Community News

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – December 14, 2022 – The CDC reports that the community level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending December 6^th. Most of the counties in North Carolina are low and 1 county is at a high community level. Most of the counties in the U.S. are at a low level with less than 10% of the counties at a high level. For a county at a low community level, the CDC recommends:

• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask in a public indoors space and take additional precautions.

The Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on December 3^rd indicate:

• The data from the last 2 weeks is incomplete. With the best available data, last week’s total cases are 229, up 26% from 182 the previous week.
• 67% of the total population have received their initial vaccination series. Unchanged over the past 17 weeks.
• 27% of people with their initial vaccination series have had the new bivalent booster up 1% from last week.
• The seven-day daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 40 and has increased by 2 since last week, and of ICU patients is 4 and has decreased by 4 from the previous week.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home

Vaccination sites and testing sites can be located through the North Carolina and Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services.

An updated COVID-19 booster is now available for eligible persons 6 months and older. This new booster targets 2 versions of the COVID virus, the original virus and the new dominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Eligible persons must be at least 2 months after any prior COVID-19 shots and have had the initial vaccination series. The CDC advises that people who recently had COVID consider delaying their boosters until 3 months after their symptoms started or 3 months after a positive COVID test if they were asymptomatic. The updated booster shot is available at the Department of Public Health Coxe Avenue vaccination clinic, pharmacies, community health centers and rural health clinics.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

BOSTON, MA – September 26, 2022 – The new Alzheimer’s drug Lecanemab significantly slowed the rate of cognitive decline in patients with early-stage disease according to a study published September 26^th in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr Babek Tousi, the lead investigator at the Cleveland Clinic study site, opined, “finally we may have a medication that is showing efficacy in this primary outcome of this study.”

 Dr. Christopher Van Dyck, the director of the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, presented the results at a medical meeting in San Francisco. He said that “Lecanemab reduced markers of amyloid in early Alzheimer’s disease and resulted in less decline than placebo on all measures of cognition and function at 18 months.” The new drug Lecanemab (developed at 2 pharmaceutical companies) is an anti-amyloid antibody that helps remove amyloid plaques. Amyloid is a protein that accumulates in the brain of people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. It binds with tau protein to form plaques that can affect brain cell function and cause loss of memory and confusion, the hallmark symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Hundreds of anti-amyloid drugs have been trialed or are in the midst of clinical studies, most with discouraging results. Biogen’s drug Aducanumab created much noise with a recent controversial study that, nevertheless, won accelerated FDA approval. However, the drug was not covered by Medicare due to its high price, unwanted complications and a strong belief that there was little evidence that it slowed cognitive impairment in early Alzheimer’s disease.

1,800 people with mild Alzheimer’s disease were enrolled in the study. Participants were assigned to either the drug treatment group or the placebo group. Approximately 25% of the participants were from minority groups, which was comparable to the Medicare population. The drug was administered intravenously, twice a week. The side-effects of treatment with Lecanemab included brain swelling or brain bleeding in about 20% of the patients. Most of these people were asymptomatic. The adverse effects were significantly more than the 9% occurrence rate in the placebo group. However, this complication occurred less frequently than in patients taking Aducanumab in the Aducanumab study.

The pharmaceutical companies have already applied for an accelerated FDA approval to authorize the use of Lecanemab. A decision is expected in January. Full approval will require longer clinical trials.

If the drug gets FDA approval, then cost may be a concern. The cost of the controversial anti-amyloid medicine Aducanumab is $28 thousand a year.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The annual open enrollment period is when eligible seniors can choose between traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan. This is going on right now. Medicare Advantage plans are being marketed on radio, television, email and the internet. Their marketing campaign includes telephone and text message solicitations. Open enrollment ends soon, on December 7^th.

The Medicare health insurance program was passed by Congress in 1965. It provides health insurance for older Americans and younger people with disabilities and some chronic diseases. These groups were traditionally not eligible for employment-linked group coverage. Medicare covers 60 million Americans including 52 million people aged 65 years old and older. Workers pay into Medicare through payroll deductions. Medicare Part B insurance (for outpatient care including doctors) does not cover all of the fee schedule. It bills beneficiaries for the balance. Supplemental Part B insurance (also called Medigap insurance) is available from private insurers. Medicare Part D insurance, also available through private insurers, covers much of the cost for many prescription drugs.

Congress passed a bill in 1985 which allows Medicare beneficiaries to receive healthcare services through private-health insurance plans. This is to referred to as Medicare Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage plans. It covers Parts A (hospital insurance), B and often Part D.

The private-health insurers receive a monthly risk-adjusted payment from the federal Medicare program to cover each beneficiary’s care. In theory, the federal government can save money by taking advantage of an efficiently managed health care system overseen by the private insurers if the monthly payments to them are lower than the actual cost of running the program. However, private insurers are incentivized to run the program at a lower cost than the payment from federal government. Judging from the large number Medicare Advantage plans on the market, these plans look like a money maker for the private insurance companies.

A large majority of Medicare beneficiaries are satisfied with their care, regardless of the choice of traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

Under traditional Medicare, beneficiaries have access to a wide range of doctors and hospitals across the country. There is generally no need for prior authorization for medical services. Enrollees pay a monthly premium, need to meet a deductible and may elect to obtain supplemental health insurance to further limit their costs. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, traditional Medicare beneficiaries with supplemental insurance had fewer cost problems than Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage plans cover about 48% of all Medicare enrollees. Total enrollment has more than doubled over the past 10 years. There are 43 plans to choose from for next year. The plans tout perks not offered by traditional Medicare such as a limit on out-of-pocket costs, vision and dental benefits, and gym memberships. Their premiums are generally lower than traditional Medicare.

Be aware of possible disadvantages with Medicare Advantage plans. The plans restrict networks of doctors and hospitals for its beneficiaries, mandate authorization for some services (like imaging studies) and require referrals to specialists. A recent report from the Office of the Inspector General found that Medicare Advantage plans routinely rejected claims that should have been paid and denied services that physician reviewers found to be medically necessary. The out-of-pocket maximum limit may be higher than traditional Medicare. Persons requiring medical care while away from home may not have their health care covered locally because local providers may be out-of-network. It is important to understand what is covered in this situation. According to research at Brown University, many high medical needs patients were more likely to switch over to traditional Medicare in order to avoid restricted networks and prior authorization.

You may not be able to switch back to your old Medicare health plan if you don’t like your new plan so be careful with making your decision. It’s generally fine to switch between Medicare Advantage plans. However, switching from traditional Medicare to an Advantage plan may not allow you to switch back and retain your old supplemental insurance policy. The supplemental insurance company can deny your application or charge higher prices based upon pre-existing conditions unless the switch is within a year for a first-time transfer. However, some states have different rules and guarantee supplemental insurance coverage at set prices.

Choosing the best Medicare plan for you can be confusing. The Medicare.gov website, 1-800-MEDICARE and federally funded State Health Insurance Assistance Programs are good resources to help you make your decision. David Lipschultz, the associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, told the New York Times, that the assistance programs ”are unbiased and don’t have a pecuniary interest in your decision making.” Appointments tend to be hard to come by this time of year, so it’s best not to delay if you need some help.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – November 30, 2022 – The CDC reports that the community level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending November 21^st. Most of the counties in North Carolina are low and none are at a high community level. Most of the counties in the U.S. are at a low level with less than 4% of the counties at a high level. For a county at a low community level, the CDC recommends:

• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask in a public indoors space and take additional precautions.

The Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on November 12^th indicate:

• The data from the last 2 weeks is incomplete. With the best available data, last week’s total cases are 181 down 9% from 199 the previous week.
• 67% of the total population have received their primary vaccination series. Unchanged over the past 15 weeks.
• 25% of people with their primary vaccination series have had the new bivalent booster up 1% from last week.
• The seven-day daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 42 and has decreased by 2 since last week, and of ICU patients is 7 and has increased by 3 from the previous week.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home

Vaccination sites and testing sites can be located through the North Carolina and Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services.

An updated COVID-19 booster is now available for eligible persons 5 years and older. This new booster targets 2 versions of the COVID virus, the original virus and the new dominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Eligible persons must be at least 2 months after any prior COVID-19 shots and have had the primary vaccination series. The CDC advises that people who recently had COVID consider delaying their boosters until 3 months after their symptoms started or 3 months after a positive COVID test if they were asymptomatic. The updated booster shot is available at the Department of Public Health Coxe Avenue vaccination clinic, pharmacies, community health centers and rural health clinics.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WASHINGTON, DC – November 6, 2022 – A recent American Lung Association study found that almost 95% of eligible at-risk people did not receive a screening CT scan for lung cancer. This is a much higher level of nonparticipation than cancer screenings for cervical, breast and colorectal. Lung cancer is the most-deadly cancer in the United States. Most are discovered after the tumor has spread past the point of being cured with treatment. Cancer screening tests are at no cost to patients under the Affordable Care Act.

The only recommended screening test for lung cancer is a low-dose CT scan. It is painless and only takes a few minutes to perform. These tests are only available by prescription. Primary care physicians need to be aware of their patient’s complete smoking history because there is a strong risk of association between smoking history and lung cancer. The screening test is performed on at-risk people, before a person has any symptoms or diagnosis of the disease. Treatment can be started earlier when an early diagnosis is made. Therefore, early diagnosis through screening is more likely to reduce the severity of the disease.

The rate of survival at five-years for this deadly disease has increased to more than 25% from 15%. According to a 2011 National Lung Screening Trial, lung cancer screening has resulted in a 20% reduction of mortality. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the CDC have recommended a lung cancer screening CT scan since 2014. In 2021, the screening criteria were modified to increase the number of eligible people because of disparities in the mortality rates by race. Now, persons are eligible for the screening if they have smoked the equivalent of at least a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, quit within the past 15 years and are between the ages 50 to 80 years old.

Kentucky has the highest incidence of lung cancer and mortality rates in the U.S. and the second highest smoking rate. Its screening rate has increased to 13%, well above the national average. The improvement has been credited to the state chapter of the American Lung Association partnering with universities and other cancer organizations in the state. The coalition has educated providers and patients about the importance of lung cancer screenings. Additionally, the Kentucky state legislature passed a bill that requires an annual report on screening rates in order to promote the availability of screening throughout the state.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour