Health Insurance Group of Arizona: October 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

H.R. 3962 - The House Health Bill - Weighs In At 1,990 Pages - Regulatory,Legislative and Tax Issues - Life and Health Insurance News

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

County AHCCCS rolls grow to 750,000 - Phoenix Business Journal:

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Senate health bill will embrace public option

WASHINGTON - Health-care legislation heading for the Senate floor will give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday, although he stopped short of claiming the 60 votes needed to pass a plan steeped in controversy.

Reid, D-Nev., said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program. Details of how it would work were still sketchy, but states would get a year after the 2013 phase-in of the new health-care plan to decide whether to participate.

His announcement was cheered by liberal lawmakers, greeted less effusively by the White House and noted with a noncommittal response by Democratic moderates whose votes will be pivotal.

Democrats control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats, and it takes 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles there, so the defection of even one moderate could doom any plan. However, reluctant moderates could vote with the Democratic leadership to overcome procedural blocks, then oppose the legislation on a final vote, which would allow it to pass with only a simple majority.

Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to vote with Democrats on health care so far this year, issued a statement saying she was "deeply disappointed" in the approach the Democratic leader had chosen.

Reid said, "While the public option is not a silver bullet, I believe it's an important way to ensure competition and to level the playing field for patients with the insurance industry."

He said a long-delayed Senate debate on President Barack Obama's call for an overhaul of the health-care system will begin as soon as the Congressional Budget Office completes a mandatory assessment of the bill's cost and impact on coverage.

Changes on the public option and numerous other provisions in the measure are possible during a debate expected to last for weeks.

Officials said Reid had prepared several variations of key provisions so he could make adjustments in his bill at the last minute and still make sure he was within Obama's target of a $900 billion price tag over a decade.

Both the House and Senate are struggling to complete work by year's end on legislation extending coverage to millions who lack it, to ban insurance-industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and to slow the rise in medical costs nationally.

As in the Senate, attempts to complete drafting a measure in the House have been delayed by internal Democratic divisions on the details of a government-run option. Differences in bills passed by the House and Senate would have to be reconciled before any legislation reached Obama's desk.

In deference to moderates, Reid also said he was including a provision for non-profit co-ops to sell insurance in competition with private companies.

Senate Democratic officials say the bill Reid envisions would require most individuals to purchase insurance, with exemptions for those unable to find affordable coverage. Large businesses would not be required to provide insurance to their workers but would face penalties of as much as $750 per employee if any qualified for federal subsidies to afford coverage on their own.

The bill will include a tax on high-cost insurance policies, despite opposition from organized labor, officials said. In a gesture to critics of the plan, Reid decided to apply the new tax to family plans with total premiums of at least $23,000 a year. The Senate Finance Committee approved a tax beginning at $21,000 in total premiums.

Nominally, the majority leader has spent the past two weeks melding bills passed earlier by the Senate's Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. But in reality, he has had a virtual free hand to craft a new measure in consultations with senior members of the two panels and top White House aides.

Within minutes of Reid's statement, the White House released a statement saying Obama was "pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out."

Obama has long voiced support for such a plan but has also signaled it is not a requirement for a health-care bill he would sign.

He has also said he would like bipartisan support for the legislation, and Snowe appears to be his last, best hope for that.

She favors a standby provision for government coverage if there is not enough competition in the private marketplace.

Reid said that is not in his bill. "We hope that Olympia will come back," he said. "She's a very good legislator. I'm disappointed that the one issue, the public option, has been something that's frightened her."

Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, "is not committing how we will vote regarding any proposal Senator Reid is advancing," spokesman Jake Thompson said.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Prevent Swine Flu

Prevent Swine Flu

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in 20 institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 i nfection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water . Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose har d once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
Neti pots and sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store and relatively inexpensive….under $15.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.