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It's official. Sleeping more is good for you.

University of Chicago researchers tested arteries of about 500 people over 5 years. They discovered the people who slept 8 hours or more every day had a 6% chance of a heart attack, compared to 27% for those who slept 6 hours or less -- a staggering increase.

The thinking is that stress hormones are reduced by the additional sleep.

MSNBC Link to Story

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The Obama kids haven't even picked out, much less named their new puppy yet and already Democrats in Congress are spending money we don't have on healthcare reform.


This article from the WSJ Health Blog gives a pristine overview of the Democratic overreaching.

Among other things, they want to throw some more money into Medicaid, state children's health programs, and the computerization of medical records.

Meanwhile in Detroit . . . .

No, I'm actually not a fan of the great automobile bailout scheme -- just making a point that there are better things to spend our borrowed dollars on.

And just to be clear, I'm not against healthcare for children. What I am against is more federal intervention in programs that by all rights should be funded by individual states, including Medicaid, by the way.

But you think there's too much Washington in your backyard NOW? Just wait until that new puppy is 3 or 4 years old.

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As premiums on traditional plans continue to skyrocket, more and more people are turning to high deductible plans to save money on premiums.

Almost 20% of employees had deductibles of 1,000 or more in 2008, compared with only 12% one year sooner.

Of course, not everyone would qualify $1,000 as a "high" deductible, but in our practice, we are seeing an increasing number of individuals opt for deductibles of $2,500 or higher.

As this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution indicates, an increasing number of high deductible plans are being used as part of consumer driven health care plan designs, which means that a tax-advantaged account is used in conjunction with the high deductible plan. Usually, this will mean a health savings account, but in some cases, a health care reimbursement account can be used in conjunction with high deductible plans.

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And the answer is:

THE GOVERNMENT!

???

No, seriously.

They've finally figured it out in Washington -- they've got all the answers.

Since the private market can't "fix" itself, Washington will get it fixed.

"unprecedented government intervention" will create a system of universal coverage

Oh boy, I can hardly wait.