The biggest dispute has been how to fund the legislation; in other words where will the money come from with the question whether to include a government run insurance plan and how much to spend on subsidies that would help the lower and middle income Americans so that they can afford insurance.

The most controversial issue though remains that of abortion with the bill allowing insurance plans in newly created exchanges in the market place to offer abortion coverage; however the senate bill wants to extend it further so that insurers who get government subsidies cannot provide abortion coverage at all.

If you don't have health insurance you would be required to have coverage and if you do not have one you would pay a penalty which would be 2.5% of your income. Of course there would be exceptions due to financial hardships or religious reasons.

So in 2014 the penalty for not having coverage would be $95 or 0.25 of your income whichever is higher and the penalty would rise in 2016 to $750, or 2% of income up to the cost of the cheapest health plan.

If you are a senior and are over 65 years old, the medicare prescription drug benefit would be improved greatly with both bills allowing most seniors to get half-priced-brand name drugs when they hit the gap. If you are one of the beneficiaries of Advantage, the private plan part of medicare, the government would cut back on funding and so you could lose extra benefits that many of the private plans offer such as hearing aids, gym memberships and free eyeglasses.

For those that want health coverage but cannot afford it, the legislation would expand medicaid, which is a state-federal program for poor people and those with disabilities. Millions of people would be included even those without children that wouldn't normally be eligible. If your income is 150% of the federal poverty level or $16,245 you could be eligible for Medicaid.

If you make too much for Medicaid you could get help buying private insurance and if you make too much to qualify for subsidies you could still get some financial relief. The new bills would require your insurer to pick up your out-of-pocket costs - amounts of the bill that you would pay once they exceeded a certain amount.

If you work for a company, you will not need to buy insurance as new responsibilities will be placed on the employer to begin offering insurance but the companies would receive financial incentives.

Do these health reforms increase my taxes? - These bills will most likely hit the wealthy but in different ways. There would be a 5.4% income tax surtax on individuals who make more than $500,000 a year and couples that earn more than $1 million. Medicare payroll tax would be increased from 1.45% to 2.35% for people who make more than $200,000 a year and families that make more than $250,000 per year.

How will the government raise money for this legislation? - There would be a 40% tax on the portion of employer-sponsored health coverage that is more than $8500 a year for individuals and $23,000 for families. The threshold for deducting medical expenses on your federal tax forms 1040 would be increased from 7.5% to 10%.

Will it be possible for you to buy insurance even if you have health problems? If you have medical issues the new health bill would make it easier for you to get coverage; A pool would be created for high risk people or people that have been rejected for coverage due to preexisting conditions. Insurers will not be able to set lifetime coverage limits.

Younger, healthier people might pay more and insurers would not be permitted to charge sick people more; older people could be charged more than younger people.

Small business owners would be exempt from having to provide coverage to their workers tax credits would be provided to small firms. A company with less than 50 employees or payroll of less than $500,000 will be exempt from having to offer insurance.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phyllis_Chowaniok

There are many different duties of a CNA in nursing homes. You will keep quite busy throughout the day if you are working in a continuing care community. If you are a CNA working in a nursing home, you will help residents with a variety of different needs. The type of tasks that you complete throughout the day can vary depending on which wing of the nursing home you are working on. No matter where you are working, you will always do all you can to provide kind and compassionate care to your patients.

There are many patients in a continuing care community who need assistance walking or who need to me moved in a wheelchair from their room to the dining hall, activity room and other areas. Some residents will need help eating and with other activities of daily living. When working as a CNA in a nursing home setting, you will most likely be required to bathe many of the residents.

Some residents will need assistance with toileting. There will be residents who need to wear adult diapers and who will need to be changed. You will always help a patient to maintain their dignity. When working with patients who are not able to move on their own, you will reposition them in their bed every couple hours to prevent bedsores.

If you are working as a certified nursing assistant, you will help residents with their grooming needs. There are some residents who you will help to brush their teeth, comb their hair and to put on makeup. Some men will need your help to shave or will need to be shaved. You might be asked to paint a lady's fingernails or help to style her hair.

You might be responsible for changing a resident's linen on their bed or even to do some light cleaning in their room if you are working as a nursing assistant. You will be apprised of your exact duties in regards to housekeeping when you are hired for employment.

As a CNA, you might be asked to help to oversee a patient's exercises. If a patient is able to exercise on their own, you can watch them go through their range of motion type exercises. You will be there if they have a problem or need some assistance while exercising. This is not something you will take upon yourself to do but rather only as directed by your supervisor.

When you are working as a nursing assistant in a nursing home, you might take vital signs. This could include monitoring blood pressure and temperature. You might be asked to chart a resident's intake of food and liquids. In some cases you might even help to monitor blood pressure readings. If a patient is ill or injured, you will need to follow your facilities procedure for reporting their ailment and getting them the help that they need. When you are hired for employment at a nursing home, you will be provided with details on your specific duties.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Stevens

Living in a land that offers plenty; plenty of food, transportation, entertainment, and easy access to the electronic age leaves a burning question for me. What are we lacking if so many things are so easy to obtain?

What could we be lacking when cars, buses, fast food, movie theaters and golf courses are everywhere. How have human connections been impacted? I'm not referring to a 30 second conversation when ordering a meal with the waiter, or even a longer "relationship" with the person who is selling us a car.

I have to wonder in what ways our familial and close community ties have been impacted and if so, has that also made any difference in our health?

Luckily, there are many number of popular researchers who also think of the same questions. And they do also have the fire to find the answer.

This community had similar eating habits as of their neighbors, this study has been conducted for nearly 30 years in 1950's. In a town called Roseto, Pennsylvania a study has been conducted among an Italian-American community and this is called "The Roseto Effect".

In short, the study found that these people had longer life spans and were overall much healthier than their neighboring counterparts. This was true in spite of the aforementioned risk factors including smoking and lack of regular exercise.

This group of people has been genetically gifted that has been concluded in the study. But the younger generation of this group saw their health declining. In the initial stage they maintained close relation within family and community and they also maintained good health. But once they came out of the family and community their health started to deteriorate.

Love and affection showered upon a person will have direct and positive effect on his health even though he has some traditional bad habits in him. This what I advocated in my previous article on how the love and affects shown by our pets have positive results on our health.

We do not have to be part of a large family to inject ourselves into a community. We may just have to be a little more creative and open in order to acquire the sense of community. Watching a movie can be great entertainment, but it is a very solitary activity which requires no interaction with anyone else.

On the other hand, discussing a movie, book and personal values with others does create a connection. Asking the waiter where he or she is from or going to school etc. rather than just inquiring about today's special also initiates closer personal ties.

Being self entertained can still be good and force some internal reflection in understanding who we are as people. But denying these very important family or community ties will ultimately shorten our lives unless we tend to them the way we might tend to our cars insuring they are clean and running properly.

Regular exercise and food with less fat is always advised. It also recommended to all of us to treat our relationships inside the family with utmost care and love.

I would also like introduce all my natural alternative health program. All these programs contain easy to use exercises and comes with proven results. It may help some of your dear ones who are suffering from the ailments.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christian_Goodman

In addition to learning the unique language used by medical professionals, a medical transcriptionist must also be an expert on English grammar and spelling. As if that isn't enough to remember, there are styles and formats that are unique to the medical field; not being familiar with these accepted guidelines can generate quality assurance issues for a transcriptionist and the medical records and impact patient safety.

Medical Homonyms

Homonyms are difficult for many English speakers to master, but when they occur in medical language, it becomes even more tricky. For example: ileum and ilium. These are medical terms that refer to two different anatomical areas. In order to select the correct spelling, it's necessary to be familiar with the anatomy and to look at the context in which the word occurs. Experienced transcriptionists develop a system of mnemonics that assist them in finding the correct spelling of a homonym.

The ilium is a bone in the pelvis; in lay terms, the hip bone. The ileum is part of the small intestine. An easy mnemonic is to remember that both hip and ilium have the letter "i". After that, a transcriptionist needs to look at the context of the word use in order to apply the appropriate term and spelling.

Although not considered homonyms, there are terms that sound like something else entirely, resulting in a transcription error, usually by an inexperienced transcriptionist. "Below knee amputation" is frequently mistaken for "baloney amputation." An experienced transcriptionist knows that there is no such thing as a "baloney amputation," regardless of whether or not it sounds like that is what a dictator is saying! In medical transcription, these are referred to as "sounds-like" errors.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are very common in medical terminology. They allow physicians and other healthcare professionals to document records quickly. Unfortunately, there are many terms that can apply to one abbreviation, which can lead to mistakes. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has published a list of terms and abbreviations that can be misread and advised that these be written or transcribed in specific ways in order to avoid confusion.

In medical terminology, the abbreviation OD or o.d. can be either right eye - or once daily. It's essential for a medical transcriptionist to know that the ISMP recommends that neither abbreviation be used, that it be written out as "right eye" or "daily," as appropriate.

Abbreviations may also be misread, as one letter closely resembles another, even in a typewritten report. The ISMP also recommends that the abbreviation "IU" (International Units) not be used, as it can be mistaken for "IV" (intravenous).

There are also guidelines governing abbreviations for measurements. The use of the abbreviation "cc" (cubic centimeters) is common, but not advised; documentation specialists are advised to use the abbreviation "mL" (milliliters) instead, as "cc" can be misread.

Documenting for accuracy and clarity

The core guidelines for medical transcription style and format are geared towards documenting the record with accuracy and clarity so that other healthcare professionals can easily find and read the information they need to make healthcare decisions, while feeling confident that the record is accurate insofar as the transcriptionist is able to interpret the dictator's spoken word and intent.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julianne_Weight