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Cost Of Medications A Serious Concern

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prescription-drug-pricesAs major pharmaceutical producers announce price hikes for the drugs used to treat serious illnesses, consumer concerns also jump. In fact, the cost of medical drugs has become the major distress for the great majority of Americans. Some 70 percent surveyed by Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan researcher listed drug costs as their top issue.

Those who are coping with such diseases as cancer, hepatitis, HIV and others are responding very vocally to what some term “pharma greed.” They have caught the attention of the country’s legislators as well. The issue is the top health priority of both major parties as well as Independents.

The unhappiness among patients, doctors and insurers has been prompted by such announcements as the one made by Turing Pharmaceuticals that it was raising the prices of drugs in use for long periods – some by as much as 5,000 percent. Turing’s CEO reacted to pressure by announcing the company would lower some prices. As of this date, the decrease had not become effective.

Sixty-three percent of Americans support government action to address the high cost of drugs, and the pressure on Congress is consistently increasing. Several potential candidates for the 2016 presidential election have addressed the issue in campaign forums and even the Republicans seem to be shifting toward government interference to force drug producers to slow the trend to costlier medications.

The manufacturers cite rising costs for research and development, insufficient competition and drug shortages for their escalating prices. From 2008 to 2014, prices for the most widely prescribed brand-name drugs rose 128 percent and in 2014 alone, total spending on prescriptions went up 13 percent.

The growing number of placard-carrying protesters, the increasing visibility of the issue in public forums and growing interest in political circles virtually guarantee that the cost of prescriptions will have a prominent spot on country’s political agenda over the next few years.

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    Beefing Up Steaks, Hamburgers

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    omega-3-beefCould a little infusion of omega-3 fatty acids into your next helping of steak or hamburger make the meal more healthful? It’s the same thing that salmon naturally consume with their algae and it’s what walnuts contain in abundance, health experts say.

    Some ranchers are experimenting with feeding their cattle flaxseed and marine algae to enhance the products they send to market. And researchers at Kansas State University are testing the products to see if they actually retain any health benefits from the added fats in their diets.

    Texas food stores that sells the omega-3-enhanced meats reported that sales quadrupled over a seven-month period. And a national study suggests that consumers would be willing to pay $1.85 more per pound for enriched steaks and 79 cents more per pound of enhanced hamburger.

    The movement runs counter to current wisdom that advises less beef in the diet. But in a country that consumes mountains of fast foods, many of them containing beef, maybe the health angle carries more weight. Nutrition experts say that people should consume at least 250 mg per day of the fatty acids eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids of the type that are contained in algae. Adding them to beef might encourage that level of consumption.

    Adding algae and/or flaxseed to the diets of meat cattle increases the omega-3 content in their meat to at lest 200 mg per 5-ounce serving, compared with 20- to 30-mg in the meat of grass-fed cattle.

    Salmon remains the best source of omega-3, providing 10 times the amount contained in enriched beef products – at least 2,000 mg in a 5-ounce serving.

    Cost becomes a factor with omega-3 enhanced beef. Commercial sources of algae are not readily available. However, the costs of feeding cattle flaxseed to increase omega-3 content is offset because the animals tend to be healthier and need fewer antibiotics, those experimenting with the enhanced meat products say. And test sales in some markets suggest that consumers like the additional marbling, tenderness and flavors in the meat. They come back for more, preferring them over the grass-fed products that may be a little cheaper.

    Other omega-3-rich products such as eggs, salmon and walnuts, also are attracting more consumers, particularly among the health-conscious. That may encourage sales for the enhanced beef products. Time will prove if there is a place in the popular market and whether the enhanced meats will find a permanent niche in the American diet.

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      Halloween Spending Could Reach $7 Billion

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      halloween-spendingUsed to be Halloween was sort of the lull before the holiday storm, a kind of deep breath before diving into the turkey-and-toys mania that rages from November until New Years.

      No more. Halloween has taken on a bona fide life of its own, with more pricey costumes, home and business décor, Halloween checks and other embellishments digging deep into American pocketbooks. The total tab for this year is expected to approach $7 billion.

      While it used to be a little splurge for the special goodies purchased to appease the trick-or-treaters at the door, the holiday has become a big deal for the millennials in the 18-34-year-old age brackets and even those up the line age-wise. The average per-person expenditure is $74.34, according to the National Retail Federation.

      That’s a whole lot of pumpkins, costumes and goodies. Actually, the per-person outlay is down by a dollar or two from 2012, the federation says, but it’s still more than double what folks spent on Halloween a decade ago. Those who benefit are the merchants, entertainment outlets and even the farmers who supply all those pumpkins, not too mention cornstalks and hay bales that are the cornerstone of many decorative schemes.

      Costume sales are driven in part by the group activities that beckon the millennial crowds. They line up to conform to the themed parties that encourage mix-and-match costumes.

      Social media is behind much of the Halloween hype. Enthusiasts like to share information, photos and videos focused on their holiday doings. Facebook and Pinterest each got 13 percent of the requests for information on costumes, said the federation experts. A third of the Halloween revelers said they looked online for dress-up ideas. And they purchased costumes not only for themselves, but for their pets.

      Specialty stores geared specifically to the All Hallows holiday are open all year in some instances.

      Even with the increased focus on Halloween, the October fear-fest is a piker compared with the spending that goes on in relation to the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years binge. Economists are forecasting a $616-billion infusion into the country’s coffers between now and the end of the year. Halloween also lags behind Valentines and Mothers’ days. But still, the increases are evident. It’s a scary thought.

      Renting Housing Can Be Costly

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      for-rentMore Americans are renting and many of them pay up to half of their income for housing and utilities.

      Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit agency that promotes affordable housing, looked at census data and ferreted out the data, including the fact that more families are putting half of their earnings into a rental place. Since 20007, the number of people in this category has risen to 11.25 million, an increase of 26 percent.

      The problem becomes more acute when the increase in rental costs outpace the rise in hourly wages. Rentals have risen at nearly twice the rate of income, Labor Department figures show. The department reported that hourly wages rose just 2.1 percent in the past 12 months, compared with a 3.7 percent increase in rents. For some families, the difference is forcing hard decisions on how to make the income stretch far enough.

      A combination of factors underlying the problem includes the slow recovery from the recession of the early 2010s. Construction of new rental units also has fed into the dilemma, as has the number of families that lost their homes during the recession, opting for renting instead. All told, the various factors create a bad situation for those who rent, including the prospect of homelessness if they can’t meet the demand.

      Many have had to downsize, moving from rentals with three or more bedrooms to those with one or two. Throw in the increased costs of transportation, communications and health care and many families find themselves overwhelmed.

      Studies show that more than 30 percent of renting families in California, Florida, New Jersey and New York fork over more than half of what they earn to pay for housing and utilities. In other states, excluding Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming, the figure goes down to 20 percent.

      Enterprise Community Partners say their data is consistent with that of other organizations interested in the housing market. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has published figures that show 12 million renters and homeowners who see half of their income go into housing costs. In 2013, the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies estimated that 27 percent of renters were paying 50 percent of income for rentals and related costs. The increases reported by these agencies were “unimaginable just a decade ago,” the Harvard report stated.

      The high costs of renting are affecting the upkeep of many rental units, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Those who rent cannot afford to make routine repairs, forcing the landlords to look at further increases to meet this need. The alternative is to let buildings fall into disrepair. Both the property owners and the renters are caught in the bind.

      Construction can’t keep up with the increasing demand. This spring, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported a shortage of 7.1 million apartments for low income renters. More than 320,000 units are expected to be ready for occupancy this year, according to the Commerce Department. The shortages are most acute in the Western states.

      But until demand and supply reach some semblance of balance, the prospects for higher rentals that absorb greater percentages of income are likely to continue.

      Holiday Hiring Creates Jobs

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      Now is the time to seek seasonal jobs for the holidays.
      Now is the time to seek seasonal jobs.

      Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast moving up to the top of the calendar, and that could be good news for people who hope to find a holiday job. The time to start is right now.

      Search for “retail” in your local job search resources and you are likely to find a good supply of possible jobs. Online workshops and resume-building ideas are plentiful. Employers looking for holiday help have been gearing up already in anticipation of the busiest time of the year and you need to be in the front of the line as they actually hire.

      The first step is to gather and organize the documents surrounding your work history. Transcripts, certificates, a brief history, awards, performance reviews, work samples and references should be included in a terse but complete portfolio. Be sure you have electronic copies for those who want the information via email.

      Prospective employers will have many applications to look at before they chose those applicants they want to interview. They will likely choose those whose presentations are most attractive. Applications with smudges, missing information or illegible entries will almost certainly be the first to hit the wastebasket. Remember that the person going over your portfolio will be judging the quality of your work by what he sees.

      Some prospective employers want you to fill in an application at the site and on the spot. Be ready to do that. Have a pen and be ready to ask for a phone book if you need one to fill in addresses, etc., for previous jobs.

      Occasionally, a company will use holiday positions to make more long-term hires after the season ends. Don’t treat a holiday job with less respect than it deserves.

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