If you’ve ever tried to purchase a private health insurance plan, you’re probably familiar with the hoops you have to jump through in order to become insured. Between the litany of questions and the endless scrutiny of your medical records, buying an insurance plan can be extremely overwhelming.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, Walgreen Co., is planning to start selling health insurance to customers this fall. The Tribune reported that “the Deerfield-based company will sell health insurance products with different price ranges and coverage levels from coast-to-coast through a private health insurance exchange.”
An unidentified spokesman from Walgreens said, “As always, we’re looking at a number of options in light of health care reform as we continue to seek ways to help our customers better navigate today’s health care system.”
Read Full Post >
Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann has recently announced her presidential candidacy. What will it mean for your health care if Bachmann ultimately wins the 2012 election?
According to her website, one of Bachmann’s top priorities is to repeal Obamacare because she considers its directives to be unconstitutional. As a constitutional conservative, Bachmann says on her website that she is a “champion of tea party values” and that “the solutions to our problems (don’t) come from Washington: more than ever, Washington IS the problem, and the real solutions will come from your businesses, your communities, your schools and the most basic and powerful unit of all, your families.”
This means that first lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to increase health-responsibility within the government are sorely frowned upon by Bachmann. Bachmann calls Mrs. Obama’s push for breastfeeding and other such efforts to eradicate obesity and promote good health a “nanny state” tactic. Currently, Mrs. Obama’s campaigns focus on children’s health, fitness and nutrition as preventative care. Although she’s been at the brunt of Bachmann’s criticism recently, Mrs. Obama isn’t the only first lady to push legislation with health initiatives. Both Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan were known for their persistence with health-related campaigns.
Read Full Post >
We all know that our doctors took an oath that states, “First, do no harm”. But what oath did our physicians take regarding discrimination?
Obese patients are claiming that the treatment they receive is being compromised due to the prejudiced attitudes of their physicians.
Misdiagnoses, under prescribed doses, and even lack of testing are some of the personal claims being made by overweight and obese patients. These patients state that their doctors overlooked their complaints and immediately blamed all issues on their weight.
This event seems to effect many obese people. However, obese and overweight women are experiencing this discrimination at higher rates. Women report seeing this type of behavior at BMIs as low as 27. That’s compared to men, who don’t seem to experience this treatment until their BMIs hit 35.
Read Full Post >
In March of 2010, the Congress passed a set of health care reforms, spearheaded by President Obama, that had failed to be written into law by previous administrations. Yet as soon as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed by the president, calls for its repeal immediately sounded from Republicans. A compromise for some, a huge victory for some and a setback for others, the health care bill remains the center of a fierce debate. The government’s role in health care is about more than helping citizens stay healthy, it is closely tied to the underlying ideals about how the country should run.
Both sides of the aisle agree that further reforms are needed to reduce the cost of government-funded health care, but it is the extent and form of these changes that is widely debated. Health care is poised to be a major point of contention in the upcoming presidential debates, particularly among the candidates vying for the Republican nomination.
Read Full Post >
In many places on this blog, we have extolled the benefits of electronic medical records. Having easily transferable medical data seems highly desirable in a world where health care is becoming more and more specialized, and patients with multiple conditions also have multiple medications and doctors. They also have the potential to give patients access to their own records.
An article in The New York Times brings a different perspective to light. Just because electronic medical records do away with some level of bureaucratic paperwork, they come with their own set of systemic problems. Danielle Ofri, M.D. discusses the frustration of facing a 1,000 character limit while describing a patient’s complicated needs. She trims her description, but is unable to make her evaluations fit into the box. “In desperation,” she writes, “I call the help desk and voice my concerns. ‘Well, we can’t have the doctors rambling on forever,’ the tech replies.”
Read Full Post >
