Health Highlights: July 30, 2009
July 31 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Many Americans Take Naps: Survey
About one-third of American adults regularly take a daytime nap, according to a new national survey.
The rate of napping was even higher among people who'd exercised in the past 24 hours, those who had trouble sleeping the night before, blacks, men older than 50, men and women over 80, people who aren't happy, and poorer people, The New York Times reported.
Unemployed people were more likely to nap during the week than on weekends and employed people were only slightly more likely to have a nap on weekends, according to the Pew Research Center Social and Demographics Trends survey.
It also found that women were more likely than men to have trouble sleeping at night, along with people whose annual income is less than $20,000, and those dissatisfied with their personal financial situation, regardless of their income, the Times reported.
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Major Medicare Fraud Bust Targets 'Arthritis Kits'
Doctors were among the more than 30 suspects arrested in a major Medicare fraud bust by more than 200 federal agents in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston.
Some of the businesses targeted in the raids gave patients "arthritis kits" that included heating pads and expensive knee and shoulder braces, the Associated Press reported. Even though the kits were unnecessary and many patients never received them, clinic owners billed Medicare between $3,000 and $4,000 for each kit.
Another scam targeted by federal authorities involved false billing for liquid food for patients who can't eat solid food. Clinic owners involved in the fraud never distributed the liquid food products to patients and, in some cases, billed Medicare for patients who were dead when they supposedly received the products, the AP reported.
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