Archive for September, 2010
State Roundup: N.Y. Small Businesses Protest Health Insurance Premium Hikes; Arizona Medicaid Crisis; A New Payment System For Massachusetts?
September 27th, 2010
The Boston Globe: Massachusetts officials are “reviving the state’s ambitious plan to change how doctors and hospitals are paid, aiming to hand the Legislature a specific proposal by Jan. 1″ to end disagreement over controlling health spending. “Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of health and human services, convened a small group of state officials and health care executives earlier this month to draft a first-in-the-nation blueprint for scrapping the current payment system, in which doctors and hospitals are typically paid a negotiated fee for every procedure and visit. This system, called fee for service, is widely viewed as lacking coordination and encouraging unnecessary tests and procedures.” A new system would “essentially” give providers a budget for each patient.
Tags: State, State Roundup
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Stay Healthy, Lower your health insurance. part 1
September 26th, 2010
Did you know that you can lower the cost of your health insurance plans by living a healthy lifestyle? There are some medical conditions that can increase the price of your health insurance that you can’t control, i.e. preexisting or hereditary conditions. However, there are things you can control that improve your healthy lifestyle that can keep you out of the doctor’s office and not spending all of your head earned money.
Drink lots of water.
I know, I know. Your doctor’s urging to drink more water is about as redundant and cliche as eating all of your veggies. But, it DOES keep you healthier.
Did you know that drinking water can help you lose and maintain a healthy weight? A stu
Tags: Health Insurance, Insurance
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How to Gain Sales Through Social Media
September 25th, 2010
How do you turn your brand name recognition and participation in social networks into sales and a larger book of business? Through referrals and recommendations.
How do you gain those?
Just like you do in person or on the phone: Offer great customer service, always be available to offer your assistance or to answer questions and ask your best customers to put in a good word for you with friends and relatives who may need insurance.
The difference is that things can spread so much faster on the Web. Not every recommendation may turn into a sale, but you’ll be gaining lots of referrals if you do things right.
Using social media gives you the opportunity to make a personal connection with clients that telephone calls or even personal business meetings may not allow. A
Tags: Social, Social Media
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Premiums, Deductibles and Co-pays: What do they all mean?
September 23rd, 2010
When looking for affordable health insurance plans you will find that premiums, deductibles and co-pays are mentioned a lot. If you don’t know what these mean it can make the process exhausting and very confusing. Here is a quick, easy guide on how to navigate through these basic health insurance terms.
Premiums. To put it simply, premiums are the monthly payment that you (the policy holder) would pay to your health insurance provider. Premiums can be be paid as one lump sum yearly or as a monthly payment. Premiums must be paid even if you don’t make a claim to your health insurance provider. If you have insurance through your work, your employer will pay the monthly premium which is usually deducted from your paycheck. Hea
Tags: Copays Mean, Mean
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Connecticut Officials Ask Obama for Tornado Damage Aid
September 22nd, 2010
Connecticut’s congressional delegation is asking President Obama to reconsider the denial of federal aid for tornado-related damage in Fairfield County.
The delegation wrote to Obama on Tuesday saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s rejection of the aid will deprive property owners of money they need to fix the damage and rebuild their lives.
The officials say the EF-1 tornado that hit Bridgeport June 24 caused $3 million in property damage, as well as significant damage in surrounding towns.
Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman and Reps. John Larson, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes and Chris Murphy say most of the people affected are low-income and only 17 percent had insurance covering the damage.
Gov.
Tags: Aid, Damage Aid
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7 Good Ideas for Updating Your Facebook Status
September 21st, 2010
We’ve all heard that using Facebook can be beneficial to your agency. But once you’ve set up a Facebook profile or page, what then?
Here are some good ideas for things you can update your status with that will get a lot of response:
1) Good news. Either for yourself or a family member/friend.
2) Interesting questions. Get people thinking.
3) Links to interesting blog posts or news articles.
4) Requests for advice or other information.
5) Introduce friends to each other. People are always looking for new Facebook
friends.6) Something funny. But
Tags: Good Ideas, Status
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Health Insurance helps families avoid poverty
September 20th, 2010
Sandy Johnson and her husband of one year, Mark Johnson, settled down for a late night movie. Around 1:00 a.m., Sandy noticed Mark was restless and he began grabbing at her. She turned to ask him to stop and Mark stared at Sandy blankly, unable to speak. Panicked, she asked him to smile. The right side of his face drooped and he was unable to raise his right arm.
50-year-old Mark was suffering from a stroke. And he did not have health insurance. While Sandy was able to get Mark help in time to save his life, it was the financial burden of paying for his medical expenses out of pocket that debilitated their family.
While the initial investment of health insurance can seem pricey, it can be more devastating to chance it without health insurance.
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Number of Americans Without Health Insurance Increases to 50.7 million
September 19th, 2010
The number of Americans without health insurance has increased to 50.7 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the highest percentage of individuals without private insurance since the government began keeping records in 1987.
1 in 6 Uninsured
The data released by the Census Bureau on Thursday revealed a whopping one in six residents are going without private health insurance in the United States. There are a number or reasons given for the significant increase in uninsured Americans, which rose from 15.4 percent (46.3 million) to 16.7 percent.
Tags: Health Insurance, Million
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