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Please enable Javascript to view the comments powered by Disqus.From Bloomberg Businessweek –
Life expectancy in the U.S. has been growing more slowly than in other developed countries and is now more than a year below the developed-country average, according to a new report (PDF) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Even though Americans, on average, live to be almost 80, this is not good news. Life expectancy at birth is affected by trends in everything from infant mortality, accident rates, and violence to chronic diseases and care for the elderly, which makes it a highly sensitive indicator of a nation�s economic development.
U.S. life expectancy in 2011 was 78.7 years. That was an increase of a little less than eight years since 1970. Impressive, but not as big as the 10-year gain for the OECD as a whole. �Life expectancy [in the U.S.] is now more than a year below the OECD average of 80.1,� the OECD said in a press statement, �compared to one year above the average in 1970.�
Why has the U.S. fallen off pace? The OECD report sums up some American studies by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine that suggest some causes. None of the theories reflect well on the U.S.:
1. The highly fragmented nature of the U.S. health system, with relatively few resources devoted to public health and primary care, and a large share of the population uninsured;
2. Health-related behaviors, including higher calorie consumption per capita and obesity rates, higher consumption of prescription and illegal drugs, higher deaths from road traffic accidents and higher homicide rates;
3. Adverse socioeconomic conditions affecting a large segment of the U.S. population, with higher rates of poverty and income inequality than in most other OECD countries.
Ouch.
From Bloomberg Businessweek –
Life expectancy in the U.S. has been growing more slowly than in other developed countries and is now more than a year below the developed-country average, according to a new report (PDF) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Even though Americans, on average, live to be almost 80, this is not good news. Life expectancy at birth is affected by trends in everything from infant mortality, accident rates, and violence to chronic diseases and care for the elderly, which makes it a highly sensitive indicator of a nation�s economic development.
U.S. life expectancy in 2011 was 78.7 years. That was an increase of a little less than eight years since 1970. Impressive, but not as big as the 10-year gain for the OECD as a whole. �Life expectancy [in the U.S.] is now more than a year below the OECD average of 80.1,� the OECD said in a press statement, �compared to one year above the average in 1970.�
Why has the U.S. fallen off pace? The OECD report sums up some American studies by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine that suggest some causes. None of the theories reflect well on the U.S.:
1. The highly fragmented nature of the U.S. health system, with relatively few resources devoted to public health and primary care, and a large share of the population uninsured;
2. Health-related behaviors, including higher calorie consumption per capita and obesity rates, higher consumption of prescription and illegal drugs, higher deaths from road traffic accidents and higher homicide rates;
3. Adverse socioeconomic conditions affecting a large segment of the U.S. population, with higher rates of poverty and income inequality than in most other OECD countries.
Ouch.
The online magazine Ozy covers people, places and trends on the horizon. Co-founder Carlos Watson joins All Things Considered regularly to tell us about the site's latest discoveries.
This week, Watson tells host Arun Rath about a delivery service that allows you to track your food in real time, a chess master who is making the board game sexy and his recent interview with President Bill Clinton.
The New And The Next Shaking Up The Food Delivery Model Enlarge image i Radius Images/Corbis Radius Images/Corbis"A couple of young guys who were UC Berkeley grads � food obsessed � were finding that they couldn't get their favorite foods delivered. So, they starteda new service called Caviar, that for a flat fee is creating quite the Uber-like stir around San Francisco and now in Seattle and New York. ...
"They've got a lot of your basics, whether it's fish tacos or pulled pork sandwiches, but they also have some of the higher-end restaurants who in the past have been a little hesitant about delivery who have agreed to do it."
Read 'Caviar: Like Uber For Eaters' At Ozy.com
Sexy Moves In The World Of Chess Enlarge image i Courtesy of Ozy.com Courtesy of Ozy.com"Chess is not always the sexiest sport. But the No. 1 chess player in the world is a young guy from Norway named Magnus Carlsen, who is becoming quite the sensation. He is not only a champion chess player but he is also a male model and that's a very different look from Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov, who were two other famous chess champions of the past. ... Guys like Kasparov and others are saying, 'I hope he does really well and puts chess back into the larger mainstream conversation.' "
Read 'Meet the New Ambassador of Chess' At Ozy.com
President Bill Clinton Talks Health Care With Ozy Youtube/YouTube"He reminded us that when President George W. Bush rolled out the Medicare Part D plan that there also were a number of hiccups in the early days. So, that was his way of offering context to the current troubles with HealthCare.gov. And saying, be a little bit patient. While there may be a number of troubles in the first couple months with HealthCare.gov, they ultimately should be fixable and this won't have been the first time that we've had to smooth over some things in the early going."
Read 'Assessing the Healthcare Rollout' At Ozy.com
Share Facebook Twitter Google+ Email Comment More From The New And The Next Pop CultureMaking Moves In Food Delivery, Chess And Health CarePop CultureDigging Into The Truth About Messages, Images And Hard TimesPop CultureA Male Belly Dancer, Social Activism On Instagram, 'Thriller'Pop CultureA Teenage Music Phenom, Infographics, Motorcycles In VietnamMore From The New And The Next
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Please enable Javascript to view the comments powered by Disqus.From the Courier-Post –
Mike Pollock calls himself a squeaky wheel.
Since 2002, the Atco resident has fought with insurance companies, medical agencies and doctors after his wife, Kathy, 61, survived a brain tumor and later two debilitating strokes that left her partially paralyzed.
After their private insurance and savings were exhausted, the Pollocks needed Medicaid to pay for Kathy�s long-term care.
But since 2011, when the state started contracting with managed care companies to handle Medicaid administration, Pollock has been spending more time on the phone, dealing with denials.
�It�s become more about the money,� said Pollock, who owns Atco Hardware Store. �When the state ran Medicaid, the people who ran Medicaid cared about doing their job. Now, you�ve got people worried about the bottom line.�
Though Kathy Pollock is covered under Medicare and Medicaid, her husband spends part of each day fighting for her medical care and supplies. Lately, he�s been arguing to have her physical and occupational therapy reinstated since it ended nearly three months ago. She has since regressed, he said, and can no longer feed herself.
Horizon NJ Health, the managed care company administering her Medicaid, also stopped providing the diapers he prefers, he said. His biggest fear is that Medicaid will cut into funding for Kathy�s beloved home health aides, who care for her while he works. He already fought a reduction in their $10-an-hour pay.
�It�s a distraction that I don�t need,� said Pollock, who wrote about previous bouts with managed care in his book, �From Death�s Door to Disney World: An Advocate�s Story.�
�If you talk to the people out there who are dealing with this on a daily basis, they�ll tell you there are people that are lost, who don�t know what to do. It�s a terrible situation.�
There are caregivers like Pollock across the state. Beverly Roberts, director of mainstreaming medical care for the Arc of New Jersey, hears complaints about cuts in the number of home health aide hours her clients are given each week. The nonprofit serves people with intellectual disabilities � patients who typically don�t improve.
�If anything, things get more difficult as the individuals get larger and heavier, and mom and dad get older and more frail,� said Roberts.
Advocates can file an appeal, she said.
They can also share their experiences publicly. New Jersey’s Medical Assistance Advisory Council allows the public to ask questions or comment on agenda items during its quarterly meetings. The council advises Valerie Harr, director of the state�s Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services. The next meeting is Nov. 22 in Ewing.
�It�s very upsetting when families are going through such difficulty,� said Roberts, who sits on the panel.
New Jersey is expanding its use of managed care companies to administer state-funded medical assistance. Studies have shown such arrangements modestly improve care and reduce costs, according to the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University.
But Pollock can�t imagine how. He wants a legislative remedy and a single-payer system like Medicare.
�It saves them tons of money by people being home, but they don�t care if Kathy doesn�t get the medical supplies that she needs,� Pollock said.
�It�s not about the patient. It�s about the money.�
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