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Hospital Study: Greater spending linked to higher mortality

02/15/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Hospital Study: Greater spending linked to higher mortality

Data was analyzed from Medicare patients who suffered from stroke, pneumonia, hip fracture, congestive hearth failure, gastrointestinal hemorrhage and acute myocardial infarction. The scope of the study included spending data from 208 hospitals over 9 years.
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Do You Know the Difference Between Medigap and Medicare Advantage?

02/10/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Do You Know the Difference Between Medigap and Medicare Advantage?

Both “medigap” and Medicare Advantage plans are often referred to as “supplemental insurance” plans in Medicare articles and literature. This language is confusing and somewhat misleading. Do you understand the difference?
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Meditation Affects Brain Growth

02/08/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Meditation Affects Brain Growth

Adding meditation practice to your retirement plans might just lengthen your life and make you more healthy. In 2009, a study found that people who meditate may have lower blood pressure, a leading factor in heart disease Another study found links between meditation and ability to “pay attention” – a critical skill in a world where we are being exhausted by sensory inputs.
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Medicare Advisory Panel recommends co-pay for home health

02/02/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Medicare Advisory Panel recommends co-pay for home health

The co-pays, commission chairman Glenn Hackbarth said, would help avoid the benefit turning into a “long-term care social support system.”
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Eating Mediterranean style to support the brain

01/27/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Eating Mediterranean style to support the brain

Eating fish and veggies – the staples of the diet of the healthy and long-lived people living near the Mediterranean Sea – is now linked to slower decline in brain function as well as heart health.
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Home kidney dialysis now covered by Medicare

01/25/2011
By ElizabethGHoward
Home kidney dialysis now covered by Medicare

Despite concerns about infection and control in the home environment, a study published last year in The Archives of Internal Medicine found that patients “with end-stage kidney disease who have dialysis at home fare just as well as their counterparts who do hemodialysis,” traditionally performed at a dialysis center.
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