2012

In my first blog post on the health care ruling, I kept mentioning the phrase, “health teams.” In part two, we’ll discuss what that means. On page 435, section 3502, of the law, the title says, “Establishing Community Health Teams to Support the Patient-Centered Medical Home.” Yawn… Don’t fall asleep, yet; stay with me. It … Read more

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (11–393). One aspect of the law may produce a fundamental shift in health care: we may see more spending on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) while costs decrease. On page 436, section 3502, 6.F., it discusses requirements for health teams. … Read more

For some reason, many clients don’t mention their insomnia during our initial consultation. They list their medical problems in the paperwork, but they don’t list insomnia. For these silent sufferers, I only find out after they’ve resolved their sleep issue. Have you ever seen the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell? I … Read more

The FDA approved Belviq, a new pill for weight loss. It’s not a miracle drug, but clinical studies show that it helps create modest weight loss when combined with a healthy diet and exercise. For more information, click on the link below. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/arenas-belviq-is-first-new-prescription-weight-loss-pill-to-win-us-approval-in-over-a-decade/2012/06/27/gJQAsxO66V_story.html One challenge of using a pill is that the pill can only … Read more

Ads telling people to stop smoking have some effect, but one ad agency has produced something more powerful. In the ad, kids go up to random smoking adults and ask them for a light. In one exchange, one man says, “If you smoke, you die faster. Don’t you want to live and play?” After each … Read more

If you live in California, you don’t have to worry about smoke bothering you in a restaurant, hospital, office building, etc. But not all states have such protection. Smoking is a state-by-state issue, and some let smokers light up indoors. Yet Vietnam just leapfrogged the U.S. by banning smoking in public places. This is great … Read more

I’m in the very early planning stage for a hypnosis TV pilot. My big vision is to have hypnosis become mainstream. I have a vision of kids learning hypnosis in school to help them learn much faster; hospital patients use it to heal faster; others use it to change negative habits. As we let go … Read more

Leslie Mason, 54 years old, needed to have two rotten teeth removed, but he couldn’t afford the fee. When I read this, it surprised me since I thought the United Kingdom had health insurance for all. Anyhow, he went to a dentist who used hypnosis to control the pain. And it was free. Mr. Mason … Read more

Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania no longer hires smokers or people addicted to nicotine. Over the past few months I’ve noticed a disturbing set of news stories on places not hiring smokers. As I said in my previous post about Fort Worth, excluding an entire class of people is a slippery slope. Who’s the next group … Read more

The city of Fort Worth is considering not hiring smokers. When I heard about this, I wondered if this was even legal, but they actually do have the law on their side as smokers aren’t a protected class. Their logic was that not hiring smokers would reduce their health insurance costs. The link is below. … Read more