Many respondents also say they have had bad experiences with finding health insurance or paying medical debts.

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Sharpe and Simpson, who ran Ideal Mobility Solutions, mainly sold ordinary mattress covers that were claimed to have health benefits for ailments such as bad backs and stiff joints.

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As long as those who have bad habits are not compromising the quality of health care being provided on hospital ground, then let's not exclude smoking nurses, fat physical therapists, and scuba diving pharmacists from work.

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In short, the two men may be inextricably bound together: in good times and in bad and, as Mr Berlusconi may have reflected this week, in sickness and in health.

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It is widely recognized that home health genuinely suffers from bad-apple providers and other issues of program integrity that have nothing to do with beneficiaries.

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Other countries, too, have problems such as creaking education systems, ageing populations, ill health, pollution, poverty, bad bureaucrats, regional tensions, uncompetitive heavy industries, cash-hungry public services and terrorism.

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While obesity is definitely bad, you may have heard the debate over whether being a little overweight could actually be good for your health and make you live longer.

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