Heartbeats

News and Views on Healthcare

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Sponsored by American Association of University Women, the Mother-Daughter Choices program is ready to kick off another seven week session helping mothers and their daughters who are in 5th or 6th grades in making "life decisions." A new component this year will be a Father-Sons Challenges program to include the male counterparts of the families. The program is possible through AAUW and a grant from the Clatsop Commission on Children and Families. It will convene for 5th graders in Astoria and Warrenton, and 6th graders in Knappa and Seaside. Groups will be forming this month. Please contact Karen Kenyon (503/325-8319), Ruby Huntsman (503/738-7808) or Kathy Hobbs (503/717-0302)
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N W & Associates is sponsoring a FREE seminar titled "Rising Costs in Healthcare...What Can You Do About It?" on Friday, February 11. The event, called Forum II, will hold registration at the Best Western Oveanview Resort in Seaside starting at 7:30am with a continental breakfast sponsored by Lifewise insurance company. Speakers will be Steve Schmidt, vice president of sales and marketing for Lifewise, and Dan Taylor, of COBRA compliance systems. Forum I, held just last November by NW & Associates, attracted almost 100 participants. Seating for this upcoming event will be limited, so please call 503/717-1077 as soon as possible for reservations.
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Travel Health Link of Colorado Springs, Colorado publishes Travel Health Link Guides. The resource is distributed by the American Automobile Association and list where and how to get qualified healthcare while traveling in any state. The Guides include doctors, emergency rooms, dentists, pharmacies and veterinarians. To merit inclusion in the Guide, all healthcare providers must pass a review of credentials, have a willingness to see patients on short notice and be located conveniently near interstate exits. Healthcare providers are indexed by interstate routes and include a map, written directions and Global Positioning Satellite coordinates. In addition to the printed Guides, THL offers online help at www.healthlink.com and a health access adviser via toll free 888/299-0102. Currently hours are limited, but the company states they will return messages.
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For travelers who want to stay fit, the February issue of InnSights magazine presents an exercise program for hospitality properties. Body Effort, a Pittsburgh-based exercise program, offers what are billed as effective exercises to tighten, tone and firm abs, hips and thighs without need for special equipment, without disturbing connecting rooms and able to be completed in a small space. The program is offered via the properties' cable system and provides a "challenging total body workout with modifications to accommodate every size, shape and age" of traveler.
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The January 28 issue of Vancouver Business Journal provided this health tip. "U.S. employers report health care costs for the year 2000 are increasing by more than 10 percent for all plan types, although provider organizations are saying the average fee schedule is rising only 3.1 percent, according to a survey conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the Washington Business Group on Health.
"The survey, based on responses from 503 employers and 953 provider organizations, found that among the four major types of health plans, HMOs and indemnity plan costs are increasing the fastest."

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