Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a pain-free way of tackling dental decay that reverses the damage of acid attack and re-builds teeth as new.  According to researchers at the University of Leeds, they have developed a revolutionary new way to treat the first signs of  tooth decay. Their solution is to arm dentists with a peptide-based fluid that is literally painted onto the tooth’s surface. The peptide technology is based on knowledge of how the tooth forms in the first place and stimulates regeneration of the tooth defect

The Affordable Care Act will expand insurance coverage to more than twenty-five million Americans, partly through subsidized private insurance available from newly created health insurance exchanges for people with incomes of 133–400 percent of the federal poverty level. The act will alter the financial incentive structure for employers and influence their decisions on whether or not to offer their employees coverage. These decisions, in turn, will affect federal outlays and revenues through several mechanisms.

Unfortunately having bad oral habits can lead to poor oral hygiene which can cause bad breath, tooth discoloration and red, swollen gums, dental decay, gum disease and ultimately tooth loss.

Having poor dental care habits can also start to effect your chewing and speech due to tooth loss, you self esteem due to bad breath, stained teeth, gaps etc. Large amounts of research shows that poor oral health can also effect your overall health care.

In addition having bad dental care habits can also have a large effect on your finances. Delaying needed dental treatment by not seeing a dentist regularly can lead to having to need larger dental care services in the future, which will effect not only your dental health but your wallet.

For many grand parents they find themselves baby sitting their grands kids.   Sometime they can have their grand kids over night or even for a few days.  Here are some helpful tips  for brushing  children teeth. For children under the age of  two.

1) Use a smear of Non-Fluoride toothpaste. Make sure to use a toothbrush with a small head that fits your child’s mouth.

2) Sit your child on your lap. By having your child sit in your lapt it will be easier and it helps keeps wriggling to a minimum. (As your children gets older, you can stand behind them.)

3) Tilt the head up a little and tell your child to open wide.

4) Clean each tooth with a gentle circular motion, making sure to clean the front, back and chewing surfaces of each tooth and brush right up to the gum line.

5) Talking to your child can help. Tell your grand child what you’re doing in a calm and reassuring voice. After brushing, tell your grand children to spit.

6) A child should not be swallowing the toothpaste and in very young children, it can be difficult to get them to spit. That’s why it’s important to only use a small amount, and make sure they are supervised at all times.

7) Once your grand child is able to spit out toothpaste (usually around the age of 2), you can use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. By this time, you should be spending a full two minutes, morning and night, brushing your child’s teeth.

Over time, children can take more responsibility for brushing their own teeth. But until their motor skills are more refined, you’ll still need to brush properly for them.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, there has been much speculation about how many employers will stop offering health insurance once the act’s major coverage provisions take effect. Some observers predict little aggregate effect, but others believe that 2014 will mark the beginning of the end for our current system of employer-sponsored insurance.

We talk a lot about the benefits of having good oral habits and how to go about maintaining proper dental health care habits.  One may not think much about missing a day or two of flossing or going a day here or there with out brushing yet doing so can have a bad effect on your dental health. It does not stop there did you know that eating too many sweets or using your teeth as tools such as opening a bag of chips also can have a negative effect on your teeth.

With over 400 volunteers statewide, California’s Senior Medicare Patrol project is a strong and growing force throughout the state, actively reducing fraud and helping Medicare recover from the effects of fraud, including lost funds. For fiscal year 2012, California’s SMP helped Medicare reclaim over $1.6 million. This growing success is due to a number of factors, including having doubled our volunteer base from 200 to 403 active volunteers. These volunteers spread the word on fraud detection and prevention through one-on-one counseling and group presentations to seniors and providers in urban and rural areas. Some volunteers also take on a significant amount of case work, including complex cases with a large amount of client follow-up. In saying “active volunteers” above, we mean “active” as they have participated in 707 hours of volunteer training and have logged in over 7,044 hours of volunteer time in 2012.

In addition, our outreach, education and media efforts continue to expand, all of which contribute to this year’s successful recovery of Medicare funds. In 2012, our SMP has reached  over 56,000 people at our outreach events, and over 36,000 people at our community education presentations. Also, California’s SMP has created a partnership with the California chapter of the American Association of Service Coordinators (AASC) after speaking at both their national and regional conferences. Our first two mailings to AASC’s 300 California members yielded over 90 requests for group education sessions throughout the state. All AASC members are also coordinators for low income housing units, often housing non-English speaking underserved populations. This connection along with other outreach efforts has helped us expand our education and outreach to Spanish, Hmong, Chinese, and Vietnamese speaking populations as well. Our outreach success, in addition to our publicizing our SMP helpline (855-613-7080), is correlated with an increase in fraud reports and complex cases (404 reports and 164 complex cases).

In 2012, our SMP also completed a successful “Stop Medicare Fraud” public service announcement campaign with the Administration on Aging. Using both radio and TV PSAs, we had at least 2,031 radio broadcasts reaching over 3 million people, and 7,357 TV broadcasts reaching over 57 million people. These PSAs (in English and Spanish) can be downloaded from our website.

In sum, 2012 has been a successful year for educating people on fraud and empowering individuals and communities around the state to play an active part in stopping and preventing fraud.

People that ware dentures needs to make sure they maintain there oral health care habits, in addition to adjust, and aline their dentures whenever needed. Denture induced stomatitis is caused by ill fitting dentures, poor dental hygiene, or a buildup of the fungus Candida albicans cause this condition, which is inflammation of the tissue underlying a denture.

The Obama administration has launched the Health Insurance Marketplace to prepare Americans for open enrollment and sign up for private health insurance. On the updated HealthCare.Gov website, consumers can put in information about their health coverage needs and get information on the choices available. A consumer call center is also available to help consumers understand the choices so that they can choose what best suits their needs. The site is available now. Open enrollment in the new Health Insurance Marketplace will not begin until October 1, 2013.

Emotional exhaustion and physical and cognitive fatigue are signs of burnout, often caused by prolonged exposure to stress. Burnout can cause negative health effects including poor sleep, depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular and immune disorders.

I am 70 with most of my teeth. I do not have dental insurance and I am finding that I can not afford to maintain my dental care without some dental insurance.  However I can not seem to find affordable dental insurance.  All the plans I seen are $50 plus a month this is just to much for me.

Answer:  I would suggest reviewing dental HMO insurance plans. You seem to have only reviewed dental PPO plans. Although PPO plans are good dental insurance plan that let you choose your own dentist they can be costly for seniors. Dental HMO insurance plans however run around  $10 to $20 a month for an individual and they greatly reduce the cost of dental care services.

A new survey of stroke survivors has shown that those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are less likely to adhere to treatment regimens that reduce the risk of an additional stroke. Researchers found that 65 percent of stroke survivors with PTSD failed to adhere to treatment, compared with 33 percent of those without PTSD.

On January 14, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a proposed rule related to the Medicaid expansion brought on by the Affordable Care Act. The proposed rule gives states more flexibility when operating their Medicaid programs, particularly around cost-sharing. Below are excerpts from a brief summary on this rule prepared by the Administration on Community Living (ACL).

HHS encourages all people to review and submit comments on the proposed rule before the deadline at 5 pm EST on February 13, 2013. You can submit your comments electronically at www.regulations.gov. Please refer to file code: CMS-2334-P.

Summary of Proposed Medicaid Cost-Sharing:

This rule proposes to update and simplify policies around Medicaid premiums and cost-sharing requirements to promote the most effective use of services and to assist states in identifying cost-sharing flexibilities.  Specifically, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes to update the maximum allowable cost-sharing levels and to consolidate redundant provisions in order to create one streamlined set of rules for all Medicaid premiums and cost-sharing.  Additionally, the rule proposes to allow states to establish higher cost-sharing for non-preferred drugs, and to impose higher cost-sharing for non-emergency use of the emergency department.

Relevant Pages of the Rule:

• Preamble: pages 223-231
• Regulation text: 385-396

Outpatient Cost-Sharing (section 447.52) (not including pharmacy or emergency department services):

CMS proposes that States may charge up to $4.00 per outpatient visit for people with incomes under 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). CMS proposes that States may charge up to 10% of the cost of services or people with incomes above 100% to 150% of the federal poverty level. CMS specifically seeks comments on whether to define cost-sharing limits differently for people receiving Home and Community Based Services and Supports.

Considerations include the definition of long term supports and services and appropriate units of service for which cost-sharing would be charged, etc.

Inpatient Cost-Sharing (section 447.52):

CMS proposes that States may charge up to 50% of cost of the 1st day of an inpatient visit for people with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level. CMS is considering alternatives for the maximum allowable cost-sharing related to an inpatient stay because this is a relatively high cost for very low income people and not a service that consumers have the ability to avoid or prevent.

Options under consideration include the $4 maximum applied to outpatient services, $50, or $100, which would encompass the majority of hospital cost-sharing currently in effect.

Non-Emergency Use of the Emergency Department (section 447.54):

CMS proposes allowing cost-sharing of up to $8 for non-emergency use of the emergency department for people with incomes from 100%  to 150% of FPL.

For individuals with family income above 150 percent of the FPL, per section 1916A(e) of the Act, there is no limit on the cost-sharing that may be imposed for non-emergency use of the ED. If an emergency condition does not exist the hospital must provide screening and referral to ensure that beneficiaries have appropriate access to other sources of care, before cost-sharing is imposed.

Cost-Sharing for Drugs (§447.53):

CMS proposes to allow states to implement cost-sharing of up to $8 for non-preferred drugs, and $4 for each preferred drug for individuals with income equal to or less than 150% of the federal poverty level. This in addition to any other cost-sharing requirements. However, if a doctor specifies that a non-preferred medication is in the best interests of the consumer, the consumer will be able to receive the medication at the preferred drug rate.

For individuals with family income above 150 percent of the FPL cost-sharing for non-preferred drugs may not exceed 20 percent of the cost the agency pays for the drug. Please note: CMS’ above stated request for input about the impact of the increased cost-sharing on persons with disabilities also applies to the prescription drug provisions.

Medicaid Premiums: Relevant pages of the rule:

• Preamble: pages 231- 235
• Regulation text: pages 390-396

Medically Needy Premiums (section §447.55(a)(5)):

CMS proposes to revise requirements related to premiums imposed on medically needy individuals whose income is under 150 percent of the FPL by providing states with the flexibility to determine their own sliding scale for establishing premiums for the medically needy up to maximum of $20 instead of the $19 in current regulation.

Premiums for People Receiving Home and Community Based Services (section §447.56(a)(1)(v)):

CMS proposes to allow a state option to include individuals receiving HCBS to be exempt from premiums.  Since these individuals are only allowed to keep a personal needs allowance, similar to those residing in an institution, we propose to allow states to exempt these individuals from cost-sharing in the same manner as those residing in an institution in accordance with the comparability requirements under section 1902(a)(19) of the Act.

Premiums for Indians (section 447.56(a)(1)(vii):

CMS proposes that those Indians who are currently receiving or have ever received an item or service furnished by the Indian Health Service, an Indian Tribe, Tribal Organization, or Urban Indian Organization (I/T/U) or through referral under contract health services are exempt from all cost-sharing.

Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more. The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia where other common medications fail.

The U.S. Bank National Association has reached a Conciliation Agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for disability discrimination. The Minnesota-based U.S. Bank allegedly required a loan applicant with disabilities to submit unnecessary documentation to show that he would continue to receive disability income. The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in the terms and conditions of a loan based on a person’s disability.

Prostate cancer patients have increased levels of stress and anxiety; however, several recent studies have found that men who take drugs that interfere with the stress hormone adrenaline have a lower incidence of prostate cancer.