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MAKING MEDICARE: THE HISTORY OF HEALTH CARE IN CANADA, 1914 to present day Medicare in Canada is a government-funded universal health insurance program established by legislation passed in 1957, 1966 and 1984. But the concept of a publicly funded and administered, comprehensive, accessible hospital and medical services insurance plan has a much longer and more complex history than simply the politics of creating a federal–provincial–territorial shared-cost agreement. As the Canadian health care system evolved, rising costs for hospital and medical services led citizens, progressive health professionals and some politicians to argue that health care was a social good not merely another purchasable commodity. This viewpoint was challenged by those who stated that individuals must take responsibility for their own and their family’s health care needs through private, prepaid insurance plans, and that the government should underwrite the costs for those who could not afford such benefits. ...

Canada's national health insurance program, often referred to as "Medicare", is designed to ensure that all residents have reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services, on a prepaid basis. Instead of having a single national plan, we have a national program that is composed of 13 interlocking provincial and territorial health insurance plans, all of which share certain common features and basic standards of coverage. Framed by the Canada Health Act, the principles governing our health care system are symbols of the underlying Canadian values of equity and solidarity. Roles and responsibilities for Canada's health care system are shared between the federal and provincial-territorial governments. Under the Canada Health Act (CHA), our federal health insurance legislation, criteria and conditions are specified that must be satisfied by the provincial and territorial health care insurance plans in order for them to qualify for their full share ...

Doctors saving on paperwork, study finds While critics of the Canadian health-care system lament long wait times and big costs to government, a University of Toronto study shows one way our system works more efficiently than those south of the border. Researchers found U.S. physician practices spend almost four times as much money and 10 times as many hours on paperwork than Canadian ones do. "The Canadian system is by no means perfect," said Dr. Dante Morra, lead author of the study. "But there are points in time where we have to sit back and say our system does ... provide quality care and it does deliver it in an efficient fashion." American practices spend $83,000 per doctor every year dealing with health insurers and other payers, whereas Ontario only doles out $22,000, according to the study published in the journal Health Affairs. Researchers interviewed doctors from across the U.S. and Ontario about their daily practices. Morra said Ontario's costs are f...

The doctor is inundated, poll finds Complexity of cases, chronic conditions impose new demands For a growing number of Dr.'s, a typical 15-minute visit is simply not enough. The Dr. is seeing more elderly patients who need more of his time. "The population is aging, and that certainly is having an effect," he said on Monday. "We are seeing more chronic disease and complexity in managing patients with multiple medical problems, including heart disease, arthritis, mental health problems and cancer." A survey of 12,000 physicians across the country shows some 72 per cent of Canadian doctors report the complexity of their patient caseload is placing increasing demands on their time, while 63 per cent said managing patients with chronic conditions was a factor in this. Other findings of the National Physician Survey, conducted in 2010 by  Mount Sinai, says care for an aging population is complex. WAIT TIMES: Patients requiring urgent care are waiting longer to see ph...

Canada placed seventh on the list in terms of longevity and second from the bottom in infant mortality statistics, he said. This country’s 10th place showing has not changed since a major 2009 report put out by the board, which looked at data from the previous year to set its rankings. Thursday’s document, which also used the 2008 data, brought in per capita health costs to compare the effectiveness of our spending with the other nations, Stewart-Patterson says Japan, with $2,729 per capita annual expenditures, delivers the best health system, based on the longevity and infant mortality parameters. “Italy has the second-lowest (costs) and has the third best life expectancy,” Stewart-Patterson says. The U.S., on the other hand, spends substantially more — about $7,500 per person — on health care than any of the other listed nations and provides amongst the worst care, he says. While there may well be cultural and social issues at play in the varying health outcomes among the listed nati...

Canada spends more and gets less in health care than most advanced nations. Canadians are not getting what they’re paying for with their health care dollars, a new report says. This country spends more per capita on health care than all but three of the world’s most advanced nations, yet ranks a lowly 10th in the quality of medicine it delivers, the Conference Board of Canada report argues. “The clear message for Canada is that we’re fourth highest on the spending list here and yet we’re not doing as well when it comes to health outcomes,” advises the board’s vice-president of public policy. “We can and should be getting better value for our health-care spending in terms of the length and quality of life that Canadians enjoy.With 10 per cent of our gross domestic product tied up in health costs, this country spends about $4,100 per person each year on its overall medical system. This country spends more per capita on health care than all but three of the world’s most advanced nations, ...

Walmarts plans to pick up the pace with plans to add 3 more this year, mainly in the larger supercentres where it 'sells fresh food as well as general merchandise."There's a need out there in the marketplace," Thompson said, noting many new immigrants don't have a family doctor. Clinics in retail settings are similar in some respects to doctors' offices anywhere. They bill OHIP for their services and pay administrative and other expenses out of the billings.But in other ways they're quite different.Clinics in retail settings see a lot more "walk-in" patients than a typical family physician's practice. They tend to be run by third-party professional management firm that buys the equipment, hires the administrative staff and oversees the billing.The doctors pay for those services either on a percentage or flat-fee basis. The retailer generally acts as the landlord to the clinics.Doctors who join this type of clinic are often recent graduates lo...

Grocery stores add medical clinics to offer one-stop shopping You can get your hair done, your photo taken and have that nasty chest cough examined all in the same place you buy bread and T-shirts. In another example of trying to become "a one-stop shop," Wal-Mart Canada Corp. says it's adding more medical clinics^ to its su-percentres. The retail giant isn't the first to lease space in its stores to groups of doctors. Wal-Mart has just 19, so far. But the retail goliath's plans to ramp up the rollout could raise the stakes for other players, particularly in the wake of recent cuts in government funding for generic drug plans.The cuts have hit pharmacies hard, especially in Ontario. Shoppers' profit and sales both declined after the province said it would cut in half the amount it pays for generic drugs for people on government plans. Wal-Mart is pushing for a greater share of the pharmacy market.But while the presence of a medical clinic in a store can boost ...

Health Care for the Poor Republicans would also blow up the Medicaid program, which gives health care to more than 50 million Americans, mostly poor and disabled. He would save $771 million over the next 10 years by cutting Medicaid and sending it as a block grant to states, which would be given new flexibility on how to spend the money. Some may find creative savings, but many—especially those under GOP control—are likely to cut benefits. Medicare and Medicaid Republicans are being called courageous for taking on Medicare and Medicaid, this plan punts on perhaps the most electrified political rail of all: Social Security. That program is still solvent, but as millions of baby boomers retire, it's going to start running big deficits. Republicans have talked before about reforming Social Se­curity, but this latest plan simply calls for bipartisan action down the road. Republicans   plan won't become law in anything like its current form. As long as Democrats control the Senate—a...

Health Care For Seniors - Repeal Republicans will save more than $1 trillion over the next decade by transforming the government's two major health care pro­grams and repealing Obama's 2010 health care law. Medicare, which provides health care for more than 45 million American seniors, already consumes about an eighth of federal spending, and its costs are set to explode as the baby boomers start retiring. Republicans   would phase out Medicare's current mechanism, which reimburses health care providers without payout limits for patients, and begin federal payments to private health plans chosen by future seniors. Republicans say that competition would lower prices—and that seniors who can't count on automatic coverage will be more judicious about their health care consump­tion, which would also lower costs. Critics worry that Republicans won't give seniors enough money to take care of themselves. Their plan would cap Medicare payments at a rate slightly above infla...

What to do about your bad back or arthritic knee. Peo­ple with chronic pain are twice as likely to suffer from depres­sion and anxiety as those with out. What starts in your lower back eventually eats away at your soul. You enjoy your loved ones less, and you are less enjoy­able to them. If pain affects body, mind and spirit, then treatment must address these three pillars of the human condition. Unless there is acute nerve damage, pain can't be mea­sured by traditional diagnostic tools. Physicians can predict a pain diagnosis related to in­jury but are otherwise work­ing largely in the dark, reliant on patient narrative. If you're seeing a doctor for your pain and the problem has not been resolved after six months of treatment, get a second opinion from a specialist. All doctors learn rudimentary pain man­agement in medical school, but few are trained fully at diagnosing it.  Exercise and stretching can often help alleviate pain. Medications such as anti-inflammatory (the ib...

Medicare - March 27-2011 Millions of retired and disabled people in the United States had better brace for another year with no increase in Social Security payments. When Medicare premiums rise more than Social Security payments, millions of people living on fixed incomes don't get raises. On the other hand, most don't get pay cuts, either, because a hold-harmless provision prevents higher Part B premiums from reducing Social Security payments for most people.AARP estimates that as many as three-fourths of beneficiaries will have their entire Social Security increase swallowed by rising Medicare premiums next year. Most lost value in their homes when the housing market crashed and who can't find work because the job market is weak or they are in poor health.Some live on a $1,262 Social Security payment each month, with more than $500 going to pay the mortgage or rent. They cut back on about everything they can, and then take the rest out of savings if they have any.

  W ith birthday cake and balloons, a small group of Lake County Democrats celebrated the one-year anni­versary of President Barack Obama's signing into law health-care legislation that made sweeping changes to the nation's medical-care system.; As part of this week's celebration at the W.T. Bland Pub­lic Library, five Lake women, spoke about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act benefited each of them. Diane Johnson, 52, re­counted how she spent eight years without health insur­ance after quitting her job at Valencia Community College to help her husband start his Own business. But Johnson could not be covered under her husband's insurance plan. And because she had a heart problem, she was denied insurance coverage for the pre-existing condition — even policies that would have required her to pay $1,500 a month, she said. Under the new law, Johnson enrolled in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which makes insurance cov­erage available to those ...

WASHINGTON—The federal Medicare fraud task force brought criminal charges Thursday against doctors, nurses and health care company executives — in all, 111 people in nine cities — in what officials billed as the nation's biggest health care fraud bust. The defendants are accused of cheating the government out of more than $225 million through false-billing schemes that included fraudulent claims,. kickback op­erations, money laundering and identity theft. The sweep of the case was so massive that it took more than 700 federal agents from the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct. In addition, 16 search warrants were served across the country in connection with ongoing investigations. "Our message is clear," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer from the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "We are determined to put Medicare fraudsters out of business." Daniel Levinson, the Health and Human Services inspector general, added:...

    Cramp Bark - Uses and Benefits Alternative Names: Cramp Bark, Guelder Rose , Highbush Cranberry, Snowball Bush, Viburnum opulus , Red Elder, Water Elder, May Rose, Whitsun Rose, Dog Rowan Tree, Silver Bells, Whitsun Bosses, Gaitre Berries. Herb Description Cramp bark ( Viburnum opulus ) is a deciduous tree that is deep-rooted to Europe and the eastern United States. It comes from family of Caprifoliaceae .As its name suggest, it has as a relaxer of muscular tension and spasm. Cramp bark is most used to ebb cramps, along with menstrual cramps, muscle cramps, and stomach cramps. Cramp bark matures in woodlands, low grounds, thickets, and hedges .Cramp Bark can reach up to 13 feet in height. It prefers moist soils and full sun. It flowers in spring and summer, are large up to 3 to 5 inches's, flat-topped clusters of white or reddish-white florets. The inner florets are tiny, complete flowers while the florets along the outer edge of the cluster are bigger and showy . The...

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is produced by the human body and is necessary for the basic functioning of cells. CoQ10 levels are reported to decrease with age and to be low in patients with some chronic diseases such as heart conditions, muscular dystrophies, Parkinson's disease, cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. Some prescription drugs may also lower CoQ10 levels. Levels of CoQ10 in the body can be increased by taking CoQ10 supplements, although it is not clear that replacing "low CoQ10" is beneficial. CoQ10 has been used, recommended, or studied for numerous conditions, but remains controversial as a treatment in many areas. ********************************************* Patient Complaints - and Remedies? *********************************** You bet statins cause cramps. I’m begging to think it’s the dirty little secret that is being kept from all statin users. I'm off statins for now and no more cramps, vibrations or trigger finger. It's so nice to sit and watch TV without...

America’s Health Care System in State of Decline “Health care in the United States is facing an unprecedented challenge of affordability and sustainability,” continued Dr. Stubbs. “Yet a highly-partisan and polarized debate over health care reform legislation regrettably has taken the country’s ‘eye off the ball’—from the urgency of implementing reforms.” “For decades, we have seen Washington politicians decide that health care reform is too hard, and we may be on the brink of seeing this happen once again,” observed Bob Doherty, ACP’s Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs and Public Policy. “But this time, we know what the consequences will be. Affordable health care will be out of reach for many middle class families. One out of five of us will be uninsured. We won’t be able to find a primary care doctor. And increased Medicare and Medicaid spending will create an unprecedented fiscal and budget crisis.” As a path for moving forward on health care reform ACP recommended that:...