Health care premium tax credits Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health care premium tax credits - Research Paper Example It is a refundable tax credit and the refund is fully paid regardless of the income tax which is owed by the recipient (IRS â€Å"Individuals†). This HCTC benefits many displaced workers and those aged 55 years and older under pension benefit. It is meant to ensure that people can still access health care services despite their financial difficulties and economic status (IRS â€Å"Individuals†). The primary Act which has made the HCTC possible is the Trade Adjustment Act of 2002. This act basically created the HCTC and ensured that certain individuals who receive PBGC are qualified for credits (DSRA, p. 1). The act made it possible for 65% of health care insurance to be covered by the federal government. Through this act, the HCTC has been implemented since December 2002; and it has also been available for all of 2003 and the years following (DSRA, p. 1). The American Relief and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) extends the coverage of the Trade Adjustment Act of 2002. It is the act which provides about $30 billion for health investments with most of the investments made available to hospitals and physicians who use Electronic Health Records (EHR) (Cisco, p. 1). Those with EHR are qualified to receive incentives from the Medicare and Medicaid starting on 2011; the act includes a $2 billion grant from the Department of Health and Human Services and also grants for telemedicine pro jects (Cisco, p. 1). As part of the ARRA, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Health Coverage Improvement Act of 2009 was passed and this expanded the eligibility of qualified family members beyond the enrollees’ death or divorce for up to 24 months; also, those who are eligible but live in US territories can participate in the monthly HCTC (IRS â€Å"Individuals†). The HCTC is included as a health policy because the Congress recognized that for people who lose their health coverage, the experience can

Prehistoric Medicine Essay Example for Free

Prehistoric Medicine Essay They used herbalism; the practise of using herbs to heal people. In each tribe there were shamans who would ‘exorcise ill people’ demons’ and apothecary. They had medicine men who were shamans and witch-doctors. They would provide supernatural treatments like charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits. If someone was ill the medicine man would initiate a ceremony over the patient where they would use magic formulas prayers and drumming. People thought that the medicine men could contact the spirits or Gods so people looked up to them. They used healing clays to heal their internal and external wounds and just after surgery. Prehistoric people also used trepanning mainly in Peru. This was when they would drill a hole in a person’s skull to relieve pressure. It was mainly done as an emergency operation after a head wound to remove shattered bits of bone. They believed it would treat epileptic seizures, migraines and mental disorders. They would keep the bit of skull around their neck as they thought it would ward off evil spirits. Nowadays people use a modernised trephine instrument in a corneal transplant surgery. Early medicine for Greeks and Romans: Hippocrates: Born 470 BCE ‘Father of Modern Medicine’ He had a theory of the 4 humours. He thought that the human body contained 4 important liquids called humours. They thought if the humours became unbalanced then people would become ill. The 4 humours were black bile, yellow bile blood and phlegm. His theory was wrong but it was a breakthrough in medicine because it made people think that illness was caused by something natural inside your body instead of the Greek Gods. Quote from a book in the Hippocratic Collection of books: ‘Man’s body†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦has blood, phlegm, yellow bile and melancholy (black) bile. These make up his parts and through them he feels illness or enjoys health. When all these elements are truly balanced and mingled, he feels the most perfect health. Illness occurs when one of these humours is in excess or is lessened in amount or is entirely thrown out of the body.’ Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath which was taken by all physicians; this is still in use today. Herophilus: He was the 1st anatomist. He introduced the experimental method to science. He discovered that the brain controls how the body works, not the heart by dissecting human bodies. He also identified parts of the stomach. He did a lot of work on nerves. Claudius Galen: He was the Roman Emperor’s doctor. Galen’s work was based on the Hippocratic Collection. He was one of the Great surgeons of the ancient world. He added his own theory to the 4 humours theory. He developed a theory called the ‘treatment of opposites’. So if an illness was caused by heat he would cool them down and vice versa. Galen also emphasized the importance of clinical observation and would take detailed notes on his examination of his patients. He was one of the 1st physicians who used experiments in his medical investigation. Through that he proved that urine was formed in the kidney as opposed to the bladder. His most important discovery was that the arteries carried blood but he never discovered circulation.

Joan of Arc Essay -- Essays Papers

Joan of Arc In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City the painting â€Å"Joan of Arc† by Jules Bastien-Lepage hangs in the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Gallery. This Piece is rather large and was done with oil paint on canvas, its dimensions being approximately eight feet tall with a width of ten feet. When walking toward Bastien-Lapage’s painting, it’s size and realism grabs one’s attention, and then holds it while this scene of Joan of Arc seems to take place right before one’s eyes. The corridor where the painting is displayed is part of the museums permanent collection. The gallery is composed of many sculptures with paintings placed between them; almost all of the work is French and done sometime in the 1800’s. This long and wide corridor has Ionic styled pillars at each end, and all together the subtle architecture goes nicely with all the different art work displayed. Bastien-Lepage’s painting is placed third from the end of this corridor and fits there nicely, although one might expect it to see it somewhere else for the amount of attention it receives. To the right of the painting is the wall sign that states the artist’s life span, which was 1848 to 1884, along with the following brief history: â€Å"After the Province of Lorraine was lost to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the French saw in Joan of Arc a new and powerful symbol. In 1875 Bastien-Lepage, a native of Lorraine, began to make studies for a picture of her. In the present Painting, exhibited in the salon of 1880, Joan is shown receiving her revelation in her parents’ garden. Behind her are Saint Michael, Margaret, and Catherine.† Joan appears to be the focus of the painting as she stands in the foreground and to the right. Her image is almost life size, and, along with an enormous amount of detail that has been used, she appears very lifelike. Joan stands with her head and shoulder leaning slightly against a tree and her eyes looking upward. Her left arm is stretched out away from her body and holding the end branch of a young flexible tree, while her right arm is at her side with her hand cupped against her dress. The smoothness in the contours of her skin and the ways the textures are represented on her clothing, with the folding and shadowing, are all done well. The use of the different shades of color for the skin tones, clothing, and their... ...ts position in the museum seems to have been well thought out. Unfortunately, this painting loses some of its grandeur when one gets up close. The only real detail work that is put into this piece that looks great up close is ironically the one element that can not be seen from a distance, which is a group of men at the bottom bathing in the waters. While this piece can be positioned on this wall so that it receives its first attention from afar, a piece like Bastien-Lepage’s would not be completely at home in this location. When passing by Joan in her present location, at about a distance of 6 feet as the flow of the room so works, the feeling of being right there with her is exemplified. Then as one moves away to the wall opposite the painting at a distance of about fifteen feet, the furthest distance that the room allows, the beauty of the whole painting is taken in with nothing being lost. After taking in every detail up close and then stepping back to let the painting consume the viewer on a whole, Jules Bastien-Lepage’s painting of Joan of Arc shows the artist’s fine tuned skills in capturing the essence of realism while also conveying a deep humanistic compassion.

Managing Food Allergies and Intolerances in the Hospitality Sector Essay

A food allergy is the response of the body to a food or protein the body perceives as injurious and therefore produces antibodies (Eigenmann, 2009). Highly popular are allergies towards nuts, eggs or seafood. The symptoms can vary from swelling of the throat or mouth, skin reactions, noxious feeling, breathing difficulties or even collapse (Busky, 2012). Intolerance on the other hand is the reaction when the body is not able to deal or digest a kind of food because the body misses or cannot produce certain enzymes. Most commonly known are lactose and gluten intolerances which are coeliac disorders. Triggering a malabsorption of several nutritional ingredients the sufferer has to deal with indigestion, mild abdominal (stomach) pain, bloating, occasional changes in bowel habit, such as episodes of mild diarrhoea or constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss or even vomiting (National Health Services). All these symptoms give high restrictions during daily life and require careful attention. Further the term of anaphylaxis appears quite often in the context of food allergy. Anaphylaxis describes an extreme form of imunsystem reaction to a chemical contact with of a substance of the sufferer within the environment. It impinges on the whole body and can in worst cases lead to an anaphylactic shock which often causes death (National Health Services). The British Allergy Foundation stated that in 2012 up to 21 million people in the UK are affected by food allergies and that almost 10 million of them are suffering from more than one allergy. They further estimated that by the year 2015 almost 50 per cent of the Europeans will suffer from an allergy. These facts are already allowing an insight into the importance of the topic in the hospitality industry and its uprising as a contemporary issue of increasing significance. In the following section some general information and research and three food allergy organizations will be presented more in detail. The topic will be presented with a detailed view on the approach in restaurants. The key findings will be evaluated and summarized in the conclusion. Discussion General Information Allergens in food are not always labelled and indicated on product or menu items. Further as per the findings of Pratten and Towers (2003) there is high education and training for hospitality workers in terms of food hygiene and preparation but with no deeper focus on handling food allergies. Eating out therefore becomes a difficult challenge especially for families. Especially, after reviewing a study of Cathy A. Enz on behalf of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly in 2004. Her findings show that for restaurant managers and owners the level of concerns regarding food allergies lays only with 3,3 % (out of 100%) and is ranked on the sixed position out of eight criteria (see appendix, exhibit 1). As per Allergykids. com four in ten UK school children have an allergic condition. Hence the parents have to control and watch after their children much more to ensure their well-being. The founder and CEO of Allergyeats. com, Paul Antico states â€Å"First and foremost, I’m a dad of kids who have food allergies. I understand the concerns of parents and know what it’s like to be constantly on guard. † Adding to this statement, seven out of ten sufferers say their allergy has an adverse effect on their lives (Allergykids. com, 2012). This is clearly showing the impact on the hospitality and the need for adaption in the service offer. Within the issue of Food Allergies there have been several approaches to ease and make the topic more valid and accessible on the consumer as well as on the service providers ‘point of view. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act One step was the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of the second of August of 2004 which came into effect on the first of August 2006. It obliges manufacturers to label and indicate common allergens like nuts or milk on their product on a clear and comprehensible way (Food and Drug Administration, 2004). Whereas it is questionable if the consumer can be assured by this with correct labeling. The Food and Drug Administration is randomly inspecting different food packaging for the allergen label but it is shady if some products might just slip through and give wrong indications for the consumer. Nevertheless nowadays there is a wide range of products (for example in a supermarket with an average of 50,000 products (Google Answeres)) and most of them are food items. Therefore the control of all packaging becomes a heavy challenge. However the first step is the mplementation of such a law. Regarding the fact that the Act is in effect since 2006 it can be estimated that products have been relabeled over the years and especially new products introduced the allergen label by entering the market. The Gluten Free and Allergy Free Passport The Gluten Free and Allergy Free Passport organization are â€Å"Educating the World about Food & Travel since 2005† (GFPassport, 2012). The below graph is showing their approach to necessary communication between restaurant and allergy sufferer: Fig. 1 Gluten & Allergy Free Passport, 2012 On both sides, on the guest perspective and the restaurant perspective there should be previous education. The Guest, in this case the allergy sufferer needs to assess his comfort level by for example talking to the wait staff. After identifying the eating options the guest conducts the pre planning and starts the interaction with the restaurant. Communication the guest? s needs and specifications are crucial and the first step in the interaction. Ordering the meal and receiving it, the guest should provide feedback about his experience. At the same time not only the guest has to be cautious, the wait staff and the cooks have to understand the guest needs and facilitate the specification ordered by fully ensuring safety for the guest. After the meal is delivered the staff should follow-up not only for the well-being of the guest but also to apply critical feedback. The Chef? s Card To ease this communication between the customer and the restaurant some organisation like the Allergy Free Table LLC company introduced a useful tool. The company is trying to educate and provide information in that area. But not only the provision of important information about allergies and intolerances, facts and figures, problems and risks is their aim but they also giving solutions to make daily life for allergy sufferers easier. One of their approaches is the Chef? s card. It is similar to a business card indicating the allergy of the consumer, the degree of the allergy and the actions to be taken in case of an allergic reaction. Example of Layout of Chef? s Card: Fig. 2: Allergy Chef? s Card (Allergy Free Table, LLC, 2012) The Allergy Free Table LLC.  Co provides sample cards and individual adjusted templates which are provided for free download and print out on their website. This approach is widely spread and having a look through the World Wide Web a lot of positive comments regarding this idea can be found. On the forum for Food Allergy Support, members are commenting â€Å"We go out eat a lot and we use the Chef? s Card [†¦]†, â€Å"[†¦] the cards are useful [†¦]† or â€Å"[†¦] I’m all for chef cards! [†¦]†. Further there can be services found other online services as SelectWisely. com which is providing Chef? Card with the focus on people travelling and therefore translating them in the respective language. From the customer and the restaurants perspective the Chef? s Card is an effective approach to this serious issue. The customer receives the feeling to be taken more serious with the special demand. Further for example the wait staff have something to hold in the hands, which can be handed over to the kitchen staff and results in more security as the level of miscommunications is narrowed. Particularly while travelling the Chef? Card is relieving the customer from feeling stressed eating out as well the restaurant obtains a clear guideline to handle the guest conveniently and most important safely. To sum up the approach of the Chef? s Card is an innovative approach which eases the concern of food allergy issues in restaurant for both parties. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Despite many online communities (e. g. the Allergy Free Table LLC. Co) are providing information the most popular one might be the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) are calling themselves the â€Å"most trusted source of information† and can record over 22,000 memberships in the year 2012 (FAAN, 2012). The network is funded by the annual membership fees, donations and charity events like the yearly FAAN Walk for Food Allergy. They are committed to increase the awareness of the impact and implications of Food Allergies, the provision of education for young and old, advocate further research into the topic. The FAAN offers programs like the â€Å"Safe@School† program which is a package including nformation material as well as implementation and management strategies for schools (FAAN, 2012). Moreover they understood that â€Å"Eating away from home can pose a significant risk to people affected by food allergy. Research suggests that close to half of fatal food allergy reactions are triggered by food served by a restaurant or other food service establishment† (FAAN, 2012). So they are approaching restaurateurs directly and are calling up on more training for hospitality staff: â€Å"Education, cooperation, and teamwork are the keys to safely serving a guest who has food allergies. All food service staff – including restaurant managers, servers, and kitchen staff – must become familiar with the issues surrounding food allergies and the proper way to answer guests’ questions. Further, they must know what to do if an allergic reaction occurs. † The network emphasises on cooperation between the restaurants and customers to ease the barriers and to diminish the risks for allergy sufferers while eating out. The handbook for training of hospitality staff is only one of the collections of information which is provided for free on the FAAN? s homepage. Reviewing the amount of information which is available especially online restaurateurs should no longer hesitate to implement the handling of food allergies as an inherent part of their standards and policies. Much information is available for free and some managerial strategies and ,of course training sessions, will cost some money. Nevertheless this undertaking is not too difficult as food safety and hygiene procedures are already applied in gastronomic enterprises. As shown above the need for an extension to allergy concerns from the customers? side is omnipresent. Although that the adaption of this issue will cost time and money in return target markets and customer acquisition will be promoted. The Trend of Labelling Menu Items Food labelling is only mandatory for products coming from the manufacturer, so those which are e. g. bought in supermarkets and grocery shops. This labelling format has been improved by the Codex Alimentarius by the Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization in 2003 also adapted by the European Parliament and one year later in the USA. It regulated that foods triggering ensitive reactions have to be labelled. Current discussions about having restaurants to label their menu items are on-going but â€Å"[†¦] the restaurant industry argued that mandatory labeling would be a significant burden on most restaurants, the majority of which are small businesses that do not have the technical ability and/or knowledge to provide and publish such data† (Pizam, 2011). Restaurants mostly object menu labeling. Small businesses only produce in small amounts and menu items change frequently which would imply additional financial expenditures on the menu design. Further restaurants are arguing that the demand for labeled menus is not high enough. Attempts with calorie and fat indications mostly failed in past years. The demand for low calorie and low fat items in comparison to the conventional products was not high enough (Din, Zahari, Otham, Abas, 2012). It is questionable if this failure of menu indications is significant in the debate about labeling menus for allergy sufferers (Pizam, 2011). The quoted arguments are comprehensible but the extreme defensive attitude should be dropped. The request for menu labeling must not be a generalized demand but a compromise could be formed. Restaurants could have some additional menus indicating a detailed description of the menu ingredients. Other than that the restaurant might be able to guarantee that the cook on shift knows all its products and ingredients. This could be done by narrowing the amount of suppliers, brands and by maintaining the supplier for basic products. Maintaining loyal to a supplier as a plus would reduce purchase costs as restaurants receive better prices with long-term contracts. Conclusion Concluding from the findings the issue of food allergies in restaurants will be of increasing concern in the following years. Therefore there is every indication to find common approaches and standards to build up a convenient interrelation between customers and restaurants. The customer, most of all, needs to develop the trust to the restaurateur of being served in a serious and safe manner. The presented concept of the Chef? s Card is a recommendable and effective way to ease the communication for the special requirements of an allergy sufferer. Further the restaurant can handle the conveyed responsibility with more secureness and assurance. As the research has shown labelling the menu to needs of allergy sufferers is still in heavy discussion. Nevertheless a common standard should be introduced in order for the restaurant to clearly follow any special requests. To conclude in the future an overall standard is required in restaurants. Procedures should be extended and the implementation of allergy handling should be a standard for all gastronomy venues. The load of information is immense and the accessibility is there. Hence restaurants have little excuse too not implement some new strategies in their procedures. Although staff turnover is very high in the hospitality sector which is complicating the demand for additional training, hygiene and food safety instructions are mandatory for all hospitality staff. So why not extend and cover the issue of food allergies at the same time. Consequently restaurants could be labelled as being trained in allergy concerns and customers can easily choose to eat out.

Descartes Existence of God Essay

The existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was conceived. Descartes tries to prove Gods existence, to disprove his Evil demon theory, and to show that there is without a doubt something external to ones own existence. He is looking for a definite certainty, a foundation for which he can base all of his beliefs and know for a fact that they are true. Descartes overall project is to find a definite certainty on which he can base all his knowledge and beliefs. A foundation that he will be able to prove without a doubt. To find a definite certainty he uses a methodical doubt, this states that anything that could be doubted must be taken as false. This is done to find an absolute certainty for which to base all knowledge. Descartes develops his Evil Genius theory to bring doubt to all senses and hence making them false. The theory says that it is possible that there is someone (an evil genius) who is controlling our mind. If so we wouldn’t be sure whether or not what we see was real or just a dream, therefore all of our senses would be doubtable and thus taken as false. This theory proves that nothing external is certain and must be proven false to continue his quest for truth and certainty. Descartes second meditation gives a definite certainty for which to use as his foundation to build his beliefs. Then his third meditation proves the existence of God and the external world, while disproving the evil genius theory. That definite certainty that cannot be doubted, is the fact that I exist. Whenever I utter or think â€Å"I am† I know this to be absolutely true, without doubt. From this definite foundation Descartes tries to prove that there is something external to the mind. So he states the law of casualty. This basically says that nothing can be created from nothing, and that the less perfect can not create something more perfect or better than itself. Then if there is an idea in our minds that we didn’t create, something else created it. If God is more perfect than us, then we could not have created God but God created us. Descartes then wrote about the idea of God. He said that God is infinite and could not have been created by us because God is more perfect than us thus undoubtable and certain. The idea that God exists disproves the Evil Genius theory therefore proves the existence of an external world. Anslem and Descartes’ theories both prove that there is a God and they both use some similar ideas in their premises’. For instance, they both rely on the faith that there is an idea of God; he is perfect and self evident. God could not have been conceived if there wasn’t a God. Though, Descartes says that the less perfect can not create something more perfect or better than itself, and that we are less perfect than God therefore we could not have created God. So, this proves the existence of God and an external world. On the other hand, Anslem says Existence is greater than conception and nothing greater can be conceived then God. Therefore God must exist. In my opinion descatres has successfully proven the existence of God as well as one can because he started from the beginning and logically found a true foundation of beliefs and from there proved the existence of God and an external world. consequently making our senses less doubtable, and more certain.