| Warning: Check for the Union Label
Despite the starry-eyed report in this morning's L.A. Times about Democratic presidential candidates holding hands yesterday with union leaders and liberal activists at two D.C. conclaves, don't start singing "Kumbaya" just yet. In the real world, putative presidential contenders Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg know how to co-opt unions; they have street cred for doing so in New York City (Regarding Bloomberg's, read my colleague Wayne Barrett's August 2005 piece, "Billionaire Buys Union." Or go to a library and steal one of Barrett's books about Giuliani). So much for the unions' perceived faithfulness to Democrats. As for Hillary Clinton's fealty to the workers those unions represent, she has more experience as Wal-Mart's First Lady than she does on the picket line.
Long-term care: The Journey to a new home
The change began slowly as Sherrill's memory loss made it difficult for her to live alone. Adult day care was a solution - until the afternoon Kelly arrived home late to discover the day care's bus had already dropped off her mother, who had then wandered away. As Kelly frantically searched, she saw a dump truck driving slowly up the street. Her mom was in the passenger seat. "The driver looked like Grizzly Adams," Kelly said. "He asked, 'Does she belong to you?' I knew then I had to do something." Fortunately, Kelly had already been scouting assisted care facilities. She knew what she wanted: A home-like setting where the staff-to-resident ratio was low. Sherrill is one of a growing number of elderly who spend the final part of their lives in a care facility.
'Pill Splitting' Cuts Drug Costs for Patients, Health Plans
MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- A practice patients often use to cut down on drug costs, called "pill splitting," can also save money for insurance companies and employers, a study of the University of Michigan's own health benefit plan shows. In pill splitting, patients cut larger-dose tablets in half to double the amount of smaller-dose pills they receive in a single prescription -- for example, dividing 40-milligram tablets to create twice as many 20-milligram doses for the same price. And since drug companies and pharmacies don't usually double the price of medications as the dose doubles, that can mean lower overall per-pill drug costs and fewer drug store co-pays for consumers. "Splitting is not really new," added study lead researcher Hae Mi Choe, who is an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy at the university.
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