Health & Science Story Archives - Page 296 of 297 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Shutdown may affect upcoming marathon

The federal government shutdown could possibly impact the upcoming Freedom’s Run marathon in the Eastern Panhandle if the shutdown is still going on at the end of next week. But the Marathon will continue regardless of whether the government’s closed.

This is the fifth year for the marathon and one of its main attractions is the route it takes through four national parks. Those parks are closed because of the federal government shutdown. But there is a contingency plan.

“It’s something that when you plan for an event like this for a year you run through all your contingencies and think of things you can control and this one didn’t come into the radar until about 10 days ago,” Mark Cucuzzella, Freedom’s Run director, said. “So yes if there is a government shutdown we will not be able to use the parks.”

Cucuzzella is hoping for a quick resolution to the shutdown but said organizers have mapped out “a really nice alternate route” for runners to use if the federal government is still closed the day of the event, Oct. 12, 2013.

“So the show will go on and I think this will be a good stance of solidarity to health and fitness and community doesn’t stop when the government decides they can’t figure things out and come to agreement,” he said.

Freedom’s Run offers a one mile kids run, a 5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon. The number of participants is capped at 25 hundred for the four races and Cucuzzella said close to that number is signed up.

The afternoon and evening before the race there are several events in Shepherdstown, W.Va. and at Shepherd University. A pre-race pasta dinner will feature a talk by West Virginian Jamie Summerlin.

“And Jamie ran across the country last year to raise money for military foundations and he just wrote a book called Freedom Run,” Cucuzzella said. “So he’s very generously offered to come here and speak at the pasta dinner, share his story. He’s going to run the race too.”

There will also be a free screening of the film In the High Country, which followed runner Anton Krupicka for a year as he lived and ran in the mountains. Krupicka and filmmaker Joel Wolpert will be there.

“I think what will be really cool is they’ll answer questions from the audience and talk about how to make a movie,” Cucuzzella said. “Meet Anton, he’s kind of an icon in the ultra-running world, one of the best ultra-marathoners in the world and people will be coming from all over just to meet Anton.”

Cucuzzella calls Krupicka “kind of a cult figure out there, (who) travels, sleeps in his truck and runs up and down mountains when the spirit hits him.”

“Probably a lot of us wish we had that kind of life where we don’t have to be at work at seven o’clock every day,” he said.

Freedom’s Run is featured in last month’s Running World Magazine and Cucuzzella said he’s excited that a little event he started five years ago to raise money for trails and gardens for schools is gaining national attention.

Annual marrow donor registry drive seeks ethnic diversity

WVU Healthcare and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center will host their annual marrow donor registry drive Friday, October 4th, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Morgantown Mall in Monongalia County. Organizers say there’s an especially urgent need for African Americans to register.

Londia Goff is a bone marrow transplant coordinator and nurse clinician for the Osborn Hematopoietic Malignancy and Transplantation Program at the Cancer Center. She says this annual marrow drive where people register as potential marrow donors is critically important because patients with 73 different diseases, including leukemia and lymphoma, are dying for lack of matching donors.

Goff explains that a registry of willing donors was established in the 1980s and now contains some 14 million people. She says the likelihood of finding a match depends largely on ethnicity; those with European ancestry have an 80 percent chance, but that number drops dramatically for those with other backgrounds.

“It’s about a 7 percent chance for Hispanics; it drops down to a 3 percent chance for African Americans. So we desperately need people of ethnic backgrounds to join the registry,” Goff says.

Joining the registry requires 18-44 years of age, a health screening, a couple mouth swabs, and maintaining up-to-date contact information. Goff says she hopes to register at least 200 people during the drive.

Need help navigating the health care exchange?

The number of uninsured West Virginians is expected to drop by 70 percent in the next three years. That’s according to numbers from the state Insurance Commissioners Office and presented by West Virginians for Affordable Health Care in the wake of open enrollment under the health care exchange.

The non-profit group is working with organizations around the state to help West Virginians navigate that new exchange and sign up for insurance.

WVAHC Executive Director Perry Bryant said so many Americans have become interested in signing up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s central facet that the federal website crashed Tuesday morning and there was a wait time of up to 15 minutes for the federal call center.

He said in order to help with the influx, some West Virginia groups have created their own websites to assist consumers looking to buy health insurance or qualifiers sign up for Medicaid in the hopes that they can impact the state’s overall health in the future.

“It is a new day. It is a new era and one in which we are going to take a significant step towards providing quality, affordable health care in West Virginia and I’m proud to be a part of that effort,” Perry said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

To enroll or find assistance in navigating the health care exchange, visit one of the following sites:
www.healthcare.gov
www.localhelp.healthcare.gov
www.goenrollWV.org

Or call:
Federal Call Center 1-800-318-2596
WV Primary Care Association 1-877-WVA-HLTH

To report any possible fraud or scams related to ACA, contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-363-8808.

Health care exchange begins enrollment in W.Va.

West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources has been working for months to organize their federal-state partnered health insurance exchange beginning enrollment on October 1.

Likened to the travel website Expedia, the exchange will allow consumers to go online, compare plans from private insurance providers and choose the one that’s best for them, but the site will also determine your eligibility for coverage on state programs like Medicaid.
For the state of West Virginia, the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act meant new requirements, like establishing a health care exchange, but for consumers, Assistant Secretary for the state Department of Health and Human Resources Jeremiah Samples said the ACA means options. Options for insurance coverage and providers.

Those options, however, aren’t as abundant here as in many other states.

As West Virginians begin to navigate the healthcare exchange looking for insurance to cover themselves and their families, the plans they have to choose from will all come from one provider: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.

“Private insurance companies made the decision to not proceed with offering coverage on the exchange and there’s a number of reasons for that. Our market is not very large so it’s not as attractive to many insurance companies, and there’s also challenges to the paradigm shift from the health insurance laws,” Samples said.

“That exposes insurance companies to risks that they’ve never had to deal with before and so there are a lot of challenges there that many insurance companies felt they were not in a position to precede.”

Samples said even though there is only one private insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield will still provide a variety of plan options at different cost levels.

But some West Virginians will take a different path to coverage. Samples estimated more than 130,000 West Virginians will find through the exchange they are eligible for Medicaid.

The DHHR sent out eligibility letters to more than 118,00 of those West Virginians to allow them to enroll by simply checking a box to agree to the program and then mailing the form back in to the state.

“We already have about 45,000 folks that have sent those letters in,” Samples said. “That’s 45,000 people that didn’t have insurance before, 45,000 people that will not be coming in to the county office bogging down the systems using our resources. It will also be the most streamlined process by which that consumer can go through to have their eligibility determined.”

Those individuals became eligible for coverage when Governor Tomblin announced Medicaid’s expansion in May, covering individuals earning between 17 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Many of those are SNAP, more commonly known as food stamp, participants and parents whose children were already covered through the state.

But if you’re still not sure where you fall, whether you are eligible for Medicaid, or want to find an insurance plan to fit your budget, Samples said the process starts online at healthcare.gov, with a phone call to the federal call center, through a private insurance agent, or at your local DHHR county office.

“Each DHHR office will have an in-person assistor embedded into it. An in-person assistor will be trained on how to provide consumers information about private health insurance,” Samples said. “So, for example, if a consumer wants to know, what is a co-pay? What is co-insurance? What do these terms mean to me? Than that in-person assistor will be able to provide them with some support as they go through the exchange.”

Open enrollment through the health care exchange begins October 1 and ends March 31. Health insurance bought through the exchange goes into effect January 1.

The website to enroll is www.healthcare.gov.

Miners, know your rights

A mine safety law that’s been on the books since 1977 was intended to give miners the ability to report problems without retribution. This is a law that’s…

A mine safety law that’s been on the books since 1977 was intended to give miners the ability to report problems without retribution. This is a law that’s rarely been used and often when it has managers and not working miners serve as the representatives.

A number of issues were uncovered during congressional hearings after the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 men. Statements from miners and family members of the miners who died indicated that mine employees had been reluctant to speak out about safety conditions in existence prior to the April 2010 explosion, fearing retaliation by management.

Former and current miners admitted they knew nothing about their right to elect a representative of miners either.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is hoping to raise more awareness with a handbook and online resource page called The Miners’ Representative Guide.

A miners’ representative is any person, group or organization designated by two or more miners to represent their interest during health and safety enforcement processes at their mine.

This includes managers and supervisors.

Longtime safety advocate Tony Oppegard pointed out during an interview in April 2012 that managers already have the right to travel with inspectors. He says congress needs to take the next step and insist MSHA make a policy managers can’t serve as miners’ reps.

“Because it defeats the entire purpose of the miners’ rep provision,” Oppegard said, “and frankly you don’t have management looking out for the safety of miners.”

Oppegard argues that electing managers as miner’s reps can prevent the law from working the way should.

Miners were given a right to elect a representative in 1977 when the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act was enacted.

The new MSHA guide provides detailed information about: reporting hazardous conditions and imminent dangers, accident investigations, understanding the elements of discrimination, health and safety training, rights to information and records and more.

In a news release MSHA says in 2012 it filed more than double the requests for temporary re-instatement on behalf of miners who submitted complaints of discrimination after being fired, than any previous year.

Will West Virginia Legalize Medical Marijuana?

After three failed attempts to get a bill passed that would make marijuana available to those who would benefit from its medicinal properties, Del. Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor) continues to press on. With three republicans cosponsoring his bill this past session, a public hearing on the issue late in the Regular Session, and a successful resolution to study the issue sponsored by House Health Committee Chair Don Perdue (D-Wayne), Manypenny and other advocates appear to be gaining some traction on the issue.

Members of both legislative houses met Wednesday for a hearing with the Joint Committee on Health to learn more.

The committee began with a presentation via Skype from Karmen Hanson in Denver of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hanson pointed out that 20 states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

However, the drug remains outlawed on the federal level and is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Food & Drug Administration, which means it’s seen as having a high potential for abuse with no medical purpose.

The floor was then turned over to Marijuana Policy Project Legislative Analyst, Matt Simon, a Parkersburg native who holds a master’s degree from WVU currently living in New Hampshire.

“To be clear, what patients are asking for with a state-level medical marijuana law is, really, two things,” said Simon. “They want to be protected from arrest if their doctors have recommended that they use this substance and they want to have a way to access it safely and legally.”

Simon pointed to states like California and Montana where limited regulations allow for too much access and create as many problems as they solve. He said Maine’s laws might provide a better model worth consideration.

Amongst other criticisms, Simon attempted to quell concerns that the passing of a medical marijuana law might increase use of the drug among young people. He said 15 states can provide before and after research on medical marijuana legislation where use by young people has remained the same or even dropped.

He also talked about another sticking point that often gums up legislation: the potential state revenue marijuana sales could garner.

“Some state medical marijuana programs do bring in significant revenue,” said Simon. “Others are revenue neutral. Many are written to be revenue neutral; fees are set to cover the cost of administering the program so that taxpayers will not bear the burden.

“And a few states were primarily concerned with patients and were not concerned with revenue at all, so they actually operate at a loss to those programs.”

Simon also pointed to a Pew Research study from March that shows an upswing in Americans that favor full on legalization of the drug. In fact, the study suggests that 52% of Americans are in support of legalization. He attributes these results to an increase in states with medical marijuana laws and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement of a change in the policy of enforcing marijuana related crimes.

Regarding the new change in policy with the Department of Justice, Joint Committee on Health Minority Chair Del. Ellington (R-Mercer) asked whether a a change Administrations on the federal level might change the DOJ’s approach to enforcing related laws.

Hanson responded with: “No one can predict the future.”

The committee finished the hearing by watching an excerpt of a video released in August from CNN and Dr. Sanjay Gupta titled Weed that details the benefits an epileptic child received from the drug as well as research being conducted in Israel.

Perdue, who also chairs the Joint Committee on Health, called Gupta’s report and some of the information provided during the meeting “compelling” but said major hurdles remain in dealing with medical marijuana legislation.

“How do you get away from the fact that—and I do believe that—marijuana is a gateway drug? Well, so are a lot of other medicinals,” said Perdue. “So, again, if you view it only for its medicinal value that’s not a hurdle you should have to overcome. Yet it’s going to be back there. That’s the thought process.

“That’s kind of the synchronization of the people who oppose marijuana. I understand that. But, in the understanding that, the discussion has to be framed in terms of medicinal value. Not in terms of recreational use or what might or what could happen.”

As for Manypenny, he’s working now on building provisions into a new version of this past session’s bill.

“One of the things that is proposed in my bill is that the taxes generated, after the cost of regulating the industry, would go to treating substance abuse in the community and drug prevention programs in the schools,” he said.

“If there’s enough money generated, then, a percentage of that will go to build a veteran’s nursing home in the southern part of the state,” Manypenny added.

Despite past and planned efforts on the issue, no specific legislation that would allow the medicinal use of the drug in West Virginia was discussed during the hearing. Manypenny hopes to firm up potential legislation during interims in December and have it ready for introduction at the beginning of the 2014 Regular Session.