Health News
Features
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Pop Quiz: Test your knowledge of managed-care plans
Preventing health insurance mishaps by knowing how you’re covered THERE’S NO GETTING around the fact that healthcare insurance plans can be complicated and confusing. There are many different types of plans, such as managed-care plans, and each has its own set of rules and requirements. However, having the right information — down to the smallest…
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Health insurance update: Who falls in the coverage gap and how can they get insured?
“I think most of the providers that volunteer feel a moral and ethical obligation to help take care of those people.” — Dr. David Loewy, volunteer with We Care of Polk County LOCAL RESIDENTS who have issues getting health insurance coverage are fortunate in that there are many agencies here that offer a wide range…
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Medicare and end-of-life care: What’s changing?
New proposed policy encourages the process of advanced-care planning END-OF-LIFE DECISIONS are complicated and fraught with emotion, but a recent announcement by Medicare will hopefully offer some clarity to those facing such tough decisions. In early July, Medicare announced plans to pay doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants for conversations with patients concerning end-of-life care.…
Columns
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Protect Your Joints and Help Your Golf Game
Many people injure themselves simply because they do not stretch. A survey showed that more than half of the golfers who warmed up for 10 minutes or more before golfing had fewer than half the injuries than those who did not warm up. Another cause of injuries is the fact that golf is a repetitive…
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Diagnosis and Treatment of Shingles
Shingles is a contagious virus (varicella zoster) that results in a painful rash. The virus that causes the rash is one of nine known herpes viruses to infect humans. It is the same virus that causes chickenpox. After having chickenpox, typically as a child, the virus lies dormant in nerve tissue underneath the skin.…
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Understanding Metastatic Bone Disease
Cancer is always a frightening diagnosis, and knowing that the disease can spread from one part of the body to others can be unsettling. Metastasis occurs when cancer cells from the original (primary) tumor break away and move to other parts of the body. When the cancer spreads from the primary tumor into bone tissue,…
