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Obamacare Exchanges Attracting Younger Customers, Insurers Say

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As health insurance companies tally up the second year of enrollment of individuals from public exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, they are noticing younger customers that tend to submit fewer medical claims. Several insurance companies, including Aetna (AET) and Anthem (ANTM), this week during their first quarter earnings calls said [...] Reported by Forbes.com 7 hours ago.

Zane Benefits Announces Upcoming Webinar: How to Adapt and Grow with the ACA [A Case Study with Josiah Allis]

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Zane Benefits will present a webinar on May 7th at 1:00PM ET to teach health insurance professionals how to leverage the ACA to grow their business.

Salt Lake City, Ut (PRWEB) April 30, 2015

Zane Benefits, the leader in individual health insurance reimbursement for small businesses, announced today an upcoming webinar, "How to Adapt and Grow with the ACA [A Case Study with Josiah Allis]."

According to Zane Benefits, as the health benefits marketplace changes, health insurance professionals are looking for ways to adapt and grow with the Affordable Care Act. This webinar will cover how Josiah Allis, President and Co-Founder of Design Health, built his business on pairing the Affordable Care Act with defined contribution health plans.

During this 45 minute webinar, the following will be discussed:

How to leverage the ACA to acquire new and retain existing clients.

How employer-funded health benefits can work with the Individual Market.

Why this model works for Josiah Allis and Design Health.

Presenting the webinar on May 7th at 1:00PM ET will be J.D. Cleary, Director of Sales for Zane Benefits, and Josiah Allis, President and Co-Founder of Design Health. According to Zane Benefits, health insurance professionals are invited to attend the webinar to learn how they can grow their business.

For more information, visit: ZaneBenefits.com.

EDITORS NOTE: Rick Lindquist is available for questions from the media through Zane Benefits. Contact Jessica Welker at (435) 275-4507 or media(at)zanebenefits(dot)com

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About Zane Benefits:

Zane Benefits is the leader in individual health insurance reimbursement for small businesses. Since 2006, Zane Benefits has been on a mission to bring the benefits of individual health insurance to business owners and their employees.

Zane Benefits' software helps businesses reimburse employees for individual health insurance plans for annual savings of 20 to 60 percent compared with traditional employer-provided health insurance. Today, over 20,000 customers use Zane Benefits' software, services, and support to reimburse individual health insurance plans purchased independent of employment. For more information, visit ZaneBenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.

UPMC Partners with FCV to Develop and Manage Cancer Center in Colombia

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In a significant expansion of its long-time partnership in Colombia, UPMC today announced a 10-year agreement with the Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia (FCV) in Bucaramanga to develop and co-manage an oncology center for adults and children, the first private cancer program in Colombia.

Pittsburgh, Pa (PRWEB) April 30, 2015

In a significant expansion of its long-time partnership in Colombia, UPMC today announced a 10-year agreement with the Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia(FCV) in Bucaramanga to develop and co-manage an oncology center for adults and children, the first private cancer program in Colombia.

The new Oncology Institute at the Hospital International de Colombia (HIC) is expected to open in 2016 in the city of Piedecuesta, serving an unmet need in the region for advanced oncology services. Currently, patients must travel hundreds of miles to receive such care in other regions of Latin America. Colombia alone will see nearly 80,000 new cases of cancer this year, a number expected to grow to 113,000 cases annually over the next 10 years.

“By providing access to UPMC’s world-class clinical, administrative and operational processes, the FCV aims to better serve patients both within Colombia and throughout Latin America,” said Victor Castillo, M.D., chairman of the FCV. “This agreement builds on our successful six-year relationship in cardiology with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.” Children’s partnered with the FCV in 2009 to develop a comprehensive heart center to treat pediatric congenital and vascular diseases. Children’s provides the FCV with advanced medical expertise and technologies, including remote monitoring of pediatric intensive care unit patients and telemedicine rounds for heart transplant, cardiac catheterization and cardiac surgery.

The proposed oncology center, to be financed by the FCV, will include chemotherapy and radiotherapy services, as well as a bone marrow transplant unit. Additionally, it will house a palliative care program, counseling and nutrition services and a pain management program.

“As part of UPMC’s first integrated project involving staff from Children’s, UPMC CancerCenter and UPMC’s International Services Division, our partnership with the FCV will offer cancer patients in Colombia the highest quality care close to home,” said Ricardo Muñoz, M.D., chief, Cardiac Intensive Care Division, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. “By collaborating with the FCV, a leader in cardiac care dedicated to the highest quality for its patients, we will be able to raise the standard of cancer care in a vastly underserved region.”

The FCV is a leader in cardiac care in Latin America and is ranked No. 1 in Colombia and No. 4 in Latin America by América Economía, which uses a ranking methodology similar to that employed by U.S.News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” ranking. The first institution in Colombia accredited by the Joint Commission International, the FCV expects its new hospital to house 870 beds, including 20 beds for inpatient oncology care. In addition to oncology, the FCV is planning four additional specialized institutes.

During the pre-operational phase of the project, UPMC will provide guidance on training for physicians and nurses, equipment selection, construction plans, operational policies and procedures, and provision of clinical pathways and oncology care best practices. After the facility opens, UPMC will act as co-manager and provide on-the-ground support to the center through dedicated staff members in Colombia, supplemented by visiting staff from Pittsburgh, as well as ongoing telehealth initiatives.

“This expansion of our relationship in Colombia underscores the strong reputation that UPMC has earned worldwide for working effectively with our partners to improve the quality and accessibility of care,” said Charles Bogosta, president of UPMC’s International Services Division.

Through UPMC International Services, UPMC shares its clinical, technological and managerial knowledge and expertise with partners around the world, customizing solutions to benefit patients and regions. The goal is to advance UPMC’s mission of transforming the way health care is provided, while revitalizing the economy of western Pennsylvania.

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About FCV
The FCV is a private, nonprofit organization in northeastern Colombia, South America, residing in the city of Bucaramanga, which develops and manages a variety of hospital services currently consisting of four different hospitals throughout Colombia. As part of its new strategy, the FCV will expand its many specialties and services through the International Hospital of Colombia, which will have five specialized institutes and seven centers. The FCV also plans to add a set of high complexity hospitals in different regions of the country to be articulated within an integrated network of health services. For more information, go to http://www.fcv.org

About UPMC
A world-renowned, $12 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of accountable, cost-effective, patient-centered care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 60,000 employees, more than 20 hospitals, more than 500 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, a more than 2.5-million-member health insurance division, and international and commercial operations. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 12 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals — and No. 1 in Pennsylvania. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

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http://www.upmc.com/media

Contact: Wendy Zellner
Phone: 412-586-9777
E-mail: ZellnerWL(at)UPMC(dot)edu

Contact: Evaristo Vega Fernández
Phone: +57 3186865195
E-mail: evaristovega(at)fcv(dot)org Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.

Just hours left to sign up for Affordable Care Act coverage in 2015

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WASHINGTON -- People who had to pay a penalty on their 2014 taxes for lack of health insurance and don't want to pay an even bigger penalty on their 2015 taxes have just hours to sign up for Affordable Care... Reported by nola.com 6 hours ago.

America's Biggest Health Insurance Providers

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Reported by Forbes.com 4 hours ago.

Deadline For Health Insurance Under Federal Extension

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Time is running out for people who don't have health insurance and don't want to be 'dinged' by the government for not having it. Reported by cbs4.com 5 hours ago.

Assurant Selling or Closing Health Insurance Division

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Assurant to sell or close health insurance division which has struggled under new federal law Reported by ABCNews.com 3 hours ago.

Assurant selling or closing health insurance division

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Assurant Inc. says it will sell or shut down its health insurance division that has struggled financially since the introduction of the federal Affordable Care Act. The company, which reported $2 billion in revenue last year, has sold health insurance to individuals in 41 states and on 16 marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act. Reported by SeattlePI.com 4 hours ago.

Percentage of Texans without health insurance drops dramatically

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The percentage of Texans without health insurance dropped 31 percent since enrollment began in the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplace, according to a new report. Despite this improvement, Texas remains the state with the highest percentage of people without health insurance, and for the first time, Texas now has the largest number of uninsured residents in the country. Reported by Science Daily 2 hours ago.

5 Reasons The Affordable Care Act-Particularly The Health Exchanges-Will Be Good For Americans

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Health insurance exchanges are proving effective in reducing the number of uninsured and are beginning to provide the information people need to make an informed selection about which plan is best for their needs. As a result, health exchanges will bring about major improvements – not only in how health coverage is purchased, but also in lowering cost and increasing quality outcomes. Reported by Forbes.com 2 hours ago.

5 Reasons The Affordable Care Act - Particularly The Health Exchanges - Will Be Good For Americans

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Health insurance exchanges are proving effective in reducing the number of uninsured and are beginning to provide the information people need to make an informed selection about which plan is best for their needs. As a result, health exchanges will bring about major improvements – not only in how health coverage is purchased, but also in lowering cost and increasing quality outcomes. Reported by Forbes.com 2 hours ago.

Lourdes Cardiothoracic Surgeon Performs First TAVR in Pakistan

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Nationally renowned surgeon to build program so high-risk patients can get the full care they need

Camden, NJ (PRWEB) April 30, 2015

Atiq Rehman, MD, FACS, Director of Surgery for Transcatheter Valve Therapy & Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, recently performed the first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in Pakistan.

TAVR is used to treat aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve that limits blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. Some people with aortic stenosis are at high risk for conventional open-heart surgery due to age and other medical conditions.

A nationally known innovator in cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Rehman led a team of local doctors performing the procedure on an 82-year-old woman on March 29 at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology/National Institute of Heart Diseases in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad. While the hospital is a high-volume heart center, doctors and staff there have little exposure to minimally invasive cardiac options like TAVR.

“I want to build an indigenous program so people will not have to travel abroad to get TAVR or other valve surgery,” said Dr. Rehman, who graduated from Aga Khan University School of Medicine, in Karachi, Pakistan. “I could go and spend a week doing minimally invasive aortic and mitral valve replacements, but what happens when I leave? By building a program, we can help thousands of high-risk patients get the full care they need, and it’s minimally invasive, which allows for a faster recovery and return to patients’ normal lives.”

TAVR permits patients to receive a new aortic valve without making a large chest incision. Similar to how a stent is placed in an artery, the TAVR procedure delivers a fully collapsible Edwards Sapien aortic heart valve into the body using a catheter inserted in the femoral artery (transfemoral TAVR) or between the ribs (transapical or transaortic TAVR). In both cases, the device the inserted inside the existing valve. As the device is expanded, it pushes the old valve’s leaflets aside and takes over regulating blood flow. The procedure is performed without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass.

Preparation for Pakistan’s first TAVR took about three months, including staff conducting online training, assembling equipment, performing simulated surgeries and selecting the right patient.

The March 29 surgery took 90 minutes—about the same amount of time as in the United States. The patient spent a week in the hospital and has a positive outlook, said Dr. Rehman, who also serves as Lourdes Director for Quality and Performance Improvement.

In Pakistan, about 90 percent of valve surgeries are due to heart damage caused by rheumatic heart disease, explained Dr. Rehman. Patients are younger than in the United States, and sometimes require multiple surgeries. Health insurance is rare in Pakistan, and many patients pay for hospital stays in cash.

In general, TAVR patients benefit immediately from the new valve, with many feeling greater stamina, physical capacity and cardiovascular health. Patients may go home two to three days after surgery. Recovery takes only a few weeks, compared to many months associated with conventional open-heart surgery.

“Men in Pakistan are often the sole breadwinners, so keeping them out of work for two or three months is unacceptable. For women, a large, mid-line scar becomes a social issue,” said Dr. Rehman. “Affordable, minimally invasive procedures improve quality of life beyond what we may see here in the States.”

Dr. Rehman partnered with the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology two years ago to develop that nation’s first minimally invasive heart surgery program. Minimally invasive approaches result in less pain, less blood loss, reduced risk of infection, shorter time in the hospital, quicker recovery and smaller, less noticeable scars.

During trips to Pakistan, Dr. Rehman performed and trained physicians there on aortic and mitral valve surgeries. He plans on returning to Pakistan in about six months to help sustain the TAVR program and introduce new procedures.

“It’s very challenging, but gratifying,” said Dr. Rehman. “It’s a complex procedure, and you don’t have your own team. You are working with new people. But that’s the fun of it. The challenge is the fun.”

Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center is one of the leading TAVR centers in the region, with among the best patient outcomes in the state.

About Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center
Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center is a 325-bed destination hospital for heart care. It is consistently recognized for quality care by leading health ratings organizations for outstanding cardiovascular care. In 2015, Lourdes was honored by Healthgrades as one of the 50 Best Hospitals in America for Cardiac Surgery and by Truven Health Analytics as one of the nation’s 50 top hospitals for overall cardiovascular care. Reported by PRWeb 1 hour ago.

Bernie Sanders Is A Socialist And That's Not As Crazy As It Sounds

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Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who calls himself a socialist, is running for president.

Don’t be afraid.

Sanders announced his candidacy on Thursday, via email to his supporters. He will seek the Democratic nomination, even though he won his Senate seat as an independent. That means he will be challenging Hillary Clinton and that also means he is unlikely to win. She has more money and name recognition. She’s extremely popular with the party’s voters. She’s sufficiently liberal on enough issues to satisfy many of the activists who would seem to be Sanders’ natural base of support.

Anything can happen in politics. But the last time an obscure lefty from Vermont ran for president, he didn’t win a single primary or caucus. Sanders’ campaign is likely to produce the same result.

Like Howard Dean and some other upstarts from electoral history, however, Sanders could influence the race -- by making arguments that Clinton will have to address and, in the process, pulling the debate and ultimately Clinton’s platform to the ideological left.

This is an outcome that many Republicans seem to relish, given Sanders’ unabashed embrace of the “s” word. “Bernard Sanders is avowed Socialist,” John Cornyn, the senior Republican senator from Texas, chortled on Twitter. “52 percent of Democrats are ok with that.”

The figure is a reference to a 2014 survey in which about half of the respondents identifying as Democrats said they approved of socialism as an economic system. (Roughly the same proportion of Democrats approved of capitalism.) You can understand why that result would make Republicans like Cornyn feel smug. The label socialist isn't as toxic as it was a generation ago, but the concept remains decidedly less popular among the population as a whole. Socialism, as commonly understood by Americans, means widespread government ownership of business. A candidate or a party seemingly calling for that would alienate most of the public -- even in a lefty, earthy-crunchy state like Vermont.

But that’s not the agenda Sanders has actually been promoting. Sanders doesn’t shrink from the label socialist, Andrew Prokop pointed out in a profile for Vox last year, but he generally identifies himself as a democratic socialist. The distinction matters.

Democratic socialism, as generally conceived in the U.S., is a milder, more aspirational form of the ideology. Democratic socialists might not recoil at the thought of government running large industries, but they don’t actively pursue that goal. Instead, they focus on decidedly less radical objectives -- like making the welfare state more generous, giving workers more power, limiting the influence of money on politics and policing the practices of business more closely.

You can see that agenda in the initiatives Sanders has proposed and the causes he has championed. He’s a longtime supporter of universal health care in what some would say is its purest form: A single-payer system, in which the government provides insurance directly rather than subsidizing private insurers. He’s called for making taxpayer-funded child care available to all parents, right up through kindergarten. He supports breaking up the big banks and imposing a carbon tax to slow climate change. He opposes trade deals, including the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, that lack what he considers adequate protection for labor. And he supports the public financing of campaigns for federal office.

Some of these ideas are more popular than others. How you feel about them will depend, inevitably, on your own ideological predispositions and, to some extent, how you interpret available evidence on their effectiveness. But none of these ideas is loopy. Most Western democracies have some of these policies, while some Western democracies have all of them. A few have produced such strikingly positive results -- variations on single-payer work very well in France and Taiwan, for example -- that it’s hard to understand why they don’t get more serious hearings in the U.S.

(Actually, the U.S. does have a form of single-payer health insurance. It's for the elderly, it's called Medicare, and it's incredibly popular -- which is one more reason many people think it should be available to everybody.)

But Sanders understands the political constraints of American politics -- the fractured constitutional structure, the influence of money, the disproportionate power of rural, more conservative states. Even as he has tried to tear down those obstacles, he’s also been willing to compromise. He voted for (and continues to defend) the Affordable Care Act, even though it's a weak imitation of the single-payer system he’d prefer.

Sanders also has a bipartisan streak. It was only a few months ago that he was working closely with John McCain, the Arizona Republican senator and former GOP presidential nominee, on a bill to fix the Department of Veterans Affairs health system to allow veterans to receive care through private, rather than government-managed, providers.

One reason for Sanders' outreach is ideological: Socialist label notwithstanding, he isn’t actually that far to the left. A study by VoteView, determined that Sanders is actually less liberal than many Republican senators are conservative.

Another reason is temperamental. He’s simply not the destructive type -- and that’s likely to define his presidential campaign. He has said he likes and respects Clinton. He talks about creating a grassroots movement, but one suspects his endgame is to leverage whatever power he can muster into concessions on policy from a prospective Clinton presidency.

And that might not be so hard. Clinton is a mainstream liberal, and these days mainstream liberals tend to want the same things that Sanders does -- a stronger welfare state, more regulation of business, higher wages for the lower and middle classes, action on climate change. The question is how aggressively and enthusiastically she promotes these causes, via rhetoric and actual policy proposals. Sanders could push her in ways that are unlikely to hurt and might very well help -- by encouraging her to confront Wall Street more forcefully, for example, or getting her to endorse government negotiation of prices with drug companies.

You won’t hear Clinton calling herself a socialist, for sure. But as Sanders’ own career shows, the label doesn’t mean a whole lot anyway.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 20 minutes ago.

House To Pass Anti-Obamacare Budget

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The House moved quickly Thursday on a compromise GOP budget that promises to speed repeal of the new health care law while calling for a major budget hike for the Pentagon.

The non-binding agreement promises to balance the budget in nine years with more than $5 trillion in spending cuts, though Republicans make clear they aren't interested in actually imposing controversial cuts to programs like Medicare, food stamps, Pell Grants or the traditional Medicaid program with follow-up legislation.

Instead, the House-Senate budget framework increases spending in the near term by padding war accounts by almost $40 billion next year. And Senate Republicans skittish over politically dangerous cuts to Medicare blocked a House move that called for giving subsidies to future retirees to purchase health insurance on the open market instead of a guaranteed package of Medicare coverage.

A House vote is set for Thursday afternoon; the Senate is slated to approve the measure next week.

Under Washington's arcane budget process, lawmakers first adopt a budget that's essentially a visionary document and follow it up with binding legislation to set agency budgets, cut or raise taxes, and make changes to so-called mandatory programs like Medicare and food stamps, whose budgets run as if on autopilot.

Republicans tout the long-term economic benefits of a balanced budget and say it's better to tackle the long-term financial problems of programs like Medicare and Medicaid sooner rather than later.

But Democrats say the GOP plan unfairly targets the middle class and the poor while leaving in place lucrative tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

"The Republican budget moves this country in exactly the wrong direction," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who Thursday announced a run for the Democratic presidential nomination. "At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, it gives huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, while making devastating cuts to education, Medicare, affordable housing and prescription drug coverage."

This year, Republicans are focused mostly on finally delivering legislation to President Barack Obama that would repeal the bulk of his signature health care law. Successful action on Thursday's budget plan would permit a health care repeal to advance through the Senate without threat of a Democratic filibuster. Obama is sure to veto the measure.

Separately, the House moved ahead on spending bills for the departments of Veterans Affairs and Energy. Both measures face veto threats because they fall short of Obama's budget request, even as Republicans are skirting next year's budget limits on the Pentagon by $38 billion by padding off-budget war accounts.

Obama insists he'll block Republicans from boosting the Defense Department's budget unless they agree to relief for domestic programs as well. The Pentagon and domestic agencies alike are being hit by automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, which are the result of Washington's collective failure to come up with enough deficit savings to replace them.

Two of the Senate's Republican presidential hopefuls, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the Senate's budget last month as too timid, while Florida's Republican Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed it.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 22 hours ago.

Susquehanna Health Ramps Up Lung Cancer Screening Program Based on Data, Demand

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lung cancer is the leading cause of death and the top cancer killer among men and women in the U.S. CDC data indicates more than 10,000 new lung cancer cases annually in Pennsylvania. In response to higher-than-state-average incidents of lung cancer in its region of service, Susquehanna Health (SH) developed a new, expanded program scheduled to launch in May to provide smoking cessation counseling and low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screenings.

Williamsport, PA (PRWEB) April 30, 2015

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lung cancer is the leading cause of death and the top cancer killer among men and women in the U.S. CDC data indicates more than 10,000 new lung cancer cases annually in Pennsylvania. In response to higher-than-state-average incidents of lung cancer in its region of service, Susquehanna Health (SH) developed a new, expanded program scheduled to launch in May to provide smoking cessation counseling and low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screenings.

Smoking is believed to be the most important risk factor for lung cancer and state Department of Health data indicates a higher-than-average occurrence of adult smokers in Lycoming County. According to SH Cancer Center Executive Director Michelle Gaida, a pilot program to help reduce the incidence of lung cancer deaths was initiated in August 2014 with a community outreach and education booth at an area block party. Thirty-five percent of the individuals surveyed during the outreach indicated a desire to quit smoking. In addition to receiving smoking cession information, those at high-risk for lung cancer were encouraged to participate in a lung cancer screening.

In August and September 2014, the Cancer Center partnered with the radiology department and with funding provided by the Cancer Center and Susquehanna Health Foundation, offered free LDCT lung cancer screenings to individuals who met criteria for being at risk for cancer.

Of the 40 individuals who received the screenings, 60 percent had clinically significant findings not suggestive of lung cancer including emphysema, smoking-related lung disease, bronchiectasis, coronary calcifications and fatty liver disease. SH is following through on all participant outcomes and scheduling future screenings based on the particular findings of the screen. “Susquehanna Health is committed to reducing the incidence of lung cancer in our region through our outreach program including increasing awareness, detecting lung cancer earlier and ultimately saving lives,” said Gaida.

Since those screenings, according to Gaida, most commercial health insurance companies are now covering the screenings for those who meet the specific criteria. In February 2015, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services announced national coverage for those who meet specific criteria including individuals 55 to 77 years of age who currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years, or with a history of smoking one package of cigarettes per day over a 30 year period (or 2 packs per day over a 15 year period). The new program follows guidelines established by the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services and provides lung screening navigators in Lycoming and Tioga counties with resources to help patients and providers determine eligibility, offer complete shared decision making conversations around the benefits and harms of low-dose computed tomography, provide counseling on smoking cessation and follow up on future screenings.

Signs and symptoms of lung cancer include a cough that doesn’t go away, mucus production that is always present, shortness of breath and bloody sputum. Treatment for lung cancer is based on the cancer’s type and stage as well as the patient’s overall health. The most common treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Following lung cancer treatment, patients work with respiratory therapists to expand their capacity to breathe.

Pulmonary Wellness Instructor Peggy Winder sees the ramifications of lung disease and cancer on a regular basis and works to circumvent them. In the past 15 years, Winder has worked with about six female lung cancer patients—all in their 50s and all but one were smokers. “These women started smoking in their teens or 20s and had been smoking for about 30 years,” said Winder. Rehabilitation after lung cancer treatment is typically an eight-week program of exercises and education provided in hour-long intervals twice a week. The program is tailored to the patient based on their treatment history, doctor’s orders and needs following surgery and designed to help them take control of the disease. “In addition to Susquehanna Health patients, we also receive referrals from Memorial Sloan Kettering and Fox Chase Cancer Center,” explained Winder.

The respiratory therapy program is generally the same for lung cancer patients as for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients but, according to Winder, getting patient acceptance is often like “trying to sell a car without an engine. Patients tell us, ‘You mean I’m going to exercise and I can’t breathe?’ Pulmonary Wellness offers a second wind for patients with COPD. Our therapists work safely with our patients, who are often surprised by what they can do in a matter of time,” said Winder. Typically, half of the Pulmonary Wellness patients require oxygen to exercise. In some cases, patients who begin therapy on eight liters of oxygen gradually work their way to exercising without need of oxygen, according to Winder. Pulmonary Wellness also offers lung cancer screenings, which involve a simple breathing test, at events throughout the year.

Since 2010, all of SH’s facilities are smoke- and tobacco-free. For more information on lung cancer or to find out about Susquehanna Health screenings call (570) 321-2545 or visit SusquehannaHealth.org.

About Susquehanna Health
Susquehanna Health is a four-hospital integrated health system including Divine Providence Hospital, Muncy Valley Hospital, Soldiers + Sailors Memorial Hospital and Williamsport Regional Medical Center located in northcentral Pennsylvania. Serving patients from an 11-county region, Susquehanna Health is a healthcare leader and has been recognized at the national and state levels for quality of care. Susquehanna Health offers a wide array of services that include cancer care, heart and vascular care/heart surgery, neurosciences including neurosurgery, orthopedics, urology, OB/GYN, gastrointestinal services, behavioral health, physical rehabilitation, home care, long term care, assisted living and paramedic/ambulance services. Reported by PRWeb 23 hours ago.

House Republicans Pass Anti-Obamacare Budget

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By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the first joint House-Senate budget plan in six years on Thursday, a measure that aids the party's goal of dismantling President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law this year.

The Republican-authored plan would eliminate deficits by 2024 through deep cuts to social programs while increasing military spending by nearly $40 billion next year.

It passed 226-197 largely on party lines. No Democrats supported it, while 14 Republicans voted against it.

The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to pass the budget plan next week. Because it is a non-binding resolution, Obama does not sign it into law.

The budget seeks to slash about $5.3 trillion from domestic spending over 10 years, with deep cuts to programs that serve the poor, education and infrastructure. It contains no tax increases.

Republicans hailed it as the first balanced budget plan since a brief period of U.S. surpluses from 1998 through 2001.

"It will not only get Washington's fiscal house in order but pave the way for stronger economic growth, more jobs and more opportunity," Republican Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price said on the House floor.

Democrats derided the plan as claiming a "phony" balance by calling for repeal of the Affordable Care Act but maintaining tax revenue levels associated with the law. The plan also skirts "sequester" spending caps to boost military budgets by funneling $38 billion to an off-budget war operations account next year.

"This agreement uses gimmicks to balance the budget, and does so on the backs of the poor and the middle class and senior citizens," said Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat.

While most of the prescribed cuts in the blueprint will be ignored as Congress pivots to annual government agency spending bills, its passage gives Republicans a rare opportunity to use a budget procedural tool that would ease the repeal or replacement of "Obamacare."

This will allow them to pass such legislation with only a simple majority in the Senate, rather than a nearly impossible 60-vote threshold that would require the support of some Democrats.

While Obama has vowed to veto any attempt to dismantle Obamacare, he may be forced to compromise with Republicans if a Supreme Court ruling in June strikes down the health insurance subsidy structure at the heart of the law. (Editing by Sandra Maler and Eric Walsh)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 21 hours ago.

Michael Riffenburg Recognized by United Healthcare Insurance Company

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Strong sales results distinguish Riffenburg as one of the top five producing agents in the Southeast Region.

Spartanburg, SC (PRWEB) April 30, 2015

Riffenburg Insurance Services is proud to announce that Michael Riffenburg, founder and owner of the Spartanburg, SC insurance company, was recently recognized by United Healthcare Insurance Company for delivering strong sales results for AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans. He was also distinguished as one of the top five producing agents in the Southeast Region.

Jim Cook, vice president of agent distribution with United Healthcare, wrote, “Your sales success supports the advancement of United Healthcare’s objective to ensure Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in and maintain plans that best meet their needs.”

Riffenburg has been helping community members in the Upstate portion of South Carolina with their healthcare needs since 1988. With Riffenburg Insurance Services, he has created a full-service insurance agency to serve the needs of their clients.

Riffenburg Insurance Services is located at 157 Hall St. in Spartanburg, SC. For more information, call 864-585-8649 or visit their website at http://www.riffenburg.com/.

About the company:
Riffenburg Insurance Services LLC was founded in 1988 by Michael Riffenburg to provide small group insurance and individual health insurance to the Spartanburg area. The company represents over 50 insurance carriers and can provide the right policies at the best prices.

As an independent agency, they do business with over 50 companies, allowing them to search for the best company at the most competitive rates possible. They can offer assistance with choosing disability insurance, long-term care insurance and whole life insurance policies. When beginning the search for insurance and financial products*, please contact Riffenburg Insurance Services LLC to make the search easier. They have a friendly and knowledgeable staff that can assist in a quest for affordable insurance and financial products*, including 401K Rollovers. For more information, visit their website at http://www.riffenburg.com.

*Securities offered through Cetera Advisor Networks, Member FINRA/SIPC. Riffenburg & Cetera Advisor Networks are not affiliated. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.

Health Insurer Aetna Raises Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers To $16 An Hour

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Aetna, the giant health insurance company, raised its minimum wage this month. CEO Mark Bertolini says he expects the raise will pay for itself through increased productivity. Reported by NPR 19 hours ago.

Payce Releases Dashboard to Provide Automated ACA Compliance

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Payce releases ACA Dashboard to provide automated compliance for the employer mandate component of the ACA ("Obamacare"). The Dashboard included seamless integration with payroll, free end-of-year filings, and no set up fees.

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) May 01, 2015

Payce, Inc., a leading provider of Payroll and HR solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, is announcing the availability of its Affordable Care Act (ACA) Dashboard. The ACA Dashboard provides a simple streamlined process for employers to manage their ACA compliance, including end-of-year reporting and IRS filings, without needing to worry about the details of the Affordable Care Act.

The Employer Mandate component of the ACA (sometimes referred to as Obamacare), enacted in 2010, requires that employers with over 50 employees provide affordable health insurance to employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Since inception, this seemingly simple mandate has ballooned into hundreds of pages in tax law. Every month, companies must track who is eligible, who waived coverage, the cost and type of coverage offered, whether or not the coverage was affordable, the number of hours worked, and a variety of other metrics that are reported to the IRS on 1095-C and 1094-C forms.

Payce’s ACA Dashboard eliminates the hassle of tracking and reporting all this information. The dashboard also provides helpful indicators and charts so that employers know when changes are required. There is no set up fee, and no end-of-year charge for filing ACA forms 1094-C or 1095-C. “The Affordable Care Act is incredibly complex, and we’ve found that most employers simply don’t have the time to manage it on their own” says Kathleen Strakes, President of Payce. Kathleen adds that “with our ACA Dashboard, employers have been able to easily manage their ACA compliance without adding additional personnel, running numerous excel spreadsheets or worrying about penalties”.

Payce’s ACA Dashboard provides the following capabilities:· Entirely integrated into Payroll – paycheck information is utilized to automate eligibility tracking, which means no double entry of employee data is required
· Multi-company ACA status – the Employer Mandate has complex rules to determine if the ACA applies to a multi-company employer. The ACA Dashboard incorporates these rules to remove any guesswork
· Eligibility notifications – the ACA Dashboard provides notifications each month of the employees who will soon be eligible and those that are losing their eligibility
· Full support for look-back measurement method – employers with many hourly employees can benefit by using the optional look-back measurement method, sometimes saving thousands of dollars per new hire per year. The ACA Dashboard provides tools to track hourly employees to benefit from this optional method without risking penalties
· Early warning reports – the Dashboard provides employers the ability to review misclassified employees, unaffordable insurance, enrollment issues, and various other warnings well before the issue results in a penalty situation

For more information on Payce’s services, including the ACA Dashboard, contact Payce at 1-866-469-6103.

About Payce:

Payce was founded in 1983 in the Baltimore, MD area and has grown from a niche local provider into a major payroll firm with thousands of clients across the United States. Payce is one of the few independent payroll firms in the U.S. with proprietary payroll software with a national reach. Payce’s online payroll system, MyPayCenter, provides the ease-of-use expected from a self-service online product, with the broad feature set and customization capabilities required for businesses with up to 5,000 employees. Reported by PRWeb 13 hours ago.

The Biggest Financial Hurdles for 20-Somethings

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The Biggest Financial Hurdles for 20-Somethings Filed under: Student Loans, Family Money, Personal Finance, College, Education

*Art-Of-Photo*

By Geoff Williams

If you're graduating from college soon, you're probably in your early 20s, which means you're beginning an incredibly exciting and stressful decade. It'll be exciting because so many life milestones are in store for you. It'll be stressful because you may not be able to afford to go to the store.

Your 20s can include years of lean paychecks while trying to pay for really expensive things (renting an apartment or buying a car or perhaps starting a family), all while facing a lot of financial hurdles. So if you're just starting your adult life, expect to find some of the following obstacles on the road ahead.

*You Don't Have a Career Yet*

If you weren't one of those fortunate graduates who left with a degree and a job offer, you're probably searching for work. If so, think big, urges Dana Manciagli, a career coach in Bellevue, Washington.

"Yes, the startups are cool, and the ongoing dream of making big money when it goes IPO is appealing," she says. "But those companies will always be there, and you can start higher in the startups later once you have credibility. Once you work for GE, Nordstrom or any Fortune 500 corporation, at least for two years, nobody can take that away from you."

When you do land a job, don't coast, Manciagli cautions. "Too many 20-somethings just do the job they are asked to do, then jam out of there to enjoy their free time. You need to drive your career growth now and demonstrate you're a top performer -- not an average one." She suggests asking for more projects and working more hours and offering to help others around you.

*You're Underpaid*

Don't be surprised if you discover your first paycheck is nothing like what you dreamed it would be. Actually, it may be nothing if all you can find is an unpaid internship. Whatever you do this decade, don't settle for being cash-poor too long or stuck in a dead-end job. At least that seems like the logical conclusion, based on a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report that came out in February. It found that what you earn in your 20s will likely set the stage for what you'll earn the rest of your life. So if you're making a lot of money, you're more likely to keep up that trend. But if you're consistently earning paltry paychecks, odds are, you will be in another decade or three as well.

So what's a panicked 20-something to do? "If you have been in your current position for at least two years without a wage or salary increase, then your first step is to have a career discussion with your manager," she says. "Too many 20-somethings just quit without asking for a promotion or sharing their ambition." If your manager shoots you down, though, she says it's time to look a new job -- but don't quit until you've found new employment.

*You Have No Credit History*

You may have a long and varied credit history if you've been on your own for a while or cosigned a credit card a while back, but most college graduates presumably don't, thanks to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. Ever since that became law, anyone 21 and under who wants a credit card has needed to have a parent or another adult as a co-signer.

"Many college students think only spending on a debit card is the best way to go, but then you've given up the opportunity to build credit," says Susan Bruno, co-founder of CollegeCFO.com, a resource for college students to get control of their financial life.

Of course, there are good reasons to keep college students away from credit cards. Before the act went into effect, college students frequently graduated without jobs and with thousands of dollars in credit card debt. But now the downside is that many students leave college with no credit history to accompany them into the real world.

Bruno, also a certified public accountant and financial planner in Stamford, Connecticut, suggests applying for a credit card as soon you are able, so that your credit history can positively affect your future. And if you're a recent graduate with student loans, you are at least building your credit by paying them off, so whatever you do, don't fall behind on those bills, Bruno says. "That will destroy your credit," she says, and you need good credit, or at least not terrible credit, "so you can sign an apartment lease, get a car loan or even get a cable connection."

A good credit score is generally considered to be 720 and above. If you're in the upper 600s, though, you have nothing to be ashamed about. If you're in the low 600s or in the 500s, you have a lot of credit-building work to do.

*You Have a Lot of Student Loans*

According to a 2014 report from the Institute for College Access & Success, the average graduate is saddled with $28,400 in student loan debt. If that's you, or you're in worse shape, then a lot of your paycheck is going toward paying off your past instead of helping you build your future.

So you'd do well to consider a few pieces of advice from Andrew Josuweit, founder of StudentLoanHero.com, a platform for managing student loans.

First, you could consider refinancing your loans. If you're struggling to pay your loans, Josuweit says there are 15 financial institutions offering student loan refinancing. You might also be eligible for an income-driven plan for your federal loans, like Pay as You Earn, a federal program. He also suggests signing up for automatic payments of your student loans. "You receive a 0.25 percent interest-rate reduction, and it also helps you avoid missing payments," he says, adding: "At all costs, try to avoid defaulting on your student loans."

*You Don't Have Much Financial Experience Yet*

There are a lot of financial decisions ahead of you. You might buy a car or two this decade. You'll need insurance for it. If you're still on your parents' health insurance, you'll have to get your own once you hit your 26th birthday. If you're doing this all for the first time, and without any help, you could make a lot of mistakes - the expensive kind that you never really laugh about later.

"Seek help and guidance," says Michael Conway, CEO of Conway Wealth Group at Summit Financial Resources in Parsippany, New Jersey. "Answers and advice are omnipresent and often free, through parents, relatives, neighbors, friends."

Most of them, Conway adds, probably have more experience in making financial decisions. But he points out that you may be more worried, not about your financial inexperience but about the banking system as a whole, since you and your family may have been shaken up by the Great Recession, of which some households are still feeling the hangover effects. With some millennials, Conway says, "it's difficult, in their minds, to invest or save within a system that has already made them a victim."

Ryan Wibberley, co-chairman and CEO of CIC Wealth, a financial planning firm in Gaithersburg, Maryland, sees this as well. "Twenty-somethings need to get over the hurdle of trust and confidence in the markets," he says. "I'm afraid that many are not investing as aggressively as they should, because they don't trust the financial markets, with good reason, and they will miss out on the long-term benefits that come with investing in equities."

If your parents have a financial adviser, seek some advice. "The parent's adviser is generally very interested in helping out the children of their clients, as a favor to the client," he says. Besides, older people tend to like helping out those just getting started in life. You might as well take advantage of that while you can. You aren't getting any younger.

 

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