Weight Loss and Health Issues. Healthcare in North Korea. AB 975: Non-Profits and Charity.
“How does one lose weight when they have hyperinsulinemia (high fasting insulin levels and high fasting glucose). I am prediabetic and having a very hard time losing weight. Is counting calories or carbs going to work better for me to lose weight?”
Well, tune in for the answer when Bay Area health and fitness expert Joanie Greggains joins Casey and Shayne this week on Nurse Talk. Joanie is now a regular on Nurse Talk with her weekly segment Fit Happens and her monthly house calls to the Nurse Talk studio to answer listener questions. Wow, does she know what she’s talking about! In just the 45 minutes she was with us I learned so much, including that if I don’t trim down it’s not only bad for my health (of course we all know that), but soon my airline tickets will cost more because they are starting to charge by the pound! Can you imagine?
“Well, sister, I am so sorry I can’t make it to the family reunion this year but my airfare would be over $5k one-way!”
And…a little combination of world news with an oh-so-slight medical twist. While Kim Jong Un, the 28-year-old petulant third generation dictator of North Korea, struggles to find his “inner and outer” power, our crack research team at Nurse Talk decided to check into his country’s healthcare system. Universal Healthcare???? Yip, universally horrifying healthcare. Not a surprise.
But this is very interesting – at least to us…Have you ever wondered about what a business or an organization has to provide in order to acquire and keep a not-for-profit (aka nonprofit) status? Well the truth is most of us don’t really think about it…but we should because some of those nonprofit entities, such as hospitals, are not really held to account with respect to their end of the bargain. Now, we are not saying any of these businesses are not doing a good job and are not operating above board, but a recent study (conducted by California Nurses Association) shows some major hospitals may not be providing enough “charity” care to the communities they are suppose to serve.
Our guest, RN and Director of Government Relations for CNA, Bonnie Castillo will talk about a new bill, AB 975 that aims to press California non-profit hospitals to fulfill their charity care obligation in exchange for the substantial public financing they receive through their tax-exempt status. It passed its first hurdle last Tuesday in the California Assembly Health Committee, overcoming opposition from California’s biggest hospital corporations and its allies. The bill won broad support in the committee hearing from nurse members of the California Nurses Association who attended the hearing in a sea of red scrubs.
And, as always, listen and laugh every week on Saturday at 11 am in the San Francisco Bay area on KNEW 960AM or live stream at www.960knew.com. Check out our favorite apps featuring Nurse Talk for custom radio on your listening devices: Progressive Voices, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. You can also download and listen to any show anytime here at NurseTalkSite.com or on iTunes. Like us on Facebook, and you can listen there too.
And remember laughter is the best medicine.
