Trinity Medical Center can help
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – If you’re uninsured, there’s still time to sign up for health insurance on the Health Insurance Marketplace and avoid the penalty. Under the Affordable Care Act, 2015 is the first year Americans must prove they had qualifying health insurance (or an approved exemption) for the previous year (when filing 2014 taxes), or face a tax penalty.
For 2015, if you don’t obtain insurance by February 15, 2015, the last day of the Open Enrollment period, the penalty will be applied to your annual taxable income for each full month you don’t have health insurance in 2015. The penalty fee is $325 per adult, $162.50 per child – up to $975/family or 2 percent of family income, whichever is higher. And, without insurance, you will be financially responsible for all of your medical costs.
The good news is based on household income and dependents, some individuals may qualify for financial assistance from the government – or subsidies – towards the cost of the premium and other financial obligations like co-pays or deductibles.
“This is where Trinity Medical Center can help the uninsured in our community,” said Keith Granger, CEO of Trinity Medical Center. “With many people lacking access to a computer or just needing help with maneuvering through the enrollment website, our application counselors can help. We can help individuals and their families evaluate the available health plans and determine if they’re eligible for Medicaid or other insurance options.”

Medicaid
In all states, Medicaid provides health coverage for some low-income people, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. In some states, the program covers all low-income adults below a certain income level.
“Even though Alabama has chosen not to expand Medicaid, there are still many individuals in our community who qualify for Medicaid coverage,” explained Granger. We can help screen these individuals and if they qualify, we can enroll them at any time, with health coverage beginning immediately.”
For more information or to schedule an appointment call 205-592-1496 before February 15.

 Alabama State University communications professor Dr. Rev. E.K. Daufin is the author of a chapter in a new book, “The Politics of Size: Perspectives From the Fat Acceptance Movement,”  published by Praeger Publishers Inc.
Daufin’s chapter is “Black Women in Fat Activism.”
The book supplies readers a frank overview of the issues surrounding how to deal with the many levels of discrimination against fat people – and reframes the discussion about obesity from a “diet and weight loss industry driven medical issue” to a social and political one.
Daufin, a national expert about weight as well as race, gender and class in the media, was invited by the editor of the book to write the chapter after seeing Daufin’s works on the subject. The chapter itself takes a look at what Black women face as a result of weight stigma.
“Eighty to 90 percent of any person’s weight is caused by genetics. The reasons for the higher obesity rate for African-American women are also genetic, along with other factors including socioeconomics and the environment,” Daufin said. “But even more women of color are joining the front lines of activism in changing the unintentional racist ‘war on obesity’ to the ‘war on weight stigma’ instead.”
Daufin said the essays in the book serve to correct misinformation about obesity and fat people that is commonly accepted by the general public, such as the idea that “fat” and “healthy” are mutually exclusive. Subject matter covered includes fat-friendly workplace policies; fat-dating experiences; and the intersections of being fat and also a person of color, a person with disabilities, a transgender person, or a member of another sub-group of society.
An educator, performance artist and a social activist, Daufin is the founder of Love Your Body; Love Yourself workshops. Her work has been published in several academic journals, newspapers and magazines, and she has a chapter in three other anthologies. Daufin also has been featured on radio and television programs. She is a columnist for the international nonprofit Association for Size and Health Diversity’s online “HAES® Matters.”
Daufin graduated from The Ohio State University where she earned her Ph.D. in mass communication and film.

(NAPSA) – Dental caries, also known as tooth decay, is the most common chronic disease in children in the United States – and your child’s pediatrician, family doctor, or nurse can play an important role in prevention.
Tooth decay occurs when bacteria in the mouth uses the sugar in food and drinks to make acids. These acids wear away the outer layer of the tooth (also known as tooth enamel). Tooth decay can eventually lead to a hole, or cavity, in the tooth.
Any child whose teeth have erupted (are visible in the mouth) can develop tooth decay. In fact, almost half of children ages 2 to 11 in the United States today have signs of decay in their baby teeth – and these numbers are increasing. Baby teeth, the first set of teeth to come in, are particularly vulnerable because the tooth’s enamel has not yet had the chance to harden. Tooth decay can lead to cavities, infection, pain and loss of teeth, and can affect children’s growth, speech and appearance.

Simple Ways To Prevent Tooth Decay
The good news is that tooth decay is preventable and there are many things you can do to keep your child’s teeth healthy and strong. For example, make sure children visit a dentist or primary care clinician regularly, eat a healthy diet that limits sugars, and brush every day with toothpaste that includes fluoride.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that protects against tooth decay by strengthening tooth enamel. Fluoride is added to most, but not all, types of toothpaste. In addition, fluoride is found naturally in some water sources, and many communities across the United States boost the level of fluoride in their water supply to improve the oral health of residents. Young children who live in communities without fluoride added to drinking water are at an increased risk for developing tooth decay.

How Primary Care Clinicians Can Help
Dentists are the main sources of oral health care but only one child in four under age 6 visits a dentist. Fortunately, most children visit a pediatrician, family doctor or other nondental health care professional. Recognizing this, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended two ways that doctors and nurses can help prevent cavities in babies and children up to age 5:
1.  Clinicians should prescribe oral fluoride supplements (such as drops, tablets or
lozenges) to children whose water supply doesn’t contain enough fluoride. This
should start when the child is 6 months old.
2.  All babies and children who do not regularly visit a dentist and whose teeth
have come in should have fluoride varnish applied regularly by a non-dental
primary care professional. This can benefit all children – regardless of the level
of fluoride in their water.
What does this mean for you and your child? Your child’s doctor or nurse will
likely want to talk with you about oral health during an office visit. Use this time to
discuss your child’s risk factors for tooth decay. If he or she is not yet seeing a
dentist, be sure to mention this. Your child’s doctor can help you plan an
appropriate timeline for scheduling a dentist visit.

The Importance of a Healthy Smile
Preventing tooth decay improves children’s health and well-being. If left untreated, tooth decay can lead to pain, infection and loss of the affected teeth and can negatively affect a child’s growth, speech, appearance, self-esteem and more.
Dental-related concerns lead to the loss of over 54 million school hours (approximately 8 million school days) each year, emphasizing the need for early prevention. Talk to your child’s doctor or nurse about cavities and make sure your children are getting the care they need to have healthy smiles for life.

Protecting Your Family’s Health
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is an independent group of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that makes recommendations on primary care services. Recently, the Task Force reviewed the research on preventing tooth decay in the primary care setting for children ages 2 to 5.

Learn More
For further information on the Task Force and to read the full report on preventing tooth decay in young children, visit www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.

AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE!

Thousands of Alabamians may qualify for premium tax credits to help  buy private health insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace.  Individuals MUST enroll by February 15th to apply for coverage starting March 1st. The days leading up to the February deadline are the last opportunities to secure health insurance with the exception of qualifying life events like the birth of a child, marriage/divorce or other circumstances.
Birmingham Healthcare, The Dannon Project, the NAACP, and Birmingham City Councilor Marcus Lundy are hosting a health insurance enrollment event at the North Birmingham Recreation Center (3501 28th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35207) from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Wednesday, February 4th, to enroll Alabamians in affordable and quality health care plans. Professionally trained HealthCare.gov Assisters will be available to help individuals and their families find plans that meet their health and financial needs.
It’s important to note that finding the right health care plan takes time and waiting until the last minute can be challenging and time consuming. This is the perfect opportunity for individuals to get expert help in a relaxed environment without the pressure of a deadline forcing a rushed decision. Those seeking to secure a health care plan should anticipate a minimum of 45 minutes to complete the process.
Remember Open Enrollment ends February 15, 2015.

Using salt to season foods is a practice that’s widely criticized as being bad for your health, especially for the elderly.  But a new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicates that it may not be as bad a habit as once thought, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens.
The research concluded that “sodium intake was not associated with mortality or risk for CVD [cardiovascular disease] and HF [heart failure] in a cohort of adults 71 to 80 years old. Our data emphasizes the need for stronger evidence, preferably from rigorous controlled trials testing additional thresholds for sodium intake, before applying a policy of further sodium restriction to older adults beyond the current recommendation for the general adult population (2,300 mg/d).”
The study is not a license for salt lovers to start overusing their shakers on their hamburgers and fries, says AMAC. It was the Roman orator Cicero who said: “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.”

   I had the chance to hear ABC 33/40 Meteorologist, Jim Spann, speak at a luncheon program this week, and I have to say that he is a very inspirational speaker. The topic of his speech was lessons learned from the storms of April 27, 2011. Spann said that for him each life lost on that day was a personal failure, where he had to look at himself in the mirror and ask, “What could I have done differently, that might have made a difference for that life.”
Spann said that in the months since Alabama’s most deadly storm of the century there are some lessons that have been learned that could save lives in the next natural disaster. The number one thing that Spann said has to be changed is that the general public must stop waiting to hear weather sirens to respond. Weather sirens are not meant to be a primary warning system. They are in fact a back-up system primarily intended to reach persons who are outdoors and away from media sources. Spann feels that of the 252 persons who died that day, 220 or more might still be alive if early warning systems had been better utilized.
At that point he made a simple request of everyone in the room. He said, “If you want to take away just one thing from what I say today, take that I believe that every home should have a programmed weather radio, and that every smart phone owner should have a quality weather app on their phone.” Spann says that the secret to making the early warning system more effective is as simple as taking these two steps.  And I would reinforce, that when threatening weather occurs keep one of these devices close by.
Spann also offered some advice on what we should not do when a storm approaches. He noted that no one should ever stay in a mobile home in the face of expected tornadoes. In most cases a tornado is going to send mobile homes airborne and the probability of survival is low. The same can be said if you are in automobile and find yourself suddenly exposed to a tornado. You should exit your vehicle and try to find a ditch to take cover in. Spann noted three personal items he would recommend that everyone have available during a storm. Those items were: a good helmet, hard soled shoes, and an air horn.  Especially for children helmets can provide an extra layer of protection that could be the difference between death or severe injury, and a child that is able to walk away. Hard soled shoes are important because of the hazardous materials that get thrown around by a storm. You may be faced with broken glass, metals, chemicals, God only knows, and hard shoes will offer at least some protection. Finally if you get trapped under debris first responders are trained to listen for the sound of air horns as signs of distress.
No one can predict with certainty when the next storm will strike or what its severity will be. But these are simple steps you can take to make sure you and your family have the greatest chance for not only survival, but also for limiting damage to yourselves.
Special thanks to Jim Spann for sharing and for the obvious compassion he has to make sure he does everything he can to help this community through the next disaster experience. What an incredible way to serve.
Or at least that’s the way I see it.
(Do you have a question or comment on this column? Look me up on Facebook/HollisWormsby or email me at hjwormsby@aol.com.)