Healthcare Costs to Increase by 10.5-11% in 2011, Partly Due to Reform

Health insurers expect healthcare costs to increase by 10.5-11 percent, with the health care reform law projected to add 2-5 percent over the next three years, according to a survey by Aon Consulting.

To adapt to the long-term cost impact of health reform, many employers are taking about strengthening employee wellness and prevention programs and adopting best practices in care delivery, Aon Consulting said.

In the survey, costs are projected to increase by 10.5 percent for HMOs, 10.6 percent for point of service plans, 10.7 percent for PPOs and 11 percent for consumer-driven plans. These findings are slightly higher than the year before.

Prescription drug costs are expected to rise by 8.4 percent, compared to 9.3 percent in the spring of 2009, and specialty pharmacy rates by 14 percent, versus 13.2 percent a year ago.

Increases for seniors are projected to be 7.5 percent for Medicare supplement plans and 6.7 percent for Medicare Advantage plans, up from 6.6 percent and down from 7.3 percent, respectively, in the year before.

Diet & Nutrition : fatty

Food is one of the basic human requirements. To live without it is impracticable. But we all eat to live and not live to eat. Therefore, it is very necessary to eat the right food. If a unprejudiced diet is consumed always then it provide the human body with all the indispensable nutrients compulsory to be healthy, and thus, saves you from various health hazards.

Some factors of diet: Avoid eating stale food even if it has been well conserved in the refrigerator, as it could be overloaded with germs. Vitamin C is good for the bones, skin, and blood. So, remember to eat a citrus fruit everyday. Cooking in oil that is high in its polyunsaturated fatty acid content is optional as it protects the heart and keeps you healthy.

Iron insufficiency is the commonest but not the only cause of anemia. Therefore, if you are anemic, consult a doctor for the diagnosis. Keep the head-end of your bed raised when you sleep to avoid acid reflux and even the chances of developing a hiatus hernia. Rather have smaller meals at regular intervals rather than large meals infrequently as this can prevent wide blood sugar fluctuations.

Do not bend or lie down instantaneously after your meals. This could trigger an acid-peptic disease. Too little calories can slow down the body’s metabolism, thereby diminishing the absorption of vitamins and indispensable nutrients too.

Fish Oil Linked to Lower Breast Cancer Risk

Millions of people already take fish oil to maintain their hearts healthy and to luxury ailments range from arthritis to depression. Now, a new study suggests that the supplement may also help women lower their risk of breast cancer.

Postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 76 who took fish oil were 32% less likely to enlarge certain types of breast cancer than women who didn’t, the study found.The researchers looked at 14 other popular supplements but only fish oil which contains rigorous amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, tuna, and other fish had any link to breast cancer risk.

Despite their findings, the researchers say it’s too soon to counsel that women start taking fish oil to stave off breast cancer.

Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce sufficient insulin, or because cells do not react to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produce the classical symptom of polyuria,polydipsia and polyphagia.

There are three main types of diabetes- results from the body's failure to produce insulin, results from insulin resistance, Gestational diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus also comprise congenital diabetes, which is due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and quite a lot of forms of monogenic diabetes.