If you are drowsy or having fatigue, it is better not to drive. These two hazard may be deadly for you and your family.

A recent survey revealed the following complains from the respondents

38 percent - eyestrain

34 percent - dry or tired eyes

25 percent - fatigue, and

18 percent - inability to focus while driving at night

The danger of night driving has been confirmed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Safety Council, both citing that fatality rate is three times higher at night.

In the U.S. almost 11 million people are having uncorrected vision problems. This may lead to accidents as it reduces the driver’s ability to drive safely. Three things, our depth perception, peripheral vision and focusing skills, help us in driving. A healthy vision is necessary to get all the three factors right and to drive safely.

Another survey has revealed some shocking news. The 2009 Sleep in America poll found that among drivers who work 30 hours per week or more

64 percent felt drowsy while driving in the past year

36 percent actually fallen asleep while at the wheel

Sleepiness can affect your vision, decrease awareness, creates slow reaction time and so increases chances of crashing. So many people, specially those with untreated sleep disorders, men, young people, commercial drivers, shift workers are at risk of sleep-related crashes.

Regular eye exams and wearing anti-reflective (AR) lenses can help in reducing crashes but drowsiness is something the driver has to deal with himself.

There was a denial to a 17-year old girl who died before insurers approve her liver transplantation, insurers cancelled policies of people in California after they got sick. Such instances are available all over the country. According to estimates, 10 to 15 percent claims are denied by the insurers. Some of the reasons for denials may be not meeting filing deadlines or patients failing to get pretreatment authorizations from the insurers.  You may also get denials when the insurers thinks that the care is unnecessary or unproven. The law, through he insurance contract, grant companies right to deny any claim and have the final say.

Some insurers say not to a particular therapy and some other reimburse for it. Some of them deny claims for particular drugs but some other reimburse for the same. You cannot be sure which of your costs will be reimbursed and which will not be. Insurance authorization is necessary even for each hospital stay for a serious illness or any new therapy taken. Who is actually deciding whether you need care and what care you need- the doctors or the insurers?

Insurers use sophisticated tools known as “denial engines”. There are many different software tools which will find out a way to deny the claims of the patients. These software are meant to be used for weeding out fraud but actually they are being used to reduce reimbursements by 3 to 10 percent.

 Your children may be in danger. As more than 30 percent of the U.S. public schools stands to be in the “air pollution danger zone” as because of heir location near to major highways, your children may face several problems caused by polluted air.

Such polluted air may cause respiratory diseases or can increase the susceptibility to such diseases later in their lives. 

Researchers checked schools in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis and San Antonio, and accounted 6 million students from more than 8000 schools.

This is indeed a major concern. It not only concerns the parents but should also concern the government because in future planning of transportation, roads and urban development, it would have to take care of the public health.

As school children spend lots of time in the school which accounts for 30 percent of their time, care is needed for their safety now and for the future. They inhale lots of traffic pollutants while at the school. Till now, the main focus on reducing pollution was on the homes. Schools have never been the prime attention, but as the scenario is evolving in a different manner, so the future planners needs to think of it in a more involved manner. The schools should be located far away from major highways.

In the recent study, the researcher have found that a set of traits in women can help them to stop using such drugs, as they are less prone to recurrent clots. So, after using the drug for a few months, such women can stop using it. The study was published in the Aug. 26 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The same study could not find any such indicators in men with venous thromboembolism.

After studying 600 men and women for 69 potential predictive factors, the researcher found four factors- discoloration, high levels of a blood clotting marker, D-dimer; redness or swelling of a leg; obesity, with a body mass index of 30 or higher; and being 65 or older. Women with one or none of these 4 factors, have only 1.6 percent chance of having another clot within a year. Women with 2 or more factors, have14.1 percent chances of developing clot within a year.

Al1.5 to 2 times more risk of venous thrombosis, but no such predictive factor was ound for men.

The report took into account two types of people-insured and uninsured and looked at medical spending among these to types of people.

Some findings -

• - uninsured people received less health care
• - Average medical cost for uninsured is $1,686 whereas the same cost is $3,915 for the insured people.
• - Uninsured pay 35 percent (Average of $583) of the total cost but the insured pay only 17 percent ($681)

Even after paying a bigger amount of money from the pocket, the uninsured are actually getting lesser health care.

The uncompensated bill is paid by the Federal Government. It pays three-quarters ($43 billion) of such bills.

If all the uninsured people gain health care coverage, then people who are uninsured will spend $122.6 billion. This estimate is for 2008 only. The cost of covering all the uninsured Americans will be low now and will keep increasing as the time passes by.

While paying the uncompensated bill, Federal government pays three-quarters ($43 billion). The total paid amount is divided as -

 $18 billion - special payments to hospitals (Medicare and Medicaid)

$15 billion - tax appropriations and indigent care programs; and

$10 billion- the Veterans Health Administration, and other direct-care programs.