Immunization

Philippine childhood immunization schedule for 2019 released (philstar.com) - February 28, 2019 - 1:53pm MANILA, Philippines — The 2019 Childhood Immunization Schedule for the Philippines, which indicates the recommended vaccines for children and adolescents, has been released with a recommended indication for measles vaccine for infants as young as six months of age.   The annual schedule is developed by the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP), together with the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV).   2019 Childhood Immunization Schedule for the Philippines - PPS, PIDSP, PFV/Released Similar to last year, the schedule contains 13 vaccinations that Filipino children need from age zero to 18 years. These include the anti-tuberculosis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and the Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) given to children right after birth. Both the HBV and BCG are included in the National I...

Authors and Disclosures Candice L. Robinson, MD 1 , Henry Bernstein, MD 2 , José R. Romero, MD 3,4 and Peter Szilagyi, MD 5 1 Immunization Services Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC; 2 Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Cohen Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York; 3 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas; 4 Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas; 5 Department of Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Corresponding author Candice L. Robinson, crobinson4@cdc.gov , 404-718-1400. All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed. https://ift.tt/2SyZZCC

After reading and hearing all the news on immunizing against disease, I would like to say, that having grown up in Saskatoon as a child, when you registered for school your parents had to supply an immunization card. If you were not immunized, you could have an exemption for health or religious grounds. To accommodate this, each school had their own nurse and once a year you received the required shots or boosters. This process was simple and easy and saved many lives. Related: No treatment for highly infectious measles, says doctor Why then can we not start a program like this in these modern days? They did this without any computers. We also had free dental checkups once a year also. I for one am tired of everyone taking the safe road. Somebody in a position of authority should stand up and say this is what is going to happen. If not, you can home school. Also if private schools want to comply then no more public money for the school. The parents can pay full of their children...

The organization that runs Vermont's public health care system says the number of people enrolled in individual health plans increased by nearly 1 percent over last year. The Department of Vermont Health Access announced Tuesday that enrollment through the exchange increased to just under 34,400. For people who receive health subsidies, the average payment is down to $131 a month from a payment of $163 a month in 2018. The state says the number of young adults in the 26-34-year-old age group _ the most likely age group to be uninsured _ is up over last year. The increase of young adults more than made up of a slight decrease in enrollees over age 45, which is attributed to baby boomers turning 65 and moving from commercial insurance to Medicare. Copyright Associated Press https://ift.tt/2NAtMJX

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The organization that runs Vermont's public health care system says the number of people enrolled in individual health plans increased by nearly 1 percent over last year. The Department of Vermont Health Access announced Tuesday that enrollment through the exchange increased to just under 34,400. For people who receive health subsidies the average payment is down to $131 a month from a payment of $163 a month in 2018. The state says the number of young adults in the 26-34-year-old age group — the most likely age group to be uninsured — is up over last year. The increase of young adults more than made up of a slight decrease in enrollees over age 45, which is attributed to baby boomers turning 65 and moving from commercial insurance to Medicare. https://ift.tt/2GR9gnT

Dear Dave: I just realized our insurance has a health savings account option. We’ve considered dropping this insurance soon and going to a cheaper Christian medical sharing program. We’ve got about $19,000 in debt between credit cards and a car payment, and we’re on Baby Step 2 of your plan. Our thought was to fund the HSA for a period of time as a means of saving, cancel that policy, then go over to a medical sharing program we found that costs $600 a month less. After that, we would start paying down debt again. What do you think? — Amy Dear Amy: There are two components to an HSA, the insurance component and the savings component. You don’t have to participate in the savings component. The insurance component is simply a large deductible, 100 percent coverage after the deductible, cheaper-premium health insurance plan. If I were in Baby Step 2, I would not do the savings component. I would only do the insurance component, or I’d do the medical sharing program. Comment on t...

The American College Health Association is cautioning institutions to avoid even indirectly promoting short-term health-care plans that it says are not comprehensive or adequate for students. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released regulations around short-term limited duration insurance. These regulations state, according to an ACHA white paper , that colleges and universities cannot offer these as health insurance. These plans are also not compliant with the Affordable Care Act. ACHA has said that these plans, the premiums of which are much cheaper than other ACA-compliant plans, do not offer the same coverage options. The association said that institutions should survey the entire campus to make sure they are not considering plans that may not be ACA compliant. "ACHA recognizes the importance of health insurance coverage as a critical factor in academic retention and completion," Devin Jopp, chief executive officer of ACHA, said in a statemen...

A Democratic state lawmaker hopes a bill heard by the House Health and Insurance Committee on Wednesday will lower the cost of health insurance premiums for Coloradans "who just can't take it anymore." House Bill 1168  would set up a reinsurance program that could lower health insurance premiums for individuals on the Western Slope and in rural Colorado by as much as 35 percent, and for urban Coloradans by 20 percent, Rep. Julie McCluskie of Dillon said at a Wednesday press conference. Between Medicaid, Medicare, private employer-paid insurance and the individual market, the state is down to an uninsured rate of around 6.5 percent, although it’s much higher in places like Summit County, at around 14 percent. But it’s that individual market, where people buy their own health insurance, that is the most price sensitive, McCluskie said. McCluskie was joined at the press conference by a bevy of lawmakers, as well as Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, whom Pol...

Healthcare has been one of the biggest talking points in politics over the past several decades. Health costs and the ability of the average person to afford them have been at the forefront of many presidential and Congressional debates -- from arguments for and against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to the rise in insurance premiums to a growing support for a Medicare for All plan. Many factors determine health insurance rates and premiums and what's offered. An individual seeking healthcare may have options provided by an employer or may get health insurance through the ACA. Depending on a person's income and health, he may have several options to choose from or may only be able to qualify for certain plans. With this in mind, what is the average health insurance cost? Average Health Insurance Costs With so many different variables impacting how much health insurance will cost a person on a monthly or yearly basis, we're better off brea...

House Bill 3063 will protect more children from treatable illnesses; would rely on well-established science. I am a pediatrician and a mother and I stand firmly in support of House Bill 3063. My priority is to protect children, including my own young son, from preventable injuries and diseases. Modern medicine and public health achievements — perhaps the greatest of which is the development of safe and effective vaccines against fatal infectious diseases — have equipped me with the tools necessary to honor that commitment. I've never sat at the bedside of a child infected with measles, or measles complicated by pneumonia or encephalitis, as my senior colleagues have. And though I've cared for severely ill infants, too young to have been immunized and subsequently infected with vaccine-preventable diseases like whooping cough, these cases have been rare for me as a young physician. My inexperience in treating these diseases is a privilege that I don't take for granted, ...

BOISE — The Idaho House voted 52-17 on Monday in favor of Rep. Priscilla Giddings’ immunization exemptions bill, which requires all schools and day care centers in Idaho, whenever they send notice to parents about immunizations required by state law, including enrollment forms, to also note that Idaho parents can exempt their kids from any or all of them. Giddings said it’s “just a simple transparency bill.” Idaho’s immunization opt-out rates are among the highest in the nation; the state allows parents to choose not to vaccinate their children for any reason. In the event of a disease outbreak, unvaccinated children could be excluded from class. According to state figures from the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, Idaho’s opt-out rate has been inching up in recent years, from 6.3 percent in 2015-16, to 6.4 percent the next year, and up to 6.9 percent in the most recent year for which figures are available, 2017-2018. That year, 4,861 Idaho children in kindergarten...

Philippine childhood immunization schedule for 2019 released (philstar.com) - February 28, 2019 - 1:53pm MANILA, Philippines — The 2019 Childhood Immunization Schedule for the Philippines, which indicates the recommended vaccines for children and adolescents, has been released with a recommended indication for measles vaccine for infants as young as six months of age.   The annual schedule is developed by the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP), together with the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV).   2019 Childhood Immunization Schedule for the Philippines - PPS, PIDSP, PFV/Released Similar to last year, the schedule contains 13 vaccinations that Filipino children need from age zero to 18 years. These include the anti-tuberculosis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and the Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) given to children right after birth. Both the HBV and BCG are included in the National I...

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health sends out surveys to schools and collects data identifying the percentage of children in each of the town’s programs who have received their required immunizations. According to the MDPH, Massachusetts students must provide documentation of immunization according to school requirements, or show a medical or religious exemption. Medical exemptions come from the student’s doctor and document a reason why the child cannot medically receive the vaccine. Religious exemptions come from the parent/guardian and state that a vaccine conflicts with their religious beliefs. Areas with higher exemption rates may be more susceptible to disease outbreaks as these students are not fully protected, according to the MDPH. All of the data was self-reported by the schools to the MDPH and only represented children 2 years old and older. Additionally, due to MDPH’s data release standards, programs with fewer than 30 reported children were not allowed to shar...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Universal Health Services beats by $0.03, beats on revenue    Seeking Alpha Universal Health Services (UHS): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $2.37 beats by $0.03; GAAP EPS of $1.70 misses by $0.62. Revenue of $2.75B (+4.2% Y/Y) beats by ... https://ift.tt/2BRrFNd

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Universal Health Services Q4 2018 Earnings Preview    Seeking Alpha Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) is scheduled to announce Q4 earnings results on Wednesday, February 27th, after market close. The consensus EPS ... https://ift.tt/2XrqVrk

[unable to retrieve full-text content] How will Brexit affect health services in the UK? An updated evaluation    The Lancet All forms of Brexit are bad for health, but some are worse than others. This paper builds on our 2017 analysis using the WHO health system building blocks ... https://ift.tt/2Vmog0l

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House of Representatives gave final passage to the latest version of SB106 Wednesday, a bill to allow certain mental health services provided in Utah public schools to be billed to Medicaid. SB106, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, also says health care plans cannot deny claims solely because they were provided in schools. Rep. Susan Pulsipher, R-South Jordan, the bill's floor sponsor in the Utah House of Representatives, said the bill does not require health plans to cover the services. The House approved the bill on a vote of 66-4. In committee debate earlier in the legislative session, Fillmore said his legislative district includes Herriman, which experienced a spate of teen and young adult deaths by suicide last year. Jordan School District now employs 65 school psychologists who provide clinical mental health services to students who need help, he said. 1 comment on this story "Because they work in schools, claims ...

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. , Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS ) announced today that its reported net income attributable to UHS was $158.1 million , or $1.70 per diluted share, during the fourth quarter of 2018 as compared to $219.6 million , or $2.31 per diluted share, during the comparable quarter of 2017.  Net revenues increased 4.2% to $2.754 billion during the fourth quarter of 2018 as compared to $2.643 billion during the fourth quarter of 2017. For the three-month period ended December 31, 2018 , our adjusted net income attributable to UHS, as calculated on the attached Schedule of Non-GAAP Supplemental Information ("Supplemental Schedule"), was $220.1 million , or $2.37 per diluted share, as compared to $189.6 million , or $2.00 per diluted share, during the fourth quarter of 2017.  Included in our reported and our adjusted net income attributable to UHS during the fourth quarter of 2018, is a pre-tax unrealized loss of ...