HealthCare Bulletin

SPRING 2004
Spring 2004 DO YOU HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE? High blood pressure or hypertension means that the force of the blood inside your blood vessels is too high. High blood pressure makes the heart work extra hard and can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. Many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure. The only way to tell if you have high blood pressure is to have it checked regularly. According to recent estimates, one in four U.S. adults has high blood pressure, but because there are no symptoms, nearly one-third of these people don’t know they have it. This is why high blood pressure is often called the “silent killer.” Blood pressure is written with two numbers: the systolic and the diastolic. The systolic (the first, bigger number) measures the pressure as your heartbeats and pushes blood into the blood vessels. The diastolic (the smaller number) measures the pressure when your heart rests between beats. Know your blood pressure and have it checked often. Normal blood pressure is 120/80. Pre-hypertension is 120-139 over 80-89. If your blood pressure numbers are higher than these, consult your doctor as soon as possible. Medical science doesn’t understand why most cases of high blood pressure occur, so it’s hard to say how to prevent it. However, we do know of several factors that may contribute to high blood pressure and put you at increased risk for heart attack and stroke. High blood pressure is the single most important risk factor for strokes. Controllable Risk Factors • Obesity—People with a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or higher are more likely to develop high blood pressure. Typically, a BMI between 19 and 25 is considered ideal. To calculate your exact BMI value, multiply your weight in pounds by 705, divide by your height in inches, then divide again by your height in inches. • Eating too much salt—A high sodium intake increases blood pressure in some people. • Drinking too much alcohol—Heavy and regular use of alcohol can increase blood pressure dramatically. • Lack of physical activity—An inactive lifestyle makes it easier to become overweight and increases the chance of high blood pressure. • Stress—This is often mentioned as a risk factor, but stress levels are hard to measure, and responses to stress vary from person to person. • Smoking—Smoking injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process of hardening of the arteries. This applies even to filtered cigarettes. So even though it does not cause high blood pressure, smoking is bad for anyone, especially those with high blood pressure. Uncontrollable Risk Factors • Race—African Americans develop high blood pressure more often than whites, and it tends to occur earlier and be more severe. • Heredity—If your parents or other close blood relatives have high blood pressure, you’re more likely to develop it. • Age—In general, the older you get, the greater your chance of developing high blood pressure. It occurs most often in people over age 35. Men seem to develop it most often between ages 35 and 55. Women are more likely to develop it after menopause. For more information go to: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - National Institute of Health http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp	Time to Re-certify Health Benefits Information for Active & Retired UMWA Employees Jim Walter Resources (JWR) periodically performs a re-certification of all active and retired employees and any eligible dependents to maintain accurate information. All JWR active and retired UMWA employees will need to re-certify in April 2004. You will be sent a letter for re-certification listing the required paperwork in the coming weeks. JWR salaried active and retired employees recently completed their re-certification. As you are no doubt aware, medical costs have risen sharply with no relief in sight. JWR works tirelessly to find ways to control these costs while simultaneously continuing to provide the highest levels of medical coverage offered among major employers nationwide. To keep medical costs as low as possible without reducing services, JWR has developed the Active Employee Healthcare Committees, utilization of the extensive Blue Cross Blue Shield network of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies as well as encouraging healthy lifestyles for all employees and their families. Much of the increases in medical costs are beyond the control of insurance companies and users of medical services. One controllable cost is insurance and claims fraud. Fraudulently claimed dependents increase the cost of coverage risking continued coverage at current levels for everyone. JWR will re-certify the active and retired UMWA employees during April 2004. The recertification process requires the following documentation for dependent proof of eligibility if it has not been previously submitted: • Marriage license • Birth certificates & any adoption records when necessary • Birth certificates of dependent parents • Signed 2003 federal income tax returns showing dependents claimed, and/or not living in your household or in divorce situations • Divorce decrees where continued eligibility is no longer valid • Other documents as needed to establish eligibility status Some of the eligible members for health benefits include spouses; dependent children or adoptive children under the age of 19 for dental coverage and 22 for health coverage; parent(s) of the employee or spouse and grandchildren WHO LIVE IN THE EMPLOYEE’S HOUSEHOLD. Only employees, spouses and dependent or adoptive children of active employees are eligible for dental insurance and also must live in the employee’s household. Retirees and surviving spouses will also need to provide income information. Health benefits shall not be provided during any month in which the pensioner is regularly employed at an earning rate equivalent to $2,000.00 per month. For pensioners and surviving spouses, the benefits provided under the Plan will not be paid to a beneficiary otherwise eligible if such beneficiary is eligible for hospital insurance coverage (Part A) of Medicare where a premium is not required and/or medical insurance coverage (Part B) of Medicare unless such beneficiary is enrolled for each part of Medicare for which such beneficiary is eligible. Any such beneficiary who is enrolled in a Medicare program shall receive the benefits provided under the Plan only to the extent such benefits are not provided for under Medicare. For employees age 65 or older the benefits provided under the Plan will be paid to a beneficiary unless the company is furnished written notice of electing coverage under Medicare rather than coverage under the Plan. Alternatively, the participant may elect to enroll for Medicare as secondary payer. Medicare Part B is mandated by JWR as soon as eligibility begins. For more information on Medicare, go to: http://www.medicare.gov