If people can't afford it, how will they protect themselves and their family?

Overall national health care costs will increase further with the implementation of Medicare prescription drug coverage. Too many Americans are uninsured while even a greater percentage have no insurance at all. Uninsured individuals also present a problem for hospitals and other providers who must provide treatment in catastrophic situations without compensation.

Many employees receive restricted coverage and insurance plans that are negotiated between employers and insurance providers limit coverage to a single insurance carrier or an HMO.

Prescription drugs are the fastest-growing part of the nation's health care expense. Pharmacy bills have become a significant item in the budget of most families.

For 37% of Americans without prescription coverage, the problem is critical. Especially for seniors who constitute 12% of the population but use 37% of prescription drugs. The rest especially those without health insurance, is significantly affected by high drug prices.

What has caused this cost increase?

Much of it is due to a riddled health care system of excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, inappropriate care, waste and fraud. These problems significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers.

On the other side of the cost issue there is the recent development of new effective medications for a variety of illnesses. Such newer "brand name" medications are patent-protected and cost far more than generic medications.

The drug industry argues that the higher cost of new medications helps fund research and development of even newer medicines. Many critics argue that much of the research and development of pharmaceutical products is actually government funded.

Also contributing to the cost increase is marketing. As this is 30% of a drug manufacturer's budget. Brand-name U.S drug makers were reported to employ 81% more people in marketing than in research and development of much needed drugs.

Policymakers and government officials agree that health care costs must be controlled. But they disagree on the best ways to address rapidly escalating health spending. Some favor price controls and imposing strict budgets on health care spending.

Others believe free market competition is the best way to solve the problems but if people can't afford it, how will they protect themselves and their family?

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Did you know that mesothelioma symptoms are hard to detect?

What should you do if diagnosed with asbestos-related disease?. Asbestos is a toxic chemical substance that has been used directly or indirectly in hundreds of products across the globe. It is incorrect and inappropriate for human beings to have excessive exposure to asbestos. This might result in malignant mesothelioma -– a rare cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart -– and other diseases.

It is amazing to find that, asbestos has still not been entirely banned in the United States, and Americans continue to risk exposure to this dangerous fiber.

If you feel that you have been exhibiting symptoms of mesothelioma (like shortness of breath, pain in the chest or back region, swelling in the abdomen, difficulty swallowing, cough, fever, sweating, fatigue, and weight loss.), it is important for you to consult your doctor immediately. There are various methods that are available for treating the victims of mesothelioma.

They are either direct methods or alternative methods. Some of the direct methods are Surgery-both Aggressive and Pallative, Chemotherapy, Radiation therapy etc. Immunoagumentive Therapy (IAT), Gene Therapy, Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy (IPT) etc. are some of the commonly practiced alternative methods.

Also one can take the help of Support Groups, which are available to help sufferers deal with the challenges that they are facing. A recent publication says that over 20% of Americans have participated in some type of self-help group. There are mainly two types of support groups that are available namely- online support groups and community centred support groups.

If you have already been diagnosed with mesothelioma it is important for you to have a positive frame of mind and keep yourself well informed about the latest medical developments that has taken place pertaining to this field. Also as a victim of the Asbestos industry you can have certain legal and social claims. The following propositions can be considered if you are a victim of Mesothelioma caused due to negligent asbestos exposure.

1. Legal Aid and Financial Compensation

People who contract the disease must be absolutely sure that the cause for the same was asbestos exposure and then take steps to get the right legal counsel. Once the legal counsel has been retained the law will ensure that he or she gets the compensation for employers negligence if any.

2. Claim from the Asbestos Industry

Mesothelioma victims have the option to claim large monetary compensation from the asbestos industry. These claims can go into the millions of dollars depending on the rights and cause of the claims. A Law firm that specializes in mesothelioma cases ensures that the families of victims gets ample compensation.

3. Claim Social Security Disability

Victims can claim social security disability after getting advice from an attorney that specializes in these cases.

4. Disability Insurance

You are legally entailed to claim disability insurance if you have disability insurance either privately procured, within your life insurance policy or through your employer.

5.Worker's Compensation

It is one of the core responsibilities of an employer to take care of its employees. Thus, even while the victim takes legal action against the asbestos industry he or she can simultaneously claim workers compensation for being 'disabled' during work. A lawyer who has experience in the asbestos industry should handle this sort of claim.

6. Health Insurance

A victim of mesothelioma can incur huge medical bills due to the expensive nature of treatment that’s required for the treatment of this disease. If a victim is admitted to the hospital he or she should talk to the Discharge Planner or other personnel who can help with hospice and hospital coverage. Laws cover medial treatments and action can be taken health insurance company if they fail to provide proper coverage. Again it is imperative to ensure that the victim employs a proper legal representative.

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There really is no reason not to attempt to get into shape

America is getting more obese every year. Even our children are becoming dangerously obese, even though we are more self conscious over our appearance. So what's the magic bullet to getting trim and fit. Well, I'll be honest, there isn't any. First, we are all limited by our heredity. If your father has a spare tire, you're probably going to be predisposed to have one yourself if your a man. If you're a woman, you are going to have fight off your mother's big hips. Today Americans have more money than they ever have before. No matter what people say about the economy, gradually over the years, Americans have become richer, and they eat to prove it. Even poor families eat more than middle class families of previous generations. Poor families often find it even harder to lose weight because junk food is cheaper, and they don't have enough money, or as much time to be active, other than working.

If your job requires you to sit all day, you are in a world of hurt as well. You are not going to burn very many calories sitting all day. Plus boredom tends to create a desire to eat more.

So what am I suggesting? Here are some thoughts you might want to consider. First of all, you really have to want to be in shape if you are going to have a prayer of losing weight. It's not easy. You've got to want it. Second, you have to make a decision in your life to live healthier. Eat moderately all the time. Don't starve yourself and set yourself up for failure later. Your metabolism is just going to slow down anyway.

Most of the time people just eat too large of portions. Keep your portions moderately sized, and eat more times a day. Stop eating when you are full. There is no need to stuff yourself every meal. And, contrary to what your mother may have taught you, you don't have to eat everything that is on your plate. The smaller your portions and the more times you eat the faster your metabolism is going to be. Here is the biggest thing people don't want to do. You have to exercise. Moderate exercise can bring you from obese to a much healthier size. Find activities you like to do, and do it. The more you enjoy it, the more you'll be able to stick with it.

No excuses. There really is no reason not to attempt to get into shape. I heard something from a preacher's sermon that really makes sense. He basically said that some men work half of their lives to make money, and then give away the same money the other half of their lives to try and regain the health they lost gaining the money in the first place. The idea is don't put work in front of health. Health costs are getting worse all the time. Unless your health insurance is great, you can't make enough money to overcome the health costs you are going to have if you don't take care of yourself now. If your excuse is that you are too out of shape to do anything, or you just can't cut back on your food because of depression, boredom, etc. Then see your doctor and ask what you can do to start heading towards physical fitness. You've got one life to live. So don't waste it.

The biggest problem we face in America today is laziness. Pure and simple. Did you know that working out helps you when you are depressed or having problems with anxiety. The more you lay around, the more discouraged you are going to get. It's a terrible cycle. People say they are too tired from working. I can understand that, but even 30 minutes a day can make a big difference. Work out during the commercials while you watch television. If you've got kids take them outside and play with them. Kids are doing nothing, but watching TV and playing video games. If you play with your kids your helping yourself and them at the same time.

It's a lot easier to keep it off than it is to lose it after you gain it. So even if you think you are in great shape, don't stop working out. It's a lot easier to keep up a steady routine than to have to burn off extra fat. Your body tends to fight you when your losing weight by giving you cravings for food. Just remember your body is more important than your big screen. Don't just sit back watching football all day. Go play some football. Live life don't just be a spectator.

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You've got to follow these instructions exactly, or you could die

Now, imagine what it would be like if you were sick, scared and had only third grade reading skills. Your doctor tells you, "You've got to follow these instructions exactly, or you could die." 

About 200 recent studies have shown the reading difficulty of most health related materials FAR exceeds the average reading abilities of the American adult. One of the biggest silent health problems today is the gap between health materials and reading skills. 

In the United States, the average reading level is eighth grade. In 1992, the Educational Testing Service determined that half U.S. adults read at between first and eight grade level. That is about 148 million people. It gets worse. One quarter of Americans read BELOW FOURTH GRADE level, meaning 74 million people would struggle with even the simplest, most well written health materials. 

Does it matter? Do you remember the anthrax scare, when someone was putting deadly white powder into our mail system? 

During that terrorist scare, the U.S. post office mailed millions of post cards to Americans. The post cards told people how to protect themselves from the deadly infection. They gave instructions on how to handle and report suspicious mail. These post cards were written at between ninth and eleventh grade reading level. 

More than half the people who got that mailing could not read it well enough to protect themselves and others. Does it matter? Do 148 million people matter? Will it matter the next time the terrorists strike? 

Do you remember the mailing the Surgeon General sent out explaining how to avoid contracting HIV? He made every effort to see that it was written in clear, simple language. He got criticism for just how plain talking it was in places. A later evaluation of that document showed that it was written at between seventh and ninth grade level. Half the people receiving it read at a level BELOW what was required to read it. No wonder the infection keeps spreading. 

Think about it. For millions of people, the problem is not just the tiny print on prescription bottles. The problem is the words themselves. What does "take on an empty stomach" mean exactly? When should you "take four times a day"? Perhaps your doctor explained to you at the office. Do you remember what the doctor said a week later? 

Have you ever read the instructions for testing and assessing blood sugar levels? Have you ever tried to fill out a Medicare form? Do you struggle with letters from your health insurance provider? 

Only 45% of asthmatics with literacy problems knew that they should stay away from things they are allergic to even if they WERE taking asthma medication. 89% of the people reading at high school level were clear about the same information. It's not a matter of intelligence. It's a matter of a missing skill which well-educated health providers presume is present in their readers when they sit down to write. 

There are two parts to the problem: the writer and the reader. Recently, the public health community has begun efforts to raise awareness. They are alerting the medical providers to the impact of health literacy issues. Some fledgling efforts are underway to provide clearer, simpler materials for the public. People are finding alternatives to reading for presenting the same information. 

There is a long way to go. Sign up now with your local literacy program as a volunteer. 

Drop in on your elderly neighbor and help her learn to read the specialized health material so critical in her life. (You may want to ask her about her life first, to save embarrassment when you learn you're talking to a retired English teacher). Start with all those ridiculously obscure materials her doctor sent home with her about glaucoma. You can go on to that Medicare form she needs to send in tomorrow. 

Do you want to know what eighth grade reading level is? You just read 700 words of it. 74 million Americans reading at below fourth grade level could have found it too hard for them to understand. 

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program.

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If symptom treatment was effective in restoring health, people would be getting well and staying well. But that's not what usually happens

First the bad news: about 2,000,000 personal bankruptcies each year are caused by unexpected medical expenses. Of all those people, 1,500,000 have (or had) health insurance before they ran into difficult financial straights.

But wait a minute. Isn't the whole idea behind health insurance - security? The financial security that comes from knowing that you're covered if something goes wrong with your body? You say you're covered, but what if your medical "situation" exceeds your policy limits? Then what?

No one wants that to happen, so the question is: are there other options? For instance, is there a way to "insure" against getting sick in the first place? Most people assume that's not possible, but personally, I disagree.

Several years ago my wife Sandy and I stumbled onto a very unusual health product. We both had our own experiences with it and have seen it work miracles for others.

But before going there, I'd like to explain something. To me, health insurance should be about staying healthy. In China, for instance, doctors used to be paid only if they kept you healthy. That's what I call real health insurance. And although the U.S. has some of the best-trained, dedicated physicians in the world, heart disease, cancer, strokes, and autoimmune diseases are all on the rise.

Clearly, our health isn't being protected - at least not to an appreciable extent. The medical paradigm in the U.S. is mostly about treating symptoms, not fostering health. And while we're all very grateful to doctors for all their efforts, symptom treatment is intrinsically short-sighted.

If symptom treatment was effective in restoring health, people would be getting well and staying well. But that's not what usually happens.

There's a growing movement of people who've recognized the shortcomings of the traditional medical/pharmaceutical "health" model. They're not stupid. For instance: 106,000 annual deaths from properly prescribed prescription drugs sure got my attention when I heard the news. Check it out on the net. It's a fact.

OK. So everyone knows there's a problem. Again, the question is: are there options out there and if so, what are they?

As I was saying earlier, there is an option. I can say that because I have personal proof. Four years ago, I was diagnosed with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. It wasn't painful per se, but the irregular, spasmodic poundings inside my chest were very disconcerting.

My wife Sandy and I were in Maui when a friend of ours told us about something called glyconutrition. Now, I'm a fairly open-minded kind of a guy and I've been interested in health supplements for a long time, so I decided to try it. (By the way, nothing I was taking before then was helping my heart condition). After a few months, the condition went away. It hasn't returned since.

Sandy also had a positive health reversal. She was in a lot of pain from neck surgery she'd had seven years earlier. She also decided to try the glyconutrients. It took a little longer for her, but her pain subsided and surgery was avoided.

My point in telling you these two stories is that we saved a ton of money and who knows how much pain and suffering by not having to undergo surgery. I don't know if my atrial fibrillation would have led to a worsening condition requiring surgery, but I do know that Sandy was considering a second neck surgery before we heard about glyconutrients.

Since then, we've learned a lot more about the science behind glyconutrients and why this new category of nutrient is turning around so many health conditions for so many people.

Even highly trained medical doctors and surgeons are taking notice. Case in point: Dr. Ben Carson is the department head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. A severe form of prostate cancer led him to discover glyconutrients. Long story short: he attributes to them his complete recovery. He now recommends glyconutrients to all his patients, to his staff and others as well.

Without going into a lot of complicated detail, science now has a pretty good idea about why glyconutrients seem to be helping so many different kinds of health conditions. The bottom line is this: enhanced cell-to-cell communication.

Glyconutrients provide the body with highly specialized building blocks that the body transforms into communication molecules that all cells use. Without an adequate supply of these molecules, communication starts to break down and illness starts to creep in.

The reason glyconutritional supplements are so effective is this: our diets suck. Let me explain. If we got all the nutrients we needed in our diet, we'd rarely get ill. By the way, the scientific evidence to support that statement is huge.

But because 90 percent of the food we eat is processed (devoid of essential, health-promoting nutrients) and for a number of other reasons, we're not getting the nutritional build blocks our bodies need in order to stay disease-free.

Bottom line: understand the powerful relativity between the nutrients we consume and the state of our health.

So to reiterate - there are options for warding off illness and medically related bankruptcy. Just don't look for them in the current medical - pharmaceutical - health insurance paradigm. Look for them in the emerging science of glycobiology - the same science that's starting to describe the cellular mechanisms behind the major health recoveries that thousands of glyconutrient users are now reporting.

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Is there a bigger underlying problem at the root of our healthcare system?

Most people are well aware that an estimated 45 million Americans currently do not have healthcare, but is the crisis simply the lack of health insurance or even the cost of health insurance? Is there a bigger underlying problem at the root of our healthcare system? Although the U.S. claims to have the most advanced medicine in the world, government health statistics and peer-reviewed journals are painting a different picture -- that allopathic medicine often causes more harm than good.

People in general have always felt they could trust doctors and the medical profession, but according to the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2000, iatrogenic death, also known as death from physician error or death from medical treatment, was the third leading cause of death in America and rising, responsible for at least 250,000 deaths per year. Those statistics are considered conservative by many, as the reported numbers only include in-hospital deaths, not injury or disability, and do not include external iatrogenic deaths such as those resulting from nursing home and other private facility treatments, and adverse effects of prescriptions. One recent study estimated the total unnecessary deaths from iatrogenic causes at approximately 800,000 per year at a cost of $282 billion per year, which would make death from American medicine the leading cause of death in our country.

Currently, at least 2 out of 3 Americans use medications, 32 million Americans are taking three or more medications daily, and commercials and advertisements for pharmaceutical drugs have saturated the marketplace. Although our population is aging, exorbitantly expensive drugs are being marketed and dispensed to younger and younger patients, including many children who years ago would never have been given or needed medication, for everything from ADHD to asthma to bipolar disease and diabetes. Clearly, the state of health in this country is not improving even though there are an increasing number of medications and treatments. In recent years, numerous drugs previously deemed safe by the FDA have been recalled because of their toxicity, after the original drug approvals were actually funded by the invested pharmaceutical companies themselves.

According to the media, thanks to advances in U.S. drugs and medical procedures, Americans are living longer statistically, but they are living longer sicker, with a lower quality of life, and often dependent on multiple expensive synthetic medications that do not cure or address the underlying causes, but only suppress symptoms, often with a plethora of dangerous side effects to the tune of billions of dollars for the drug industry. Considering that the U.S. is supposed to have the most advanced technology in the world and the best health care system, it is at odds that we spend the most on healthcare, yet are the most obese and most afflicted with illness outside of the AIDS epidemic in some third world countries.

Unless you have an acute emergency that requires emergency room care, being admitted to a hospital environment may also be more dangerous to your health than staying out. In 2003, epidemiologists reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that hospital-acquired infections have risen steadily in recent decades, with blood and tissue infections known as sepsis almost tripling from 1979 to 2000. Nearly two million patients in the U.S. get an infection while in the hospital each year, and of those patients over 90,000 die per year, up dramatically from just 13,300 in 1992. Statistics show that approximately 56% of the population has been unnecessarily treated, or mistreated, by the medical industry.

Additionally, as a result of the overuse of pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics in our bodies and environment, our immune systems have become significantly weakened, allowing antibiotic-resistant strains of disease-causing bacteria to proliferate, leaving us more susceptible to further disease. Not surprisingly, incidences of diseases have been growing at epidemic levels according to the CDC. Now diseases once thought conquered, such as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, malaria, and childhood ear infections are much harder to successfully treat than they were decades ago. Drugs do not cure. They only suppress the symptoms that your body needs to express, while they ignore the underlying root cause. Side effects of synthetic and chemical drugs, which even if they are partly derived from nature have been perverted to make them patentable and profitable, are not healthy or natural, and usually cause more harm than any perceived benefit of the medication.

Where "physician errors" are concerned, these may not be entirely the fault of the doctors, as they are forced to operate within the constraints of their profession or risk losing their license, but doctors have become pawns and spokesmen for the drug companies, and the best interest of the patient has become secondary. In the name of profit, physicians are also under great pressure from hospitals to service patients as quickly as possible, like an assembly line, increasing the likelihood of error.

In conclusion, increases in healthcare costs are not just the result of frivolous law suits, but are primarily the result of a profit-oriented industry that encourages practices that lead to unnecessary and harmful procedures being performed, lethal adverse drug reactions, infections, expensive legitimate lawsuits, in-hospital and physician errors, antibiotic resistance due to overprescribing of antibiotics and drugs, and the hundreds of thousands of subsequent unnecessary deaths and injuries. Many people do not realize that there are healthier natural options, and anything unnatural or invasive we are exposed to is likely to cause either immediate or cumulative damage over time.

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