IT'S TIME FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Miller wrote:

By the way, the average wait time in the ER of the Mass. General Hospital in Boston is now 8-12 hours.

It's only 3 hours in rural Missouri. And these hoosiers complain incessantly.

By the way, the average wait time in the ER of the Mass. General Hospital in Boston is now 8-12 hours.

Someone on this thread introduced the idea that Americans gluttony was the blame for our poor health, but the following article refutes that claim.

From the BBC:
Obesity 'epidemic' turns global
People are getting fatter in all parts of the world, with the possible exception of south and east Asia, a one-day global snapshot shows.

Between half and two-thirds of men and women in 63 countries across five continents - not including the US - were overweight or obese in 2006.

The Circulation journal study included over 168,000 people evaluated by a primary care doctor.

Experts said the findings were deeply worrying.

Excess body weight is pandemic
Lead researcher Beverley Balkau

People who are overweight have a higher risk of heart disease, Type II diabetes and other diseases including some cancers.

The International Day for the Evaluation of Obesity (IDEA) study looked at two measures of fatness - waist circumference and a calculation called body mass index or BMI.

A BMI (weight in kg divided by square of height in meters) of 18.5 to 25 is considered healthy.

A BMI over 25 is deemed overweight and greater than 30 is obese.

Pandemic

Just 7% of people in eastern Asia were obese, compared to 36% of people seeing their doctors in Canada, 38% of women in Middle Eastern countries and 40% in South Africa.

Canada and South Africa led in the percentage of overweight people, with an average BMI of 29 among both men and women in Canada and 29 among South African women.

168,000 people were evaluated by a doctor on a single day. The US was not included in the report.
A BMI over 25 is deemed overweight and greater than 30 is obese.

In Northern Europe men had an average BMI of 27 and women 26 - just into the overweight category. In southern Europe, the average BMI was 28. In Australia BMI was 28 for men and 27.5 for women while in Latin America the average BMI was just under 28.

Waist circumference was also high - 56% of men and 71% of women carried too much weight around their middle.

"The study results show that excess body weight is pandemic, with one-half to two-thirds of the overall study population being overweight or obese," said Beverley Balkau, director of research at the French National health research institute INSERM in Villejuif, who led the study.

That puts the rest of the world close to par with the US, long considered the country with the worst weight problem.

By the way, the average wait time in the ER of the Mass. General Hospital in Boston is now 8-12 hours.

Hokie, Do you understand anything about relative concepts?

cicerone imposter wrote:

Hokie, Do you understand anything about relative concepts?

Relativity aside, those stats don't show anything other than a large part of the people that went to the dr were fat.

USAFHokie80 wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:

Hokie, Do you understand anything about relative concepts?

Relativity aside, those stats don't show anything other than a large part of the people that went to the dr were fat.

You are stupid, and there's no cure for it.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

New Era for Health Care?

By Winthrop Quigley
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer

After five years of hearings, study groups, town hall meetings, task forces and debates, Gov. Bill Richardson today will unveil an ambitious legislative package designed to provide universal access to health care.
If enacted by the Legislature, the plan would:

- Require every New Mexican to have some sort of health coverage.

- Establish a powerful new authority designed to control health care costs and improve efficiency.

- Prevent insurance companies from rejecting anyone for medical reasons.
"The whole goal of this is to insure more New Mexicans and provide more access to health coverage for New Mexicans," Lt. Gov. Diane Denish told the Journal's editorial board Wednesday.
Denish said there are a few points that most interest groups agree on: that some sort of insurance reform is necessary, that use of federal Medicaid funds should be maximized and that electronic medical records would improve efficiency. Everything else is controversial, she said.

Among the plan's highlights:

- Individuals would be required to show proof of health care coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

- Employers with six or more employees must either provide health insurance or contribute to a state-administered fund that would provide coverage to the uninsured.

- Insurance companies would have to use at least 85 percent of the money generated from premiums on actual health care.

- Insurers would have to guarantee they will cover any individual who asks for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2009. Today companies can reject individuals for medical reasons.

- Insurance rate increases to small groups would be limited to 10 percent a year. Today the rates are allowed to increase 20 percent, based on the medical experience of the group.

- Medical providers would be required to accept patients covered by Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and State Coverage Insurance, all publicly funded or subsidized programs.

- Insurance claims and insurance payments to providers must be made electronically. Medical records must be created and maintained electronically.

- A new Health Care Authority would work to control costs, ensure health care is affordable and work to improve health system efficiency.
The authority would, in conjunction with the state Public Regulation Commission and licensing boards, monitor the performance of insurance carriers and medical providers. It would set ranges for payments that providers could receive and establish programs that reward providers for improved performance.

The authority would take control of several state-funded programs, including the Retiree Health Care Authority, public school employees insurance plans and state employees' coverage.
Denish acknowledged many of the proposals are controversial and complicated, and she said that some legislators have suggested a special session might be required to consider the package.
Many of the package's ideas surfaced over the past year during meetings of the Health Coverage for New Mexicans Committee, a group of business, medical, legislative, labor and community leaders appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Other pieces, such as the health care authority and mandatory insurance, have been implemented in other states.
Denish and Human Services Secretary Pamela S. Hyde said Wednesday the administration has not yet estimated the cost of the package and that the cost would ultimately depend on factors like federal funding and the money saved by reducing the burden of caring for the state's 405,000 uninsured people.
Richardson will ask for $1.3 million to get the health care authority started and $800,000 to finance planning required to implement electronic payments and records, Hyde said.
"I'm optimistic," Denish said. "That's my job: optimism."

A new Health Care Authority would work to control costs, ensure health care is affordable...

Quote:

A new Health Care Authority would work to control costs, ensure health care is affordable...

How will this be accomplished?

And...what about all the illegals in New Mexico?

Miller wrote:

Quote:

A new Health Care Authority would work to control costs, ensure health care is affordable...

How will this be accomplished?

And...what about all the illegals in New Mexico?

What about them?

Cycloptichorn

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Miller wrote:

Quote:

A new Health Care Authority would work to control costs, ensure health care is affordable...

How will this be accomplished?

And...what about all the illegals in New Mexico?

What about them?

Cycloptichorn

What about them?

Miller wrote:

By the way, the average wait time in the ER of the Mass. General Hospital in Boston is now 8-12 hours.

I recently had occasion to visit the ER of the nearby hospital in San Francisco, following a hard fall - I was ambulatory & had no urgent symptoms. The wait time was 32 minutes. Most of that was spent collecting medical history, insurance & payment data.

Details of a proposed health-care initiative for New Mexicans will be announced today by Gov. Bill Richardson.



To view a PDF of a presentation on the proposed health coverage plan, click here.

Local coverage from the Albuquerque Journal

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Details of a proposed health-care initiative for New Mexicans will be announced today by Gov. Bill Richardson.



To view a PDF of a presentation on the proposed health coverage plan, click here.

Local coverage from the Albuquerque Journal

Why is is that only 30% of the population has private insurance? That is ridiculous. Surely 70% of the state is not at the poverty level...