What is it?

When your blood sugar is elevated above normal but not high enough to be considered in the diabetic range.

Why is it good to know if you are pre-diabetic?

Diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in our country. Taking some actions to control your blood glucose can delay or prevent type-2 diabetes from developing.

Who should be tested?

Type-2 diabetes usually develops after age 45. At your next routine office visit, ask your doctor about testing.  If you are overweight or if you have any other risk factors for diabetes, your doctor may recommend testing. If you are younger, your doctor may suggest testing depending on your weight and risk factors.

What is the best way to treat pre-diabetes?

Increase your level of activity. Moderate activity for just 30 minutes a day and, if overweight, losing just 5 to 10% of your body weight has been proven to lower the risk.

What kinds of diet and exercise are best?

Check with your primary care provider before you begin a program.

Anything else?

Yes. Stress management! If you feel that you have significant problems with stress in your life, ask your doctor to recommend lifestyle change strategies to help. Tobacco: If you are a user, do ask your doctor for advice to help you kick the habit.

UPHP received it’s 2002 Health Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) results. This study compares the plan’s care to state and national Medicaid plans. HEDIS® looks at well-child visits, immunizations, diabetes care, cervical and breast cancer, chlamydia screening, prenatal and postpartum care, asthma care, and hypertension care.

Most of our results improved over last year. More parents are immunizing their children at the right time, people with asthma are using the correct medications to control their asthma symptoms, and more members with diabetes are getting a yearly eye exam.  Let’s keep up the good health care!

The areas you could do better in are:

• Getting well-child visits for your 3 to 6 year olds. Less than half of the 3 to 6 year olds in our plan got a yearly checkup last year.
• Getting preventive well-care visits for your adolescent 12 to 21 year olds. Less that one fourth of all adolescents got a checkup last year.

Let’s make a pledge to get these checkups!

If you would like more information about our quality program or our annual member satisfaction surveys, please call Clinical Services.

We’ve all heard of New Year’s resolutions well, here is a twist on the theme. Please take a moment to think about when your children or adolescents had their last well-care exam? Has it been over a year? If the answer is “yes,” please pick up the phone and schedule one now!

Our updated Preventive Health Care Guidelines tell you what the recommended well-care tests and immunizations are and when to get them. For a copy, call Customer Service or check it out on our Web site!

Take a copy of shot records with you to the visit. If you’re seeing a provider who did not give the shots, take the card anyway. Ask that a copy be placed in your child’s medical record.  Ask that any past history of chicken-pox disease be recorded also. As more and more children are getting vaccinated against chicken pox, it will be very important that a history of having had this disease is present on their shot records ­ both your copy and the doctor’s chart copy.

New Member Handbooks are included with Medicaid members’ December newsletter this year. Take some time to read through yours, because some of the information has changed.

As a member of UPHP, you are responsible for knowing the information in the current handbook. Contact UPHP right away if you don’t have a copy of the handbook that says October 2002 on the front cover. We would be happy to send you a new one. Also let us know if you have questions about it or if you don’t understand it. We are here to help!

From January through March 2003 the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) will begin using the new mihealth card. It is a permanent plastic ID card. It will be issued to all Michigan Medicaid Upper Peninsula Health Plan (UPHP) members during this time. You will continue to receive your monthly blue card until March.  You will no longer receive your monthly card after that. If you lose your eligibility, do not throw away your mihealth card! You will need it if you regain eligibility at a later date.

Each member will receive his/her own mihealth card. It will list your name and ID number on the front of it. Your eligibility information will no longer be included. Your doctors will have to verify coverage through the eligibility verification system (EVS) or by swiping the magnetic strip on the back of the card. Just presenting the card doesn’t guarantee coverage. You must be eligible in the EVS in order to be covered.

As with your current Medicaid card, you must carry your mihealth and UPHP cards with you at all times.  Not doing so could make getting care difficult. Contact your caseworker at the Family Independence Agency (FIA) or UPHP for more information on the mihealth card

Hand-washing is the single, most effective thing you can do to reduce the spread of colds and other infectious diseases! Below are tips to prevent illnesses in your family:

• Wash your hands often.
• Thoroughly wash your hands with soap and warm running water. Rub them together for at least 10 seconds. This is about the same amount of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday.” Try humming this to yourself while washing your hands!
• It’s not necessary to user antibacterial soaps when washing up. These types of soaps may produce antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Infections by this type of bacteria are more difficult to treat. Regular soap and water will do the job just fine.
• Dry your hands completely, using a clean towel.

Your privacy is important to us. When you sign up for Medicaid, you give your okay for facts about you to be given to the Upper Peninsula Health Plan (UPHP). This includes facts about your medical history and treatment. The UPHP gets this information from Medicaid lists. These lists include your age, sex, Medicaid number, and other personal information. This information is used by UPHP to get health care for you and to pay for that health care.

There is also certain data about you that UPHP must collect, use, and give out. UPHP uses reports to get information about you and your health care. The reports tell UPHP the cost and types of health care you got. Complaints and grievances also tell us about you and your health care.

The UPHP will not give out any facts about you without your written and signed consent, unless the law says so. We only give out facts about you for the following:

The UPHP never sells any type of data about any member.

It is UPHP policy that only people who need to see the facts about you see them. We protect these facts at all times. Your personal, medical, and financial data are kept private. This includes both electronic and written forms. Everyone we contract with also agrees to keep your personal information private. We will not give out information from your medical records without your consent, except:

We will notify you in a timely manner if we release personal information about you in response to a court order.

Your rights are explained in your member handbook.

You also have these rights:

• To have your records kept private and your privacy protected.
• To have your medical and financial records kept private, whether in written or electronic form.
• To have your medical information disclosed only with your consent (except when required by law, when needed for plan management, or for studies and medical research).
• To look at your records or those of your minor dependents at the office of your doctor during the doctor’s normal work hours.
• To receive your rights.
• To know what we expect of you.

It’s that time of year again! The snow is flying, carols can be heard on nearly every radio station, and travel plans are being made. Who can resist putting up the tree and adorning every shelf and tabletop with holiday decor? But is your family safe this holiday season? Many of us get caught up in the Christmas feeling and tend to overlook preventable dangers. Here are some tips for keeping your family safe this season:

If you decorate your home with a real or fake tree....

• Be sure your tree is secured in a tree stand and that your baby can’t pull it down.
• Check the water level several times a day if necessary. Dry needles can be a big fire hazard!
• Don’t use tinsel and glass or tiny ornaments. If yo do, place them out of baby’s reach.
• Be sure to check strands of lights before putting them on the tree. The cords shouldn’t be frayed, and all the lights should be in working order. Don’t overload electrical circuits or extension cords.
• Never leave your baby alone around the Christmas tree!
• Consider getting a smaller, tabletop tree. Placing it out of baby’s reach is the best way to protect baby from injuries related to tree mishaps.
• Never use lighted candles on Christmas trees. Keep candles at least 3 feet away from flammable objects.

Always remember to....

• Keep your Hanukkah menorah and other candles on a high surface and not too close to the edge of a table top.
• Never leave a child alone in a room with lit candles. Never sleep or leave the room with candles burning.
• Don’t leave dreidles where children under age 3 can find and choke on them.
• Make sure pets are kept away from your baby. Even a loving family dog can get stressed during the holidays and become aggressive.
• Keep your baby away from all plants. Some common holiday plants are poisonous.
• Check the age listing on presents for your children. Toys with small or removable parts can present a choking hazard to small children.
• One of the best ways to protect your family all year long is to install a working smoke detector.

Contact your primary care provider (PCP) or Upper Peninsula Health Plan (UPHP) for more information on holiday safety.

You have the right to approve release of personal or medical information about yourself or a dependent minor. If someone calls Upper Peninsula Health Plan (UPHP) and asks for facts about you, we cannot give those facts unless we have your consent. If you want someone else to be able to call UPHP and get information about you or to change your Primary Care Provider (PCP), then you need to send us a letter.  The letter must tell UPHP who it is you give that right to.  It also must be dated and signed by you.

Sometimes a member cannot give us their consent. They may be a child under the age of 18. They might not be able to take care of themselves or cannot talk. In all cases, unless it is the member asking for the information or the parent or legal guardian, UPHP will need the member’s okay.

Call Customer Service for more information or help with consent.

Please don’t leave water or other liquids in big buckets standing around. Children left alone even for a minute could fall in and drown.  It takes as little as 2 inches of liquid for a child to drown. This can happen because young children are top-heavy. They can lose their balance (as they often do) while looking into a toilet or bucket, and they may fall in headfirst and then be unable to get out.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that about 50 infants and toddlers drown this way every year. Most of the victims are between 8 and 14 months old. To get more safety tips for around your home, please visit the Web site at:
http://www.cpsc.gov/kids/kidsafety/index.html