Will that umbrella still be there if he has a heart attack? (Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Affordable Life Insurance Policy)

Which health conditions are most likely to send your life insurance premiums skyrocketing? Bankrate.com asked New York Life’s chief underwriter Stephen Bloom and chief medical officer Dr. Jacki Goldstein for some of the top health hazards as they would apply to life insurance for a 40-year-old man. Here is their tale of the unhealthy red tape.

High blood pressure

High blood pressure can lead to a host of organ diseases, said Goldstein. Coronary artery disease, stroke and kidney damage are just a few. While life insurance industry underwriters show the most favor to those who control their blood pressure, people with high blood pressure may still qualify for a preferred policy, as long as they’re taking steps to manage it.

“Different carriers have different categories of preferred, but yes, high blood pressure that is well-managed, most carriers would have that qualified for preferred,” said Goldstein.

Type 2 diabetes

Adult onset diabetes (Type 2) takes a toll on the body’s vascular system, with coronary artery disease, renal failure and blindness being some of the potential risks. If a Type 2 diabetes sufferer is younger, the potential for higher life insurance premiums increases because the condition generally does not improve with time.

“If I get diabetes at age 70, I might already have coronary artery disease or a stroke anyway, so the impact of the diabetes might not affect my life expectancy in the way it might a 40-year-old. A 40-year-old is unlikely to qualify for preferred in my experience,” Goldstein told Bankrate.

Heart disease

A massive heart attack relates to a host of heart conditions that can be difficult to document, which makes a life insurance underwriter’s job more difficult. If the situation is indeed severe, the person may not be insurable, says Bloom.

“We do consider family history in our underwriting assessments,” Bloom said. “Generally, this is associated with immediate family members — father, mother, sister, brother — who may have developed heart disease or had a stroke.

Asthma

The chronic respiratory condition asthma can, while rare, lead to death if not carefully controlled. If it is carefully controlled, a preferred life insurance rate class is not out of the question.

“For the most part, asthma will be extremely favorably underwritten,” said Goldstein.

Cancer

Depending upon the type and severity of the cancer involved, life insurance premiums can be affected to a negligible degree or quite severely. According to Bloom, if New York Life were to underwrite a policy for a cancer patient, the company would want to monitor the patient for six months to a year before making a policy decision.

“Cancer conditions may require a longer period of time depending on the location of the cancer, the staging and type of treatment involved,” he said.

More of the top health risks for life insurance are cataloged at Bankrate.com.

Source

Bankrate.com

Billy Mays on health insurance

The new Dietary Guidelines from the government advise people to eat more fish and cut intake of fats and salts. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The new pamphlet of Dietary Guidelines has been published by the U.S. Government. Every five years, the federal government publishes a new set of suggestions on what Americans should eat including what should be cut back on. The effect is not expected to be dramatic.

Government publishes new dietary guidelines

The federal government has just released a new edition of “Dietary Guidelines,” according to ABC. A new edition of guidelines is issued every five years by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises limiting the use of solid fats and consuming at least two and a half cups of fruits and vegetables per day, especially those high in dietary fiber. Americans are advised by the new guidelines also to limit their sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams per day. Those at risk for or already living with heart disease are recommended to limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day, and the American Heart Association says that about 50 percent of the American population fits that criteria.

Fish upon a star

The new dietary guidelines also recommend that Americans start eating more fish. It is recommended that people ingest at least 8 ounces of seafood per week, which is double the current average of 3.5 ounces per week, according to USA Today. Certain species of fish and other seafood are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Higher consumption of fish is also supposedly part of the so-called “French Paradox” or “French Affect,” wherein French people consume more saturated fats than Americans but have less heart disease.

The war on obesity

The high rate of obesity among American adults and children is something that health professionals and First Lady Michele Obama are extremely concerned with. American life expectancy was recently reported as lagging behind other industrial nations and many suspect that diet along with increasingly sedentary lifestyles are major culprits.

Sources

ABC

USA Today

2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Diet programs can increase your disease risk, if you don't keep the weight off. Image: Flickr/ brymo / CC-BY-SA

It’s one of the most often-touted reasons to lose weight – it reduces your risk of disease. Diet programs claim that reduced disease risk is a big reason to spend thousands, if not millions, on weight loss. Reducing disease risk, though, depends on more than just losing weight.

Diet programs and disease risk

It’s a well-known fact that losing weight helps you be healthier. Losing weight reduces risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and even cancer. Diet programs are often touted as a way to lose weight and reduce this risk. However, the problem is that most people who taken on diet programs end up putting the weight back on. In the Journal of Obesity, almost all people who followed a diet program lost at least some weight — and then put it back on within a few years.

The effects of yo-yo dieting

The tendency that most people have to re-gain weight after losing it on diet programs is known as yo-yo dieting. Individuals who have been on multiple diet programs tend to re-gain more weight than they initially lost, meaning that they are at a higher risk of the diseases that they were trying to prevent. In other words, diet programs could actually increase disease risk. With more than 73 percent of Americans classified as overweight or obese, that means the nation as a whole could be facing even higher risk of health problems.

Diet programs that decrease disease risk

The only weight loss diet program that has any success in keeping weight off is not a “diet program.” Instead, full-stop lifestyle changes — from diet to exercise to work environment — show the most success. Encouraging lifestyle changes takes a systematic approach, but it can be difficult, at best, to make happen. Some diet programs can actually increase disease risk by cutting out helpful nutrients or encouraging unhealthy eating — so lifestyle changes are the only healthy way to go.

Source

Fox News

Instead of teaching kids that being thin is an ideal, researchers suggest that parents focus on health. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Jennifer/Flickr)

According to Live Science, a recent Pepperdine University study indicates that girls as young as 3 years old are already worried about watching their weight. Being thin is something in which girls are “emotionally invested,” claims the study, even at preschool age. Experts in child wellness and psychology find the study results troubling, as body image and body dissatisfaction issues at that age can easily lead to eating disorders.

An obsession with being thin

Lead researcher Jennifer Harriger told Live Science that worrying about being thin has been linked in numerous other studies to both eating disorders and depression. Taking a dim view of those who are overweight is also problematic, according to Harriger, as weight hazing and other forms of bullying behavior can become ingrained.

Getting creative to understand body image

The age of girls included in the study was generally not old enough for the children to verbalize complex thoughts and feelings, so Harriger had to use creative methods. In order to understand whether girls favored thin types or fat types, the preschoolers responded to three figures identical in every way except body size – thin, average and fat. With each, the kids were asked to associate six positive and six negative adjectives. Words like “nice, smart, friends, neat, cute and quiet” were available as positive descriptors, while “mean, stupid, no friends, sloppy, ugly and loud” the given as negative options.

On average, 3.1 negative and 1.2 positive words were affixed to the larger figures, while 1.2 negative and 2.7 positive adjectives were associated with the thin figures on average. When the girls were shown three of each body type and had to circle the three they’d most like to play with and one they’d want as a best friend, the preschoolers chose thin most often in both scenarios. Further game scenarios tended to reinforce these results.

Commercial messages color views of being thin

America’s obsessive connection between being thin and being beautiful is deeply ingrained, argues Harriger. Commercial messages are pervasive, even for preschoolers. What would be more productive would be to stress health rather than being thin or fat. Parents limiting mainstream media exposure, modeling healthy eating habits, exercising and practicing positive talk promotes healthier lifestyles.

Sources

Live Science

If obesity rates continue to rise, the CDC said one-third of Americans will have diabetes by 2050 and treatment costs will triple. Image CC Tobyotter/Flickr

One in three Americans will be living with diabetes by 2050 if the disease continues to increase at current rates. The Centers for Disease control released a report Friday attributing the projected trend to rising obesity rates and an aging population. As the cost of treating diabetes is expected to triple, the CDC has launched efforts reduce the number of cases.

Millions are diabetic and don’t even know it

Diabetes currently affects 1 in 10 Americans — about 23.6 million people, according to the CDC. A CNN article on the study reported that if obesity trends continue, diabetes cases are expected to double and possibly triple by 2050. Today about 6 million people aren’t even aware they have diabetes. The CDC said 57 million Americans with excess fat around the midsection are pre-diabetic and destined to develop the condition unless their lifestyles change. Most of will end up with type 2 diabetes, and their bodies will lose the ability to produce insulin.

Diabetes treatment costs skyrocket

To prevent diabetes, there’s nothing people can do about growing older. However, the biggest risk factor — obesity — can be avoided with a healthy diet and exercise. Avoiding obesity will save a lot of money as well. According to the American Diabetes Association, Americans already spend $174 billion annually to treat diabetes. The ADA recommends that everyone, even if they are not obese, get screened for diabetes by age 45. Obese people should consider getting tested at an earlier age.

A pound of prevention, an ounce of cure

The CDC said it has a plan to reduce diabetes and to help people make smarter lifestyle choices. Its prevention efforts target communities where healthy food is hard to find and safe places to exercise are scarce. Even so, the CDC report found that prevention efforts could reduce the number of cases but not keep them from increasing overall. The authors wrote that without preventive intervention, 3.5 million cases are expected in 2050. With prevention efforts, 3.1 million people will learn they have the disease for a net reduction of 344,000 diabetics in 2050.

Sources

CNN

ABC News

MedPage Today

Love Your Body Day encourages healthier perceptions of beauty. Image: Flickr / Helga Weber / CC-BY-ND

In September of 2008, the National Organization for Women launched Love Your Body Day. Intended as a day to rally against unrealistic body images, Love Your Body Day 2010 encourages speaking out. There are some, though, who say events like Love Your Body Day miss the point.

Love Your Body Day by NOW

The National Organization for Women, through the Women’s Health Project, founded the Love Your Body campaign. National Love Your Body Day 2010 is on Oct. 23. People across the country are encouraged to “say no to twisted beauty standards and hazardous advertisements.” Everything from rallies to individual statements are encouraged.

Why Love Your Body Day 2010 could be necessary

Love Your Body Day 2010, like all previous Love Your Body Day celebrations, was started because of skewed body images. Many advertisements and media representations of bodies and body images are not necessarily healthy or realistic. Whitney, winner of a season of America’s Next Top Model and widely renowned a plus-size model, is about a size 12. With more than 50 percent of women wearing a size 12 or larger in the United States, that means that the sizes often relegated to specialty boutiques are, in fact, average. With most clothing and marketing materials carrying images of women who are “below average” size, there is concern that the body images of many women are being skewed.

Arguments against Love Your Body Day

Though it is well-accepted that women’s body images are possibly skewed, there are arguments against Love Your Body Day. One argument is based on the fact that body image is not just a women’s issue. Ten to 15 percent of the individuals in the United States that suffer eating disorders are men. There are others who argue that Love Your Body Day is simply encouraging positive image of a very serious health issue — obesity.

In reality, Love Your Body day most likely falls somewhere in the middle. Does it focus on just one women’s issue? Yes. However, health is beauty, and being healthy does not always mean being a size four.

For people living from paycheck to paycheck without health insurance, it would take a hefty cash advance or personal loan just to step inside a doctor’s office. And for people who have health insurance or extra cash stashed away for medical expenses, more than half of every dollar spent on medical care is a waste. According to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute (HRI), approximately $1.2 trillion of the $2.2 trillion spent on medical care annually in the United States is the result of wasteful health-care practices.

The HRI report describes three general areas of waste:

• Behavioral where individual behaviors are shown to lead to health problems, and have potential opportunities for earlier, non-medical interventions.
• Clinical where medical care itself is considered inappropriate, entailing overuse, misuse or under-use of particular interventions, missed opportunities for earlier interventions, and overt errors leading to quality problems for the patient, plus cost and rework.
• Operational where administrative or other business processes appear to add costs without creating value.

Before you light up or take another bite . . .

Big may be beautiful, but it's an enormous waste of health-care resources.

The report concludes that the impact of obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking, and non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions are exponential factors affecting all three categories. Every year, these risky choices and behaviors result in an avoidable $493 billion waste.

Some of the specific contributors to the $1.2 trillion leak are:

1. Over-testing: $210 billion
2. Processing claims: up to $210 billion
3. Ignoring doctor orders: $100 billion
4. Ineffective use of technology: up to $88 billion
5. Hospital re-admissions: $25 billion
6. Medical staffing turnover: $21 billion
7. Medical errors: $17 billion
8. Unnecessary emergency room visits: $14 billion
9. Prescriptions written on paper: $4 billion
10. Hospital-acquired infections: $3 billion
11. Over-prescribing of antibiotics: $1 billion

Too many tests

Defensive medicine – the ordering of tests or procedures based on concern for liability or to pad income — is the single biggest waste of health care dollars. In a recent CNN report, Dr. Arthur Garson, provost of the University of Virginia and former dean of its medical school said, “Sometimes the motivation is to avoid malpractice suits, or to make more money because they are compensated more for doing more. Many are also convinced that doing more tests is the right thing to do. But any money that is spent on a patient that doesn’t improve the outcome is a waste.”

Those annoying claim forms

Inefficient claims processing is the second-biggest area of wasteful expenditure. Doctors spend enormous amounts of time and money trying to get paid by insurers. They also spend a lot of time and money getting advance approval from insurers for higher-priced or non-routine procedures. Those necessary efforts significantly increase the cost of medical care

Using the emergency room as a clinic

Because emergency rooms are legally obligated to treat all patients, more insured and uninsured patients are getting their primary care in emergency rooms. An emergency room visit for a routine condition can cost 10 times what the same medical care would cost at an urgent care clinic. Not only are unnecessary emergency room visits a waste of medical resources, many uninsured patients cannot or do not pay their emergency room bills, and medical providers ultimately find ways to pass on the costs to insured patients and uninsured patients who do pay out-of-pocket.

Going back to the hospital

Frequently – to the tune of $25 billion a year — patients don’t follow care instructions after being discharged from the hospital and wind up being readmitted for complications that could have been avoided. Preventable re-admissions are also common among elderly patients who are discharged prematurely because of insurance shortages or hospital bed unavailability.

Spreading it around

Infection control is ever-evasive in a building full of sick people. Patients sometimes come in with infections which then spread in the hospital. The problem is one of enormous proportions, and the ironic fact is that the hospital is a very dangerous place to be when you’re vulnerable to infection. Something as simple as hand-washing often can reduce the problem, but the risk of infection is enormous and so is the $3 billion annual bill for hospital-acquired infections.