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Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Princess Health and May 25th, 2016 Very Necessary. Princessiccia

Princess Health and May 25th, 2016 Very Necessary. Princessiccia

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May 25th, 2016 Very Necessary

Very necessary "Tweets Only" version tonight!

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Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean

Princess Health and Woman stuck by needle faces up to one year of testing for HIV and hepatitis; dirty needles becoming common in public places. Princessiccia

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By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

A Monroe County woman was stuck by an insulin needle found in a pair of sweatpants she purchased at the Walmart in Tompkinsville and now faces up to a year of testing to make sure she hasn't been infected with HIV or hepatitis, Jacqueline Nie reports for WBKO-TV in Bowling Green.
Insulin syringes are commonly used by IV drug abusers

"I had to be tested for HIV and hepatitis and a drug screening," said Mary Crawford, who was stuck by the needle. "I have to go back from that in 30 days and be tested again, and again in 6 months from that 30 days."

"Crawford says through at least these next 7 months, she cannot share anything with her husband or children," Nie repports. Crawford warned others to be careful: "It could happen to anybody, anywhere."

The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll found that 13 percent of Kentuckians said they knew someone with heroin problems. And insulin syringes and needles are commonly used to inject it.

Clark County Public Health Director Scott Lockard said that while this was the first time he had heard of a needle being placed in an article of clothing in a department store, he said it is not unusual for dirty needles to be found in public.

"Unfortunately it is becoming more common for used needles to be found by the public," Lockard said in an e-mail. "I have had reports of needles being found locally on streets, in parks, public parking lots, unoccupied buildings, and in restrooms in public venues."

The problem is so bad in Northern Kentucky, where 35 percent in the poll said they knew someone with a heroin problem, that they released public service announcements before Easter to remind children to look for needles before eggs. The Northern Kentucky Heroin Impact Response Taskforce organized police and egg-hunt organizers to search parks for needles prior to the hunts, and said it will continue to search public places for needles throughout the summer, Ben Katko reported for WXIX-TV (Fox 19).

One way to keep dirty needles off the street is through needle exchanges, which allow intravenous drug users to exchange dirty needles for clean ones. These programs were authorized in Kentucky by the 2015 anti-heroin bill, but require both local support and funding.

So far, only 14 counties in Kentucky have either approved or are operating needle exchanges: Jefferson, Fayette, Jessamine, Franklin, Clark, Kenton, Grant, Harrison, Pendleton, Carter, Boyd, Elliott, Pike and Knox. Some jurisdictions have rejected exchanges, saying they encourage drug use, despite pleas from experts who say that's not true and the programs lead users to treatment.

"Needle exchanges work," former state health commissioner William Hacker said. "It decreases the spread of infectious diseases. It takes dirty needles off the street. It is safer for the law enforcement and EMS. It also provides an opportunity to interact with people and divert them to effective treatment."



Princess Health and Health-insurance companies ask state for rate increases averaging 17 percent; failure of non-profit insurer blamed. Princessiccia

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Department of Insurance website
Health insurers want rate increases averaging 22.3 percent in 2017 for individual policies in Kentucky. Counting small-group plans, the overall increase would be 17 percent, "continuing a national trend of hefty hikes as insurers adapt to a market reshaped by President Barack Obama's signature health care law," Adam Beam reports for The Associated Press.

"But the rate increases, if approved by state regulators, do not guarantee double-digit increases in the monthly premiums people have to pay," Beam notes. "The base rate is one of many factors companies use to determine how much someone pays in a monthly premium. Other factors include age, where a person lives and whether the person smokes."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article79766917.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article79766917.html#storylink=cpy

The average requested increases for individual policies range from 7.6 percent for Aetna Health Inc. to 33.7 percent for Louisville-based Humana Inc., which said recently that it was losing money on Obamacare plans and is working on a merger with Aetna (to which Missouri objected this week). Baptist Health Plan wants 26.68 percent more, Anthem Health Plans 22.9 percent, and CareSource 20.55 percent, all on average.

�The Department of Insurance will fully investigate all proposed rate increase requests to make sure they are warranted,� Commissioner Brian Maynard said in a release. �Insurance rate increases are not specific to Kentucky; states across the nation are dealing with this issue.�

The department said some of the rate increases "appear to be attributed to the failure of the Kentucky Health Cooperative Inc.," a non-profit that was created under the reform law to provide more competition but then was not fully funded by Congress.

"The co-op went bankrupt and was placed into liquidation earlier this year, leaving other insurance companies to cover the more than 51,000 former co-op customers," the department noted. "Many of those customers were high-risk, and Kentucky�s remaining insurers appear to project that those high-risk customers will affect the risk pool." Anthem spokesman Mark Robinson told AP that the expectation of insuring co-op customers was responsible for its rate request.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. said recently that it would stop selling exchange policies in Kentucky, leaving many counties with only one insurer on the exchange. The only company that seeks to sell individual policies statewide is Anthem. It will be the only choice on the exchange in 54 counties.

However, Indianapolis-based Golden Rule Insurance Co., a United subsidiary, will sell "in all counties, off the exchange," the department said. Golden Rule, which still won't sell exchange policies, is seeking a rate increase of 65 percent.

Anthem, Aetna and Baptist will also offer non-exchange policies. Aetna plans to sell in only 10 counties: Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Campbell, Boone, Oldham, Trimble, Henry, Owen and Madison. Baptist will sell in 38 counties off the exchange and 20 on the exchange. Humana will sell on the exchange in nine counties (Bourbon, Bullitt, Clark, Fayette, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott and Woodford) and off the exchange in nine (Boone, Bullitt, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Jefferson, Kenton, Oldham and Pendleton). CareSource will sell in 61 counties, all on the exchange.

Consumers in Fayette, Jefferson and Oldham counties will have five insurers to choose from on the exchange. Jessamine, Woodford, Bullitt, Henry, Madison and Trimble counties will have four. Thirteen counties will have three choices, and 44 will have two. An Excel spreadsheet listing the policies for each county is available at www.uky.edu/comminfostudies/irjci/Kyhealthinsbycounty2017.xlsx.

The filings are online at insurance.ky.gov/ratefil/default.aspx. Rates must be approved within 60 days of each filing, or no later than July 11.

The administration of Gov. Matt Bevin is dismantling the Kynect health-insurance exchange and will use the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, as a portal for enrollment in exchange policies.

Princess Health and Kentucky is the only truly Appalachian state to have put a brake on fatal overdoses from narcotics. Princessiccia

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Kentucky is the only truly Appalachian state to have put a brake on fatal drug overdoses, report Rich Lord and Adam Smeltz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as part of a series in the about the deadly epidemic of prescription painkillers in the region.

A chart with the series' story about Kentucky shows that fatal drug overdoses were less numerous in the state in 2013 than in 2012, when the General Assembly cracked down on "pill mills," and that while fatal overdoses rose in 2014, they were still not as numerous as in 2012. Official numbers for 2015 are expected soon, and may rise because of the spread of heroin.

The series also credited a crackdown by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, which "took disciplinary action for prescribing irregularities against 135 of the state�s roughly 10,600 doctors" from 2011 to 2015. "The board also moved against 33 doctors during that time for abusing narcotics themselves."

"Getting tough on doctors works," Lord wrote in the series' main story. The state story reported, "Kentucky�s per-capita opioid consumption -- though still seventh in the nation -- dropped by a steepest-in-Appalachia 12.5 percent from 2012 to 2014, according to IMS Health Inc.," Lord and Smeltz report. "Kentucky is the only state, among the seven studied by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in which fatal overdoses have plateaued. Elsewhere, they have climbed relentlessly."

The story quotes Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. attorney for the eastern half of Kentucky: �In much of Eastern Kentucky, the workforce is engaged in difficult, manual labor,� like mining, farming and logging, �so people would injure themselves and be prescribed these very potent narcotics, because the medical profession changed the way it looked at prescribing these kinds of narcotics for pain.� The drugs dulled the �sense of hopelessness� people had about the area�s economy, �and so for whatever reason, this sort of culture of addiction took hold.�

"Harvey said that as physicians have gone to jail, and others have faced board discipline, the painkiller business model has adapted. . . . Now the doctors take insurance, and bill the insurer or the government not just for the office visit, but for the MRI, urine screen and back brace they use to justify the addictive narcotic." Harvey said, �So instead of a cash business, in many cases now the taxpayers or the insurance companies pay. The result is the same. We end up with our communities flooded with these very potent prescription narcotics.�

Princess Health and Bevin says he will transform programs for kids with special health needs constructively and in a 'forward-thinking way'. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Bevin says he will transform programs for kids with special health needs constructively and in a 'forward-thinking way'. Princessiccia

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Gov. Matt Bevin told stakeholders for children and youth with special health-care needs May 25 that his administration  is �committed to transforming, in a positive, constructive, proactive and forward-thinking way, the services you provide. We truly are grateful for what you do day in and day out.�

A state press release said almost 100 doctors, public-health specialists, insurers, health-care providers, state and federal officials, family members and others attended the Kentucky Summit on Access to Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, cosponsored by the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs.

�There is an absolute need for us to take care of these children,� Bevin said. �We owe them that as a society, as Kentuckians, as human beings. It�s our obligation.�

CCSHCN Executive Director Jackie Richardson said Kentucky is estimated to have 197,916 children and youth with special health-care needs, a rate higher than the national average. Children and youth with special health care needs are defined as those who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond what is generally required.

The summit in Frankfort was part of a learning collaborative sponsored by several national groups, including the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Leguislatures. �We wanted this summit to provide a national perspective on the access to care provided through the commission,� she said. �With the group discussions we had today, we identified strategies to improve access to care and increase awareness of our programs.�

The commission has clinics that help with conditions like otology, orthopedics, severe cleft lip and palate and cerebral palsy. The commission also has a growing neurology program and has introduced autism clinics to improve access to diagnostic and medical resources for families in Eastern and Western Kentucky. �Many of them will need a lifetime of special care, and summits like today's help ensure they will have consistent, coordinated and comprehensive access for as long as they need it,� Richardson said. For more information about the commission's programs and services, see chfs.ky.gov/ccshcn.

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Princess Health and May 24th, 2016 This Study. Princessiccia

Princess Health and May 24th, 2016 This Study. Princessiccia

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May 24th, 2016 This Study

I'm not sure what sparked it, but I've heard from several people today who have expressed gratitude for what I do in this daily record. It fills my heart with the most amazing feeling when I hear different stories of how what I'm sharing about my journey is helping someone, somewhere. It's one of the greatest blessings of my life. Thank you for being a part of this study.

And it is a study, really. Allowing the space and time to sit down and explore the many facets of this entire experience, along the way, as it's unfolded, has been a most amazing education. And just as some professions are required to complete ongoing education, so am I--every day. I'm always learning along this road. I hope and pray I never again get lost in the fog of pride and ego, and somehow forget this critically important part. It's very much a continuous evolution--and as it grows it demands study and understanding. If a closed mind cuts off the flow of this ongoing education, becoming lost happens quickly. I've been there. Lost is not a fun place.

As you may or may not know, I co-facilitate an exclusive set of weekly teleconference weight loss support groups with Life Coach Gerri Helms and fellow weight loss blogger, Kathleen Miles.

On Wednesday evening June 1st at 7pm Eastern, 6pm Central, 5pm Mountain and 4pm Pacific, we're hosting a free hour long opportunity for you to dial in, listen and discover what these support groups are all about. You'll hear from Gerri, Kathleen and Me, plus you'll hear from members sharing stories of their experience. Our next sessions start June 6th and 7th. I hope you'll register with the link below. When you do, you'll be on the list to receive an email in the coming days with the number and dial in access code.
photo DontDietLiveIt_zpspvvcq7hq.jpg
Click this link to go to the FREE registration page: http://totalkathy.com/?event=dont-diet-live-it

Today was fabulous. I maintained the integrity of my maintenance calorie budget, I remained abstinent from refined sugar and I exceeded my daily water goal. The support interactions were numerous and wonderful, too. My goal is to do it again tomorrow!

I'm grateful for so many things. Counting my blessings tonight.

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Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean

Princess Health and Doctor speaks up about battle with depression, leading cause of disability for people 15-44; only 20% with symptoms are treated. Princessiccia

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By Danielle Ray
Kentucky Health News

Pitman (Paducah Sun photo)
Dr. Jay Pitman knows what it's like to feel isolated. Pitman spoke out about his battle with depression in a recent essay in The Paducah Sun.

"I'm writing a piece about my depression, about things people don't like to talk about," he told Steve Wilson, editor of the newspaper. "I'm thinking it might help some people." Wilson wrote in his column about Pitman, whose essay was published a week earlier, along with a story about him.

Pitman's depression deepened after he was the victim of a near-fatal hit-and-run accident in 2013. He was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood. He had suffered a concussion, brain hemorrhage and a broken shoulder. His physical recovery was remarkable. In fact, he recovered well enough to compete in a triathlon the next year. But he has had a much longer road to emotional healing.

Pitman is not alone in his struggle. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates that about 18 million Americans suffer from depression, and notes that depression is the leading cause of disability in people aged 15 to 44. The organization distinguishes two categories of depression: major depression and persistent depressive disorder, which is characterized by symptoms that last at least two years.

Pitman's essay garnered a lot of support, but he's more concerned with opening up an honest dialogue about the issue.

"My hope is that those coping with depression will seek help and talk openly about their disease without feeling ashamed or embarrassed," he told Wilson. "I've lost several friends to suicide."

Despite its prevalence, only about 20 percent of people with depression symptoms seek professional help, according to the online health network Healthline.

Tiffany Bryant, a Lexington counselor who specializes in treating depression, said many people don't seek help or speak out about depression because of a lingering stigma surrounding mental illness. She believes popular culture has created an environment that discourages people from representing themselves honestly, flaws and struggles and all.

"I think you can blame, to a certain extent, social media, because everybody wants to show their very best," she said. "A lot of people have this mask that they wear for other people, and they never really take it off."

Even with a fairly low rate of patients seeking treatment, Healthline estimates that the number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by about 20 percent each year.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends early treatment. If not effectively treated, depression can become a chronic disease. Experiencing just one episode of depression places a person at a 50 percent risk for experiencing another episode in the future, according to the CDC.

While it can affect anyone at any time, women typically experience higher rates of depression than men. The CDC also noted that nearly 10 percent of people in their 40s and 50s report current depression. The good news is that 60 to 80 percent of all depression cases can be treated with either psychotherapy ("talk therapy"), antidepressant medication or a combination of both, says Healthline.

The American Psychiatric Association defines depression as a condition with any five of these seven symptoms for a continuous period of at least two weeks:
  • sadness;
  • loss of interest in activities that used to be enjoyable;
  • change in weight or appetite, change in activity level;
  • sleeping too much or too little;
  • loss of energy;
  • feelings of guilt or worthlessness;
  • difficulty concentrating or having thoughts of death or suicide.
Depression has a variety of causes, including genetic, environmental, psychological, and biochemical factors. The CDC notes that everyone gets "down in the dumps" at times, but it becomes pathological when symptoms are persistent and interrupt daily life. To learn more about it, from the National Institute of Mental Health, click here.
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