New Small Business Health Care Tax Credits1

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, small business health care tax credits are designed to help small businesses and small tax-exempt organizations afford the cost of covering their employees.  Here are some of the basics to qualify:

  • Employers must cover at least 50% of the cost of health care coverage for some of its workers based on the single rate.
  • Employers must have less than the equivalent of 25 full-time workers (for example, an employer with fewer than 50 half-time workers may be eligible).
  • Employers must pay average annual wages below $50,000.
  • The credit is worth up to 35% of a small business’ premium costs in 2010 (25% for tax-exempt employers). On January 1, 2014, this rate increases to 50% (35% for tax-exempt employers).

Additional information can be found at IRS.gov.

California Begins To Take Charge Over Health Insurance1

This week marked the end of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s seven-year term as California’s 38th governor. The new administration is not wasting any time when it come to health care, apparently.

On Monday, California’s new insurance commissioner David Jones ordered emergency regulations requiring insurance companies to devote at least 80% of their income to policyholders’ claims in the state’s individual insurance market.

California now requires insurers to spend at least 70% of revenue on policyholders’ medical bills, but Jones’ plan matches provisions in the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). … Read more →

The Holiday Gift That Keeps On Giving — Hepatitis A0

Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is transmitted person-to-person by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infectious person. Tens of millions of individuals worldwide are estimated to become infected with HAV each year.

The average incubation period for Hepatitis A (the time between infection and the appearance of the symptoms) is 28 days (but can extend as long as 50 days). For the most part, casual contact, as in sitting in church during mass, office or school setting, does not spread the virus.

There is a chance, however, that one may contract Hepatitis A via church communion. … Read more →

Snow Safety Tips from the AAOS0

As winter storms continue to cause disruption across the United States, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has some important safety information much closer to home. Snow shoveling can be dangerous. And while it can also be mundane, when combined with heavy lifting and cold weather, improper snow shoveling technique can result in injuries to the back and shoulders.

According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission:

  • In 2008, more than 70,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, clinics and other medical settings for injuries sustained while shoveling or otherwise removing ice and snow manually. … Read more →

Mixing Up Meds0

There is an estimated 1 million adverse drug events each year in the United States due to the misuse of medications.  For the most part, patients obtain information on any particular medication from the prescription container label, notwithstanding the availability of other information in writing or provided in conversation with a pharmacist.

Even though these labels have certain legal requirements, it does not always translate well for the patient. … Read more →

Some Medicare Changes for 20112

According to the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP), 70 million individuals are estimated to be Medicare beneficiaries over the next 20 years, compared to 45.2 million in 2008.

On its Website, the AARP provides some useful information for assessing plan changes in 2011.

  • Some drug and health plans will disappear in 2011, but unrelated to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
  • Some prescription plans will not be available in 2011, in part because insurers offering two or three plans must now make each significantly different. … Read more →

The Link Between Age and a Familiar Face0

Individual ability to recognize and remember the faces of those we meet is best between the ages of 30 and 34, some 10 years after many other mental skills are sharpest. This comes from the work of Laura T. Germine and Ken Nakayama of Harvard University and Bradley Duchaine of Dartmouth College. They will present their research in the journal Cognition.

According to Germine, a Ph.D. student in psychology at Harvard, the late-blooming nature of face recognition may simply be a case of practice making perfect. … Read more →

We Listen Before We Look0

We judge people by their accent, according to psychologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). According to Dr. Tamara Rakic, who has recently published her study in the online edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “The accent is much more important than the way a person looks.”

In their research, Dr. Rakic and her colleagues Professor Dr. Melanie Steffens and Professor Dr. Amélie Mummendey explored the influence of language on ethnic categorization. … Read more →

Hospital Holiday Perspective0

This time of year can bring joy as well as sadness to just about anyone. For the local hospital emergency department, however, the holidays can mean an increase in patients who have potentially put themselves in peril.

According to Mark DeSilva, M.D., Emergency Department Medical Director at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital: “For those who have no support system, no friends, family, loved ones or even co-workers, the holidays can prove very deadly. Everywhere, there are signs of gatherings, gift exchanges, happiness and love. If you are not experiencing what the rest of the world is enjoying, it is very bitter. . . . The holidays bring out desperate behavior in unstable individuals and they frequently end up in the ED as a medical emergency.”

DeSilva advises that there are usually signs when an individual is feeling overwhelmed by the holidays, and friends, families, and co-workers have time to intervene. … Read more →

Tetris Treats Trauma0

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. Flashbacks are the symptomatic “calling card” of PTSD, and treatments often focus on the disorder after the flashbacks are firmly established. Unfortunately, early interventions are rare.

In a recent study published in PlusOne.org examines a possible “cognitive vaccine” to prevent PTSD flashbacks after a traumatic event. … Read more →