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Benefits Of Grapefruit

Small Businesses Wary Of Health Care Legislation
"Rising costs and a weak economy" are leaving small business employees "with higher out-of-pocket health costs," USA Today reports. Those small companies are "exactly what the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had in mind this month when it estimated as many as 15 million people could lose the benefits they currently receive through their jobs under a Democratic proposal to overhaul health care. The estimates were based on an incomplete draft of a bill in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but they touched off a broader debate about who might lose health benefits received through their company. Workers at small firms could be more vulnerable, especially if they pay high premiums." The CBO estimated that "as many as 10 million lower-wage workers would choose to drop their employer-provided insurance because, with proposed government subsidies, it could be cheaper to buy insurance on the open market, especially if they are paying high premiums now." In addition, "Partly because of that exodus, some companies could find it no longer cost effective to offer insurance to the remaining employees, dragging another 10 million people into the open market."
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The Dawn Of A New Era In Cancer Treatment
A new article in Scrip World Pharmaceutical News highlights enormous change in cancer medicine with highly personalised treatments, patient top-up payments in some markets, response-related payments and even refunds when there is no response to a treatment, all driving the future of cancer care worldwide.
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Mortality Linked To Physical Activity Levels In Unfit Individuals
The least-fit segment of the population has twice the mortality risk of even those who are just a bit more in shape, according to a study published in the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Cardiovascular

Primary Care Gets Boost From Stimulus Money, Experiment On 'Medical Home'

"Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that $200 million will be available for grants, loans, loan repayments and scholarships for the training of some 8,000 health professionals by the end of fiscal 2010," Congressional Quarterly reports. The money will "provide targeted investments in primary care, nursing, faculty development, and equipment purchases that will shore up the workforce as we prepare for reform," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said" (7/28). Meanwhile, CBS News reports on "a national experiment called Medical Home, which increases the pay and power of family doctors." Dr. Joseph Mambu, a primary care physician, is part of the experiment. "On average specialists make twice as much as primary physicians. A starting cardiologist, with three to five years more training makes up to $350,000 a year. A starting family doctor makes $149,000, mostly because they aren"t paid for the extra time spent counseling patients." But now Mambu"s practice "gets a 10 per cent bonus, and has hired extra nurses who stay in close touch with patients, handling the details of care. It frees him up to spend more time with each patient, better manage chronic diseases like diabetes, and avoid any extra trips to specialists." "But as the system begins to pay primary care doctors more, the pressure is on to pay specialists less. Medicare just proposed a pay cut of up 40 per cent for specialists, like radiologists and cardiologists, and pay increases of up to 8 percent for family doctors. Specialists complain the cuts will reduce their service in rural areas, and still not raise enough money to recruit more family physicians" (Andrews, 7/28). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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