Yet Another Waste Of Time

And another waste of money.  Mississippi representatives spend a good portion of their time in session thinking of stuff that makes them look good.  Seldom do they seem to care that it will go nowhere except on the their resumes.

The latest piece manure,  HB 666 which reads that a commission to study and make recommendations for the health care of Mississippians.  I will be honest…I cannot remember if this was in the works last session or not.

But how long has Mississippi been at the bottom of the ladder on health care?  You know crap like births, deaths, cost per patient, stuff like that?  But now it is a priority?  Why?  Could be a new president who has said that health care is a priority and the lazy guys and gals in Jackson want to get a piece of the pie.  If that is the case, then it could well pass this time around while dollar signs dance in the politicians heads.

HB666 which states:

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON HEALTH; TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSION TO REPORT TO THE 2010 REGULAR SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON ALL ASPECTS OF HEALTH; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

I ask again, why after so many years of Mississippi being at the bottom of the health care scale is it important now?  If you have a clue….please share…all Mississippians are waiting for someone to have a clue.

Katrina Kids And Illness

Children of displaced families from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are struggling with serious health problems, according to a new report released today by the New York-based Children’s Health Fund and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

The report focused on the medical records of 261 of the poorest children displaced by the hurricanes. These kids and their families were moved into a federally funded Baton Rouge trailer park until the park closed in May 2008. This is the first in-depth review of children’s medical and mental health after the storms in 2005 that struck the Gulf Coast and displaced thousands of families.

Forty-one percent of children under 4 years of age were diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia–twice the rate found in children in New York City homeless shelters and more than twice the Centers for Disease Control’s rate for high-risk minority populations. More than half the kids had behavioral or learning problems. And 42 percent had respiratory infections and disorders that may be linked to formaldehyde and crowding in the ramshackle trailers supplied by the government.

The study made many urgent recommendations. Among them: FEMA must provide contact information for these children so their medical needs can be treated and an extension in funding is necessary so these kids can receive further medical attention. Redlener told Newsweek that he’s optimistic that funds will be extended at least through mid-2010, since all that will require is “a stroke of the pen” from the new administration.

MS: Insurance Premiums Soar

In the past seven years in Mississippi, family health care premiums have risen an estimated seven times faster than salaries of Mississippi workers. That’s the conclusion of a report released noon today by Families USA, a major national consumer health organization.

From 2000 to 2007, premiums rose 73.2 percent but median earnings rose only 10.4 percent. Families USA used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The report concludes that a growing number of Mississippi families are uninsured or underinsured because of this disparity between wages and rising insurance costs. In an update of an earlier state-specific study, Families USA says the number of Mississippi’s non-elderly uninsured is about 564,000.

Key findings in the study show that family health premiums provided through the workplace in Mississippi rose from $5,983 to $10,365, or an increase of 73.2 percent.

The median earnings of Mississippi’s workers increased from $20,439 to $22,566, or an increase of 10.4 percent.

Gulf South: Hospitals Are The Worse

The South is the worst place to live if you’re seriously ill, according to a new report that graded each U.S. state for residents’ access to palliative care, a fairly new specialty that focuses on patients’ quality-of-life issues rather than elusive cures for diseases.

The report, organized by the Center to Advance Palliative Care and National Palliative Care Research Center in New York, evaluated Americans’ access to hospitals that offer this type of care among patients with such serious and chronic illnesses as heart disease, liver and kidney failure and Alzheimer’s. (Hospice care is palliative care applied to people at the end of life.)

The 10 worst states, from worst ascending to better: Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nevada, Wyoming, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky.

In 2008, 90 million Americans are living with serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s, stroke and Alzheimer’s. As baby boomers age, this number will more than double over the next 25 years.

FL: Mental Health Dollars Sinking

Just as a crumbling economy brings about more depression, substance abuse and other mental-health problems, budget cuts are forcing mental-health providers to scale back their services.

The Lakeview Center, which has been the area’s main provider of mental-health services, has dramatically cut its programs. Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, which provides low-cost counseling services to children and adults, also has reduced its staff and services.

But, in response to a loss of $2.5 million in state funding and rising health care costs, Lakeview has cut $4.3 million from next year’s budget.

In the last two months, 70 full-time positions have been eliminated, and more than a dozen mental- health programs have been scaled back, or cut outright, in order to keep the center afloat.

Meanwhile, Catholic Charities has cut two full-time counselors, leaving only a single part-time counselor, Executive Director Mark Dufva said. New clients are not being accepted.

Bembry and Dufva both say the cuts come at a bad time as economic woes translate into medical and mental issues.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the price we will pay for the economic woes that wall street has created.  The firms will go on, but the people woill lose much needed services. Is that a good exchane?

AL: Obesity Penalty

Obese Alabama state workers may soon pay a health insurance penalty for their excess pounds.

Beginning in January 2009, state employees will be required to receive medical screenings for several conditions, including body mass index (BMI). Those who are considered obese — along with exhibiting other negative health factors — will have a year to get in shape. The penalty for failure? A $25 increase in their monthly insurance costs.

Although critics view the penalty as a “fat tax,” Alabama officials believe the new policies will result in fitter, healthier, and happier employees — as well as help reduce the state’s mounting health care costs.

Alabama now ranks as the second most obese state in the U.S., according to the CDC — perhaps a clear sign that change is needed. In addition to BMI, the state will screen three additional criteria: cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels. These four risk factors have consistently resulted in costly treatments for the state.

LA: Health Care Prognosis Good

Despite the mass exodus of doctors from the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina nearly three years ago, a journal published today reports that doctors have returned here at a rate that has pushed their per-capita number above the national average, one of many signs medical professionals say indicates the local health-care system is recovering.

The August issue of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences says the number of doctors in Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes is growing at an impressive rate: from 239 doctors per 100,000 people in 2005 to 256 doctors per 10,000 in 2007. The national average is 237 doctors per 100,000.

A series of articles in the journal, written mostly by local medical professionals, paints a somewhat healthy picture of the New Orleans medical sector, highlighting the rebounding number of local doctors in addition to the recovery of LSU and Tulane medical schools.

Since February 2007, $39.2 million in federal money administered through the state Department of Health and Hospitals helped recruit and retain medical professionals in New Orleans. To qualify for the Greater New Orleans Service Corps grants, professionals must commit to stay in the New Orleans area for at least three years and serve populations of patients with little or no insurance.

More than $10.8 million to date went to recruiting and retaining primary care doctors, said Dory Tschudy of the state Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health, the state department that oversees the program. So far, the program has recruited 42 primary care physicians.

MS: The Fattest State

According to a new government survey, more than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are considered obese.
The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004.

The South has had high death rates from heart disease and stroke. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates. And why is Colorado so thin? It’s a state with a reputation for exercise, with many outdoor activities.

MS: Hospital Assn. Considers Suit

Without a solution to fund a $90 million dollar shortfall in Medicaid, Governor Haley Barbour is expected to make cuts that will cripple the state run health program.

Those proposed cuts will go into affect August 6.

Hospitals will see the deepest cut at over 33 % of their Medicaid reimbursement taken away. Nursing homes reimbursements will be cut by just over six percent. Doctors, pharmacists, and dentists who treat Medicaid patients will have 10% cut.

Other areas affected include, home health, physical therapy, ambulance service , and medical equipment providers. The governor says lawmakers knew about the medicaid shortfall going into this year’s regular session.

“We’re knowing going in the fiscal year that we’re gonna have a $375 million dollar deficit because the House has failed to do it’s job. And because of that, I am forced to do something that is bad for health care in Mississippi, but it’s the law,” Governor Barbour said.

Many house members favor a cigarette tax to help fund Medicaid rather than taxing hospitals.

The Mississippi Hospital Association says these cuts will cause hospitals to close. And they are considering possible court action to block the cuts.

FL: Gov. And Health Care

Gov. Charlie Crist barnstormed the state Monday, touting new legislation to streamline hospital expansion that he said will be one of the cornerstones of his plan to find low-cost health care for the 3.8 million uninsured Floridians.

Crist called it among the most significant bureaucratic reforms in the state’s history, even though the legislation falls short of his original goal.

“This revised process will increase access to health care, short and simple,” Crist said.

The changes are designed to significantly shorten the time it takes to navigate the 1970s era certificate of need process, which requires the industry to demonstrate a market demand for new facilities.

This is a band aid for a gunshot wound–this does little for those that truly need health care.  A typical approach to a monster of a problem.