'Unpalatable' cuts for Powys health board to find £35m savings
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Belfast Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Belfast Telegraph
NI health department in discussions about accepting a number of seriously injured children from Gaza
It's understood that any decision will be subject to Executive approval. Plans to evacuate more seriously ill or injured children from Gaza and bring them to the UK for medical treatment are being carried out "at pace", the Government has said. It is unclear how many children might be involved, but it has been reported that the Government is to allow up to 300 young people to enter the UK to receive free medical care. Ministers will enable children in severe need to receive taxpayer-funded care. Some Gazan children have already been brought privately to the UK for medical treatment through an initiative by Project Pure Hope, but the Government has so far not evacuated any through its own scheme during the conflict. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to its health ministry, but The Lancet medical journal has previously estimated that deaths due to traumatic injuries is likely to be 40% higher. Starvation in Gaza is 'unnacceptable', says Peter Kyle ahead of emergency Cabinet meeting The number of injuries reached a new milestone of more than 150,000 injured or wounded in the past 22 months – one in 14 across the small strip of land. Citing figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, Al Jazeera has said that 18,500 will require long-term rehabilitation, 4,700 have had one or more limbs amputated as a result of their injuries and nearly 1,000 of them are children. More than 45,000 children are reported to have lost one or both parents. Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan has written to the Health Minister urging support for an initiative to provide treatment for seriously ill or injured children from Gaza. The party's health spokesperson was speaking after media reports said the UK Government is to launch a scheme to evacuate children injured in Israel's ongoing genocidal campaign. 'The level of human suffering in Gaza, particularly among children, is appalling and intolerable,' said Mr McGuigan. 'I've written to Minister Nesbitt to ask what involvement his department has had in this initiative, and urged him to do everything possible to support these young people who are in such desperate need of assistance. 'Israel's systematic targeting of hospitals and other critical services, and its continued blockade, is causing devastation to an already beleaguered population. 'The Health Minister must now back this scheme and ensure every effort is made to provide healthcare to the sick and injured children of Gaza.' The Department of Health said it is engaging with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations 'on the possibility of providing medical treatment in the UK for children from Gaza.' It added: 'Discussions are ongoing regarding the possibility of accepting a small number of children.'
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
How Scotland regularly fills a 'mass grave' of drug victims who might have lived
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There are roughly 91 days in every statistical quarter of the year. In the quarter from March 1 to May 31, 2025, there were 312 suspected drug-related deaths. That's more than three a day, every day. Over the 13 weeks, it is 24 every week. It is an increase of 15 per cent over the last 13-week quarter. It is similar (4 per cent lower) than the same period in 2023 but 7 per cent higher than that period in 2024. Whatever year you want to take, it is a harrowing number, especially when you give it some perspective. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Just imagine, every week, for 13 weeks in a row there was a train crash between Glasgow Central and Paisley Gilmour Street, or Haymarket and Dundee, or anywhere in Scotland for that matter – and the result was 24 deaths. Every week. For 13 weeks. And it is getting worse. What do you think the public response would be? Would we not be demanding that the Scottish Government do something to prevent the mounting loss of life? Would any politician be able to look in the mirror and say 'I am doing my best to prevent this daily and weekly roll-call of death' if the numbers just kept being added too? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A heroin addict lies sprawled on a mattress (Picture: Chris Young) | Universal Images Group via Getty SNP's perverse policies It's all very well saying that people should not get on the train that might take them to an early death, but few if any of those who make that journey expect early death to be the outcome for them. More often than not, people starting out on this journey think it's always going to happens to someone else. By the time they realise they are watching in slow motion their own but sadly inevitable demise, they are often beyond having the capacity to get off that train. They need help. They need to be helped out of their addiction and they need rehabilitation so they don't think one day they can easily have a day trip without any consequences. Currently, instead of trying to improve our drug rehabilitation, the policy of the Scottish Government is quite the reverse; indeed it's perverse. The Scottish Government is trying to make it easier for those addicted to take their daily journey just that little bit smoother, a little less of a trouble. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There's a pilot in Glasgow for a 'drug consumption room', where addicts are given a safe place to take their drugs – the provision of such a service consumes scarce resources that could instead be used to provide rehabilitation that can help people making that daily commute to catastrophe. It's like taking away the ticket inspectors, removing the barriers and saying here, try first class instead, it's a more comfortable journey. When the train crashes, it doesn't matter which carriage you are in. You are a fatality, another addition to the statistics – even if the journey was that little bit easier because you could inject the drug of your choice or the addictive substitute of the authorities' choice, you still end up at the destination of death. Bully-state interventions Many of the people advocating an easier journey – essentially in the so-called public health specialism – are also quite sanguine if not openly supportive of making access to drugs easier too. Various narcotics would be declassified and in other ways made easier to come by. Likewise, by making the base cost of alcohol higher through minimum pricing legislation, there is evidence on the street that various drugs are now intentionally made available by suppliers at a cost lower than alcohol so new entrants to drugs become addicted and board that train. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What is the public health response to an alcohol policy that has failed while persecuting responsible drinkers and lining the pockets of the supermarkets? Why, it is to go into denial – for they themselves are addicted to bully-state interventions of directing the behaviour of the law-abiding majority – and increase the minimum price further. Annemarie Ward, chief executive of the charity Favour UK, which seeks to improve the provision of drug rehabilitation services across the country, has found the Scottish Government to be profoundly difficult to work with, often talking of providing better services only to reduce the number of rehab beds available. Ward notes that the number of suspected drug deaths in the last three quarters is: Q4 2024: 215 deaths; Q1 2025: 272 deaths (+26 per cent); and Q2 2025: 312 deaths (+15 per cent). That's a 45 per cent surge in six months. 'The flames are rising, the bodies are stacking up, and the state has the audacity to rebrand failure as calm,' says Ward. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The campaigner regularly takes the Scottish authorities to task for saying the situation is 'stable' – responding that it is 'an obscenity, like calling a mass grave this year as similar to one last year'. Over 1,200 people needlessly dying last year was a mass grave of great shame to Scotland and will become another such mass grave of shame if, as seems likely, it is repeated this year too. 18 years of failure Scotland having the highest drug-related deaths in Europe is a failing of devolution because, despite having the same laws regarding drug enforcement, the Holyrood parliament has the powers to deal with Scotland's own problems. It is also a failure for the prevailing 'whae's like us' culture in Holyrood, where trying to do things differently from England is given preference – even when their policies work – and comes at the price of needless deaths. Most obviously though, it is a failure of the SNP government, now in power for some 18 years and clearly in control of rehabilitation services that it has failed to develop – while focussing on its own addiction towards holding referendums. What an utterly awful trip Scotland is on, and until the SNP is removed that train will crash every week.
Medical News Today
6 hours ago
- Medical News Today
Health insurance for older adults: Understanding your Medicare coverage
Medicare offers many health insurance options, and understanding coverage options, rules, and processes is key. People who become eligible can begin considering Medicare options before turning is government-funded health insurance for people ages 65 and older. It is also available to individuals under 65 with specific health conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or end stage renal disease (ESRD).Medicare is different from Medicaid, which helps people with low incomes and resources manage their healthcare to know MedicareBefore a person turns 65, they may consider their current health insurance, when it will end, and whether they may need any new or additional health coverage in the also a good time to prepare for Medicare, which many Americans will be eligible for free of charge, depending on their working Medicare comprises Part A and Part B, which cover most inpatient and outpatient Medicare parts include Medicare Advantage (Part C), Part D prescription drug plans, and Medigap supplement insurance plans. Private insurers administer these plans, some of which also include additional benefits and can choose a plan or combination of plans by considering:their budgetwhether they have doctor, hospital, or clinic preferencesboth their current and possible future health conditionstheir medicationsOnce eligible for Medicare, some people are automatically enrolled. If not, they can enroll online, by post, or in person at a local Social Security in MedicareIndividuals may be automatically enrolled in Medicare parts A and B when they:have been receiving disability benefits and will be turning age 65 in 4 monthsare not turning age 65 but have been receiving disability benefits for 2 yearsare not turning age 65, but they have received an ESRD or ALS diagnosisTo avoid late enrollment penalties, those not automatically enrolled need to sign up during an enrollment enrollment periods are as follows:Enrollment periodTimeframeDuring this time, you can…initial enrollment period (IEP)begins 3 months before a person's 65th birth month, continues throughout their birth month, and ends 3 months laterenroll in any planMedicare Advantage open enrollment period (MA-OEP)January 1 through March 31 every year• change to another Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage• leave a Medicare Advantage Plan to return to Original Medicare and enroll in a separate Part D prescription drug planopen enrollment period (OEP)October 15 through December 7 every year• leave or change to another Medicare Advantage Plan• sign up for, change, or leave Part D prescription drug plans• switch from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage• switch from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicarespecial enrollment period (SEP)varies• sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan• sign up for a Part D prescription drug plan• change to another planMedicare coverageThe different Medicare parts include the following coverage:Medicare Part APart A covers inpatient hospital covers many of the services a person receives when admitted to the hospital or other eligible inpatient healthcare does not cover most outpatient care, hospital room extras, private, custodial care, or long-term Part BPart B covers outpatient services, including diagnostic tests relating to health also covers some preventive services and limited prescription some doctor visits a person receives while admitted to the hospital may come from Part B Part D prescription drug plansPeople with Original Medicare can enroll in a Part D drug Part D drug plan has a formulary, which is a list of covered insurers administer these plans, and it is important to consider the different plan options, including the medications the plan covers, when comparing Advantage (Part C)Medicare Advantage plans must include the same benefits as Original Medicare parts A and B. However, they typically include additional benefits such as fitness, vision, and dental. Most Medicare Advantage plans also include the prescription drug coverage of Part D can use Medicare's plan finder to search for plans in their supplement insurance (Medigap)Only people with Original Medicare can enroll in a Medigap plan, which covers some of Original Medicare's out-of-pocket are currently 10 different Medigap plans to choose from, although not all plans are available in all areas, and costs can vary by costsMedicare costs will vary by plan but can include monthly premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and AIn 2025, Medicare Part A costs include:Monthly premiums: Most people do not pay a Part A premium, but this will depend on their working Individuals must pay the Part A deductible of $1,676 per benefit period before the plan covers its share of costs. A benefit period begins when a person is admitted to the hospital and ends when they have not received any inpatient care for 60 consecutive Depending on the length of a person's hospital stay, copayments can range from $0 to the full cost of B2025 Medicare Part B costs include:Premiums: Premiums start from $185 per month and increase based on a person's People must pay a $257 deductible before the plan pays its share of eligible There is a 20% coinsurance that applies to the Medicare-approved amount for eligible Part B items or Advantage (Part C)Medicare Advantage plan costs vary but can include:monthly premiumsannual deductiblescopaymentscoinsuranceAccording to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in 2025, the average Medicare Advantage monthly premium is around $ D prescription drug plansPremiums and other out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans vary by plan, plan provider, and a person's 2025, the national base premium is $36.78, and a person's plan price can increase based on their plansIndividuals will pay a separate premium for a Medigap plan, which can vary by plan provider and billingMost people will not receive a bill from Medicare, as it generally operates a Fee-For-Service (FFS) model. This means that doctors, healthcare professionals, facilities, hospitals, and clinics bill Medicare directly for each item or service they may automatically deduct plan premiums from Social Security benefits, but if not, it will send a Medicare premiumsThere are various ways to pay Medicare bills each month, including:through Medicare's website, with a debit or credit cardby mail, using a check, money order, or payment formAnother way to pay Medicare bills is through Medicare Easy Pay. This free service allows people to pay their monthly Original Medicare premiums through automatic bank withdrawals. Individuals can print and complete the Authorization Agreement for Preauthorized Payments form (SF-5510), which is available in English and can be complicated, but understanding the basics can help individuals focus on their coverage Medicare parts A and B cover inpatient and outpatient medical services. A person can add other plans to cover take-home prescription medications and some of Original Medicare's out-of-pocket costs. Other bundled plans are also website allows people to browse the different plan options that are available locally, which can help them make the best choice for their healthcare.
