Archive for August, 2010
What would you do with $250,000,000? This is the question that many low income clinics around the country will soon be asking themselves thanks to a large grant from the Federal government. The plan calls for building new clinics as well as building up the services of those clinics already existing in lower income areas. This $250,000,000 grant will be aimed primarily at about 8000 clinics across the country.
According to Washingtonpost.com the money will be in high demand but that the $250 million plan is simply part of a larger overall picture:
“Applicants must “demonstrate a high level of need in the community, present a sound proposal to meet this need, and show that the organization is ready to quickly put their proposal to work,” Mary Wakefield, another HRSA administrator, said in a statement. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 17.
The administration set aside $11 billion to expand and bolster community health centers over the next five years as more Americans gain medical insurance through health-care reform. About 45 million people live in areas designated by the federal government as medically underserved.”
These Health Centers operate in large part as ways to catch uninsured people who need medical attention. Of course this shows the expense to taxpayers for the uninsured, but luckily in North Carolina we have a great Health Care provider with the BCBSNC system. So even though these clinics fulfill a need, hopefully overtime more and more people will end up being insured by a great provider like Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
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With the recent recall of eggs is important for your health to consider whether or not it will be advisable to eat eggs again any time in the near future. Yahoo News is reporting that as many as 1300 people might possibly have gotten sick from eating the contaminated eggs. If that number is accurate you certainly wouldn’t want to take the risk of eating the known contaminated eggs, but will things be safe from here on out?
Luckily no deaths have been reported from the salmonella outbreak and if you are concerned about the eggs in your local grocery store you can check this link http://bit.ly/9yambn for the FDA’s information regarding recalled egg brands. It should also be noted that even if the eggs are infected with salmonella that the bacteria can be killed through proper heating, and besides that it seems that the affected eggs should have already been removed from the marketplace. So you don’t necessarily need to be afraid of eating eggs at this point, but you may want to make sure that you do not eat them runny just to be sure.
Of course if you were ever to get sick from salmonella poisoning or another food borne illness you can always go to your local doctor or emergency room for treatment. Of course this is where Blue Cross NC Health Insurance will really come in handy for you, because you simply never know when something like the contaminated egg outbreak may happen and it’s always best to protect yourself with quality Health Insurance.
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In some of the world’s poorest countries poor health and disease run rampant in spite of the fact that a good deal can be done and at little cost. Public health experts have been informing government agencies to put a primary focus on cancer care in developing nations. Even though there is a great deal of ill health in developing countries the things that can be done to treat and even to prevent some of the most prevalent maladies to need the cost a fortune according to public health experts.
According to medialnewstoday.com the cancer rates in poorer countries are staggering in comparison to those of the developed world:
“In 1970 lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) accounted for 15% of global cancer cases. In 2008 the figure rose to 56%. Experts estimate that by 2030 the percentage will reach 70%.
With nearly two-thirds of global annual cancer cases occurring in LMICs, it is today a leading cause of death, the authors write. The case fatality from cancer – estimated incidence to mortality ratio – is 75% in low-income countries, compared to 46% in developed nations.”
Some of what has been recommended to help prevent such a prevalence and cancer includes focusing on anti-tobacco campaigns, educating people about early detection, encouraging the HVP shot, and increasing the hepatitis B vaccination to the populace. We should be very thankful that as American citizens we currently have such a phenomenal Health Care System, such as that offered by Blue Cross of North Carolina, and hopefully in the very near future people of poor nations will benefit from advances both here and abroad.
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It goes without saying that obesity is becoming a health crisis in America. There used to be a time when major news outlets would report on something having to do with obesity or a new diet fad and we, as viewers, would be greeted with the obligatory shot of hefty Americans, face out of view and only the backside visible, trudging along the streets. The sad fact is that the shots are becoming increasingly visible through a multitude of news outlets, and we as viewers can increasingly relate to the imagery we are seeing flash across our TV screens.
As an increasing number of Americans become overweight we’re left the asking ourselves whether this is due to our poor food choices or a lack of exercise. Undoubtedly both factors contribute to obesity, and fixing either one or the other will go a long way towards diminishing your waistline, but a recent study says that one of these culprits is a bigger villain in the other:
“Dr. Boyd Swinburn and colleagues at Deakin University, Melbourne, presented their findings last year at the European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam. The ever-growing amounts of food Americans eat comprise, according to Swinburn, virtually the sole cause of the alarming increase over the past 3 decades in overweight in the U.S. The researchers looked at 1,399 adults and 963 children to see how many calories they burned daily, and compared these figures to estimates of what their daily calorie needs should be to maintain a healthy weight, based on their height and weight (30 years ago and now).” (Source Health.yahoo.net)
Given the information coming out of this study looking at our diets might be the first place to start to improve our overall health. BCBSNC has a great set of guidelines that you can click here to assess if you are overweight and if you are leading a healthy lifestyle.
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In an earlier post we spoke of the Blue Cross NC program that was intended to increase the number of primary care Physicians in North Carolina. The program gave over $1,000,000 to encourage medical students to enter into family practice medicine through various channels. While it is easy to read news like this and separate the words from what actually takes place in real life sometimes you can put a human face together with the story. According to reflector.com the money provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is being used by students at East Carolina University among other schools:
“The following ECU students will participate in the program for the 2010-11 academic year: Hannah Fuhr of Chapel Hill, Kelley Haven of Greenville, Ashley Hink of Raleigh, Holly Love of Mount Pleasant and Patrick Williams of Hickory. Eleven students from ECU, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University are participating.
Dr. Elizabeth Fry of Greenville and 10 other physicians from across the state will serve as mentors.”
The reflector article also goes on to note how new healthcare legislation is going to add to the pool of insured North Carolinians thus rendering the need for primary care Physicians of even greater urgency. As you can see the program initiated by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina really is making a difference in medical programs across the state, which hopefully will translate to a greater number of family Physicians in North Carolina in the near future.
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Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, commented via the White House blog, a message congratulating national Blue Plans for extending coverage of adult children. Blue Cross NC among other Blue Cross providers across the nation decided to voluntarily increase coverage of adult children even though insurers were not required to do so until September. Once again we’re seeing an example of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina stepping out in front of the pack to lead the way for other insurance companies. According to the BCBSNC Newsroom BCBSNC President and CEO Brad Wilson had the following to say regarding the response from the White House:
“Here at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, we are very pleased to be among the early adopters of the policy that is now the law of the land. We will work to welcome other insurers to provide this important coverage for young people. Doing so was the right thing for North Carolinians years ago, and it is the right thing for Americans now.”
Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of health and Human Services urged health insurers via letter to follow the example of insurers like BCBSNC and extend this benefit to eligible customers as well. We here in North Carolina are lucky to have an insurance company like Blue Cross NC that is leading the way to provide Americans with quality affordable Health Insurance.
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