Rationing: It’s a dirty word.  Some politicians and activists warn of the dangers of a public option that would have the government ration out health care, and point to Europe as a cautionary tale; others claim that care is already being rationed indirectly by a patient’s health insurance plan. Either way, the thought of being denied needed medical treatment because of a callous calculation is scary. Costs need to be cut, either by the federal government or private insurance companies looking to maximize their profits–therefore, everyone’s looking for whatever procedures may be considered unnecessary and wasteful.

How do you know if you’re a victim of rationing, as opposed to a recipient of high-quality, sensible health care? In Newsweek magazine, medical school professor Christopher Moore acknowledged this dilemma. Sometimes, excess treatment can hurt the patient more than it helps. Take CT scans, for example. Admittedly, they are costly, with prices continuing to rise (and also being passed onto your family health insurance bill); but CT scanners are amazing medical technology that can identify if a head injury is life-threatening. However, studies have shown that the probability of that being the case are relatively tiny. Meanwhile, there is up to a 1-in-1,000 chance of each CT scan causing eventual death from cancer (due to the radiation involved), even more so for younger patients. The medical risks of doing a CT scan on a teenager with a concussion could outweigh the benefits, even after removing cost from the equation. Keeping a close watch on the patient might be a better bet.

So if your doctor refuses to perform an expensive test or other procedure, it’s very likely that he or she has a legitimate medical reason for it. If you get more affordable health insurance because of the reduced cost, so much the better, but that’s not the #1 priority.  Occasionally, a physician who performs the procedure might be doing it solely to avoid a malpractice lawsuit. The prospect of a government-run public option won’t stop that. Moore insists that a doctor who genuinely believes an expensive procedure is sorely needed won’t let cost concerns stop him or her from ordering it. Let’s hope so.

(Image: Akira Oghaki under CC 2.0)

Obesity has become an epidemic in America, and has been blamed for a significant percentage of rising healthcare costs. In the past, ambulances have had to improvise when transporting morbidly obese patients over 500 pounds to the hospital, and companies have eaten the cost. Now, with an increasingly obese population, ambulance providers are starting to pass the increased cost onto insurers, either public or private. This may be necessary, but it will probably reduce the availability of affordable health insurance policies. As for the uninsured, patients will also have to cover the cost of an ambulance ride themselves.

It’s two-and-a-half times more expensive to transfer an extremely obese patient than one at normal weight, according to the Associated Press. Reasons for this include the need for new vehicles and helicopters with larger doors and lifts, extra-large stretchers, as well as the need to hire more emergency crew members (and have them work longer hours) to lift obese patients. Insurance companies operating in Washington and Oregon already pay increased rates to cover those extra costs, despite fat-acceptance groups considering it to be another example of weight discrimination in medical care. Other advocates of the obese, however, are appreciative of the improvements that allow them to be transported with dignity.

The cost of specialized ambulances will certainly be passed on. Increased regulation in the healthcare reform bill may prevent people from charging extremely obese patients more for a health insurance plan. Therefore, everyone’s plan will cost a little bit more.  Medicare and Medicaid are resisting increased reimbursements, but the industry is fighting for fair compensation for their services. Without it, they claim that they will be unable to provide quality care that serves the needs of a significant percentage of the nation’s people.  Promoting public health (e.g. reaching a healthy weight and not smoking) would do a lot to reduce healthcare costs, and should be part of any healthcare reform. Otherwise, the population of morbidly obese will rise from its current 5%, requiring more specialized, costly care.

(Image: NIOSH – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under CC 2.0)

A recent story in the Boston Globe, while sad, has given me a deeper appreciation of those health insurance companies that provide mental health coverage. During a therapy session at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Bipolar Clinic, a patient with bipolar disorder stabbed his psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is recovering, thankfully; the patient was soon killed by a security guard after he failed to stop.

Many people forget that psychiatrists are also medical doctors that treat a variety of conditions and put themselves in harm’s way each day. While it appears that this particular patient was too far gone, millions of individuals with mental health disorders have seen significant improvements with the help of psychiatric treatment. People who need treatment are more likely to get it if they have health insurance with mental health coverage. There are insurance plans that cover most or all of the cost of psychiatric and therapy visits, as well as medications.

Please don’t wait to get help until it’s too late. If you or someone you love is struggling with paying for treatment of their mental illness, get a health insurance quote instead of giving up. I wish you the best of luck.

(Image: Pink Sherbet Photography under CC 2.0)

Medicare is one of the currently existing government-run health insurance plans (for individuals over the age of 65), and has been cited as a possible model for the public option proposed in healthcare reform bills. Medicare Advantage consists of supplement plans sold by private insurers, which provide extra coverage to certain consumers. Basically, think of Medicare as the basic model of a car and Medicare Advantage as the optional extras (sunroof, multi-CD changers). As of last year, over 10 million senior citizens who were eligible for Medicare also bought Medicare Advantage policies.

The health insurance industry is taking advantage of Medicare Advantage’s popularity with a new television spot. An ad by America’s Health Insurance Plans points out that healthcare reform will lead to cuts in the government’s support and subsidization of Medicare Advantage plans. One of the five healthcare bills floating around congressional committees (which must be reconciled into a unified bill for the entire Congress to vote on) calls for a $100 billion reduction in federal funding of Medicare Advantage. The program has its own issues that must be fixed, but older people are more vulnerable to scare tactics surrounding possible changes to their current long term health insurance. This may also be why the senior citizen demographic is least likely to support major healthcare reform.

(Image: Kaiser Family Foundation)

A soldier bravely serving his country overseas in Iraq begins to notice he has a hard time breathing.  He takes a trip to the medic where they tell him he has an incurable lung condition that will leave him unable to breathe.  Pretty grim outlook until they say he will be fast tracked on a lung transplant waiting list and once he is paired with a  donor he will be able to receive a transplant.  He patiently waits the 2 years it takes for a pair of lungs to be matched and he is finally able to receive the transplant.  All goes well with the procedure and as he sees it he is granted a new lease on life, after all the doctors told him he most probably should have died by then and now here he was with a new set of lungs able to breathe clearly again.  Fast forward one year and this same Iraqi War Vet aforementioned is now dead.  From Lung Cancer.

As it turns out the lungs he received in the transplant we’re donated from a chain smoker.  In Fact, they we’re donated from a smoker who smoked up to 50 cigarettes a day according to tests performed on the lungs during the autopsy.

A tumor had soon developed in the lungs soon after the transplant and the tumor was accelerated due to the immuno-suppresive drugs he was taking to prevent his body from rejecting the new lungs.

Papworth Hospital, where the transplant was performed, issued a statement in regards to the soldiers death stating that “using donor lungs from smokers is not at all unusual,” in fact its quite common.  They say they really have no other option but to use smokers lungs if not far more people would die while waiting on the wait list for lungs.

While clearly this is an extremely rare case, it does shed light on a very interesting topic of debate.  Should donors be fully informed of the organs they are to receive and be granted access to the donors prior medical history, and how rigorously are donors organs screened?

The Official cause of death listed on the Autopsy reads:  “Complications from Lung Transplant Surgery and Immuno-Suppresive drug treatment.”

R.I.P.  Corporal Matthew Millington

There are many services that already incorporate online records for your medical history, prescriptions, etc. For instance, CVS, Blue Cross of MA, Quest Diagnostics and many clinics store up to 2  years of your medical history. It is easy to get on Google Health and authorize those sites to import data into your Google Health profile. This way your treatments at the clinic and prescriptions at the drug store all stay in one handy place.

The advantage to using Google Health is having access to all of your own personal files in one location. You can set sharing permissions, and import whatever data from whatever doctor you need. You can even manually import data if you have paper copies of your records. The point is that the more data you have the better diagnosis and treatment you will get. This is especially helpful for those who are acting as guardian of the elderly. Often they end up on so many different medications it is hard to keep track of them. Instead of logging everything in a journal take advantage of Google Health and help your parents, children, and loved ones stay healthy for years to come.

Google has a service that they are working on perfecting, it’s known as Google Health. It is a place where you can either automatically or manually import your medical history, lab results, etc. in order to share it with your doctor. It even allows you to print out small sized forms to give to yoru doctor when he asks for any medical information.

Imagine that! A free service that allows you to store your medical history and control it yourself! Imagine being able to see a history and record of all the medicines you have and are taking, and then being able to give it to your doctor so he doesn’t prescribe a conflicting medication! This is a blessing that is very little known. For more information check out http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/health/about/.

According the the Wall Street Journal a diabetes drug has been yet again linked to pancreatic inflammation.

Be very careful when choosing drugs for your conditions. Not all drugs are the same. Each one has a different side-effect and effectiveness toward your condition. Tons of research should be done before popping a new pill, changing your medication, or stopping your current medication. The body doesn’t respond well to sudden changes which is why a crazy diet doesn’t work, and often ends up leaving you fatter than ever.

When it comes to medication that keeps you alive, you don’t want that negative bounce back effect or you wont have a chance to correct your mistakes.

H1N1 is still going around, in fact one of our Agent’s daughter caught the virus. Consider vaccinating your child from the Virus, but be aware of the following comment found on WebMD:

One shot of the vaccine raised protective antibodies in 76% of older children, a level of protection considered very good for flu vaccines. But a single dose of the vaccine protects only 36% of 3- to 9-year-olds, and only 25% of children age 6 months to 35 months.

Be sure to consult your Doctor before rushing into any vaccination facilities. Make sure that your child may not have any allergic reaction to the flue vaccine. Take every precaution as well to keep your child from bacteria and germs.

It was recently reported that Drinking is tied, somehow, in some ungodly fashion, to alcoholic drinking habits. It seems those who party all night drinking get more exercise than those that dont, by a whopping 7 minutes a week? I don’t know about you, but the last time i forgot to do 7 more minutes of exericse in a week it didnt make a difference in the world to me. Just another example of misinformation or minute information turned big for a headline or increased sales of alcohol.

Please be careful if or when you drink, it has many health detriments no matter how many benefits people tell you it has. Its good for your heart, it makes you exercise more, however anything in excess is ultimatly bad even the most vital of all fluids; water. Keep a look out for your health! Oh and…if you decide not too theres always Health Insurance to help pay for your “mistakes”, call VitalOne Health at 1-866-488-5200