Immunization

AUGUSTA — Maine’s governor says a grant from a foundation will help boost health insurance coverage in the state by improving enrollment assistance this year and next. Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and the Maine Health Access Foundation say the $750,000 grant is coming from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They say the money will also help fund outreach, marketing and consumer education. Mills says the result of the push will be a campaign that encourages Maine residents to sign up for expanded MaineCare or insurance through HealthCare.gov. Mills says the work will support outreach “to more Maine people to help them better understand their health insurance options and sign up for the coverage they need to live healthy lives and contribute to the growth of our state.” Invalid username/password. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email...

Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy are three of the biggest names in retail. And despite the ruthless competitive nature of their relationship, all three are currently thriving.  But over the past few years, each of these companies has been planning to venture into a completely new industry, one that's worth almost four trillion dollars and is inviting disruption: It's the health care industry. "Health care is overly complex, has not evolved all that much over time, and remains a frequent pain point for customers. All of these factors make health care ripe for disruption," Morgan Stanley analyst  Simeon Gutman recently told Bloomberg. It's a fact: The health care system is broken. Without health insurance, costs are astronomical--a single visit to the hospital can put the average American in debt for the rest of their life. And while insurance companies may ease that burden, their plans are complicated and give patients little control. Meanwhile, pharm...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV MetroNews) -- CAMC (Charleston Area Medical Center) has informed Wheeling-based health insurance carrier, The Health Plan, it will terminate its contract at the end of this year, impacting several thousand state residents in 14 southern West Virginia counties who are covered by the provider. The Health Plan President Jim Pennington tells MetroNews that CAMC is upset that his company has agreed to become a subsidiary of WVU Medicine. “They (CAMC) pretty much told me straight to my face that, ‘Jim, this has nothing to do with The Health Plan, you guys have done everything that you indicated that you would. You’ve honored all of our agreements, you’re a great partner, but you’re now a partner of WVU Medicine and based upon that we’re not going to keep doing business with you,”” Pennington said. According to Pennington, CAMC doesn’t like WVU Medicine’s recent management agreements with smaller hospitals, several of them in CAMC’s territory. “CAMC sees that as an...

A Maine native who spent the last six years as a psychiatry professor at the Yale University School of Medicine has been named director of Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. Jessica Pollard began her new job Monday, according to a news release from the Department of Health and Human Services. She replaces Sheldon Wheeler, who was appointed by former Gov. Paul LePage in 2014 and led the office as the state dealt with a ballooning opioid crisis over the past several years. Wheeler was reassigned to DHHS’ Office of Family Independence. Jessica Pollard Maine DHHS Pollard was born and raised in Penobscot County and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine at Farmington. She earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. Prior to teaching at Yale, she worked at Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor and also founded a private practice in Bangor. “I am thrilled to be back in ...

DAVIS COUNTY (ABC4 News) – There’s an increasing need in mental health services for elementary-aged children in Davis County, exemplified through a free mental health screening event scheduled for Tuesday night that’s already full and has been full for two weeks. According to the Davis4Health Community Health Assessment 2018 report , suicide is the leading cause of death among youth ages 10 to 17 in Utah. The Utah Department of Health observed a 141.3 percent increase in youth suicides in this age bracket from 2011 to 2015. Davis4Health Coordinator Isa Perry said the Davis County Health Department has been conducting free mental health screenings for middle and high school students for the past two years. They provided screenings for 67 students in 2017, 65 students in 2018, and then 72 this year. This year will be the first year that they’re holding an event specifically geared towards preschool and elementary-aged students. Mental health therapists from Davis Behavioral Health wi...

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Flu season peaks between October to March and because flu shots take 2 to 3 weeks to build up in the system, medical officials urge the public to get in now to receive their shot. Flu symptoms range but can include fever, chills and sweats, body aches, stomach nausea, and respiratory symptoms like runny nose, nasal congestion and a sore throat. Though, getting the shot can prevent flu symptoms significantly. “If you do have the flu shot and you do get the flu by some chance, then usually your symptoms are lessened by that,” English Pharmacy Pharmacist Jason Bobbitt said. If you’re one of the first 400 in the door at this year’s Senior Focus event, you’ll get a free flu shot and a full panel blood screening from United Regional physicians. Dr. Morrison said the opportunity for free healthcare isn’t one to pass up. “Arguably, you know, public health initiatives like immunizations and screening tests are some of the best interventions that medicine really...

Share This Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Irresponsible pet owners harm other species, nature Our local and state parks are becoming inundated with cats released by irresponsible pet owners. Post to Facebook Sent! A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. OPINION Linda Peck, conservation chair, Central MN Audubon Society Published 4:48 p.m. CT Sept. 30, 2019 It's tragic but true! Our local and state parks are becoming inundated with cats released by irresponsible pet owners: pregnant females, kittens, reproductive adult males and females. This is unfair to the cats, adjacent land owners, park maintenance staff and our native birds. Cats don't just eat rodents. Our domestic and feral cats are now the number-one killers of song birds in North America. This impact is added to others: more frequent storms, floods and...

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford Superior Court judge concluded that the Bristol couple challenging the release of 2017-18 immunization data failed to exhaust their administrative remedies and dismissed the case. It’s unclear at the moment if Brian and Kristen Festa will appeal the ruling. Calls and emails were not immediately returned Monday morning. Late Friday afternoon Judge Susan Cobb decided that the court lacked jurisdiction because the Festas had not exhausted their efforts with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which released the school-by-school data for the first time on May 3. The Festas have a son who attends Meliora Academy in Meriden where 18.5% of the students reported religious exemptions to required vaccinations for the 2017-18 school year. The names of students who submit exemptions are not part of the data released by the state. The Festas claim that almost immediately after the DPH release of the information on May 3 that “hateful and vitriolic statements...

It's time to protect yourself and people around you from seasonal flu and pneumonia. For a limited time beginning Oct. 1, ProHealth Care will be providing walk-in vaccination services at select locations. Day and evening hours are available. A complete list of locations and times can be found at ProHealthCare.org/Flu . Vaccination lowers the risk of contracting the flu. When more people get vaccinated, less flu can spread throughout the community. For the best protection, everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated each year. Flu season usually begins in the fall. Vaccination is needed every year because the body's immune response from the vaccination declines over time and the vaccine formula is updated each year. ProHealth Care's providers recommend getting an influenza immunization soon as it takes about two weeks for the flu vaccine to protect the body against the virus. ProHealth Care's October walk-in vaccination clinics for the flu and pneumonia will be...

PLYMOUTH CO. — Floyd Valley Community Health Service will again be providing flu vaccinations Plymouth County. The dates, times, and locations are listed below. This year’s standard vaccine covers four strains of influenza. A high dose vaccine for individuals 65 years of age or older is also available which covers three strains of influenza. All people 6 months of age and older should get flu vaccine. Vaccination is especially important for people at higher risk of severe influenza and their close contacts, including healthcare personnel and close contacts of children younger than 6 months. People who should not be vaccinated include: • People who have had a life-threatening reaction to an influenza vaccination in the past. • People who have ever had Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine previously. • Influenza vaccine is not approved for use in children less than 6 months of age. • People who are moderately or severely ill should wait unti...

Amazon is the latest big corporation to launch its own in-house healthcare service, unveiling a pilot program last week for employees in the Seattle area that combines telemedicine and in-person treatment. Fundamentally, corporations are entering the healthcare services market to deal with the rising cost of care related to employee healthcare insurance; the companies say they're simply trying to improve access and convenience. But the potential for cost-savings is huge. [ Further reading: 22 free tools for data visualization and analysis ] This year, annual family premiums for employer health insurance rose 5% to an average $20,576. Workers pay roughly $6,015 toward the premium cost, leaving the other 75% up to employers, according to a new survey by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . Since 2009, average family premiums have risen 54% and workers' contributions have increased 71%, several times the pace of wages (26%) and inflation (20%), according to the Kaiser Fam...

The Colorado Division of Insurance receives hundreds of complaints a year from consumers, but few trouble chief deputy commissioner Kate Harris as much as the ones she began hearing earlier this year. They concerned a company called Aliera Healthcare and an organization it administers called Trinity Healthshare. Trinity is a so-called health care sharing ministry, a group that pools members’ money to help pay medical bills but, because of an exemption in the law, doesn’t have the legal obligations that modern insurance companies do. In some ways, sharing ministries operate the way insurance companies used to before the Affordable Care Act — cheaper but also less comprehensive. So, when Harris began hearing complaints that Aliera and Trinity were making promises they weren’t living up to, she took them seriously. “The ones we received, honestly, they keep me up at night,” she said. “They’re devastating.” Harris declined to say more because of her ongoing investigation. But that inve...

It’s no secret Michigan has been underfunding mental-health services for years. It’s no secret that over the past quarter-century, the state has phased out most of the state-run psychiatrist hospitals, shifting those services to the private sector. It’s no secret the private sector has declined to file the void. Here’s the bottom line: In the early 1990s, Michigan had about 6,800 licensed in-patient psychiatric beds. Today, it’s less than half – about 3,200 . That means people in psychiatric crisis can’t get the help they need. It’s put a strain on community hospital emergency departments, who are seeing more and more mental-health patients – and the ERs have nowhere to send them. It’s an issue that needs addressing. Now. It’s not an unsolvable problem. But it’s going to take some money, as well as political willpower. A big reason for the bed shortage is the abysmal reimbursement rate for mental-health services. Hospitals get three times more money for a standard acute-care b...

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 30, 2019-- Modern Healthcare has announced rankings for health care organizations recognized as Best Places to Work in Healthcare, with twelve of Ardent Health Services hospitals, clinics and other entities among the top in the country. This is the twelfth consecutive year an Ardent hospital has been listed. “Providing excellent patient care and service is driven by highly engaged employees,” notes Ardent President and CEO David T. Vandewater. “Creating a supportive work environment is critical to the success of our company, and having so many Ardent facilities named to the ‘Best Place to Work in Healthcare’ affirms that our employees are focused on our purpose of caring for others: our patients, their families and one another.” Modern Healthcare’s rankings are based on interviews with leadership and physicians, and a confidential employee survey that assesses satisfaction, work-life balance, communication, policies and practices, work envi...

September 30, 2019 The company will offer discounts on care through four health care service bundles that will cost between $50 and $240 annually, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Arizona, Arkansas, and Massachusetts. Arizona : Experts are warning parents not to let their kids play in floodwater, which could contain dangerous bacteria. "When we have lots of water come down, it goes into our sewers and then our sewers overflow," said Frank LoVecchio, a toxicologist with Banner Poison and Drug Information Center at Banner Health . "So, anything that you flushed the night before is in that water today" (DesVergnes, KOLD News13 , 9/25). Arkansas: Walmart's Sam's Club next month will offer health care services to members through a discount health program in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. The company will offer discounts on "everyday" health care through four health care service bundles that will cost ...