Hello fellow readers!

There recent discussion in the past week about whether or not President Obama’s health care bill may be coming to an end. I’ve compiled a list of articles that details what consumers need to know.

1) Health Care Bill Passes: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (source: Huffington Post)

After months of fierce debate in Washington and around the country and after an intense day of voting on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives passed a health care reform bill and it’s on its way to President Obama’s desk. Once Obama signs the bill into law, as he is expected to do on Tuesday, it will mean an end to the current health care system as we know it.

2) VanessaCare: Health Coverage Without Lifetime Limits (source: The White House Blog)

In 2014, insurance companies will be barred from discriminating against anyone with pre-existing conditions. Additionally, the health reform law bars low annual and lifetime caps on claims, a way that insurance companies have used to avoid paying claims.

3) Illustrating Health Reform: How Will Coverage Work? (source: The Kaiser Family Foundation)

This new interactive feature clarifies how individuals and businesses in a variety of situations could be affected by health reform. Featuring the YouToons characters from the Foundation’s “Health Reform Hits Main Street” animated video, the new feature makes it easy to see how people’s health insurance coverage could change under reform.

About the talk and the speaker

(source: TED.com)

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. She spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness. She poses the questions:

How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

Please give credit to the Public Health Bugle for all re-posts

The following post is a contribution by Jefferey Morgan, who has been into muscle building for the past several years and working knowledge on how to get ripped fast and staying healthy through meditation. He is also a dedicated writer for Get This Ripped.

My Story: Benefits of Meditation. Live a Healthier Life

By: Jefferey Morgan

Meditation is something that I believe has saved my life. I come from a troubled past, and I never felt at peace with myself. I could not sleep at night, and I did not have the incentive to exercise or to do positive things in my life. I was diagnosed with depression several years ago, and this problem almost destroyed my life.

I used to travel on the subway daily to go to work and school. I always enjoyed watching people walking by or traveling to and fro. I sometimes felt myself envisioning I was one of them, especially if I viewed one or more people smiling and displaying content and motivational attitudes. I longed for the confidence they contained and the apparent peace that came along with it.

I had a friend who I had neglected to talk to in quite a while, due to my reclusive nature. I knew she was one of those motivational and positive types. I decided that instead of longing for the inner peace I was craving, I was going to take action. I was going to find out what course of action was needed to achieve it.

I called my positive friend, and we had a lovely conversation. The conversation led to meeting out for dinner. During our dinner conversation, I could not resist the urge to ask my friend about the key to her confidence and motivational behavior. She quickly replied that she practices meditation and she applies it to her overall lifestyle. She said that she contributes meditation to her faith and motivational ways.

Imagine my surprise of learning that her secret was meditation. I could not understand how performing such a thing could positively affect one’s life. My friend happily filled me in on the minute details of why meditation became such an indispensable part of her life.

“Meditation is not about enriching one’s life, it is about enriching ones soul”, said my friend. This moving testimony intrigued me, and I had to learn more. My friend stated that various benefits can be experienced when performing meditation. Some of the benefits she mentioned were an improvement of concentration, and great exercise for one’s mind. Exercising one’s mind she said is the basis for not only a physically fit body but an emotionally healthy body.

I left our dinner date yearning to learn more of this procedure that can boost my mind and body. I had to learn more so that I also could use it in my own life. I found this an important task because of my desire to live a motivational and confident life. I was tired of feeling down in the dumps and allowing many life opportunities to pass me by because of my reclusiveness.

The following post was contributed by Nina Bernice exclusively for publichealthbugle.com. All contents for informational and educational purposes only. The information is not to be substituted for professional advice. Please give credit to Nina Bernice and the Public Health Bugle for any re-posts.

Health Reform Law, What Does The Public Think About It?

By: Nina Bernice

With presidential and a majority Democratic congressional support, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act came into law on 23rd March, 2010. The health reform law’s objective is providing health insurance cover to more than thirty million people. It endeavors to attain this by Medicaid expansion and federal subsidies provisions to assist lower and middle-income earners purchase private medical care insurance. The PPACA is estimated to cost the federal government a total of $940 billion over ten years.

People who fall between 100-400% of the Federal Poverty Level and want their own health insurance on an exchange qualify for subsidies. Eligible insurance buyers will receive premium credits and there is a sliding scale cap for how much they should contribute to their premiums.

The bill also requires everyone to purchase health insurance by 2014 or incur a $ 695 annual penalty. However, low income people have some exemptions from this requirement. The PPACA requires states to expand Medicaid to adults without children, starting in 2014. The Federal Government will cover 100 percent of the costs for newly eligible people through to 2016. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.

The most contentious issue of the PPACA is the “individual mandate” section. This provision requires that all American(except the low income) purchase health insurance by 2014 or incur a annual penalty. Opponents argue that individual cannot be forced to buy a product that they may not need or use. The Justice Department has respond to this argument by noting that every American will need medical care at one point in their lives. As such no one can choose to be excluded from the health care market. Many Americans expect that the court will find this requirement unconstitutional as it is an inappropriate exercise of federal authority, according to a Kaiser Health Tracking Report.

A prime issue for court consideration on 26th March is determining the merits of the health reform law opponents’ arguments on prohibiting claims until 2014 when the individual mandate in 2014 is expected to take effect. According to the Anti-Injunction Act (AIC), claimants cannot make a claim on tax until the tax has been paid by the claimant. Judges in two federal courts have already determined that the Anti-Injunction Act is applicable in this case. This argument by the federal judges might temporarily exempt the Supreme Court from making a decision about the AIA during this election year.

Since I  am involved in researching nutritional sciences, it’s not surprise that I have people ask me “what should I eat to stay healthy?” Or “What should I eat to lose weight?”… and on and on.

I usually give them a straight answer: avoid processed foods as much as possible. But, if you take the time to think about what it means to avoid processed foods you will find that it’s a natural nutritional lifestyle that our bodies were evolved to consume (see link 3 about paleolithic diets). We should be reducing or eliminating the consumption of man made foods. So put down those pancakes and have a bowl of fruit with your coffee in the morning, because when you are in doubt on what to eat just rest assured that you cant go wrong with consuming naturally occurring foods.

But dont take my word for it. Here are a couple of resources on what you should eat:

1) The Nutrition Source: What Should I Eat? (Harvard  School of Public Health)

The answer to the question “What should I eat?” is actually pretty simple. But you wouldn’t know that from news reports on diet and nutrition studies, whose sole purpose seems to be to confuse people on a daily basis. When it comes down to it, though—when all the evidence is looked at together—the best nutrition advice on what to eat is relatively straightforward: Eat a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; choose healthy fats, like olive and canola oil; and eat red meat and unhealthy fats, like saturated and trans fats, sparingly. Drink water and other healthy beverages, and limit sugary drinks and salt. Most important of all is keeping calories in check, so you can avoid weight gain, which makes exercise a key partner to a healthy diet.

2) Operah: What You Should Eat Daily (Operah.com)

She is a billionaire for many reasons, and this may be one reason!

3) Should You Be Eating Like The Cavemen? (runnersworld.com)

“The Paleo diet isn’t an oddity,” Cordain says. “What’s odd is the way we’ve been eating the last 10,000 years, and particularly the last 200.”