Health junction

Outbreak in Preventable Childhood Diseases On the Rise in the United States The measles outbreak in the nation has been on the rise for the past two years, but is nearly at epidemic proportions now. http://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html   There are 141 cases of measles in 17 states so far in 2015. This chart from the CDC shows the states which have the most outbreaks of measles.  Measles, is a preventable childhood disease for which an immunization (a shot) is usually given to a child when the child reaches nineteen to thirty-five months of age. Measles causes red spots, fever, and in some cases can result in death. This article reviews changes in childhood immunization patterns, which were reported for all fifty states in Unraveling U.S. Healthcare-A Personal Guide, published in 2013.  Information is drawn from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is inclusive of 2013 calendar year data. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6334a1.htm?s...

One Year Out From the Inaugural Insurance Exchange Launch Now that the nation has passed its second enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Insurance Exchanges, it is time to do a bit of a scorecard and though the second enrollment went well, let's look as the predictions versus the actual participation. Original Whitehouse Projections Versus Actual Enrollment Number expected to gain insurance coverage because of either the employer or individual insurance mandates under the ACA-32,000,000 Since the employer mandate is just starting this year and the phase-in penalty for firms without compliant medical plans only applies to firms with 100 or more eligible employees, it is not possible to discern the total reduction in the uninsured yet. But here is the rate of the uninsured as a proportion of the national population. Uninsured rate prior to ACA- 18% After ACA-12.9% Number Health & Human Services projected for the 2015 Insurance Exchange Enrollment-9,100,000 Number of the u...