health

Some see similarities with unpopular managed care

Chad Cain — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

NORTHAMPTON - Not everyone is enthusiastically behind the global payment plan model for health care, either out of fear of the unknown or because the model looks a lot like the HMO-managed care plans of the 1990s.

In one patient's home: Powering a new self-reliance

Chad Cain — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

NORTHAMPTON - Polly Peterson is a frequent flier to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, though that's a label she is beginning to shed.

Over eight months last year, the Northampton woman was sent to hospital a dozen times for complications of congestive heart failure.

It is not her favorite place. "I don't like being there," said Peterson, 71.

Parent to Parent: Indifference and mental disabilities

maryclearykiely — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

When I was 10 years old, my parents bought a small cottage near Cape Cod. I spent most of my summers there until I went away to college. Down the street from us lived a girl with Down syndrome by the name of MaryAnn. She was almost exactly my age.

Check it out

Suzanne Wilson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

HEART HEALTH

The following events promoting heart health are being offered by Northampton's Cooley Dickinson Hospital:

# Heart, Arteries and Veins: Today from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Dakin Conference Room, interventional radiologists Dr. Julia Gates and Dr. George Hartnell will engage participants in a trivia game show approach to dispel myths about vascular disease.

Medical debt puts patients at risk of financial ruin

AP Wire — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

Frances Giordano found out she had lung cancer in June.

After that, the bad news just kept coming.

First, she discovered that even with a good job and health insurance, her medical expenses were more than she could afford on disability.

Squeezed by health bills

AP Wire — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

Debt accrued through an inability to pay medical bills is a raging problem in America. Signed in 2010, The Affordable Care Act, if enacted as planned in 2014, is supposed to help. One provision aims to make sure every health insurance plan delivers good value by requiring that 85 percent of the premium dollar go toward health care.

In the meantime:

Do research to select good therapist

AP Wire — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

"Being in therapy is great," comedian Caroline Rhea once joked. "I spend an hour just talking about myself. It's kinda like being the guy on a date."