Virginia Mason in partnership with ZERO: The Project to End Prostate Cancer and KOMO4, will host a mobile free prostate cancer testing program Thursday, July 9 in Seattle and Friday, July 10 in Issaquah from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Drive Against Prostate Cancer screening is free, confidential and does not require an appointment or health insurance. [Read more →]
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According to a new survey, only one in three people know the proper temperature to cook a hamburger in order for it to be safe to eat, the Washington State Department of Health reports.
(Answer: When the internal temperature reaches 160°F)
“Some people think they know how to tell when burgers and other meats are cooked thoroughly, but misinformation may put them at risk,” the Department says.
“For example, one in five said making sure the hamburger is brown inside is the best approach — food safety experts say that’s not an accurate way to ensure the burger is cooked all the way.”
“Almost 20 percent said checking to see if juices run clear ensures the food is safe — another bad idea when it comes to your health.”
“Undercooked meats, cross contamination, and improperly handled food can be a source of foodborne illness. Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and Campylobacter bacteria can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, and chills. Young children, people over 50, and those with weak immune systems are at higher risk for serious illness,” the Department warns.
Among the most basic and important prevention tool is to wash your hands when preparing food and before eating. Keep raw meat (and meat juices) from touching other foods, utensils, and preparation areas. Use a thermometer to make sure food’s fully cooked before serving. Follow these internal cooking temperatures:
- Ground beef and hamburger – 160°F
- Hot dogs – 165°F
- Steaks, roasts, and fish – 145°F
- Chicken breasts – 165°F
- Pork and egg dishes – 160°F
- Ground chicken or turkey – 165°F
- Casseroles or stuffing – 165°F
Proper storage, handling, and preparation of produce is also important. Thoroughly wash whole uncut fruits, including melons, and vegetables. Transport salads, freshly cut fruits and vegetables, and other prepared foods in a cooler. Remember to keep leftovers cold. If food’s been sitting out for more than two hours, throw it out.
For more tips from the Department of Health on the safe preparation of picnic and barbecue food…
CommentsTags: E. coli·Food Poisoning·Food Safety·Picnics·Salmonella
By Jordan Rau – Kaiser Health News
JUL 02, 2009
A half-hour into “Money-Driven Medicine,” a new documentary that skewers the U.S. health care system for its insensitivity toward patients and excessive spending, a father talks about the doctors who treated his toddler for leukemia.
As melancholy music plays in the background and photographs of his bald daughter flash across the screen, the father says that two years of chemotherapy failed to stop his daughter’s cancer. But when he balked at recommendations for additional painful treatment, they threatened to sue him.
The emotionally charged vignette is typical of a handful of provocative health care-focused documentaries circulating amid the increasingly contentious debate in Washington over how to fix the health care system.
While lawmakers are targeting rising costs and growing numbers of uninsured as the major problems, the film makers offer a darker, more conspiratorial view: Powerful vested interests lusting for profits are responsible for the country’s medical malaise.
One film, “Food, Inc.,” targets the food industry for the nation’s explosion of obesity.
Another, “Under Our Skin,” details an alleged conspiracy by insurers and physicians to downplay the severity of Lyme disease.
A third, “Unnatural Causes,” pinpoints poverty in a class-stratified society as root cause of illness.
Each film has a strong point of view and makes only limited efforts to present opposing viewpoints. None has created the buzz of Michael Moore’s 2007 “Sicko,” which assailed the insurance industry and was championed by advocates for government-run health care.
Still, some of the filmmakers hope to capitalize on, and perhaps influence, the political debate raging on Capitol Hill and around the country.
CommentsTags: Documentaries·Film·Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Insurance·Kaiser Health News·Propaganda
By Laurie McGinley and Phil Galewitz – Kaiser Health News
July 02, 2009
The hospital industry is close to a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats in which the industry would agree to federal funding cuts of $150 billion to $170 billion over the next decade to help pay for a health system overhaul, according to people familiar with the talks.
The deal, which isn’t final, could be announced within days.
A critical feature is an agreement on phasing in the Medicare and Medicaid cuts.
Hospitals have been objecting to President Barack Obama’s proposals to slash payments over 10 years.
They have been seeking assurances that cuts would occur in stages as more people get insurance under reform legislation.
If the cuts were to take effect sooner, hospitals say, they’d lose billions of dollars in revenues while caring for large numbers of uninsured patients.
An agreement would boost Obama’s drive for reform legislation by addressing the biggest concerns of one of the most influential players in the health care overhaul debate.
It would provide more money to the administration and Congress to cover the uninsured. In addition, it would come at a crucial time–just as members of the House and Senate return from their July 4th break.
Democrats are hoping to complete floor action in both chambers before the start of the August recess. [Read more →]
CommentsTags: Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Hospitals·Insurance·Kaiser Health News·Medicaid·Medicare
Which is larger: Medicaid or Medicare?
In fact, Medicaid “dwarfs other insurance programs” writes Kaiser Health News reporter Phil Galewitz.
To learn more, take his Medicaid: True of False test below:
By Phil Galewitz – Kaiser Health News
July 01, 2009
Because of its size and cost, Medicaid has been called the “workhorse” of the U.S. health system. Now it’s front and center in the debate on overhauling the U.S health system and expanding coverage to the uninsured.
With 60 million enrollees, Medicaid dwarfs other insurance programs, including its cousin, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people.
Test your knowledge of Medicaid:
1. Medicaid is a national program of the federal government.
Partly true. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program, with the federal government picking up about 57 percent of the overall Medicaid tab. But the federal contribution varies by state, ranging from 50 percent to 73 percent, with poorer states getting a bigger matching rate.
Medicaid isn’t a one-size-fits-all program; after meeting certain federal requirements, each state has the flexibility to shape coverage and benefits.
As a result, the Medicaid program in Pennsylvania bears little resemblance to the one in Louisiana. For example, non-working parents in Pennsylvania qualify for Medicaid if their incomes are below twice the federal poverty level ($44,100 for a family of four).
But in Louisiana, non-working parents qualify only if their incomes are below 11 percent of the poverty level ($2,426 for a family of four). States frequently experiment with new concepts in benefit design, eligibility and delivery systems. [Read more →]
CommentsTags: Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Insurance·Kaiser Health News·Medicaid·Medicare
Earlier this week an advisory panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called on the agency to impose tighter restrictions on the widely use reliever acetaminophen, used in both prescription and non-prescription medications. Below is a Q & A produced by the FDA, which LocalHealthGuide published earlier this month.
Acetaminophen is the generic name of a drug found in many nonprescription cold and pain remedies.
Acetaminophen, for example, is the active ingredient in Tylenol, which is often used to treat pain and fever.
Acetaminophen is also found in prescription medicines, such as the pain drugs Vicodin and Percocet.
“Acetaminophen is an important drug, and its effectiveness in relieving pain and fever is widely known,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says in this Q & A about the drug.
But, the FDA goes on to explain:
“This drug is generally considered safe when used according to the directions on its labeling. But taking more than the recommended amount can cause liver damage, ranging from abnormalities in liver function blood tests, to acute liver failure, and even death.”
CommentsTags: Acetaminophen·FDA
Hot-Button Health Issue: Is Medicaid or Private Insurance Better for the Poor Uninsured?
By Mary Agnes Carey – Kaiser Health News
July 1, 2009
Medicaid’s role in health reform is emerging as a flash point, exposing policy and political rifts not only between the two parties but also among Democrats themselves.
Wise County, Va., located in the mountains of Appalachia, is one of the poorest areas of the nation. Few people have full health insurance and even fewer have dental care, so thousands line up early to get care at this annual event. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
As part of efforts to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, congressional Democrats are pressing for a major expansion in the state-federal program for the poor and disabled.
As a result, Medicaid, which now covers 60 million people, could pick up more than one-third of the 46 million uninsured. Those numbers are far from final, given that overhaul legislation is still being written and negotiated.
The disagreement centers on a critical issue: What’s the best way to cover impoverished Americans? Is it by expanding Medicaid? Or by providing subsidies for the poor to buy private insurance on new health insurance exchanges to be created by the legislation?
Most Democrats come down squarely on the side of Medicaid, saying it’s the most efficient and least expensive way to cover the poor. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the program is “one of the best ways” to make sure lower-income people are covered.
Most Republicans, leery about expanding a big government program like Medicaid, argue that private insurance is a better way to go. [Read more →]
CommentsTags: Doctors·Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Insurance·Kaiser Health News·Medicaid·Patients
By Jonathan Rau – Kaiser Health News
July 1, 2009
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, has endorsed a health care overhaul that includes a requirement that employers make some financial contribution toward the health care of their workers.
Yesterday, the Arkansas-based company released a letter (.pdf) to President Barack Obama jointly signed by the heads of the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank, that states: “We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage.” The letter does not provide details of how that requirement would work.
Kaiser Health News Correspondent Jordan Rau discussed the letter with Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar. [Read more →]
CommentsTags: Employer Mandate·Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Insurance·Obama·Public-health Insurance·Wal-Mart·Walmart
Health centers in Washington state will receive $26,507,595 in federal stimulus funds, U.S. Senator Patty Murray announced Monday.
The funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Capital Improvement Program will go toward updating and renovating health centers across the state, an announcement from Sen. Murray’s office said.
A breakdown of funds going to health centers in the Seattle area:
CommentsTags: Community Health Centers·Federal Funding·Sen. Patty Murray
By Joanne Kenen
June 30, 2009
This story is a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post.
Doctors call them frequent fliers.
They are the patients who leave the hospital, only to boomerang back days or weeks later. They have become a front-burner challenge not only for hospitals and doctors but also for those trying to rein in rising costs.
Margaret White peels potatoes as she prepares lunch at her home in Alexandria, Va. With help from Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, White is doing a better job managing her congestive heart failure -- and staying out of the hospital (Marcus Yam - Washington Post).
Typically elderly and suffering from the chronic diseases that account for 75 percent of health-care spending, their experiences of being readmitted time and again reflect many of the deficiencies in a fragmented, poorly coordinated health system geared toward acute care.
Take Margaret White. With better management of her congestive heart failure, she might have avoided being rehospitalized this spring for five days. She’s back home again now, doing well, with help from a new monitoring program at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria.
There are many reasons for readmissions, including high rates of medical errors and hospital-acquired infections; lack of communication between doctors who care for patients in the hospital and their regular physicians; trouble getting a prompt doctor’s appointment after discharge; missed referrals for home health care; and poor coordination and medication management during transitions from hospital to home or nursing home. [Read more →]
CommentsTags: Doctors·Health Insurance·Health Policy·Health-care Reform·Hospitals·Insurance·Kaiser Health News·Patients·Quality Improvement·Washington Post
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