Swobidu Health

Archive for the ‘reiki & Chakras’ Category

Valley Lee, MD (Vocus) February 2, 2010

Japans Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (M.H.L.W.) has approved the companys DeepFX hand-piece for the Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 laser in Japan. Known for its comprehensive approval process, the M.H.L.W. approval of the DeepFX hand-piece further substantiates Lumenis global leadership as the premier developer and manufacturer of pulsed CO2 laser technology.

We are proud of the successful entry of our DeepFX hand-piece into the Japanese market. Completing this extensive approval process confirms our position as a global leader in aesthetic laser technologies, says Mr. Dov Ofer, Lumenis Chief Executive Officer. We are delighted to be the key innovator in this space, leveraging our expertise in pulsed CO2 laser technology to provide industry-leading outcomes, added Mr. Ofer.

The Premier Pulsed Fractional CO2 Laser
“DeepFX Fractional Treatment with the Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 laser reduces the risk of complications such as PIH in pre-treated Asian patients with darker skin tones and produces impressive treatment results,” commented Dr. Gordon H. Sasaki, M.D., F.A.C.S., former president of the Japanese American Medical Association for Southern California and Honorary Member of the Japanese Society for Plastic Surgery. “Lumenis' UltraPulse CO2 laser's power and single-pass performance means the least time on tissue, improving the experience of both patient and physician by significantly reducing the risk of complications and PIH for darker Asian skin types and by minimizing downtime, stated Dr. Sasaki.

Receiving national acclaim on US news shows, including ABC's “20/20″ and NBC's “Today,” Miami dermatologist Jill Waibel, M.D. used the DeepFX hand-piece as part of the treatment to improve the appearance of burn scars, as well as increase overall flexibility and mobility in the scarred areas of the Berns triplets. The sisters received treatments on their faces, arms and chest, and within a week they saw dramatic improvements, says Dr. Waibel. These results are common with the DeepFX hand-piece, which is why its my preferred treatment for burn scars.

Lumenis can now offer the unmatched pulsed CO2 laser technology of our DeepFX hand-piece to physicians in Japan, providing them with one of the most advanced pulsed CO2 laser solutions for their practices, said Mr. Robert Mann, General Manager of Lumenis Aesthetics. Superior in the treatment of scarred and burned skin, physicians in Japan now have access to a pulsed CO2 laser solution that greatly reduces the risk of complications in virtually every skin type and ethnicity, added Mr. Mann.

About Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 Laser
The DeepFX hand-piece is powered by Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 laser, the most powerful fractional laser on the market, delivering six times more energy (240 watts of power to tissue) than any other CO2 laser device. Lumenis unique pulsed delivery equates to speed and the least time spent on tissue. DeepFX with UltraPulse CO2 laser continues to lead the industry by limiting the damage delivered to the dermis, resulting in minimal downtime and a lower risk of complications.

About Lumenis CO2 Laser Technology
Since 1966, Lumenis has been dedicated to engineering, manufacturing and distributing the worlds most advanced laser and intense-pulsed light systems. Lumenis holds more than 160 patents, on which much of the laser industry rests. UltraPulse technology was introduced nearly two decades ago, proving itself with over 34 FDA-cleared indications. The gold standard of CO2 lasers, UltraPulse has been referenced in over 90 peer-reviewed publications. With its long history of fractional capabilities, UltraPulse continues to lead the way in fractional resurfacing.

About Lumenis
Lumenis, the worlds largest medical laser company, is a global developer, manufacturer and distributor of laser, light-based and radiofrequency devices for surgical, aesthetic and ophthalmic applications, with more than 800 employees worldwide. Lumenis has over 250 patents, over 75 FDA clearances, an installed base of over 80,000 systems and presence in over 100 countries. Lumenis endeavors to bring the finest state of the art technology products to the market, fulfilling the highest standards of excellence, quality and reliability, delivering premium value and service to its customers. Lumenis name is derived from the Latin meaning Light of Life, highlighting the light which is the basis of our technologies used to enhance life. For more information about Lumenis and its products, please go to: http://www.lumenis.com.

For further information contact:
Michelle Maydan
Director of Corporate Communications
1-866-569-0597
+972-4-959-9004

Lumenis and its logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Lumenis Group of Companies.

Certain statements and information in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our objectives, plans and strategies, statements that contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition and all statements (other than statements of historical facts) that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, anticipate, estimate, continue, believe, should, intend, project or other similar words, but are not the only way these statements are identified. We have based these forward-looking statements on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements may be found in our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, including the section therein entitled Risk Factors, as well in our reports on Form 6-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WASHINGTON (AP) The government’s promise of lifetime health care for the military’s men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to make military retirees pay more for coverage. It’s a reflection of Washington’s newfound embrace of fiscal austerity and the Pentagon’s push to cut health care costs that have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion.

The numbers are daunting for a military focused on building and arming an all-volunteer force for war. The Pentagon is providing health care coverage for 3.3 million active duty personnel and their dependents and 5.5 million retirees, eligible dependents and surviving spouses. Retirees outnumber the active duty, 2.3 million to 1.4 million.

Combined with the billions in retirement pay, it’s no surprise that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said personnel costs have put the Pentagon “on an unsustainable course.”

Yet the resistance to health care changes is fierce.

Powerful veterans groups and retired generals are mobilizing to fight any changes, arguing that Americans who were willing to die for their country should be treated differently than the average worker. The American Legion has sent a letter to every member of the House and Senate pleading with them to spare health care benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has urged its 2 million members, their families and friends to contact lawmakers and deliver the same message.

The two groups were unnerved when both parties’ leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz. recommended that the special deficit-cutting supercommittee look at raising enrollment fees and imposing restrictions on the military’s health care program, known as TRICARE. Current military members would be grandfathered in.

McCain and Levin also favored creating a commission to look at military retirement benefits and make recommendations for changes.

“Any changes to TRICARE that put the burden back on the beneficiaries is not supported by the American Legion,” said Peter Gaytan, the group’s executive director. He wondered about future benefits for his 19-year-old nephew who heads to Afghanistan in December.

The willingness in Congress to consider cost-cutting changes to the military’s entitlement programs is shared by other senators, from members of the Armed Services panel to budget-conscious lawmakers in both the Republican and Democratic ranks such as Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Warner, D-Va.

“I think we have to look at whether savings can be achieved, but we have to keep our promise to people who were recruited based on those benefits, and we also ought to look at whether there’s ways to improve the benefit structure,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview last week.

That prospect has Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, fearful of the next step.

“All our worries are starting to come to fruition,” Davis said.

The debt accord reached this past summer between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans set in motion some $450 billion worth of cuts in projected defense spending over 10 years. It’s a reality check for the Defense Department, whose budget has nearly doubled to some $700 billion in the 10 years since the Sept. 11 terror attack.

That amount doesn’t include the trillion-plus spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 12-member, bipartisan supercommittee has a mandate to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 23. If it fails to produce a plan or Congress rejects its proposal, automatic, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in, half of it from defense spending.

Panetta said $600 billion more in cuts over the next decade atop the $450 billion in cuts passed this summer would represent a “doomsday” for the nation’s military. Republicans and Democrats have echoed his apocalyptic warning. In their separate letters to the supercommittee, Levin and McCain said they reject any deeper cuts in overall defense spending beyond the 10-year, $450 billion cuts.

Determined to avoid spending reductions that would hit troop numbers, aircraft, ships and weapons, Levin, McCain and other lawmakers are urging budget-cutters to scrutinize the military entitlement programs.

“I think they may be facing reality and want to soften the blow some,” said former Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who served as House Armed Services chairman. “They’re both very responsible when it comes to the troops.”

Levin and McCain support establishing an annual enrollment fee for TRICARE for Life, the health care program that now has no fee for participation. Obama had proposed an initial annual fee of $200.

Levin said future increases in fees should be tied to the same index used to determine hikes in the TRICARE Prime program, which has the lowest out-of-pocked expenses.

McCain also urged the supercommittee to consider restricting working-age military retirees and their dependents from enrolling in TRICARE Prime. The retirees could still enroll in other TRICARE programs. McCain pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that such a move would save $111 billion over 10 years.

Active-duty personnel still would be enrolled in the program automatically.

In the House, lawmakers are less inclined to make any changes in health care benefits. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed to a slight increase in TRICARE Prime fees for working-age military retirees. The fees had been unchanged for 11 years at $230 a year for an individual and $460 for a family.

Asked about the recommendations from Levin and McCain to the supercommittee, McKeon’s office said the House has already made changes and suggested additional savings come from civilian rather military health care and retirement programs. The House vote to raise the annual TRICARE Prime fees by $2.50 for individuals and $5 for families.

To: HEALTH, LABOR AND STATE EDITORS

Contact: Chelsea Bland, +1-202-639-4119, Blandc@afge.org

VA union moves to charter new Veterans Affairs local at Edward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center

HINES, Ill., Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Federation of Government Employees is now the exclusive representative for more than 700 professional health care employees at the Edward Hines, Jr. Hospital in Hines, Ill. Physicians, pharmacists, medical technologists and other professionals at the facility will join more than 208,000 VA employees who currently are represented by AFGE and its National Veterans Affairs Council (NVAC).

“We are thrilled to add these dedicated VA health care professionals to our growing federation. The service they provide to our veterans is priceless and we look forward to serving them and providing the workplace protections they deserve,” AFGE 7th District National Vice President Dorothy James said.

The vote for AFGE representation took place during a one-day onsite election Nov.1. With an overwhelming majority casting their vote for AFGE, organizers on the ground now have begun signing up new members eager to become activists within the union.

“We’ve worked for months on organizing these employees and demonstrating the value of union membership. This is one of the last facilities with a large group of professional employees yet to be represented by AFGE. Throughout the past 10 years we’ve methodically organized more than 40,000 employees within the VA and are excited to add these professionals to our growing family,” said Amie Pounds, AFGE national organizer.

AFGE’s 7th District will move to charter the new Local, which then will become a part of the AFGE NVAC that represents veteran health care providers and frontline employees within the Veterans Health, Benefit and National Cemetery administrations.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

For the latest AFGE news and information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

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While the price of traditional medical therapy carries on rising, alternate medical techniques are gaining more recognition for their physical and mental benefits and drug free systems. Many drugs treat the symptoms rather than the cause and can at last cause dependency and lose efficacy. Reiki is a drug and instrument free strategy which has been shown to alleviate stress, alleviate illnesses and improve overall wellness.

The Origin of Reiki

So what is Reiki? Reiki is a Japanese strategy invented in 1922 by the Buddhist Mikao Usui that involves the laying of hands on the patient’s body and is reliant on the idea that an energy force flows through the body and if it is low, can cause illness and stress. there are 2 main branches, Conventional Japanese Reiki and Western Reiki. Normal Reiki involves teachings that stayed in Japan and involves a simple positioning of the hands.

Reiki – Energy Alignment and Balance

Western Reiki developed from changing the Standard methods and applying categorical hand patterns and more stress on alignment. Western Reiki teaches that it works in conjunction with energy lines and chakras thru hand positions that correspond with the 7 chakras of the body. Entire body treatments are done to extend overall health and align the chakras. This involves lying down on a table and taking a couple of seconds to relax.

Reiki Treatments

Hands are placed on the body according to the ailment or pain or on every position for an overall treatment. Hands free techniques may be employed where the hands are held one or two centimeters away from the body if the patient is more comfy. most Western practitioners use twelve hand positions, unlike Standard Reiki where intuition is used to guide the Reiki master. The placing of the hands is used to direct the flow of energy into areas of difficulty or increased the energy flow in the entire body.

Reiki Results

Patients of Reiki treatments report a tingling sensation in the treated area and a state of deep relaxation. Many folks believe that the treatments stimulate the body’s natural healing processes and thus can cure ailments and increase energy levels. Localized treatments have been reported to alleviate digestive defects, respiratory Problems, high blood pressure, skin problems and even morning nausea in pregnant women. For patients who are on the lookout for a drug free and mild alternative for treating injury and illness or who are simply looking at improving overall health and energy levels, Reiki might be the treatment for them.

Lowering Stress And Improving Wellness With Reiki by Vincent Phillips. about the Author: Vincent Phillips is an educator on all things healthy. have you ever considered visiting an austin chiropractor? consider a visit to this austin chiropractor.

Health insurer Coventry Health Care Inc. said Friday its first-quarter profit climbed 13 percent, as premiums increased along with commercial fully insured enrollment, and the company raised its 2011 earnings forecast.

But analysts, on average, already expected earnings for the year to be at the top end of the revised company guidance, and Coventry shares fell $1.72, or 5 percent, to $32.64 in morning trading.

The Bethesda, Md., insurer reported net income of $110.2 million, or 74 cents per share, in the three months that ended March 31, up from $97.3 million, or 66 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue climbed 7 percent to $3.05 billion from $2.86 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of 53 cents per share on $3.04 billion in revenue.

For the full year, Coventry now expects earnings to range from $2.65 to $2.85 per share, up from its February forecast of between $2.50 and $2.70 per share. Analysts expect $2.85 per share.

In the first quarter, Coventry said its fully insured enrollment climbed 9 percent to 1.6 million people, as total medical membership rose 5 percent to 3.4 million. Fully insured coverage involves the insurer paying claims and taking on risk instead of just administering policies. It generates better profit margins than plans an insurer just administers.

Revenue from that business rose 13 percent to $1.49 billion.

The better-than-expected performance also was helped by lower-than-expected medical costs, Leerink Swann analyst Jason Gurda said in a research note.

Several of Coventry’s competitors also have been helped by medical costs that have risen slower than expected in recent quarters. UnitedHealth Group Inc., WellPoint Inc. and Aetna Inc. are among the other insurers that also beat Wall Street estimates for the first quarter and raised their full-year earnings forecasts.

Gurda said in his note Coventry had a very good quarter, “but it wasn’t significantly better than what we would have expected following its peers’ recent reports.”

The company’s operating expenses climbed 6 percent to $2.87 billion, as medical costs rose 8 percent to $2.27 billion.

Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) October 27, 2011

While the shaky economy hurt the Medical Claims Processing Services industry’s performance during the past five years, the latest report from IBISWorld, the nations largest publisher of industry research, forecasts a solid return to growth over the five years to 2016. As the economy slowly returns to growth and corporations increase their staff, the number of people covered by health insurance will inevitably grow. This positive trend will drive up the number of physicians’ visits at a forecast rate of 2.5% per year.

According to IBISWorld analyst, Nikoleta Panteva, despite the recession, the Medical Claims Processing Services industryhas recorded average annual growth of 0.1% over the five years to 2011, reaching $3.2 billion in revenue. Tough economic conditions caused nationwide layoffs, severing Americans’ access to employer-sponsored private insurance in 2008 and 2009, says Panteva. As a result, the number of physicians’ visits dropped, weakening demand for medical claims processing. The industry suffered revenue drops of 2.5% and 2.2% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, the aging population created demand from another downstream market, helping mitigate revenue declines during the period. As patients reach retirement age, they become eligible for Medicare, a government-provided social insurance program. The insurance coverage provided through this program helps create demand from retiring baby boomers, which has benefited the industry. Additionally, the healthcare reform that was enacted in 2010 has helped provide insurance to previously uninsured patients, allowing for an increase in doctors’ visits during 2011. IBISWorld expects this reform to help drive revenue up 2.6% in 2011 alone.

Profitability in the Medical Claims Processing Services industry has remained steady during the five years to 2011, accounting for about 10.0% of industry revenue. As demand and revenue fell in the midst of the recession, industry operators took cost-cutting measures. They cut the work force from 27,636 in 2006 to an estimated 26,043 in 2011, reflecting a 1.2% average annual decline. This decline helped reduce wage costs, which dropped from 26.1% of revenue to 25.2% of revenue during the same period.

A slew of factors will likely be favorable for the industry over the five years to 2016. As national unemployment abates, more Americans will be covered by private health insurance. Meanwhile, the growing senior population will create demand via Medicare, and the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will allow more patients with pre-existing conditions to be covered by insurance. Together, these factors are forecast to help drive industry revenue up at a rate of 6.4% per year, to $4.4 billion by 2016.

For more information, download the full report from IBISWorld on the Medical Claims Processing Industry

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