together
Bring the
family
Western Australia’s biggest insurer, HBF, with just over one million
members, has announced a change to their basic policy. From 1 July,
HBF’s basic policy will no longer cover insulin pumps – alongside
other items including cochlear implants and sterilisation reversal
procedures – advising members to upgrade their policies. “This move
will hit families hard, because type 1 diabetes is a costly disease to
manage, and many families with kids with type 1 diabetes already
feel financial hardship,” the chief executive of Telethon Type
Diabetes Family Centre, Rebecca Johnson, told The
West Australian. “HBF is forcing families to fork out
even more money to access the devices that keep
their children alive.” Insulin pumps are currently
used by about half of the children with type 1 in
WA and need to be replaced every four years at a
cost of about $10,000 per recipient (without
insurance). This move brings HBF in line
with other large private
health insurers.CHECK YOUR INSURANCE LEVEL
Children who routinely eat meals with their
family are more likely to have long-term
physical and mental health benefits,
researchers from the University of Montreal
have found. The study published in the
Journal of Developmental & Behavioral
Pediatrics found those who were a part offamily meals had more social skills, better
fitness and lower levels of soft-drink
consumption. The presence of parents at
mealtimes was more likely to provide young
children with social interaction, discussion of
social issues and concerns. It’s an easy way for
parents to improve children’s wellbeing.BREAKING
NEWS
A new Scandinavian study
suggests there are five
types of diabetes, not two.
“This is the first step
towards personalised
treatment of diabetes,”
says Leif Groop, physician
and professor of diabetes
and endocrinology at Lund
University in Sweden.
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