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Healthcare Articles

Live-In Care: Responsible and Sharing

There will come a time in your life where you have to make the decision what to do about a parent or elderly loved one, and one option that is becoming more and more plausible is to hire a live-in care representative. Rather than send someone to a hospital or nursing home, think about that idea instead.
Ultimately all that you are doing is hiring someone to watch over a person that can’t completely take care of themselves, and you don’t have time to with your own life and busy schedule going on. Rather than give up you your own life, hiring live-in care might be the perfect solution.
There are several forms of live-in care, and they depend on exactly what type of care that you need. There are people who can do simple things like assist with eating and drinking habits, and that are others with a little bit more training that can do things like check blood pressure, heart rate, and medicine use.
Agencies that provide live-in care typically advertise the service very well, so you won’t have much trouble finding one when you start looking. You can also contact a local hospital, and they may have their own set of recommendations based on what things you actually need from a provider. Ask all the questions you need.
The basic services that come with live-in care range from companionship through more medical services. Sometimes an elderly person just needs someone to talk to. Other times they need someone to cook or do basic cleaning, and others to monitor any type of sickness they may have, and ensure medical equipment is working properly.
Live-in caretakers care also handle things like children, if you are a busy adult that wants a professional solution to the riddle of babysitting or nannying. Agents have the training and experience to help your children through rough times in their lives as well. Plus, you can beat the convenience of literally having your child’s caretaker always available at the comfort of your own home. Think of the peace of mind!
And as your caretaker becomes more familiar with your situation, there should be daily improvements to the scheduling and activities and efficiency in which things are done. It is a growing opportunity for every person involved in the system, and part of the reason you would hire one agency over another is because of this sense of fulfillment.
So if you’re at a stage in your life where you are going to make a decision about what to do with someone who needs more care that you can provide, consider live-in care as a top-rated alternative to the more depressing concept of sending someone away.…

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Healthcare Articles

How to Get a Free Advance Health Care Directive in California

Free Health Care Directive for Californians!
People usually forget that estate planning involves much more than wills and trusts.
Part of any solid estate plan, the Directive allows your chosen agent(s) to make health care decisions for you if you can’t do so yourself!
In some states, it is still called a “Living Will” which is probably why many people confuse it with a “Living Trust.” In California, the “living will” is now called an Advance Health Care Directive. I provide my clients with a VERY robust and comprehensive document.
Some online companies and paralegal services will sell you an Advance Health Care Directive, but what they are actually providing you is something you can get for free! That’s California Probate Code already provides a free Health Care Directive in section 4701 of the code. The reason some places sell this form to you is because they are NOT allowed to practice can only provide you with the entry-level form. While the form in the code has its shortcomings, and is indeed “entry level,” it is better than nothing.
If you don’t have a solid directive, and you haven’t done an estate plan, then at the very least, you can get the FREE one and fill it out yourself.
Here is how you can get the FREE entry level form:
1. Go to the California Attorney General’s website at
2. In the top right, you will find a search box
3. In the search box, type “advance health care directive”
4. The first result should be California’s FREE entry level form that you can fill out online. Make sure to follow the instructions carefully!
If you want something more robust or a more complete estate plan that will provide you and your family with MUCH more protections, please feel free to call my office and make an appointment. You will be glad you did.
EVERYONE OVER THE AGE OF 18 SHOULD HAVE AN ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES, BUT HAVING ONE (EVEN THE FREE FORM) IS LIKELY BETTER THAN NOT HAVING ANYTHING AT ALL.
Please forward this email to friends, colleagues, and family that might find it helpful.…

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Healthcare Articles

I Thought ObamaCare Was Supposed to Be the Affordable Health Care Act?

Indeed, sometimes I feel like we were sold a bill of goods, or that Congress approved the bill for the Affordable Health Care Act before they read what was in it. That sounds rather ridiculous doesn’t it? Although, that is what Nancy Pelosi said to CNN, FOX, CBS, and MSNBC reporters the night before the ObamaCare vote. Perhaps, this is more common than you think, and if so there is a very good book I believe you should read titled; “What Makes You Think We Read the Bills?” which was written by a former influential DC legislator.
Let me give you an example of some of the hypocrisy which is going on in the real world. The Affordable Health Care Act was supposed to make health care more affordable, it hasn’t. Health care costs have increased between six and 8.5% each year since President Obama has been in office and since ObamaCare has been in existence, and the more onerous costs and restrictions are still to come in 2014, some start right now in 2013 as it is phased-in.
The LA Times had an article recently titled “Insurer Plans 12% Rate Hike” by Chad Terhune which noted that “Health insurer Blue Shield of California wants to raise rates as much as 20% for some individual policy holders, prompting calls for the nonprofit to use some of its record-high reserve of $3.9 Billion to hold down premiums.”
Indeed, I know this is true because I myself have watched my premiums go up, even though I have never used them. Apparently, I am paying for everyone else’s increased costs due to this new law. We were all told that we would save money, that we would receive refunds, and that the government could run our health care system better than private enterprise. We should have known better, because the big blob of bureaucracy has never been able to run more efficient than free enterprise, not only our own country, but everywhere else as well.
Socialism doesn’t work, and nationalizing industries only makes them more inefficient. If you are wondering what’s hurting the economies of Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, and most of the nations in the Middle East, well, it is all about centralized control over industry, and the inefficiencies of socialism. We need not do that there, but apparently we have some left-leaning leadership that has fooled the masses into following the pied piper off the economic cliff of despair.
That’s unfortunate for such a great and strong nation which has become the economic powerhouse of the world thanks to free-market capitalism. Indeed, I’d like you will sit back for a moment and consider all this and think on it.…

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Healthcare Articles

The Ease of Buying Individual Health Insurance

There used to be so many variables when even attempting to purchase insurance coverage that the consumer was often left confused. Not to mention the whole process had to be handled by an agent who claimed to know what was best for the individual. Well those days are long gone and now the process of buying individual health insurance is both easy and convenient.
Many changes have occurred within the industries that are beneficial to the everyday individual. Purchasing insurance is now as easy as picking up the phone or even utilizing the Internet. Gone are the days of needing an insurance agent who always had just the right policy at an astronomical rate. Now the control to find the best coverage is in the hands of each individual.
Competition is fierce within the insurance industry and companies are trying to outdo each other. Buying individual health insurance has become much less of a burden to the consumer because of this. The price of insurance and the coverage provided can be curtailed to fit into most budgets and still provide security. Another benefit is that anyone can access the information needed to make a decision about health care on their own.
Resources are available to aid the consumer in discovering both the options and premiums offered with these plans. There are no more standard one size fits all policies that require payment for services that are not needed or even wanted. Every potential insured has the capability of picking only the coverage that is needed at an affordable cost.
Buying individual health insurance means purchasing what is needed without added coverage increasing the premiums. There are a variety of options available when choosing the right plan from full coverage to a supplemental policy for added protection. Deciding what type of plan is best should be the first step in obtaining information.
Once the decision has been made as to the benefits needed, start comparing prices between carriers. There are a variety of ways to decrease the amount spent out of pocket as well as ways to keep the overall cost of the plan down. Being an informed consumer is a smart consumer when it comes to purchasing insurance.
Take the time to find out what options are available and the surprise might be that great coverage is available at a reasonable rate. The control is in your hands when it comes to health care and the purchase. Buying individual health insurance can be done with ease and still provide peace of mind.…

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Healthcare Articles

The Ease of Buying Individual Health Insurance

There used to be so many variables when even attempting to purchase insurance coverage that the consumer was often left confused. Not to mention the whole process had to be handled by an agent who claimed to know what was best for the individual. Well those days are long gone and now the process of buying individual health insurance is both easy and convenient.
Many changes have occurred within the industries that are beneficial to the everyday individual. Purchasing insurance is now as easy as picking up the phone or even utilizing the Internet. Gone are the days of needing an insurance agent who always had just the right policy at an astronomical rate. Now the control to find the best coverage is in the hands of each individual.
Competition is fierce within the insurance industry and companies are trying to outdo each other. Buying individual health insurance has become much less of a burden to the consumer because of this. The price of insurance and the coverage provided can be curtailed to fit into most budgets and still provide security. Another benefit is that anyone can access the information needed to make a decision about health care on their own.
Resources are available to aid the consumer in discovering both the options and premiums offered with these plans. There are no more standard one size fits all policies that require payment for services that are not needed or even wanted. Every potential insured has the capability of picking only the coverage that is needed at an affordable cost.
Buying individual health insurance means purchasing what is needed without added coverage increasing the premiums. There are a variety of options available when choosing the right plan from full coverage to a supplemental policy for added protection. Deciding what type of plan is best should be the first step in obtaining information.
Once the decision has been made as to the benefits needed, start comparing prices between carriers. There are a variety of ways to decrease the amount spent out of pocket as well as ways to keep the overall cost of the plan down. Being an informed consumer is a smart consumer when it comes to purchasing insurance.
Take the time to find out what options are available and the surprise might be that great coverage is available at a reasonable rate. The control is in your hands when it comes to health care and the purchase. Buying individual health insurance can be done with ease and still provide peace of mind.…

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Healthcare Articles

Alternatives For Millennium Kids

A good friend of mind recently commented that his own kids and their friends are a lot less materialistic than our generations were, and that numerous surveys show that Millennials don’t want their jobs to interfere with their family or social life. He went on to say that, “Some say this is laziness, I tend to believe that Millennials have their priorities a little better aligned than their parents and grandparents.”
These kids, I believe, are smart, and cognizant of their challenge in America. With social programs being dismantled and safety nets disappearing, they will be on their own, which means that unless they are capable of making lots and lots of money, maybe making it into the top ten percent of wage earners, they will not be able to keep their heads above water, or even afford basic health care which will skyrocket in the near future. Why struggle to save money all your life when the first serious illness means that a hospital or doctor will sue you and take your home and life savings? The enthusiasm to become a part of this is shrinking.
Then there is saving for their kid’s college, and they just can’t see how they are going to afford all of this. And how about retirement? Reagan with his reckless tax cuts partnered with Greenspan to loot the social security fund when his deficits got out of control, and now the fund is going broke, and many want to dismantle it calling it socialism.
So the Millennium kids can look forward to either fending for themselves in old age, or living with their kids, which in independent America doesn’t work too well. So instead of a peaceful old age with Social Security, which this country once promised and which we all paid into all of our lives, and which then was stolen from us, they can look forward to constant struggle and stress to pay for health care, drugs, and food just as their body begins to fall apart and they can no longer work.
In the news recently, doctors are dropping patients unless they pay the doctors $1500.00 a year just to see them. This includes no tests, no hospitalization, no catastrophic coverage, only a chance to see a boutique doctor. This means that in the near future, we will need both an insurance policy plus $1500/year for a doctor. Medicare and Medicaid patients will be left out in the cold.
But there are alternatives for young adults and their futures.
Presently, it’s all about money from every angle of society, more and more money is needed, but there is only so much money with the pile slowly decreasing, which means that those on the lower rungs of society will suffer greatly in the future because the wealth is not being spread out in this country. Distribution of wealth is considered un-American, and wealth is therefore hoarded. The income distribution regarding the lower and middle classes has been in steady decline since Reagan was in office.
If our educational system continues to ignore these kinds of things and fill young adult’s heads with false promises of economic stability when those promises can no longer be kept, (and how can our educational system not ignore these things when moneyed interests and wealthy politicos pressure them?) then we can expect nothing to change and conditions to worsen.
And parents, out of naked fear, signal their kids that they had better be ready to make a killing in the market place, or else! The pressure on these kids result in early high stress levels in an educational system that has lock-stepped into this whole competitive thing (the intense pressure of test scores) instead of teaching cooperation and the value of good character.
The drop out rate increases and the teen suicides skyrocket due to the worry these kids feel, worry which is justified because many times kids can see more clearly than their mentors, who have become hopelessly enmeshed in the whole illusion. The fact is that young adults will have problems down the road, even the successful ones let alone the “average” (where most of us are), which will be left economically in the dust.
Every kid has dream of making it big, playing in the NFL, making lots of money, but the reality is, fifty percent will end up average, which means that their income levels will be not be able to keep up with the wealthy, and the wealthy will not care. This is how it is playing out. And we wonder why gangs are increasing at an alarming rate. How else can people who are discriminated against keep up? Lawlessness and anarchy are always the result.
But there are other ways to live that sidesteps all of this angst, depending on …

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Healthcare Articles

Diabetes Treatment Through Diet Control

Diet plays a very pivotal role in each one’s life. It is through the diet that we can manage our health issues well. Moreover, diet is also responsible for a person’s energy level and stamina. If we talk about a diabetic patient, then it is chiefly the diet which plays the lead role in helping people manage their increased blood glucose level. Hence we can have better diabetes treatment rough diet control.
The first thing which strikes the mind of people when discussing over the diet Plan of the diabetic patients, is the need to cut down the level of sugar or glucose in blood. In addition to avoiding sugar, people suffering from diabetes also need to refrain from starchy food, as these are also responsible for shooting up the level of blood glucose level. Therefore, as far as possible, people should stay away from the sugary and starchy food. However not all sweetened products are harmful. Also there is a certain level of requirement of sugar and starch in bodies as well. Hence, eating beet roots etc could help met those requirements, without much disturbing the blood glucose level.
Apart from paying attention to what not to eat, people also need enough time to decide what to eat. Green leafy vegetables and garlic etc are found to be good for diabetic patients. Since the diabetic people cannot take many fruits as they are rich in sugar, they are advised to proportionately increase the intake of nutrients through some health supplement.
There are various nutritional diet supplements which help meet the requirement of the people of the essential nutrients. Fish oil and flax-seeds rich health supplement make it possible for the people to access control over their blood glucose level. There are many such products which include the essential nutrients required to maintain a balanced glucose level. Slight bit of mismanagement in diet could cost very dearly for the health of the person, hence right health supplement and lots of exercises is very essential in addition to right diet and routine life. The combination of the above makes it possible to control the diabetes level.…