Report: Health law’s small biz tax credit could expand coverage

As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act begin to be implemented, many small businesses in the United States will be able to take advantage of new tax credits, a new report states. During the first phase of the act, some businesses employing some 16.6 million workers will be eligible for these tax credits, according to the report released Thursday from the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation. “The new law is likely to have a significant …

Employers shifting health-care costs to workers, survey shows

Amid high unemployment and a weak economy, employers have been shifting health care costs to workers, according to a study released Thursday. This Story Employers shifting health-care costs to workers, survey shows Health insurance tax credit likely to affect small part of small-business workforce 2,000 groups approved for ‘early retiree’ health-care claims The premiums that employees pay for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 13.7 percent this year, while the amount that employers contribute fell by 0.9 percent, the survey found. For family coverage, workers are paying an average of $3,997, up $482 from last year, while employers are paying an average …

New workout programs show that pools can attract exercisers of all ages

Sean Stephens hasn’t told his friends he does water aerobics. “I guess until now,” the 36-year-old joked last week as we wiggled into the pool at LivingWell, the health club at the Washington Hilton. Only a few weeks ago, the runner and triathlete had never considered doing anything other than laps in the water. But a nagging knee injury persuaded him to take the plunge, and after 45 minutes of tuck jumps, sprints and breaststroke arms, he was ready to make it part of his weekly routine. “I actually got my heart rate up,” he says. That probably comes as no surprise to the senior women out there who tend to be water aerobics stalwarts. But they’re not the only…

Be skeptical of health-care credit cards

These days, you may leave your dentist’s office with more than a toothbrush and dental floss in your bag. Thousands of dentists are offering patients health-care credit cards to cover the work that needs to be done, with seemingly hard-to-resist repayment terms. If you need care and don’t have insurance to cover it or cash in hand, it’s tempting to sign up. But beware: Many of the card companies and some of the practitioners who offer them are under scrutiny for deceptive and sometimes fraudulent practices. Think hard and read the fine…

Even with malpractice insurance, doctors opt for expensive, defensive medicine

Some months ago, the receptionist in my clinic handed me a registered letter. The name of the sender seemed familiar. “Dear Sir,” the letter read. “Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am considering a potential claim against you in a medical Malpractice claim in regard to my husband. . . .” I stood, stunned. My white coat, which held the daily tools of my profession — my list of patients, the Sanford antibiotic manual, a black stethoscope — felt extraordinarily heavy. While my receptionist and staff made themselves busy and waited for my reaction, I struggled to recall the patient, so many patients ago . . . and my alleged misdeed…

Pea in the lung? Try jewelry, bones, dentures among inhaled items

Reports of a Massachusetts man with a pea sprouting in his lung didn’t faze Ali Musani, an interventional pulmonologist at National Jewish Health in Denver. He has found surprising things in people’s lungs — thumbtacks, batteries, beans, even a two-decade-old fishbone. In the case of the pea, it came to light when Ron Sveden, 75, arrived at Cape Cod Hospital with a collapsed left lung and pneumonia. Biopsies ruled out lung cancer. That’s when Jeff Spillane, a critical-care surgeon, ran a bronchoscope down Sveden’s airway and discovered the sprout. Sveden apparently had inhaled a pea, which then sprouted in the moist, warm environment. Once removed, Sveden quickly recovered. “You’d be …

Why has the USA’s cesarean section rate climbed so high?

Impatience could help explain the rising U.S. cesarean section rate, given that a high percentage of such deliveries probably are performed before women are in active labor, a new National Institutes of Health-sponsored study shows. The C-section rate has climbed more than 50% since 1996, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. An increasing proportion of first-time mothers are delivering by C-section, while fewer women who have had a previous C-section deliver subsequent babies vaginally. In 2007, the most recent year for which final data are available, a record 31.8% of births were by C-section, according to the health statistics center, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And preliminary data show the…

Medicare aims to reduce costs, illnesses of older smokers

WASHINGTON (AP) — They’ve lived with the health warnings about smoking for much of their lives and doubtless seen the ill effects on friends, relatives and even themselves, yet about 4.5 million older people in the U.S. keep on lighting up. Medicare is finally catching up to most private insurers by providing counseling for anyone on the program who’s trying to kick the habit. Dr. Barry Straube, Medicare’s chief medical officer, says it’s never too late to quit, even for lifelong smokers. “The…

China’s banking system shows disturbing, U.S.-style cracks

HONG KONG — Off-balance-sheet liabilities. Bad mortgage loans. Uncertain growth prospects. These issues, which nearly toppled the U.S. banking industry and triggered the financial meltdown, are increasingly threatening the stability of Chinese banks. Last week, a slew of Chinese banks — including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China — reported strong profits. ICBC, the country’s largest, earned $12.4 billion in the first six months of the year, …

Egg industry resorts to blaming the victim in recall, critics say

No more sunny side up. No more Eggs Benedict. No more almost-set scrambled eggs. In the wake of one of the largest egg recalls on record critics say the egg industry is resorting to the worst tactic of all — blaming the victim. More than 1,400 illnesses now appear to be tied to an outbreak of salmonella enteritidis definitively linked to eggs produced on two Iowa farms. “Consumers that were sickened reportedly all ate eggs that were not properly or thoroughly cooked. Eggs need to be cooked so that the whites and yolks are firm (not runny)…

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