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Plans Offering Medicare, May Use Ai to Resolve Coverage

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 20:06:39 GMT

Plans Offering Medicare, May Use Ai to Resolve Coverage

Many people on fixed income enter a Medicare Insurer Plan, rather than go on Original Medicare that is more expensive.

A new program called Wasteful and Inappropriate Reduction Model is a program that doctors, Medicare Senior Management, and Democratic lawmakers are against. The States involved in a 6-year program with the Reduction Act include people enrolled in traditional Medicare. in Arizona, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Ohio Washington State and Texas.

Ai scans a person's policy to determine if it meets coverage. Insurers believe this reduces costs. They won't pay for someone who receives expensive care for Medicare efficiencies. The Reduction Model hires outside companies for traditional Medicare for denying care. Now you can see why all the groups mentioned above do not support this program.

If you have a problem in health care that you need resolved or a disease you would like to cure, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Link Between Marathon Runners and Colon Cancer

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:42:46 GMT

Link Between Marathon Runners and Colon Cancer

When you think about marathon runners who are very thin, in tip top shape, why would some be getting colon cancer?

Inactivity, obesity and eating a processed diet, we think of contributing to colon cancer.

Doctors note that there wasn't a double-blind study, so they cannot jump to conclusions. Maybe some runners had bloody stools, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.

Also, marathon runners have constant inflammation and cell breakdown and then constant repair. And when they run, blood flow doesn't go to the intestines, but to the muscles they are using.

Doctors stress do not ignore symptoms. Listen to your body. If you are struggling with disease, insurance companies or hospital bills, please contact Health Advocate Exports at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

DISEASES

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:42:44 GMT

Diseases

Cancer rates have increased 170% since the 1950s.

Yet, traditional medicine offers the same protocols it’s been offering since the beginning of time.

They don’t offer cures, only to mask symptoms.

Other doctors get rid of the problem by identifying what brought it on and curing disease.

This not only goes for cancer, but Alzheimer’s , heart disease and arthritis.

There is no need to suffer, if there are ways to stop the suffering.

If you are in pain, there are protocols that stop the pain. No one needs to shoulder pain.

If you need help to get rid of your disease, please contact www.healthadvocateexperts.com , or write to us and info@healthadvocateexperts.com

High Protein Diets

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 13:47:39 GMT

High Protein Diets

Many people today are on high protein diets and while protein is important, so are vegetables, complex grains, fruit and healthy fat. You need a complete diet of non-processed foods. Complex grains include millet, oatmeal, farro and whole grains. You know meat is being engineered, because raising livestock is risky. Healthy eating includes, fish, beans, avocado, olives, nuts, and not a lot of sugar.

Sugar is toxic and plays a role in a number of diseases. And while it used to be ok to have a few drinks a week of alcohol, now the recommendation is to not drink at all, except on a special occasion. Healthy food can taste great!

And did you know your morning cup of coffee has hundreds of compounds that reduce inflammation? And studies have shown those who drink between 1 to 3 cups a day, have a 15% less chance of not dying in the next 9 - 11 years.

If you or a family member has a health or insurance concern, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadovateexperts.com .

Dementia Diagnoses Will Grow Exponentially For a Few Decades

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 14:54:14 GMT

Dementia Diagnoses Will Grow Exponentially For a Few Decades

This study was published in Nature Medicine in the beginning of this week In a few decades Millenials will be in their 70s and the youngest baby boomers will be in their 90s. The study showed that the majority of dementia showed after age 70 and much older. The study estimates that by 2060, the number of U.S. dementia cases will reach 1 million and amongst black people the rate will triple. This is going to cause a family burder because of the number of older people.

Today over 1 million people 65 and older have dementia. Researchers want to slow the onset of dementia and I understand why. It is a societal and family burden. and costs a lot of money. In 2020, black people had 60,000 cases of dementia, and by 2060 it could grow to 180,000 cases. And in the study, black people received a dementia diagnosis at younger ages.

If you have diabetes, hypertension, heart disease or other vascular issues, your risk of dementia increases. Alzheimer's Disease is the most common type of dementia.

The study used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, called ARIC, and followed these people from 1987-2000. To reduce your chances of getting dementia, reduce your weight, eat healthy, workout, reduce stress, sleep deeply for at least 7 hours a night. All these issues can help.

If you have a health care issue, and would like to get rid of a chronic disease, or pain, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

Everything from Broccoli to Muscle Imbalance and Mental Illness

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 21:33:59 GMT

Everything from Broccoli to Muscle Imbalance and Mental Illness

Broccoli

We are going to speak about a lot of topics. Let’s start with Broccoli. If you didn’t know it broccoli could help stop cancer of the colon, breast and lungs. It contains minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals that help the body to cure itself. It has a sulfuric smell. Researchers say it contains sulforaphane that supports the body in producing more of it. Moreover, sulforaphane is an antioxidant that reduces inflammation.

Broccoli’s vitamin K helps the body in reducing clotting and regulating blood circulation around the heart. Vitamin K could also help the proteins that for bones and keep them strong.

Muscle Imbalance

People who run, or cycle, or swim and play soccer tend to have muscle imbalances because even though they get their heart rate up, they may not lift weights. So, they can have an imbalance in their butts, back and hips. The muscles that are strong in the legs are good. But if the arms aren’t strong, that’s when imbalances occur. When you sit in a chair for hours on end, muscle imbalance occurs.

Our muscles need to work together for daily movement. You need to keep them equally flexible and strong. Someone with strong chest muscles may feel pain in the back because that was not maintained strong. This is when you need to see a physical therapist.

The best exercise to see if you can do, is stand on one leg for 30 seconds and then do the other leg. I did this last night! This requires a strong butt, and the ability to balance.

Mental Illness

The jury is in, and researchers are saying that people with mental illness have be shown to be more susceptible to Covid and have worser symptoms. This mainly because many of these same people smoke and are stressed out. Stress has a bad effect on the immune system and fills the body with adrenaline and cortisol. Overall, these people are more susceptible to viruses. Smoking also causes worse lung health. Because of the stigma around mental health, these people may not seek care

People with mental illness who smoke and are stressed will be prone to hospitalizations and long Covid.

If you or a loved one has a health care crisis, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com . We are ready to help you.

Prediabetes is a National Concern

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 01:13:51 GMT

Prediabetes is a National Concern

If your A1c, which is the test for diabetes, is greater than 5.7, you have prediabetes.

In fact, over 33% of the US population has prediabetes.

The A1c test looks at your sugar intake over the past 3 months. In fact, one in 10 Americans has diabetes.

The test of glucose is usually done when you fast.

If you are prediabetic, you do not want to get diabetes. You need to eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, or turkey, nuts, olives and buy organic fruits and vegetables when you can.

You can also have beans, complex grains, like oatmeal, millet, whole wheat, quinoa, and other grains.

Sweet potatoes are fine to eat too.

Soda is not ok. Nor are hot dogs or deli meat. Please drink water, or soda water, or tea and coffee. It’s important to cut sugar out of your diet.

If you want something sweet always use less honey and/or maple syrup than the recipe says. You can also use some stevia, which doesn’t raise your glucose level.

Finally, exercise is also important. If you could walk for 10 or 20 minutes/day, that would be great.

Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

If you or a loved one needs assistance with any health care issue, please contact Health Advocate Experts at

info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Strong Relationship Between Cancer and Alcohol

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 01:26:55 GMT

Strong Relationship Between Cancer and Alcohol

The American Association for Cancer Research has sounded alarms when acknowledging that people aged 50 and younger are getting breast cancer and colorectal cancer at alarming high rates for over a decade.

This is a result of drinking alcohol on a steady basis. While death rates have been declining, cancer rates have been increasing.

There has been a rethinking of the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, which thought it helped the heart. The researchers recommend reducing alcohol consumption and smoking.

A large British study that followed people over 50 for a decade finds moderate drinking does not help the heart, when compared to occasional drinkers. Even red wine doesn’t make the cut. Everyone needs to lower their alcohol consumption.

Amongst women in their 30s, cancer rates skyrocketed between 2010 and 2019. In addition to breast cancer and colorectal cancer, cancer of the stomach, certain blood cancers and leukemia, melanoma, and kidney cancer rates are rising in young people.

Alcohol adversely affects the microbiome by altering gut bacteria which can increase cancer.

Many people do not understand the risk they take, especially the younger age groups when they get plastered at college and continue drinking into the 20s and beyond.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts if you have a health care challenge you need resolved at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

There’s A New Tick Virus

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:24:25 GMT

There’s A New Tick Virus

In the New England Journal of Medicine, they identified a new tick disease in China that affects the brain and could affect multiple organs. I know what you are thinking. Do not bring it here. This is frightening!

Scientists analyzed patients who came to the hospital with a fever and a history of tick bites. Based on findings, researchers are calling the new tick disease Wetland Virus. In China, about 1 million people have the new illness.

This virus was named after a person who visited the hospital with an ongoing fever and multiple organ disfunction after being bit by a tick in Mongolia. It’s an orthonairovirus and is very different from Lyme disease. This disease was located in the Northeastern part of China.

Wetland virus has been found in horses, sheep and pigs. Scientists postulate that it could originate in animals, but spread by tick bites, but it isn’t clear at this point.

Symptoms include chills, fever, and muscle aches, according to a senior scholar at John Hopkins Center for Health Security. Of the 17 patients in the study, all had neurological symptoms that originate in the brain. This virus cannot be treated with antibiotics and doctors have not found a treatment plan that works yet.

Experts say Americans should not be worried about this, unless they travel to that part of China. It’s advised to stay away from ticks to lower your risk of getting any disease.

Stay clear of tall grass, leaf litter, brush and wear long pants and tuck your pants into your socks. Wear approved repellent.

If you have a health care dilemma, or condition, that you would like resolved, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

COVID is Rising

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 01:18:56 GMT

COVID is Rising

Covid is rising across 31 states and people are dying. The Centers for Disease Control are collecting wastewater from different areas to check on infectious diseases.

Ohio is one of the States with high Covid-19.

As of August 2024, wastewater showed that in Cincinnati outbreaks topped 285 cases.

Here are some of the symptoms:

Nausea and vomiting
Muscle and body aches
Fatigue
Headache
New loss of taste and smell
Congestion, runny nose
Sore throat
Difficulty breathing
Cough
Fever and chills

Most people, if they get these symptoms can recover on their own. You can ask your doctor for Paxlovid. Masking is a preventative measure if you go and get food or walk around your home. You don’t want to get other people sick.

The CDC says cloth masking is the least protective. The most protective are N95 masks. But, wear what is comfortable around others and make sure it covers your nose and mouth.

It’s advised that you wash your hands a lot and use a tissue to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

The CDC dropped it’s 5 day guidance to going about your usual activities when, for at minimum, 24 hours 2 conditions are met:

Your symptoms are improving overall,
You haven’t had a fever and aren’t relying on medicine to bring it down.

If those 2 conditions are met, in the following 24 hours you can return to school or work and see friends. But the CDC says you should mask up for the next 5 days so you do not spread the virus.

The new Covid vaccines are available, and everyone should get one.

This is Surprising, Two Bursts of Aging

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 02:11:53 GMT

This is Surprising, Two Bursts of Aging

I must say I was quite surprised reading an article in Healthy Aging, where it talks about two times in our lives where aging takes place, in our 40s and 60s.

I always thought aging was ongoing, but according to this article that is not the case. Rapid aging occurs in the 40th decade and the 60th decade.

Scientists believe that how we live our lives has an impact on how we age.

For example, stress, processed and fried food, and not exercising much, are not good for aging healthily. If, however, you eat fruits, vegetables, healthy protein, and exercise, your rate of aging could be better.

Scientists describe two biomolecular shifts around mid-40s and at age 60. In the 60s, lots of shifts occurred.

Researchers looked at a biological sample from a diverse group of 108 people. Half of the subjects were female. Researchers collected stool samples, blood, took oral swabs, and tested skin, and nasal swabs.

The scientists then tracked age related diseases from over 135,000 microbes and molecules.

One of the findings was that molecules showed no linear changes. They changed more at different ages, than at random.

Findings :

There were differences among the ages. People in there 40s had shifts in alcohol use and fat metabolism. People in their 60s showed changes pertaining to carbohydrate metabolism, immune system, and kidney function.

2.Physical changes occur in the 60s, like your immune system may not be able to protect you against infections, cancer and heart disease. But let’s get real for a second, I was also reading another article in Nutrition Action, and it was about osteoarthritis. And people in their 30s who are overweight are having joint problems. Excess weight carries a lot of risk at any age. I recall writing about teenagers who were getting adult diabetes due to eating a lot during Covid-19. Now

these young kids are at risk for all the consequences of adult diabetes, like heart disease, neuropathies, and other problems.

3. How you live matters. What you eat matters, and exercise matters!

If you or a loved one is struggling with a health care issue, or has a disease you want cured, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Covid Wreaks Havoc On a Subset of Children

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 14:07:27 GMT

Covid Wreaks Havoc On a Subset of Children

Children get Covid just like everyone else.

Except, about 1 in 10,000 get a system-wide inflammatory disease in which the body cannot distinguish between good cells and virus cells and begins attacking all cells. In children, this condition is called MIS-C.

The Centers for Disease Control has identified about 10,000 cases of MIS-C as of 2020 and 79 deaths.

Following Covid, antibodies develop and usually go away. But in some children, scientists found a protein that is in every cell called SNX8, and the children with MIS-C develop antibodies and Killer T cells, which usually only attack virus cells.

However, they begin attacking healthy cells too with the protein SNX8, and the children end up injuring organs.

Scientists always knew that infections could mess up the body into attacking itself. But this is truly heartbreaking! This has nothing to do with Long Covid.

This is a massive inflammatory disease which is causing some children to die. Tragic!!!!

If you or a love one is experiencing a health care crisis, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Loneliness Is Detrimental to Health

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:20:08 GMT

Loneliness Is Detrimental to Health

We have all been lonely at one time, and Covid has certainly caused this in all of us.

No one I speak to thinks things are the same anymore. But when chronic loneliness sets in, people have made no effort to be social and think negatively.

As humans, we are very social and have learned to have a full life, we need friends.

Chronic loneliness causes changes in the body and is linked to neurological conditions, like Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and cognitive decline.

This is serious.

Scientists believe that stress leads to inflammation in the body, which can cause disease.

It also leads to changes in mitochondria which are in all of our cells, and that give us energy, and could start dying off.

Chronic loneliness can wreak havoc on the cardiovascular system, as well. These people are probably not active and that leads to more problems.

Most research on loneliness is on middle aged adults, 40s through 60s.

People need help to pull chronically lonely people out of loneliness.

To help people out of loneliness, doctors suggest they join a class that interests them and ask them to go on a walk and get into nature. They may need to speak to a therapist to get at the root cause of their loneliness.

If you need help with yourself or a family member, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Adult Day Care Centers

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:15:25 GMT

Adult Day Care Centers

Adult Day Care Centers are under stress, especially after the pandemic. In California, rates have not been adjusted for inflation and owners are struggling to survive. While long-term care policies pay for Adult Day Care, the 35,000 Californians who rely on this service tend to be low-income and marginalized.

Most people in them are on Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program that pays for long-term care for low-income people.

There is a misconception that people who go to Adult Day Care play dominos and color. Research shows that Adult Day Care slows people’s physical and cognitive decline so that they don’t need more expensive care in a nursing home or rehab facility.

Prior to the Big Recession, California had about 365 Adult Day Care Centers. But, after the pandemic, the number dwindled to under 300.

Adult Day Care Centers get about about $76.27 a day per person. The average age is 85.

Adult Day Care Centers pick people up at their homes, provide meals, music and medical care. With inflation, they should be paid an additional $45 per person.

If Adult Day Care Centers are providing such a vital social, medical and physical service, then they should definitely be paid more.

If you have any questions, or have a loved one who needs assistance, please contact info@healthadvocateexperts.com.

It would be an honor to help you.

Don't Throw Out Your Masks Yet!

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 14:26:50 GMT

Don't Throw Out Your Masks Yet!

Covid has mutated again and is causing a 30% increase in UK hospitalizations. The new variant, PK.3, is very similar to the winter variant, JN.1.

According to the CDC, people are showing the following symptoms, high fever and chills. Other symptoms include fatigue, cough, cold, headache, muscle aches and pains, difficulty breathing, sore throat, brain fog, and a new loss of taste or smell. If any family member is sick, the advice is to stay home. There is no evidence that the new variant is any different than the older variant.

There is a feeling that the vaccines are waning off and people who never got a shot, are urged to get one. Also, are people over age 75 and those with compromised immune systems, as well as, older people who live in care homes.

So, if you find yourself in tight large group situation, you might consider masking up. This variant may be in the US during the summer. It's a small thing to do, so you don't get Covid.

If you are sick and need assistance, please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

Or, go to www.healthadvocateexperts.com and either send us a note, or call us.

I wish everyone an amazing summer!!!!

Will Doctors Ever Learn

Tue, 07 May 2024 13:20:57 GMT

This past weekend, the New York Times identified many people who believe their new debilitating symptoms are due to the Covid vaccine. I cannot stress enough, that everything doesn’t work for everyone.

Many people can go to a doctor and get natural things done and get better. Other people do better in the current medical system. Yet, it is very wrong for physicians to tell people, they are crazy, or it’s in their head. Just because the US hasn’t documented the symptoms people are experiencing from the RNA Covid shot, doesn’t mean their symptoms don’t exist.

Some people are experiencing neurological, cardiovascular, and autoimmune symptoms. Everyone’s bodies are different.

Other countries, like Israel, Europe and Hong Kong who have centralized systems have documented people who have myocarditis, tinnitus, severe shingles, bell’s palsy, and some show continued deterioration of the heart cavity. About 13,000 cases exist, out of the 677 million Covid shots received in the U.S.

Some scientists are concerned that people’s symptoms are being ignored.

Please contact Health Advocate experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com if you need assistance. Our allegiance is to you. We can help!

The Ugly Side of Menopause

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 17:38:52 GMT

The Ugly Side of Menopause

According to the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine , Menopause is a defining time for about 6 million women 65 and over who will get Alzheimer’s Disease.

This has to do with genetics and women living older than men.

When women go through the end of fertility, we have changes in the brain and ovaries. While the majority of women will be fine and not face long term problems. But, for 20% of women who will get Alzheimer’s Disease, estrogen will plummet, and their menopause symptoms will include mood disruptions, hot flashes, and mild decline in cognition and memory.

Scans show lower volume in menopausal brains compared with male brains of the same age and pre-menopausal brain.

Experts stress there are some things that are very important to ward off Alzheimer’s Disease.

• Hormone therapy helps with sleep, mood, and quality of life. Talk to your doctor to see if this is all right for you.

• Consistent exercise. Being active lowers the risk for neurodegenerative diseases. The Women’s Brain Initiative found that brain scans of active seniors had fewer bio marks for Alzheimer’s Disease than the bran scans of sedentary people.

• Diet Matter. Experts agree that a Mediterranean Diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, olives, beans, fish and complex grains is the way to eat.

Preliminary information shows that certain gut bacteria are nourished by a diet based on plants and may help balance estrogen levels in our bodies.

Many of these lifestyle changes take time.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts if you or someone you know has questions or has other issues you need help with.

Fill out a contact form on our website: healthadvocateexperts.com or call us at 858-299-5025

New Covid

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:55 GMT

New Covid

Covid patients are now in the hospital. This new Covid is more like Omnicrom, but different. The shot is different too. It tries to imagine what Covid would be like.

The symptoms are slightly different and include, an infection in the eyes, rashes on the face, tiredness, possibly fever, and full sinuses,

Be careful as we spend more time inside. What researchers have said is that indoor air has not been improved. Some businesses have improved their air quality. At home we need to do that too.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts if you need assistance.

Is a Processed Diet Hijacking Your Health?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:52 GMT

Is a Processed Diet Hijacking Your Health?

NOVA is a system from Brazil that divides food based on the extent of which it is processed. All studies utilize this system.

What is processed food ? They include:

1. Sugar, honey, maple syrup, butter, vegetable oils.

2. Salted nuts, cured meats or fish, canned fish, vegetables, beans and unpackaged cheeses and breads (from a bakery).

Ultra-processed Food includes:

1. Packaged bread, most breakfast cereals, bars, flavored yogurt, chocolate, ice cream, candies, cookies, pastries, frozen pizza, sausages, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, most sugary drinks, instant soups, noodles, sauces.

Unprocessed or Minimally Processed Foods

1. Fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat, poultry, seafood, grains, (whole and refined), pasta, yogurt, milk, tea, coffee

As you see, things in bags, boxes, use cheap ingredients and offer convenience, tend to be processed food.

Why am I telling you this ? Well, researchers followed about 200.000 health professionals who ate ultra-processed foods who were tracked for 24 to 28 years. And, what they found was these people may be less active, drink more alcohol, or smoke. While researches try to take in confounders like this, what they found was alarming.

People who eat a lot of ultra-processed foods had a higher risk of colorectal cancer, had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Next the researchers wanted to see if an ultra-processed diet led to more eating.

After 2 weeks, people on the ultra-processed diet ate 500 or more calories/day than the unprocessed eaters.

If you need help with eating better, or your health,

please contact Health Advocate Experts, our allegiance is to you!

Long Term Care

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:52 GMT

Long Term Care

Long Term Care includes nursing homes, assisted living facilities, insurance policies that pay for this care, and at home aides. As we age, it is very important to understand the type of care most Americans need. It is called custodial care.

Custodial care includes help with bathing, dressing, moving from a bed to a chair, toileting. This type of care is called help with activities of daily living. The first thing that fails, are independent activities of living, like, no longer able to pay bills, shopping for food, banking, and cooking.

Custodial care is the type of care people need as they age, but Medicare does not pay for this. They only pay for medical care provided by a doctor, nurse, or specialist. Medicaid, an insurance program for the poor, does pay for long term care, but, you need to spend down your assets to be part of the program.

Life Insurance Companies, sometimes allow you to use the money you acquire to pay for long term care. Long Term Care Insurance Companies offer policies that pay for Assisted Living Facilities, at home care and nursing homes. Some permit allowances for changes in the home, like grab bars in the tub or shower, assisted devices to reach the cabinets and small stuff like that.

I developed and managed a long term policy line of business in the 1990s for a Blue Cross Company, when 120 companies were in the market. Now only 5 or 6 companies sell policies and you are medically underwritten for them,

Today, Assisted Living Facilities are a big business. Many private equity firms own them and are making 20% or more each year. These are facilities that have independent living, and a side where people receive care. In some parts of the country, assisted living facilities cost $4,000/month. But, in some other areas, people are paying $7,000/month, and then layer other fees on top of that, like medication management, blood pressure checks, help with a daily inhaler, and these charges add up.

Today, approximately 850,000 Americans 65 and older, reside in an Assisted Living Facility and prices of this living is rising faster than inflation.

We need a national program where people from birth, start saving for long term care. Just like we have the 529 programs to save for our children's education, we should have a program to save for our long term care needs.

If you are struggling to find the right care, or doctor,

please contact Health Advocate Experts.

We look forward to helping you!

Depression

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:51 GMT

Depression

Worldwide depression is a $1trillion industry which consumes 5% of individuals, according to the Surgeon General. Depression includes isolation, and other mental health conditions, like anxiety. And I believe a lot of this is due to Covid-19, which in essence, stole our way of living.

Anyone I speak to, says in no way are their lives the same since Covid-19. I am just getting back to rejoining my workout club after being away from it for 3 years! People are bringing their own mats to classes and are spraying mats that are there if they use them.

We now know that Covid spreads through the air and not on things. That is why we all need to improve the air quality in businesses and at home.

So if you know someone lonely, please refer them to Health Advocate Experts.

We have an affordable one year program where people can call us whenever they need to talk, or for that matter, on any issue at all.

Happy Holidays and be well.

Our Health as We Age

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:49 GMT

Our Health as We Age

First let us acknowledge that everyone is different, but for a cohort of people there are certain trends we would like you to be aware of.

1. According to doctors, as we age and especially beyond age 80, we may forget words, have difficulty performing cognitive tasks and have slightly slower reaction time in a healthy person. This is because the brain shrinks as we age and have brain cell loss. In some people, notably 10.9% in 2019, according to the National Health and Aging Trend Study, people who get dementia are between age 80 and 84.

2. Vision gets worse as we age. Cataracts occur in close to 70% of people over 80. Hearing loss also occurs, but this can happen in someone’s 40s. People who don’t take their hearing loss seriously go on to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia.

4. As we age, we lose some of out tastes buds and ability to smell, which causes us to eat less. This is why some older people have a nutritional deficiency. Older individuals lose muscle mass and a slowing metabolism cause eating less. Again, some people in their 60s and older have acid reflux disease.

5. Our bones become more brittle as we age. Women lose estrogen after menopause. These 2 factors cause osteopenia and osteoporosis. Luckily, there are vitamins that work that can reverse these conditions. These conditions cause bones to break and humped over people. It is critical to take the necessary vitamins to mitigate these conditions. Also, our cartilage begins to wear down and people over 65 have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. This can occur before age 65. Falls are more common as we age and hip fractures occur.

6. We should continue to exercise and stretch throughout life, even if it is just walking. Many healthy 80-year-olds are healthy and agile. They continue to exercise and use weights. There are modifications that could occur with people who have injuries and osteoarthritis. According to doctors, adults, begin to lose muscle mass and gain fat as we age. Sarcopenia hits between 42% and 62% of adults in their mid-80s. Symptoms include difficulty walking upstairs, holding food and shopping bags and even walking.

7. Skin changes occur as we age. Wrinkles, rougher-looking skin from slower exfoliation and skin cancer. 65 years old is the average year when melanoma shows up, a deadly form of skin cancer. Melanoma is more prevalent in men, but also occurs in women.

8. Many older individuals do not sleep well. People over the age of 80 sleep one hour less than younger people. Many older adults wake up during the night. Older individuals spend less time in deep sleep.

While everyone ages differently and age doesn’t define a person’s health,

it is important to eat a healthy diet, exercise, be around family and friends and lead as full a life as you can.

If anyone needs help with any health care challenge,

please contact Health Advocate experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

New Data Show Men Don't Go To Doctors

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:48 GMT

New Data Show Men Don't Go To Doctors

In 2022, the Cleveland Clinic survey asked 1,000 American men how often they got a regular health screening by seeing a doctor. The survey results found 55% of men do not see a doctor regularly, and 65% didn't go annually. Men just don't think they need checkups and believe they are healthier than most people.

Women, however, get prompted yearly to see a gynecologist and get a mammogram. Women also take advantage of the preventative health benefits in their policies more than men do.

Some men don't see a doctor because they fear what they might find, and also, they tie their bravery and self-sufficiency to their resistance. When they see a doctor it is usually when their symptoms are so bad that they need to be rushed to surgery.

It has been suggested that men start with a telehealth on-line visit and see if they like the doctor. If they do, they can then do an in person visit and bring a loved one with them, or a health advocate who can ask important questions.

In this way, going to appointments gets easier. If you don't like the doctor, a health advocate can find you someone new.

We are essential additions to your team.

If You Have a Medicare Advantage Plan, Please Read This

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:47 GMT

If You Have a Medicare Advantage Plan, Please Read This

I am outraged at an article in the New York Times yesterday of how Medicare Advantage Plans manufactured and found other ways of altering a patient's medical record to bill more to Medicare for diseased patients.

Whistleblowers from UnitedHealth Group and other insurers told the Justice Department that Advantage insurers asked doctors to find more illnesses in medical records, even though those patients were not getting care. Yet, the doctor would get paid more and the insurer would bill Medicare more. The article noted that Billions of dollars were billed to Medicare by inflating bills of sicker patients and this has been going on for years.

According to the complaint, eight of the 10 largest Advantage Plans submit larger bills for newfound diseases, according to federal audits. Medicare spends more on Advantage Plan members than the Army and Navy combined. In 2020, Advantage Plans gained enough money to fund hearing aides and vision care for every person over 65 years old. The amount of money they took in exceeded $12 billion!

Nearly all Advantage Plans have been accused of Overbilling. Here's a list of plans that have also been accused of fraud, fraud by the U.S. Govt, accused of failing to remove diagnoses, Paying doctors and nurses for finding more diagnoses,

1. Unitedhealth Group: with 21.7% of the market.

2. CVS Health: with10.7% of the market, Wasn't accused of fraud by US govt., but was accused of everything else.

3. Kaiser Permanente: 6.1% of market. Wasn't accused of overbilling by US Govt, but was accused of everything else.

4. Elevance Health: 6.5% of market. Only accused of overbilling according to Inspector General

5. Centene: 5% of market and not accused of anything

6. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan: 2.2% of market. Just accused of overbilling by Inspector General

7. Cigna: 1.9% of market. Accused of everything, except, failing to remove inaccurate diagnoses and didn't pay doctors or nurses more to add diagnoses

8. Highmark: 1.3% of market. Only accused of overbilling by Inspector General

9. Scan Group: 0.9% of market. Accused of everything except, didn't pay doctors and nurses more to diagnoses diseases.

Ask to view your medical record and let your doctor know if you see made-up diseases.

Always, contact Health Advocate Experts, if you need assistance.

We are here to help you!

Superbugs Create Death in Hospital During Covid

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:45 GMT

Superbugs Create Death in Hospital During Covid

According to the Center for Disease Control (C.D.C.) about 30,000 people in 2020 were killed due to drug-resistant infections during Covid. They presume most of the infections were the result of the lack of masks, gloves, vaccinations, and treatments that worked in the early days and months of Covid. C.D.C. believes the death toll is much bigger because the Health Labs that track drug resistant conditions, were too busy during the pandemic to do that job.

Also, during the pandemic their were staff shortages at many hospitals, so infection control personnel were reassigned to provide patient care. This in and of itself, is problematic for the control of superbugs.

Furthermore, the C.D.C. found that approximately 700,000 people world-wide die yearly from infections that no longer react to antimicrobial drugs. If we do not stop using antibiotics, experts say the death toll can climb to 10 million by 2050 worldwide.

Please never go to a hospital without a Health Advocate. We watch everything diligently to ensure errors do not occur.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts if you need someone to attend a doctor's appointment,

a hospital procedure, operation, or stay.

Our allegiance is to you!

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:45 GMT

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant In Year’s Past?

1. We never had to wait 2-3 months to see our primary care physicians, especially for preventative medicine

2. We could always trust what our doctor told us, and now trust has been broken if you have to go to the hospital where your doctor will never show up.

3. Insurance used to be easy. You were either in an HMO or PPO and you received care when you needed it. Today we have Major Medical Policies that were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Today you pay too much in Deductibles, copayments and co-insurance and premiums. There is too much money coming out of your pocket.

4. Today, more and more doctors do not take insurance, like psychiatrists, psychologists, ER doctors and concierge doctors. It’s time-consuming finding a doctor who will have your back side.

5. And lastly, the American Health Care System has turned into a maze. It is difficult to advocate for yourself when you are sick or need assistance. Health Advocates can be with you every step of the way and making sure you are getting the care your deserve!!!

Please contact Health Advocate Experts with whatever health care need you have.

Our mission is to give you peace of mind and the best health experience you deserve.

Email or call us.

Hopefully New Vaccines For a New Time

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:44 GMT

Hopefully New Vaccines For a New Time

In the New York Times today was a story about the subvariants BA..4 and BA.5. and the fact that our current vaccines are may not work. After months of the Covid vaccines keeping death down in hospitals, the death rate is creeping up. Doctors blame the fact that many people did not get the second booster.

In fact it is estimated that 75% of those eligible for a second booster did not get one, and 50% of those vaccinated did not get any booster.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked drug manufacturers to make a new vaccine for the new types of Covid. Both Pfzer and Moderna have a vaccine closer to the Omicron variant. They both say a newer vaccine will not be available until about October 2022. It is very difficult to predict the variants evolution in order to stay on top of it. If a new vaccine comes out, please get it. No one wants to be in the hospital.

If you have a bill that you are struggling with, or an insurance company who has denied a prescription or procedure, or, you need to find a new doctor,

please do not hesitate to contact Health Advocate Experts.

Our allegiance is to you!!!

Teenagers Trying To Commit Suicide

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:42 GMT

Teenagers Trying To Commit Suicide

This past Sunday on 60 Minutes, as well as an article in the New York Times, teenagers are going to hospital Emergency Rooms at alarming rates for cutting themselves, trying to commit suicide, and other mental health breakdowns. The problem: ERs are not staffed with clinicians who could help teens. They seek Mental Health inpatient units that could monitor the adolescents and who provide counseling. Unfortunately in many areas, there are no beds available in these facilities.

According to the New York Times today, "Nationally, the number of residential treatment facilities for people under the of 18 fell to 592 in 2020 from 848 in 2012, a 30% decline, according to the most recent government survey. Yet, in 2019, 13% of teenagers had a major depressive event, which increased 60% from 2018. The pandemic and more time on-line is a major cause of these events in adolescents.

Many Hospital ERs become the major driver of kids staying over night. In fact, out of 88 pediatric hospitals countrywide, 87 of them regularly house adolescents when they have a mental health episode. Parents, unfortunately, are at a loss of what to do when there child has a mental breakdown.

Here are some other thoughts of what can be done when your adolescent has an episode:

1. Establish a strong relationship with a Psychiatrist and/or Psychologist for your child

2. If it is night time, call the Psychiatrist or Psychologist on call, and seek advice

3. Instead of Hospital ERs, call inpatient treatment facilities in your area to seek a bed

4. Enroll your teenager in an outpatient treatment facility

5. If your adolescent has a special friend, invite the friend to talk to your child during the day.

I have dealt with a difficult adolescent and it is exhausting. There are no easy answers. It costs a lot of money to get the proper treatment and then, sometimes, it doesn't even work. Many of these kids, do not understand why they are upset and making poor decisions. All I can tell you, is it does get better. But, being in it, is difficult.

Please feel free to contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com if we can be of help.

We have tools and a wealth of information.

Diabetes Has Fatal Consequences When It Collides with Covid

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:41 GMT

Diabetes Has Fatal Consequences When It Collides with Covid

Diabetes affects 34 million Americans, representing 13% of adults. During the past two decades, the number of Americans with Diabetes has doubled which mirrors the alarming number of Americans who are also overweight. Over 90% of all diabetes is Type 2.

During the pandemic, people with Diabetes went into ICUs more often and were second in being hit hard, after nursing home residents. Between 30%-40% of people who wound up in the hospital due to Covid also had Diabetes and died. Covid is especially bad for people with uncontrolled Diabetes because many also struggle with high blood pressure and obesity, and Covid can wreak havoc on the immune system.

Obesity is not just an adult problem. Children who were obese who had Covid, often had to go into the ICU. Doctors are also seeing a stunning rise in children with Type 2 diabetes. This is a serious problem, because they too will struggle with problems of diabetes, like circulatory issues, neurological problems and stroke.

Then there are the millions of people who are pre- diabetes, and many don’t know it. Often people with diseases have inflammation. If these people could get their inflammation under control by taking the correct vitamins, exercising and eating a non-processed diet, they would have a good chance of not having diabetes.

If you are struggling with Pre-diabetes, or need help of any kind,

please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

To your health,

Finally Some Doctors Acknowledge Long Covid-19 Symptoms

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:40 GMT

Finally Some Doctors Acknowledge Long Covid-19 Symptoms

I was elated when I read in the New York Times this Sunday, that research is being done into why some people who had Covid for a short time, or long time develop long term symptoms that can last many months.

There was a team of researchers who followed over 200 patients between the ages of 18-89. Researchers followed them between 2-4 months following their Covid diagnosis to identify biological markers that will predict who will develop long Covid. The team ultimately came up with four factors that can contribute to long Covid. This is the first real attempt to identify factors that could determine who might get long-term symptoms.

As Jim Heath said as a principal investigator, "We did this analysis because we know patients will go to physicians and they'll say that they are tired all of the time or whatever, and the physician just tells them to get more sleep. That's not very helpful." Mr. Heath is so right. I had a client during the first wave of Covid 19 who had long term symptoms. He went to Scripps and doctors were saying he was crazy. He wasn't crazy, he was experiencing real neurological and biological symptoms.

Here are the four factors researchers found that could lead to long Covid symptoms.

1. One marker is the level of virus load a person has. The higher the load, the more RNA in the blood early in the infection.

2. The presence of autoantibodies. These mistakenly attack tissues in the body, like rheumatoid arthritis.

3. The reactivation of Epstein-Barr disease which infects most people at young ages and becomes dormant.

4. The last marker is Type 2 Diabetes, which not everyone has and they still get long Covid.

Researchers acknowledge that more study is needed, but they also indicate that treatment is possible. If doctors see, RNA in the blood early, they can give you an antiviral medication that might mitigate the viral load. The goal would be to intervene so that long Covid doesn't come to pass. That is the take-home message. Intervention is possible.

If you are suffering with a disease, large medical bills, or just need to find a new doctor, or living situation, please contact Health Advocate Experts.

You are our priority!

Unaffiliated ER Insurance Doctors Cannot Bill You

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:38 GMT

Unaffiliated ER Insurance Doctors Cannot Bill You

About a week ago, the New York Times ran a feature article about doctors in ERs that do not take insurance, though you my go to an in network hospital, and who can no longer send "surprise" medical bills. The Trump Administration had bi-partisan support which led to legislation and the Biden Administration fined tuned it pertaining to this issue. These consumer protections include all emergency medical services and most routine care.

Many workers have high deductible policies and they may have a bill to pay with their insurer, but they too will no longer receive bills from out of network doctors in the ER. This is a huge consumer victory, given that many people who go to an in network hospital ER think all services and doctors are covered. And up until recently, most ER doctors were unaffiliated with insurers and now they cannot send separate bills to consumers.

Under the new law, if you go to an in network ER, the out of network doctors, radiologists, and laboratories cannot send bills to you after the fact. This has been a law in California since 2017.

This does not mean that you will never see a bill. What the legislation refers to is if you go to an in network hospital and you didn't choose the doctors who see you, those doctors who don't take insurance, cannot bill you. There are still doctors in the medical system who do not take insurance and if they tell you they don't and you accept their services, like psychiatrists and psychologists, then expect a bill.

The health care system is confusing, perplexing and non-transparent. Whenever you go to the doctor, always inquire if he/she is still part of your health plan, so you are not surprised if things change.

In the meantime, you can always contact Health Advocate Experts and we can help you sort things out.

We are here for you!

Can Proteins In Those Who Exercise, Aid Those With Memory Issues?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:37 GMT

Can Proteins In Those Who Exercise, Aid Those With Memory Issues?

Today we learned that 75% of the 800 people who died as a result of Covid-19, were 65 and older. By far, more older people died than younger people. And just as that news came out, a few days earlier in the Journal, Nature, a new study in which researchers injected blood from well-exercised mice into the brains of sedentary mice and what they found was astounding! The sedentary mice suddenly did better on learning and memory tests.

While what happens with mice doesn't always mean it will happen with humans, but researchers couldn't help but think, what if a protein from runners was planted into the brains of sedentary Alzheimer's patients and those with other memory disorders, and would they do better on tests?

This study was led by Stanford School of Medicine researchers who found that one protein, called Clusterin which is found in the heart muscle and liver, is responsible for reducing the inflammatory effects in the brain. Clusterin has a role to play in many diseases, including cancer and researchers feel other proteins can also be beneficial. They said more research is required.

The only part of the study involving humans was with the Department of Veteran Affairs Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center who is an author of the new study. Veterans, aged 50 to 89, exercised 3 times a week in which they did cardio and weight training. One of the doctors indicated that the results that are unpublished showed, the veterans had heightened Clusterin levels and did better in memory and story recall. Overall, their cognitive abilities improved.

The hope is that a drug can be developed that binds to cells that line blood vessels, as Clusterin does, and reduce inflammation in those with Memory Diseases. Other researchers indicated much more needs to be done, before a drug could be developed. The goal is to determine which proteins impact inflammation the most.

As always, please contact Health Advocate Experts if you need help with any health issue.

To your health!!!

Health Information That We All Can Jump For Joy Over

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:34 GMT

Health Information That We All Can Jump For Joy Over

Well, we know diseases do not take a holiday and holidays can be difficult for those who suffer.

But, on Sunday in the New York Times, a front-page article caught my eye, “A Cure for Severe Diabetes?” An Ohio man who suffered severe Type I diabetes has been cured of the disease! Doctors, researchers, scientists from all over are mystified and elated.

Doctor Melton, a Harvard University Biologist embarked on a 30-year quest in 1991 to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes when his 6-month-old baby boy was diagnosed with it and four years later his 4-year-old daughter was also diagnosed with it. Dr. Melton converted stem cells with his staff to islet cells. The project cost more than $50 million. The challenge over 20 years was how to figure out the sequencing of chemical messages to turn stem cells into islet cells.

And how even to make islet cells was a concern. Dr. Melton practiced at Semma, a company he founded in 2014. He knew to make the drug he would need a clinical trial and money to make this happen. Dr. Melton ended up taking his islet cells to Vertex and Vertex acquired Semma. Vertex must now make the islet cells in mass and develop a clinical trial.

The industry is extremely elated for Brian Shelton who is 64 and the first person cured of Type I diabetes. Brian’s body is now making its own insulin and controls it. Brian got an infusion of islet cells. Lots of questions remain, like how long will this last? Do people need ongoing infusions? Vertex will soon have answers to these and other questions because the company is now seeking people with Type I diabetes to be in the clinical trial. If you have Type I diabetes, you might want to contact Vertex.

As always, Health Advocate Experts is ready to help you with any health care problems you encounter.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

Or visit our website at healthadvocateexperts.com

Sepsis, Oh Know

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:34 GMT

Sepsis, Oh Know

When we hear the word Sepsis we shutter. I am sure we have all heard stories. According to the Centers For Disease Control, Sepsis can cause death because the infection shuts down our lungs, gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract. The disease can start in any one of those systems.

The majority of Sepsis cases begin outside the hospital and is a response to an initial infection in your system. Of the 1.7 million cases of Sepsis yearly, about 280,000 Americans die, according to the Centers For Disease Control. It's very important to obtain immediate treatment if you develop Sepsis.

Call your doctor and go to the nearest Hospital for care to avoid breakdown of your tissues and organs.

To your health

Home Healthcare Aides Work Hard

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:33 GMT

Home Healthcare Aides Work Hard

During the pandemic, health aides had very stressful jobs working in nursing homes. They did not always have protective shields, did not take time off, and sometimes put their patients before family. Health Aides can work up to 60 hours per week and are one of the lowest paid parts of the work force in America!

Just as the need for health aides is exploding, they don’t realize that in many states, they qualify for time off. Many people during the pandemic turned to home care as they saw the increase in Covid-19 amongst nursing home patients and staff throughout the pandemic. There is a union for health aides in some states and a certification program in varying states.

Some aides sleep at patients’ homes, providing care throughout the night, but are not getting paid for it. This is not right! Aides’ duties include odd household chores, like cleaning toilets, dusting, bathing and heating food. They are responsible for lifting the patient and moving someone from a bed to a chair. It is taxing work.

It is estimated there are 65,000 home care agencies in the United States. Some are larger than others. Invariably Medicaid pays for home health care aides, and Medicare pays only if you have been in a hospital for 3 overnights and then are discharged home. It is estimated by 2030, 21% of the population will be retirement age, and the majority of people want to receive care in their home, according to a 2018 survey by the Agency of American Retired People (AARP). Moreover, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, in 2019 spending on homecare nationally, increased 40% to $113.4 billion from 2013.

According to the New York Times, 20% of aides live below the poverty line and aides in 6 States, earn an average hourly rate of $11. According to SeniorCare.com, home health aides in California cost $23/hour and I estimate they get half of that as payment per hour.

Aides need to know the laws in their states regarding time off, whether a union exists, and be vocal about being paid for overnight stays. You are a vital part of the health care system. And as Americans age, if you want to stay in your home, unless you have a long-term care insurance policy that pays for custodial care, which is the type of care people need as they age, you will most likely have to pay for this care privately.

This can get very expensive!!!

Nursing Homes Are Drugging Dementia Patients

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:29 GMT

Nursing Homes Are Drugging Dementia Patients

I have written about the Medicare Rating System for Nursing Homes before, but while I will touch on that in this article, this blog is about how low staffed nursing homes are caring for their dementia patients and it is deplorable! And what I will be detailing below, goes for some of the five star rated nursing homes as well.

This is an article that the New York Times investigated and reported on in a three-page expose on September 12, 2021. Basically, dementia patients who complained or were unruly between 1990 and 2020 were provided with a diagnosis by a doctor of schizophrenia, and administered antipsychotic medications, like Seroquel, Abilify, and Zyprexa, along with other drugs that made patients drowsy and at risk for falls.

Just like with jails, when schizophrenia patients were released, some went to the street, and some into nursing homes, but when combined with dementia patients who do not hallucinate and have delusions, the number of people who have been on these drugs has ballooned. Out of the 1.1 million nursing home residents, 21%, or 225,000 patients are on antipsychotic drugs, according to the NYTs.

Normally, schizophrenia is diagnosed before aged 40. Dementia patients who are on these drugs, can have heart problems and clinical trials have concluded that dementia patients can die from these drugs! No doubt, caring for a dementia patient is resource intensive and if nursing homes do not have adequate staffing levels, then this practice persists.

Nursing home aides and nurses are down since the pandemic nationwide. The Times estimates that nursing employment is down by 200,000 workers, it’s worst level since 1994. While you would think, this would jeopardize a nursing homes’ quality rating by Medicare, nursing homes have learned how to skirt the issue. That is why you see this practice in 5 star rated nursing homes, as well as lower rated nursing homes.

As the US has tried to limit the use of antipsychotic drugs, nursing homes have turned to other drugs, like Depakote, which is for epilepsy and bipolar. These drugs also make people drowsy and subjected to possible falls. In no way do these drugs help people with dementia. Depakote is manufactured by Abbot Labs and whose salespeople were telling nursing homes that this drug would fly under the radar.

In a law suite against Abbot, Abbot agreed to pay the government in 2012, $1.5 billion for inappropriately marketing the drug Depakote to nursing homes. Yet, it is still used in nursing homes.

What can you do?

1. When you visit a nursing home, look the people in the eye and inquire about the use of antipsychotic drugs and other chemical drugs for dementia patients.

2. Ask about their staffing ratios for dementia patients during the week and on weekends.

3. Ask about the number of truly schizophrenia patients in their facility that are not dementia patients and whether there is separation of each in the facility.

4. Take a tore of the dementia wing and notice if people are drowsy, sleeping, or not up and about.

5. Take notes and ask lots of questions.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts if you or a loved one needs assistance at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

Booster Shots

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:28 GMT

Booster Shots

The CDC recommended and the FDA authorized last week that Americans with weakened immune systems who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine should get a booster dose. These individuals are less than 3% of Americans who didn't respond to the standard dose, according to the NYTIMES.

Countries are looking to what Israel does and who is giving "booster shots" to people over 60 and will soon offer them to people over 50.

Influential scientists say "booster shots" are not needed and unethical lacking real evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of the vaccines against disease and hospitalization.

There is a lot of confusion about boosters because the data hasn't appeared in published journals and the companies who are promoting it, are the same companies who will make millions of dollars if boosters are administered.

Please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com , if you need help with yourself or a loved one.

We are here to help!

To your health

How To Get More Fiber into Your Diet

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:28 GMT

How To Get More Fiber into Your Diet

On Wednesday the Federal Government released a report on longevity and how the coronavirus disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic lives. The report shows 600,000 Americans have perished and that Black and Hispanic people suffered the largest decline in 2020 in life expectancy than White Americans.

Between 2019 and 2020, Hispanic Americans life expectancy dropped 3 years, compared to Black Americans who witnessed a 2.9 year drop and White Americans who had the least life expectancy drop by 1.2 years.

This can change by getting vaccinated and eating healthy. Many Americans are not getting enough fiber and as a result, are experiencing symptoms of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. What can you do? Eat more Nuts!!! Nuts contain healthy proteins, nutrients, and fats, including polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids.

Studies have shown that heart disease, cancer, diabetes, colon cancer, brain health and osteoarthritis improve when we eat more healthy fiber, like nuts.

For example,

Hazelnuts: have been shown to reduce inflammation because they contain high amounts of manganese which has shown to help fight osteoarthritis and certain cancers.

Almonds: have been shown to reduce heart disease and control blood sugars for people who have diabetes.

Pecans: Contain zinc and calcium which have had an impact on lowering blood pressure.

Pistachios: These contain B6 which regulates blood sugar, and they also contain two elements which control vision, lutein and zeaxanthin.

Peanuts: A legume, which improves heart and colon health.

Walnuts: A powerhouse nut that improves brain health in older individuals. They also boost heart health and lower the risk of acquiring colon cancer.

Eat a handful of nuts several times a week. Please do not over do it, because nuts are fattening!!

As always, please contact Health Advocate Experts if you have a health concern.

Our mission is to take on your concerns and solve your problems.

To your Health!!!!

Shining A Light on Alzheimer's Disease

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:27 GMT

Shining A Light on Alzheimer's Disease

We just hear the word "Alzheimer's Disease", and we cringe. But, what I want to share today is that it may be possible to understand the early warning signs of this disease, and reverse course.

1. Worry of any kind that you constantly engage in. Scientists have found that "worriers" have plaques in their brains, which can cause dementia.

2. Trouble speaking and forgetting words. We all at times forget a word, which will come back to us at some point. But, if this phenomenon occurs constantly, you may have aphasia, an early sign of Alzheimer's.

3. Lack of interest in hobbies. If you used to play an instrument, and suddenly lost interest, this would be concerning. This is because, knitting and musical instruments require memory which is important to use throughout life.

4. Loss of interest in managing your finances. This too requires memory, so if you give this up, or can't remember when bills are due, you could be facing dementia.

5. Forgetting where you are, or are going. Scientists are not speaking about having a bad sense of direction, but rather, forgetting where you are or, how to get somewhere you have gone daily. This may be concerning.

6. Fragmented thoughts. Very concerning would be not remembering a recent conversation, or major events that took place, like a wedding. If this occurs, it is time to see your doctor.

7. Lack of interest in social events. When you used to love to speak to everyone, and now do not even want to meet up with friends and chat, this would be worrisome.

8. No longer able to plan. This includes, the inability of planning a birthday dinner, or a plane ride to visit family, might be a sign of Alzheimer's Disease. It's the lack of interest in, and the struggle with decision-making.

If you find a loved one cannot do one or two of these activities anymore, please see your doctor. While pharmaceutical companies are engaged in multiple studies to see what medicine will help, other alternative doctors have seen promise with at least several natural substances. It is also helpful to cut out sugar. and reduce the level of inflammation in your body with vitamins, such as, curcumin and possibly fish oil.

These suggestions may not work for everyone, but if they worked for some people, that is wonderful.

Please don't hesitate to contact Health Advocate Experts

To your health

Health Care News

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:24 GMT

Health Care News

There is a lot of news going on in health care and I will highlight the findings below.

First of all, Covid-19 hospitalized patients are now receiving rhemes of bills!!! People are spending hours on the phone trying to get codes changed and speak with doctors and hospital personnel. They are frustrated and confused, and this is where a health advocate could be helpful . We know how to look at bills, obtain code changes, negotiate the bill down, and look for unusual charges. The reason codes of Covid 19 must be used is because the insurance company will pay the full bill, but, if the bill is not coded properly, the patient’s deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments will apply. This is serious because some hospitals are going after some patients’ estates to get paid.

If you are struggling with hospital or doctor bills, please reach out to Health Advocate Experts. Our mission is to help you receive the health care and insurance benefits you deserve. We can help!

Secondly, during Covid -19, most people did not go to a dentist, and allowed poor oral health to take root. The mouth holds lots of bacteria, microorganisms and foods that interact with other parts of the body. Eating a poor diet, destroys the micro-biome, and it is only recently that scientists have begun to understand how the health of our mouth is a microcosm of our overall health. For example, gum disease has been linked to Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, and heart disease. What we eat, how we live, and our financial security is inextricably linked to our overall health, social and psychological well-being. Please see your dentist.

Third, gene therapy is moving forward! Scientists have partly restored sight to a blind man while he wore clumsy goggles and it is the result of 13 years of work. Scientists “built light-catching proteins in one eye” which allowed the man to partly see.

This is exciting news and was published in the Journal Nature’s Medicine.

This work will lead potentially to new medicines and replications.

If you are struggling and worried about your health or a loved one,

please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

A Confounding Disease Hits Children

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:23 GMT

A Confounding Disease Hits Children

While it is rare for children to get Covid-19, they are being bombarded with a far more mysterious disease that doctors have named Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) in children aged newborn through age 20.

These children never had Covid-19, but they are presenting with inflamed hearts, arteries, abdominal pain, shortness of breath and vomiting. They could have four organs with inflammation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led one of the largest studies of its kind and found:

1. After reviewing over 1,700 cases, over 75% of children never had Covid-19.

2. They only included in the study, those children who were hospitalized.

3. Many of the children required treatment in Intensive Care Units.

4. 86% of patents were less than 15.

5. Kids aged 10 and older, required much more intense care for symptoms like shock, inflammation of the heart muscle, low blood pressure.

6. Some patients had coronary aneurysms and fluid build-up.

7. Children 14 and older, had red eyes, shortness of breadth, and also likely to have chest pain, vomiting, abdominal pain and a cough.

8. Of the 1,075 patients CDC had medical information on, there median age was 11.

9. Most patients came from the northeast, and 34% of patients were black, 37% were Hispanic and 20% were white. Only 1% of Asians were patients in the study.

This is a heartbreaking syndrome and no one yet knows why children are getting this Syndrome.

If you are struggling in any way, please contact Health Advocate Experts. Our clients have been thrilled with out services.

Email us at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

To your health!!!

Your Health Care Rights

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:23 GMT

Your Health Care Rights

Today I want to share with you your rights as a patient. Yes, you do have rights even though it may seem you may not. When you sit in a doctors’ office as a patient undressed in a paper robe, it feels very demoralizing when the doctor comes in fully dressed. It seems like an unbalanced relationship of power. But in reality, you have a lot of POWER. Let’s review it now.

1. You are entitled to make voluntary decisions about your health, your treatment and whether you want the treatment at all. This is called informed consent. As long as you are cognizant and competent, you can make your own choices about your health. This is true in a Hospital, Nursing Home, if you are receiving Palliative Care or Home Health Care.

2. You have the right to keep your health information private. Every time you visit a doctor for the first time, you are given a HIPAA form (Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act) detailing how the office is keeping your health care information private. When you visit a pharmacy, you need to stand far back so that the people in front of you can transact business without others hearing what medicines they are picking up. This law requires insurance companies, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, and other health entities to establish the privacy rule, security rule, the transaction and code set rule and unique identifier rule to their patients or clients health information. Additionally, the law permits you to receive your health record if you request it without any problems.

3. When you are competent, this is when you have the power to establish under what circumstances you would want treatment if you were deemed incompetent. The law governing this is called The Self Determination Act and it urges you to establish:

a. A Power of Attorney for Health Care -this is a person you select who will make your health care decisions for you if you become incompetent. You need a financial planner/lawyer to establish this.

b. A Living Will which details under which circumstances you would or would not want care. A financial planner/lawyer would help establish this too.

And together, these two elements comprise an Advanced Directive that can be executed if you become incompetent.

4. You also have a right to file a complaint with your insurer and/or the health insurance department within your state. Under the McCarran Fergusson Act of 1935, you have this authority. The Department of Insurance within your state will investigate your complaint and get back to you on the outcome.

You also have the right to hire a Health Advocate who can take on your health care challenges and resolve them adequately. If you need a health care bill negotiated, an insurance denial approved, or you need to find a new physician, nursing home or other health care provider, Health Advocate Experts can help.

Please send us an email at info@healthadvocateexperts.com and we will respond.

In the meantime, please stay healthy and get vaccinated!!!!

Buckle UP All Who Rely ON The CMS Ratings for Nursing Homes

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:22 GMT

Buckle UP All Who Rely ON The CMS Ratings for Nursing Homes

On this past Sunday, in the New York Times was a 2 and ¼ page article entitled: “To Lift Ratings, Nursing Homes Shroud Neglect”. Of course, I read every word of it, and it was mind blowing.

This blog is for all you older people who look at these rating for choosing a nursing home, and all the children of older parents who rely on these ratings. So, buckle up, here are the findings.

1. Most of the information submitted from nursing homes to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is not truthful. Nursing homes appear “safer and cleaner” than they are.

2. Nursing homes include in their staff people who are on vacation, thereby raising the staff to patient ratio. Also, many patients are on antipsychotics, and those statistics are understated. And the safety of nursing homes usually goes unreported, like accidents among patients.

3. Five-star quality of care nursing homes normally fail their in-person inspections as often as they master them. The CMS does not review the self-reporting of five-star nursing homes. In five-star homes, there were bed sores, abuse, and neglect, but reviewers rarely lowered their scores.

4. Some nursing homes know when the CMS will be inspecting them and then they raise their staffing to camouflage what is really going on.

Many nursing homes during the pandemic, were busy raising their ratings, but not their quality of care. This is concerning information. You now can see why over 130,000 nursing home residents died of Covid-19, according to the New York Times. In doing this report, the New York times looked at the elements encompassing the rating system. The CMS reviews over 15,000 nursing homes and measures, their quality, staffing and self-reported data from the nursing home.

Now that you understand the issues and rating system, what can you do to move forward?

a. Visit the nursing homes in your area and speak with the staff and patients that reside there.

b. Be mindful of the smells, cleanliness, meals, activities and social aspects.

c. Asks friends and neighbors what facilities they have their parents in?

d. Inquire about bed sores, abuse and neglect. Do not be shy.

e. Inquire about wings in the nursing home, for Alzheimer patients, bedridden patients, and walking patients.

And please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

We can certainly help you.

How Monoclonal Antibodies Help Covid

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:19 GMT

How Monoclonal Antibodies Help Covid

If you missed the news last night and you are at high risk for getting Covid19, please pay attention. If you or someone you know gets Covid19 symptoms, please call your doctor as soon as possible and ask for monoclonal antibodies. You must ask for these antibodies within 10 days of having symptoms.

Monoclonal antibodies keep you out of the hospital! Up to 70% of monoclonal antibodies within States, have gone unused.

In Imperial County in California, a hotspot for the coronavirus last June, now is a leader in using monoclonal antibodies.

Over 500 people got the antibodies and half the people didn't get hospitalized.

The key is asking your doctor for them within 10 days of showing symptoms.

Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

Healthcare.gov is Reopening

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:15 GMT

Healthcare.gov is Reopening

Healthcare.gov is opening on February 15th for people without health insurance to obtain it for a 90 day period. States that have their own marketplaces will reopen them. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately 15,000,000 people lack health insurance and about 4 million may qualify for a $0 premium plan.

The Trump Administration had permitted insurance companies to market plans that didn't meet the The Health Insurance Affordable Care Act benefits. As a result, several plans flourished with offering low premiums, no deductibles and barely paid a claim. Complete Fraud!!!

Please, if you do not have health insurance sign up during this 90 day period. It could be the best decision you ever made.

If you need help in choosing an insurance plan or have a health care issue, please contact Health Advocate Experts, by calling 858-299-5025, or email us at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

Too your Health!!!!

Be Careful, it is Open Season

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:14 GMT

Be Careful, it is Open Season

It is open season for choosing a health plan and small insurance firms are seeking your money. Please be cautious. If you come across an ad for low cost health insurance and you call the number on the advertisement, be suspicious. Since the Trump Administration has permitted insurance companies to offer policies that do not include all the benefits The Affordable Care Act offers, a whole host of smaller companies have spurted up offering tantalizing premiums without deductibles and copayments.

If you come across a salesperson promising you a PPO without deductibles and copayments, please do not purchase this policy!!! They will not pay for your medicine or services if you should get sick. I have seen this happen with a previous client who thought they were purchasing a PPO for about $440/month for he and his wife. When she had an unexpected emergency visit and the charge was well over $14,000, the insurance company paid a measly $50.

This is not health insurance. In my opinion it is fraudulent to be told you have a PPO and when you get sick, not have an insurer who steps up.

If you should be in a situation like this with a salesperson, below are questions you should ask and be happy with their answers in order to move forward.

1. What is the name of the insurance company providing this policy?

2. Will I get a copy of the actual policy?

3. Will this company pay for my doctor visits, medicine, and procedures?

4. If they say yes, ask for references.

5. How long has this company been in business and what is the retention rate of clients?

6. Has the insurer been fined, or cited by the State Insurance Department or Insurance Commissioner?

Here is to choosing a good policy and to Your Health!

Corona Virus Tests Have Lots of False/Positives

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:13 GMT

Corona Virus Tests Have Lots of False/Positives

On August 29th the New York Times ran a post called "Your Corona Virus Test Is Positive, Maybe It Shouldn't Be" The whole crux of the article is about the sensitivity of the nose swab test. When this test is sent to the lab, it is the lab's protocols on how many cycles they do of the test for it to be deemed positive or negative. The nose swab test is called the PCR test and it provides a yes or no answer to the physician on whether you have the Corona Virus.

What doctors and researchers are now miffed about is why they don't know the number of cycles the test went through which determines the viral load. Many labs put the test through 40 cycles to identify the virus. By doing that, many people who are diagnosed as having the virus may have remnants of an old virus, or a very small amounts of the Corona Virus and which may never amount to any symptoms. Yet, this is being counted in statistics. Many doctors feel the test cycles should be set to 30 or 35 and the viral load information should be sent to physicians.

According to Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health said:

“We’ve been using one type of data for everything, and that is just plus or minus — that’s all,” Dr. Mina said. “We’re using that for clinical diagnostics, for public health, for policy decision-making.”

But yes-no isn’t good enough, he added. It’s the amount of virus that should dictate the infected patient’s next steps. “It’s really irresponsible, I think, to forgo the recognition that this is a quantitative issue,” Dr. Mina said.

According to a review by the New York Times, in three sets of data analyzed in the states of Nevada, Massachusetts, and New York, according to state officials up to 90% of people tested carried barely any virus. This should give us all pause, because the numbers being touted by the media, can be up to 90% off. As a result of this article, doctors and researchers are suggesting we should be using the rapid test. While this test is more sensitive, and some people with the virus may not be identified, it would identify those with a high virus load.

Please reach out to Health Advocate Experts if you need any assistance.

To your health!!!!!

I Can't Stand By And Let People Die

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:10 GMT

I Can't Stand By And Let People Die

I am a health advocate in San Diego, CA. I love my job because I solve people’s health care problems. But recently I got involved in a client situation in which an 80-year-old woman, who was a mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend, passed away from Corona virus. This woman lived in her own home but had broken her leg and was put in a nursing home in May for rehabilitation services. Let’s call this woman Deb.

Deb did not want the rehabilitation because she was in a lot of pain. She would do it sometimes and refuse at other times. By the end of September, she developed Covid-19 with about 19 other residents in this facility. She was transferred to Kaiser Hospital and was there about 5 days when the Hospital wanted to send her back to the Covid-19 filled facility.

That is when my client hired me. We both thought is was highly inappropriate for a patient to be transferred back to a Covid-19 hotspot. Deb went into the Hospital on the last Tuesday in September. We were involved in applying to Medicare to let her remain in the Hospital until we found an appropriate alternative.

By Sunday, October 3rd she took a turn for the worse, and was placed in Compassionate Care, and died by Monday. On Sunday, I spoke with Deb’s Kaiser Hospital physician who explained in detail what had happened to Deb. I also spoke to the doctor about why she would want to send a patient with improving Covid-19 symptoms, back to a nursing home that had a Covid-19 problem.

The doctor explained it was the only facility that had private rooms and once someone had Covid-19, she told me that a person cannot get it again. Really?

That is not what the experts are saying. This is the first concerning thing about these events and the next concerning issue, is that the number of Covid-19 cases in this nursing home has skyrocketed in just a few days! As of Friday, October 2nd, this nursing home had 31 staff with Covid-19 and 36 patients with Covid-19. Two or three days prior to October 2nd, 19 patients had Covid-19.

After Deb died, I could not stand idly by and allow older patients to die. I phoned 3 different San Diego Public Health Facilities, getting nowhere. I also called the Director of the Public Health Service in San Diego, Dr. Wilma Wooten and did not hear back from her.

I have so many questions that are not being answered, like:

1. Who is taking care of the patients if so many of the staff have Covid-19?

2. Have any of the patients passed away from Covid-19 in the nursing home?

3. How is the nursing home handling Covid-19 patients?

4. What kind of care are they receiving?

5. Who is providing care?

6. What protocols are being put in place to keep patients and staff safe?

7. How did Covid-19 spread in this Nursing Home?

8. Why would a major insurance company transfer patients to a place that has a huge Covid-19 outbreak?

These are just some of the questions. I have others. I can’t stand idly by. I need answers.

One thing that stands out to me is why during Dr. Wooten’s Wednesday TV appearance about the Corona virus she did not bring up this nursing home or any others that are hot spots, when asked about hot spots in San Diego.

Let’s keep our eyes out to see if she mentions any nursing homes this week.

One Giant Step Forward for Consumers

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:09 GMT

One Giant Step Forward for Consumers

Last evening the Berkeley City Council executed a historic vote by passing the country’s first check out policy to place healthy food near the register. This will set in motion a policy to improve food retail across this nation!!

The Center for the Science in the Public Interest was behind this effort. They have been successful in removing soda from schools and dyes from food. They are a 501 (c) 3 organization and do not take industry or lobbyist money.

In case you are unaware, food manufacturers spend more than $50 billion yearly promoting products that occupy visibly on shelf space in markets. The most expensive place in a store is the checkout line, where every customer must go. This is a huge win for Berkeley consumers. The only reason this got passed is because of the advocacy work of the Berkeley consumers who overcame giant food manufacturer lobbyists.

This was a total grassroot effort by consumers!

This new policy applies to food stores with more than 2,500 square feet. No longer will candy and sugar beverages be near the checkout space, instead fruit, nuts, beans, dairy, and whole grains will gain more notoriety.

If American’s can commit to eating whole foods instead of a processed diet of white flour, fried foods, sugar, and salty chips, we would be a nation of healthy people. Our bodies do not recognize some of the food we eat. We would have less obese people getting Covid, and more people healthy in their later years.

If you need assistance changing your diet, contact Health Advocate Experts at 858 299 5025, or Email us at info@healthadvocateexperts.com .

We are passionate about Health!!

When Profit Interferes With Patients Health

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:08 GMT

When Profit Interferes With Patients Health

I am commenting on an article in the New York Times on 9/20/2020 about Nursing Homes who seek to remove low income Medicaid recipients from their facilities. Many of their Medicaid patients have the big "D", Dementia. And, if you know anything about dementia patients, they sometimes get angry.

Apparently, Nursing Homes in California, Texas, Kansas and other states, have evicted Medicaid patients with dementia for a minor outburst to Hospital phycological wards, homeless shelters, or to Behavioral Health Facilities for treatment. When the hospital or other entity tells the Nursing Home there is no treatment required, the Nursing Facility refuses to take back the patient. Why, you may ask?

Because the Nursing Home may be getting $400 a day for caring for the Medicaid dementia patient, and $1,000 or more per day for a Medicare dementia patient. According to the article, Federal law mandates nursing homes follow strict guidelines when evicting patients. They are required to:

1. provide a 30 day notice, and

2. a plan to transfer the patient to another nursing home that could meet his or her needs.

But, many nursing homes flout these guidelines, because they are never penalized. This is even when the nursing home is told to take back the patient they evicted, they rarely do. The only thing a State Health Care Agency can do, is fine the Nursing Home $50/day for each day of refusal. This is hardly a slap on the hand.

Why should Medicaid patients be treated any differently than private pay, or Medicare patients? Would you label this as another form of discrimination? Even in healthcare, low income patients are often not welcome.

This has got to change! Health care is an equal right that all people are entitled to, regardless of the insurance you possess.

A Message To All Patients-We Have Your Back

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:07 GMT

A Message To All Patients-We Have Your Back

As a Health Advocate, I am appalled at the medical establishment when it tells patients that when they are suffering, and all their testing is normal, that their symptoms are psychological. I know many of you are in pain, hurting, feeling alone, not heard, and scared. You deserve better and a provider who will get at the root cause of your situation.

Perhaps you need a health advocate who will work on your behalf to have the medical establishment listen to your concerns, allay your fear and deal with your pain and suffering. If you keep seeking the same situation, a different hospital or the same kind of medical provider and are not satisfied, then just like in business, entertainment, and the biotech industries, when you hit a wall, your strategy needs to take a different course, maybe something unfamiliar, but better for your situation.

Well, Health Advocate Experts may be your answer. We understand and feel your fear and the feeling of not being heard, and we recognize when a whole different approach is required. We only ask the following of you:

1. Please leave your ego at the door

2. Trust us to do the right thing, and

3. Be open-minded

At the start, we do an in-depth intake and learn about your medical, legal, insurance and support systems. We then develop a care plan that you must agree with for us to move forward.

It is important that we work as partners and agree ahead of time on what we want the outcome to be. You deserve the best care available and our allegiance is to you. And, when you work with us, you will never be alone because we have your back!!

Call us at 858 299 5025, or email us at info@healthadvocateexperts.com

Costs Of Covid Cases Are On The Rise

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:07 GMT

Costs Of Covid Cases Are On The Rise

Even though we are only 4% of the world's population, the United States has one of the largest cases of Covid 19 cases ever, with more than 6 million cases as of August 30, 2020 and over 184,000 deaths. Since colleges have opened up, now the virus has showed up. While the spread of the virus continues, more and more people are:

1. filing for unemployment benefits,

2. going to bed hungry and,

3. wondering how they will pay the rent, as one more problem takes hold.

People are now getting Bills from the hospital for Covid 19 care.

What you might not know, is that the Trump Administration started a program in the Spring of this year and said since people were losing their health insurance from being unemployed, the federal government would pay for their Covid stay in the hospital if that was the main reason for which they were admitted.

The problem with this program, is that most people do not know about it and many people who went to the hospital, might have been there because of Covid, but their medical records say the main reason is for underlying health conditions. You can imagine that many of the bills exceed $20,000 and $30,000 and the federal government will not pay a dime if your main reason for being in the hospital was not for Covid.

If you are under stress about these bills, please consider contacting Health Advocate Experts. Yes, we charge for our services, but health advocates can save you a lot of money on hospital bills.

Overall, reimbursements from the federal government to all 50 states has amounted to $851,000,000, of which $267,000,000 was for testing and $584,000,000 was for treatment. Texas and and New Jersey received the most reimbursements, according to the New York Times.

Yet, the Kaiser Foundation estimates that hospital costs for the uninsured could exceed a staggering $13.9 Billion to over $48 Billion dollars, much more than has been reimbursed by the Federal Government.

What will you do if you receive an outrageous bill?

I hope you would contact Health Advocate Experts. We take on people's health care challenges, so you can lead a stress- free life.

Please contact us today.

Cancer Care

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:04 GMT

Cancer Care

I wanted to bring you the latest information about hospitals that are best at treating cancer.

I read a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 26, 2020.

And the findings are word for word from the investigation team which included the following people:

Daniel J. Boffa, MD1 ; Katherine Mallin, PhD2 ; Jeph Herrin, PhD3,4 ; et al Benjamin Resio, MD1 ; Michelle C. Salazar, MD1 ; Bryan Palis, MA2 ; Matthew Facktor, MD5 ; Ryan McCabe, PhD2 ; Heidi Nelson, MD6 ; Lawrence N. Shulman, MD7

I am not going to go through how they arrived at their conclusions, but following is the question they were trying to answer:

Question Are there differences in survivorship between top-ranked cancer hospitals and affiliates that share a top-ranked hospital’s brand?

The Finding: In this cohort study of 119, 834 patients who underwent surgical treatment for esophageal, gastric, lung, pancreatic, colorectal, and bladder cancer, risk of 90-day mortality after complex cancer treatment was higher and long-term survival was inferior at affiliate hospitals.

The bottom line is that the study found that cancer surgical treatment at top ranked cancer hospitals, as defined by US News and World Reports list of Top Best Hospitals, was superior to that of their affiliates.

US News rated University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as the number one Cancer Hospital in their 2109/2020 list.

The Virus That Never Stops Surprising Us

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:03 GMT

The Virus That Never Stops Surprising Us

Have you ever wondered what researchers have learned about Covid-19 patients?

Well, here is a rundown and it is not pretty. Buckle up and read on.

1. In the first ever genetic statistical study by European geneticists, a link has been found between a gene and blood type. People with type A blood have a 50% chance of going on a respirator or needing oxygen. A Chinese study also suggested blood types play a part in who gets really sick, and they found that Type A blood was in that group.

2. People with chronic diseases, like heart and diabetes, have a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 and having a rough time.

3. Age also plays a part in contacting the disease. Older people whose immune system is weaker get the disease and a severe case more often.

4. Now researchers are learning that some people who go on respirators come off with debilitating conditions that will put pressure on hospital and rehab facilities. Many patients will have serious problems like post intensive care issues, such as cognitive, neurological, and muscular needs for years. It is estimated that 90% of patients on ventilators progress to having acute kidney problems with 25% requiring kidney dialysis. These people have nowhere to go and often remain in hospitals taking up a bed, that a cancer or surgery patient may need.

Please be safe out there and stay 6 feet apart. I am sure more data will be emerging as more studies worldwide are done.

I Thought Our Health Care System Was The Best in the World

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:02 GMT

I Thought Our Health Care System Was The Best in the World

This is a different time. The entire country is in lock down. Businesses, movie theaters, hotels, museums, sporting events, concerts, and seminars are all closed. Our health care system is in crisis. We can see gaping holes in the system, yet, we supposedly were told that we had the best health care system in the world.

What went wrong?

First , we are not a manufacturing country. We don’t manufacture all the gowns, gloves and masks that front line health care workers need. A lot of it comes from China. If you think we should rethink this, I would like to hear from you . Also, many of the parts for manufacturing ventilators also comes from China. We don’t control the process.

Second , not everybody has health insurance and many people lost their insurance since being laid off. The laid – off population can continue to receive health care through their employer through COBRA, or, The Consolidated Budget Reconciliation Act. The catch is that you are responsible to pay the entire cost of your plan, plus 2% for administrative costs.

My guess is that most people will not choose to do that given that many people will not have the money to pay for health insurance, rent, or mortgages, kids, food and drugs. This is no small problem given that already 28% of the existing population does not have health care insurance.

Now the Trump Administration has permitted insurers to write policies that do not cover the Affordable Care Act. Many are stripped down policies that only cover major catastrophes. I would not recommend most of them.

Third , our public health departments are in shambles. Public Health Departments need to be built up and funded. They are the backbone of community pandemics. There should be a Public Health Department in each city of the country. The fact that they have been defunded has left many with a bare bone staff.

Fourth , there are a whole lot of people who are sick with heart attacks, chronic diseases and cancer. I would like to hear your experiences during this pandemic . How are you getting treatment? Do you feel the health care system is available to support your needs? Is your doctor available to treat you?

Fifth , with Right leaning countries, from the US, to Britain, India, China, Russia, and Israel, the attitude is Country First. Rather than working together to find a cure for COVID 19, countries are working separately and hoping they reign supreme.

This is a time when collaboration internationally between scientists, pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies would benefit us all.

You can reach me at info@healthadvocateexperts.com I look forward to your responses.

Introducing: What Is A Health Advocate?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:01 GMT

Introducing: What Is A Health Advocate?

I recently I saw a statistic that 80% of Americans do not know what a health advocate is. So, I have tried to explain it below.

We are advisers, consultants, engineers, negotiators, mediators, and leaders. We color outside the lines and push boundaries. We see details that other's miss. We have a toolbox filled with items that permit us to solve health care problems. We have a support system of other health advocates to help us with difficult issues. We understand health care and insurance laws, as well as, patient rights.

We follow an ethical code of conduct that we don't waiver from. We are empathetic, understanding and dedicated to the clients we serve. This is who we are.

Now, why should you hire Health Advocate Experts ? Because we understand health care and are committed to resolving your issues.

We have worked in the health care field, with the government, consulting to big health care organizations, developing and managing product lines for a health insurer and for a large HMO. We understand the organization of health care, case management and care management systems. We have Master's and undergraduate degrees in health care and our passion is health and nutrition.

Here are the facts:

1. When you go to the doctor to get a diagnoses, or to explain your symptoms, you feel vulnerable and want help. You only remember between 5% and 10% of what a doctor says. That is why Health Advocate Expert s goes with you to ask important questions and to document the visit.

2. If you need a hospital stay, please bring Health Advocate Experts with you. You should never be in the hospital alone. According to the Institute of Medicine, there have been over 440,000 ERRORS that occur in hospitals each year. While many hospitals have gotten better at controlling errors, patients get operated on the wrong eye, leg or arm. They get th e wrong food, or medicine and wrong procedure. This why Health Advocate Experts needs to be with you to make sure errors do not occur.

Also, if you have Medicare, Health Advocate Experts must be with you to speak to the physician about how he/she is coding your stay. This has implications as to whether Medicare will pay for it and whether You can go onto a Rehab Facility if need be and it is paid for.

3. If your insurer did not cover you for a procedure you had or the hospital stay included a huge bill you did not expect, please hire Health Advocate Expert s. We have a particularly good understanding of insurers and we know who to contact to negotiate your hospital stay.

4. If a physician is not understanding your concerns and you are worried, please hire Health Advocate Experts . We are able to work with your physician to come to a mutual understanding, or we can find you a second opinion.

5. We can help you navigate a health care system that is based on "sickness", "profit", and "non-transparent".

In all of these situations, our allegiance as a private health advocate, is to you, the client.

Health Advocate Experts , also offers a low cost program to people who tend to be single. Most have full lives with friends, driving, eating out, and working out, but when life decisions come, have no one to talk to. At different ages, different needs arise.

For example, we helped a 30 year old with social issues and a 50 year old with losing 50 lbs. If your mom or dad lives alone, please sign her or him up. We will make sure we contact her/him.

Here is to your health and staying strong during this health care crisis!!!!

California and the Coronavirus

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:59 GMT

California and the Coronavirus

Please be thankful for the small things, like being healthy, being able to workout from home and being creative about it. Be thankful for being nourished, and emotionally supported by friends and family.

Be thankful for the outdoors and for flowers beginning to bloom, the rain, clean water, and having a car and gas to get you from point A to point B.

What can you do to entertain yourself besides watching TV? Put on your favorite music and dance, get moving.

Clean your house especially doorknobs, water spouts and light switches which we take for granted. Be creative and try embarking on something you have put off, like writing something special, eating more fruits and vegetables and creating interesting dishes which seems so hard, or begin a knitting class from an on-line group, and of course, read more!

While we have so much to be thankful for, remember that close to 7 million Californians don't have enough money to sustain their basic needs. And another 7.2 million live just above the poverty line for their County and are teetering on the brink of collapse. The closure of restaurants, beauty salons, nail outlets, movie theatres and bars will increase the number of people who cannot survive without a steady income.

In fact, according to Jesse Rothstein, a Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley., "Very few Americans have cushions to be able to live for months without pay, and low-wage workers, even less so." People are not only scared about getting Covid 19, but also of being out of work.

NPR, PBS News hour reported last week that 18% of American adults and 25% of people making below $50,000 yearly, had lost their jobs last week or hours, thereby worrying about financial catastrophes.

This can lead to sickness. At least in California, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to ban residential and commercial evictions through May 31st. This should give some help to many Californians.

The other problem is, while this Covid 19 virus is on most people's minds, there still are people who are not well with other ailments and who could benefit from the services of a health advocate, like Healt h Adv ocate Experts .

Please know, that Health Advocate Experts is available to help you with your health care needs. We empathize and are results driven. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Here is to everyone's financial and human health. We stand with you!!

If You Thought It Was Normal to Lose Your Hearing,Think Again

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:58 GMT

If You Thought It Was Normal to Lose Your Hearing, Think Again

There is a new link between loss of hearing and Alzheimer’s disease. We used to think it was normal as we aged that hearing decreased exponentially in our 70s. But the key thing is hearing that slowly gets bad and garbles your frontal cortex for many, many years.

In November of 2019, the Otolaryngology Journal of the American Medical Association published a study of 6,400 people aged 50 and older.

They measured hearing and cognitive performance. The relationship between hearing loss and poor performance on cognitive tests begin the moment imperfect hearing begins. This is startling.

In 1989 at the University of Washington, there was initial evidence linking hearing loss and dementia. Doctors compared 100 people who had Alzheimer’s like dementia with 100 people who didn’t. They noticed that the patients who had Alzheimer’s like symptoms were in direct proportion to the amount of hearing loss the patient suffered.

Fast forward to 2017 when the Lancet Medical Journal reviewed all the risk factors attributed to Alzheimer’s Disease. Hearing loss was the biggest factor, accounting for 9% of all current diagnoses.

The issue is when does a given person start hearing less, because our brains cells are complex and interconnected, and hearing loss has been shown to have brain tissue atrophy in the auditory regions.

Doctors and scientists do not yet know if treating someone’s hearing loss with a hearing aid will prevent Alzheimer’s, and they don’t know if treating someone in their 50’s with mild hearing loss will make a difference.

The best thing we can teach young children is to have “hearing fitness” and to not blast the music they are listening to in their ears. Remember, one loud sound can change the trajectory of someone’s hearing for a lifetime.

What You Need to Know About the Mediterranean Diet

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:58 GMT

What You Need to Know About the Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet has scored so many awards and just scored a new one!! Before we talk about its accolades, let’s discuss what it is.

The Mediterranean Diet is based on eating lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes (which include: Chickpeas. Beans. Peas. Lentils, Lupins .), Olive Oil, Fish, Whole Grains, a little Red Meat, and a tad of Sugar. This diet does not include any of the processed foods like chips, crackers, and pretzels.

Already the Mediterranean Diet has been lauded for reducing the risk of

· Diabetes

· High Cholesterol

· Dementia

· Memory Loss,

· Depression, and

· Breast Cancer

Now a new study which is part of a larger randomized controlled study of 1,200 people named the European Project on Nutrition in Elderly People or NU-AGE started in 2012. The age of the participants in the study were between the age of 65 to 79.

This new study was published in the British Medical Journal and found that those people on the Mediterranean Diet for 1 year had changed the makeup of their microbiome which led to improved brain function and longevity.

The takeaway is that this diet can inhibit the production of inflammatory chemicals that result in cognitive decline and improve the quality of our gut bacteria. This diet can also prevent atherosclerosis and induce healthier aging. Anytime we reduce inflammation in our bodies, we are improving our health.

Furthermore, our microbiome play an important role in our health and how we feel. According to scientists, about 60 tons of food enters the human digestive tract over our lifetime! Our microbiome is made up of billions of different bacteria, both good bacteria and bad bacteria.

We want more good bacteria than bad bacteria and this diet can help change the makeup of our microbiome. Our gut bacteria determine how well we absorb nutrients, the functionality of our immune system and our energy levels.

This study has further shown that as we age, the quality of our microbiome is reduced. If elderly people eat a poor diet, it shows up in their mouth and inflammation in their bodies. This is especially concerning for elderly who live alone or in residential facilities.

To change your diet and see the result, get your c-reactive protein measured before and after you begin this diet. That will tell you the level of inflammation in your body and how it has improved.

You can have so much fun with this diet socializing with others. Invite people over for brunch, or dinner and wow them with an amazing meal of roasted vegetables, fruit, fish, or eggs, or beans and quinoa. Get cooking…..

Why Health Advocates Are Needed More Than Ever

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:55 GMT

Why Health Advocates Are Needed More Than Ever

Let's get down to business. The Coronavirus, pharmacists making fatal mistakes, hospitals in southern California shielding themselves from announcing new, fatal bacteria lurking in their facilities with no cure.

These were some of the articles that graced the New York Times over the past for months. But, today I am going to review the data of a new report about Pharmacists across the US, who are making fatal mistakes and blame it on not enough staff in the pharmacy department. What has been happening, is that patients were receiving the wrong medication from CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Publix.

The article mentioned a women in Florida who was dying in a hospital because a Publix pharmacy gave her a strong chemotherapy drug, rather than her antidepressant the prescription asked for. And CVS tried to compensate a young couple whose 4 month old baby was given a steroid for two months, when the baby should have been given a reflux medicine.

While one error is way too many, Pharmacists across the country have been calling state boards and associations to report patient safety concerns due to having to do the impossible, too much work.

Errors are part of this profit-ridden system. Errors occur in every facet of the health care system. This why the profession of health advocates has blossomed. Our job is to prevent errors from occurring and to catch them before a mistake is made. We are not perfect either, but we do our best to ensure the very best for our clients.

Please consider hiring a Health Advocate before you get a procedure, go to the doctor, get a medication, or go into a hospital or rehab facility. Health Advocate Experts can help you stay healthy!

Life Gives Us Exactly What We Need

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:54 GMT

Life Gives Us Exactly What We Need

Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes:

every mosquito,

every misfortune,

every red light,

every traffic jam,

every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),

every illness,

every loss,

every moment of joy or depression,

every addiction,

every piece of garbage,

every breath.

Every moment is the guru .

By Charlotte Joko Beck

If we become more observant and embrace what lessons life throws our way, we will become more enlightened as individuals. This is something I am going to take to heart.

As a private health advocate we have learned to color outside the lines. We follow rules of the health care system, but sometimes we need to go outside the rules. We know how to find the resources that system hides behind to get clients what they deserve! Sometimes we run into roadblocks, but we do not permit the health care system's imposed constraints prevent us from giving our clients what they need.

Recently I had a guru moment. I recently spent 8 hours in an emergency room with a client. I did help her in many ways, but during those 8 hours I didn't leave her side and while I was feeling hungry and tired, my client told me that she was so appreciative of my presence that she felt she got more respect and time with the medical staff.

That was a guru moment for me, because that complement taught me regardless of what my needs are, my clients needs matter most and I need to be 100% present every minute with clients.

Please share your guru moments, we can all learn valuable lessons!! Here's to the Gurus in all of us.

Should You Be Concerned About Germs?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:54 GMT

Should You Be Concerned About Germs?

Germs are everywhere. On doorknobs, key fobs, cell phones, in the air, on a plane, bus, and trolley. Most germs you will not die from, but some you can. Two New York Times articles meticulously document that our over reliance on antibiotics has led to drug –resistant bacteria that our current arsenal of antibiotics cannot address.

A lot of overuse has gotten into our food supply. When farmers treat animals with antibiotics and then slaughter them for the food chain, some sink into the food supply. And when citrus producers from Florida to California this year struggled with a super bug that turned their citrus green, their armor was to put antibiotics in the soil to treat these bugs.

Think again when you are eating an orange, tangerine, or grapefruit, it may be laced with antibiotics. I think this is a huge concern for all of us. Germs develop resistance to current antibiotics when threatened with extinction.

New super bugs are now in our hospitals and the major super bug is called Candida Auris. This is a fungus that has spread globally discreetly. Other super bugs in hospitals are called Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff. These are deadly super bugs that kill hospital patients. New York hospitals were one of the first to name facilities struggling with these super bugs.

These super bugs have spread to hospitals across the US, including California.

Just when we need the biotech and pharmaceutical industry to develop new drug resistant antibiotics, a large number of biotech firms are closing down. Pharmaceutical companies gain more profit in developing drugs for chronic diseases. Many have abandoned the development of antibiotics. This is quite alarming.

The Centers for Disease Control released statistics on November 13, 2019 that indicated “every 11 seconds someone in the US gets a resistant infection and someone dies every 15 minutes.” This is quite frightening! We need biotech firms and pharmaceutical companies to work together to fight these super bugs.

In the meantime, wash your hands often and do not touch your mouth or eyes without clean hands. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year!! From my heart to yours....

Job Loss Is Probable Under A Medicare For All Option

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:53 GMT

Job Loss Is Probable Under A Medicare For All Option

This is not an article to debate the merits of a “Medicare For All” proposal, but rather, it pertains to what no one is talking about - JOB LOSS!

The health care system has been a huge power of jobs.

According to the New York Times, jobs in healthcare increased during the Affordable Care Act from 1 in 12 to 1 in 9 Americans working in healthcare. How many people would lose their jobs if a Medicare For All program came to be, is anyone’s guess? According to an on-line Washington Post article “health care payers and providers in the United States spend about $496 billion on billing and insurance-related (BIR) costs, according to Center for American Progress estimates.”

This includes claims examiners, coders, billers, reconciliation examiners and fraud and abuse workers. Also included are overhead in hospitals for quality improvement. Experience Officers, risk managers, and more.

The Academy of Professional Coders has more than 165,000 members. That’s a large amount of people who could lose their jobs. It’s no secret that the health care system is bloated, in-transparent, and inefficient. Doctor offices alone employ 7 to 10 administrative staff to keep their practices running.

The Health Care System has powered the economy since the Great Recession. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for the system to become more efficient and have lower costs. But, do we need a $20.5 trillion new healthcare system to do it?

Will quality of care improve?

Will taxes have to be continually raised to support a public system?

Will doctors stay in the public system or flee to private practice?

Under the current system, we have already seen an entire industry of psychologists and psychiatrists reject the current system’s payment methodology, and now only take private paying clients.

Will this happen to primary care doctors in the public system whose rankings we need more of, not less of?

In time we will have answers to all these questions. In the meantime, your best bet is to hire a health advocate that you trust and could help you navigate the healthcare system.

Do You Like Your Health Insurance?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:52 GMT

Do You Like Your Health Insurance?

Most all policies today are major medical policies.

These policies were popular beginning in the 50s and 60s.

With this type of insurance, you pay a premium, deductible, coinsurance, and co-payments? With so much money coming out of your pocket, why are these policies roaring back under the Affordable Care Act?

The answer is profit! Insurance companies have to provide preventative benefits, mental health care coverage, and other benefits that you receive, and cannot price a policy differently for people who have pre-existing conditions. Yet, they can price a policy differently based on your age. Is this fair? No! As people age, they may be healthy and have to shoulder the cost of care for those who may be younger and sick. The Affordable Care Act traded age for pre-existing conditions.

Furthermore, these policies are old school.

Today, some HMOs and PPOs offer the same type of coverage with this model of care, but it doesn’t make sense. Health Maintenance Organizations became very popular as a result of the 1973 HMO Act that spurred their development. By 1975, approximately 6 million people were in HMOs and according to Health Affairs by 1990, that number swelled to 36.5 million enrollees.

Between 1978 and 1990 the number of HMOs surged too. By the 1980s, HMOs were being paid prospectively, so they were taking “risk” in managing people’s care. Most health insurers at the time also offered HMOs and were beginning to offer PPOs, or Preferred Provider Organizations. PPOs allowed people to choose their own doctors and specialists within a network of physicians with whom the insurer contracted. During this time, enrollees in HMOs or a PPO, paid a premium and limited copayment as a result of having their care managed. While case management spread, there was little coordination between providers. Health Insurance was affordable at the time.

Today, health insurance is unaffordable. I pay close to $10,000 a year for a major medical policy I barely use. Yet, I have seen my premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance increase. Yes, I understand the population is aging, and as people age, many acquire disease, and most care is received in the last years of life. Health care costs have risen in this country and in 2017 health consumed over 17% of the GDP . Despite this, health insurers need to become more creative in offering different types of insurance policies.

Today, health insurance is unaffordable. Insurers want us to share in the cost of care not only for doctors, but for hospitals, lab, equipment, prescriptions, etc. So, what does an insurance premium buy you? The opportunity to pay more out of your pocket for care. Yes, I understand the population is aging, and as people age, many succumb to disease(s), and most care is received in the last years of life.

Health care costs have risen in this country astronomically and in 2017 consumed over 17% of the GDP. Despite this, health insurers need to become more creative in offering different types of insurance policies.

Welcome to My Blog

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:06:48 GMT

Your Healthcare Advocate

I am available to assist your health and insurance goals

Welcome to my blog

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Plans Offering Medicare, May Use Ai to Resolve Coverage

Plans Offering Medicare, May Use Ai to Resolve Coverage

Link Between Marathon Runners and Colon Cancer

Link Between Marathon Runners and Colon Cancer

DISEASES

Diseases

High Protein Diets

High Protein Diets

Dementia Diagnoses Will Grow Exponentially For a Few Decades

Dementia Diagnoses Will Grow Exponentially For a Few Decades

Everything from Broccoli to Muscle Imbalance and Mental Illness

Everything from Broccoli to Muscle Imbalance and Mental Illness

Broccoli

Muscle Imbalance

Mental Illness

Prediabetes is a National Concern

Prediabetes is a National Concern

﻿

Strong Relationship Between Cancer and Alcohol

Strong Relationship Between Cancer and Alcohol

There’s A New Tick Virus

There’s A New Tick Virus

COVID is Rising

COVID is Rising

This is Surprising, Two Bursts of Aging

This is Surprising, Two Bursts of Aging

Covid Wreaks Havoc On a Subset of Children

Covid Wreaks Havoc On a Subset of Children

Loneliness Is Detrimental to Health

Loneliness Is Detrimental to Health

Adult Day Care Centers

Adult Day Care Centers

Don't Throw Out Your Masks Yet!

Don't Throw Out Your Masks Yet!

Will Doctors Ever Learn

The Ugly Side of Menopause

The Ugly Side of Menopause

New Covid

New Covid ﻿

Is a Processed Diet Hijacking Your Health?

Is a Processed Diet Hijacking Your Health? ﻿

Long Term Care

Long Term Care ﻿

Depression

Depression ﻿

Our Health as We Age

Our Health as We Age ﻿

New Data Show Men Don't Go To Doctors

New Data Show Men Don't Go To Doctors ﻿

If You Have a Medicare Advantage Plan, Please Read This

If You Have a Medicare Advantage Plan, Please Read This ﻿

Superbugs Create Death in Hospital During Covid

Superbugs Create Death in Hospital During Covid ﻿

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant ﻿

Hopefully New Vaccines For a New Time

Hopefully New Vaccines For a New Time ﻿

Teenagers Trying To Commit Suicide

Teenagers Trying To Commit Suicide ﻿

Diabetes Has Fatal Consequences When It Collides with Covid

Diabetes Has Fatal Consequences When It Collides with Covid ﻿

Finally Some Doctors Acknowledge Long Covid-19 Symptoms

Finally Some Doctors Acknowledge Long Covid-19 Symptoms ﻿

Unaffiliated ER Insurance Doctors Cannot Bill You

Unaffiliated ER Insurance Doctors Cannot Bill You ﻿

Can Proteins In Those Who Exercise, Aid Those With Memory Issues?

Can Proteins In Those Who Exercise, Aid Those With Memory Issues? ﻿

Health Information That We All Can Jump For Joy Over

Health Information That We All Can Jump For Joy Over ﻿

Sepsis, Oh Know

Sepsis, Oh Know ﻿

Home Healthcare Aides Work Hard

Home Healthcare Aides Work Hard ﻿

Nursing Homes Are Drugging Dementia Patients

Nursing Homes Are Drugging Dementia Patients

Booster Shots

Booster Shots ﻿

How To Get More Fiber into Your Diet

How To Get More Fiber into Your Diet

New Covid

Is a Processed Diet Hijacking Your Health?

Long Term Care

Depression

Our Health as We Age

New Data Show Men Don't Go To Doctors

If You Have a Medicare Advantage Plan, Please Read This

Superbugs Create Death in Hospital During Covid

Why Are Health Advocates Important Today When We Weren’t Relevant

Hopefully New Vaccines For a New Time

Teenagers Trying To Commit Suicide

Diabetes Has Fatal Consequences When It Collides with Covid

Finally Some Doctors Acknowledge Long Covid-19 Symptoms

Unaffiliated ER Insurance Doctors Cannot Bill You

Can Proteins In Those Who Exercise, Aid Those With Memory Issues?

Health Information That We All Can Jump For Joy Over

Sepsis, Oh Know

Home Healthcare Aides Work Hard

Booster Shots

Shining A Light on Alzheimer's Disease

Health Care News

A Confounding Disease Hits Children

Your Health Care Rights

Buckle UP All Who Rely ON The CMS Ratings for Nursing Homes

How Monoclonal Antibodies Help Covid

Healthcare.gov is Reopening

Be Careful, it is Open Season

Corona Virus Tests Have Lots of False/Positives

I Can't Stand By And Let People Die

One Giant Step Forward for Consumers

When Profit Interferes With Patients Health

A Message To All Patients-We Have Your Back

Costs Of Covid Cases Are On The Rise

Cancer Care

The Virus That Never Stops Surprising Us

I Thought Our Health Care System Was The Best in the World

Introducing: What Is A Health Advocate?

California and the Coronavirus

What You Need to Know About the Mediterranean Diet

Life Gives Us Exactly What We Need