Archive for the 'Health Insurance News' Category
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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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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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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It’s no secret that family Physicians seem to be few and far between these days. With a greater number of medical students deciding to specialize in a specific area of medicine it was beginning to seem as though the era of the family Physician was coming to an end. To combat the shortage of primary care Physicians the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation has announced a $1.18 million grant that will benefit the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. This grant is specifically aimed to provide a greater number of family Physicians to North Carolinians by encouraging more medical students to pursue a career to that end.
“Communities across North Carolina work hard to attract quality physicians to provide primary care for our citizens,” said Brad Wilson, chairman of the BCBSNC Foundation. “However, we are already faced with a national shortage of primary care physicians, and the recently passed health care reform legislation will mean an increase in the number of folks seeking care. We hope that through this initiative, North Carolina medical students will receive the help and incentive they need to make a commitment to family medicine.” (BCBSNC Newsroom)
The money will, in part, benefit the Family Medicine Interest and Scholars Program which again aims at increasing the number of medical students looking to go into primary care. Thanks to BCBSNC all North Carolinians may benefit in the near future from an increase in primary care Physicians, which again goes to show the importance not only of family Physicians but also of Insurance in general to local communities.
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With all of the talk about healthcare lately it’s important to take a step back and look at the real value of having health coverage. We all know the individual benefits of carrying Health Insurance, but aside from the personal level what good does it do the community as a whole to have individuals who are carrying insurance? This question can partially be answered by recent inquiry by the Springfield Health Commission who “spent the last ten months assembling data to help find to a solution for those in need of health insurance or at least, health care.” According to KMSU.org the findings of the Springfield Health Commission were clear in at least one area:
“Dr. Daniel Sontheimer, a member of the board of directors for the Commission, says if there is one thing to take away from the report, it’s that the lack of dental coverage for those with Medicaid and those without insurance is creating a strain on the emergency care system.”
Of course these findings are really nothing surprising. It really goes without saying that people who lack Health Insurance tend to use the emergency room as a major resource to treat all kinds of maladies. In this light the Springfield Health Commission’s report makes perfect sense and goes a long way to let people know the benefits of carrying Health Insurance. This need for Health Insurance is not isolated to one single part of the country but is also applicable here in North Carolina, which is why Carolina Blue Cross can provide a vital service to not only to individuals in North Carolina but really to the community as a whole.
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