Wednesday, August 14, 2013

HumpDay LinkFest

■ Will they or won't they? Back in May, Patrick quoted Ron Pollack, Founding Board Chairman of Enroll America (EA), who told him that "Enroll America  has not filed to serve as navigators and has no intention of doing so."

Fast forward a bit, and we learn that EA is still a bit less than forthcoming about its role in the train wreck:

"Jessica Barba Brown, national communications director at Enroll America, says the exchange promotion team now has a staff of 130 and about 3,000 registered volunteers ... The campaign organizers said the Get Covered America campaign is a "metric-focused" organization but declined to discuss numerical goals for their outreach efforts."

So what, exactly, are those "tens of millions of dollars" doing? Inquiring minds want to know.

The Gem State, which had initially opted to design and run its own Exchange, has run into a spot of trouble:

"Idaho will be relying on the federal health insurance exchange for at least a year while it develops its own"

Turns out that they took a little too long in getting their Exchange planned out, let alone implemented.

Most folks love their chocolate, and now there's another reason to rejoice in the confection:

"In a study published [recently] in the journal Neurology, researchers reported that chocolate may help improve brain health and thinking skills in the elderly"

Some words of caution, though: the benefits appeared to accrue only to those who were already at higher risk of dementia, and it's not clear how long the affects actually last. But hey, it's a tasty way to potentially decrease one's risk of dementia.

FoIB Jeff M tips us to this news from the Tar Heel State:

"Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, Inc. will close its adult practice on S. Eugene St. in Greensboro on Aug. 30"

Now this might seem like a "local news story," but it's actually more significant: it affects some 20,000 patients, who will now have to find new health care providers. The bulk of these folks (70% or more) are currently uninsured. his means that, once they've bought their shiny new, government-mandated policies, they'll need to spend some quality time trying to find someone with whom to use them.

Good luck with that.
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