DOH wants graphic warnings on cigarette packs

The Department of Health (DOH) will issue this coming week an administrative order requiring cigarette manufacturers to place graphic warnings in their products, and expects to get the support of probably the country’s most powerful smoker — soon-to-be president Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III.

“Palagay ko maski naninigarilyo ang pangulo di siya kokontra rito dahil ito public health. Ito ay sang-ayon sa Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ito obligasyon natin bilang bansa na pumirma sa treaty na yan na dapat sundin," said Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla in an interview on government-run dzRB radio.

(I do not expect the incoming president to object to this because this involves public health. This is in line with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is part of our obligation as a country that ratified the treaty.)

Unofficial tallies by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and various election watchdogs show Aquino ahead of his eight other contenders in the presidential race. He is also expected to lead when Congress starts next week the canvassing of votes for president and vice president cast last May 10.

Padilla said cigarette packs should have had the graphic warnings as early as 2008, three years after the country ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

“Ito mga litrato sa pakete, yan ang known internationally, marami ang bansa na lumalabas nito (These graphic warnings are known internationally and many countries are coming out with this)," he said.

He said textual warnings such as “Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health" and “Smoking kills" are not enough especially for young and illiterate smokers. “Ang karanasan ng ibang bansa binabalewala ang text warning. Pag nakita ang graphic warning sa kabataan at di marunong magbasa mas malaki ang epekto nito."

(In other countries, a textual warning is usually ignored. But a graphic warning has a big effect on the youth and on those who cannot read.)

Padilla said the graphic warnings will be colored and should offset the strategy of tobacco companies to target the youth as “replacements" for older generations of smokers. He also said the government will push for an absolute ban on cigarette advertising, including those in billboards.

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Health Care Reform: Tax Hikes on the Way

Here are 13 changes in the massive overhaul that could impact your tax bill, for better or worse.

The new health care reform law is chock-full of new taxes and tax increases that will affect many individuals and businesses, but it will be years before most of these hikes take a bite out of your -- or your company’s -- wallet. The law also has tax breaks to help both individuals and small businesses pay for insurance.

1. A new 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services on services provided after June 30, 2010.

2. The new law gives small firms tax credits as incentives to provide coverage, starting this tax year. Employers with 10 or fewer workers and average annual wages of less than $25,000 can receive a credit of up to 35% of their health premium costs each year through 2013. The credit is phased out for firms larger than that and disappears completely if a company has more than 25 employees or average annual wages of $50,000 or more. Beginning in 2014, small firms that sign up with one of the health exchanges to be created can receive a credit of up to 50% of their costs.

3. A requirement that businesses include the value of the health care benefits they provide to employees on W-2s, beginning with W-2s for 2011.

4. Elimination of a deduction employers now take for providing Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage to their retirees to the extent that the federal government subsidizes the coverage. This will not take effect until 2013.

5. Doubling the penalty for nonqualified distributions from health savings accounts, to 20%, beginning in 2011.

6. A limit on the amount that employees can contribute to health care flexible spending accounts to $2,500 a year, but the cap won't take effect until 2013.

7. A ban on using funds from flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements or health savings accounts for the cost of over-the-counter medications, starting in 2011.

8. Imposing a 0.9% Medicare surtax on wages of single taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year and couples earning over $250,000, starting in 2013, as well as a 3.8% Medicare tax on their unearned income. The new law defines unearned income as interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, royalties, and rents. Tax-exampt interest won’t be included, nor will income from retirement accounts.

9. A hike in the 7.5% floor on itemized deductions for medical expenses to 10%, beginning in 2013. But taxpayers age 65 and over are exempt from the cutback through 2016.

10. A new 40% excise tax, beginning in 2018, on high-cost health plans, levied on the portion that exceeds $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families.

11. A new tax on individuals who don't obtain adequate health coverage by 2014. The tax is be phased in over three years, starting at the greater of $95, or 1% of income, in 2014, and rising to the greater of $695, or 2.5% of income, in 2016.

12. Providing a refundable tax credit, once the individual mandate takes effect in 2014, to help low-income folks purchase coverage. To be eligible, a person's household income must be between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, generally around $11,000 to $44,000 for singles and $22,000 to $88,000 for families.

13. A nondeductible fee charged to businesses with 50 or more employees if the firms fail to offer adequate coverage. The fee will equal $2,000 times the number of employees, though it won’t count the first 30 workers in that calculation.

Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.



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Swine Flu in Pregnancy Leads Some to ICU

Pregnant women with the H1N1 (swine) flu were 13 times more likely to become critically ill than non-pregnant women infected with H1N1, according to a report from researchers in Australia and New Zealand.

In the study, published online March 19 in BMJ, the investigators found that 11 percent of mothers and 12 percent of the babies died, but the authors noted that it is difficult to draw conclusions because there were few pregnant women infected with H1N1 to study.

The researchers, led by Dr. Ian Seppelt from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Influenza Investigators, looked at the medical records of pregnant women and women who had given birth within the previous four weeks who had contracted H1N1 and were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) between June and August 2009.

Of 64 women included in the study, those who were more than 20 weeks pregnant faced a 13-fold higher risk of ending up in an ICU compared to women with H1N1 flu who weren't pregnant.

None of the women had been immunized against seasonal flu despite recommendations that moms-to-be get vaccinated, the study authors pointed out.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on H1N1 (swine) flu and pregnancy.

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