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One of the problems we have as Americans is that the playing field has been tilted too far in favor of the larger corporations. They are the “people” (see Mitt Romney) with the money and influence to get laws made or unmade. Their attorneys always stand a better chance of getting judgments from courts when it comes to consumer matters. As individuals, we don’t stand much of a chance against them. One of the real problems we face is finding out exactly what these corporations are selling. Although there’s supposed to be truth in advertising, the practical reality is rather different. Marketing is always about how to use many words to sound really good about services or products without actually guaranteeing quality. In the case of insurance, it means using often confusing legal terminology to hide some of the problems consumers are likely to face if they should ever feel the need to make a claim.

Come September 2012, this is due to change a little thanks to the Affordable Care Act – that’s the Obamacare law the GOP love to hate and we consumers should be learning to love. Look at any website or blog that talks about health insurance and you will always see the advice to shop around. Compare and contrast are the key words. Except the language the insurers use makes this quite difficult. New regulations published by the Department of Health and Human Services will require corporations selling health cover to describe their plans in language we can all understand. There must be clear summary statements about what each plan does and does not cover, what exceptions or limitations will apply when it comes to getting treatment, and more precisely how much it will cost. Not surprisingly, the insurers are distressed because this will mean rewriting all their marketing material so that ordinary people can compare one plan with another. Announcing these new rules, Kathleen Sebelius hoped we consumers would see an immediate benefit. Well, hope springs eternal and the marketing people are no doubt working away to craft new words that will say as little as possible.

To make it easier to enforce the rules, each insurer must produce a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) for each plan. This must be backed up by a glossary of definitions so that all the complicated words the insurers like to use are explained. This must be easily understood by everyone including those who do not have English as their first language. So when you are thinking about buying or coming up to renewal, you must be given an SBC as a standardized comparison tool. Think when you go into a store to shop for food, there are standard labels on the packaging giving you Nutrition Facts. The same will apply to health plans with the insurer required to give you details of the treatment options for basic situations, e.g. managing a chronic condition like diabetes, having a baby, and so on. So, as from September, it should be easier to shop around for an individual health insurance plan. If you receive old material that’s hard to understand, complain to your local Insurance Commissioner. If we all stand together, we will get better information with our health insurance quotes and renewal notices.

While male-pattern baldness primarily occurs in adult men, there are instances when teenage boys can experience the disorder. It can be highly traumatic for a teenager to begin losing his hair. They can be obsessively focused on their appearance to begin with and going bald can add to this already stressful situation. They will want to seek immediate medical assistance to stop the condition from worsening.

When to be Concerned

Hair loss is not uncommon. In fact, everyone loses up to 100 head hairs every day. This is a natural process that involves old hair falling out to make room for new hair. It is not a cause for alarm. But if you are losing more than that or your hair seems to be coming out in clumps, you need to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong. Underlying medical conditions can cause hair loss in teenage boys.

Causes of Hair Loss in Teenagers

Teenage boys can experience hair loss for a variety of reasons. A common culprit is scalp ringworm which is a contagious infection that can cause permanent hair loss. Certain hairstyles or styling routines such as braiding or dyeing the hair can also result in hair loss in teenagers. The most challenging to treat is male-pattern baldness which has been known to develop in teenage boys by age 15.

Types of Hair Loss Treatment

The cause of the hair loss determines the appropriate treatment regimen. The most popular treatment for male-pattern baldness is with oral medications known as 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. These drugs effectively stop the production of a particular hormone that interferes with hair growth. Results range from stopping hair loss to actual hair regrowth. There are many factors that determine the effectiveness of a treatment on a particular patient.

Is Propecia an appropriate treatment?

Looks are important to all teenagers. Because of the impact on their self-esteem, teenagers are more likely to seek medical attention for hair loss sooner than their adult counterparts. Unfortunately, teens must be at least 18 years old to be treated with propecia. Hair loss concealers that cover the balding area may be a temporary option until teenagers are old enough for medical treatment.

The systemic steroid Prednisone is used as a rescue drug for asthma attacks. However, it is also used for a range of other ailments making prednisone a very important innovation in medical technology. Also known to treat migraines, the steroid provides instant relief. Migraine headaches are painful but apart from the pain, those who suffer from it are also sensitive to light. If you are suffering from migraine right now, you might be in a dark and relatively quiet room – a refuge for those who experience migraine headaches often.

Although the corticosteroid is an effective drug for migraines, it is only advised for those who suffer from extended migraines. This is where your physician comes in – he or she will determine whether you should use the prodrug or not.

The first step of course is to determine what kind of migraine you are suffering from. An intractable migraine for example can make you suffer from painful headaches for days. What’s worse is that it can even cause aneurysms. A migraine that doesn’t last very long on the other hand can be easily treated with OTC medication. Pain relievers such as paracetamol would already be enough for this kind of migraine.

It is best to talk to your physician if you think that your migraine is already getting worse. Your doctor will know what kind of drug you should take based on your medical history. Once you have that drug, whether or not it is the corticosteroid, you should make sure that you drink your medication as directed by your doctor.

Deviating from your prescription can cause certain medical problems so be sure that you follow what your doctor says.

There are also dietary considerations you have to keep in mind. Taking potassium and calcium may be advised by your doctor to prevent the drug from affecting other parts of your system.

The drug Prednisone come in dose packs and is usually used by patients with migraine in higher doses until it is finally time to lower the dosage. The frequent use of prednisone in high dosages usually last a week and not one day more.

Before you decide on what to do with those pimples though, it is best to learn more about the skin condition. Often, we base our conclusions on things we see on commercials or unreliable data we read online and this usually involves believing in what one would call a myth. Here are the most popular myths about acne:

Myth 1. Washing your face often enough will get rid of acne

Your pimples aren’t caused by dirt. In fact, frequent washing of the face may even irritate the skin but the question is, what causes pimples? The pores sticking together is one of the major reasons why you get pimples.

Myth 2. Too much stress can cause acne

It is true that being under too much stress affects one’s hormones but did you know that certain psychiatric drugs can cause acne? If you are stressed out and taking antidepressants, the stress you are going through isn’t what’s causing your acne breakouts.

Myth 3. The sun cures acne

Sun exposure is beneficial for us to get that much needed Vitamin D. However, sun exposure after 9 in the morning will only cause skin damage. Aside from causing wrinkles and sunburn, too much sun exposure may lead to skin cancer.

Myth 4. What you eat can either stop breakouts or cause them

Although diet is connected to a number of health conditions or disappearance of such conditions, experts say that there is still a need for hard evidence to prove this theory. It doesn’t hurt to eat healthy though but do not count on it to get rid of your acne.

Myth 5. Sex causes acne

This myth is an age-old one when people from the 17th century wanted to discourage pre-marital sex.

Acne treatment with Accutane

If you think your acne could no longer be treated with topical treatments, asking your dermatologist if you are eligible to Accutane is a good idea. Make sure however that you read more about Accutane pills before you start using it – some people are more sensitive to drugs than others and getting an allergic reaction won’t help you at all.

We all like to think we live in a world where nothing bad ever happens. Up until 9/11, there had been occasional events the government called home-grown terrorist attacks. You may remember Ted Kaczynski who achieved notoriety as the Unabomber, sending out bombs through the mail for some twenty years, and Timothy McVeigh who was responsible for the greatest loss of life through the Oklahoma City Bombing. These are rare individuals who become unhappy with the way things are and resort to extreme measures. This was a containable risk until Al-Qaeda highjacked four airplanes and crashed three of them into high-visibility targets. We might have considered this outrage a unique event but, for a variety of political reasons, America has continued military actions abroad. All informed sources have confirmed that these actions only act as a tool to recruit terrorist groups no matter what opinion you have on the overseas actions. For now, their retaliation has been against troops or targets based abroad. But we would be foolish if we ignore the risk of direct action on our soil.

Following the 9/11 attack, President Bush pushed through the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. This puts federal money on the line until 2014. By this time, the private insurance industry is supposed to come up with a proper framework to support the risk of loss and damage caused by terrorists anywhere within our borders. Until then, the Treasury acts as a reinsurer and, if the Secretary of the Treasury certifies losses caused by terrorism, it pays 90c in the dollar of every claim approved by private insurers. And, just so you understand the value of this back-up, no commercial insurance company can refuse to insure a business against terrorist risks. It’s your right to be covered at an affordable rate. A formal complaint can be made and a fine issued to the insurance company should the company refuse.

Why should you consider this? You may have noticed that things are not going so well in Afghanistan. Some of our soldiers have failed to live up to our high expectations of honor. There has been a public burning of the Koran. A soldier recently decided to kill a few local Afghans for fun. This does nothing to improve America’s reputation with the Moslem world and everything to encourage extreme groups to retaliate.

So far, they have aimed their anger at the troops and other soft targets abroad. But there may come a time when they decide to come to America. So if you run a business that might be a target or your business premises are close to a likely target, you should talk to your health insurance agent. In countries where, over the decades, terrorism has been fairly common this type of insurance has been standard and you should remind your agent of this if there appears to be any problems. So, for example, Pool Re was set up in 1993 to reinsure the market as the IRA continued its bombing campaign on British soil. It now offers reinsurance cover for France and Spain as well. The German government offers direct support like the US. Your business insurance company should tell you US risks are priced as a percentage of your property value. Since these values have been falling because of the recession, terrorism insurance is more affordable.

The growth seen in the use of coupons in the past decade or so has made this one of the more exciting marketing strategies that we have seen. The idea is simple. A central marketing agency promotes the named businesses by offering discount vouchers. Go to this restaurant, eat a magnificent meal, and enjoy a discount of 50%. This is a great promotion for the restaurant and the statistics show the majority of people who come to try out the meals return and pay the full price later on. Now let the pharmaceutical industry play with this idea. Suppose the drug manufacturers were to offer coupons to their loyal customers, how would the marketing plan work? Well, for a moment, consider the problem of the generic market. When the patent runs out on a brand, others may copy the chemistry and sell a generic version of the drug for a significantly lower price. From the customer’s point of view, this is wonderful news. The same drug is available. It has been approved by the FDA as an exact match for the original branded drug. And it comes at a heavily discounted price. Not surprisingly, this knocks a big hole in the profits of the branded manufacturer, so this manufacturer will search for a way to keep the generic manufacturer out of the market.

This is where copayment coupons come in, with copayments having been used in the insurance industry for a number of years. This requires the patient to pay a proportion of the medical costs. It is actually self-insurance of that part of the costs. The justification advanced by insurance companies is that it reduces moral hazard, i.e. it is an encouragement to people only to seek treatment when it is genuinely necessary.

By copaying on branded drugs, patients are able to benefit from a form of subsidy from the manufacturers through the use of these coupons. This makes the branded drugs more affordable and maintains more of their profit margin. Obviously, if the brands were losing too much of their market share, the manufacturers would have to reduce their prices to compete with the generics. In theory, the coupons represent a compromise. The patients pay less for the brand, but more than for the generic. The manufacturers give away a part of their profits, but less than through a price reduction to complete with the generic directly.

There is now a class action effectively accusing the manufacturers of fraud through their use of these coupons. As it stands, the insurance companies pay the manufacturer a fixed price for every branded pill or tablet prescribed. The manufacturers and pharmacists have been forgetting to tell the insurers about the coupons. It is highly relevant that the patients have been paying less at the drugstore counters. Because there are no savings to the insurance companies in paying for the generics, the premium rates stay high. This makes cheap health insurance even less likely to appear. In reality everyone is losing. Customers are still paying more than they should. Both individual and group health insurance plans cost more than they should. All this being purely for the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry. The class action describes these coupons as part of a bait and switch scam. If the courts agree, heavy damages will be awarded and there will be compensation available to some consumers.