Daily Rounds: Romney Revives Death Panels; High Blood Pressure Moms; Drinking In The Military

Fact Check: Medical Cost Control Board: (The New York Times) — "Under the 2010 law, the Affordable Care Act, the board cannot make recommendations to ”ration health care,” raise revenues or increase premiums, deductibles or co-payments for Medicare
beneficiaries."

Mass. health plans for individuals, families among the most comprehensive in the country, analysts say (Boston.com) — "Health insurance plans offered in Massachusetts and analyzed by U.S. News & World Report were found to be among the most comprehensive in the country. The analysis included 67 plans from four Massachusetts insurers that are sold to individuals or families. Each earned at least four of five stars based on scope of coverage and cost to consumers. In other states, the portion of plans with the higher rankings ranged from 4 percent in Washington to 94 percent in New York. The organization used federal data to rate nearly 6,000 plans that are sold to people without access to employer insurance or public programs, covering about 14 million people in the United States. The ratings and descriptions of the plans are available in a searchable database. The database does not include plans from several insurers that sell individual plans in Massachusetts, including Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Fallon Community Health Plan."

High Blood Pressure In Pregnancy Can Lower Kids' IQ Years Later: Study (The Huffington Post) --"In a new study published online in the journal Neurology on Wednesday, researchers looked at the blood pressure levels of the mothers of nearly 400 men who were born between 1934 and 1944 in Finland. Their language, math and visual spatial reasoning skills were all tested at age 20 and then again at age 69. The men whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy — defined as a systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or higher, or a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher — scored more than 4 points lower on the thinking tests at age 69 than the men whose mothers did not have any blood pressure problems during pregnancy. They also had the biggest decline in overall cognitive ability after the age of 20. "This study adds to the existing literature by showing that the effects persist into old age," said Katri Raikkonen of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences at the University of Helsinki, one of the study's authors."

In The Military The Drinking Can Start On Day 1 (The New York Times) — "When I checked into my first Marine Corps unit, it was a Friday in 2004. I did so with three other Marines. By nightfall, we had finished moving our belongings into our barracks rooms and noticed the chaos forming on the balconies around us. In the distance someone funneled beer from the third story to the second. My neighbors took turns alternating shots, even though liquor is prohibited in the barracks. Beer bottles were heaved into the quad. Throughout the night, as I occasionally stepped outside to smoke on the balcony, I saw a variety of antics. At 18, I was offered moonshine. Vomit stained the concrete. I would like to say that this was the only Friday night I witnessed things like this. I’d actually like to say it didn’t happen the next night. I cannot. In the military, drinking is an accepted part of the culture. Out of concern for the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on the readiness of the forces, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to assess the adequacy of current Defense Department programs for preventing, screening and treating substance abuse. The study concludes that the armed forces are doing a poor job of identifying personnel at risk for alcohol dependency and officially labels alcohol’s misuse as a health crisis. The Institute of Medicine report suggested that the military consider doing more to discourage under-age drinking. Indeed, very little is done to actually prevent under-age drinking."