Chula Vista, Calif., Goodrich Employee Wins Harassment Lawsuit.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, February, 2003
By Michael Kinsman, The San Diego Union-Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Feb. 8--Goodrich Aerostructures in Chula Vista just took a half-million-dollar hit just because it didn't listen to one of its employees.
The aerospace manufacturer recently was on the losing end of a lawsuit filed by maintenance technician Bob Haist, who said he was slandered by his manager.
A San Diego Superior Court jury awarded Haist $165,000 for the slander and another $335,000 for malice.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Health care executive tries to bribe witness
Federal Jury Convicts Nat'l Century Exec
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS,AP
2008-03-26
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted the founder of a failed health care company of trying to bribe a witness in an upcoming $1.9 billion fraud trial.
The jury took one day to deliver its decision against Lance Poulsen, former chief executive officer of National Century Financial Enterprises, described as the nation's largest health care financing firm before its 2002 bankruptcy.
Poulsen was accused of offering a former company executive $500,000 to give misleading testimony during Poulsen's fraud trial scheduled for August.
The executive, Sherry Gibson, told jurors that Karl Demmler, a long time friend to her and Poulsen, told her that Poulsen "wanted to make me whole."
The jury also convicted Demmler, who prosecutors had accused of acting as an intermediary for Poulsen to contact Gibson.
Poulsen said Gibson misunderstood his attempts to help her. He said he was only trying to provide her with a new attorney because he believed she'd been wrongly convicted based on bad legal advice.
Gibson pleaded guilty in 2003 for her role in the National Century fraud case in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors.
The government said the defendants could each face 35 years in prison on all counts of the four-count indictment alleging conspiracy, two counts of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. In court, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley referred to as many as 55 years. Actual sentences are usually much lower than the maximum penalties.
Marbley ordered Demmler taken into custody, citing comments he'd made while under investigation that he wanted to kill and dismember a federal bankruptcy judge. Poulsen has been held in a jail in Chillicothe.
Prosecutors were satisfied with the verdict. "The jury indicated that witness tampering would not take place in this courtroom or any other," said federal prosecutor Douglas Squires. "The case was a matter of money for lies."
The verdict could play a role in Poulsen's August fraud trial.
"What we proved is that the witness tampering was related to that scheduled jury trial of Lance Poulsen, and that trial is pending," Squires said.
Poulsen looked down briefly as Marbley read the guilty verdicts, while Demmler stared straight ahead. Poulsen's lawyers said they were taken aback by the verdict and would consider an appeal.
"The evidence pretty strongly demonstrated that he tried to set the record straight and encouraged the witness to tell the truth," said attorney Peter Anderson.
The government wouldn't say whether it would consider a plea deal ahead of the August trial. Poulsen's attorney said that decision would be up to Poulsen.
"Mr. Poulsen has been adamant about his innocence with regard to the allegations in that matter, and will take all the appropriate measures to try to clear his name in that case," said attorney William Terpening.
On a phone call with Demmler recorded by the government, Poulsen said Gibson should explain that her previous statements to prosecutors were based on old facts.
Poulsen said Gibson should say, "But now, there is a new set of charges and it's a new indictment and I'm not familiar with it," Poulsen said on the recording.
In other recordings, Demmler suggests to Poulsen that Gibson could "have amnesia."
Prosecutors portrayed Gibson as a repentant ex-felon who'd served her time after pleading guilty to corporate fraud.
"How can I make you understand that I just want this whole situation behind me so I can get on with my life," Gibson said in a Jan. 29 letter to Demmler quoted by prosecutors.
Poulsen wanted to pay Gibson for one reason, U.S. trial attorney Leo Wise told jurors: to help him win his fraud case.
Defense attorneys characterized Gibson as an angry woman with an ax to grind who turned on Demmler and Poulsen when they were just trying to help her.
They quoted a different part of the same letter in which Gibson suggests that figuring out a way to get back what she lost would be "something to check out."
Poulsen testified he never tried to influence Gibson. "I never asked Sherry to lie," he told jurors during testimony that stretched over several hours. "I never asked her to forget anything."
In his August trial, Poulsen faces multiple counts of wire and securities fraud and money laundering.
The government alleges Poulsen misled investors about unsecured loans his company was providing health care companies such as hospitals and nursing homes. Prosecutors accuse Poulsen and other former executives of the suburban Dublin-based company of moving money to cover up shortfalls and fabricating data. The company filed for bankruptcy following an FBI raid.
At least nine former National Century executives have been convicted of corporate fraud related to the case to date, including Gibson.
The witness tampering case began after Gibson invited Demmler to dinner at a Don Pablo's restaurant in Columbus June 19.
"Business first," Demmler said when they met that night, then proceeded to explain that Poulsen wanted to "make her whole" based on what she'd been through, prosecutors said.
Gibson testified she understood that to mean she was being offered a bribe to change her testimony. She informed the government, turned down their request to investigate the allegation, then changed her mind after Demmler contacted her about another meeting.
Poulsen said the phrase had a different meaning.
"I felt she had been shafted royally," Poulsen told jurors. "I wanted to make her whole."
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/federal-jury-convicts-natl-century-exec/n20080326185409990013
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS,AP
2008-03-26
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted the founder of a failed health care company of trying to bribe a witness in an upcoming $1.9 billion fraud trial.
The jury took one day to deliver its decision against Lance Poulsen, former chief executive officer of National Century Financial Enterprises, described as the nation's largest health care financing firm before its 2002 bankruptcy.
Poulsen was accused of offering a former company executive $500,000 to give misleading testimony during Poulsen's fraud trial scheduled for August.
The executive, Sherry Gibson, told jurors that Karl Demmler, a long time friend to her and Poulsen, told her that Poulsen "wanted to make me whole."
The jury also convicted Demmler, who prosecutors had accused of acting as an intermediary for Poulsen to contact Gibson.
Poulsen said Gibson misunderstood his attempts to help her. He said he was only trying to provide her with a new attorney because he believed she'd been wrongly convicted based on bad legal advice.
Gibson pleaded guilty in 2003 for her role in the National Century fraud case in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors.
The government said the defendants could each face 35 years in prison on all counts of the four-count indictment alleging conspiracy, two counts of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. In court, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley referred to as many as 55 years. Actual sentences are usually much lower than the maximum penalties.
Marbley ordered Demmler taken into custody, citing comments he'd made while under investigation that he wanted to kill and dismember a federal bankruptcy judge. Poulsen has been held in a jail in Chillicothe.
Prosecutors were satisfied with the verdict. "The jury indicated that witness tampering would not take place in this courtroom or any other," said federal prosecutor Douglas Squires. "The case was a matter of money for lies."
The verdict could play a role in Poulsen's August fraud trial.
"What we proved is that the witness tampering was related to that scheduled jury trial of Lance Poulsen, and that trial is pending," Squires said.
Poulsen looked down briefly as Marbley read the guilty verdicts, while Demmler stared straight ahead. Poulsen's lawyers said they were taken aback by the verdict and would consider an appeal.
"The evidence pretty strongly demonstrated that he tried to set the record straight and encouraged the witness to tell the truth," said attorney Peter Anderson.
The government wouldn't say whether it would consider a plea deal ahead of the August trial. Poulsen's attorney said that decision would be up to Poulsen.
"Mr. Poulsen has been adamant about his innocence with regard to the allegations in that matter, and will take all the appropriate measures to try to clear his name in that case," said attorney William Terpening.
On a phone call with Demmler recorded by the government, Poulsen said Gibson should explain that her previous statements to prosecutors were based on old facts.
Poulsen said Gibson should say, "But now, there is a new set of charges and it's a new indictment and I'm not familiar with it," Poulsen said on the recording.
In other recordings, Demmler suggests to Poulsen that Gibson could "have amnesia."
Prosecutors portrayed Gibson as a repentant ex-felon who'd served her time after pleading guilty to corporate fraud.
"How can I make you understand that I just want this whole situation behind me so I can get on with my life," Gibson said in a Jan. 29 letter to Demmler quoted by prosecutors.
Poulsen wanted to pay Gibson for one reason, U.S. trial attorney Leo Wise told jurors: to help him win his fraud case.
Defense attorneys characterized Gibson as an angry woman with an ax to grind who turned on Demmler and Poulsen when they were just trying to help her.
They quoted a different part of the same letter in which Gibson suggests that figuring out a way to get back what she lost would be "something to check out."
Poulsen testified he never tried to influence Gibson. "I never asked Sherry to lie," he told jurors during testimony that stretched over several hours. "I never asked her to forget anything."
In his August trial, Poulsen faces multiple counts of wire and securities fraud and money laundering.
The government alleges Poulsen misled investors about unsecured loans his company was providing health care companies such as hospitals and nursing homes. Prosecutors accuse Poulsen and other former executives of the suburban Dublin-based company of moving money to cover up shortfalls and fabricating data. The company filed for bankruptcy following an FBI raid.
At least nine former National Century executives have been convicted of corporate fraud related to the case to date, including Gibson.
The witness tampering case began after Gibson invited Demmler to dinner at a Don Pablo's restaurant in Columbus June 19.
"Business first," Demmler said when they met that night, then proceeded to explain that Poulsen wanted to "make her whole" based on what she'd been through, prosecutors said.
Gibson testified she understood that to mean she was being offered a bribe to change her testimony. She informed the government, turned down their request to investigate the allegation, then changed her mind after Demmler contacted her about another meeting.
Poulsen said the phrase had a different meaning.
"I felt she had been shafted royally," Poulsen told jurors. "I wanted to make her whole."
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/federal-jury-convicts-natl-century-exec/n20080326185409990013
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Oregon Holds Health Insurance Lottery
Oregon Holds Health Insurance Lottery
By SARAH SKIDMORE,AP
Posted: 2008-03-04 08:02:32
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon is conducting a one-of-a-kind lottery, and the prize is health insurance.
The state will start drawing names this week for the chance to enroll in a health care program designed for people not poor enough for Medicaid but too cash-strapped to buy their own insurance.
More than 80,000 people have s insurance plan and with too little income to buy her own.
"I'm worried about it. I know it's a death sentence," Krueger said.
An estimated 600,000 people in Oregon are uninsured, according to the Oregon Department of Human Services.
Those selected in the lottery will be eligible for a standard benefit program, which was once a heralded highlight of the Oregon Health Plan.
At its peak in 1995, the program covered 132,000 Oregonians. State budget cuts forced the program to close to newcomers by 2004, but it now has several thousand openings.
The program covers their most basic health services, medications and limited dental, hospital and vision services at little or no cost.
The health insurance lottery winners will be chosen in a series of drawings that could take a few months.
"This is such a wonderful opportunity," said Ellen Pinney, director of the Oregon Health Action Campaign. "We've heard absolutely no complaints, just a lot of hope that they are the ones who will be selected."
Advocates for the uninsured say the demand for the program underscores the state's need for health coverage.
"We have pretty much returned as a state, in terms the percentage of uninsured, to where we were in the late '80s when we created (the Oregon Health Plan standard benefit)," said Barney Speight, director of the Oregon Health Fund Board.
The board is supposed to come up with a plan to address health care access and coverage for Oregonians for consideration in the 2009 legislative session.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski considers the Oregon Health Plan a basis to build on, said Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for his office. The plan has been able to maintain its benefit package for people who are aged, blind, disabled, under 19, pregnant or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits.
But providing coverage for a larger population is a goal that could take much longer to reach.
"It's a huge challenge for one session - it's probably going to be a sequential process," Richter Taylor said.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/oregon-holds-health-insurance-lottery/n20080304080209990028
By SARAH SKIDMORE,AP
Posted: 2008-03-04 08:02:32
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon is conducting a one-of-a-kind lottery, and the prize is health insurance.
The state will start drawing names this week for the chance to enroll in a health care program designed for people not poor enough for Medicaid but too cash-strapped to buy their own insurance.
More than 80,000 people have s insurance plan and with too little income to buy her own.
"I'm worried about it. I know it's a death sentence," Krueger said.
An estimated 600,000 people in Oregon are uninsured, according to the Oregon Department of Human Services.
Those selected in the lottery will be eligible for a standard benefit program, which was once a heralded highlight of the Oregon Health Plan.
At its peak in 1995, the program covered 132,000 Oregonians. State budget cuts forced the program to close to newcomers by 2004, but it now has several thousand openings.
The program covers their most basic health services, medications and limited dental, hospital and vision services at little or no cost.
The health insurance lottery winners will be chosen in a series of drawings that could take a few months.
"This is such a wonderful opportunity," said Ellen Pinney, director of the Oregon Health Action Campaign. "We've heard absolutely no complaints, just a lot of hope that they are the ones who will be selected."
Advocates for the uninsured say the demand for the program underscores the state's need for health coverage.
"We have pretty much returned as a state, in terms the percentage of uninsured, to where we were in the late '80s when we created (the Oregon Health Plan standard benefit)," said Barney Speight, director of the Oregon Health Fund Board.
The board is supposed to come up with a plan to address health care access and coverage for Oregonians for consideration in the 2009 legislative session.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski considers the Oregon Health Plan a basis to build on, said Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for his office. The plan has been able to maintain its benefit package for people who are aged, blind, disabled, under 19, pregnant or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits.
But providing coverage for a larger population is a goal that could take much longer to reach.
"It's a huge challenge for one session - it's probably going to be a sequential process," Richter Taylor said.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/oregon-holds-health-insurance-lottery/n20080304080209990028
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Hair analysis reveals breast cancer
Hair sample may provide breast cancer diagnosis
Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:25pm EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (2) [-] Text [+]
1 of 1Full Size
Related News
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26 Feb 2008
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powered by Sphere
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Trade with personal dealer service.NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hair from women with breast cancer can be distinguished from hair obtained from women without the disease, researchers in Australia report.
When hair is exposed to X-rays, the radiation is diffracted in a distinctive pattern by the alpha-keratin that forms hair, the researchers explain in the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Gary L. Corino and Dr. Peter W. French, based at Fermiscan Ltd in Sydney, used the technique to look at samples of hair from 13 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 20 healthy subjects.
Hair was cut as close to the skin as possible to obtain samples of the most recent hair growth. The investigators "successfully and consistently generated the basic alpha-keratin X-ray diffraction pattern in every hair sample."
Hair from the breast cancer patients produced the same features "with the only difference being the superimposition of a new feature." This was a distinctive low-intensity ring.
This ring sign was fairly accurate in identifying breast cancer. It missed one of the breast cancer patients, and showed up as a false-positive in three of the healthy subject.
The researchers went on to study a length of hair representing 6 months' growth from a breast cancer patient whose hair fell out following chemotherapy. X-ray diffraction at three points along the hair showed clear evidence of the ring at the position furthest from the hair root, a fainter ring at the middle point, and complete absence of the ring close to the root.
"This progressive reduction in the intensity of the ring appears to correlate with the patient's course of treatment and possibly indicates the eradication of the cancer as a result of that treatment," Corino and French suggest.
As for the reason for the ring pattern, they suggest it may represent "incorporation of extraneous lipid material into the fiber as a result of the presence of a tumor." It may also be that the disease affects hair follicles in some way.
Further testing is needed to establish the accuracy of this methodology as a diagnostic test for breast cancer, they conclude.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, February 15, 2008.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA56971920080215?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:25pm EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (2) [-] Text [+]
1 of 1Full Size
Related News
Hair analysis offers new crime-fighting clues
26 Feb 2008
Breast cancer gene carriers need dual screening
26 Feb 2008
Hormone therapy skews breast cancer diagnosis
26 Feb 2008
powered by Sphere
Featured Broker sponsored link
Trade with personal dealer service.NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hair from women with breast cancer can be distinguished from hair obtained from women without the disease, researchers in Australia report.
When hair is exposed to X-rays, the radiation is diffracted in a distinctive pattern by the alpha-keratin that forms hair, the researchers explain in the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Gary L. Corino and Dr. Peter W. French, based at Fermiscan Ltd in Sydney, used the technique to look at samples of hair from 13 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 20 healthy subjects.
Hair was cut as close to the skin as possible to obtain samples of the most recent hair growth. The investigators "successfully and consistently generated the basic alpha-keratin X-ray diffraction pattern in every hair sample."
Hair from the breast cancer patients produced the same features "with the only difference being the superimposition of a new feature." This was a distinctive low-intensity ring.
This ring sign was fairly accurate in identifying breast cancer. It missed one of the breast cancer patients, and showed up as a false-positive in three of the healthy subject.
The researchers went on to study a length of hair representing 6 months' growth from a breast cancer patient whose hair fell out following chemotherapy. X-ray diffraction at three points along the hair showed clear evidence of the ring at the position furthest from the hair root, a fainter ring at the middle point, and complete absence of the ring close to the root.
"This progressive reduction in the intensity of the ring appears to correlate with the patient's course of treatment and possibly indicates the eradication of the cancer as a result of that treatment," Corino and French suggest.
As for the reason for the ring pattern, they suggest it may represent "incorporation of extraneous lipid material into the fiber as a result of the presence of a tumor." It may also be that the disease affects hair follicles in some way.
Further testing is needed to establish the accuracy of this methodology as a diagnostic test for breast cancer, they conclude.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, February 15, 2008.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA56971920080215?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Health Net ordered to pay $9 million for canceling coverage during cancer treatment
The punitive damage award is the first of its kind and has prompted the giant medical insurer to scrap practices that have recently come under fire.
By Lisa Girion
Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2008
One of California's largest for-profit insurers stopped a controversial practice of canceling sick policyholders Friday after a judge ordered Health Net Inc. to pay more than $9 million to a breast cancer patient it dropped in the middle of chemotherapy.
The ruling by a private arbitration judge was the first of its kind and the most powerful rebuke to the state's major insurers whose cancellation practices are under fire from the courts, state regulators and elected officials.
Calling Woodland Hills-based Health Net's actions "egregious," Judge Sam Cianchetti, a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, ruled that the company broke state laws and acted in bad faith.
"Health Net was primarily concerned with and considered its own financial interests and gave little, if any, consideration and concern for the interests of the insured," Cianchetti wrote in a 21-page ruling.
Patsy Bates, a 52-year-old grandmother, was at work at the Gardena hair salon she owns when her lawyer William Shernoff called with the news. Bates said she screamed and thanked the lawyer.
Then, "I thanked God," she said. "I praised the Lord."
Bates called the arbitration judge "an angel . . . a real stand-up kind of judge."
When Health Net dropped her in January 2004, Bates was stuck with more than $129,000 in medical bills and was forced to stop chemotherapy for several months until she found a charity to pay for it.
Health Net Chief Executive Jay Gellert ordered an immediate halt to cancellations and told The Times that the company would be changing its coverage applications and retraining its sales force.
"I felt bad about what happened to her," he said. "I feel bad about the whole situation."
Gellert said he would move quickly to "give people the confidence that they can count on their policy." Specifically, he pledged to stop all cancellations until an external review process could be established to approve all cancellations.
Other insurers were considering changing their own practices. A spokeswoman for WellPoint Inc., which operates Blue Cross of California, the state's largest for-profit insurer, said the company was in favor of such an idea. Blue Shield of California declined to comment.
Until Friday, the companies had uniformly defended cancellations, saying they were necessary to hold down costs by weeding out people who may have failed to disclose pre-existing conditions on applications for coverage. They say cancellations happen infrequently.
The judge's strong denunciation of the way Health Net carried out Bates' cancellation and big money award stunned and pleased regulators and patient advocates.
State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner applauded the judge, saying "health insurers simply cannot hold out the promise of insurance for their consumers and then snatch it away just when people need it most. That is illegal, immoral and will not be tolerated."
Earlier, Health Net had defended its actions, saying it never would have issued Bates a policy in the first place if she had disclosed her true weight and a preexisting heart condition on her application.
Bates said a broker filled out the application while she was styling a client's hair on a busy day in her shop. She said she answered his questions as best she could.
Bates said she already had insurance and wasn't in the market until the broker came by and told her that he thought he could get her a lower monthly premium if she switched to Health Net.
At the arbitration hearing, internal company documents were disclosed showing that Health Net had paid employee bonuses for meeting a cancellation quota and for the amount of money saved.
"It's difficult to imagine a policy more reprehensible than tying bonuses to encourage the rescission of health insurance that keeps the public well and alive," the judge wrote.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-insure23feb23,1,2680255.story
By Lisa Girion
Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2008
One of California's largest for-profit insurers stopped a controversial practice of canceling sick policyholders Friday after a judge ordered Health Net Inc. to pay more than $9 million to a breast cancer patient it dropped in the middle of chemotherapy.
The ruling by a private arbitration judge was the first of its kind and the most powerful rebuke to the state's major insurers whose cancellation practices are under fire from the courts, state regulators and elected officials.
Calling Woodland Hills-based Health Net's actions "egregious," Judge Sam Cianchetti, a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, ruled that the company broke state laws and acted in bad faith.
"Health Net was primarily concerned with and considered its own financial interests and gave little, if any, consideration and concern for the interests of the insured," Cianchetti wrote in a 21-page ruling.
Patsy Bates, a 52-year-old grandmother, was at work at the Gardena hair salon she owns when her lawyer William Shernoff called with the news. Bates said she screamed and thanked the lawyer.
Then, "I thanked God," she said. "I praised the Lord."
Bates called the arbitration judge "an angel . . . a real stand-up kind of judge."
When Health Net dropped her in January 2004, Bates was stuck with more than $129,000 in medical bills and was forced to stop chemotherapy for several months until she found a charity to pay for it.
Health Net Chief Executive Jay Gellert ordered an immediate halt to cancellations and told The Times that the company would be changing its coverage applications and retraining its sales force.
"I felt bad about what happened to her," he said. "I feel bad about the whole situation."
Gellert said he would move quickly to "give people the confidence that they can count on their policy." Specifically, he pledged to stop all cancellations until an external review process could be established to approve all cancellations.
Other insurers were considering changing their own practices. A spokeswoman for WellPoint Inc., which operates Blue Cross of California, the state's largest for-profit insurer, said the company was in favor of such an idea. Blue Shield of California declined to comment.
Until Friday, the companies had uniformly defended cancellations, saying they were necessary to hold down costs by weeding out people who may have failed to disclose pre-existing conditions on applications for coverage. They say cancellations happen infrequently.
The judge's strong denunciation of the way Health Net carried out Bates' cancellation and big money award stunned and pleased regulators and patient advocates.
State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner applauded the judge, saying "health insurers simply cannot hold out the promise of insurance for their consumers and then snatch it away just when people need it most. That is illegal, immoral and will not be tolerated."
Earlier, Health Net had defended its actions, saying it never would have issued Bates a policy in the first place if she had disclosed her true weight and a preexisting heart condition on her application.
Bates said a broker filled out the application while she was styling a client's hair on a busy day in her shop. She said she answered his questions as best she could.
Bates said she already had insurance and wasn't in the market until the broker came by and told her that he thought he could get her a lower monthly premium if she switched to Health Net.
At the arbitration hearing, internal company documents were disclosed showing that Health Net had paid employee bonuses for meeting a cancellation quota and for the amount of money saved.
"It's difficult to imagine a policy more reprehensible than tying bonuses to encourage the rescission of health insurance that keeps the public well and alive," the judge wrote.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-insure23feb23,1,2680255.story
Universal Health Care cost 1.1% in Taiwan
Experts call for health cover in U.S., cite study
Wed Feb 20, 2008 8
HONG KONG (Reuters) -
Experts called for universal health insurance in the United States, citing a study in Taiwan that showed it increased life expectancy and closed the gap between those who were most healthy and least healthy.
In a commentary published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the experts said Taiwan's experience lent "credence to the argument that the United States should join other industrialized nations in ensuring universal health insurance coverage".
"Our failure to introduce national health insurance undermines access to care for millions and is a major factor in health outcome disparities and highly preventable deaths in the United States," wrote Karen Davis, of The Commonwealth Fund, and Andrew Huang, of Duke University Medical Centre.
Their call accompanied an article in the same journal on a 10-year study in Taiwan that showed that universal health insurance raised life expectancy.
However, the Taiwan researchers considered the improvements to be modest and called for more aggressive disease prevention programs to reduce lifestyle-related illnesses, such as cancer.
"Two risk behaviors among men in Taiwan, smoking and betel quid chewing, remained high after the introduction of national health insurance," the Taiwan researchers wrote.
"Every second middle-aged man is a smoker and every fourth is a chewer ... which could account for the large increases in lung and oral cancer in the lower socioeconomic groups and the relatively small reduction in health disparities."
Taiwan introduced universal health insurance in 1995, which extended insurance coverage from 57 percent of the population to everyone. Co-payments are required, however: 10 percent for inpatient and 20 percent for outpatient care, although these are waived for the very poor, veterans and indigenous groups.
National health expenditure rose modestly, from 5.1 percent of gross national product before 1995 to 6.2 percent in 2005.
Visits to the doctor and use of medication increased substantially after 1995, especially among the elderly and poor.
The most obvious positive correlation was life expectancy for men, which increased to 74.22 years from 71.83 years after universal health insurance.
There was a reduction in deaths from cardiovascular and infectious diseases, and from accidents, but deaths from cancer and diabetes rose.
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Alex Richardson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSSHA36232320080220?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Wed Feb 20, 2008 8
HONG KONG (Reuters) -
Experts called for universal health insurance in the United States, citing a study in Taiwan that showed it increased life expectancy and closed the gap between those who were most healthy and least healthy.
In a commentary published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the experts said Taiwan's experience lent "credence to the argument that the United States should join other industrialized nations in ensuring universal health insurance coverage".
"Our failure to introduce national health insurance undermines access to care for millions and is a major factor in health outcome disparities and highly preventable deaths in the United States," wrote Karen Davis, of The Commonwealth Fund, and Andrew Huang, of Duke University Medical Centre.
Their call accompanied an article in the same journal on a 10-year study in Taiwan that showed that universal health insurance raised life expectancy.
However, the Taiwan researchers considered the improvements to be modest and called for more aggressive disease prevention programs to reduce lifestyle-related illnesses, such as cancer.
"Two risk behaviors among men in Taiwan, smoking and betel quid chewing, remained high after the introduction of national health insurance," the Taiwan researchers wrote.
"Every second middle-aged man is a smoker and every fourth is a chewer ... which could account for the large increases in lung and oral cancer in the lower socioeconomic groups and the relatively small reduction in health disparities."
Taiwan introduced universal health insurance in 1995, which extended insurance coverage from 57 percent of the population to everyone. Co-payments are required, however: 10 percent for inpatient and 20 percent for outpatient care, although these are waived for the very poor, veterans and indigenous groups.
National health expenditure rose modestly, from 5.1 percent of gross national product before 1995 to 6.2 percent in 2005.
Visits to the doctor and use of medication increased substantially after 1995, especially among the elderly and poor.
The most obvious positive correlation was life expectancy for men, which increased to 74.22 years from 71.83 years after universal health insurance.
There was a reduction in deaths from cardiovascular and infectious diseases, and from accidents, but deaths from cancer and diabetes rose.
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Alex Richardson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSSHA36232320080220?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Music improves stroke recovery
Music hits right note for stroke patients
Tue Feb 19, 2008
21 Feb 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.
And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the researchers said.
Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.
"These findings demonstrate for the first time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood," the researchers wrote...
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1911114120080220?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Tue Feb 19, 2008
21 Feb 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.
And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the researchers said.
Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.
"These findings demonstrate for the first time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood," the researchers wrote...
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1911114120080220?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
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