Issue No. 116

June 21, 2016

 


 
Farmer's Markets are ripe with produce, yet soggy fields plague Texas farmers. And the forecast? More rain? The clouds hold the future and the only sure prediction is an uncertain prediction.

Unlike the weather, uncertain prediction is not what your future holds with TACT health benefits. You are a partner in your coverage - with TACT you own your insurance, as you are a partner with your coverage provider!

At Texas Ag Coop Trust, we are committed to providing our members with the benefits and coverages needed and generate additional revenues to offset cost increases - for YOUR INDUSTRY!

We look forward to continuing our provision of great service, outstanding benefits and SAVINGS to you! 
You are a partner in decision making and you are partnered with a thriving coverage provider. Keeping YOU the priority. Keeping YOUR NEEDS in perspective. With TACT, YOU are our business. 



  
 
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Healthcare in the News

   
ONC Unveils New Videos Empowering Patients to Learn Their Rights Under HIPPA


Courtesy - HHS.gov

During Annual Meeting, ONC also announces new Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of the final day of the 2016 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Annual Meeting taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., ONC last week unveiled a series of consumer-oriented videos about the rights patients have to access their health information, as well as a Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers designed to help clinicians and office staff better engage patients through the use of health IT. The final day of the meeting focused on empowering individuals to become better partners in their health and care.

"Many people are not fully aware of their right to access their own medical records under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), including the right to access a copy when their health information is stored electronically," said Lucia Savage, J.D., ONC's chief privacy officer. "The videos we released today highlight the basics for individuals to get access to their electronic health information and direct it where they wish, including to third party applications."

The videos released today were produced by ONC in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The videos highlight what an individual needs to know about their rights to access their health information. The first video describes the basics of the HIPAA access regulation, including what medical records are, when access is allowed, and when a provider may not share information, such as if a bill has not been paid. The second video takes a deeper dive into what incurred costs are acceptable and an expected wait time for copies of the records. The third video takes a look at the rights of individuals to ask that their information be shared with a third party, such as family members.

The Playbook is part of ONC's effort to develop more user-friendly tools that can help clinicians and other providers in sharing health information with their patients. The Playbook outlines considerations for engaging patients with health IT, including best practices and case studies which clinicians and their office staff can utilize to enhance their efforts to use health IT to better engage their patients.

"We must engage individuals in order to advance the safe and secure flow of health information," said Tom Mason, M.D., ONC's chief medical officer. "The Playbook we're releasing today provides clinicians with the resources they need to get the most out of their health IT and help patients put their electronic information to work to better manage their health."




 
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Agriculture News
  
Excess Moisture Causing Crop Losses Across Texas

Portions Courtesy  - Texas AgriLife Extension
What's trending...Texas rain! In the last 2 years, Texas has received rainfall amounts usually seen once every 500 years! Too much of a good thing?

So, what happened to our El Nino winter and is its spring arrival wreaking havoc on our ag crops?

COLLEGE STATION - In any situation, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and such is the case with the deluge of rain on crops across much of the state, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialists.

Some regions will fair with limited losses once sunshine and drier conditions return, but others will see producers eyeing alternative crops where extreme losses are experienced. The problem for the corn crop is flooding came in several waves at critical periods of growth, said Dr. Ronnie Schnell, AgriLife Extension state cropping systems specialist in College Station.

"The Upper Gulf Coast region had corn in good shape up until the most recent round of rain, but it is probably far enough along it won't hurt it," Schnell said. "There were, however, some bottomlands that were flooded out back in March and had to be replanted."

He said if the growing point on seedling corn is submerged, it can result in stand loss. And even if the growing point isn't covered with water, the saturated soils can still stunt the crop or cause nutrient issues.

"But where we have had more trouble this year is in the Blacklands region from Austin north toward Dallas. There was some replanted in March following that period of rains, but even the replanted corn looked rough because of the extended wet period. The early water really set that corn back, and the most recent round of rains didn't help."

Schnell said not all the corn in that region looks bad; there are some fields that are in good shape. However, for those with apparent damage, it is too late to do any replanting of corn, so at this point producers will ride it out and see what they can harvest or some might shred it.

Dr. Clark B. Neely, AgriLife Extension small grains specialist in College Station, said the wet conditions are complicating wheat harvest for many producers in the state, much like in 2015. Last year the problems were in South Texas and the Blacklands. While sprouting and crop failure in these regions are still a possibility this year, the biggest area of concern now appears to be in the Rolling Plains and portions of the southern High Plains, which are already harvesting ahead of schedule due to the mild winter.

"Wheat yields in these regions are above average, which may help some producers offset low wheat prices this year, but only if grain quality is not compromised or the crop is not lost from heavy rains, lodging or hail," Neely said.

"Some portions of the Concho Valley were harvesting the last week of May, but were forced out of their fields with constant rainfall. When harvesting resumed, there were reports indicating sprouting has occurred in some fields."
He said sprouting becomes an issue once wheat reaches physiological maturity, so this critical threshold has been reached in many fields.

"As conditions dry out this week and more fields are harvested, producers will have a better handle on the amount, if any, of damage to the crop," Neely said. "Producers may also be looking at dockage at elevators from overall poor quality grain, low test weights and fungal head diseases such as sooty mold, which often occur with wet conditions during harvest."

Dr. Gaylon Morgan, AgriLife Extension state cotton specialist in College Station, said the wet spring and early summer in the Coastal Bend, Upper Gulf Coast and Blacklands regions are starting to cause a yellowing of cotton.

The heavy clay soils in these regions drain slower and the excessive rain has led to prolonged saturated conditions, with little oxygen remaining in the soil, he said. Without oxygen, the plant root respiration and nutrient and water uptake from the soil is substantially reduced, leading to nutrient deficiency.

"During the last week of May and early June, yellow cotton was widespread across the Coastal Bend as the crop was loaded with squares and approaching the early bloom stage," Morgan said. The yellowing symptoms are more prevalent in the poorly drained fields where the soil has remained saturated for five to 10 days, he said.

"Also, at the current growth stage, the cotton plants have a tremendous nutrient uptake demand, and simultaneously poor conditions for nutrient uptake into the roots," Morgan said. "In the majority of the fields, the upper cotton canopy is yellow while the lower canopy is green."

Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium are plant mobile nutrients and will move from older leaves to newer leaves when insufficient nutrients are available, he said. As a result, deficiency symptoms occur on the older leaves of the plant first. Calcium, sulfur, iron, zinc, boron and some other elements are immobile in the plant, so these nutrient deficiencies symptoms occur first in the upper leaves, which is the current situation in the Coastal Bend.

"Based on previous experience and conversations with people familiar with the Coastal Bend, I would expect the nutrient deficiency symptoms to disappear as the soils dry, oxygen re-enters the soil and nutrient uptake resumes," Morgan said. He added the level of yield loss due to the insufficient supply of nutrients is hard to predict and will be more affected by growing conditions during the remainder of the season.

Dr. Thomas Isakeit, AgriLife Extension plant pathologist in College Station, said several fields in the Blacklands experienced leaf diseases due to the wet weather. While symptoms resemble Ascochyta blight also known as "wet weather blight," he said it was primarily a fungus, Phoma leaf spot, with other fungi associated with petiole and stem lesions.

"The appearance of these cotton diseases has been associated with frequent, rainy weather," Isakeit said. "It appears that with warm, dry weather, the cotton plant outgrows the fungus. In one field, I did a fungicide application on some rows and after seven days, I did not see any difference between the treated and untreated rows.

"In this time, there were some clear, warm days and new and upper leaves of all plants looked good. There may be a problem with the stand in some fields where stem lesions are present, but the Phoma leaf spot should not be a long-term problem."

Another concern expressed by Dr. Larry Redmon, AgriLife Extension state forage specialist in College Station, is there will be a lot of hay produced in the wake of this abundance of moisture, but the quality is likely to be low because it can't be cut in a timely fashion.
"Producers will need to get any forage they receive later this summer tested before feeding it to their livestock," Redmon said. "If the nutrient quality is below that of the animal's needs, they will need to supplement the feed."

Across the state, where crop stands are washed away or the crop is beyond saving, producers will have to look at alternative crops to plant in place of the failed one.
Dr. Calvin Trostle, AgriLife Extension agronomist in Lubbock, said though some hailstorms, wind damage and poor stands have occurred in the South Plains, the main concern is unplanted ground that was intended for cotton. Some producers now are looking at replant situations or delayed planting, but cotton or a full-season crop is no longer viable.

More information and updates on crop conditions and expectations can be found subscribing or following the Texas Row Crops Newsletter, http://agrilife.org/texasrowcrops/.

 
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 Healthful Hint
  
 
Since 1994 - The purpose of Men's Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. This month gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury. The response has been overwhelming with thousands of awareness activities in the USA and around the globe.

 
Men's Health Is A Family Issue
(Men's Health Week June 13-19, 2016)

To quote Congressman Bill Richardson (Congressional Record, H3905-H3906, May 24, 1994):
"Recognizing and preventing men's health problems is not just a man's issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men's health is truly a family issue."
 
WEAR BLUE FOR MEN'S HEALTH!


 

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Texas Ag Coop Trust
Officers, Board of Trustees
 
Kimberly Tullo-Holcomb
TACT Executive Director
Lubbock, TX
 
Jim Turner, Chairman
Dalhart Consumers Fuel Association
Dalhart, TX

Bret Brown, Secretary/Treasurer
Ag Producers Co-op
Sunray, TX 
 
Craig Rohrbach
Parmer County Cotton Growers
Farwell, TX
 
Dean Sasser 
Farmers Coop Elevator
Levelland, TX

Tony Williams
Texas Cotton Ginners' Association
Austin, TX
 
Paul Wilson 
United Cotton Growers
Levelland, TX


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Obamacare, Medicare - Healthcare...With CARE being our operative term, TACT understands that options can be overwhelming and doing things they way you've always done them, may not be working anymore. Maybe you have questions - TACT understands. It isn't easy for consumers to know exactly what they are buying when it comes to healthcare coverage. 

At Texas Ag Coop Trust, we are always looking for ways to reduce cost and improve benefits for our members.We are committed to providing our members with the benefits and coverages needed and generate additional revenues to offset cost increases - for YOUR INDUSTRY!

TACT aids in providing group benefits to members in the AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. TACT provides quality benefit plans and works to hold down future rate increases for participants.

We look forward to continuing our provision of great service, outstanding benefits and SAVINGS to you! 
You are a partner in decision making and you are partnered with a thriving coverage provider. Keeping YOU the priority. Keeping YOUR NEEDS in perspective.  

WE ARE:  
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With TACT, your need for healthcare is met! We are expanding and advancing and we want to hear from you!  Do you have questions? Are you fielding concerns from employees and contractors? We have the answers you are looking for. We have the product to meet your need. And, best of all, we are Texas and we are personal. With TACT, you are our business!




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Next Issue:  July 5 , 2016 
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