Several of the provisions of the health care bill’s provisions went into effect on September 23rd, one of the most popular of them being the fact that kids can now stay on their parent’s health care policies until age 26, but there also three other important ones too! [More]
health care
I'm Covered By Health Insurance, But My Flu Vaccine Isn't
By 9.27.10
Claire figured her health plan would cover her flu shot, and double-checked with her provider just to make sure. Then she went in to Rite Aid to get the deed done, only to discover she was out of luck because her insurance didn’t cover the specific vaccine offered at the pharmacy. [More]
So You Think You're A Filmmaker? Enter Consumers Union's New Video Contest
By 9.24.10
In an effort to both educate younger people about health care reform and engender the creative spirit in our readers, Consumers Union has announced its So You Think You’re Invincible? video contest. [More]
DEA Will Gladly Take Your Old Drugs Off Your Hands On Saturday
By 9.21.10
Have you been staring at that half-full (or is it 2/4 empty?) bottle of Vicodin sitting on your bedside table and wondering, “Should I throw this in the trash, take a bunch and pretend I’m Hugh Laurie, or sell them to some college kids for a huge profit?” If so, then the Drug Enforcement Agency has an answer: Give the pills to them during this weekend’s National Take-Back Day. [More]
Study: Hand Sanitizer Not Terribly Good At Fighting Cold Or Flu
By 9.13.10
Only a few months after the FDA said that “antibacterial” soaps containing Triclosan might be just as effective as regular ol’ soap, a University of Virginia study claims that alcohol-based hand sanitizers don’t really put a ding in the number of people who catch a cold or the flu. [More]
Which States Have The Worst Smoker's Breath?
By 9.8.10
In spite of all the ads with coroners squeezing fat out of a smoker’s diseased heart and all the taxes levied on tobacco products, the percentage of adults who smoke on a regular basis has held steady at just over 20% for the last five years, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. But that percentage can vary wildly depending on location, education, race and gender. [More]
Dentist Won't Remove Braces Until You Pay Bill You've Already Paid
By 8.31.10
A woman in Chicago has spent the last 9 months attempting to have someone — anyone — remove the braces from her son’s teeth. See, the dentist that put them on refused to take them off because the dentist was convinced she hadn’t paid her bill in full. The dentist also called the police on her when she tried to dispute the issue in person. [More]
Do Not Buy Insurance Called 'ObamaCare'
By 8.30.10
Con artists went door-to-door in California selling senior citizens fake health care policies called “ObamaCare,” threatening that they’d have to go to jail unless they paid up. The unfortunate marks fell victim to a con, unaware that the actual jail-threatening ObamaCare peddlers will be wearing official Star Wars stormtrooper uniforms and won’t be hitting the streets until well after the midterm elections. [More]
Don't Confuse Medical Discount Plans With Health Insurance
By 8.17.10
If you don’t have health insurance, you might hear about a medical discount plan and think that it’s an affordable alternative, but be careful. Some of the plans being sold don’t lower your health care costs at all, and in some cases can even increase them. That’s why the the FTC and 24 states have recently filed a total of 54 lawsuits against companies selling medical discount plans to people who don’t have health insurance. [More]
Cancer Patient Loses Coverage For Earning $4.25/Month Too Much
By 8.9.10
Over at the Phoenix New Times, they have the harrowing story of a young man who endured multiple surgeries and treatments for a rare type of brain tumor — and who was told by his health plan that they could no longer cover him because he and his wife had earned $4.25 too much to qualify for aid. [More]
Bad Nurses Dodge Checkered Past By Moving To New States
By 8.3.10
Naughty nurses, sanctioned for things like stealing prescription painkillers or missing critical tests for their patients, are able to jump to new jobs from state to state thanks to gaps in the regulatory framework and lack of information sharing, a new ProPublica report finds. [More]
V.A. Okays Medical Marijuana For Veterans In 14 States & D.C.
By 7.26.10
Even though more than a dozen states and Washingon, D.C., continue to square off with the federal government regarding the legality of medical marijuana, the folks at the Veterans Affairs Dept. has decided not to penalize veterans who use the drug in states where its permitted for medicinal use. [More]
Save Money On Dental Care: Go To Mexico
By 7.7.10
It costs a lot of money to go to the dentist. And with many Americans lacking dental coverage, getting your teeth taken care of is often cost-prohibitive. But a handful of entrepreneurial dentists in Mexico have stepped up to the plate, offering discount dentistry to a growing U.S. customer base. [More]
Viagra, Cialis Users Too Busy Doin' It To Use Condoms
By 7.6.10
Judging by the Viagra and Cialis ads on TV, users of these drugs spend their time playing novelty covers of “Viva Las Vegas” in the garage with their buddies or taking baths outdoors with their wives in separate claw-foot tubs. But no, apparently men take these pills so they can have sex, which they’re doing a lot of; oh, and they’re also catching a lot of STDs. [More]
Get Insurance Even If You're Uninsured And Have Pre-Existing Conditions
By 7.2.10
Yesterday healthcare.gov launched which, among many other resources, contains links to where you can apply for the new state high-risk pools which are for uninsured folk with pre-existing conditions. [More]
July: Good For Fireworks, Bad For Hospital Patients
By 7.2.10
It’s July, which means burgers and dogs by the dozens, probably along with a brew or two. But you might want to make sure the food you’re cooking out is up to snuff, because it looks like July is the worst month of the year to be a patient at a teaching hospital. [More]
Self-Insured Premiums Jump By 20%, Triggering Warning From White House
By 6.22.10
About 10% of respondents in our informal poll yesterday about health insurance said they pay their own premiums, and according to a new poll from Kaiser Survey, three quarters of those people just faced a premium increase of 20% on average. The recent hikes have prompted the White House to say it will “sternly warn industry executives” today that insurers shouldn’t try to use the new health care law as an excuse to gouge customers, according to the New York Times. [More]
POLL: Do You Have Health Insurance?
By 6.21.10
Health care reform has been one of the biggest hot-button topic for quite some time and it looks to only get hotter as both sides make their arguments on the White House’s plan for national health care. Leaving the pros and cons of the plan to the side for the moment, we just want to know how our readers are fixed for health insurance. [More]
