Health Care and Insurance + Original Articles

Many programs and resources are available to help provide financial assistance. An expert discusses some of the options. If you've recently been in the hospital, you may feel overwhelmed by the staggering amount of medical bills for co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles that you owe after your health insurance pays its part. This is a common situation, according to Nicholas Newsad, MHSA, author of The Medical Bill Survival Guide: Easy, Effective Strategies for People Experiencing Financial Hardship.

You have not only a right, but a responsibility, to communicate with medical staff about the nature of your care. A hospital stay for you or your loved one can be stressful. You may have unanswered questions or be unsure if you're getting the very best care. But you don't have to sit back and wonder in silence. The Need for Health Care Advocacy The health care field has changed significantly over the past decade, according to Clyde Yancy, MD, chief of Cardiology, Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, IL, and former president of the American Heart Association.

Your gut instinct can guide your health decision-making. Here's how to use intuition the right way. Most of us have felt it at least once in our lives-that little voice inside our head that says to us, "Watch out" or "You're on the right path." Or maybe we just knew something though we didn't know why and couldn't  produce evidence.  This feeling is intuition.

Share our strategies for securing healthcare coverage for you and your family. The stories are frightening: Uninsured individuals who get ill or injured and require medical care are plunged into medical bankruptcy. Sure it makes sound sense to have health insurance. But job loss, forced early retirement, or a number of other factors, make this an impossible dream for millions of Americans.

Determining what should be treated aggressively and what would do better to watch and wait is not always clear-cut. Understand the debate around ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS. The incidence of breast cancer is rising, and the drumbeat advocating early detection is growing louder. However, important facts about certain types of breast cancer are getting lost in all the noise. Approximately one-quarter of all new breast cancer diagnoses are ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

When the downturn boosts death rates, it's time to identify the issues and make changes where you can. There's no doubt, America is suffering from the economic downturn. Stress levels are through the roof. Kitchen tables are groaning under the weight of too many bills. One of the worst side effects of the economy is what it's doing to our health. Here are six common reasons why health is placed on the backburner during difficult financial times: The Stress Factor When times get tough, our body does its best to hold up under stress.

Many Americans are ignoring their health due to the dismal economic climate. The worst economic climate in decades continues to take its toll on Americans. Most of the focus has been on the loss of jobs and homes, however, several reports indicate that the recession is also putting the health of workers and their families in jeopardy.

Planning for your retirement is exciting—and perhaps a bit intimidating. Here's what to consider. Here's what to consider as you think about your retirement:  Retirement At what age do you want to retire? Delaying retirement-even just a few years-provides an opportunity for your nest egg to grow and can make a significant financial difference.

Chocolate and tea both offer cardiovascular perks. But can combining the two provide twice the benefit? Double dark chocolate, chocolate strawberry, red velvet, chocolate mint—these sound more like the names of cupcakes or candy bars than tea bags but, in fact, that's just what they are.  A new generation of teas—both herbal and regular—have...

There are several steps you can take to reduce your risk of infection. For healthy individuals, influenza, commonly known as flu, lasts only seven to 10 days. But its symptoms can be severe from extreme fatigue and fever to body aches, chills, and more. Fortunately, the virus can be prevented and its symptoms suppressed.

Care for your child with confidence with these 10 tips. Taking your child to the hospital for treatment can be a confusing and emotionally taxing experience. And as a parent, you're required to serve a dual role, as both loving family member and patient advocate. "Parents are an integral part of their child's health-care team, even in the hospital," says Karen Bergan, parent leader and chairwoman of the Family Advisory Council at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.

When it comes to assisted living, understanding all of the options available can be a challenge. Here, the most frequently asked questions and answers. It's never easy when an aging loved one needs to move to a residential facility. But understanding the basics in advance can help ease the transition when the time comes. As you and your loved one prepare for the future, refer to this Frequently Asked Questions guide provided by the national nonprofit Consumer Consortium on Assisted Living (CCAL).

These strategies can help you cope with the most common caregiver emotions. When you're caring for an elderly loved one, it's normal to feel sad or discouraged from time to time. Ignoring your feelings won't make them go away; in fact, it may even make them grow stronger. Instead, try these six suggestions from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

Keeping up with all your health screenings may seem daunting, but this list can get you started on a year of healthy living. In a perfect world, we'd all know exactly when we need to get our important health screenings. In reality, however, these checkups and exams often take a backseat to work, family, and other obligations. Fortunately, you can get on the right track by making a simple phone call to your doctor.

Understand your choices for better decision-making. It goes without saying that those of us who see our aging parents' needs change want for them exactly what we would want for ourselves. Quite simply, we want them to have the right care at the right time in the right place. But wanting it and knowing what it means specifically for our moms or dads, understanding what our options are, and knowing where to find reliable information on each option isn't at all simple.

Are you thinking about getting a flu vaccination this year? Learn about the risks and rewards. Each fall, medical professionals encourage us to get flu shots in order to lessen our chances of coming down with influenza. For some of us, the flu vaccine can provide protection, or decrease the severity of the illness if we do get sick. But the flu shot isn't necessarily the right choice for everyone.

You may have considered participating in a clinical trial. But are you a good candidate? And what's in it for you? Reading about the latest miracle medication to hit the market after success in clinical trials, you may have wondered who are these people who offer themselves up to science? You may even have considered participating in a clinical trial yourself. But are you a good candidate? And what's in it for you? Advantages 1.

If you've lost access to insurance, you may be wondering how you'll survive. Is there a way to get good health care even if your finances are unstable? The cost of health insurance is scary, but having no health insurance can be downright terrifying. If you've lost access to insurance, you may be wondering how you'll survive. If you or a family member has a pre-existing condition, covering the costs of all of the prescription drugs and doctor's visits you need may seem impossible.

If you try to make sure your child eats a balanced diet but feel like you’re always fighting a losing battle, new legislation that would ban junk food at school might make your ears perk up. Do you try to make sure your child eats a balanced diet but feel like you're always fighting a losing battle? If so, then you may be interested in learning about some new legislation that would ban junk food at school. This could be an important step toward improving your child's nutrition, while and securing his health and wellbeing, too.

How good will the care you receive be if you're sick or injured? The answer may depend partly on where you live. Find out how your state stacks up. If you tripped and fell and needed to go to the emergency room to have your leg examined, how quickly would you be seen by a doctor? When was the last time you had your cholesterol levels checked? Do you and your neighbors have health insurance? The data for these questions and more helped to reveal how good healthcare is in various locations in this country.

Learn about how stem cell research can benefit various fields of medicine. In March of 2009, after years of hotly debated political, religious, and scientific debates, President Barack Obama lifted the long standing ban on the federal funding of stem cell research. Although the political and religious arguments make for a provocative discussion, the scientific and medical benefits of stem cell research cannot be disputed.

Do you need a specialist for your disease, or is your primary care physician enough? Finding the right doctor can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. And when it comes to treating your diabetes, the right doctor is essential.  So how do you know if your current primary care physician is the right person to tailor your treatment plan or if you need to seek out a specialist? Let's start by looking at the difference between the two.

Read on to see if you’re really getting what you pay for. You're sick and, although money is tight, you need medication. Your doctor prescribes you a brand name drug, but the co-pay on the generic variety is cheaper. What do you do? Is there a difference? With spending on health care at an all time high-approximately $2.

When is an "emergency" worthy of a trip to the emergency room? When it comes to children, this question is more easily answered. If a child becomes ill or falls and may have broken a bone, we tend to err on the side of caution. But what about us? The rules become blurry when an adult has food poisoning or twists an ankle.

While medical advancements are constantly being made, Americans continue to fall behind on some basic health measures. How healthy are you? No, really. Your health goes beyond having the sniffles, an upset stomach, or a strained muscle. What's the state of your overall health and well being? Well, if you're anything like most Americans, it's not great—and it's getting worse as more people are being diagnosed with diseases like diabetes and asthma, are exercising less, and are gaining more weight.

Sometimes you can get a little more than free coffee and bathroom privileges. As the saying goes, "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." But when you're picking between two very similar jobs, how do you know which one you'll love? One key difference to consider is benefits. Do you need health care coverage? Dental? Paid vacation days? With the job market the way it is, it seems like you may not have much choice.

How healthy are you? The answer may depend partly on where you live. There are certain things you can do to take control of your health: eat right, exercise, quit smoking (or better yet, don't start). Getting health insurance helps, too. But according to experts, living a healthy lifestyle can be harder in some parts of the country than others.

Simple screw-ups are a part of life, but in medicine, these mistakes can be fatal. Learn how to protect yourself. Doctor mistakes can mean the difference between life and death, and sadly, these errors are all too common. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine, medical mistakes in hospitals alone are the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States, exceeding those by car accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS.

The nation's costliest conditions rack up a combined tab of more than $500 billion a year. What's the cost of poor health? A lot more than you may think. The nation's 10 most expensive medical conditions cost about $500 billion to treat in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Some drug side effects can be scarier than the diseases they're designed to treat. Before taking virtually any medication, you as the patient must ask yourself: will there be side effects, and if so, what will they be? Many side effects are minor, such as nausea or fatigue, but some can be serious or even life-threatening. Read on to discover nine of the most frightening medication-induced side effects.

Some of these techniques are almost too bizarre to believe. Have you ever considered the fact that you were ill because there was too much blood in your body? How about curing yourself by drilling a hole in your skull to let evil spirits out? These questions may sound far-fetched to you, but there are those who believed--and, though far fewer—who still believe in these causes and treatments for certain health conditions.

Barack Obama said that as president, he'd make big changes to health care. Will it help your family? When Barack Obama was running for president, he promised change for this country. Among those changes were large reforms to health care. So, now that he's been elected, what does that mean for you? The answer depends on many factors, including whether you currently have insurance, whether you have children, whether you're covered by a government plan like Medicare or Medicaid, and if you've been diagnosed with an illness like cancer.

Don't fall victim to sleazy scams. Here, a roundup of the worst and how to avoid becoming a casualty. It seems that there's always a miracle pill, health gadget, or fad diet promising to help you drop a considerable amount of weight in no time at all. Or perhaps you've heard tales of individuals who have shamelessly defrauded the health-care system for millions of dollars.

Follow these tips to start cutting medical costs without compromising the quality of your care. Maybe your health insurance premiums have skyrocketed since last year. Maybe your employer is shifting more medical fees onto you. Or perhaps a new diagnosis, emergency-room visit, or other life change is leaving you with more health-related expenses than you ever expected.

From chronic back pain to poor self-esteem, large breasts can present a host of health problems. Find out whether surgery could ease your discomfort. Contrary to popular belief, large breasts aren't always what they're cracked up to be. For many women, overly large, pendulous breasts can result in chronic neck and back pain, poor posture, breathing problems, rashes, and deep skin grooves resulting from bra strap pressure.

The rising costs of health care may seem daunting, but understanding your options doesn't have to be. Here, an explanation of common, but confusing, terms. For many people, attempting to understand health care can feel like trying to find their way through a maze. All of the confusing the costs, terms, conditions, and stipulations can start to sound like a foreign language. Here, we set the facts straight.

Find out how to protect yourself from medical errors, complications, and other hospital hazards. We've all heard the horror stories: A patient recovering from heart surgery catches pneumonia, a nurse gives her patient the wrong medication, a woman goes in for a routine procedure and suffers anesthesia-related complications. Unfortunately, people checking into hospitals may face some serious health hazards.