Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
How To Save Money On Health Care (CNN Video & Text)
When Heather Staples’ 6-year-old daughter, Sophia, fell and cut her eyebrow, Staples knew her daughter might need stitches. But instead of running straight to an emergency room, Staples took a few minutes to compare prices at nearby emergency rooms.
“I have a high-deductible plan, so I knew that I would be paying for the charges out [...]
Meet The Lone Democrat Who Could Sink Obama’s Health Care (Yahoo!)
Anyone who’s followed the health care debate even casually over the past year has probably heard Rep. Bart Stupak’s name mentioned a time or two. The nine-term Democrat from Michigan is the author of the “Stupak Amendment,” a rider attached to the House health care legislation that would effectively ban most government funding of abortion [...]
Pelosi’s Challenge – Corraling Votes for a Health Bill (The New York Times)
WASHINGTON — The future of President Obama’s health care overhaul now rests largely with two blocs of swing Democrats in the House of Representatives — abortion opponents and fiscal conservatives — whose indecision signals the difficulties Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces in securing the votes necessary to pass the bill.
With Republicans unified in their opposition, Democrats [...]
As Primary Care Shortage Looms, Doctors Cut Work Hours (USATODAY.com)
Doctors have steadily cut their work hours over the past decade, a new study finds, something that experts say may only worsen the health care situation.
It’s not that doctors are terrible slackers. Average hours dropped from about 55 to 51 hours per week from 1996 to 2008, according to the analysis, appearing in Wednesday’s Journal [...]
Obesity Raises Kidney Stone Risk (ScienceDaily.com)
Obesity in general nearly doubles the risk of developing kidney stones, but the degree of obesity doesn’t appear to increase or decrease the risk one way or the other, a new study from Johns Hopkins shows.
“The common thinking was that as weight rises, kidney stone risk rises as well, but our study refutes that,” says [...]
Companionship: 10 Reasons Older People Need Pets (US News & World Report)
Loneliness can become an unwelcome companion as we get older and can lead to depression as well as physical problems. Dogs mold their schedule and personality to you. They are never unavailable or off duty. Smaller dogs, in particular, can easily travel with you wherever you go.
Having a dog is a responsibility but needn’t be [...]
Live From Washington! It’s Obama Health Care Drama (Yahoo! News)
Coming soon to daytime television: America’s long-running civic drama over how to provide better health care to more of its people without breaking the bank.
President Barack Obama summons anxious Democrats and aloof Republicans to a White House summit Thursday — live on C-SPAN and perhaps cable — and gambles that he can save his embattled [...]
Bubba Update: Former President Bill Clinton offers a Lesson In mortality For Baby-Boomer Generation (New York Daily News)
Hang in there, Bubba, hang in there.
That was the prayer of Bill Clinton fans everywhere when the ex-President checked into New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia – leaving it momentarily unclear when and whether Elvis would leave the building.
He did, of course, the next morning, with all his usual rock-star swagger and a couple of new stents [...]
NEW STUDY: U.S. Would Reap Billions From $1 Cigarette Tax Hike (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Adding a $1 per pack tax to cigarettes could raise more than $9 billion a year for states, health advocates said on Wednesday, and a poll released with the study shows Americans would support such a tax.
The poll, conducted by International Communications Research, found 60 percent of voters would support the tax [...]
Assessing a Child’s Speech Delay Is Difficult, Yet Vital (New York Times)
Every pediatrician knows the frustration of trying to quantify the speech and language skills of a screaming toddler. How many words can he say? Can she put two or more words together into a sentence? Can people besides you understand him when he talks? Questions like these, put to the parents, are the quick and [...]
