Republicans and their allies are dusting off an old $500 billion deception about Medicare, trying once more to scare seniors into voting their way. How some media are catching on — and supplying much-needed context.
West Virginia is among the top five on just about every national chronic disease list. The state leads the nation in diabetes and obesity, according to the Gallup Healthways poll.
Surveys show that many West Virginians do not realize obesity is a leading cause of many chronic diseases. Many also feel those diseases are hereditary, and there is nothing a person can do to prevent them.
One in six of Logan County's 36,700 residents is a diabetic, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and there are many more who don't know they have it.
The American public for years paid physicians millions of dollars in Medicare bonuses to treat the medically needy. Here's how one reporter told that story.
Fifty-four-year-old Everette Ray Roberts was one of an estimated 69,000 West Virginians who have diabetes, but don't know it.
For four hours, Bill Hall used to lie on a padded vinyl recliner, one arm stretched out, two thick needles sticking out of it. One needle drained the blood from his body. The other put it back.
Glenda has no insurance. She makes $350 every two weeks. If she were diabetic, she could get insulin free through the clinic if she needed it, but not the diabetic finger sticks and testing strips, which cost about $45. "I can't afford to get diabetes," she said.
Think about this: More than 200,000 West Virginians have contracted a disease that kills people. About 69,000 of them don't know they have it.
Fixing Medicare without paying for it, health reform's insurance rebates, and controversial distribution of a heroin overdose antidote, plus more from our Daily Briefing.
If a couple in good health with plenty of resources finds it this challenging to apply for health insurance policies, are lawmakers wise to propose replacing Medicare with vouchers?
