E-Cigarettes Lead to 'Real' Thing for Teens: Study
http://ift.tt/2theLVp By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, June 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Teens and young adults who use electronic cigarettes -- also known as vaping -- are almost four times as likely as their non-vaping counterparts to begin smoking traditional cigarettes, a new review suggests. "E-cigarette use increases the risk of subsequent cigarette smoking, even for teens and young adults who might not be at the highest risk for smoking," said study lead author Samir Soneji. "This increased risk may counter the successful tobacco control efforts that have produced a steady decline in smoking since 1998," he said. Soneji is an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in Lebanon, NH. Battery-powered e-cigarettes deliver nicotine through vapor instead of smoke. Their effect on public health is still being debated. Some say they may help adults wean themselves off tobacco cigarettes, while others feel they may introduce kids to smoking, according to background information in the study. Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health, isn't convinced that e-cigarettes are to blame for kids starting to smoke tobacco cigarettes. "These are kids who likely would have smoked anyway. There is no evidence that the e-cigarette experimentation is contributing towards an increased risk for smoking," said Siegel, who wasn't involved with the review. Teens also seem to be picking up on public health messages themselves, and all types of smoking may be losing a bit of their "cool." A June 16 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that fewer teens are vaping. The report said that an estimated 3 million teens smoked e-cigarettes in 2015. By 2016, that number had fallen to 2.2 million. Fewer teens are using tobacco, too. An estimated 4.7 million teens used tobacco in 2015 compared to 3.9 million in 2016, the report found. The new review looked at the results of nine studies. The studies included more than 17,000 teens and young adults aged 14 to 30 when the studies began. Fifty-six percent of the study volunteers were female. ContinuedWhen the studies were combined, the researchers found that an estimated 30 percent of teens who had ever used an e-cigarette went on to use traditional cigarettes. Only about 8 percent of those who never used e-cigarettes went on to smoke tobacco cigarettes. When the researchers looked at the past 30 days, 21.5 percent of those who'd smoked e-cigarettes went on to smoke regular cigarettes. Less than 5 percent of those who hadn't smoked e-cigarettes tried regular cigarettes. The new report didn't observe if people kept smoking over long periods. It also didn't examine whether smoking affected their health. Soneji pointed to three possible reasons why e-cigarette users may be drawn to smoke traditional cigarettes: They may become addicted to nicotine and seek a greater fix; they may learn to enjoy smoking and spend more time with friends who light up; and e-cigs may make it easier for users to transition to cigarette smoking because they've already learned how to do it. Soneji called for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to target teen and young adult use of e-cigarettes by banning fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes and requiring accurate labels regarding the levels of nicotine in the liquids used in e-cigarettes. But Siegel questioned the review's conclusions. "It failed to examine whether nonsmoking youth who are regular vapers are more likely to progress to established smoking," he said. "What these studies show is simply that youth who tend to experiment with substances -- like try e-cigarettes -- are also more likely to try real cigarettes and of course, some of them will become smokers since cigarettes are so addictive," Siegel said. "The proper question is whether nonsmokers who experiment with e-cigarettes are likely to progress to regular vaping and then, whether regular vaping increases their likelihood of progressing to smoking. There is no evidence that this is happening," Siegel said. The study was published in the June 26 issue of JAMA Pediatrics. WebMD News from HealthDay SourcesSOURCES: Samir Soneji, Ph.D., assistant professor, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, N.H.; Michael Siegel, M.D., MPH, professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health; June 26, 2017, JAMA Pediatrics Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 27, 2017 at 03:24PM
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Vote Delayed as Republicans Struggle to Marshal Support for Health Care Bill
http://ift.tt/2tg7jtP On Monday, Republican Senators Collins, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said they would vote against the motion to begin debate slated to hit the Senate floor Wednesday, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. A bevy of other senators from both flanks of the party seemed headed in the same direction if they did not see changes made to the Senate health care bill, leaving the measure in deep peril, since Republicans can only lose two votes from their own party. On Monday, the release of a Congressional Budget Office evaluation did little to help leaders roll up votes from either side of the fence. The budget office said the Senate bill would leave 22 million more uninsured after 10 years, while sending out-of-pocket medical expenses skyrocketing for the working poor and those nearing retirement. White House officials were bracing for the increasing likelihood that the procedural vote would fail and they would have to take the measure back up after the Fourth of July recess — when they hoped to be able to woo Mr. Johnson, who has been a surprisingly fierce critic of the bill from the right. The senator has repeatedly warned that this week is too soon to vote on the health care measure, as Republican senate leaders have insisted they need to do. Just as he did with the House when the far right and a small group of moderates both prevented initial passage of a bill, Vice President Mike Pence, who has attended most of the Senate Republican Tuesday lunches — and quietly hosted senators and House members for a weekly dinner at his Naval Observatory residence — has been playing a prominent role this week in trying to whip up votes. On Tuesday, he will attend the Senate Republican lunch once again and then break off for private meetings with Mr. Heller, a seemingly firm “no” and the first moderate Republican to break with Mr. McConnell over the bill, and Rob Portman of Ohio, who is feeling pressure from Ohio Gov. John Kasich to oppose the bill and defend his state’s Medicaid expansion. Mr. Portman was the subject of a spirited evaluation of his open criticism of the bill by Mr. McConnell, who has been frustrated with the expansion-state senators who have shown their hand early to other wavering colleagues, perhaps dooming the bill. Mr. McConnell was unhappy that Mr. Portman seemed to be abandoning his previous stance on fiscal rectitude by opposing Medicaid cuts in the bill. Mr. Pence is likely to add other senators to his must-see list, and plans to host a health care-related dinner at his house Tuesday night, with Mike Lee of Utah, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and James Lankford of Oklahoma, according to a senior administration official. Mr. Sasse has been an understated but strong opponent of the bill as written. President Trump — who praised the House-passed bill effusively only to then call it “mean” — has been playing a far less central role in the knife-edge effort to salvage the bill, according to several administration officials involved in the process. His dial-a-senator dance card has been relatively light: Mr. Trump spoke with Ted Cruz of Texas, his main rival for the 2016 nomination, over the weekend, as well as Mr. Lee and one or two others, but the pace was nothing like the dozens of calls he made to push the House bill over the line, aides said. The environment for Mr. Trump in the Senate is far less hospitable than in the House, and several Republicans who remain on the fence or opposed to the bill — including Mr. Paul and Marco Rubio of Florida — are failed presidential candidates who were the targets of Mr. Trump’s bruising insults during the campaign. With Mr. Trump playing a supporting role at the moment, Mr. Pence’s team is the tip of the spear on the lobbying effort. Top Trump lieutenants like Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist, who lobbied members on the House bill, are all-but sidelined. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who is not highly regarded in the Senate, has also played a much diminished role. Mr. Pence’s team is taking the lead. Seema Verma, Mr. Pence’s former adviser in the Indiana state house and now a top administration health care official, has been trying to reassure senators that their states will have flexibility on Medicaid under the bill — and Mr. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, now the White House legislative affairs director, has been quarterbacking the effort from his hideaway in the Capitol. Continue reading the main storyHealth via NYT > Health http://ift.tt/2koaaw3 June 27, 2017 at 03:21PM
Recall: Chicken Bites Sold at Target
http://ift.tt/2ueNFeK June 27, 2017 -- Overhill Farms Inc. of Vernon, CA, is voluntarily recalling about 54,630 pounds of frozen chicken bites from its Yummy Spoonfuls and Overhill Farms brands. The chicken bites, sold for babies nationwide only at Target, may contain bone fragments. The company started the recall after people complained about finding the bones. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it has not received any reports that the products have harmed people. The products were produced on four dates: Aug. 30, 2016; Feb. 1 and 9, 2017; and April 25, 2017. The products have a USDA inspection code of P2824, P6009, or P44058. The following products have been recalled:
People are urged not to eat the products and return them to Target to exchange or get a refund. People can also contact Yummy Spoonfuls for a coupon to replace the product or with questions at 844-986-6948 or help@yummyspoonfuls.com. SourcesSOURCES: FDA: "Overhill Farms Inc. Recalls Chicken Products Due To Possible Foreign Matter Contamination.” yummyspoonfuls.com. target.com. Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 27, 2017 at 01:09PM
Court rules hospital can withdraw life support for sick baby Charlie Gard
http://ift.tt/2thpi3t Born in August, Charlie Gard has a rare genetic disorder known as mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. Caused by a genetic mutation, it leads to weakened muscles and organ dysfunction, among other symptoms, with a poor prognosisfor most patients. Charlie is on life support and has been in the intensive care unit at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London since October. His doctors wish to take him off life support, but his parents disagree. Charlie's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, wanted the hospital to release Charlieinto their custody so they can take him to the United States for an experimental treatment. "The domestic courts concluded that it would be lawful for the hospital to withdraw life sustaining treatment because it was likely that Charlie would suffer significant harm if his present suffering was prolonged without any realistic prospect of improvement, and the experimental therapy would be of no effective benefit," a press release from the court announcing the decision said. Charlie's parents appealed to the UK Supreme Court to decide the best interests of their child. After they lost that appeal, the 10-month-old was due to have his life support switched off at the end of the day June 13. Gard and Yates then filed a request with the European Court of Human Rights, an international court based in Strasbourg, France, to consider the case. The original ruling to provide life support until June 13 was extended by European Court of Human Rights initially for one week, until June 19. Rather than making a decision then, the court granted a three week-extension, until July 10, to allow for a more informed decision by the court. That extension ended Tuesday with the courts decision. Disagreements on careUnder British law, parental responsibility includes the right to give consent for medical treatment, according to the British Medical Association. However, parental rights are not absolute, and in cases in which doctors and parents disagree, the courts may exercise objective judgment in a child's best interest. In April, a judge tasked with ruling on the impasse between doctors and parents decided in favor of the Great Ormond Street Hospital doctors. In his decision, Justice Francis said life support treatment should end so Charlie could die with dignity. The boy's parents challenged this ruling in May, yet it was upheld by a Court of Appeal. Three Supreme Court justices later dismissed another challenge from the couple. Since Charlie's birth, "his condition has deteriorated seriously," the UK Supreme Court stated in a decision June 8; his brain is severely affected, and "he cannot move his arms or legs or breathe unaided." On this basis, the court ruled that the child's life support should be switched off June 13, but the family appealed to the European court. Charlie's parents argued that the UK courts gave insufficient weight to their own human rights, and some of Charlie's human rights, in their decision-making, Wilson said. After the European court's ruling to extend the deadline while judges considered the case further, the Supreme Court told doctors it "would not be unlawful" to continue to provide life support. After the extension, a Supreme Court hearing was requested by the government and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, which did not know whether the Strasbourg court order was legally binding in the UK, Wilson explained. "There was also a secondary issue, which was that (Great Ormond Street Hospital's) legal representatives were concerned that at present, doctors did not have sufficient legal clarity about what they can and can't do if Charlie's condition deteriorates," Wilson said. "So this court was also invited to consider whether any UK court, and if so which court, should handle that matter." Experimental science in USCharlie's parents had hoped to take their son to the US where a doctor had agreed to carry out an experimental treatment called nucleoside bypass therapy. As the parentsexplained in their fundraising efforts, the therapy is an oral medication that provides Charlie with naturally occurring compounds that his body is not able to produce. In this way, the medicine might repair Charlie's flawed mitochondrial genes. According to bioethicist Julian Savulescuof the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, the experimental therapy offers a very small chance of some improvement. In fact, it has never been used to treat this form of mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, according to the British ruling, though it has proved beneficial to patients with a different form of the disease. "We strongly feel as his parents that Charlie should get a chance to try these medications," Gard and Yates wrote on their on their campaign website, Charlie's Fight. "He literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain," they said. Parents are rightly at the "heart" of decisions made about life-sustaining treatment for critically ill children, noted Dominic Wilkinson, director of medical ethics at the Oxford Uehiro Centre. "However, there are limits," Wilkinson wrote in a recent editorial about Charlie's case published in The Lancet, a medical journal. "Sadly, reluctantly, doctors and judges do sometimes conclude -- and are justified in concluding -- that slim chances of life are not always better than dying." Sometimes, the "best that medicine can do" -- and the most ethical decision -- is to provide comfort and to avoid painful and unhelpful medical treatments, he wrote. The court said the decision was meticulous, noting that they spoke with Charlie's health care providers, independent experts, experts recommended by the family, and Charlie's parents to inform the ruling. In the end, the press released said they determined, "it was most likely Charlie was being exposed to continued pain, suffering and distress and that undergoing experimental treatment with no prospects of success would offer no benefit, and continue to cause him significant harm." CNN's Stephanie Halasz, Debra Goldschmidt and Judith Vonberg contributed to this report. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 27, 2017 at 01:05PM
Few Upsets in U.S. News Top Kids' Hospitals List
http://ift.tt/2tkbXaO June 27, 2017 -- For the third straight year, Boston Children's Hospital took first place in the annual ranking of the best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The 11th annual ranking, released today, held few surprises. As in the previous two years, Boston Children's was trailed by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, in that order. Four other hospitals were repeats from last year, while Johns Hopkins Children's Center of Baltimore and the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., made the honor roll again after brief absences. Here are the rankings:
U.S. News bases its honor roll on how pediatric hospitals rank in each of 10 specialties, with points assigned to their positions -- 25 points for first place in a given specialty, 24 points for second, etc. The 10 hospitals with the most points across the 10 specialties appear in the honor roll. The methodology is a departure from last year's, when a hospital had to score in the top 10% of at least three specialties to qualify for the honor roll. Last year's rankings also used a different point system. The top children's hospitals in the 10 specialties are as follows:
The rankings within the 10 specialties mostly reflect objective quality measures, such as clinical outcomes, patient volume, infection control, adequate staffing of nurses, efficiency and coordination of care, and compliance with best practices. A hospital's reputation within a specialty, as gleaned from physician surveys, accounts for 15% of its score. ContinuedSo Long, Reputation?Hospital rankings by some other organizations do not give any weight to reputation, which is seen as an unreliable measure of quality. For its 2016-2017 rankings, U.S. News lowered the weight of the reputation score from 16.7% to 15%. And this year, reputation was dropped to 8.5% in the specialty of pediatric cardiology and heart surgery. U.S. News said in a release that it made this change to help accommodate a new quality measure in this specialty -- adjusted mortality rate after pediatric heart surgery. Ben Harder, the managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News, told Medscape Medical News in an email that comparable data are not available for other specialties, so the weight of reputation remains at 15% in its scoring. The magazine is meeting with hospital representatives and other stakeholders in November to discuss the future role of reputation in the ranking, Harder said. Participants will discuss the possibility of cutting the weight assigned to reputation more, or replacing it with new, objective quality measures, an announcement posted on the magazine's website says. See more information on the U.S. News rankings of pediatric hospitals on the magazine's website. Medscape Medical News SourcesSOURCES: U.S. News & World Report: " U.S. News Best Children's Hospitals 2017-18." Ben Harder, managing editor, chief of health analysis, U.S. News & World Report. Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 27, 2017 at 12:41PM
With Obamacare, More Breast Cancers Diagnosed at Earlier Stages
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More breast cancers have been found at earlier — and potentially more treatable — stages since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Using a nationwide cancer database that includes about 70 percent of all newly diagnosed cancers in the United States, researchers studied breast cancer diagnoses in 211,028 women ages 50 to 74 diagnosed from 2007 to 2009, before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. They compared these with 259,437 diagnoses from 2011 to 2013, when, under a provision of the act, neither private insurance companies nor Medicare were permitted to charge co-payments for mammography screening. About 85 percent of the women were white, 10 percent black and 4 percent Latina. Both before and after Obamacare, minority women were more likely than white women to be given diagnoses at a younger age and at a later stage. The study, in Cancer Epidemiology, adjusted for other variables and found that after Obamacare, the percentage of cancers diagnosed at the earliest stage increased by 3.2 percent for white women, 4.0 percent for blacks and 4.1 percent for Latinas. “The same woman who pre-A.C.A. would have been diagnosed at Stage 2 was diagnosed at Stage 1 after A.C.A.,” said the lead author, Abigail Silva, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. “The A.C.A. had the potential to improve public health, and there’s more and more evidence coming out each day to show that it is doing that.” Continue reading the main storyHealth via NYT > Health http://ift.tt/2koaaw3 June 27, 2017 at 12:09PM
Introducing the Primal Endurance Mastery Course!
http://ift.tt/2tgSWpi I’m thrilled to introduce the launch of an exciting new direction for our educational and publishing ambitions here at Primal Blueprint: The Primal Endurance comprehensive online multimedia educational mastery course. Quite simply, this endeavor brings the Primal Endurance book to life with a robust library of instructional and interview videos, audio content, and digital books based on content in the Primal Endurance book and podcast. Like our Primal Health Coach course, your course enrollment avails you to an online portal where all the content is thoughtfully organized and easy to navigate. You’ll be able to stream or download the Primal Endurance book and audio book, numerous other eBooks and audio programs, and access a massive library of videos consisting of interviews with the world’s leading endurance athletes, coaches and trainers—as well as leading experts in health, science and medicine. There are over 120 videos in this course, hitting you from every direction with impactful content to help you achieve the primary objective of the Primal Endurance approach: escape chronic cardio and become a fat burning beast! Brad Kearns, my co-author on Primal Endurance, hosts the online course. He traveled the continent conducting the expert interviews, and also walks you through the entire content of the book in carefully structured, bite-sized videos aligned with the book chapters. If you’re too busy to read or if you like to augment your book knowledge with video instruction, this course is for you. Here are just a few examples of the valuable video content: Chapter by chapter presentation of the book content, consisting of both lectures and practical instruction. You’ll get everything from step-by-step recipe videos, running technique instruction and drills, swim technique instruction and drills, and a series of “Finishing Touches” videos giving you concise marching orders to become healthy, happy, stress-balanced, fat-adapted Primal Endurance athlete.
It’s no secret that endurance athletes struggle from over-training syndrome, difficulty reducing excess body fat, and dietary patterns that promote carbohydrate dependency. The Primal Endurance Mastery Course liberates you from these hazards so you can pursue ambitious goals while preserving your health and maintaining a balanced life. You’ll follow a simple, enjoyable, intuitive approach that is less stressful, less exhausting, and that enables you to go faster on less total training time. In the process, you will enjoy an effortless reduction of excess body fat that is so elusive when you train in the old chronic cardio/carbohydrate dependency paradigm. Instead of doggedly following rigid schedules and weekly mileage obligations, you’ll become flexible and empowered to always make the best decisions to protect your health and build fitness. No more frustration with recurring illness, injury, and burnout episodes that leave you discouraged! The simple, commonsense principles of Primal living and training are appropriate for all enthusiasts—from elite professionals to raw beginners. If you want to see what the course is all about before pulling the trigger, Brad Kearns has created a series of videos called “9 Steps to Becoming a Primal Endurance athlete.” This content will give you a good feel for what the course material covers, but you will be absolutely blown away at the volume of content in your digital library, especially the exclusive, in-depth interviews from some of the greatest endurance athletes of all time and also some of the leading health, performance and medical experts in the endurance scene, particularly the burgeoning fat-adapted and keto endurance scene. You can also check out the Primal Endurance Facebook Group if you want to engage with Primal Endurance enthusiasts. This is a private space to share thoughts openly, and to get input and support from others as you embark on this journey to living and training Primally. Are you ready to gain mastery over the challenges of endurance training? I’m offering this course—with lifetime access to all the resources here PLUS ongoing members-only support and additional educational materials we add over time--for a special introductory rate you won’t want to miss. It’s limited time only, so don’t wait! And just to sweeten the deal, I’m throwing in a free pack of my PRIMAL KITCHEN® Coconut-Cashew Bars for the first 100 people who sign up. Want to learn more? Check out more about the course here. This course is near and dear to my heart, folks. I can’t wait for you to join me and see what we can make possible for your training success and lifelong health. Thanks, as always, for your support. The post Introducing the Primal Endurance Mastery Course! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple. Health via Mark's Daily Apple http://ift.tt/zxCBD6 June 27, 2017 at 10:51AM
After fighting for her daughter's life, mom fears GOP health care bill
http://ift.tt/2rY7DJX "We're not deadbeats," said Rebecca Wood, 38, who lives with her husband and daughter in Charlottesville, Virginia. Wood's daughter, Charlie, was born more than three months early, weighing just one pound and 12 ounces. While she's now 5 years old and doing well, she suffers from complications of her extreme prematurity. She still gets most of her calories through a feeding tube in her stomach. Wood and her husband have expensive medical bills as a result of these complications. With the help of Medicaid, Charlie has made great strides. Forty percent of US children are on Medicaid. After five grueling years, her parents now have confidence that she will realize their dream for her: to grow up to become an independent adult. But if the Republican health care plans succeed, they worry that dream could die. "There are these men, just far away from everything, snatching it out from under her," she said. Changing CongressArriving early for an appointment with her congressman in May, Rebecca Wood paced the streets of Capitol Hill to calm her nerves. A few weeks before, on May 4, Virginia Republican Tom Garrett had voted for the American Health Care Act, a plan Wood thinks could endanger her daughter. As she walked, Wood tried to gather the courage to confront Garrett and a yard sign along her path gave her confidence. It was a quote from the anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Now the stay-at-home mom was ready to tell her story to her congressman. Charlie's storyWhen Wood was six months pregnant, she started to see spots. It was the onset of preeclampsia, a disease that can kill mother and child. Wood's blood pressure soared causing doctors at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, to deliver Charlie at 26 weeks -- 14 weeks early -- to save both of their lives. After the delivery, Wood went straight to the intensive care unit, her kidneys and liver suffering terribly. Deluded by her disease and the drugs to treat it, she tried to unplug her monitors so she could get to Charlie. Wood wasn't healthy enough to see her daughter for another two days. Her husband wheeled her to the neonatal intensive care unit where she looked down into the isolette at her 1-pound, 8-ounce baby and promptly burst into tears. "I was afraid she wasn't going to survive. It terrified me that this was it," she said. "I watched you fight and I cheered you on," she would write later in her blog. "On your difficult days, I prayed and begged. Sometimes you would forget to breathe. I gently nudged you as a reminder." Charlie was discharged after three months in the hospital, though her growth and development lagged behind other babies. She still suffers from delays in speech and fine motor development and is vulnerable to infections, like pneumonia. Her mother, however, was undaunted. "I told myself in my head that whatever she could do, we would use whatever her ability is to give her life meaning. If she could hear, then we'd play music for her. If she could only see then we'd take her to look at art and look at the outdoors," she said. Wood, who had been a social worker, stayed home to focus on Charlie. She took her to doctors' appointments as well as physical, speech, occupational, feeding, and music therapy sessions. It worked. By Charlie's first birthday, she could sit up by herself. At 20 months, she took her first steps. Today, she runs around the playground like any child her age. She'll start kindergarten in the fall, a milestone that makes her mother beam. "She's amazing. She's an incredible kid, but there's a lot of work that went into getting her to where she is," she said. Mrs. Wood goes to WashingtonAs she climbed the steps to Garrett's office, Wood said she felt like the character from the iconic movie, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," about the reformer who tries to change the system. Wood set her cell phone on the couch and obtained permission from Garrett's aide to record the conversation. The very first thing Garrett did was to suggest that Wood was confused about the bill. "I'm afraid that there's been some hyperbolic mischaracterization of what the reality on the ground is," Garrett said. "It's unfair to you. It's creating fear and anxiety where it need not exist." Wood assured her congressman she wasn't confused or under anyone's influence. She'd read the GOP bill thoroughly. She explained that her family has health insurance through her husband's job, but they're still responsible for deductibles, copayments, and other expenses -- which add up to more than $12,000 a year. Medicaid pays for those extra costs. Garrett told Wood not to worry, saying "they're not getting rid of Medicaid." But the House bill, which Garrett voted for, would reduce federal spending on Medicaid by nearly a quarter by 2026 compared to current law, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. Under the GOP Senate plan, which has yet to be put to a vote, some 15 million fewer Americans would be covered by Medicaid in 2026. Wood is afraid Charlie will be one of them. Garrett told CNN that care doesn't have to suffer when funding gets slashed. "The reality is that sometimes you can move money and still get good outcomes," he said. "So if you had a daughter like Charlie, would you have voted to pass [the GOP plan]?" Wood asked her congressman at their meeting in May. "Absolutely," he answered. Then if the Republican bill is so great, Wood asked him, why are so many health advocacy groups,such as the March of Dimes, against it? "Some experts" support the plan, Garrett answered. "Who?" Wood asked. "Tell me." "Some have," Garrett answered. Wood didn't get her answer, but she let it go. Their time was up. "I know we're banging at each other, but you're doing exactly what you ought to be doing as a mom," Garrett told her. "I'm sure you're a lovely person. I just disagree with you on this bill," Wood responded. Before they parted ways, Wood took a photo with her congressman. She says if she looks unhappy in the picture, it's because she was. "I don't think there are words that express how angry I am that somebody could vote for something that would hurt the people he's supposed to represent," she said. CNN's Michael Nedelman contributed to this report. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 27, 2017 at 10:43AM
Mom on Medicaid cuts: It's a punch in the gut
http://ift.tt/2tdF0Mn The Senate health care bill would slash nearly a trillion dollars in Medicaid spending, according to the Congressional Budget Score. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports on a five-year-old that would be affected by the cuts. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 27, 2017 at 10:43AM
Mom wants Planned Parenthood to stay open
http://ift.tt/2tY3qXo While pregnant with her daughter, Ariana Gonzalez went to Mexico to receive medical care instead of here in the US. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen shares her story. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 27, 2017 at 10:43AM |
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