A new study involving a small test group of elderly subjects shows a link between mobility decline and memory issues. A possible cause maybe due to a shrinking in the right hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with cognitive ability.
Dementia is not always indicated from all signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Between 10% and 20% of people 65 or older with MCI develop dementia over the next year. In many cases, the symptoms of MCI may stay the same or even improve. “In many cases, the symptoms of MCI may stay the same or even improve,” the National Institute of Aging proclaims.
There’s also a much larger study of 17,000 adults over age 65 that shows people who walk about 5% slower or more each year and also exhibit signs of slower mental processing were more likely to develop dementia. This study was published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
This new study over the course of 7 years tracked a group of Americans over 65 and Australians over 70. Every other year, the participants in the study were tested to measure overall cognitive decline, processing speed, memory, and verbal fluency.
To determine the person’s typical gait, the study averaged together the results of two tests, every other year, measuring the time it took them to walk 3 meters or about 10 feet in distance.
Upon conclusion of the study, the research indicated the highest risk of dementia was for the individuals who not only walked slower but also declined cognitively.
A substantial component of decreasing cognitive decline involves aerobic activities and physical movement. This activates the hippocampus in the brain and can lead to an increase in size on that part of the brain. Located in the temporal lobe, the hippocampus is responsible for tasks like remembering directions and spatial navigation.
In a 2011 randomized clinical trial, subjects who aerobically exercised increased the size of the of the hippocampus by 2%, reversing age-related loss in the organ by one to two years. Comparatively, the subjects only doing stretching exercises had on average, a decline of about 1.43% over the same time frame.
For more information on health insurance or healthy tips, visit us through Healthedly Insurance Services to learn more.
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CBD, a non psychoactive cannabinoid, has gained traction in holistic circles and even among medical professionals in recent years. Proponents of CBD supplements boast of its benefits for your health. However, there are a couple of reported cons to taking it worth considering. Read on to learn four possible advantages and two drawbacks to taking CBD.
Pros of taking CBD:
Can ease pain and inflammation
Are you suffering from sore muscles or a migraine? CBD has properties in it known for reducing inflammation. Taking a CBD herbal supplement can do as good a job as common medications like ibuprofen or Tylenol.
Used as a calming supplement
CBD is swiftly becoming a popular calming supplement among holistic medicine users. If you have anxiety, ask your doctor about trying CBD.
Helps to manage weight since it is a shredding agent.
Studies show that CBD breaks down fat in the body and paired with regular exercise, can be a useful supplement for those looking to manage their weight.
Supports post-fitness recovery
Those who take CBD post-workout have claimed to experience beneficial results from this cannabinoid. Thus, athletes claim boosts in energy and reduced soreness when taking CBD.
Cons of taking CBD:
Can cause nausea
This symptom doesn’t arise frequently. Nonetheless some people still suffer from an unsettled stomach after ingesting CBD.
May cause a dry mouth
Some users report experiencing dry mouth after taking CBD supplements. This symptom does not often manifest, but reports of this side effect exist.
As global health leaders investigate an unusual outbreak of monkeypox across more than a dozen countries, discussions in the United States have turned to vaccination against the disease – and certain people exposed to the virus could be offered a vaccine.
The US has mobilized vaccine for monkeypox to states that have reported cases, and officials plan to move the vaccine where it may be needed, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday.
“The US has the resources we need to help us respond to monkeypox in this country right now. We’ve been preparing for this type of outbreak for decades,” she said.
The US has two preventive vaccines and two antiviral treatments that can be used for orthopox, the family of viruses that includes monkeypox.
“One of these vaccines, with the trade name of Jynneos, is approved for the prevention of monkeypox disease in adults 18 years of age and older,” Walensky said. “CDC has mechanisms in place to move these products around the country so that they can be used for prevention or treatment for people who may benefit, wherever they may be.”
CDC officials are recommending vaccination for people at highest risk of infection due to direct contact with someone who has monkeypox.
“Right now, while we are in the early phase of investigating this, we know that those at highest risk for infection are those who had contact with a known monkeypox patient, with the kind of contact that would facilitate spread. So those are the individuals we’re really focusing on recommending vaccination for right now: post-exposure vaccination,” said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, a veterinarian and deputy director of the CDC’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
“We continue to watch what is happening and think about whether wider vaccination recommendations would make sense, but at this time, we only have nine known cases, and we have contacts that we’ve identified associated with those cases that would likely most benefit from vaccines,” McQuiston said. “And so that’s where we’re focusing our energies right now.”
Vaccines for monkeypox have been made available to some health care workers treating infected people.
“I’m happy to report, even with the first case in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital, our colleagues across the government have been able to get vaccines to that hospital. And just yesterday they’ve already started offering the vaccines to health care workers who have been exposed,” Dr. Raj Panjabi, who leads the White House’s monkeypox response, told CNN’s Laura Coates on Monday night.
“The first part is to identify those who are infected and to isolate them and make sure that they get the care they need,” Panjabi said. “The second part is to ensure we vaccinate those who’ve been exposed to the infected individuals. If we do that again and again – and that’s our approach at the White House and across the government – then we have a better chance of ending this outbreak.”
Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, says not to expect a large-scale rollout of vaccines.
“I think that we will need to use vaccinations in contacts of cases. This isn’t something where everybody lines up and gets vaccinated,” he said of the current outbreak. “That’s going to be critical to stopping cases.”
What vaccines could work against monkeypox?
A senior Biden administration official said Tuesday that there’s sufficient vaccine to cover the United States’ current level of cases.
“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses of [Jynneos] available, and we expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us,” McQuiston said Monday.
Another vaccine, called ACAM2000, is licensed in the United States to prevent smallpox. Although the vaccine could be used to prevent monkeypox, it is not licensed for that.
The United States has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000, McQuiston said.
“ACAM2000 is an older-generation smallpox vaccine that has some potential significant side effects with it,” she said. “So a decision to use that widely would have to have some serious discussion behind it.”
ACAM2000 is a live virus vaccine – and once the shot is given, a lesion will develop at that site. Because the virus grows at the site of the lesion, it can spread to other parts of the body or even to other people, according to the CDC, which is why people who get ACAM2000 “must take precautions” to prevent the spread.
In comparison, the Jynneos vaccine is given as a live virus that is non-replicating. That means there is no visible “take” and, as a result, no risk of viral spread, according to the CDC. Some common vaccine side effects include pain at the injection site, muscle pain, headache or fatigue.
Who should get vaccinated against monkeypox?
Most people won’t be vaccinated against monkeypox.
Amid the global outbreak, World Health Organization officials plan to make recommendations on who should be prioritized to receive a smallpox vaccination to lower their risk of monkeypox.
“We will be making recommendations on who should be prioritized for this,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonoses lead and technical lead on Covid-19, said during a social media Q&A Monday.
“This is not something that everybody needs. It is a virus that is spreading between people who are coming in close contact with those who are cases,” Van Kerkhove said. “We really need to discuss evidence-based use of these measures, access and equity.”
Andy Seale, strategies adviser for the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, added that vaccinations should be considered for countries where monkeypox is endemic, which are in West and Central Africa.
“Communities are already saying to us, ‘if we get this right, if we contain this, if we get the access right for the outbreak, we have to do this for the endemic countries as well,’ ” Seale said.
Can someone get vaccinated after being exposed to monkeypox?
Vaccination after exposure to monkeypox virus can still offer some protection, according to the CDC.
“That’s the norm. We usually don’t do vaccination of everybody beforehand. We use vaccination as post-exposure prophylaxis,” Adalja said.
“Because monkeypox has a long incubation period, just like smallpox – it’s 12 days or so, on average, for monkeypox – you can intervene with a vaccine in an exposed person, and it will abort the infection,” he said. “Or if you do get an infection, maybe it gets to them really late or late in the incubation period, it makes the infection less severe.”
But the sooner an exposed person gets the vaccine, the better. The CDC recommends giving the vaccine within four days of exposure in order to prevent illness. If it’s given between four and 14 days of exposure, vaccination may reduce the symptoms but may not prevent the disease itself.
Overall, people who have been exposed to the monkeypox virus and have not gotten the vaccine within the past three years should consider getting vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Will a smallpox vaccination protect against monkeypox?
“Because monkeypox virus is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox, the smallpox vaccine can protect people from getting monkeypox,” the CDC website says. “Smallpox and monkeypox vaccines are effective at protecting people against monkeypox when given before exposure to monkeypox. Experts also believe that vaccination after a monkeypox exposure may help prevent the disease or make it less severe.”
Scientists have known for years that smallpox vaccines can be effective in preventing monkeypox, too. The variola virus that causes smallpox and the monkeypox virus belong to the same family.
“The viruses come from the same family of viruses, and what we’ve seen in prior monkeypox outbreaks is that vaccinating contacts does abort infection or attenuate infection in those individuals with monkeypox,” Adalja said.
There probably is some “remnant” of protection against monkeypox for adults who were vaccinated against smallpox as children, he said, but it may not be full protection.
“The smallpox vaccination program ended in the 1970s in the United States. Obviously, if someone is in the US military and they got vaccinated last year, I’m sure they’re completely protected,” Adalja said. “But people who got vaccinated as children in the era when smallpox was a routine childhood vaccination, they may have some residual immunity.”
The senior administration official said Tuesday that, theoretically, there is some protection offered from a previous smallpox vaccination, but there is not good evidence on how much protection – and that protection could wane over time.
Has the monkeypox virus changed with this outbreak?
The official said that it doesn’t seem like anything has changed about the biology of the monkeypox virus and that the chances of contracting it are still very low for the general public.
WHO officials have not found evidence of the monkeypox virus changing or mutating in this outbreak. Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest that the licensed vaccines won’t work against the currently circulating virus.
“It’s a very stable virus. So we don’t yet have evidence that there’s mutation in the virus itself,” Rosamund Lewis, head of smallpox secretariat at WHO Emergencies Programme, said during the Q&A on Monday.
“We are beginning to collect that information,” Lewis added. “We will be convening our groups of virologists and other experts who will discuss this very question based on the sequence of the genome of some of the cases that are being detected.”
That is a “key question” that is important to answer, said Dr. Daniel Rhoads, co-chair of the College of American Pathologists Microbiology Committee.
“Did something change with the biology, or is this just an unusual situation that hasn’t happened before or we haven’t recognized it before? I think anytime there’s a change in geography for these endemic diseases, that’s a key question,” said Rhoads, a pathologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
“Whenever we see a new infection or an infection transmitted in what seems to be a new way, I always wonder, is this just something we haven’t recognized before that’s always been around? Or is this an actual biological change, which would be due to a mutation in the virus? I don’t know,” Rhoads said.
“My guess is, once they sequence the virus causing the current outbreak, they’ll be able to compare it to known sequences, and then hopefully we’ll have some insight as to whether or not this is kind of the same old monkeypox or if there’s something that appears to be different.”
For more information on health insurance or healthy tips, visit us through Healthedly Insurance Services to learn more.
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https://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Healthedly-Blog.png9001366Jamie Thomashttps://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Healthedly.svgJamie Thomas2022-05-26 16:21:002022-10-31 11:20:54US is offering vaccines to certain people exposed to monkeypox. Here’s what you should know
Is it possible to find affordable Dental and Vision Insurance?
Does access to vision or dental insurance seem out of reach or impossible to ever attain?
Don’t lose hope! You just have to know the right company that can determine the right plan for you and your financial needs.
But is Dental and Vision worth all the hassle and stress?
Think of investing in Dental and Vision as preventing future health complications from arising. Having a dentist or eye expert regularly check up on your teeth or eyes means any possible, more serious health risks getting identified or addressed. Without monitoring your oral health or vision, you could be paying much higher prices out of pocket further down the road when a significant concern arises. Dental and Vision Insurance provides the means to take preventative measures against any complications and also reduce the number of medical bills if something does happen that warrants medical care.
Moreover, paying out of pocket for eyecare or oral care can add up quickly. Contacts and glasses tend to be on the pricier side. Braces or a jaw surgery can zap your bank account.
Where do you even start looking for the right Dental and Vision insurance?
In 2022, there are endless options for everything under the sun. This can become overwhelming, especially when considering which insurance company to use, or which healthcare provider to select. Which healthcare provider is the best fit for you and your family’s needs? Which Insurance company covers what you need to be covered?
What Is the Best Site to Compare Health Insurance?
There are many places you can look online to get health insurance rate quotes, but some are better than others. It can be difficult to tell which websites are giving you truly correct information and which are giving biased information that promotes their own products. Fortunately, Healthedly has broken through the mess of disinformation and created a way to look for the best health insurance coverage without worrying about bias.
Healthedly is a clearinghouse where you can search for and access health plan information for a wealth of coverage options, from private insurance carriers to government programs to specialty health coverages like dental and vision insurance. You can even search for travel insurance, or get insurance for your entire small business. We also provide quotes for insurance relating to life and annuities.
By browsing our extensive collection of health insurance quotes online, you’ll be able to find the private health insurance quotes online that you’re looking for, but also health insurance plans, and health care services, all for monthly premiums you can afford.
How Can I Make My Health Insurance Cheaper?
The best way to make your monthly premiums cheaper for your health insurance coverage is to shop around, looking at private health insurance but also governmental programs like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. You can even see if you qualify for Medicare, and learn what the requirements are for such programs.
Preventative care is also a very important way to make sure that you’re getting the best affordable health insurance. Many health insurances will give you better rates if you focus on preventative care methods, regular check-ups and tests, and lab work so major disasters don’t occur because of problems that could have been prevented.
Which Companies Provide the Best Health Insurance?
Every health insurance company is going to tell you that they provide the best health insurance coverage. This is one area where you’re going to need to compare one plan against another. Fortunately, on Healthedly you can compare health insurance coverages side-by-side to determine what plan options you want, what kinds of out-of-pocket costs you’ll be looking at, and what is most appropriate for your household income.
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Put simply, travel insurance is an insurance plan that covers unexpected expenses that occur during travel. These can range from medical coverage to travel plans to lost luggage to emergency departures.
Injury and Illness
When you become injured or ill while traveling, you may be very frustrated to know that your American health plan probably won’t cover doctor visits in foreign countries. Travel medical expenses can get very high, depending on where you are in the world, and very often your United States medical coverage policy doesn’t apply—even with health coverage like Medicare or Medicaid. Travel insurance is a type of medical coverage that will pay for medical visits, hospital stays, medications, and more while you are abroad.
There are usually provisions in travel insurance you need to be aware of. Although all travel insurance plans are different and you will want to make sure of exactly what your plan covers, some travel medical insurance plans do not cover pre-existing conditions (which is generally defined by a certain period before you take your trip, often 120 days). You often have to be deemed medically fit to travel and have no presented symptoms at the time you leave.
The travel policies also have strict time limits which coincide with the time that you are gone, basically covering your travel assistance from the time your airplane takes off to when it lands.
Illnesses Often Not Covered by Travel Insurance
Generally speaking, travel insurance does not cover mental health conditions, including anything from Alzheimer’s to depression to psychosis. The insurance will usually have caveats about epidemics (with specific guidelines about COVID-19 and traveling to countries that are high-risk). They will also rarely cover injuries or illnesses caused by the use of alcohol or drugs during the trip. There will always be provisions about traveling while pregnant.
What Else Is Covered by Travel Insurance?
Most of the things covered by travel insurance aren’t actually medical-related. Lost luggage is a great example. If you travel halfway around the world on a three-week trip only to find that your luggage has gone missing, travel insurance can help to pay to replace it.
(The Department of Transportation requires airlines to pay for lost luggage, but very often the payout will only come after the bags are officially declared “lost” and not simply “delayed” and the payout can take up to 21 days.) Travel insurance can give you money immediately to purchase new clothes and necessities.
Flight cancellations can cause major nightmares if you don’t have travel insurance. If a connecting flight doesn’t get you to your cruise in time to board, the cruise line might only refund you 25 percent of your trip. Travel insurance can offset that loss.
A blood test to screen for prostate cancer may be better at doing so than experts originally thought, particularly among Black men, according to a new study.
There’s no standard test for prostate cancer, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two of the more commonly used tests are a digital rectal exam and a blood test for prostate specific antigen (PSA), an enzyme that is typically higher in men with prostate cancer.
A study published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence looked at how successful the blood tests were for all races, and specifically for Black men, by estimating how often these tests led to over overdiagnosis and overtreatment. The researchers looked at three decades of records through 2016, the last year records were available.
Not only was the test more effectivethan scientists originally thought, the study determined that the net benefit is even better for Black men than for the general population.
One death was prevented for every 11 to 14 men of all races diagnosed with cancer, the study says. Among Black men, the test prevented 1 death for every 8 to 12 men diagnosed and 1 death for every 5 to 9 men treated for prostate cancer.
Previous studies found that the tests prevented 1 death for every 23 men diagnosed, and that resulted in overtreatment.
Prostate cancer is ubiquitous. With the rise in testing in the late 1980s, there was a trend to treat tumors that weren’t a real threat like the ones that were, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology. But more recently, for tumors that don’t show a risk of progression, doctors have taken more of an active surveillance approach.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Out of every 100 American men, about 13 will get prostate cancer during their lifetime, according to the CDC, and 2 or 3 men will die from prostate cancer.
Black men have nearly double the risk of prostate cancer death than the general population. They also get prostate cancer more often. But Black men have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials that look at the success rate of tests and other diagnostic tools.
“These data should prompt policymakers to reconsider the utility of PSA based prostate cancer screening, particularly for Black men,” the study concluded. “The potential for overdiagnosis and overtreatment remains, although these harms may be mitigated by contemporary protocols for triaging men before biopsy and active surveillance for men with low-risk disease.”
In 2012 the United States Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation against PSA screening. “It was really sort of on the rocks,” said study co-author Dr. Jonathan Shoag. Shoag is an assistant professor of urology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Shoag published a study in 2016, though, that showed that the decision was based on some studies that didn’t fully capture the benefit of screening. The USPSTF updated their recommendation to a grade C, meaning that patients should discuss such screening with their doctors. Many of the other guidelines have been unclear about whether a patient should go through PSA screening, Shoag said and it had fallen out of favor. “There are many men who are not screened a lot and we’re seeing men diagnosed with more aggressive disease because they weren’t screened,” Shoag said.
Shoag hopes this latest study will get more doctors on board with this screening.
“The story of PSA screening has been controversial, it should not be controversial. This study shows that the trade offs of screening are really beneficial,” Shoag said. “We have a test that can save men’s lives and find their cancers early.”
The study is partially funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, which has prostate cancer drugs in development.
Dr. William Dahut, chief science officer for the American Cancer Society, said the findings are “very important. That’s not something I actually say commonly.” He was not involved in the research.
However, Dahut noted that a few practices are a little different now than when these records were collected. Doctors can also screen for prostate cancer with an MRI, for example, and a cancer diagnosis does not lead to treatment as often.
This used to be called “watchful waiting,” but Dahut said it’s actually more active than it sounds.
Depending on a person’s risk that the cancer could spread, they may be monitored closely with regular MRIs and biopsies rather than getting treatments like surgery and radiation. They will have an ongoing conversation with their doctor about how to manage the disease.
“This study should actually encourage more folks to be screened,” Dahut said. “These days, you have a lot more ability to make a more nuanced and thoughtful decision with your doctor about whether you will be treated or not for prostate cancer.
“Ultimately,” he added, “what this means is, if you find the disease and you treat it appropriately, outcomes can actually be impacted in a significant and positive way.”
https://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Healthedly-Blog.png9001366Jamie Thomashttps://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Healthedly.svgJamie Thomas2022-05-23 17:05:312022-11-07 09:33:46Prostate cancer screening is better than originally thought, especially for Black men, study says
Yes, there are cases in which you can be dropped from Medicaid, and it can be abrupt. Medicaid has very strict requirements that relate to income and household size, as well as working hours. Every state is slightly different, but here are some good rules of thumb to follow.
Medicaid Is Evaluated Monthly
Losing Medicaid eligibility can be shocking if it happens to you. It may feel like the rug has been pulled out beneath your feet. What you need to understand is that Medicaid qualifications are reevaluated monthly, and if anything changes to your income or work situation during that month may affect your eligibility.
One case in which people find themselves on Medicaid is if they have lost their job and are now on unemployment insurance. Generally, if someone has been unemployed and getting unemployment, and their family is of a certain size, then they, or at least some of their family members, will qualify for Medicaid. However, if that person takes on extra work, even something that just pays a few hundred dollars more than they’re making in unemployment, it can kick them out of Medicaid eligibility.
Note that this doesn’t always apply to everyone in the family. Often, the adults in the family will be dropped from Medicaid, but the children will still be eligible, or a pregnant mother would still be eligible. It can really vary from situation to situation.
Just don’t be surprised if you have been earning a little more than usual and you get a letter in the mail fairly quickly that says you’re no longer eligible for Medicaid.
What is Medicaid Eligibility? When Does Medicaid End?
Medicaid eligibility and health coverage are determined state-by-state, with different states having different requirements. All of the states have an equation that they use which calculates the upper limit in household income for the number of people in the household, and if you cross that state’s Medicaid threshold, you could be dropped from eligibility.
Some states, per a 2018 amendment to the law, have put into effect working requirements that may require Medicaid program recipients to work as much as 20 hours per week to remain eligible. Though these requirements vary from state to state, they will never apply to those older than 65, pregnant women, people who are legally disabled, and children.
To determine your Medicaid eligibility, contact your local Department of Health and Human Services, or Healthcare.gov for more resources.
You may be asking “I don’t qualify for Medicaid. Now what?” We can help.
https://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Healthedly-Blog.png9001366Adam Ratcliffehttps://healthedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Healthedly.svgAdam Ratcliffe2022-05-23 15:54:002022-10-24 09:33:58Can You Be Dropped from Medicaid?
The coronavirus has changed the face of travel insurance. Prior to 2020, almost all travel insurance did not cover epidemics or pandemics as part of their regular health care coverage.
With the caveat that all travel insurances are different and you must always read the fine print on any travel insurance plans before you sign, here are the general coverages that have come up with most travel insurance that covers COVID-19:
Travel insurance that covers COVID-19-related complications includes:
Emergency medical coverage
Emergency medical evacuation coverage
Trip interruption
Free cancellations
Examples of these coverages could include things like getting your trip expenses reimbursed in the event you contract COVID-19 before leaving, getting medical expenses paid for in a foreign country if you contract COVID-19 while abroad, and expenses paid to cover accommodations in a foreign country if you are not allowed to travel home. These are not covered in all travel insurance plans, but they are becoming more common.
Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) Coverage
One thing to keep an eye out for is a clause that some of the better travel insurances have which is the CFAR clause, or “Cancel For Any Reason.” CFAR has a lot of restrictions applied to it, mostly related to timeframes and eligibility requirements, but if you have this coverage you could have as much as 50-75% of your trip reimbursed by your travel insurance.
What Happens If You Get Sick with COVID-19 While Traveling?
Travel medical insurance that covers COVID-19 will make it easier and cheaper to get medical care in a foreign country.
The first thing that you should do, before getting any travel medical insurance that covers COVID is to check with your current insurance carrier and see what benefits they offer for traveling abroad. Many of them will not offer any services out of the country, or perhaps will have certain countries where they do operate. You will often find your own private insurance company will have travel insurance plans that have special rates for members.
Comprehensive Travel Insurance Plans will offer you global benefits, no matter where you are. Keep in mind, however, that if you contract COVID in a country like Germany or Canada, it’s going to be significantly easier to make use of Comprehensive travel medical insurance coverage than if you get sick with COVID-19 in parts of Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, or Africa.
You will still receive the benefits of the travel insurance, but it may be harder (due to poor communication lines in certain regions of the world) to get immediate coverage to pay for things.
Emergency Medical Evacuation Coverage is designed to get you out of a foreign country if you are seriously ill or injured. These plans offer both ground transportation which will get you from wherever you are to the nearest medical facility, and, if need be, transportation to an airplane which will take you out of the country.
Because COVID-19 is so contagious, especially in the cabin of an airplane, the choice to fly you out of a region for evacuation is only done if the physicians don’t feel they can adequately treat you there.
Trip Interruption Coverage is in most travel insurance plans and provides reimbursement for pre-paid, non-refundable expenses if the travel needs to be cut short. This could include expenses like cruise ship tickets, railway tickets, and hotel accommodations.
Crooked Teeth? Unhappy with your smile? Have you ever wondered if your insurance provider covers braces, or if dental insurance is worth it? If you have health or dental insurance you can check with your current provider, however most health plans will not cover anyone over the age of 18 years old, but may partially cover children under 18.
If you think your child may need braces, you may want to speak to a representative or review details of your plan, because every plan is different. Some plans can help cover the cost of braces and some do not, you just need to verify you have the right coverage for your needs.
Things you need to know about insurance and braces:
Normally cosmetic procedures such as porcelain veneers or whitening, however if your child has a need for braces, it may be covered by your provider
All dental plans have an annual cap for coverage each year, and if the cost of the braces for your child could meet or exceed that cap
There are waiting periods to have certain procedures done, so if your child may need braces, make sure you plan ahead
If your child got braces before the start of your orthodontic plan’s effective date, that will make them an out-of-pocket expense
Sometimes a supplemental orthopedic plan is necessary to receive coverage for braces
Does any dental insurance cover braces?
Oftentimes major medical insurance plans will not offer dental coverage. It will most likely be a supplemental plan that you will need to purchase. Certain states require that the dental insurers are state licensed to provide cover children’s braces. Restrictions in coverage may apply.
Are adult braces covered by dental insurance?
Unfortunately most dental plans that cover orthodontics for adults do not cover braces for cosmetic purposes.
If you want to learn more about dental insurance and how they work with braces, visit us at Healthedly so you can speak to an agent and get a quote today!
