Government health officials recently announced the National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy (PDF), a plan aimed at increasing the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.æ This Strategy envisions a prevention-oriented society where all sectors recognize the value of health for individuals, families, and society and...
Tag: chronic disease
1/3 Women Living with Chronic Health Conditions
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than one-third of women report that they live with a chronic health condition that requires ongoing medical attention. One fourth (29 percent) of women ages 50 to 64 report fair or poor health. What is scary is that even among younger women, chronic...
Medicare Spending Hikes Linked to Chronic Conditions
An article in Health Affairs reports that annual increases in Medicare spending are the result of treatment of chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and hypertension. The report further says that Medicare spending increases in the past were due to inpatient hospital services, especially for heart disease. Heart disease ranked...
Obesity Poses Same If Not Greater Risks Than Smoking
Researchers at Columbia University and The City College of New York published a study in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that showed that the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost to obesity are equal to, or greater than, those lost because of smoking. From 1993 to...
You Can Lead a Senior to Water but…..
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the Medicare Health Support pilot project three years ago hiring eight private disease management firms to set up voluntary chronic care improvement programs for beneficiaries. At its height 150,000 seniors were enrolled in the program. 68,000 beneficiaries still receive services. By using...
You Can Lead a Senior to Water butÛ_..
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the Medicare Health Support pilot project three years ago hiring eight private disease management firms to set up voluntary chronic care improvement programs for beneficiaries. At its height 150,000 seniors were enrolled in the program. 68,000 beneficiaries still receive services. By using...
Not Surprisingly Europeans Are Healthier Than Americans
There is a great article in the LA Times today about the health of the Europeans versus Americans. Highlights: “Costly diseases, many of them related to obesity and smoking, are more prevalent among aging Americans than their European peers and add as much as $100 billion to $150 billion a...