BIZARRE, EVEN FOR LICH -- Brooklyn Health Partners' proposal to redevelop Long Island College Hospital is 'absurd' and 'preposterous,' according to a letter from one of the losing bidders asking for judicial intervention. The claim, the latest twist in the 15-month saga to sell LICH, is all the more bizarre because it is based on math no one appears able to verify, and relies on information no one should have known. Stranger still, the charge is leveled by the winning bidder's cousin, who just happened to live in the same Mount Vernon home that was used as an address for both their bids. The intent of this letter was to disqualify BHP but the unintended consequence could call into question the integrity of the RFP process. Read my take on why. http://capi.tl/PYlnkt
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK -- The state will soon release the requirements for insurers that wish to participate on the health exchange for 2015. The big question is whether New York will really require every plan offered on the exchange to cover out-of-network providers. The health department hinted it might but I'm told they have been backpeddaling a bit and may instead just require a rider.
NOW WE KNOW -- Faking it in the bedroom is useless because your partner can tell, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo. The study led by Erin Fallis and published in Archives of Sexual Behavior found that couples develop a 'sexual script,' which forms guidelines for their sexual activity, and that men and women are equally perceptive of their partners' sexual satisfaction. http://bit.ly/1evsDQq
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NEW NUMBERS -- The state health department reported Friday that 933,232 New Yorkers have now enrolled in a health insurance plan through the state's exchange. Of those, 508,016 have signed up for Medicaid and 425,216 have enrolled in a private health insurance plan. My guess is the state cracks 1 million by the April 15 deadline and 1.1 million by the end of 2014.
WHAT WE'RE READING -- Dan Diamond has some fun on Forbes.com looking at how health care has changed in the last 50 years. In honor of the Mad Men premier, Diamond gives us four tectonic shifts since the Draper era. 'Life expectancy has gone up nearly a full decade since 1960, and if you survive to age 65, you're expected to live an extra five years.' Read it here: http://onforb.es/1iLsi8U
BILL TRACKER -- Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan introduced a bill that allows students diagnosed with asthma, allergies or diabetes to use medical treatments in school. The bill was referred to the education committee.
Check out Capital's bill tracker, a daily guide to the flow of the New York state Legislature. http://capi.tl/1aqE6OB
AUDIBLE -- The nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell means Democrats will have to spend the spring litigating Obamacare, Politico reports. That was not the game plan for Senate Dems already facing a tough election. And it 'leaves the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats veering back to the very issue that has become their biggest political liability heading into the midterms.' http://politico.pro/1ehEp0h
PROOF READ -- Outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius sent an email Friday night thanking her colleagues at H.H.S. 'As you've no doubt heard by now, in the coming months I will be passing the baton to my friend and colleague, Sylvia Burrell ... I've worked closely with Sylvia in her role as director of OMB. She is a skilled, strategic leader who I know will continue to improve health services for all Americans.'
...Yes, Sebelius spelled Burwell's name wrong.
STUDY THIS:
TODAY'S TIP -- Comes to us from the state's Department of Health, which reminds us 'Laughter relieves stress and improves your mental and physical health.' http://mayocl.in/1iBGYX0
-FAT COSTS -- Childhood obesity costs $19,000 per child when comparing lifetime medical costs to those of a healthy weight child, according to an analysis in Pediatrics. Multiplied by the number of obese 10-year olds in the country and you get $14 billion being spent on childhood obesity. The researchers measured direct medical costs for obesity, such as doctors' visits and medication, and did not take into account indirect costs, including absenteeism and lost productivity in working adults. http://bit.ly/1go3mG7-STICK AROUND -- According to an article in Social Service Review, fathers who don't live with their kids can lower their child's risk of not having enough food by maintaining involvement in the child's life. Involvement here means spending time with the child, monetary contributions and 'in kind' support, such as treats, gifts and payment of medical or childcare expenses. Rutgers researchers found that 'in kind support' resulted in a 10 to 12 percent reduction in food insecurity for children. http://bit.ly/1eyWX6T
-LONG TERM DAMAGE -- According to an article in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, children with a certain type of head injury may have trouble in social settings years after the accident. The study looked at kids three years after a TBI and found that lingering injury in a specific region of the brain predicted the health of the children's social lives. The study compared children's social lives and thinking skills with the thickness of the brain's outer layer in the frontal lobe. Researchers are looking into whether the types of therapy that have proven effective for kids with ADHD could work for this type of TBI. http://bit.ly/OVoRTO-HEROIN HELP -- Chinese researchers found that acupuncture on rats helped reverse some of the damage heroin did to the ventral tegmental area of the brain. The study, published in Neural Regeneration Research, suggested that acupuncture protected brain neurons against injury in rats with heroin relapse by promoting brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor expression. http://bit.ly/1eyTrcU
-STRESS FACTOR -- Stress can alter the genes of children, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which looked at 40 9-year old black boys. It found that those who grew up in stressful homes had shorter telomeres. That means chronic stress leads to physiological damage similar to aging. Of the sample, half of the boys were raised in homes where there was a low income, low maternal education, an unstable family structure and harsh parenting. http://bit.ly/1gnWE2Q
- BREAKTHROUGH -- An epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord allowed four men who had been paralyzed for years to move their legs, according to an article in Brain. The study was funded in part by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The four men suffered from chronic, motor complete spinal cord injuries. The stimulator delivered a continuous electrical current to the participants' lower spinal cords, the same kind of electrical signal the brain sends. Three of the four men were able to move immediately following the implantation and activation of the stimulator, which is applied on the lumbosacral spinal cord. Once the signal was triggered the spinal cord essentially turned its neural network back on and muscle movements were again possible. After physical therapy, the men were able to activate movements with less stimulation, demonstrating the ability of the spinal network to learn and improve nerve functions. http://bit.ly/1hK0Ztg
-TWITTER DIVORCE -- Researchers believe Twitter could be hurting our chances with our significant other. The study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking showed that Twitter-related conflict leads to negative relationship outcomes, including emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce. The study looked at 581 Twitter uses of varying ages. Participants were asked about frequency and how much, if any, conflict arose between participants' current or former partners as a result of Twitter use. Previous research showed that that Facebook-related conflict and negative relationship outcomes were greater among couples in newer relationships. http://bit.ly/1qQXs1O
-CAFFEINE GOOD FOR BRAIN -- Caffeine has a positive effect on tau deposits in Alzheimer's disease, according to an article in ' Neurobiology of Aging.' Tau deposits are what disrupts communication between nerve cells, a symptom of of Alzheimer's disease. Caffeine blocks various receptors in the brain which are activated by adenosine. http://bit.ly/1lUDT8z
-IN YOUR FACE -- Changing the face of a model in an ad increases the number of potential buyers by as much as 15%, according to a study published in the journal Marketing Science. The study demonstrated how screening faces when creating an ad can lead to a scientifically automated process that increases effectiveness. http://bit.ly/1qQJxIY
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