As the health care debate raged onwards in 2009, the number of uninsured American adults rose by 3 million from 2008. Overall, approximately 46.3 million people in this country do not have health insurance covered.  In Texas, over one out of every four people was uninsured in 2009, compared to the 15.4 percent nationally.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) survey found that almost 60 million people went without health insurance for at least part of the year, and 33 million of the uninsured had gone without for over a year.  People who were fortunate to keep their private coverage ended up paying more, while high-deductible plans also grew in popularity—especially among people who purchase their own health insurance plans.

3 Million More Uninsured in 2009

Fewer children are going without health insurance plans because they are enrolled in public policies.  See my previous article onCHIP and enrollment strategies the government may be using to get more kids into the program. However, almost one third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 did not have health insurance, the highest percentage of any other age group. Still, the fact that the ranks of the uninsured actually expanded in 2009 are worrisome to me.

Although individuals can still pay out of pocket for services, health insurance remains the most crucial portal to receiving adequate health care.  People who are enrolled in health insurance plans, regardless of the level of coverage, have far more access to preventative medical services. There is no denying that adequate medical care is expensive—rising medical costs in addition to the economy make insurance critical to obtaining health services.  If you are uninsured, you are more apt to delay health care until your illness is severe. According to research by the Harvard Medical School, around 45,000 Americans die every year because they are uninsured and therefore cannot receive adequate health care.

This study highlights the importance of health insurance in the United States today.  For the most part, people without health insurance are more likely to have lower incomes, and face an uphill battle when it comes to paying for care out of pocket.  Increasing rates of uninsured Americans is undoubtedly linked to the recession, which keeps them away from receiving the care they need. The fact that so many Americans remain uninsured—whether by choice or by economic necessity—proves very relevant to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Escalating rates of un-insurance and skyrocketing medical costs are huge problems in the United States today.

When 2014 rolls around, enrolling the uninsured in new health insurance plans will be a daunting task.  The Affordable Care Act will broaden insurance to over 30 million citizens, who will likely need a little prodding when it comes time to enroll.  Canvassing campaigns in low-income neighborhoods aim at enrolling uninsured children in CHIP or Medicaid,working as a test run for the 2014 expansion of health insurance coverage.

As in my last blog about Massachusetts Health Care Reform, it is not the broader coverage that I am concerned about. Hopefully, the government will take cues from Massachusetts and ensure that the reform will not grow so costly that expenses outweigh coverage benefits.

In an interesting article for Bloomberg Business week, Pat Weschler takes a look at a study of med schools, the amount of primary care doctors produced, and the “social mission” of the institutions. According to the study, Atlanta’s Morehouse School of Medicine is the top ranked med school in terms of “social mission” and primary care physicians.  Meanwhile, Harvard Medical School didn’t even break the study’s top 50, coming in at number 62.  Weschler writes that the study compiled data based on the amount of the med school graduates enter primary care, the number that serve in short-handed regions, and the amount that serve minorities.

The study focused on the “research culture” fostered at many top institutions, where specialists often model behavior to students.  One of the authors of the study, Fitzhugh Mullan, claims that schools could boost the number of primary care physicians by focusing on adding higher numbers of women, minorities, and older med students to the mix. At the same time, shifting the focus of med school curricula from research to primary care may also influence more med students to consider becoming primary care physicians.

I found the study’s claims very compelling. The culture of a college, medical school, or any other institution can very well alter your career path.  Medical schools can help reduce the primary care deficit by steering more students towards primary care. Dr Candice Chen, another one of the study’s authors, emphasizes the role of medical schools in increasing the nation’s number of primary care physicians. Breaking away from typical med school rankings may be able to help build a strong primary care base by the time the new health care reforms kick in for real.

Although I tend to agree with many of the points in the study, I do not think that one should count out the money factor.  The cost to complete medical school is astronomically high and rising higher, on top of loans from undergraduate courses of study. Primary care physicians also make far less than specialists after completing similar courses of study, which serves as another deterrent from the primary care profession. Like it or not, money plays a large role in job selection—although as the study showed, it is not the sole factor involved in the decision.

Our Primary Care Physician shortage is a national healthcare issue

By targeting medical schools in addition to (possibly) improving primary care salaries, perhaps this nation can create a strong foundation of primary care providers.  Ultimately, health care reform hinges on such a base of physicians, especially as over 30 million people will gain health insurance coverage in 2014, many of whom will most definitely seek preventative care.

Men Need to Schedule Routine Check-Ups

Preventative efforts for your health can treat a medical condition before it becomes a problem.  Going to your routine doctor’s visits will boost your chance of detecting a medical condition when it first arises.  If you are able to detect the condition early on, you will increase the likelihood that the condition will be treatable.  Otherwise, letting the condition go unnoticed and untreated could cause it to turn into a bigger medical concern that could have been prevented.  The earlier you find a medical condition, the easier and cheaper it will be to treat it.  If you wait until the symptoms are too real and painful to ignore, the conditions have already had time to progressively develop.  The treatment of the developed condition is going to be more extensive, and hence, will have higher healthcare costs.  If you wait too long to see a doctor, you risk the chance of your condition becoming permanent.  Simple preventative doctor’s visits will help to keep medical conditions from going unnoticed.

Depending on your age and your family history of particular diseases, certain tests are more necessary to get routinely at an office visit in order to maintain preventative efforts in your healthcare.  The older you are, the more often you should make routine visits and the more tests you should get at each visit.  There are simple tests, such as blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, which are important to take routinely at each office visit.  Making sure your cholesterol and blood pressure are at the right levels is a basic foundation to good health.  Eliminating a simple cholesterol or blood pressure health condition will allow you to focus on other medical conditions that could arise.  Routine visits are also very important because it gives you time to talk to your doctor.  Routine visits help your to get to know you better.  By talking to your doctor and asking questions, you can learn about symptoms you may be experiencing or diseases you may be at risk for based on family history.

There are several ways to take preventative efforts with your health from the beginning.  To start, keep yourself healthy and exercise often; do not put yourself at risk for avoidable health problems.  There are nine tests you should take routinely to have preventative healthcare: BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, other cancers, STDs, HIV, depression, abnormal aortic aneurysm, diabetes, and tobacco use.  Another easy way to start your preventative healthcare is getting the flu shot once annually.  This will take you one step close to reducing your risk of getting sick and it will help you get into a more routine healthcare practice.

Entitlement Reform: What happens when Medicare and Social Security Are Bankrupt?

This threat has been looming in the background for years, and though successive administrations have “kicked the can” down the road we must confront the fact that the financial health of our two major entitlement programs has withered more during this recession than at any time since the mid-1990s. Though the economic downturn has contributed significantly to the programs’ rate of decline given the fact that worsening unemployment figures mean fewer workers are paying into the trusts’ funds through payroll taxes, the pressure of baby-boomers aging into the programs has pushed their financial health to the breaking point independent of current economic conditions.

These facts point glaringly to the need for entitlement reform. Obama administration officials have suggested that if the legislature were to act the programs’ insolvency could be bridged in three ways: by raising workers’ Social Security payroll taxes by 2 percentage points, by reducing benefits by 13 percent, or by a combination of the two.

2 Genetic Factors Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

In Colombia, researchers have begun to study a family with a huge history of early-onset Alzheimer’s in hopes of learning more about the genetic component to the illness.  The family, most of whom who live in the Antioquia region of Columbia, develop Alzheimer’s by their late 40s. In one immediate family, four children in one family have developed early Alzheimer’s symptoms in their forties.  Scientists want to test treatments on these high-risk Columbians to see if the treatment will stop memory loss.  Medication on the market right now does little to counteract the effects of current patients.  By enrolling Colombians with the Paisa mutation and a corresponding group of Americans aged 60 to 80 years old, scientists hope that they will gain crucial understanding of the disease.

Yet another study in the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has found that drinking apple juice might improve the moods of those stricken with Alzheimer’s. Researchers had Alzheimer’s patients drink two glasses of apple juice every day, noted a marked improvement in the patients’ behavior. Although the apple juice did not have a strong effect on their memory functions, patients’ anxiety and delusions were reduced. Although the study did not offer any ultimate cure to Alzheimer’s, the research did highlight the importance of diet to slowing the effects of the disease.

These three studies offer important insights to the mysterious, puzzling makeup of Alzheimer’s disease.  By identifying risk factors, perhaps scientists will be able to uncover preventative treatments for the disease. Research about the links between nutrition and Alzheimer’s may also ease or slow down symptoms for people already affected.

CIGNA will still accept clients enrolling during their individual election period (those aging in to Medicare or newly eligible to Medicare) and those with a Special Enrollment Period. Current clients who have CIGNA Medicare Access PFFS will not see a change in their 2010 benefits. They will continue to have coverage for the entire year. There will be no changes in benefits due to this decision.

Please note this does not effect plans such as CIGNA Medicare Rx, CIGNA Medicare Select Plus Rx, or any of CIGNA’s other medical or pharmacy plans.

The American Society for Dermatological Surgery (ASDS) claims that men are more prone to developing skin cancer because they are less likely to take protective measures like wearing sunscreen and protective clothing and they are more likely to work outdoors. Additionally, many men wait too long before they visit a doctor to have their moles checked out. This decreases the chances of early detection of melanoma, which has a percent survival rate if detected early enough.

In order to avoid getting skin cancer, older and younger men alike must take better precautionary measures against the harmful rays of the sun. Wearing protective clothing, sunscreen with a high SPF and visiting a dermatologist yearly to check moles will help prevent and detect any signs of melanoma.

This disturbing information was reported by the Medicare Trust Fund, which is legally bound to disclose the status of its healthcare program for seniors. Unfortunately, despite the predictions about the end of Medicare, nothing is being done to fix the problem. Political action must be taken in order to eliminate the bias Medicare currently has for elderly people and to keep the grim reaper away.

Healthcare expenditures have exceeded revenues for years and they continue to do so. Something which augments the issue is that life expectancy has been increasing due to the technological and medical advances of our society. The longer people live, the more Medicare dollars they will consume. Also, now that the baby boomer generation that brought us bellbottoms and Woodstock is reaching the age which qualifies them for Medicare, an increasing amount of people will be given the cheap healthcare political leaders have promised them. This is bound to decrease the life expectancy of Medicare even more so within coming years. Regrettably then, healthcare is paid for by people who will not have a chance to benefit from it because of the coming doomsday of Medicare in 2017, if not earlier.