Opinions Mixed as Managed Care Comes to Valley

Texas Tribune – by Holly Heinrich 2/21/2012.

Managed health care services, which had been the subject of a recent moratorium in three Rio Grande Valley counties, will soon be available for Medicaid patients in those counties and the rest of the Valley.

On March 1, Medicaid patients living in what the Texas Health and Human Services Commission classifies as the Hidalgo Service Area will be eligible for the services, in which private organizations receive set monthly payments from the state to provide health services for patients. The Hidalgo Service Area includes Starr, Duval, Jim Hogg, McMullen, Webb, Willacy and Zapata counties, as well as Hidalgo, Cameron and Maverick counties, which had previously banned managed care.

graphic by: Todd Wiseman

Advocates of managed health care say the program has proven to be cost-effective in parts of the state where it has been implemented. But others say that managed care will not meet the unique needs of the Valley.

As Texas Monthly reported in December 2009, a group of South Texas legislators called for the moratorium in 2003, led by then-state Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, D-Palmview. The lawmakers said unique conditions made the Valley unsuitable for managed care, citing the region’s high rate of chronic, expensive-to-treat illnesses such as diabetes, and also said managed care would put economic pressure on the Valley’s already scarce physicians. Read Full Article

UTB Biomedical Research Building officially opens

By MADELINE BUCKLEY – The Brownsville Herald, February 20, 2012 10:46 PM

Officials dedicated Monday the new University of Texas at Brownsville Biomedical Research Building, which they said will produce cutting edge research to address health issues in the Rio Grande Valley and propel the school to a higher tier in medical research.

The facility funded by $34 million in state tuition revenue bonds houses 12 laboratories, four classrooms, eight faculty research areas and 12 science research facilities.

The University of Texas System Chancellor Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa delivered the keynote address for the formal ceremony, which took place in the courtyard outside of the facility attended by Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, Texas Southmost College President Lily Tercero and other school and city officials.

UTB President Juliet V. Garcia said the new building will present research opportunities for local students in the medical and health care field and will aid the goal of attracting top-notch faculty to the school.

“One in five people in the Rio Grande Valley are diagnosed with diabetes,” Garcia said. “Now we are poised to help some of the problems in the region.”

Healthy Living/Viviendo Mejor Begins Second Cycle

The HLVM program encourages individuals to take control of their diabetes with a 10 week program.

Laredo, TX. — The City of Laredo Health Department (CLHD), in collaboration with the Laredo Health Coalition (LHC), introduced a new program Healthy Living/Viviendo Mejor.

HLVM seeks to increase diabetes prevention awareness activities, reduce risks of diabetes and chronic diseases and improve diabetes self management to prevent complications due to this illness, which affects many in the community.

HLVM graduated its first class and is currently seeking 50 people to enroll in the second cycle. What is unique about these sessions is a focus on the family and community at large who are at risk of diabetes.

HLVM helps people take control of their chronic disease with self-management and risk reduction classes, cooking lessons, fitness activities and peer support activities.Participants of the first session commented that what they learned during this program was life changing.

City of Laredo Health Department (other sites available)
2600 Cedar Avenue
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2011
9 a.m.
The class will meet every Tuesday & Thursday for 10 weeks.  Read Full Article

Soda tax would likely reduce diabetes rates in San Antonio

Currrent: By foodfighter: February 17, 2012

Baltimore, Maryland’s mayor is the latest politician to propose a soda tax — a projected 20% sales tax on sugary carbonated drinks. This news comes after last summer’s battle amongst Texas senators proposing the same tax, aimed to reduce the cost of health care in Texas. The Texas motion was opposed and never passed, but the sentiment is still relevant and has made news once again this month as other politicians work towards proactive health and penalties (or checks and balances) for downright unhealthy food and drinks in the U.S.

But opponents (including many, if not most, American consumers according to studies) argue that taxing soda is akin to taxing the poor and perpetuating a nanny state on nutrition. Should the government have a say in what we eat? The reality is, it already does: via both the government-created food pyramid, now replaced by My Plate, which advocates eating lots of the products of subsidized agriculture (grains, dairy), or a lax stance on labeling genetically modified foods which are in high demand by way of processed food producers.

The benefits of a soda tax include averting 2,600 deaths, 9,500 heart attacks, and 240,000 new diagnoses of diabetes every year. A soda tax is also projected to reduce soda consumption by 15 percent among adults age 25 to 64. San Antonio has a diabetes rate two times the national average. People of Hispanic heritage are especially prone to the illness, hovering near 12% of the total population in the U.S.  Read Full Article

Children’s very low food security is associated with increased dietary intakes in energy, fat, and added sugar among Mexican-origin children (6-11 y) in Texas border Colonias

Food insecurity among Mexican-origin and Hispanic households is a critical nutritional health issue of national importance. At the same time, nutrition-related health conditions, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, are increasing in Mexican-origin youth.

Risk factors for obesity and type 2 diabetes are more common in Mexican-origin children and include increased intakes of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods. This study assessed the relationship between children’s experience of food insecurity and nutrient intake from food and beverages among Mexican-origin children (age 6-11 y) who resided in Texas border colonias.

Methods: Baseline data from 50 Mexican-origin children were collected in the home by trained promotora-researchers.

All survey (demographics and nine-item child food security measure) and 24-hour dietary recall data were collected in Spanish. Dietary data were collected in person on three occasions using a multiple-pass approach; nutrient intakes were calculated with NDS-R software.

Separate multiple regression models were individually fitted for total energy, protein, dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin D, potassium, sodium, Vitamin C, and percentage of calories from fat and added sugars.

Results: Thirty-two children (64%) reported low or very low food security. Few children met the recommendations for calcium, dietary fiber, and sodium; and none for potassium or vitamin D.

Weekend intake was lower than weekday for calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and vitamin C; and higher for percent of calories from fat. Three-day average dietary intakes of total calories, protein, and percent of calories from added sugars increased with declining food security status.

Very low food security was associated with greater intakes of total energy, calcium, and percentage of calories from fat and added sugar.  Read Full Article

Processed Meat Linked to Diabetes in Native Americans – studies

Processed meat consumption increases Native Americans’ risk of diabetes, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers followed more than 2,000 Native Americans living in the Southwestern United States. All were free of diabetes at the beginning of the study, but those who ate processed meat (e.g., sausage, bacon) were more likely to develop diabetes over a five-year period. The association was particularly strong with Spam.

Fifty percent of Native Americans develop diabetes by 55 years of age. Many have limited access to healthful foods, and may depend on the USDA commodity program, which includes processed meats.

Processed meat consumption has also been linked to certain cancers, which disproportionally impact Native Americans.

Processed meats are high in fat. Earlier studies have shown that fat accumulation within muscle cells leads to insulin resistance, which, in turn, contributes to diabetes. People who eat no animal products have less fat in their cells and much less risk of developing diabetes. A low-fat plant-based diet has been shown to improvetype 2 diabetes.

PCRM has developed a six-session diabetes education and cooking skills curriculum for Native American communities that has been successfully piloted in New Mexico and Arizona, and was presented in an educational session at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. The curriculum may be viewed and downloaded at no cost fromwww.PCRM.org/CurriculumNA. Read Full Article

Parent-training intervention curbs pediatric obesity rates, study shows