Category: B

An unusual curling upwards of the big toe when a finger is lightly run across the sole of the foot, while the others turn down and spread out, a sign of hemiplegia and pyramidal tract disease. The Babinski reflex is a phenomenon observed when the sole of the foot is stroked from below the heel…

Agency within the Health Resources Administration in HEW which administers the Professional Standards Review Organization program.    

Agency within the Social Security Administration which administers the Medicare program. Actual operation of the program is carried out through arrangements with intermediaries and carriers, who operate under contract with BHI/SSA and receive all policy guidance from the Bureau. BHI employs approximately 2,000 individuals.  

In the Federal budget, authority provided by law to enter into obligations which will result in immediate or future outlays of government funds, except that it does not include the authority to insure or guarantee the repayment of indebtedness incurred by another person or government. The basic forms of budget authority are: appropriations, contract authority,…

New popular name for byssinosis; a chronic, disabling lung disease caused by chronic inhalation of cotton dust and prevalent among textile workers. Similar to, but not the same as, black lung. Federal benefits, like those available for miners disabled by black lung, are not available for people with brown lung.  

Organized or informal facilities which provide room and board (to those desiring it, often the aged), and, sometimes, custodial care for a fee. The provision of medical supervision, social activities or counseling is not normally included. They are not licensed as health facilities and usually are not subject to licensure at all.  

A nonprofit, tax-exempt plan of a type originally established in 1939 which provides coverage of physician’s services. The individual plans should be distinguished from the National Association of Blue Shield Plans. Blue Shield coverage is commonly sold in conjunction with Blue Cross coverage, although this is not always the case. The relationship between Blue Cross…

A nonprofit, tax-exempt health service prepayment organization providing coverage for health care and related services. The individual plans should be distinguished from their national association, the Blue Cross Association. Historically, the plans were largely the creation of the hospital industry, and designed to provide hospitals with a stable source of revenues, although formal association between…

A provision (usually included as an added feature of a policy primarily providing some other type of coverage, such as loss of income insurance) which entitles the insured to collect, up to a maximum established in the policy, for all hospital and medical expenses incurred, without limitations on individual types of medical expenses.  

Common name for pneumoconiosis, a chronic severely debilitating lung disease caused by inhaling coal dust and principally found among coal miners. Certain medical benefits for the victims of the disease are available under title IV of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-173), as amended by P.L. 92-303. Lay term…