House Expands Health Coverage for U.S. Children
The bill reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that the House of Representatives passed yesterday will extend health coverage to an additional 4 million lower-income kids over the next 4½ years, bringing the total to 11 million, reports U.S. News's Michelle Andrews. The Senate is expected to take up a similar measure today, paving the way for President-elect Barack Obama to sign the bill soon after taking office.
While the present bill is an important first step in making good on Obama's campaign pledge to provide health insurance that covers all Americans, there are still going to be roughly 5 million kids without health insurance once SCHIP passes. These are kids from families that make too much money to qualify for subsidized coverage, Andrews explains. It's not clear how those kids will get access to affordable healthcare. Neither is it clear how most laid-off workers, using COBRA, can afford to hang on to their employer's health insurance on the strength of their weekly unemployment checks, as Andrews reported last week. She offered 4 ways people can avoid getting squeezed by COBRA, and U.S. News offers laid-off baby boomers these 7 tactics for finding health insurance.
Parenting Tips for Kids With ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be a distressing diagnosis, but families have more treatment options than they might realize, U.S. News's Nancy Shute reports. Although Ritalin and other stimulant drugs are the most common prescriptions, ADHD treatments that don't involve medication have a proven track record. And this may surprise: One of the most beneficial options treats the parents, not the child.
For children, skills training programs and ADHD summer camps can help teach techniques to overcome everyday problems that often make life miserable, such as remembering to bring assignments home from school or to listen without interrupting. Check out these 4 tips on finding a great ADHD summer camp or program for your child, and scan this list to see if there's one close to home.
Last year, Shute explained why parents needn't panic over the American Heart Association's announcement that children need cardiac screening before they can safely take stimulant medication.
A 'Good Diet' Is Straightforward
Despite all the fads, a "good diet" in terms of health is fairly straightforward: Eat mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grains, sources of good fats and lean sources of protein, and fewer processed and fried foods, bad fats, and overall calories. But the notion of "good food" is expanding in some circles to include not just nutritional value but other considerations, such as the environment and animal welfare, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson reports. (Just look at some of the suggestions she got when she asked nutritionists what they'd like to see on food labels.)
Some food gurus are making the case that following better environmental practices will also help improve the typical American diet. Hobson's sources suggest that treating animals humanely and the land well will yield better-tasting food. Hobson has previously reported on diets that promote health and on why the world is fat.
—Lindsay Lyon
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