October 2006

Being Held Accountable

by Louise October 22, 2006

This is a follow up to our last post about how obesity has a huge impact on health care usage, and therefore contributes heavily to skyrocketing health insurance premiums.  Most Americans with health insurance get their coverage through their employers.  Group health insurance through an employer is required to cover all qualified employees, regardless of medical history.  [...]

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Why is the Cost of Health Insurance Rising So Fast?

by Jay October 20, 2006

When people try to explain why health insurance premiums are rising so fast, the common explanation you’ll get is that the cost of healthcare is rising.  And, yes, this does have something to do with the reason health insurance premiums are increasing.  But it’s not the reason health insurance premiums are so out of control.  [...]

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The Wrong Idea

by Jay October 19, 2006

I was recently going over some health insurance options with a client. We were comparing some high deductible HSA qualified plans with some lower deductible copay plans. She then asked about some of the really cheap plans she saw on our instant quote engine like Right Start from Assurant. I explained that we don’t recommend [...]

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Ezra Klein Rules!!

by Jay October 18, 2006

Now I admit that healthcare topics may not be the most interesting reading on the internet – for some people.  But Ezra Klein is hosting the Health Wonk Review this week and boy, oh boy does he have a way with words!  He kept it short, to the point, and most of all… entertaining. -Jay

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Wake Yourself Up With a Venti Grand Rounds

by Jay October 17, 2006

It’s a giant sized Grand Rounds over at Emergiblog today.  Kim, an emergency room nurse, has put together a Starbucks themed compilation of the weeks best healthcare blog posts. I found it very interesting that inhaled insulin is now available.  Diabetes Mine has a great interview with an user of Exubera.  Really interesting! -Jay

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A Greener Earth, Fitter Employees and Lower Insurance Premiums

by Louise October 17, 2006

What if health insurance carriers teamed up with employers to improve employee health, lower the number of cars on the roads, and give employees a discount on their health insurance?  What would it take to get people to participate?  Here’s the idea:  Let’s say a company has 200 employees, and offers health insurance to them, [...]

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Tax-Deductible Gym Memberships

by Louise October 16, 2006

The Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2006 is currently under consideration in the House of Representatives.  Since we are big fans of maintaining health rather than trying to fix health problems after they develop, we think this bill would be a great addition to our myriad of tax laws.  Basically, it would allow Americans to [...]

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Make Love Not Debt Talks Personal Finance

by Jay October 16, 2006

There is a LOT of talk about debt and personal finance over at Make Love Not Debt today.  I wish I had the time to go through and read all of them, because there are some really interesting topics in this weeks edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance.  My favorite one is from InsureBlog [...]

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Moral Support for Those Battling Breast Cancer

by Louise October 14, 2006

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we wanted to spread the word about the Y-ME hotline (1-800-221-2141).  This is a grass roots support system, founded by Ann Marcou and Mimi Kaplan in 1978.  The Y-ME website explains more about their mission and how they provide support and encouragement to those fighting the battle with breast cancer.  [...]

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