Buddhist Meditation and Health

Buddhist Meditation and Health

Disease of the modern age, such as cancer, AIDS or psychological conditions caused by the stress and strain of daily life, have complicated symptoms and are progressively more difficult to treat. Consequently, modern medicine has started to look for different methods of treatment to cure such conditions and to help people get their lives back on an even keel again. This kind of research is carried out objectively within the confine of the medical science. However, on a more spiritual level, we can find within Buddhism various principles and practices which can be used to bring peace and happiness to the mind and the good health to the body. In particular, meditation has brought beneficial effects to the many people who have learned how to practice it.

Thus, many modern doctors admit that the mind can control the body's performance. The mind can be an important cause of sickness in the body and it inevitably follows that it can also provide the cure. Learning how to meditate can develop both the body and the mind, bringing improvements to the health at the same time. Nowadays, treating a disease like cancer depends on science and technology, and the use of such procedures as radiation and surgery. Even although these modern procedures constitute the progress of medical science; in Thailand at the present one method of treating these diseases which is attracting much attention is holistic. In fact, a group has been established which practices according to the methods of treatment purposed by Dr. Sathit Intharakamhaeng. These methods place an emphasis on understanding how nature works in our lives, including maintaining a correct diet. Nevertheless, importance is also placed on our mental processes and on learning how to meditate. As Dr. Sathtit once stated:

"Actually, living a holistic life doesn't only mean eating a natural diet. It also means changing and correcting your lifestyle by learning how to meditate, learning how to reduce stress in everyday life …" ('Cheowit' 1998 pp.37)

In this way, Dr. Sathit has taken hold of the Buddhist precept which teaches us that rust, which comes from iron, can corrode and destroy that same iron. Human minds are the same. If we have learned how to meditate and have minds which produce positive thoughts then our bodies will become stronger and healthier if our minds produce negative thoughts then, like the rust on the iron, this will inevitably be a danger to us. As he stated:

"It is bad thinking which damages us. To take a particular example; if a cancer patient keep having bad thoughts then eventually these thoughts will be like he rust that erodes, allowing death to destroy the patient even quicker…because such thoughts are one of the causes of cancer. From a holistic point of view, cancer grows from both physical and mental causes. If one cannot change one's mind then it follows that one cannot change one's body." ('Goo-ne-ne' 1998 pp.127)

It is the sense of imbalance in both body and mind that can be an important cause of illness and the spread of disease. The body is able to treat these diseases itself. Dr. O. Carl Simonton, of the Simonton Cancer Care Center in California, U.S.A., an expert in the use of tradition therapy for the treatment of cancer, has also studied the relation between mind and body in curing and treating cancer. He tested for over 10 years and found that the body has a natural ability to cure and treat itself. Efficacious medical treatment can build up the body to enable it to look after itself but the most important factor is that the patient must be willing to participate. The onset of cancer merely points out to us that our bodies need adjustment and improvement. For example, we may need to release tension to find contentment or we might need to transform our bodies. Dr. Simonton has demonstrated the effectiveness of meditation in treating cancer. "Most of all we need meditation and visualization to initiate these transformation. They are the basic tools used when we determine to establish and develop a new set of beliefs until they become part of our subconscious mind. Although meditation and visualization are used for releasing tension and attaining spiritual fulfillment, they can also be used as a first step to setting up changes in one's life and health, starting with the determination to change our beliefs about illness and treatment, and about the ability of the body to cure and treat itself." (1995 pp.101-102)

The doctor has added another point to the ides that the body can treat itself (ref. Chatkaew 1998 pp.51-52). He has stated that the benefits of learning meditation and also, perhaps, prayer and a sense of determination will help create a place of resistance in the body which is able to manufacture the white blood cells which fight against cancer and AIDS: "Ordinary people like ourselves don't have to learn any special subjects. We can use our minds to control or affect our heartbeat, our blood pressure, or the manufacture of the white blood cells that fight disease. We can improve the quality of the cells which protect us, the cell known as 'T' cells which fight cancer and AIDS."

There are the treatments that can cure cancer but one disease for which there is no cure today is AIDS. Meditation has been brought in to help with patients. Donald K. Swearer has said: "Meditation is also promoted in Thailand as a treatment for patients with AIDS. Beginning in 1989, a team of psychologists, social workers and nurses utilized meditation techniques as part of a hospital training program to help care workers who treat HIV and drug dependent patients." (1995 pp.144) Even though it is not directly treating the AIDS patient or curing the disease, the meditation still has a good effect on the patient: "Result from questionnaires, self-reports, and observation of colleagues show positive results among the majority of health care workers: higher altruism and empathy among trainees; less verbal abuse toward clients, and a greater personal sense of tranquility, happiness and patience." (see refs.)

Dr. Benson of the Havard Medical School has researched and tested the effects of meditation on the health and body. In the book called 'The Relaxation Response' (1975) (ref. Braphan Ukranun 1998 pp.111), which has introduced the concept of meditation to many Americans, he states that meditation can treat diseases such as cancer because it helps the patient to release tension, bring the will power to fight and the consciousness of being in control of the life. He has found that depression, hopelessness, loneliness and despair, psychological conditions very prevalent in westerners, can be alleviated with meditation. Apart from this, meditation cam also helps heart conditions and high blood pressure. But most interesting of all is that meditation can help people who have difficulty conceiving children. Dr. Benson states that such people are generally unhappy, anxious and hot-tempered but with the regular practice of mediation, they can become healthy and strong, more cheerful and more able to conceive children. The meditation that Dr. Benson advocates to bring such results is one that uses breath control and the silent repetition of a mantra to bring peace and tranquility. Dr. Benson acknowledges that this technique of 'insight meditation' can be most effective.

Meditation is beneficial to our bodies and our minds once it has been firmly established and our minds have become calm. Professor Thepnom Muangman has listed the physical benefits as a slowing down of the pulse, a lowering of blood pressure and a boost to the immune system. The psychological benefits come from a slowing down of the brain waves which makes us feel relaxed and can relieve muscular aches, pains and headaches (1985 pp.269.)

According to Wallace and Benson (Wallace and Benson 1972; ref. Naiphinit Khachaphakdi 1989pp. 269), learning to meditate builds mental power. They have demonstrated that a practice of meditation similar of Buddhist mediation has a beneficial effect on a body. It can stop the body from burning out, reduce stress and transform the workings of the brain. Eliminating stress brings the mind and the body to a state of profound relaxation that constitutes complete rest and is different from sleep and dreaming.

Buddhadasa Bhikku has stated that meditation can treat diseases of the body and the mind. He has demonstrated the importance of breath control called the mindfulness of breathing; the more we can regulate our breathing the more able we become to fight disease. Breathing is a fundamental human function and therefore bears a relation to the normal balance of our bodies. As he stated: "We have to realize that our breathing affects our nervous system, our thoughts, our awareness and the different mechanisms within our bodies. The liver, the kidneys, the intestines and the stomach are all related to our breathing." (Buddhadasa Bhikku M.B.B. pp.21)

Phattaya Jitsuwan (1992) has also done research into 'the effect of learning mindfulness of breathing meditation techniques on anxiety and depression in patients who have had chronic kidney failure and received a kidney transplant.' This research was based on 'quasi experimental design', using a total of 45 subjects who were then separated into an experimental group of 21 subjects and a control group of 24 subjects. The experimental group were visited, engaged in light conversation and were also taught how practice mindfulness of breathing meditation. The control group were visited and engaged in light conversation for a period of 6 weeks. The results and conclusions from the research found that the experimental group who were taught mindfulness of breathing meditation techniques suffered less anxiety and depression and their level of stress and anxiety were clearly lower than those of the control group.

Buddhadasa Bhikku has always maintained that breathing is important with regard to other parts of our bodies, such as the lungs. Nathi Guagungijgan (1987) has carried out research on 'the effect of learning mindfulness of breathing meditation techniques on the efficiency of the lungs of patients who suffer asthma after physical exertion.' This experiment ('quasi experimental design') used a group of 24 subjects, separated into 2 groups of 12. The experimental group received medical treatment and studied mindfulness of breathing meditation techniques. The control group also received medical treatment but was not taught how to meditate. The experiment lasted 16 weeks. It was found at the end of the experiment that the group who has been taught mindfulness of breathing meditation techniques had more efficient lungs than those of the control group.

Duangjai Gasandigun (1986) has carried out research on how our moods affect our mental health: 'the effects of meditation on mental health, measured by comparing depression in individuals between 15 and 25 years of age at the Buddhist Center for the practice of Religious Precepts (Phrathamgai Temple) in Phatumthani province. A control group of 156 people who had been instructed in meditation, had to take a test that measured their level of depression both before and after meditation. The average score showed that depression was lower after meditation. This suggests that meditation relieves stress, bringing with it the ability to analyze, understand problems and alleviate the cause of depression.

It should be pointed out that all kinds of diseases are treated with medicine or with many procedures of medical science. Some treatments use our own intentions and will power, for example, psychotherapy or the practice of meditation. In such treatments, the patient must play a part in helping himself, not simply depending on medicine. These treatments demonstrate that the mind can look after itself and have an effect on the treatment of physical disease. In this way, if a patient receiving treatment is able to understand that his sickness is physical and doesn't allow it to affect his mental health, staying calm and cheerful, then that his sickness will inevitably improved and be cured more quickly. But if a patient reverts to being low-spirited, depressed or self-piteous then the sickness will be more difficult and take longer to treat. Therefore, staying calm, clear-headed and cheerful at all times is something that can protect us from disease. Phra Dhebhavedhi (Prayut Payuddho 1993 pp. 15-16) has listed all the benefits meditation can bring both to mental and to the development of the personality: will-power, determination, stability, politeness, gentleness, dexterity, liveliness, nimbleness, cheerfulness, dignity, altruism and the ability to know oneself and others truthfully. These are the attributes of a person who has achieved perfection in both in body and mind.

Tips to boost your memory power

Multitasking might be the in thing in the 21st century but it causes stress leading to memory loss. Following are some handy tips to boost your memory.

If you have too many things to keep track of and they keep slipping your mind then its time you get a memory check.

It is important because absent-mindedness, lack of judgement, short-term memory loss and lack of concentration, as well as depression, can be early signs of serious conditions like dementia, and Alzheimer's disease.

Because of stress, one may have memory fatigue.

But Stress can be handled by eating right. In fact, along with the doctor, an apple a day also keeps neurologists at bay.

As a brain food, protein helps your memory too. And nutritionists call basil leaves and corn act as memory boosters.

And here's another reason to watch your cholesterol. “Cholesterol forms small plucks – obstruction to the blood flow. And blood flows to those parts of the brain, which are required to form memory are affected,” said Neurologist Dr J D Mukherji.

PQ4R is a handy memory aid – to actually remind you, what you need to do.

P is for Preview. “Preview is a kind of a survey that we do that is to get a jest of what we want to remember. Q is for question and now it's four R's – Read, Reflect, Revise & Recall to sharpen your memory,” said Psychologist Dr Bhavna Barmi.

Lastly try meditation as it helps you deal with stress and even sharpens your memory.

Meditation for Health

Meditation for Health is :

• a community-based medical program in Toronto, Canada, that teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as a self-care treatment for chronic, stress-sensitive symptoms.
• a complement and support to regular medical treatment. It helps people to mobilize their own inner resources for coping and healing -- especially for symptoms no longer responding to more standard medical treatments, or for symptoms exacerbating the course of chronic disease.
• an instruction in self-regulating techniques that have been shown to change the experience of symptoms, and to promote healing by reducing the stress response in mind and body.

Has been useful for such conditions as :

• chronic pain
• anxiety and panic
• sleep disturbance & insomnia
• gastrointestinal distress
• fatigue
• headaches
• job or family stress
• skin disorders
• high blood pressure
• stress factors in heart disease

What is "mindfulness" ?

"Mindfulness" is nonjudgmental, moment to moment awareness --- our experience of being here, now.

Mindfulness can be cultivated by deciding to pay attention to things that we normally never give a moment's thought to :

.... Like the sounds you are hearing right now ....

.... or the feeling of your eyes as they scan this text ....

.... Can you feel your next breath beginning ? .............

This is mindfulness.

What is MBSR ?

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) develops our capacity for mindfulness, with a program of simple meditation exercises and body stretches.

This is important because research studies have shown that the regular practice of MBSR can benefit many people suffering from chronic pain and stress-related illness.

The MBSR method was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. This hospital clinic was established in 1979, and its effective treatment program has attracted international medical recognition. The MBSR program is fully described in Dr. Kabat-Zinn's book, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Meditation for Health is modeled on this program of the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Although the practice of mindfulness has been most developed in the traditions of Asia, it is taught without a particular religious or philosophical belief. It is a basic awareness technique, a way of looking at things, that people of all faiths can share.

Program Details :

• This 9 week program is offered in 2 parts. (It's usually more effective to attend both parts, but you may attend only Part One, if you prefer.)

PART ONE:

• Two private interviews before group sessions begin
• Five weekly, 3 hour group sessions

PART TWO:

• Four weekly, 3 hour group sessions
• "The Saturday of Mindfulness"
  (a 6 1/2 hour weekend session in Week 8 of the program)
  
• Follow-up group meeting, 3-4 months after last session
• All sessions are held at locations near Bloor & Spadina.
• Group size: 24 - 30 participants
• Between-session, telephone support is available, as needed.

• About Payment: OHIP coverage of medical services is possible for patients referred by their physician for medically necessary treatment. An additional sign-up fee is required to pay for materials and program services not insured by OHIP. (Materials include a workbook & 5 CD recordings to guide home practice. Non-OHIP services include the participation of the program's non-medical health professionals.)

• Part One fee for materials and non-OHIP services: $265
• Part Two fee for materials and non-OHIP services: $265

Is your health worth 60 minutes a day ?

Your commitment is the key to MBSR. To benefit fully, you will need to practice meditation and relaxation at home -- 6 days/week for 9 weeks. We will show you how and give you self-help recordings to guide your home practice. We intend to support you fully, but no one else can do the actual practicing for you --- are YOU ready?

Taught by :

Lucinda Sykes, M.D. is a Toronto physician psychotherapist with over twenty years experience in general practice psychotherapy. She trained with Jungian analysts, Marion Woodman and Fraser Boa, and has twice participated in MBSR professional training programs under the direction of Dr. Kabat-Zinn. She is a former board member of the General Practice Psychotherapy Association. She has had a personal practice of hatha yoga and meditation for twenty years, and has lead Meditation for Health groups since 1997.

Meditation for Health is taught by Dr. Sykes, with the assistance of a colleague in social work, nursing, or psychotherapy, as group facilitator.

Everett's women-focused vision

Two years ago, Kerri Mallams set a goal to build the Women's Wellness Center in Everett by 2007.

Dreams do come true. The grand opening awaits a few finishing touches by the contractor.

A lot is happening at 2817 Rockefeller Ave. in downtown Everett, and it speaks volumes about the community's confident sense of itself.

Outside, the weathered sign preserved across the refurbished two-story building still reads "Betty Spooner's School of Dance," a civic keepsake, and a fine blend of new and old for a city in full launch mode.

Building heights are going up and so are the condos. Here is another city in hot pursuit of people to live, work and play downtown, which makes the polished and professional Women's Wellness Center a perfect fit. Close to home or close to work, either way.

Sounds so easy, but there is more going on here than circuit training, spa services and healthy-lifestyle classes. This is all part of Mallams' tenacious vision for women's health, in settings that are women-focused with access for all women.

She is the executive director of Positive Women's Network (PWN), a private, nonprofit agency dedicated to health care and social services for low-income women and women with life-threatening diseases.

We first met in a small, gray-and-white house at 37th and Broadway on the south edge of the city. That office had been a big leap forward from PWN's start in her living room, and, later, in donated space over a Snohomish pharmacy.

For more than a decade, PWN has been a reliable source of medical referrals, free annual health exams and mammograms, disease prevention and education, and support for women with debilitating illnesses. PWN reaches thousands of women in King, Snohomish, Skagit, San Juan, Island and Whatcom counties.

Given a long-established record of service, Mallams expected a fundraising campaign to go better than it did. Foundation response was scant, with the Tulalips and Norcliffe Foundation notable exceptions. Institutional interest in women's health issues apparently had its limits.

For all intents, Mallams was undeterred. As contracts with health-care providers grew into a stable base, the decision was made to go ahead with the Women's Wellness Center powered by memberships on a sliding scale. PWN moved into office space inside the center to seal the commitment.

Location, location, location might not be a meditation for yoga classes, but it represents the, well, karma moving the vision ahead. The center is on the ground floor of a building bought in 2005 by the "very philanthropic" — to use Mallams' words — Morrie Trautman.

Upstairs is the hallowed space of Betty Spooner's School of Dance, where she tutored generations of dancers. Her son, Mike Jordan, took over the business — or, perhaps, family calling — for nearly four decades more.

Jordan, who died in 2004, was immortalized in bronze in a soft-shoe pose last June in front of the Everett Performing Arts Center. That rich legacy continues since 2006 with The Dance Studio offering classes up a flight of stairs.

I have not heard Mallams use the word herself, but the mission of PWN and the Women's Wellness Center seems all the more important as I read about a nationwide decline in women getting mammograms to screen for breast cancer.

Here is a female-friendly place for women perhaps returning to exercise classes for the first time since high school. Circuit training, fitness coaching, massage therapy, lifestyle coaching, nutritional counseling and cooking classes are in proximity of a basic concern about women's health.

One way the center has raised money is with the sale of Bead Positive key chains that feature wooden and glass beads corresponding to the size of breast lumps found by accident, down to a much smaller mass that can be detected by a yearly mammogram.

First I winced, then I got the message.

Given the mission of Positive Women's Network and its history of success, I would expect the Women's Wellness Center to flourish, and, most importantly, be valued. I cannot fathom that foundations will not spot something that works and step forward with support.

The tenacity of spirit behind the Women's Wellness Center is a perfect fit with Everett's civic trajectory.

Don't let Congress forget about kids' health care

Residents of the nation's capital woke up one morning not long ago to the sort of bad news that we like to think doesn't happen in America: A child died from lack of dental care.

Deamonte Driver, a seventh grader in suburban Prince George's County, Md., died on Feb. 25. Bacteria from an abscessed tooth had spread to his brain, doctors said. Two operations and eight weeks of care and therapy failed to save him. Total cost: more than $250,000.

His mother, Alyce Driver, worked at low-wage jobs. She did not have employer health insurance. Between her struggles to navigate between private coverage and the state's public health care coverage, her child never received the $60 tooth extraction that would have saved his life.

Now Deamonte's story is one in a disturbing stack of horror stories that Marian Wright Edelman, founding head of the Children's Defense Fund, carries over to Capitol Hill to persuade Congress to close gaps in health coverage for children.

The horror stories are horribly sad. They include children like Devante Johnson, 14, who died in Houston in March. His kidney cancer went untreated for four months because of a paperwork snafu. His family's state representative intervened, but it was too late.

There are stories of children whose families lost health coverage when they moved from one state to another, including kids in families fleeing disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

Some children get caught without coverage because their parents must constantly re-apply for it, even when they stay in the same state. Others are caught in the gap when state Medicaid eligibility levels or federal Children's Health Insurance Program levels are too low and private insurance too expensive.

That $40 billion program, commonly known as S-CHIP, is up for reauthorization after 10 years and 6 million additional children covered. States are free to design their programs, helped by federal grants and subsidies.

There's a good chance that the program will be reauthorized at current funding levels, insiders say. But with health costs skyrocketing, that would be, in effect, a cut.

Bills to double S-CHIP spending over the next five years are being pushed by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who is famously associated with a failed attempt at universal coverage in her husband's presidential administration, and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. Depending on their economic conditions, states could offer coverage to families making up to 400 percent of the poverty line, or about $68,000 for a family of three.

Who could oppose this noble effort on behalf of children's health? The usual suspects. There are ideologues who have never found a government-funded health program that they didn't dislike. There also are budget hawks who quite reasonably worry about what revenue needs to be raised or what other program needs to be cut in order to pay for it.

What's needed is leadership to persuade Congress that children shouldn't be allowed to slip through growing cracks in coverage.

"Covering all children is an achievable goal in 2007 with political leadership," Edelman told me. "It won't happen without large-scale mobilization and public awareness."

Edelman's organization, which trademarked the slogan "Leave No Child Behind" years before the Bush administration came along to embrace it, endorses a similar bill by Rep. Bobby Scott (D., Virginia) that would add prenatal, mental, dental and vision care. It would also equalize access to prevent children in poorer states from being shortchanged.

It's not the first time that Edelman, a veteran of voter registration missions in the South in the early 1960s, has pushed farther than Clinton to help children and families. They've known each other since Clinton worked at the fund as a law student. Marian's husband, Peter Edelman, was an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services in President Bill Clinton's administration. But the Edelmans parted company with the Clintons over the 1996 welfare reform law.

The good news is that child poverty has declined sharply since then, helped by a healthy economy. But too many families are having a tougher time making ends meet, especially for health coverage.

As health costs and insurance costs skyrocket, the issue is taking on new political life. Americans are growing impatient with the bean-counting rhetoric.

We have the best health care system in the world, we are constantly told, and that's true. But the best in the world doesn't do much good to those who can't gain access to it.

Everyone should have coverage. Our children are the best place to start.

Massage, Acupuncture, and Yoga May All Be Part of Your Health Plan

Quit grumbling under your breath when that footloose freelancer friend of yours wants to grab a three-hour lunch on a Thursday. Just remind yourself that you have health coverage and she doesn't. And if that sounds 401(K)-level boring, then use those three hours to sit at your desk and plumb the depths of your insurance benefits website -- because there's likely more to your plan than annual jabs with a speculum.

There's no denying there's plenty wrong with our healthcare system these days, but we're not here to debate universal coverage. (If we were, we'd say: Um, yes, please!) We're here instead to celebrate the hidden goodies you aren't getting -- but possibly could be, depending on your plan. So make sure you're making the most of that paycheck deduction by asking for these five indulgences:

Massage and acupuncture. All hail the rise of alternative medicine: The likes of Aetna, Medicare, Prudential, Cigna and Kaiser Permanente cover various forms of rubdowns and acupuncture treatments. And there are now even insurance services that cover only Eastern-type practices, though don't count on your major conglomerate joining up anytime soon. On the other hand, larger companies are the most likely to offer these fringe benefits on top of the traditional stuff -- Time Warner, for instance, even has their recommended acupuncturist right on the company website with a link to make appointments. Granted, we're talking mostly about discounts and limited numbers of sessions, and the coverage is most often associated with physical therapy or chiropractic treatment, but still. (How many do you need, anyway?) So look into the fine print, of course -- you could need pre-authorization or a referral, or you might need to have a specific kind of injury or condition. And make sure you get whatever documentation you need -- receipts, sworn affidavits, Papal dispensations -- to get the coverage you deserve. Otherwise you're going to need a massage just to recover from getting your massage.

Skincare. You're never going to convince your provider to pony up for the Bliss Triple Oxygen Treatment (no matter how much better it makes you feel than a mammogram). Get yourself officially diagnosed with acne, though, and you can get some serious treatment (not that you don't deserve it). Cortisone injections -- those glorious little pricks of the needle that stop the madness of those obscenely deep zits -- might warrant some partial coverage as an "outpatient" procedure (but you might have to make sure your doctor herself, and not a nurse, administers them). Oh, and glory of all glories, that miracle known as Retin-A -- which somehow clears skin and fights wrinkles at the same time -- could cost you a mere $20 while running your clear-skinned friends upwards of $100. So there.

Nutrition counseling. Some plans will reimburse you for some of the cost, so instead of suffering through another crazy cleanse, why not get some solid advice from a real pro? It'll even be personalized, unlike that diet plan in the latest issue of Cosmo, which means it won't force you to eat the broccoli you hate, and it might even include the occasional chocolate ice cream you can't live without (in moderation -- nutrition counselors aren't miracle workers). Great for any of us, of course, but even more important if you've got a condition, like hypertension or a gastrointestinal disorder, that requires special dietary attention.

Meditation and yoga. It's true -- Kaiser Permanente, for one, offers yoga, meditation, and tai chi programs to its members with an eye toward preventative care. Again, check with your insurer to see if they offer discounts and such -- or even ask your employer directly, as they might provide partial reimbursement for gym membership or classes that would also include yoga studios and all the spiritual sustenance they have to offer.

Therapy. A mere $15 co-pay for somebody to listen to nothing but you, you, you for an hour? No wonder that freelancer needs a three-hour lunch and you don't.

Strengthening Health Care

President George W. Bush gestures as he participates in a roundtable discussion on health care initiatives at the Saint Luke’s-Lee’s Summit hospital in Lee’s Summit, Mo., Thursday, Jan 25, 2007. White House photo by Eric Draper

President Bush Participtes in Meeting on Health Savings Accounts

"I strongly believe that the United States Congress needs to strengthen health savings accounts, just like they need to make sure that the tax code treats every person in America fairly. And that's why I've suggested we change the tax code to enable the small business owner, the self-employed, or the individual worker to be able to have more affordable insurance. There's a lot we can do together to empower the individual in this country to be in charge of his or her health care decisions."

-- President George W. Bush
April 2, 2007

President Bush Discusses Health Care Initiatives

"And the mission... of government is to make sure that the quality of health care received by our patients around this country remains the best in the world. Private medicine works. And we need to make sure that we put good policies in place to make sure private medicine is the norm, quality care is given to as many Americans as possible... Our job is to keep the economy growing as best we can so people are able to help themselves and get out of poverty and be able to afford health care... that's why I'm suggesting that Congress revisit the tax code to make it easier for citizens to be able to afford insurance."

-- President George W. Bush
February 21, 2007

Fact Sheet: Making Private Health Insurance More Affordable for Low-Income Americans

"This plan will help a lot of people afford [health insurance], like the uninsured, the working uninsured. … I want you to understand that the standard deduction can mean a lot to a fellow who's working and trying to be able to afford private health insurance."

- President George W. Bush, February 23, 2007

In His State Of The Union Address, The President Proposed Two Initiatives That Will Work Together To Help More Americans Afford Basic Private Health Insurance. The President's proposed standard deduction for health insurance will reform the tax code to make private health insurance more affordable and to level the playing field so those who buy health insurance on their own get the same tax advantage as those who get health insurance through their jobs. For those who remain unable to afford coverage, the President's Affordable Choices Initiative will help eligible States assist their low-income and hard-to-insure citizens in purchasing private health insurance.

A Standard Deduction For Health Insurance Will Help Low-Income Workers And Families Afford Coverage

The President Has Proposed Replacing Our Current Health Insurance Tax System With A Standard Deduction For Health Insurance. For the millions of Americans who have no health insurance, the standard deduction would help put a basic private health insurance plan within reach. Under the President's proposal, families purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $15,000 of income. Single Americans purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $7,500 of income.

Under The President's Proposal, There Are Significant Tax Benefits At The Lower End Of The Income Distribution. The President's proposal will lower taxes for those who purchase insurance on their own who get no benefit under the current tax code. In general, low-income people are less likely to get insurance through their jobs. The standard deduction for health insurance will level the playing field, giving these individuals the same tax break that people receive if they get insurance through their jobs. This will help individuals who purchase insurance on their own afford that coverage.

The President's Proposal Will Remove The Perverse Incentive To Purchase More Expensive Health Insurance That Is Driving Up Coverage Costs. Under the current tax code, the more expensive the health insurance plan people obtain through their employers, the more tax relief they get. This makes the insurance market less competitive and pushes up prices for everyone by encouraging many workers to choose more expensive health insurance than they would choose if the tax code were not dulling their incentive to determine which policy represents the highest value.

The President's Proposal Will Rein In Health Costs By Promoting High Value Coverage. By replacing the current unfair system with a standard deduction for health insurance, the President's proposal will give working families and individuals an incentive to purchase coverage – and the same tax advantages for purchasing that insurance – and encourage them to evaluate which health insurance policies represent the highest value for quality care.

The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Help Make Health Insurance Affordable For Those Most In Need

The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Support States' Efforts To Help Their Low-Income And Hard-To-Insure Citizens Purchase Basic Private Health Insurance. States that make basic private health insurance available to all their citizens would receive redirected institutional subsidies to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. Under the Affordable Choices Initiative, existing Federal funds will be used to create Affordable Choices grants to assist States in helping provide private health insurance to those most in need without increasing Federal health spending.

• The Affordable Choices Initiative Is An Essential Component Of The President's Plan To Help More Americans Afford Private Health Insurance. President Bush has committed his Administration to working with Governors to make basic private health insurance more accessible to the poor and the sick.
  
  
  • The Federal Government's Current System Of Paying For Health Care Results In Billions Of Dollars Being Spent Inefficiently, Through A Patchwork Of Subsidies And Payments For The Uninsured To Providers. Medicare and Medicaid payments to providers include indirect payments for uncompensated care.
    
    
• The Health Care System Could Operate More Efficiently If Some Portion Of Institutional Payments Instead Were Redirected To Help The Poor And The Sick Afford Health Insurance. The uninsured often use emergency rooms for primary care, which leads to suboptimal care and excessive spending. If this public spending were focused, in a budget-neutral manner, on helping the uninsured purchase private insurance, people would receive the care they need in more appropriate settings and at a more reasonable cost.


• The President Has Asked U.S. Health And Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt To Work With The Congress And The States On The Affordable Choices Initiative To Reform The Health Care Marketplace. The health care system needs to be transformed to emphasize upfront, affordable private health insurance options for both high-risk and low-income individuals.

• The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Encourage States To Innovate. State participation will be voluntary, and States will design their own programs, subject to Federal approval.
  
  
• States could offer direct premium assistance to low-income or hard-to-insure populations to purchase private health insurance.
• States could establish high-risk pools, or expand existing high-risk pools, for very sick individuals who are deemed uninsurable in the non-group market.
• States could help facilitate pooling of individuals and small businesses and organize their access to private health plans.

Moore film attacks US health care, wider society

CANNES, France, May 19 (Reuters) - Director Michael Moore says the U.S. health care system is driven by greed in his new documentary "SiCKO", and asks of Americans in general, "Where is our soul?" He also said he could go to jail for taking a group of volunteers suffering ill health after helping in the Sept. 11, 2001 rescue efforts on an unauthorised trip to Cuba, where they received exemplary treatment at virtually no cost. The controversial film maker is back in Cannes, where he won the film festival's highest honour in 2004 with his anti-Bush polemic "Fahrenheit 9/11". In "SiCKO" he turns his attention to health, asking why 50 million Americans, 9 million of them children, live without cover, while those that are insured are often driven to poverty by spiralling costs or wrongly refused treatment at all. But the movie, which has taken Cannes by storm, goes further by portraying a country where the government is more interested in personal profit and protecting big business than caring for its citizens, many of whom cannot afford health insurance. "I'm trying to explore bigger ideas and bigger issues, and in this case the bigger issue in this film is who are we as a people?" Moore told reporters after a press screening. "Why do we behave the way we behave? What has become of us? Where is our soul?" "SiCKO" uses humour and tragic personal stories to get the point across, and had a packed audience variously laughing and in tears. There was loud applause at the end of the two-hour documentary, which is out of the main Cannes competition. Moore was asked by journalists why he painted such a rosy picture of other countries' health systems, including Britain, France, Canada and Cuba, and the implied criticism is likely to be raised again. But he defended his methods. "I recognise that there are flaws in your system but that's not for me to correct, that's for you to correct," he told a Canadian reporter. RANGE OF EMOTIONS One section of the film explains how a U.S. man severed the tip of two fingers in an accident and was told he would have to pay $12,000 to re-attach the end of his ring finger, and $60,000 to re-attach that of his index finger. "Being a hopeless romantic, Rick chose his ring finger," Moore quipped in a typically sardonic voiceover. It also follows a woman whose young daughter falls seriously ill but who said she was refused admission to a general hospital and instructed to go to a private one instead. By the time she got to the second hospital, it was too late to save the girl. One of the most controversial passages of the film, due to be released in the United States on June 29, compares health care in the United States to that which Islamic militant suspects receive at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. "I think when Americans see this they are not going to focus on Cuba or Fidel Castro," Moore said, referring to the controversy surrounding his trip to Cuba, which has prompted a U.S. government investigation. "They are going to say to themselves, 'You're telling me that the al Qaeda detainees are receiving better health care, the people that helped participate in the attacks of 9/11 are receiving better health care from us than those who went down to rescue those who suffered and died on 9/11?" Moore added that he was taking the investigation seriously.