We’re always hearing about how important it is to see your doctor for a check-up, but is it? The WSJ Health Blog noticed a study that says “no.”
health
How Tonya Should Go About Appealing Her "Elective" Miscarriage
By 9.25.07
I just read the story ‘Blue Cross Blue Shield Calls Miscarriage “Elective Abortion,” Denies Claim’, and I work for BCBS in NY. From what I’ve learned (and this is just from my experience working for a year there). The best thing for Tonya to do is appeal.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Calls Miscarriage "Elective Abortion," Denies Claim
By 9.24.07
After going without any healthcare coverage for 3 years, (husband’s employer didn’t not offer it and husband and child have preexisting conditions that make self paid insurance imposable to afford) was ecstatic to find out my husband’s new employer did offer insurance! Even though it is at a very high premium and a $2000 deductible, it’s better than nothing, right? At least that’s what I thought, till I tried to use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City…
Antifungal Medication Makes You See Chewbacca
By 9.21.07
A new antifungal drug, voriconazole, causes patients to “develop a range of neurological side effects, including auditory and visual hallucinations,” within 24 hours to 2 weeks of beginning treatment. The drug is marketed as Vfend, and is administered intraveneously to treat serious fungal infections. The National Institute of Health has been testing the toxicity of the drug and reported the neurological side effects at a recent conference.
How To Find Lower Priced Generic Drugs
By 9.21.07
Here’s two sites which will help you find cheaper generic alternatives to brand-name prescriptions:
Sample Letter For Appealing An Insurance Claim Denied For A Specific Procedure
By 9.20.07
Bankrate has a good example letter you can use if your health insurance company denies your claim for based on a specific medical procedure. It’s in “Madlibs” style, so you’ll need to replace all the items in red with your personal information. The argument is based on the premise that the insurance company must not been properly informed with the full information, and requires getting additional specialist letter(s) testifying to its necessity, as well as including articles about the procedure. There’s no guarantee of its success, but it can at least serve as an initial salvo before escalating your issue elsewhere.
Customer Catches McDonald's Refilling Milkshake Machine With "Soiled Towels Only" Bucket
By 9.20.07
Cellphone cameras may well be the downfall of fast food: A McDonald’s customer in Orlando witnessed employees refilling the milkshake machine from a bucket market “Soiled Towels Only” and snapped a picture with her cellphone. She sent the photo to Orlando’s WFTV.
Wal-Mart Unveils Improved Insurance Plan For Its Employees
By 9.19.07
Wal-Mart’s rehabilitation continues, possibly: beginning in January, it will offer its employees a revamped insurance package designed to cut costs, expand coverage, and reduce the price of prescription drugs. Even past critics of Wal-Mart, such as health care advocacy group Families USA, are hopeful: “On face value, this looks like a very significant change and improvement.” Some of the plan’s details: a $100-500 grant to defray costs, premiums as low as $5/month, the “elimination” of expensive hospital deductibles, and an increase in the number of $4 prescription drugs to 2,400.
Low-Income Mothers & Senior Citizens: WIC Provides "Farmers Market Food Coupons"
By 9.18.07
You may already know about WIC—”Women, Infants, and Children,” the government program that provides nutritional assistance to “low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women,” and to their children up to age five. But a lot of people don’t know that if you receive WIC or if you’re a low-income senior, you may also qualify for their farmers market program, which means you can take advantage of the same fresh-from-the-farm bounty as those coke-snorting yuppies who’ll buy anything with the word “heirloom” stamped across it.
30 Code Words For Sugar
By 9.18.07
It’s yesterday’s news that you can eat healthier by avoiding foods full of unnecessary sugars, and that sugars appear on labels under different names, but you might be surprised to see just how many different guises sugar and sugar-related substances can assume.
Find Your State Insurance Commissioner
By 9.18.07
When sending a complaint letter to an insurance company, it can be handy, or necessary, to cc it your state’s Insurance Commissioner. The Patient Advocate Foundation has a big list where you can look up insurance commissioner’s mailing addresses and phone numbers by state.
Sample Letter For Appealing Claims Denial Based On Out Of Network Benefits
By 9.18.07
Bankrate has a good example letter you can use if your health insurance company denies your claim for being out of network. It’s in “Madlibs” style, so you’ll need to replace all the items in red with your personal information. The argument is based on the premise that the out-of-network provider is the only one within a reasonable distance who can effectively perform the procedure you need. There’s no guarantee of its success, but it can at least serve as an initial salvo before escalating your issue elsewhere.
The Earlier Ingredients Are On A Label, The More There Is Inside
By 9.18.07
Did you know that ingredients on ingredients labels are listed in their descending order of proportion?
Pay More Attention To What You Eat At "Healthy" Restaurants
By 9.17.07
That councilwoman from L.A. isn’t going to like this: a new study says that when people eat at what they perceive to be “healthy” restaurants, they underestimate the calories, which could help explain why Americans are continuing to get fatter even as healthy restaurants have grown faster than fast food restaurants over the past 5 years.
Inside Dunkin's Virtually Trans-Fat Free Donut
By 9.17.07
Dunkin’s research and development manager, Rick Golden, one of the few people in the know, slept with his cellphone by his pillow every night during the trial, waiting for someone to call with a doughnut crisis. No one did.
"Easy-To-Follow" Diet Requires Injections, Colonics, And More
By 9.17.07
Let’s say you bought a diet book that was advertised to provide an easy-to-follow diet that you can do at home and that allows you to eat whatever you want—and then, once you buy the book, you find out that it “describes a complex, grueling plan that requires severe dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug that consumers cannot easily get, and lifelong dietary restrictions.” The FTC apparently thinks that’s misleading, and they’re going after Kevin Trudeau (yet again) for it.
By 9.14.07
../../../..//2007/09/14/a-us-federal-appeals/
A U.S. federal appeals court today invalidated the patent on Altace, a widely prescribed drug to treat high blood pressure. This clears the way for low-cost generic versions of the drug to hit the market immediately. King Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes Altace, is asking for a rehearing, but in the meantime it may lose its window of opportunity to “upgrade” Altace patients to a reformulated (and newly patented) version it was it planning on introducing in 2008. [Reuters]
By 9.13.07
../../../..//2007/09/13/mental-floss-has-a/
Mental Floss has a fun quiz that asks you to match actual warnings to popular drugs. It’s a good way to brush up on your side effect trivia, so you’ll know what to take to increase your gambling addiction but not interfere with your sleep driving. (Sadly, we only got 3 out of 10 correct.) [Mental Floss via BoingBoing]
