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Wal-Mart Backs Employer Mandate On Insurance
"In a major break with most other large companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama"s effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Wal-Mart -- which provides insurance to employees and wants to level the playing field with companies that don"t -- on Tuesday delivered a letter to President Obama taking a different stance." The letter was signed by Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke, as well as Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, and John Podesta, "who led President Obama"s transition team and is chief executive of the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning think tank." Wal-Mart"s new stance is "a shift from its previous stance on health-care overhaul and follows years of tussles with organized labor." The Journal adds a caveat: Wal-Mart "isn"t changing its policies. The company says it supports the employer mandate because all businesses should share the burden of fixing the health-care system. ... Wal-Mart"s support for a broad mandate also appears to be aimed at beating back an alternative that may be less favorable to the company. The Senate Finance Committee is considering a measure expected to result in a more burdensome health-insurance requirement for companies that have lower-wage workers" (Adamy and Zimmerman, 7/10).
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Rapid Growth In Health Costs Damages Economic Performance Of US Industries: Study
A first-of-its-kind RAND Corporation study has linked the rapid growth in health care costs in the United States with job losses and lower output among industries that commonly provide workers with health insurance.
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Blood Pressure Can Be Lowered By Reducing Salt Intake
Adults who use less salt in their diet can experience a slight reduction in their blood pressure in the medium term. However, whether in the long term this can also reduce the risk of late complications in people with sustained high blood pressure, otherwise known as essential hypertension, and whether in the long term their anti-hypertensive medication can be reduced remains unresolved. This is the conclusion of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in its final report published in the form of a rapid report on 20 July 2009.
Sexual Health

Fear Of Family Reaction Is Barrier To Treatment For Depressed Teens

Although teen depression poses a widespread problem for which proven treatments exist, few depressed teens receive any care. Why don"t they undergo treatment? The answer depends whether you ask parents or the adolescents themselves, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Medical Care. "With teenagers, treatment decisions greatly involve other parties, especially parents. For instance, teenagers often rely on adults for transportation. Doctors need a sense not just of what the teen thinks or what the parent thinks, but what both think," said Lisa Meredith, Ph.D., lead author of the new study. The ability of their physicians to address all the perceived barriers "affects the teenager"s own ability to acknowledge their depression and do something about it," said Meredith, a researcher at RAND. Teens with untreated depression more often have social and academic problems, become parents prematurely, abuse drugs and alcohol and suffer adult depression and suicide. For the study, researchers recruited 368 adolescent patients of diverse backgrounds receiving care in seven public or private primary care practices. Of these, half had a diagnosis of depression. One parent or guardian of each enrolled teenager also participated. Teens and parents rated the effects of seven possible barriers: 1) cost of care, 2) what others might think, 3) problems finding or making appointments with a doctor or therapist, 4) time constraints and other responsibilities, 5) not wanting family to know about the depression (this was asked of teens only), 6) good care being unavailable and 7) just not wanting care. Parents were significantly less likely to report barriers than teens. For teens, concerns about stigma and relatives" reactions were among the significant issues, and those who perceived barriers were less likely to undergo therapy or take medications. Depressed teens were significantly more likely to perceive barriers to care than their non-depressed peers were. "Adolescents do tend to go undiagnosed and untreated. They don"t want to seem abnormal. They want to fit in. Yet when they deny problems, they often act out adaptively, drinking a lot and pursuing other high-risk behaviors," said Deborah Amdur, a psychiatrist with the Advanced Psychiatric Group in Orlando, Fla. "This study has the potential to be significant if the findings reach the primary care physicians and help them understand their task in ensuring that adolescents have access to care," Amdur said. "It"s not a simple one step of speaking with the teenager. They also have to coordinate care with the parent." "Once primary care doctors understand the perceived barriers that exist on both sides, they are better able to work with a family to get care that feels right for a particular teenager," Meredith said. Medical Care: Contact Sue Houchin at (317) 796-5752 or medicalcare@comcast.net or visit: http://www.lww-medicalcare.com Meredith LS, et al. Perceived barriers to treatment for adolescent depression. Medical Care 47(6), 2009. Health Behavior News Service


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