tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63645884960666430852024-03-13T11:13:07.515-07:00Your Health, Your LifeAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comBlogger2150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-67123614065794968472013-11-25T20:04:00.000-08:002014-01-01T04:44:37.834-08:00Not only may you not get to keep your plan under Obamacare, you might not be able to keep your doctor; there are reasonsBy Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News
Part of the sales pitch for the federal health-care reform law was that people could keep their doctors, but many Americans and some Kentuckians won't because insurers are excluding some hospitals and doctors from policies in an effort to make the new, standardized plans on the insurance exchanges more affordable.
Eleven Kentucky hospitals have filed Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-57745790782741167862013-11-25T20:00:00.000-08:002014-01-01T04:45:41.992-08:00Humana allows policyholders to keep old plans without paying more; Anthem is still deciding
Humana, one of the three insurance companies offering individual health policies on the state's insurance exchange, will allow Kentuckians to keep their insurance coverage for another year without charging them more for it.
The other two companies on the individual market are Anthem and the Kentucky Health Cooperative. Anthem hasn't responded to recent inquiries about the old policies; it said Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-3856017465056384472013-11-25T18:31:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.560-08:00Beshear to study nursing-home staffing minimums, suggests homes' high liability costs are related to poorly ranked careResponding to a letter from Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, which cited a low ranking for the state's nursing homes, Gov. Steve Beshear said he is "committed to taking steps toward improving the quality of care in Kentucky nursing homes," Valarie Honeycutt Spears reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.Beshear said he would call for forums across the state to allow the public and Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-4618574203172909502013-11-25T08:48:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.579-08:00Life Lessons from Cancer encourages those with cancer to build a network of support By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health NewsThe fight against cancer requires not only a personal commitment to mind, body and soul; it also requires the support and physical help of family and friends.That's one of the key messages in Life Lessons from Cancer, a book written by cancer patient Keen Babbage and his sister-in-law and caretaker, Laura Babbage.Keen, a teacher and native Lexingtonian who Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-81113754736222750362013-11-25T04:00:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:12:24.971-08:00Dried mussels: A little plate with 160 g of protein (plus some comments on high-protein low-carbohydrate dieting)var citeN=0; Many hunter-gatherer groups employed various methods of drying to preserve meats. Drying also increases significantly the protein content of meats; this is the case with dried mussels. I discussed this effect of drying before here with respect to small fish (citeN=citeN+1;document.write(Number(citeN))). The photo below is of a plate with about 240 g of dried mussels that I prepared Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-79644423161882767142013-11-24T21:09:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:37:41.085-08:00Trying to Make Sense of the Covered California NumbersI've read a number of reports in recent days gushing over the progress Covered California is making leading the nation in signing up people for Obamacare.But, I am having trouble understanding how the numbers should make anyone gush with enthusiasm. Covered California, the state health insurance exchange, has a goal of enrolling 500,000 to 700,000 subsidy eligible Californians by March 31, Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-63489809108506561202013-11-23T12:33:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:28:53.945-08:00Beans, Lentils, and the Paleo DietAs we continue to explore the foods our ancestors relied on during our evolutionary history, and what foods work best for us today, we come to legumes such as beans and lentils. These are controversial foods within the Paleolithic diet community, while the broader nutrition community tends to view legumes as healthy.Beans and lentils have a lot going for them. They're one of the few foods Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-23267768941193600262013-11-22T15:53:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.607-08:00Doctors give nurse practitioners more leeway on prescriptions; senator says tort-reform lobbies should play hardball with money"Concerns about a growing doctor shortage, especially in rural Kentucky, is fueling the urgency for lawmakers and medical groups to agree on an approach to allow nurse practitioners to be able to prescribe certain medicines without physician supervision," Ryan Alessi reports for cn|2's "Pure Politics."Advanced-practice registered nurses want the legislature to free them of the requirement thatAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-69771480798269942592013-11-22T13:22:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.628-08:00First diabetes educator license is issued in KentuckyKim DeCoste (photo via AADE)Kentucky is the first state to issue a diabetes educator license, according to a press release from the Kentucky Board of Licensed Diabetes Educators.Kim DeCoste of Richmond, a registered nurse and chair of the Kentucky Diabetes Educators Licensure Board, is the licensee."I am proud to represent diabetes educators throughout Kentucky as the first person to receive a Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-28934187488423299072013-11-22T09:16:00.000-08:002013-11-27T02:02:37.873-08:00Confused Thinking about New Cholesterol Guidelines - Were Conflicts of Interest to Blame?For years, clinical practice guidelines promulgated by prominent health care organizations have been hailed with accolades as received wisdom. However, there is increasing reason to be skeptical of such guidelines. Many guidelines are not based on rigorous application of the principles of evidence-based medicine, and often seem to arise from the personal opinions of their authors.&Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-89471700298141154152013-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.658-08:00Haynes asks hospitals for a truce as they and state work through problems with managed-care MedicaidHealth and Family Services Secretary Audrey Haynes won a smattering of applause from Kentucky hospital officials Thursday as she called for "not a surrender, but a truce" as her cabinet continues to address the hospitals' complaints about the state's managed-care system for Medicaid, which recently entered its third year.Haynes drew the ire of hospitals last month when she said some needed to Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-86091119033870864352013-11-21T15:09:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.686-08:00Ky. Hospital Association defends 'critical access' designation that gives small, rural hospitals a federal financial boostThe Kentucky Hospital Association came out strongly for continued federal support of small, rural hospitals Thursday, objecting to a proposal that the "critical access hospital" designation be based entirely on distance from other hospitals. Kentucky has 29 such hospitals, which get slightly higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in return for limiting their size and services.Until 2006, Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-7510909422097246372013-11-21T08:08:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:37:41.113-08:00"If You Like Your Doctor You Will Be Able to Keep Your Doctor. Period"I think you can guess who said that.Actually, here is what the President said at the American Medical Association Meeting in July, 2009––and likely lots more times:"No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, your will keep your health plan. Period. No one will take it away. No Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-32448312223415006762013-11-20T22:41:00.000-08:002013-11-27T02:02:37.956-08:00WHEN IS DISCLOSURE NOT DISCLOSURE?WHEN IS DISCLOSURE NOT DISCLOSURE? Hint: When it is made by the Chairman of the DSM-5 Task Force.Here is a case study in conflict of interest (COI). A remarkable confession has just appeared by a group of 5 prominent academics, writing in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Having been outed to the Editors, they now admit to concealing pertinent financial information. One of the five is David J. Kupfer,Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-63097433565114323012013-11-20T17:11:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:37:41.123-08:00Small Group Health Insurance "Cancellations"––The Next Shoe to Drop But a More Complicated OneObamacare is impacting the small group insurance market in many of the same ways as the individual health insurance market. While employers with less than 50 workers don't have to provide coverage, if they do they are required to comply with the same essential benefit mandates, age rating changes, and pre-existing condition reforms the individual market faces.That means essentially all small Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-24239409028052141132013-11-19T09:51:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:37:41.133-08:00Obamacare Rollout Week Seven: Better and Nowhere Near Good EnoughI can provide you with an Obamacare federal exchange rollout update from two decidedly different perspectives:The website is working much better with enrollment increasing at least three-fold over just a few weeks ago with backroom error rates considerably improved; orThe enrollment, to give you a general sense of what's happening, for a health plan that might have to sign-up 100,000 people inAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-85064522043379202152013-11-19T08:48:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.720-08:00Beshear and two other Democratic governors say Obamacare is working in their states, and cite examplesGov. Steve Beshear continues to be a major national cheerleader for the federal health-reform law, citing Kentucky examples in an op-ed piece he and the Democratic governors of Connecticut and Washington circulated to newspapers this week."People keep asking us why our states have been successful," they write. "Here’s a hint: It’s not about our websites. Sure, having functioning websites for ourAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-27166314445114571242013-11-18T20:36:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.745-08:00Most Kentucky hospitals will pay Medicare penalties under health reform, one the country's largest; look them up hereMore Kentucky hospitals are receiving penalties than bonuses in the second year of Medicare’s quality incentive programs, one of the federal health reform law’s changes designed to create financial rewards for doctors and hospitals to provide better care. Pineville Community Hospital is being assessed the highest penalty in the country for its readmission rates.Medicare has two quality-care Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-4391787372703429122013-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.764-08:00At least one insurance company will let Kentuckians keep their health insurance plan for another year if they like itBy Molly BurchettKentucky Health NewsAt least one insurance company, Humana, will be allowing Kentuckians to keep their insurance coverage for another year if they like it, even if the policies aren't compliant with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.Partially owning up to his reforms' rocky rollout last week, President Obama said people whose policies were being cancelled because Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-88372982156601477922013-11-18T15:25:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.823-08:00UK is first in U.S. to conduct clinical trial for new Parkinson's treatment that shows improvement in all five patients so farA new treatment strategy for Parkinson's disease at the University of Kentucky could change the way the ailment is treated, manage symptoms better and halt or reverse the progressive degeneration of the brain that comes with the disease, the university announced Monday.Dr. Craig van Horne demonstrated a deep-brain stimulationremote control unit on Parkinson's patient Rodney Parsons.(Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-12823876039461392402013-11-18T15:19:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.883-08:00New guidelines for cholesterol management spark controversy; faulty risk calculator could lead to over-prescribing statinsThe American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association released new guidelines for cholesterol management, a new formula to assess heart attack and stroke risk, and guidelines for lifestyle modifications and weight management to reduce heart attack and stroke risk.“These guidelines will be helpful to all physicians and their patients, but they will be particularly relevant in Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-72657920546554834062013-11-18T14:24:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:47.948-08:00Community paramedics program could help provide primary-care services, help address state's provider shortageNext spring, the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services could establish a community paramedics pilot program that has the potential to ease the state's shortage pf primary-care health providers.The idea was prompted by the likelihood that the state's expansion of the Medicaid program would lead to a shortage of primary-care personnel. It would add community paramedics to a local Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-83282261593325193932013-11-18T07:11:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:51:48.005-08:00Great American Smokeout is Thursday, Nov. 21, featuring supportive characters to share on social media and a Twitter chatThe American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout will be held Thursday, Nov. 21. The event encourages smokers to quit smoking, or make a plan to quit smoking, that day.Quitting, even for one day, according to the Cancer Society, is an important step toward a healthier life, one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.In Kentucky, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-19671323451343886282013-11-17T09:08:00.000-08:002013-11-27T01:37:41.141-08:00Obama Pushes the Cancellation Mess to the Health PlansRead my Op-Ed at USA Today: Insurance Industry Readied While Obama SleptAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6364588496066643085.post-83234831957281046712013-11-17T02:23:00.000-08:002013-11-27T02:02:37.976-08:00Another 'Survey' on EHRs - Affinity Medical Center (Ohio) Nurses Warn That Serious Patient Complications "Only a Matter of Time" in Open LetterI've written previously about substantial problems nurses at medical centers including Affinity Medical Center, Ohio (http://www.affinitymedicalcenter.com/) and others are having with EHRs, and how hospital executives were ignoring their complaints. The complaints have been made openly, I believe, in large part due to the protection afforded by nurses' unions.See for example my July 2013 Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954355058781791260noreply@blogger.com