The presumptive leader in the 2010 race for governor of the Sunshine State has launched a controversial public campaign to persuade Attorneys Generals in other states to join him in “launching a full review of the constitutionality of the individual mandate and potential legal options for States to pursue on behalf of their citizens should this mandate become law,” Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum writes in a letter to his AG peers.

The Senate recently approved a draft of the healthcare reform bill that provides for a mandatory tax of $700 to $4,000 against individuals who do not obtain health insurance coverage, either individually or through their employers, before 2013. The provision was added when lobbyists for the nation’s top health insurance companies successfully negotiated it in exchange for dropping an additional proposal that bans insurance companies from declining to provide coverage for people with pre-existing health conditions.

McCollum maintains that the tax would violate the provision of individual freedoms contained in both the United States Constitution and that of the State of Florida.

“I have grave concerns about the constitutionality of this mandate,” said McCullom. “Such a ‘living tax’ is worrisome because it would be levied on a person who does nothing, a person who simply wishes not to be forced to buy health insurance coverage…The mandate is especially troubling to Floridians who are guaranteed through the Florida Constitution to have ‘the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into [their] private life.’”

In another public statement to the media, McCullom explained his stance against the proposed tax and threatens legal action if it becomes law.

“I am committed to pursuing any legal action necessary to defend (the rights)…of the more than 18 million individuals who call Florida home,” writes McCollum.

Earlier this year, McCollum announced his intent to seek the Republican nomination for Governor of Florida in 2010. He intends to replace Governor Charlie Crist, a fellow Florida Republican, after serving one term as Attorney General. McCollum is considered the frontrunner in the race for the nomination because Crist also served as AG for Florida before he took over the state’s highest office.

Democratic Senator Dan Gelber of Miami, who is running to replace McCullom as Attorney General, quickly criticized McCullom in a statement shortly after McCllom announced his intent to review the constitutionality of the healthcare tax.

“General McCollum’s decision to use his office to investigate ways to block health insurance reform is exactly why we need new leadership in the Attorney General’s office,” said Gelber. “There are four million Floridians without health care including 800,000 children. Only one state has a higher percentage of uninsured. I wish McCollum was as concerned about solving Florida’s health care crisis as he was about stopping the solving of the health care crisis.”

A recent New York Times highlighted Maine’s attempts at comprehensive healthcare reform. Their experiences serve as a cautionary tale for Congress.   The state established a public health insurance plan, expanded Medicare and Medicaid eligibility, and banned insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions, but those actions have done  little to insure more of its residents.  Contrary to the promises of public option supporters, health care costs have only continued to rise in the state.

Reasons for the high health care costs range from the state-specific to the general. Unlike the bill that recently passed the House of Representatives, Maine’s healthcare reform legislation didn’t include a mandate to buy health insurance plans. It’s a vicious cycle: forcing health insurance companies to offer policies to unhealthy people with pre-existing conditions raises the rates for younger people; young adults will be even less likely to buy health insurance if their premiums go up, which results in the insurer’s risk being spread among less people. In the end, the older, unhealthier population remains in the pool and must contend with less affordable health insurance. Therefore, there is a larger uninsured population.

Granted, Maine is a market dominated by just one private health insurance company (which, with its effective monopoly, can increase premiums to their liking); and its population is older, sicker, and poorer than the U.S. in general. Senator Olympia Snowe points to her state as a cautionary tale of what may happen if drastic changes are made too fast. Snowe is a Republican that supports healthcare reform but is against the public option. Budgeting problems have caused Maine to cap enrollment of its own public option health insurance plan at under 9,000. The federal government, unlike most states, is allowed to run a deficit. However, it isn’t exactly rolling in the money right now either.

The reform bill passed in the House has the potential to change what all health insurance plans cover. An amendment proposed by Bart Stupak, which passed in the House of Representatives, prevents federal funding from being used to buy any health insurance plan that offers coverage of elective abortions. In exchange for the votes of pro-life Democrats essential to pass the legislation, the healthcare reform bill was modified. The previous language only prevented government money from being used directly to pay for an abortion.

Obviously, the public option will not include abortion coverage. However, the ban extends to private health insurers participating in the government’s insurance exchange. Low- and medium-income individuals and families will receive subsidies in order to buy a health insurance plan. A compromise proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which would serve to distinguish private dollars from federal money and allow insurers to cover abortion services with solely the latter, was rejected. Many people with employer-provided or individual health insurance have abortion coverage provided in their policies. In order to enter the potentially lucrative exchange market, insurers might eliminate that coverage entirely.

Those who pay for their entire health insurance policy out-of-pocket will still be allowed to buy plans that provide abortion coverage, although the availability and affordability of these plans will most likely decrease. Pro-choice advocates, such as Planned Parenthood, are crying foul.

Interestingly, the amendment received 240 votes–higher than the actual bill’s margin of victory. Assuming that many pro-choice Democrats voted against it, this result means that a significant portion of Republicans voted for the amendment. Whether they wanted to salvage something they wanted out of a bill that was almost certain to pass or sabotage the bill by creating a schism between Democrats, they decided to amend a bill while rejecting the bill itself.

(Image: mahalie under CC 2.0)

Healthcare reform was finally passed in the the House of Representatives after a long night. The final vote on the healthcare reform bill was very close: 220 for to 215 against. It seems that President Obama’s last minute push for the legislation worked. Despite Obama’s pep talk, nearly 40 Democrats voted against the the bill. As predicted, the vast majority of Republican representatives voted against it. However, one Republican voted for the bill. Supporters are happy that the public option was retained in the bill, and that health insurance plans will no longer be allowed to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

Now the bill must go to the Senate, where it will be debated and modified further. Some liberal representatives in the House weren’t completely satisfied with the healthcare reform proposals passed, but feel that they have a better chance of getting what they want if they pass the bill and allow their Senate counterparts to work with it. Their other option is letting it fail, possibly endangering the chances of universal health care altogether.

A 242-192 vote allowed the health care reform legislation to reach the House floor to begin with. Several representatives promised to allow the bill to reach the floor for debate, although they opposed the actual proposals to change the health insurance system.

The flu pandemic has left many concerned especially with talk of a vaccine shortage.  But that doesn’t mean there is a shortage on ways to prevent you from getting sick.  Here are three simple steps that will protect your health not just now but all year long.

Step 1  Be sure you regularly disinfect the kitchen sink, the trash can, the bathroom faucet and the tub. These places harbor a lot of germs. The champion of the contamination? The kitchen sponge. Clean it in the dishwasher weekly.

Step 2  Lace up your sneakers and take a brisk walk five times a week. Regular exercise can help reduce chances of catching a cold.

Step 3  Include probiotics in your daily diet to help your immune system ward off bad bacteria. Try yogurt, fortified drinks, or a tasty treat like the 90-calorie Attune Milk Chocolate Crip Probiotic Bar.

There is more proof to convince smokers that if they want to kick their habit they need to hit the gym. A new study uses images to show how getting your blood moving by exercising for even 15 minutes minimizes your cravings to smoke. Here is a look at how the study was performed.

• The study – published in the journal Addiction, looked at 20 moderately heavy smokers. The smokers abstained from smoking for 15 hours before the trial.
• All participants were shown smoking-related as well as neutral images before either 15 minutes of sitting or exercising at a moderate intensity on a stationary bike.
• Afterwards, they were again shown the images. The research team used the latest eye tracking technology to measure and record their precise eye movements. They were able to show not only the length of time people looked at smoking-related images but also how quickly pictures of cigarettes could grab their attention, compared with non-smoking matched images.
• The study showed an 11% difference in how long the exercises vs. non-exercisers looked at the smoking related images.
• Also, after exercise, participants took longer to look at smoking-related images.
• Exercise, therefore, appears to reduce the power of the smoking-related images to grab visual attention.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Kellogg’s was doing its part to keep kids healthy during the flu season or at least that’s what they led consumers to believe. A bright yellow label displayed over the cereal box said their Cocoa Krispies cereal were now offering immunity support. With the flu season in full swing parents were grabbing it off the grocery store shelves to help keep their kids healthy. It turns out the labeling may have been a trick.

Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, said “The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense.”She points out that all nutrients bolster immunity, and not just the Cocoa Krispies. Marion sent a letter to the FDA about this, months ago.  Other skeptics are also convinced the cereal company was just trying to make additional revenue in the wake of the swine flu hysteria.

The cereal giants have agreed to pull the label.  But Kellogg’s, is still standing behind their claims and have plead not guilty.

You can’t believe everything you read no matter how good it sounds or how good it tastes for that matter.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Health insurance providers, both public and private, are looking for ways to cut spending. One of their strategies is to deny claims for treatments they deem unnecessary. The effectiveness-testing studies receiving funding in Congress’ healthcare reform bill is a case in point. While that’s a laudable goal, what if your doctor recommends an unusual course treatment?

Experts recommend that you never tell your health insurance plan that you are receiving an “investigational” or “experimental treatment; or if you are enrolled in a clinical trial. These phrases are codewords that make insurers more likely to look closer and reject your claims. First off, health insurance plans will cover treatment your physician considers medically necessary. When it comes to insurance, you obviously shouldn’t lie (that could lead to cancellation of your policy, leaving you uninsured); but you also shouldn’t give more information than is specifically asked for.

You may even be wrong about the experimental status of the procedure. Some procedures aren’t typically used, but are proven medically effective nonetheless. In that case, health insurance plans should cover it. Check with your doctor, even if he or she used wording such as wanting to “experiment with a treatment”. Don’t let semantics cost you!

Continuing the use of technology that fueled his successful presidential campaign, President Barack Obama is now using Facebook and other social media sites to push the Democratic healthcare reform bill. By reaching the younger demographics most supportive of the public option where they congregate, Obama hopes to motivate them to call their representatives and express their support of reform. Generations X and Y live on the Internet, and are also the portion of the population most likely to be uninsured. Some of them might think that they’re healthy now and therefore invincible, but others realize the importance of having a health insurance plan at any age.

The House of Representatives will most likely be voting on healthcare reform this weekend, and representatives will no doubt be hearing from their constituents about it. Opponents of the Democrats’ reform are fired up, and the Obama administration’s goal is to light that fire under supporters who believe it’s the best way to provide affordable health insurance to the nation. They must hope that Obama’s millions of Facebook friends and Twitter followers keep up with their news feeds and become inspired to get involved in helping him enact part of the change he promised them. Their presence was sorely lacking for Democrats earlier this week, when Republicans won governor’s races in two states in off-year elections–largely fueled by anger over reform, and fears of people scared of losing their existing health insurance plans. We’ll see if Obama’s final push pays off.

Yes, you read that right. South Carolina Representative Joe “You Lie!” Wilson has proposed an amendment to the healthcare reform bill lumbering through Congress, which would require all congresspersons to enroll in the public option health insurance plan. He hasn’t switched sides and decided to vote for the Democrats’ bill; rather, his amendment is a stunt intended to point out what he sees as the failures of the public option.

Ironically, supporters of healthcare reform have pointed to the government-subsidized insurance enjoyed by senators and representatives as evidence that there should be a public option–if health insurance is good enough for our politicians, shouldn’t it be good enough for the rest of us? (In fact, although the federal government subsidizes their healthcare, it is actually administered by private insurers.) Wilson turns that strategy on its head, by saying that if a public option is suitable for average Americans, it should also be suitable for Washington D.C.

It’s quite unlikely the amendment will be ratified in the House. The current language simply allows Congress to sign up for the public option. Most Democrats probably won’t vote for this ‘poison pill’ provision; as they have admitted, most Americans would prefer to keep their existing health insurance. Republicans might vote for it as a lark, although they might refuse to dignify Nancy Pelosi’s bill with any type of ‘yes’ vote. Joe Wilson has 72 hours to get his own mandate into the bill, before it reaches the House floor.