Happy Hanukkah & Happy New Year!
Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare Newsletter - December 30, 2005
Click here for Rx Card
2006 promises more uncertainty - Stagnant economy won't release its gripDetroit News business staff December 29, 2005Even the best prognosticators can't know with certainty what the future holds, but 2006 likely will be another year of challenges for Michigan businesses and the economy. The jobless rate is expected to remain high, with more cuts in the auto industry. Personal incomes could fall. The malaise might be reflected in slowing home sales and sliding retail sales. But casino construction will create work, and tech companies are hiring. Here's an industry-by-industry breakdown: Health care benefits will continue to slip away for Michigan workers, as companies scramble to cut fast-growing medical tabs. Higher co-pays, slashed benefits and new deductibles will be even more prevalent than in 2005.Amid the cutbacks, however, consumers will have more options when it comes to picking a health care plan as competition grows among the state's major insurers. Health saving accounts and other consumer-driven plans will emerge. FULL STORY
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051229/BIZ/512290353/1001
SILICON VALLEY LIVES CHANGED BY GLOBALIZATION - Flying to India for a physical - 28-STEP EXAM COSTS $110, INCLUDING MEALS
By Nicole C. WongMercury News
Posted on Thu, Dec. 29, 2005
Hemant Buch, founder of the California Cricket Academy, flew to India last month to recruit coaches for the upcoming youth cricket tournament in Cupertino. The healthy 42-year-old also made an appointment for an annual check-up at Sterling Hospital in Ahmedabad, a city just north of Mumbai. The 28-step examination lasted from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., providing the medical team with enough time to assess his health in painstaking detail. In between the phases of the physical, a friendly staffer served him breakfast, then coffee or tea, lunch, and then more coffee or tea. The bill: about $110. The Cupertino resident is among the world's 150,000 so-called ``medical tourists'' who mixed business or pleasure with health care when they traveled to India this year. FULL STORY
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/13506619.htm
To your health in 2006 - Big stories of 2005 will weigh on consumers this year
By Kristen Gerencher,
MarketWatchLast Update: 7:42 PM ET
Dec. 29, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The ways in which consumers pay for and receive health care began to shift this year and many of those changes will be felt even more strongly in 2006. The biggest news involved Medicare, the federal health-insurance program for Americans 65 and older and the disabled, which began enrolling people for its new prescription-drug benefit that starts in January. While many companies are either offering or considering offering them, few have made the move to totally replace traditional coverage with the newer high-deductible models, Ginsburg said.FULL STORY
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B2C78A047-E477-436A-8EF3-B63CAEC59E45%7D&siteid=google
Trends to watch in '06: Future of health, pension benefits looks cloudy
Thursday, December 29, 2005
By Len Boselovic and Christopher Snowbeck,
Pittsburgh Post
-GazetteConsumer-directed health plans became more popular during 2005, and that popularity is expected to grow in 2006, says Dallas L. Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington. When Verizon Communications announced this month that it would freeze pension and retiree medical benefits for about 50,000 management employees, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg raised retirement insecurities of workers everywhere. "We're seeing the movement to providing people in the plan with more information, more interactive Web sites, more information about doctors, hospitals and procedures, things that will help individuals make better decisions," Mr. Salisbury says. FULL STORY
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05363/629210.stm
The Employers' Last Stand?
By Philip Betbeze
HealthLeaders News
12-30-2005
Tired of subsidizing inefficiencies as well as 45 million uninsured, employers are working to fix healthcare--or get out.For almost 70 years, the foundation of the American healthcare system has been the employer-based model. Thanks to bursts of double-digit annual premium increases, that foundation is crumbling with age. FULL STORY
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/view_feature.cfm?content_id=75917
The Cost of Delivering Babies - Rising malpractice insurance rates challenge obstetricians
by Lou Sorendo
The cycle of life begins with the miracle of childbirth. But for those in the cash-challenged health care field, that miracle is also seen as a tough business proposition. FULL STORY
http://www.oswegocountybusiness.com/issue81/81CoverStory1.html
Health healthy for groceries - Not just a place for food anymore
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 29, 2005
COLUMBUS - Some Ohioans looking for bread and milk also can get advice about their health, shots or suggestions for a good diet in the same store. Many grocers are expanding health-related services. That's good business for grocers, said Tom Jackson, president of the Ohio Grocers Association. FULL STORY
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051229/BIZ/512290325/1001
NHS may not treat smokers, drinkers or obese
By Celia Hall, Medical Editor(Filed: 09/12/2005)People who are grossly overweight, who smoke heavily or drink excessively could be denied surgery or drugs following a decision by a Government agency yesterday. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) which advises on the clinical and cost effectiveness of treatments for the NHS, said that in some cases the "self-inflicted" nature of an illness should be taken into account. FULL STORY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/09/nice09.xml
A hospital where doctors are owners - Critics fear conflicts of interest possible
By ANNE BELLI
Copyright 2005
Houston Chronicle
Houston Town & County Hospital may look like just another new health care facility. But when the 99-bed hospital began admitting patients last month, it did so amid statewide, even national controversy over whether such facilities are good for health care. FULL STORY
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3555137.html
The Argument From Morality in Action: The Right to Health Care
by Stefan Molyneux
I thought it might be interesting to subject a well-known and contentious topic to the argument from morality, to see how this theory might shake out in practice. I chose health care, since I live in Canada, where our friendly neighbourhood state maintains a rigid grip on medical services. (To my friends in the US, just imagine you are 10–15 years in the future!) The proposition that is generally believed here in Canada is: everyone has a right to health care. (In the US, generally, it is: the poor have a right to health care.) FULL STORY
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/molyneux9.html
HSA Bank in deal with Metavante unit
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
3:27 PM CST Thursday
HSA Bank Inc. in Sheyboygan said Thursday that it has an agreement with MBI Benefits Inc., a Metavante Corp. subsidiary, to provide an employee benefits debit card to its customers. FULL STORY
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2005/12/26/daily24.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Free lifetime health care will be costly
By Brad Bumsted and Debra Erdley
STATE CAPITOL REPORTER
Thursday, December 29, 2005
HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania lawmakers -- who awarded themselves free lifetime health insurance -- are about to learn the long-term cost of their pledge, and the cost of providing similar benefits to all retired state employees. Young said Maryland has calculated a $20 billion liability. Two states slightly smaller than Pennsylvania -- Michigan and Ohio -- are projecting $25 billion and $9 billion, respectively. "It's going to be a big issue," Young said. The financial markets, which states go to for bonds, want to see more transparency in disclosure, he said. FULL STORY
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_408432.html
Patient's Want Lists Bear No Relationship to Medical Needs
A California legislator recently said that she felt most people are very frugal in their health-care needs. Well, for practicing physicians, patient over utilization is a daily occurrence, but only for those patients who have no financial liability in their health care. FULL STORY
http://www.medicaltuesday.net/gluttony.aspIt's not about healthcare, but about your health!
This New Year, resolve to fight childhood obesity
DAVID ORBUCH
Posted on Thu, Dec. 29, 2005
On Jan. 1, millions of Minnesotans will once again journey down a familiar path — the path of New Year's resolutions. But next year needs to be different. We need to do more than achieve our personal goals. We need to come together to improve the health of our communities. We need to come together to address a looming health care crisis that threatens to decrease life expectancy for future generations of Americans for the first time in 100 years. We need to come together to fight childhood obesity. FULL STORY
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/13502803.htm
Toys key cause of child obesity: research
LONDON: Today's children may be wiz kids who have the knack of mastering machines, but that is at the cost of neglecting out door games and physical activity. And now a study has confirmed parents worst fears by finding that unhealthy Christmas presents make children fat. FULL STORY
http://www.geo.tv/main_files/world.aspx?id=100247
Obesity before pregnancy linked to childhood weight problems
A study by Ohio State University A child's weight may be influenced by his mother even before he is actually born, according to new research. Results of the study, which included more than 3,000 children, suggest that a child is far more likely to be overweight at a very young age – at 2 or 3 years old – if his mother was overweight or obese before she became pregnant. A child is also at greater risk of becoming overweight if he is born to a black or Hispanic mother, or to a mother who smoked during her pregnancy. FULL STORY
http://pregnancyandbaby.com/read/articles/5792.htm
Refer Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare newsletter to a friend - Click to subscribe - IT IS FREE!
Daily Newsletter SubscriptionThis newsletter is brought you by CashDoctor.com 3132 West Post Road Las Vegas, NV 89118 Phone 702-425-5749 Fax 800-470-1416
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment