Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a topical medication that gets painted on teeth to stem decay. Originally touted as a solution for kids, SDF may become a game changer for treating cavities in older adults. (Jennifer Geiselhofer) DENVER ― Dental hygienist Jennifer Geiselhofer often cleans the teeth of senior patients who can’t easily get to a dentist’s office. But until recently, if she found a cavity, there was little she could do. “I can’t drill. I can’t pull teeth,” said Geiselhofer, whose mobile clinic is called Dental at Your Door. “I’d recommend they see a dentist, but that was often out of the question because of mobility challenges. So visit after visit, I would come back and there...
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Indeed, a 2012 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that public health centers equaled or exceeded the standard of care offered by private practices. Health center patients pay on a sliding income scale. At the HealthWorks for Northern Virginia facility in Leesburg, for example, people with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($47,100 for a family of four in 2013; roughly half of that for an individual) average $20 to $30 for a doctor visit. Medicare beneficiaries have no copay for annual wellness visits and many preventive services. Older patients can also get low-cost prescriptions. 2. See a nurse-practitioner At Life Long Care of New London, N.H...
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Getting Members the Care They Need—Despite COVID Cost Concerns Before COVID-19, half of families with employer-sponsored insurance delayed care or avoided filling a prescription. Recent data shows consumers face barriers to care. Even before COVID-19, half of families with employer-sponsored insurance delayed care or avoided filling a prescription due to cost concerns. Now, with record levels of unemployment and the nation facing a recession, recent data shows consumers need help overcoming financial barriers to medically necessary care. An AccessOne survey conducted in early April shows 58% of consumers would consider delaying a non-emergency but medically necessary surgery this year due...
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Medicare and Medicaid At the top of President Lyndon Johnson’s legislative agenda in 1965 was Medicare, a federally funded insurance program to provide low-cost medical and hospital care for America’s elderly under Social Security. Half of the country’s population over age sixty-five had no medical insurance, and a third of the aged lived in poverty, unable to afford proper medical care; Johnson believed it was high time to do something about this. Shortly after his November election win, he told Health, Education, and Welfare’s assistant secretary, Wilbur Cohen, to make Medicare the administration’s "number one priority." On January 4, Johnson put the issue...
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Health Insurance Health insurance provides financial protection from health care costs by covering some or all of the expenses of routine and emergency medical care. Many Americans receive health insurance as part of a benefit package offered by their employer, but there may be other options available if you do not have insurance through a job, or the coverage available to you is too expensive. MaineCare (Medicaid) MaineCare provides free and low-cost health insurance and other help affording health care for people who meet certain requirements, such as income, age, or medical condition. Medicare Medicare is a federal program that covers most seniors and many people with disabilities....
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Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Covered California Extends Special Open Enrollment Deadline Posted By Iridian Casarez on Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 12:52 PM Covered California announced that Californians without health insurance can still sign up for health care coverage through the service until the end of July. The current special-enrollment period is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and according to the press release, the most recent data shows that 175,030 people signed up for health care coverage between March 20 and June 20, which is more than twice the number who signed up during the same time last year. Read the full press release below. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California announced on Tuesday...
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Netcare is one of three hospital groups found to dominated the facilities market. Shutterstock An extensive inquiry into South Africa’s health market was recently concluded – the first ever process in the country that involved gathering evidence and then studying the private healthcare market from the perspective of competition and competition law. The investigation ran over five years and included over 43 million individual patient records, 11 million admissions, specifically commissioned studies, written submissions, public hearings and seminars. The investigation focused on hospitals, doctors, and funders. Funders include the medical schemes who purchase healthcare on behalf of members,...
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Many laid-off workers face first deadlines to qualify for health insurance Many laid-off workers who lost health insurance in the coronavirus shutdown soon face the first deadlines to qualify for fallback coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Taxpayer-subsidized health insurance is available for a modest cost — sometimes even free — across the country, but industry officials and independent researchers say few people seem to know how to find it. For those who lost their health insurance as layoffs mounted at the end of March, a 60-day “special enrollment” period for individual coverage under the ACA closes next week in most states. Altheia Franklin, who lives near Houston, lost her...
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Health Insurance Center - Health Online Health insurance costs Learn about auto, home, life and health insurance from the experts. - Health Insurance Center Increase In Health Insurance Costs! Health Insurance Rates: Are Increases Threatening Consumers? Businesses Being Crushed By Health Care Costs?Cutting Health Care Costs Unaffordable Insurance! Wake Up America # 7Why Insurance Health Care Cost Are So High. Another one of California's largest health insurers has stunned individual policyholders with news of huge rate increases -- this time it's seeking hikes of as much as 59% for tens of thousands of customers March 1.Plan comes less than a year after Anthem Blue Cross tried and failed to...
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The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday gave employers permission to let employees make mid-year changes to their group health insurance coverage and to their flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent care for 2020. Employer groups have been lobbying the IRS and Congress to allow more flexibility in these plans because the coronavirus has vastly changed people’s need for, and access to, health care and child care. The new guidance includes only some of the changes the groups recommended. The new rules allow, but do not require, employers to make the following changes to their cafeteria plans: Mid-year changes to group health care: Normally employees can change their...
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