A Health Newsletter Serving the North Coast Schools Medical Insurance Group
Vol. 27, No. 1 | January 2019

In this Issue: Director’s Note | National Blood Donor Month | Recipe: Healthy Vegetable Clear Soup

Director’s Note

Stacy Lane, JPA Director

Happy New Year!  It’s that time of year again to sign up for our annual FREE Health Screening.  Our program is comprehensive and includes a broad array of screenings, including blood tests (over 50!) at no cost to you or your spouse/partner.  Why do I ask people every year to sign up for this screening?  Our Health Screening is the primary way we can all help lower the claims cost for our pool, thus helping us to minimize any future rate increases.  In addition, it saves you time and money and can catch your potentially life-threatening conditions early.  How does it save you money?  I’ll use myself as an example. I had a condition that my doctors spent over a year trying to diagnose.  I had to take time off of work for appointments, travel out of the area to see specialists and had to pay my deductible, office visit co-pays and co-insurance.  When I got my most recent Health Screening tests back, I was able to take them to my primary care physician and show a continued trend with one particular test, which helped him nail down the cause I had been suspecting all along.  Had I not been able to diagnose this condition, my claims utilization and personal expenses would have potentially been astronomical.

So how does the program work?  You are free to go to any location throughout the four counties in which we hold the screenings.  You do not have to go to a screening in the district where you work.  Call the number listed in this newsletter to sign up for the date and time of your choice.  The contact at the location will email you a copy of the sign-up packet you must bring, completed, with you to your appointment.  Please remember that this is a fasting set of blood tests.  This means you cannot eat or drink anything other than water within 8 hours of your testing.  It will take approximately fifteen minutes total to do all the testing stations (blood draw, urinalysis, blood pressure, etc.).  It will take the doctor’s office approximately 2-3 weeks to receive and compile your test results.  These results are reviewed by the doctor and delivered to my office in sealed envelopes.  These envelopes are then delivered to your employer for distribution.  At no time will anyone other than the doctor have access to your private test results.  We ask that you do, however, share these results with your primary care physician.  In rare cases, if the doctor reviewing your results finds something alarming, he may call you directly to seek medical care prior to you receiving your results.

I strongly encourage you to take the time to sign up for this program.  I talk to people all the time who say, “My doctor does tests every year, so I don’t need to do the Health Screening.”  Do you know exactly what tests your doctor does and what we do?  Do you enjoy paying your office visit co-pay and deductible or co-insurance for your blood tests?  Does your doctor annually screen your A1C level for diabetes? The chances are our tests are more comprehensive and again, are totally FREE to you and your enrolled spouse/partner.  When you sign up for your testing date, make sure to ask the district contact to email you a list of all the tests we provide.  If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to call me directly at 707-445-7126.

National Blood Donor Month

According to the American Red Cross, winter is “one of the most difficult times of year to collect enough blood products to meet patient needs.” That’s because of, among other things, busy holiday schedules and bad weather often resulting in canceled blood drives. Furthermore, seasonal illnesses such as the flu force potential donors to forgo their blood donations.

That’s just one of the reasons that National Blood Donor Month, which has taken place each January since 1970, is such an important observance. Donating blood saves many lives and improves health for many people. According to the World Health Organization, “blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person — the gift of life. A decision to donate your blood can save a life, or even several if your blood is separated into its components — red cells, platelets and plasma.”

How to Observe National Blood Donor Month

• Donate – Not just in honor of National Blood Donor Month, but in the simple spirit of providing the stuff of life to those who need it most. Donate now. Donate again in eight weeks. Repeat.
• Inspire – National Blood Donor Month can inspire people to donate. And those donations can in turn inspire others to donate, creating an exponential increase in blood donations when and where they’re needed the most.
• Learn and remember your blood type – What’s your blood type? Some examples: O positive donors are needed more often than other blood types. O negative donors are considered “universal donors.” AB positive donors are “universal recipients.”

Why National Blood Donor Month is Important

• Donating blood save lives – Someone needs blood every few seconds in the United States. And more than 4.5 million Americans would die every year without lifesaving blood transfusions. National Blood Donor Month helps us remember these vital statistics.
• It’s the gift that keeps on giving – The American Red Cross needs 13,000 blood donations every single day to maintain an appropriate blood supply. Fortunately, eligible blood donors can donate blood every eight weeks.
• It’s good for donors, too – The American Journal of Epidemiology reports that blood donors are 88 percent less likely to have a heart attack.

Source: https://nationaltoday.com/national-blood-donor-month/

Recipe of the Month: Healthy Vegetable Clear Soup

Ingredients

• 1 – small Cabbage
• 1 – Carrot
• 1/2 cup – sweet peas
• 1 cup – Cauliflower
• 2 – Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup – Sweet Corn kernels
• 1/2 cup – French beans
• Coriander, a few sprigs
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper powder – a little
• 1/4 tsp – Butter

Instructions

1. Wash and boil all the chopped vegetables, except tomatoes.
2. Blanch the tomatoes. Peel and blend them with a little water.
3. Pour the tomato puree into a saucepan, add the boiled vegetables and stock.
4. Add salt, pepper and butter to taste and boil.
5. Garnish with coriander.

Serves: 4 | Total Time: 30 Minutes

Source: http://www.bawarchi.com/recipe/healthy-vegetable-clear-soup-oetrAbhejecef.html