| As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas
WHEN SHE WAS diagnosed with a fibroid tumor last year, Kathleen Dodds found herself in a bind. She didn't have health insurance because she couldn't afford it. With no insurance, the surgery she needed was prohibitively expensive. "They were quoting me $30,000, tentatively, paid out of pocket," says Dodds, 42, a Portland, Ore.-based horse trainer. "There was no way I could afford it here." But 7,200 miles away in India was an affordable solution. Through IndUSHealth, a company in Raleigh, N.C., that arranges medical care in India for U.S. citizens, Dodds flew out to the Apollo hospital in Delhi, where she had a successful hysterectomy that allowed her to return to her horseback riding students just two-and-a-half weeks later. The total cost: just under $10,000, including round-trip airfare, transportation to and from the hospital, a one-week hospital stay where she says she was treated with more care and attention than she had ever experienced in the U.S., capped by 10 days at a "gorgeous hotel." "It was actually a pleasant situation, considering that I was having major surgery," she says.
Zim demands import duty in forex
Cash-strapped Zimbabwe is now forcing all motor-vehicle importers to pay their excise duty in foreign currency, the state-run Herald reported on Monday. Finance Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has ordered that the new rule, which will cover all luxury goods, takes effect immediately after declaring the change in a government gazette, according to the newspaper. "Payments of customs duty and value added tax on the importation of any item of goods designated as luxury items shall be payable in United States dollars, euros, or any other currency denominated under the Exchange Control," Mumbengegwi was quoted as saying. The general rate of duty for cars ranges between 60 and 80 percent depending on the type of vehicle. Previously importers paid for duty in local currency, making it relatively cheap to import.
Phone laws to hit car insurance premiums
The new mobile phone laws will make it increasingly difficult for UK drivers to find competitive insurance premiums, a report has claimed.Drivers caught using a mobile phone at the wheel can now receive a £60 fine and three points on their licence, as part of the government's attempt to hammer home the importance of concentration in the car.Insurance broker Quoteline Direct believes that 10,000 drivers will be pushed into the non-standard insurance bracket as a result of convictions, as insurers take an unforgiving approach to this particular folly.Quoteline Direct's Paul O' Gorman said: "Insurers will be using this as an excuse to push people automatically into the non-standard insurance bracket. Three points on a licence for speeding or jumping a red light has always bumped up premiums slightly but I expect many insurers to take a harsher view of people convicted of this offence.
Use of Pet Medications on the Rise
Every day some people take a handful of pills - one for high blood pressure, one for high cholesterol, maybe even one for arthritis. The associated costs for prescription drugs can be costly. Imagine the family member that requires several medications is actually the family pet. More and more people are putting their pets on long term health care regimens, which often include prescriptions.
The Guffords in North Carolina spend a lot of time and money on their 12-year-old dog. Brownie is diabetic - he gets a blood sugar check and shot of insulin daily. He also takes pills, mixed into a bowl of tuna and canned carrots. Brownie has been medicated for several reasons in the past year: diabetes, infections, high blood pressure and upset stomach. He has also been medicated for anemia and a spider bite.
Dan Walters: Capitol's agenda is jampacked
State legislators return to the Capitol after a spring break to face the fullest agenda of major issues in at least a generation, most of them pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he seeks to jump-start his second term. Over the next five months, Republican Schwarzenegger and the mostly Democratic lawmakers will either make good on promises to deliver on health care, prison reform, infrastructure and political reform, or their oft-proclaimed camaraderie will crumble and the Capitol will return to finger-pointing gridlock. Schwarzenegger has proclaimed "post-partisanship" as the state's new operational credo, and he and legislative leaders continually point to their 2006 agreements on the budget, infrastructure, global warming and minimum wage as proof of the new spirit.
State to home buyers: Keep sinkhole policy
In January, state Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. John Legg ballyhooed the option of dropping sinkhole insurance as a way to "protect our consumers" and drop premiums as much as 60 percent. There's something else consumers should know: "Sinkholes are an unpredictable part of the Florida landscape, especially in West Central Florida and the greater Tampa Bay area," according to a flier for home buyers from the state Department of Financial Services. Over a drawing of a crack across a brick wall, the flier gives another nugget of advice: "Make sure that sinkhole coverage is included in your policy, or in a rider." Citizens Property Insurance Corp. intends to make the option available by Sept. 1, if regulators approve the state-run insurer's final filings.
Suite Talk: April 10, 2007
Quinn Gillespie & Associates has hired Bonnie Hogue Duffy to be director and co-manager of the health care practice; it's a new position within the bipartisan PR firm. A veteran health care expert, Duffy has been director of federal policy for the Alzheimer's Association and director of health policy at the American Association of Health Plans (now called America's Health Insurance Plans). Prior to that, she worked in the Senate in a variety of posts. She was on the staff of the Special Committee on Aging, where she assisted Chairman David Pryor (D-Ark.) on Medicare, long-term care and health care reform. She was also the legislative assistant to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and senior health policy adviser to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Duffy's position at the Alzheimer's Association is vacant.
Consumers Beware: Individual Health Plans Are Confusing
Today's Health Insurance Market Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2007--Consumers who purchase individual health insurance plans solely on the initial price they are quoted by a broker or via the internet could be hurting themselves financially and be missing out on important benefits they probably want, states Charles O'Neill, CEO of Avalon Healthcare. More than nine percent of all people insured buy individual plans and the numbers in Florida are increasing, O'Neill said. Avalon is Florida's newest statewide health plan selling individual and group consumer directed health insurance plans. "Buying health insurance is confusing and while products may look alike, most are not," O'Neill said. "As more Floridians purchase consumer directed health plans for themselves and their families, they need to become better educated about the products they are buying.
Blue Cross of California fined $1 million for canceling policies
Have you been dropped by Blue Cross or any other health insurance provider? Share your experience with us at The Desert Sun.
more updates
Public memorial service honors Betty Hutton
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One week left for DaVinci exhibit
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Canadian versus US health care
Canada and the U.S. used to be twins when it came to public-health measurements. Now, after 35 years of Canadian universal health care, Canada's infant mortality rate is two thirds of that in the U.S, life expectancy is higher, and the per capita spending is half that in the U.S.
A member of our family, in the U.S., was hospitalized without benefits or health insurance and had to sell their home to pay medical bills. This is a common experience for many of the 45 million people in this country who cannot afford health insurance.
I have many relatives who have been cared for under the Canadian system, and I don't know anyone who had to sell their home to pay their medical bills. Yes, Canada has some problems with its delivery system. Some people may have to wait for elective surgery while the well-to-do will go across the border to be first in line.
Great American Insurance Group Announces Winner of ``BIG RIG ...
The BIG RIG GIVEAWAY was open to all truckers with a valid commercial drivers' license. Mr. Doering, an independent owner-operator, has been insured by Great American since April, 2006. Great American Insurance Group's Trucking Division is a leading provider of insurance products and services to independent owner-operators. The contest demonstrates Great American's commitment to the trucking industry.
Mr. Doering's customized Freightliner features a navy blue exterior with hand-painted graphics that depict some of America's famous monuments. The interior renovation includes a unique red, white and blue dashboard, chrome detailing, an externally mounted video camera with in-cab display to minimize blind spots, and a full-color illustration of an American Bald Eagle in the sleeper cab.
The case for social health insurance
The government has announced a proposal for a contributory earnings-based social security system that will provide for retirement, disability and death. This will complement the existing social security system, which has 11,8-million beneficiaries who will receive R89,4-billion in the current fiscal year. A contributory social security system was recommended by the Committee of Inquiry into a Comprehensive System of Social Security in 2002. The one recommendation that seems to have been left out, however, is social health insurance. Social health insurance would rely on compulsory contributions from workers, the self-employed, enterprises and government into a fund that would contract with public and private providers for the provision of a specified package of health services. Its goals would be to generate more resources for health, promote optimal use of those resources and ensure greater affordability of health services.The 2007 Budget Review hints at the reason for the omission of social health insurance from government's plans.
Wharton School Real Estate Expert, Genworth Financial Launch 'US ...
WASHINGTON, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage professionals and consumers "should take a look at more traditional financing tools" in today's turbulent housing market, according to Dr. Susan M. Wachter, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Dr. Wachter made her comments in the U.S. Mortgage Index, a new report launched today to examine key trends in residential real estate financing. Published quarterly by Dr. Wachter, in association with Genworth Financial Inc., the new index will evaluate which mortgage products offer borrowers the best value, comparing payments for various mortgage options. The first issue examines home financing over the past year, comparing monthly payments for five popular types of low down payment mortgages and describing why some are now better for some borrowers than others.
Settlement improves children's access to treatment
AUSTIN -- Lawyers in federal court Monday outlined a settlement they hope will bring better medical treatment to millions of low-income Texas children, including thousands in El Paso, and end more than a decade of litigation. "Texas will make even more significant commitments in caring for our youth facing the greatest needs," said Ted Cruz, Texas solicitor general, an attorney representing the state. The settlement -- expected to cost Texas hundreds of millions of dollars -- could mean more doctors to treat the 106,000 children in El Paso County on Medicaid and more information about health care options to which those children are entitled. "It will help bring physicians and help retain them here along the border," said Dr. David Palafox, who practices at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and is medical director for El Paso First Health Plans.
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