Health

Jun292017 by adminNo Comments

Should the long-term ill have free prescriptions?

Prescriptions in England should be free to everyone with a long-term medical condition, the Prescription Charges Coalition campaign group says.Some people end up needing hospital treatment because they cannot afford their medication, it says.It wants conditions such as Parkinson's to be added to the list of specific illnesses that require free medicines. But health officials say they have made sure people with chronic illnesses have access to affordable prescriptions.'Not right'Zoe Oakley, a bus driver and mother of two from Poole, is one of thousands of people who would like free medication. She has polycystic kidney disease and is currently waiting for a transplant, but says the costs of her blood-pressure medication to protect her kidneys can take its toll. She says: "There were two tim...

Jun282017 by adminNo Comments

Selling the GOP health care bill: Does Trump help or hurt?

Health

It was a platform most politicians can only hope for: A captivated, 6,000-person crowd and more than an hour of live, prime-time television coverage to hype the Republican vision for a new health care system. But when President Donald Trump got around to talking about the Republican plan — about 15 minutes into his speech — he was wildly off message. Instead of preaching party lines about getting the government out of Americans' health decisions and cutting costs, he declared: "Add some money to it!" The moment captured a major dilemma for Republicans as they look for ways to jumpstart their stalled health care overhaul. A master salesman, Trump has an inimitable ability to command attention, and that could be used to bolster Americans' support for Republican efforts and ramp up pressure

Jun282017 by adminNo Comments

How to Make 5 Healthy Lunches from a $25 Trader Joe’s Shopping Trip

Health

I don't have a great track record of bringing my lunch to work. On Sundays, I'd much rather start a new Netflix series, hang out with friends, or finally make it to yoga class than plan my lunches for the workweek. But then once I'm waiting in line on Monday to drop yet another $ 10 on a salad I could have easily made myself, I start to feel guilty about how much cash I'm wasting.For me, the only way to really commit to bringing my lunch is if I don't have to spend a ton of time over the stove on Sunday. So I worked with our food director Beth Lipton to come up with a meal plan that relies on time-saving Trader Joe's buys, like their genius pre-steamed lentils, 10-minute farro, and shredded carrot. The result? A $ 5-per-day lunch plan that might actually have me changing my ways: not only

Jun272017 by adminNo Comments

Study: Michigan Medicaid expansion improved health, job performance

Health

June 27 (UPI) -- Low-income Michigan residents enrolled in the state's expanded Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act are seeing benefits to health and employment, researchers found in a recent study.Researchers at the University of Michigan found that 69 percent of the 4,090 Medicaid recipients surveyed, who had jobs prior to enrollment reported doing better at work after enrolling in the Healthy Michigan Plan, the state's Medicaid expansion plan under the ACA, sometimes referred to as Obamacare.The study, which was presented June 27 at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, showed nearly half of the newly covered residents reported improvements in their physical health in the first year of coverage and close to 40 percent reported improvements in their mental and dental heal...

Jun272017 by adminNo Comments

Gene sequencing may reveal risks for rare diseases

Health

MONDAY, June 26, 2017 -- "Genome sequencing" of healthy people reveals that some are at risk for rare genetic diseases, a new study shows.And doctors need to be sensitive when revealing that information, the researchers said."Sequencing healthy individuals will inevitably reveal new findings for that individual, only some of which will have actual health implications," said study lead author Dr. Jason Vassy. He's a clinician investigator at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.Vassy and his colleagues said they found "reassuring evidence" that doctors can be trained to manage their patients' sequencing results appropriately.Moreover, "patients who receive their results are not likely to experience anxiety connected to those results," Vassy said in a hospital news release.Whole genome seq...