Health Buzz: House Plan May Tackle Long-Term Care for Seniors and Other Health News
House Plan May Tackle Long-Term Care for Seniors and Disabled
A healthcare bill in the House is likely to have in it a new insurance program to help cover the cost of long-term care for seniors and the disabled, the Associated Press reports. The voluntary program, which has been introduced in the past as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, is designed to help families pay for nursing home care, which costs an average of $70,000 a year, according to the AP. It would also help fund home care with money from premiums of, initially, an estimated $123 each month. Consumers would pay into the program for five years before they could qualify for benefits—so in its early stages, the program would receive more than it disbursed, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.
[Read: 4 Ways to Cover the Cost of Long-Term Care and 7 Tips for Buying Long-Term Care Insurance.]
Visiting Your Doctor Online Is a Virtual Reality
Donita Gano woke up one Sunday morning with a problem. The 59-year-old public-health nurse had fallen and gashed her elbow about 10 days before. Now it was warm and inflamed, signs of probable infection. She logged on to an online clinic launched early this year by her health plan, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and chose an available physician. She clicked on "Connect now," and soon she and the doctor were engaged in an online chat about her symptoms. He ordered an antibiotic, which she picked up right after logging off. "Pretty painless," says Gano.
Gano is surfing a new wave of patient-friendly, relatively inexpensive, Web-based healthcare. Such services offer more than convenience. An online encounter often is a substitute for an expensive trip to the ER. It's also likely to be cheaper than an office visit, and it confers nearly instant access to a patient's choice of available doctors. And it may trim the number of workdays missed for minor maladies—a boon for employers. In Hawaii, some of the most remote patients now have 24-7 access to basic healthcare. Read more.
[Read Getting Medical Advice on the Web From Other Patients and Time to Switch to an Online Personal Health Record?]
Surgery for Breast Cancer: Complex Options, Difficult Decisions
In a fitting send-off to breast cancer awareness month, the White House's North Portico this week sports a massive pink ribbon. And at a Friday event for breast cancer, first lady Michelle Obama said, "We have a healthcare system in this country that simply is not working for too many people with breast cancer." While it's nice that so much attention has been paid to this disease, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes, women still need a lot of education on the topic.
Two weeks ago, Kotz reported on a study that found that about 25 percent of breast cancer patients who qualify for breast-conserving surgery aren't getting it. Why do women insist on getting mastectomies when research shows they're not getting an increased survival benefit? Kotz asks an expert about the options for surgical treatment and breast reconstruction for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
One thing newly diagnosed patients should know is that they might be able to have reconstruction at the same time as the surgery to remove their cancer, says Joel Aronowitz, chief of plastic surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Insurance usually covers procedures on both breasts to achieve the desired cosmetic result. Read more.
[Read the Confusion Over DCIS: What to Do About "Stage Zero" Breast Cancer? and Why 1 in 4 Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients Still Opt for Mastectomies.]
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