: The Role of Medicaid and Medicare in Women’s Health Care | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Filed under: Behavioral Health Outcomes, Blogosphere, consumers, Health and Exercise, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, access to health services, healthcare reform, women's health

State Decisions on Health Insurance Exchanges and the Medicaid Expansion, as of May 10, 2013

Location Status of State Exchange Decision Medicaid Expansion Decision Executive Activity

United States 18 Declared State-based Exchange; 7 Planning for Partnership Exchange; 26 Default to Federal Exchange 29 Supports; 20 Opposes; 2 Weighing Options

Alabama Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Alaska Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Arizona Default to Federal Exchange Supports

Arkansas Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports1

California Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Colorado Declared State-based Exchange Supports1

Connecticut Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Delaware Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports

District of Columbia Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Florida Default to Federal Exchange Supports

Georgia Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Hawaii Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Idaho Declared State-based Exchange Opposes2

Illinois Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports

Indiana Default to Federal Exchange Opposes2

Iowa Planning for Partnership Exchange Opposes

Kansas Default to Federal Exchange3 Weighing Options

Kentucky Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Louisiana Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Maine Default to Federal Exchange3 Opposes

Maryland Declared State-based Exchange Supports1

Massachusetts Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Michigan Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports

Minnesota Declared State-based Exchange Supports1

Mississippi Default to Federal Exchange4 Opposes

Missouri Default to Federal Exchange Supports

Montana Default to Federal Exchange3 Supports

Nebraska Default to Federal Exchange3 Opposes

Nevada Declared State-based Exchange Supports

New Hampshire Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports

New Jersey Default to Federal Exchange Supports

New Mexico Declared State-based Exchange Supports1

New York Declared State-based Exchange Supports1

North Carolina Default to Federal Exchange Opposes5

North Dakota Default to Federal Exchange Supports1

Ohio Default to Federal Exchange3 Supports

Oklahoma Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Oregon Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Pennsylvania Default to Federal Exchange Opposes2

Rhode Island Declared State-based Exchange Supports

South Carolina Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

South Dakota Default to Federal Exchange3 Weighing Options6

Tennessee Default to Federal Exchange Opposes7

Texas Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Utah Default to Federal Exchange8 Opposes5

Vermont Declared State-based Exchange Supports

Virginia Default to Federal Exchange3 Opposes9

Washington Declared State-based Exchange Supports

West Virginia Planning for Partnership Exchange Supports

Wisconsin Default to Federal Exchange Opposes

Wyoming Default to Federal Exchange Opposes5

via Table Viewer.

Filed under: Blogosphere, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, health reform; health insurance reform; medical care; affordable healthcare; healthcare costs; health policy; healthcare politics;, State Health Exchanges

Seeking Clues to a Heart Killer in the DNA Binding a Family – NYTimes.com

Early heart disease ran in Rick Del Sontro’s family, and every time he went for a run, he was scared his heart would betray him. So he did all he could to improve his …”

via Seeking Clues to a Heart Killer in the DNA Binding a Family – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: Blogosphere, Health and Exercise, Health Literacy, Health Policy, heart attack, heart disease, heart health

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout – NYTimes.com

In today’s hurried world we cannot seem to find time for exercise.  The NYTs Magazine article below gives us a way that we can workout anywhere there is a wall and a chair and only in a few minutes of intensive workout.  Check it out below…

“Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing. But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into …”

via The Scientific 7-Minute Workout – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: Blogosphere, Health and Exercise, Health Literacy, Health Policy, News

Suicide Rate Rises Sharply in U.S. – NYTimes.com

Suicide rates among middle-aged Americans have risen sharply in the past decade, prompting concern that a generation of baby boomers who have faced years of economic worry and easy access to prescription painkillers may be particularly vulnerable to self-inflicted harm.

via Suicide Rate Rises Sharply in U.S. – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: Blogosphere, Culture Think, Death and Dying, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Aging; old age; seniors; baby boomers; health;, Baby boomer, Suicide

Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity: The Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act – Kaiser Family Foundation

One of the key goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to reduce the number of uninsured through a Medicaid expansion and the creation of health insurance exchange marketplaces with advance premium tax credits to help moderate-income individuals pay for this coverage. Given that people of color are at disproportionate risk of being uninsured and having low incomes, the ACA coverage expansions could particularly benefit communities of color and advance efforts to eliminate disparities. This brief provides an overview of health coverage by race and ethnicity today to provide greater insight into the potential impacts of the ACA coverage expansions for people of color.

via Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity: The Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act – Kaiser Family Foundation.

Filed under: Blogosphere, consumers, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, healthcare reform, understanding healthcare reform

2010 > FDA Approves New Formulation for OxyContin

Oxycontin is still a drug abuse problem in our society… The FDA approved a new version of the drug back in 2010 and the company is supposed to do a followup study to tell us how safe the new FDA approved version is…. Have you seen the study?  Five years have gone by and God knows how many addictions and lives?

“The reformulated OxyContin is intended to prevent the opioid medication from being cut, broken, chewed, crushed or dissolved to release more medication. The new formulation may be an improvement that may result in less risk of overdose due to tampering, and will likely result in less abuse by snorting or injection; but it still can be abused or misused by simply ingesting larger doses than are recommended.

“Although this new formulation of OxyContin may provide only an incremental advantage over the current version of the drug, it is still a step in the right direction,” said Bob Rappaport, M.D., director of the Division of Anesthesia and Analgesia Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“As with all opioids, safety is an important consideration,” he said. “Prescribers and patients need to know that its tamper-resistant properties are limited and need to carefully weigh the benefits and risks of using this medication to treat pain.”

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately half a million people used OxyContin non-medically for the first time in 2008.

The manufacturer of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma L.P., will be required to conduct a postmarket study to collect data on the extent to which the new formulation reduces abuse and misuse of this opioid. The FDA is also requiring a REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) that will include the issuance of a Medication Guide to patients and a requirement for prescriber education regarding the appropriate use of opioid analgesics in the treatment of pain.”

See:

http://healththinkshop.com/2013/04/06/there-is-a-reason-why-we-have-a-war-on-drugs-and-why-we-cannot-win-it/

 

Aslo see more via 2010 > FDA Approves New Formulation for OxyContin.

Filed under: Behavioral Health Outcomes, Blogosphere, Community Tragedy, consumers, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Death and Dying, Health Literacy, Health Policy, News, Parenting, Policy ThinkShop Comments on other media platforms, Political Economy, Public Health, Public Policy

There is a reason why we have a war on drugs and why we cannot win it… « HealthThinkShop

So the issue is twofold:

First, there is the problem of a powerful drug being re-marketed as Oxycontin and promoted in ways that lead to abuse.

Secondly, there is the demand for this drug that is created that in turn creates a tremendous market that seduces the greedy and the stupid (the marketers and the profiteers because thinking you can sale this stuff and not get caught is not brilliant) and the users who are often victims who innocently become dependent and spend the rest of their lives needing more of the drug to prevent from “getting sick” when they violently experience withdrawal from this highly addictive and dangerous drug–people get so sedated under this drug that they stop breathing and die…).

This is not most importantly a debate about weed or about politics, or even about criminality… It is a calculated business move by investors to promote a substance that is now running wild in our society and killing innocent people…

via There is a reason why we have a war on drugs and why we cannot win it… « HealthThinkShop.

Filed under: Behavioral Health Outcomes, Blogosphere, Community Tragedy, consumers, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Culture Think, Death and Dying, ethics, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, News, Parenting, Policy ThinkShop Comments on other media platforms, political corruption, Political Economy, Political Facts and Fiction, Public Health, Public Policy, regulations, waging war, WeSeeReason, drug war, Oxycodone, Oxycontin, War on Drugs

Suddenly, They’re All Gone – NYTimes.com

As the baby boom generation we have had all the benefits that come from the exercise craze and the health food awareness diet bonanza.  We have learned to drink skim milk, munch wholewheat bread, and eat our veggies…  Others have taken it further and have gone stock, lock and barrel into the Whole Foods, or “whole paycheck” abyss.

But it is not so much healthy living that is our biggest challenge… Perhaps it is facing mortality while seeing the previous generation die right before us… Since they were so much more likely to abuse salt, sugar and tobacco, their gerontological downfall is not pretty…  But the idea that life ends so absolutely, and that their life, perhaps, ends with relatively little meaning or impact, that kills us…  We are the baby-boomers and we learned to question everything, and we are perhaps the most spoiled generation….  If you think about black and white TV, how many toys kids got for the holidays prior to the 1960s and beyond,  you see a picture of how colorful our lives have been…. The end, however, may not have changed much for us … and when we see our loved ones leaving we have to face their mortality in a post modern world that is perhaps more complex, less spiritual and simply busy.

The Policy ThinkShop recommends the following read in the NYTs for those of us who are being forced to see and feel the inevitable end though our eyes and our nostrils…

“Caring for the old is just like parenting an infant, only on really bad acid. It’s all there: the head-spinning exhaustion, the fractured brain, the demands and smells. Only this time with the knowledge that it won’t …”

via Suddenly, They’re All Gone – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: Aging, Blogosphere, Culture Think, Death and Dying, faith-based, Health and Exercise, Health Literacy, Parenting, Religion, WeSeeReason, AARP, Aging; old age; seniors; baby boomers; health;, gerontology, mortality, parents, psychology and personal growth; evolving politically and facing existence; facing mortality and loving it; Dr. Mortis and Dr. Love; Love and Fear; "How you living? ", seniors

Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges – Kaiser Family Foundation

Latina women lead all groups in the number of babies born, yet are disconnected from a regular provider, health insurance and quality continuos care.  The current healthcare reform may leave many families outside the CAC safety net because they may not qualify for services due to their immigrant status.  Learn more about women’s health at the Kaiser Family Foundation website below…

“To inform the development of the state health insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, this checklist identifies key coverage, affordability and access issues that are important for women. Based on lessons learned from women’s health research and the Massachusetts experience, the checklist considers essential health benefits, implementation of no-cost preventive services including contraception, provider networks and affordability, outreach and enrollment efforts, and the importance of including gender and other demographic characteristics in data collection and reporting standards. It was jointly authored by policy experts at the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at The George Washington University.”

More via Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges – Kaiser Family Foundation.

Filed under: access to education, Behavioral Health Outcomes, Blogosphere, Children and Poverty, consumers, Culture Think, Discrimination, Health Literacy, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Immigration, Latinos, Women's rights, healthcare for the poor; poverty and health needs;Planned Parenthood; Republican budget cuts; Medicaid and reproductive rights; paying for women's reproductive needs; women's health; feminization of p, healthcare policy, Immigration, immigration reform, women's health