"Understanding Obamacare" is a series of occasional stories examining how the Affordable Care Act — widely called Obamacare first by critics and now also by some supporters — will change how you access and pay for health care. The series will look at the impact the new law has on individuals, businesses and health care providers in Southwest Virginia.
THE LATEST INSTALLMENT
LEARN MORE
- Explore previous coverage from the series.
- Listen to reporter Laurence Hammack talk about the series with WVTF's Connie Stevens.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
LET US TELL YOUR STORY
- Under the Affordable Care Act, individuals are supposed to get health insurance, or face fines of at least $95 per adult and $285 for a family next year. Do you plan to buy coverage? Are you still wondering what you’re going to do? We’d like to know what you’re thinking about the mandate and how you plan to respond to it. Please email david.ress@roanoke.com or call 981-3253.
Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
Nine hospitals in a region that stretches from Bedford to Tazewell will see their Medicare reimbursements cut this year for having too many patient readmissions. The penalties, part of the new federal health care law, are aimed at prodding hospitals nationwide to do a better job of making sure that patients admitted with heart problems and pneumonia don’t wind up back in the hospital too quickly. Starting in October, hospitals
TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Sun protection found in special clothing
Q: Some summer clothing includes sunscreen. I’m concerned about the effects of sunscreen on our bodies all day and into the night, as we wear the same clothes that long. A: First off, sunburns are very bad for you and predispose you to developing skin cancer, so I am in favor of reducing sun exposure and sunburn. Second, the chemicals in sun-protective clothing are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, both
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: Most of your drug labels lack critical information
Open your cupboard and you will find lot numbers on canned goods, crackers, macaroons, mayonnaise, soup and many other items. There is a lot number on your Advil, aspirin, Metamucil and other OTC medicines. But unless the pharmacy dispenses your pills in the original packaging from the manufacturer, you won’t find a lot number on your prescription bottle. Because more than 80 percent of prescriptions are now generic, it is
YOU DOCS: Make these 2 diet ‘fat swaps' to stop cancer
A new, headline-grabbing report reveals the amazing power of two crucial “fat swaps” to protect guys against fatal prostate cancer. We think this way of eating could slash breast cancer risk, too. Just make two changes: 1. Choose vegetable-based fats — extra virgin olive and canola oil, nuts and seeds, avocado — over animal fats. 2. Replace some of the carbs on your plate with vegetable fats, too. That’s right.
YOU DOCS: How to mend faster, better after surgery
Scheduled for surgery? You’re no doubt thinking hard about what to do before and after to support optimal healing. Just in time, a series of good-news reports reveal that simple steps at home — and with your doctor’s help — can slash infection risk, bolster immunity, reduce pain and help you recover better. Case in point: Post-surgery infections hit up to 10 percent of patients, leading to longer hospital stays,
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: Can your heartburn drugs be bad for your heart?
How would you know if your medicine was putting you at risk for heart disease? This might seem as simple as looking on the official labeling, but you might be surprised to learn that the Food and Drug Administration has a very hard time detecting drug-induced heart disease. Vioxx was a classic case. This arthritis drug was promoted as less likely to cause serious digestive-tract complications compared with other pain
TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Take care adjusting thyroid meds
Q: I’ve taken Armour Thyroid for 57 years. My T4 and TFTI levels are normal, but my TSH level is low. Why? A: Armour Thyroid is a mixture of two hormones: T4 (thyroxine) and T3 (triiodothyronine). A low TSH means the body is sensing too high a level of T3 or T4 in the body. Because your T4 is normal, it is possible that your T3 is too high. A
YOU DOCS: Taking an antibiotic? Don’t forget the good bugs
Here’s a gut check. Up to 39 percent of people who take an infection-fighting antibiotic wind up with diarrhea, a side effect that can be annoying or even downright life-threatening. Why? Because along with killing off infection-producing culprits, antibiotics slay good gut-dwelling bacteria that protect you from gastrointestinal distress. And those good guys do many other beneficial things for you, too, including building and maintaining your immune strength. Side effects
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: Dry-eye epidemic reminds us of the need to blink
Blinking is like breathing. You do both without thinking thousands of times each day. As long as everything is going well, you won’t even notice when you blink. You also won’t be aware if you forget to blink. When you watch a video on your smartphone or get caught up in correspondence on your computer, you may be so focused that you fail to blink frequently enough. That may not
TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Readers’ keloids might return with ear re-piercing
Q: I had my ears pierced when I was about 10, developed pea-size keloids, which I had removed from behind both lobes, and stopped wearing earrings. I’m 60 and am thinking about ear-piercing again. Might it have been the piercing, the 10-karat-gold earrings or a combination of both that caused the keloids? Should I leave well enough alone? A: Keloids are benign growths that occur at a site of injury
YOU DOCS: Avoiding big problems from common infections
For all the overuse of antibiotic soaps and kitchen cleaners — North Americans spend billions of dollars annually on products that don’t clean up any more effectively than plain old soap — you may be uninformed about the big problems that can come from common infections and how easy it is to avoid them. So here’s our rundown on trouble-causing infections, such as gum disease (yes, that’s a bacterial infection!)
TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Escalated painkiller use troubles wife
Q: I’m at my wits’ end. I just returned from seeing my husband’s doctor with him, and I’d gone this time to be sure the doctor knew how my husband’s use of painkillers has escalated. He began using painkillers a few years ago and now is using the medication daily. Often, he’ll take dose after dose, saying the pain won’t go away. He just had an MRI done, but the
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: Preventing sunburn from the inside out
Fifty years ago, it was hard to avoid sunburn. Sunscreens were crude. The most effective, zinc oxide cream, went on ghostly white and looked funny, though it did keep lifeguards from burning their noses. Despite the current availability of highly effective sunscreens and lightweight clothing that protects against ultraviolet radiation, some people still get burned. We recently received this question: “I have extremely sun-sensitive skin. In fact, today I got
AGE MATTERS: Summer heat calls for extra food care
Dear Dr. Camardi: We were the family who all got sick last year at my brother’s pool party when we were still in Roanoke. Five of us landed in the emergency room so sick to our stomachs that it was horrible. Dad gave us a terrible fright. He was so sick from the vomiting and diarrhea that he passed out. When we got to the hospital they said he had
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: With vigilance, you can avoid disaster at the drugstore
Pharmacists remain among the most trusted professionals in America, just behind nurses and ahead of doctors, engineers, dentists and police officers. But even pharmacists make mistakes. We recently received a letter from a reader: “Yesterday, I discovered that when my diabetes prescription was refilled, the druggist made a mistake and gave me something else. I didn’t catch it at first because there was a note on the bottle saying that
TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Heath risks of tattoos are relatively few
Q: I would appreciate your insights concerning the health risks of tattoos (body art). I have heard that tattoo ink can get into the bloodstream, and over time can damage the liver and kidneys. The tattoo craze seems to have spread everywhere recently, and I wonder if people know all the health risks. A: Tattoos do have health risks, but they can largely be managed. The biggest risk is of
YOU DOCS: Phat chance: Catch these new omega-3 benefits
In June and July, supermarkets feature super-healthy wild salmon just in time for you to reel in five good-fat benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids in this fish (ocean trout, too). And you can boost those good-fat benefits by enjoying some specific nuts, veggies and supplements right alongside the day’s catch. More on that in a minute. Omega-3s are a family of health-bestowing fats that put a damper on inflammation,
Virginia Health Care Foundation gets $1 million grant to help children
The Virginia Health Care Foundation has received a federal grant of nearly $1 million to help identify children from low-income families who qualify for government assistance. The funding was part of $32 million in grants awarded to agencies and organizations in 22 states by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Today’s grants will ensure that more children across the nation have access to the quality health care they need,”
YOU DOCS: Red-meat lovers, meet your meat alternatives
Hey, New Orleans, hold the short ribs! Kansas City, cancel that T-bone! St. Louis, send back the sirloin. These beef-loving towns earned berths on Sharecare.com’s newly released list of Top Red-Meat-Eating Cities for 2013. Men and women share their meaty enthusiasm in the Big Easy, but in Kansas City and Memphis, Tenn., women chow down more — and it may age them by accelerating wrinkling. In St. Louis and Columbus,
THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: Juice and prescription pills can be a deadly mix
Speed kills, especially when it comes to pills. Everyone is in such a hurry these days that it’s rare for physicians to provide detailed instructions about how to take prescribed medicine. Pharmacists are overwhelmed, so they hardly ever interact directly with patients to give them advice. Pharmacy technicians may be good at counting pills and ringing up bills, but they don’t have the training to counsel people about food and
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
7. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
8. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
