Tag Archives: Health Care

Feds jumped on Arizona State Hospital after only one death

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ABC 15 photo

ABC 15 photo

PHOENIX – The Arizona Republic reported on March 14th last that the Arizona State Hospital would not loose federal funding. An investigation was prompted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicad Services after one patient died the previous September and six patients harmed themselves.

The Arizona State Hospital corrected security problems that allowed patients to harm themselves.

It took the unfortunate deaths of over 40 veterans in the Phoenix VA hospital alone to prompt an investigation. Recently it was learned that the Colorado VA hospital also falsified wait times although there are no reports of deaths as a result.

Long waits for treatment are not new to veterans who learn that some VA centers are better than others. The alleged “secret lists,” however, are a new twist in the care veterans receive at VA centers.

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Secret Obamacare handbook the feds don’t want you to see is online

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By Tori Richards | Watchdog.org

A New Jersey woman who stumbled upon the document was so alarmed that she called the feds to report it. But her concerns fell on deaf ears.

A confidential training manual for Obamacare navigators that threatens prosecution for unauthorized dissemination is on the Internet for the world to see.

The 217-page manual reads like a primer for Amway or novice car salesmen, offering sales advice on how to disarm potential customers who could be lured into purchasing insurance through exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.

TOP SECRET NO MORE: Now you can know what the navigators know.

TOP SECRET NO MORE: Now you can know what the navigators know.

Section headers include “Smile: Maintain a Positive Demeanor,” “Make the Customers Feel Welcome,” “Listen” and — in what must  now seem ironic given Barack Obama’s troubles with over-promising — “Build Trust: Be True to Your Word.”

The handbook also delves into the more serious topics of “Identifying Personally Identifiable Information,” “IRS Data Safeguards” and “Preventing Fraud.”

Nothing in the manual seems to rise to the level of a state secret — raising questions about why the federal government felt it necessary to classify information that has no reason to be classified.

Read more at Watchdog.Org

VA wait times mean some die before getting care

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“The bottom line is it is unclear how long veterans are waiting to receive care in VA’s medical facilities because the reported data are unreliable,” Draper told the panel.

By Patricia Kime – Staff writer

Internal Veterans Affairs Department documents show that at least two veterans died last year waiting to see a doctor while others couldn’t get primary care appointments for up to eight months, members of a House oversight and investigations panel said Thursday.

Addressing the ongoing problem of vets who suffer through long waits for appointments at VA hospitals and clinics, House lawmakers joined federal investigators and veterans service organizations in castigating VA on an issue that has endured for more than a decade.

“Evidence shows that many VA facilities, when faced with a backlog of thousands of outstanding or unresolved consultations, decided to administratively close out these requests. Some reasons given included that the request was years old, too much time had elapsed, or the veteran had died,” said Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., chairman of the House Veterans Oversight and Investigations panel.

“This is unacceptable,” said Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., the panel’s ranking Democrat. “Veterans deserve timely, accessible health care.”

According to VA, about 49 percent of new patients and 90 percent of established patients are able to see a primary care doctor or specialist within VA’s goal of 14 days, a metric established in 2011.

But the first-time patients who weren’t seen within 14 days waited an average 50 days to schedule initial appointments.

Read more at Army Times

Could Israeli company hold the key to the medicinal marijuana controversy?

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marijuana3n-2-webThe controversy over legalizing marijuana continues with even the medicinal benefits being questioned. Lame stream media likes to promote doctors who say the medicinal benefits are negligible while ignoring anyone else.

Some contend that it might actually increase problems, such as some who get a prescription and turn pusher. Some claim it is a Soros conspiracy because the THC causes mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.

Tikkun Olam, a company in Israel, may hold the a key to the medicinal marijuana controversy. The company announced in July of 2012 that they had developed a strain of marijuana with high levels of the beneficial cannabidiol and less of the THC that causes people to get high. Normal marijuana is illegal in Israel, as in the U.S., but medicinal marijuana has been legal since the mid-1990s.

The New York Daily News reported:

A team at Tikkun Olam, a company in Israel, worked to boost the levels of cannabidiol — the part of the plant used to ease the symptoms of cancer and other diseases — and neutralize the side effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. That’s the part that induces a calm, light-headed feeling.

“Sometimes getting high is an ‘unwanted side effect’,” says Zack Klein, head of development at Tikun Olam in an interview on The Week.

“The new strain looks, smells and tastes the same, but many patients given the marijuana thought they were using a placebo,” Klein said in the Daily News article.

Medicinal marijuana has been legalized in Arizona and has split communities throughout the State. Arizona has a law—passed by initiative—that prevents the State Legislature from overturning any law passed by initiative. That initiative was passed after lawmakers in the State overturned a medicinal marijuana law in the mid 90’s.

While State legislators cannot stop medicinal marijuana, they could look into making only this new version of marijuana legal for medicinal use. Since it does not have the content of THC required to get you high, it might even be legal to sell it over the counter. Many who require medicinal marijuana might even appreciate the change since they claim that they only want it for the medicinal benefits. They probably could continue to drive and function normally.

In November, USA Today reported that the Israeli government is pushing further development of the medicinal marijuana for cancer patients and those with pain-related illnesses such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. The drug can be smoked, ingested as a liquid or spread on the skin as a balm.

“When push comes to shove, and people see how suffering people are benefitting, I’m sure everyone will get behind it,” said Yuli Edelstein, Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy.

This does not, of course, solve the controversy over whether or not an intoxicating form of the drug should be legal.

To Sidestep Obamacare, Wendy’s Reduces Hours for Hundreds in Nebraska

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Employees at various Wendy’s restaurant locations in Nebraska will work fewer hours this year, reportedly due to costs associated with Obamacare.

Under the new healthcare law, businesses with 50 or more “full-time” employees must offer health benefits to their staffers working between 32 and 38 hours. Non-managerial workers at Omaha-area Wendy’s will see their hours cut to 28 hours a week, according to local NBC affiliate WOWT.

Gary Burdette, vice president of operations for the Wendy’s franchise, acknowledged the cuts are an attempt by the franchise owner to reduce the number of full-time employees at his Wendy’s locations to avoid offering health care benefits to his staff, according to WOWT.

Wendy’s spokesman Denny Lynch stressed in a Huffington Post interview that the decision of franchise owner Scott King was his alone and not “a company decision.”

“Our franchisees are independent businesspeople, and they make the decisions regarding their restaurant teams. As small-business employers, our franchisees are facing rising food and operating costs and many new government regulations,” Lynch said.

Read more at Newsmax.com