www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp
Let's explore this question of the quality of our American Health Care system.

This blog will explore in the coming days several aspects of the American Health system.

I'll look at cost, mortality rates, infection control, the hospital incentive structure and other items seeking an answer to the question to why our health care system costs twice as much as those of other countries and we have poor and mediocre outcomes compared to those other countries.

But first we look at the most deadly of all situations for a patient entering a hospital for any reason: the threat of getting infections while there.

This is crucial and hospitals have not solved this problem. Death caused by compliations of surgery, or some other items most often is code for infection and means a patient, even a healthy one, got an infection after being admitted to the hospital. Doctors and hospitals will say pneumonia, sepsis and other seemingly unrelated items or blame it on the age or other unrelated diseases. But shock is a major reaction to serious infections: this leads on to these "complications."
(By the way many surgeons have to redo operations because a sponge was left inside the patient. Sponge counts are critical before closing the patients.)

See:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121219111336.htm

We will identify the problem of infection first and then talk about what to do if you or loved one has to go to a hospital-The Wise Patient's Guide to Surviving a Hospital Stay."

See articles on infection below.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522141841.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130902181001.htm

Private rooms reduce infection and mortality rates

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110110164742.htm

Patients changing hospitals often carry infections with them

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100319085304.htm

Hospitals which cooperate on infection control have better outcomes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121009161059.htm

Infection related deaths in Europe

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011171544.htm

 ICU most dangerous for infections

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121015161916.htm

 What some hospitals are trying in order to control infections

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110811181718.htm

A World Wide Study on Infections

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110824115846.htm

Infections in Nursing Homes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101201162115.htm

Putting Grandma in a nursing home can be bad for her health

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604095131.htm

 Even if you are getting out-patient or in the doctor's office treatments you are not safe

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124082801.htm

 "MRSA kills an estimated 20,000 people in the United States each year. The superbug, which is resistant to most common antibiotics, can attack wounds and trigger potentially lethal blood stream infections. Community-associated strains, while generally less virulent and susceptible to more antibiotics, can still cause significant morbidity and mortality.

"MRSA has generally been a significant problem only in hospitals," said Eili Klein, the report's lead author and researcher at Resources for the Future. "But the findings from this study suggest that there is a significant reservoir in the community as well." This community reservoir leads to a dangerous spread of community-associated strains from outpatient units into hospitals, according to Klein.

To curtail this spread, hospitals will need to step up infection control procedures, including those practiced in outpatient units."

Medline offers some suggestion on infection control

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infectioncontrol.html

Over-All National Hospital Rankings for hospitals in the US

First California:
http://www.healthinsight.org/Internal/HospitalPerformanceRankings.html


Now the nation: put your state in the box

http://www.healthinsight.org/Internal/HospitalPerformanceRankings.html

Reducing Healthcare-associated Infections

"99,000 people die due to health care-associated infections (HAI) every year in the United States and nearly 28 to 33 billion dollars are spent on these infections. Nationwide efforts through many organizations are now working to address this issue.

Healthcare-associated infections

• Put patients at risk
• Increase days of hospitalization
• Add healthcare costs
• Are associated with morbidity/mortality being higher in acute care hospital settings

Are largely preventable (via better hygiene, scientifically tested techniques)"

From:
http://www.healthinsight.org/Internal/Hospital.html


5/26/13

Now we are ready to summarize to this point:
:
1. Infection is important because certain kinds of infections require fluids and/or antibiotics in a matter of hours and others can enter the blood stream and in 24 hours bring on fatal results. So speed is important.

2. Always get the name of the attending doctor and nurse so that you can call and keep up to date from the admission/treatment point from inception.

3. Always ask about what is being used to treat you or a loved one, and what are the alternative, less instrusive options. Never agree to emergency surgery unless you have throughly explored the options.

4. Get clear from the beginning on who is making decisions in the family on treatment and at decision points

5. Read up on what complaints or aliments you are dealing with on the internet-before not after treatment.

6. Look up the doctor treating your loved one and the  hospital and the department--what has been their infection rates, mortality rates, accreditation issues and the like.

7. Check is to what are the details of any DNR(Do Not Resuscitate)  you or your loved one might have.

8. If coma is involved ask before hand if doctors in their treatment plan will induce a comma or not.

Other check lists from attorneys

http://www.urymoskow.com/CM/Articles/10-Things-You-Need-to-Know-About.asp

http://www.bakerandgilchrist.com/legal-services/hospital-malpractice/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-hospitals/

The Consumer Report Hospital Survival Guide
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/10/your-hospital-survival-guide/index.htm

More tommorow.
Sepsis in NY Hospital system. Read this carefully
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/safety_quality/prev_inf.shtml
 

 5/27/13
70 percent of patients leave it up to the doctor on health care decisions?
But note doctors and medical law legally assume patients participate and make the decisions-even though we and they know patients don't. Doctors, therefore, have little responsibitity if things go wrong. (Same thing is now true in the accounting profession. Audits now mean nothing.)

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/studies-examine-the-patients-role-in-healthcare-decision-making-052813.html

 http://www.ct.gov/agingservices/lib/agingservices/pdf/advancedirectivesenglish.pdf

5/28/13

So we ask, who exactly is responsible if something goes wrong with treatments from  the doctor and the hospital? It varies state by state but let's look at the over-all picture.

First doctors and hospitals have limited their liabilities under various laws such that the burden of proof falls upon the patient, under the guise of "patient rights."

What this actually means is that under most state laws patients are legally responsible for making their own health care decisions, or the family. The doctor is only an "advisor."  Couple that with limits on the dollar amounts patients can sue for and and limits on class action suits and doctors and hospitals have little liability for patients that die in their care.

15-20 percent of all patients in this country are harmed by the care they received.

If you realize that this occurs with the 2.2 million disease-related deaths a year the number is more than huge.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

Couple this with the fact that unecessay testing is done by doctors and hospitals 90 percent of the time on patients resulting in higher hospital and doctor bills as well.

Doctors and hospitals justify all this testing claiming they are protecting themselves from lawsuits, but the fact of the matter is that their incomes are based on tests and procedures they perform and you get at the real reason for the testing-increasing their income.

Moreover, all this testing has been shown to be of little benefit to patients and the picture and incentive structure is clear: more tests, more money for doctors and hospitals. Add infection related income and the picture in not a pretty one.

The argument that such testing reduces doctors and hospitals liability and protects against lawsuits has been shown to be unrelated to both lawsuits and patient outcoms. 
What is wrong with this picture?

Let's start with this article:

"However, AHRQ researchers reviewing the impact of these approaches found "little solid evidence" about the impact of medical liability reforms on the cost of care and even less information about the impact of these reforms on patient safety (Hellinger et al., 2009). Furthermore, the medical liability system may actually hamper progress on patient safety by dissuading physicians from disclosing and examining the root causes of medical errors (Studdert et al., 2004)."

http://www.ahrq.gov/news/newsroom/commentaries/putting-patients-first.html

More tommorow.
More info:

 http://www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1118.asp

 6/1/13

Will Obama care cause the demise of employer based health care?

6/2/13
What are the specfic items which case high costs in the American Health Care System?

http://www.mossadams.com/MA-Perspectives/Will-Employer-Based-Health-Care-Live-or-Die

 What are other procedures driving up American health care costs?

 "The high price paid for colonoscopies mostly results not from top-notch patient care, according to interviews with health care experts and economists, but from business plans seeking to maximize revenue; haggling between hospitals and insurers that have no relation to the actual costs of performing the procedure; and lobbying, marketing and turf battles among specialists that increase patient fees."

See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/health/colonoscopies-explain-why-us-leads-the-world-in-health-expenditures.html?_r=0 

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-03/the-real-reason-we-pay-so-much-for-health-care.html

 6/4/13

Today we look at new developments in health care which may, repeat, may, help with some of the issues identified above.

What are the most promising developments related to infections and virual diseases?

"We found that the KKL-35 molecule inhibits the growth of very distantly related bacteria, and this suggests that it may have antibiotic activity against a very broad spectrum of species."

As for the Shigella and Bacillus anthracis bacteria, Keiler said his team was able to show that, "in the presence of the KKL-35 molecule, these cells died specifically because the molecule halted the trans-translation process." Keiler's team also found that, compared with currently used tuberculosis drug therapies, the KKL-35 molecule was 100-times more effective at inhibiting the growth of the strain of bacteria that causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis)."

 See:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603163809.htm

 New development in suppressing cancer and tumor suppression:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603163613.htm

New development in treating immune related diseases:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603133329.htm

 But such new developments have many obstacles to their actual use. Let's explore those tommorow.

 What about cost and the controversy over the actual costs?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2630351/
 
Costs, profits and drugs

 http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_customer/2011/03/the_makebelieve_billion.html

 How new drugs are reviewed and approved: A Case Study

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/developmentapprovalprocess/howdrugsaredevelopedandapproved/

 How do we know that the drug we are taking is the best and least expensive drug for what ails us? We don't know.

http://www.amednews.com/article/20121022/profession/310229942/4/

 Legal and private industry barriers to the use of generic drugs

http://regulatory.usc.edu/Articles/GenericPharmaceuticalIndustry.pdf

 A summary and really scary view of the American Health Care System

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-signs-that-the-u-s-health-care-system-is-a-gigantic-money-making-scam-that-is-about-to-collapse

 The major cause of bankrupucy in the US is medical bills which translated means 54 million Americans cannot afford their high cost medical bills.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2335961/One-families-pay-medical-bills--meaning-54-million-Americans-struggle-afford-healthcare.html

True costs of Obama Care?

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/01/the-shocking-truth-about-obamacares-rate-shock/

6/9/13

 Antibiotic infested meat served in some hospitals? Linked to the superbug?

http://www.nationofchange.org/over-650000-meals-hospitals-will-now-be-served-without-antibiotic-infested-meat-due-super-bugs-13707

 6/13/13

Population and the Health Care System

Now we look at a major impactor upon the health care system. Patterns of aging in the US and population growth patterns. First:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324049504578541712247829092.html?mod=trending_now_1

 The costs of an aging population rise while the number of working people decline is a formula in both the US and Europe for decline. Populations which do not replicate themselves disappear replaced by immigrants. Similarly, China as the problem stemming from its birth control policy of one child per couple. Russia, Italy and Japan also must be included in this group.

"Perhaps mirroring its declining population growth, European countries tend to have older populations overall. European countries had nine of the top ten highest median ages in national populations in 2005. Only Japan had an older population.^[7]"

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Europe

http://www.indexmundi.com/european_union/population_growth_rate.html

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-13-013/EN/KS-SF-13-013-EN.PDF

Also add the fact that technoloy is reducing the number of jobs, in a technical field like health and the prospects at first glance look grim.

Let's explore these in the coming days.

 6/17/13

Now we look at why hospital costs are so much higher than doctor costs for the same procedure. And the issue of medical errors-58% in some cases and how that can affect your health.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/health/medicare-panel-urges-cuts-to-hospital-payments-for-services-doctors-offer-for-less.html

 "Riddled with errors?

http://m.amednews.com/article/20130617/government/130619943/1/&template=mobileart

 6/17/13

Antibiotics and deaths from infections

 http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/opinion/boucher-antibiotics-approval/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
 Antibiotics given to farm animals related to superbug and infections in the hospital?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10115082/Antibiotics-given-to-farm-animals-could-pose-super-bug-risk-minister-admits.html

Education and Health Care

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130621121003.htm

6/24/13

 Breakthroughs in infection fighting
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130621121003.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130508123024.htm#.UcjW7GS7nxE.email

 Hospitals to be fined under Obamacare for re-admissions.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/06/hospital-readmissions-a-primer.html

 7/4/13

3.2 Million Europeans catch infections every year in hospitals? That is an astounding number

"A survey by the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that on any given day, one in 18 patients in European hospitals has at least one hospital-acquired infection - amounting to around 3.2 million patients per year."

"Worldwide, MRSA infects an estimated 53 million people annually and costs more than $20 billion a year to treat. It kills around 20,000 people a year in the United States and a similar number in Europe."

 From:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/04/us-europe-hospitals-infections-idUSBRE96309820130704

7/5/13 Antibiotics can harm human tissue?

 "Doctors often prescribe antibiotics freely, thinking that they harm bacteria while leaving human tissue unscathed. But over the years reports have piled up about the occasional side effects of various antibiotics, including tendonitis, inner-ear problems and hearing loss, diarrhea, impaired kidney function, and other problems."

From:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130703160623.htm

 7/8/13

We, in examining the American Health Care System cannot ignore the prescription drug epidemic the drug companies have foisted upon American women. Let's have an initial look.

There is a prescription drug epidemic among women, landing them in the hospital in record numbers

 http://www.alternet.org/drugs/why-it-still-taboo-women-enjoy-taking-drugs?akid=10667.260128.x2u-3f&rd=1&src=newsletter865337&t=8

 This article has an oblique point of view but good information is there and the focus is on hydrocodone.

7/11/13

 Americans living longer but with more health care problems.

“Despite a level of health expenditures that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago, the health of the US population has improved only gradually and has fallen behind the pace of progress in many other wealthy nations. In fact, by every measure including death rates, life expectancy, and diminished function and quality of life as assessed by the authors, the US standing compared with 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries declined between 1990 and 2010.”

http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Americans-Living-Longer-With-More-Health-Problems-57411.html

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324694904578597444105321914.html#project%3DHEALTH20130710%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/10/age-mental-decline/2505371/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/10/us-usa-health-studies-idUSBRE9690I320130710

7/12/13

 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gWejXWbjGjheZNu1DHK_TDjQl5YQ?docId=CNG.7bbff7de88b7143a6295e17894a259aa.191

 http://www.wate.com/story/22807017/us-lagging-other-countries-on-many-health-measures?clienttype=mobile

 7/14/13

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120514153111.htm

 7/21/13

How widespread are errors and misdiagnosis in American Health Care

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130719085154.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130422211747.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110207225947.htm

 7/23/13

Race and Health Care Outcomes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006173614.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100315125555.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020171231.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428110814.htm

 Which is safer, cities or rural areas

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-safer-in-the-city-20130723,0,3803327.story

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/23/19623252-surprise-big-cities-safer-than-small-towns-study-finds

 7/26/13
35 things you need to know about about 911, ER treatements and ambulances

http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/35-more-secrets-the-er-staff-wont-tell-you/

 7/31/13

You or a loved one need surgery. What are the Consumer Reports Ratings for hospitals in the United States?

 http://www.consumerreports.org/health/resources/pdf/surgery-ratings-national-list/SurgeryRatingsRev.pdf

 8/2/13

Obama Care: What are the facts:
#Last, but certainly not least - premium changes are unlikely to affect you at all.  The rates submitted to states and the federal government are for coverage sold to individuals and small businesses with fewer than 50 workers that are not self-insured.  Currently, the vast majority of Americans with insurance coverage get it through their jobs – and they generally work for companies with more than 50 workers.  Large firms already offer coverage similar to what the health law will require insurers to offer individuals and small firms, so little change is expected.  The new rates are most likely to affect people who buy their own coverage. About 15 million do so currently and an estimated 7 million more are expected to do so next year because of the health law.#

 From:
http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/20130801/five-things-to-know-about-obamacare-premiums-a-guide-for-the-perplexed?page=2

 8/3/13

Tirillions of dolllars spent. Who or what is getting all that money?

 http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/what-makes-health-care-so-expensive/

 8/18/13

The Deadly Truth About Sepsis. What you need to know

http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-08-2013/sepsis-what-you-need-to-know.html&ei=7IkLUtX2F8OvkQLu6oDYCA&wsc=pb

 http://www.google.com/gwt/x?wsc=pb&u=http://healthtools.aarp.org/health/sepsis&ei=f4oSUusU4o-QApTMgbgI

The deadly truth is that this can kill you even when you are already in a hospital, but they miss the diagnosis and you get an infection from the hospital itself. See above in this blog for more information about Sepsis which I consider to be one of the most deadly of all diseases, because it can kill you in 48 hours. So speed of treatment is essential, especially if you are in a foreign country.

Quote:

"Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes system-wide inflammation, injuring tissues and organs. It's sometimes called blood poisoning, and a number of cases occur as a result of seemingly benign incidents — like a scrape on the playground or even a large paper cut.

In other cases, like Kerri's, sepsis can start out as a garden-variety infection but quickly turn into something more serious. Frighteningly, the number of people hospitalized for sepsis has more than doubled in the past decade, partly due to increasing antibiotic resistance as well as an aging population.

"Every week I have to tell three or four families that their loved ones are dying from something most of them have never heard of," says intensive care physician Jim O'Brien, M.D., of Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Sepsis strikes seemingly at random, and sometimes is missed even by seasoned physicians. "We don't have a diagnostic test for sepsis. And doctors have not organized our care around sepsis like we have around "
 

 From:
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-08-2013/sepsis-what-you-need-to-know.html&ei=7IkLUtX2F8OvkQLu6oDYCA&wsc=pb

  8/20/13
Latest Data On the Cost of Obamacare?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insurance-costs-20130821,0,807175.story

 8/21/13
How to get Fit At Any Age?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/health/fitness-any-age/?hpt=he_c1

9/3/13
Who is impacted by Obamacare?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/09/how-will-the-obamacare-mandate-impact-you.html

 9/4/13
Oct 1st and ObamaCare. Are you effected?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-03/what-small-businesses-need-to-do-for-obamacare-before-oct-dot-1#r=read

9/5/13 Psychiatry and Drugs. What is up with that?

 http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/09/psychiatry-prozac-ssri-mental-health-theory-discredited.html?mbid=gnep&google_editors_picks=true

 9/5/13
Kaiser Study finds insurance premiums lower than expected under Obamacare

 http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/320369-group-finds-lower-than-expected-obamacare-premiums-in-broad-study

 9/7/13

Why is US health care so expensive?

 http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/what-makes-health-care-so-expensive/

 http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/what-makes-health-care-so-expensive/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer7782a&utm_medium=twitter

 9/12/13
Do ICU help or do they merely provide expensive futile care?

http://www.pentagonpost.com/15-icu-patients-may-be-getting-futile-treatment-survey/83411830

9/15/13
New Research on Understanding "What is Health?"

"We often think of human cells as tiny computers that perform assigned tasks, where disease is a result of a malfunction. But in the current issue of Science, researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center offer a radical view of health -- seeing it more as a cooperative state among cells, while they see disease as result of cells at war that fight with each other for domination."

From:

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912143217.htm

Help with Sepsis

  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912143215.htm

 9/17/13

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/health/cdc-report-finds-23000-deaths-a-year-from-antibiotic-resistant-infections.html?_r=0

 9/18/13
Are Anti-biotic resistant deaths down?

 http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/41656

 http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/09/cdc-meat-industry-yes-you-contribute-antibiotic-resistance

 9/19/13
http://rt.com/usa/drug-resistant-bacteria-us-979/

 http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/09/cdc-meat-industry-yes-you-contribute-antibiotic-resistance

 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266182.php

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/gonorrhea-among-drug-resisting-germs-sickening-millions.html

 http://www.nbcnews.com/health/animals-repeatedly-infected-people-mers-study-suggests-4B11203299

 http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/09/16/health/antibiotic-resistant-microbes

 9/22/13
Antibiotic resistant bacteria: The Danish Example

"In 2012, 1,556 Danes were found positive with methicillin-resistant staphylococci -- MRSA. This represents an increase of 20% from 2011. In fact, the total number of cases has almost doubled since 2009. MRSA bacteria are resistant to antimicrobial agents that are essential for treatment of treating life-threatening infections in humans."

 From:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130919085436.htm

  9/22/13
Unsafe Medical Care harms 43 million people a year?

 'More than 43 million people are injured worldwide each year due to unsafe medical care, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). These injuries result in the loss of nearly 23 million years of "healthy" life."

 From:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130918211617.htm

 9/22/13

The Quality of Surgical Care and After Care May be Key to Health and Re-admission rates of Patients

 "The results showed that approximately one in seven patients discharged was readmitted within 30 days. Hospitals with the best performance on two well-established measures of hospital surgical quality, surgical volume and 30-day mortality rates, had much lower readmission rates than other hospitals. For example, hospitals in the highest quartile for surgical volume had a significantly lower readmission rate than hospitals in the lowest quartile (12.7% vs. 16.8%). Hospitals with the lowest surgical mortality rates had a significantly lower readmission rate than hospitals with the highest mortality rates (13.3% vs. 14.2%)."

From:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130918180417.htm

 9/23/13
Obamacare Oct 1, deadline. What will happen? What you need to know.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/health/lower-health-insurance-premiums-to-come-at-cost-of-fewer-choices.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

9/25/13

Best Websites on Medicare and Medicaid I have found-for you or your parents.

The official Medicare Web site

http://www.medicare.gov/

http://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/

 http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10043.pdf

Social Security Mistakes Not to Make

 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/09/the-danger-of-trusting-social.html

" In these 36 states, a single 27-year-old would pay an average of $214 a month for the lowest-cost silver plan before the tax credit. After the credit is applied, it would cost $145 a month, which is an additional 33 percent discount. The federal government would pay the difference of $69 a month directly to the insurer, which, is a boon for their business but also saves that 27-year-old $828 a year in out-of-pocket expenses."

 From:
 http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/obamacare-costs-lower-tax-subsidies-higher-expected?akid=10976.260128.cR_YYZ&rd=1&src=newsletter901448&t=5

 See also on  the deficit and the debt ceiling battle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/26/the-falling-deficit-has-been-a-disaster-for-the-gop/

More on Obama Care

 "Just 27 percent of people ages 19 to 29 had heard of the health insurance exchange marketplaces, where people who don't get coverage at work will be able to shop for insurance plans and learn whether they qualify for subsidized benefits, the Commonwealth Fund poll of almost 1,900 people between November 2011 and March 2013 reveals. Awareness was even lower among people who were uninsured during part of the prior year and whose incomes will make them eligible for help, at 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively."

 From:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/young-adults-obamacare_n_3786805.html

More:

 http://blog.aarp.org/2013/09/25/new-health-plan-premiums-will-be-less-than-expected/

 How will ObamaCare affect Medicare?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec13/health_09-26.html

 9/27/13
ObamaCare Website is up and running in time for Oct 1, 2013 enrollment date! Good deal. You can see what it will cost you!

 https://www.healthcare.gov/

 ObamaCare and Medicare. How will it affect you?

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-medicare.php

 For those who like a Q and A session: See video

 http://www.democracynow.org/

 Is Congress exempt from ObamaCare

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/27/is-congress-exempt-from-obamacare/2883635/

 9/28/13

Senate Health Committte holds hearing on Hospital Generated Infections and Sepsis-2 hour video

http://www.c-span.org/Events/Efforts-to-Reduce-Healthcare-Associated-Infections/10737441634-1/

What is the situation in Europe?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011171544.htm

9/28/13

ObamaCare resisted in many Republican States, creating disparities.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-obamacare-could-create-new-health-disparities/2013/09/27/5994cdd8-248f-11e3-b75d-5b7f66349852_story_1.html

9/29/13

20 things to know about Obama-Care- Pretty good list

http://starbeacon.com/nationalnews/x1836123258/20-things-to-know-about-the-Affordable-Care-Act

9/30/13

The battle of the ObamaCare exchanges

 http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE98R0A220130929?irpc=932

 http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/as-shutdown-looms-obamacare-exchanges-still-set-for-launch-97510.html?hp=t3_3

 http://www.nytimes.com/news/affordable-care-act/2013/09/30/survey-shows-confusion-over-health-care-law-but-support-for-medicaid-expansion/?_r=0

 9/30/13

Five reasons Americans already love ObamaCare
  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/30/five-reasons-americans-already-love-obamacare-plus-one-reason-why-theyre-gonna/

10/4/13
The Epidemic in Hospital ICU's

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131002185238.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514212946.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121207094325.htm

 10/5/13
ObamaCare Depends up Millennials Enrollment 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57606214/obamacares-success-rests-on-attracting-uninsured-millennials/

 10/6/13
Physician Use of Drugs. Is Something to Worry About?

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131004124937.htm

  Prostate Cancer Testing: Useful or Useless?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131004090817.htm

 10/7/13
Hospital Precautions Do Nothing to Stop Infections?

http://guardianlv.com/2013/10/study-hospital-precautions-do-nothing-to-stop-infections/

10/07/13
What is driving up hospital costs. New study.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131002125518.htm

10/7/13
Latest study on the costs of ObamaCare.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131001151130.htm

10/7/13

Dozens of Mental Disorders Don't Exist At All?
http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/10/07/dozens-of-mental-disorders-dont-exist-and-dsm-5-is-a-fiction-of-ideology-u-s-therapist-claims-ahead-of-world-mental-health-day/

Updated: 10/15/13

Hospital CEO pay unrelated to hospital quality and outcomes

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/us-hospital-quality-care-idUSBRE99D0MA20131014

10/17/13
Older persons attitudes toward work and retirement-new study

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131015103941.htm

 10/21/13
Are There Regional Differences in the Kind of Care You Get? What are the variations between hospitals merely a few miles apart?

 http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1015-welch-too-much-medicine-20131015,0,5854399.story

 "In the late 1980s, both the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine published the findings that Boston residents were hospitalized 60% more often than their counterparts in New Haven. Oh, by the way, the rate of death — and the age of death — in the two cities were the same."

 10/24/13

Health Care.Gov website. What is going on. Hearings

 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/10/watch-live-testimony-on-healthcaregov-problems.html

10/27/13
The End of Antibiotics?

 http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/10/27/Expert-The-end-of-antibiotics-period/UPI-59881382932519/

 10/28/13

Is Obamacare causing consumers to lose their policies?

" By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost -- especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify. The law requires policies sold in the individual market to cover 10 "essential" benefits, such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care. In addition, insurers cannot reject people with medical problems or charge them higher prices. The policies must also cap consumers' annual expenses at levels lower than many plans sold before the new rules."

 From:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/10/why-the-health-reform-law-is-causing-thousands-to-lose-coverage.html

 10/29/13

Ok, What Are The Facts on ObamaCare-For the 15th time.

 http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-77973264/

11/3/13

How Often Do Physicians Disclose the Errors of Other Physicians?

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030185712.htm

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/business/under-health-care-act-millions-eligible-for-free-policies.html?_r=0

11/4/13
What Social Security Does Not Tell Widowers and Divorcees

 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/11/how-social-security-keeps-divorces-and-widows-in-the-dark-about-their-benefits.html

 11/6/13
ObamaCare and the insurance company cancellations: What Are The Facts?

 http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/11/obamacare-repeal-cancellation-notice

 http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/11/obamacare-will-be-boon-millions-people

 New Ways To Look At Cancer
www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/daily-news-guide-medicare-part-ii-glossary-key-terms-article-1.1512518

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/10/inquiring-minds-george-johnson-cancer-myths-reality

11/7/13
The NPR Take On Obamacare

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/07/243584170/how-the-affordable-care-act-pays-for-insurance-subsidies?sc=tw


 11/10/13

Obamacare and Medicare--December 7th Deadline.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/daily-news-guide-medicare-part-ii-medigap-plans-article-1.1512508

Impact on Supplemental Plans
  http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/guide-medicare-open-enrollment-ends-dec-7-article-1.1512498 

  Definition of Terms

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/daily-news-guide-medicare-part-ii-glossary-key-terms-article-1.1512518

11/11/13

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/dont-expect-big-enrollment-numbers-health-insurance-exchanges-2D11577708

11/12/13

US Official Medicare Website on Medicare and ObamaCare Changes
http://www.medicaresolutions.com/pdf/MedicareAndYou2014.pdf
  

 http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/guide-medicare-open-enrollment-fine-tune-part-best-drug-prices-article-1.1477949

 http://www.medicaresolutions.com/planlistmedicare.aspx

11/12/13

New Study: Health Care Costs Up: Outcomes Down

 http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-11-12/health-improvements-in-u-dot-s-dot-slow-even-as-costs-rise-study-finds

 http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/11/12/soaring-prices-not-demand-behind-massive-hike-in-us-health-spending

 11/13/13

"New estimates released from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) project that aggregate health care spending in the United States will grow at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent for 2012-22, or 1.0 percentage point faster than the expected growth in the gross domestic product (GDP)"

From:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131010091704.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131112095336.htm

11/13/13

Prescription drug and Injury related deaths at an all time high in the US

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131112003432.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301122144.htm

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121015131545.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101101161829.htm

  11/16/13

Obamacare: How good is the President's promise that everyone can keep their current plans if they want to?

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-obamas-new-you-can-keep-your-plan-policy/281522/

 NPR audio on Obama care and keeping your current health plan.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/15/245473211/will-you-get-to-keep-your-health-plan-depends-on-where-you-live?sc=tw

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/15/245421224/consumer-guide-to-obamas-plan-for-canceled-health-policies?sc=tw 

11/17/13

Obamacare: How Will It Affect Supplemental Plans and Medicare Advantage Plans?

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/nov/17/us-on-the-money-medicare-advantage/


11/17/13

The Crisis of Antibiotics.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/drug-resistant-bacteria-spreading-europe-20903051

https://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&topic=m&siidp=83e8e9766e48c33ffb467c672d45351a5cf2&ict=ln

11/18/13

Obesity and Antibiotic use. A state by state study

 http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/11/maps-antibiotics-prescriptions-obesity-states

11/18/13

Early signs of a heart attack early. What are they?

 http://www.nbcnews.com/health/signs-sudden-heart-attack-may-appear-month-study-suggests-2D11624552

 Today's Generation is less fit?

http://children.webmd.com/news/20131119/kids-worldwide-getting-less-heart-fit-research-shows

11/20/13

Is Health Care Spending Down Sharply Due to Obamacare?

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/11/20/health-care-spending-growth/3650243/

 11/22/13

The Poor Die of Treatable Diseases, Why? A Doctor's Report
http://www.alternet.org/i-watched-my-patients-die-treatable-diseases-because-they-were-poor?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

 11/25/13

New Method to diagnosse Sepsis. Could save thousands of lives

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131119082927.htm

 11/26/13
Obamacare allows single-payer?

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/24/1258135/-Obama-just-launched-single-payer-in-America

Updated: 11/29/13
Is Health Care Spending Down Sharply Since Obamacare?

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/opinion/krugman-obamacares-secret-success.html?_r=0

 12/3/13
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/12/the-medical-service-you-havent-heard-of-could-save-hospitals-billions.html

 12/3/13
Extra stiches cost 500 dollars?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/health/as-hospital-costs-soar-single-stitch-tops-500.html

12/3/13
Hospital Costs: Do They Make Any Sense?

 http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/Convoluted-hospital-pricing-under-scrutiny-5032279.php

12/8/13
Are Drug Trials Sponsored by the Drug Industry Biased? Duh.

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100802173713.htm

 12/10/13

What you need to know when the hospital or ER tells you you will be held for "observation."

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/observation-status-what-it-means-hospitals-and-patients

 12/10/13
The expensive and wildly varying costs of ambulance rides.

http://priceonomics.com/the-wild-west-of-ambulance-charges/

12/11/13
Physician Crisis?

 http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/crisis-physician-recruitment?topic=,,24

 1/6/14

Do Hospitals Have a Financial Incentive to Pull the Plug on Your Loved One? The Case of Jahi McMath

 http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Hospital-incentive-to-bury-mistakes-must-be-5115986.php

1/10/14

Smoking what are the numbers?
 

"43: percent of Americans who smoked in 1964

18: percent of Americans who smoke today

7,000: the number of scientific studies the U.S. surgeon general's advisory committee examined before declaring that smoking caused lung cancer, laryngeal cancer and chronic bronchitis

17.7 million: the number of Americans who died from tobacco-related causes between 1964 and 2012. (A chain-smoking doctor among Terry's expert report authors was diagnosed with lung cancer within a year of the surgeon general's announcement, NPR reports. He later died of the disease.)

8 million: the estimated number of tobacco-related deaths in the U.S. that anti-smoking initiatives have prevented since 1964

19.6: the average number of years people add to their lifespans by not smoking regularly"

From:

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/100-years-smoking-studies-popular-sciencewww.popsci.com/article/science/100-years-smoking-studies-popular-science

`1/13/14

How the Mediterranean  Diet can save your life.

 http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/big-pharmas-best-kept-secret-mediterranean-diet-can-save-your-life?akid=11398.260128.dWxrai&rd=1&src=newsletter946302&t=18

 1/13/14 Big Agriculture's Role in the Antibiotic Disaster

"There is a near consensus among public health experts that the bulk antibiotics produced by AHI’s member companies are accelerating the approach of a post-antibiotics nightmare scenario, in which superbugs routinely emerge from our farms and wreak havoc on a human population living among the ruins of modern medicine."

 From:

http://www.alternet.org/food/factory-farms-are-accelerating-antibiotics-nightmare?akid=11398.260128.dWxrai&rd=1&src=newsletter946302&t=14

 1/17/14

Former Kaiser CEO says hospitals are rewarded for bad care.

 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june14/health_01-17.html

 1/18/14

High-Cost Hospitals Do Not Have Higher Sepsis Survival Rates

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110228163032.htm

 1/21/14
 

"Studies have shown doctors' clothing may spread infectious diseases to patients.

New recommendations have been issued to help prevent possible contamination."

 1/29/14

Medical bills and the American Family

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-medical-costs-burden-on-families-20140128,0,7524866.story#axzz2roLF6Iom

2/2/14

Are Aginging Population Creating Problems World Wide?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/30/world-population-aging-america/5044447/

 2/6/14

What does the CBO report really say about Obamacare, job killer or good news?

See video report below

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/6/job_killer_how_media_spin_got
 

 "Summarized Kessler: "Thus, some people might decide to work part-time, not full-time, in order to keep getting health-care subsidies. Thus, they are reducing their supply of labor to the market. Other people near retirement age might decide they no longer need to hold onto their job just because it provides health insurance, and they also leave the work force.

"Look at it this way: If someone says they decided to leave their job for personal reasons, most people would not say they 'lost' their jobs. They simply decided not to work," he said."

From:
 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865595684/CBO-report-Workers-may-reduce-hours-under-health-care-law.html

 For sticklers: Here is an actual copy of the report.

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/45010-Outlook2014.pdf

 2/8/14

Do whatever you can but don't let your loved ones get hooked on legal and prescription drugs.
Oxycontin is basically heroin and just as difficut to kick.
 

"Between 2000 and 2010 the number of people that died from drug overdoses more than doubled from 17,000 to 38,000, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2009, for the first time in US history, more people died from drugs overdoses than from traffic accidents or firearms, although that is partly because the numbers of gun deaths and road deaths are both decreasing. So what is causing this epidemic?

The data suggests the number of people overdosing from pharmaceutical - or prescription - drugs has trebled over that decade, just as the quantity of prescription painkillers sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors' offices has quadrupled over the same period."

From:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26067987

  See part two of this blog at:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?id=60454&authorid=121255