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Is obesity bacteria related?
Scientists link obesity to gut bacteria (registration required) Researchers in Shanghai identified a human bacteria linked with obesity, fed it to mice and compared their weight gain with rodents without the bacteria. The latter did not become obese despite being fed a high-fat diet and being prevented from exercising. The bacteria linked to obesity is “enterobacter” and […]
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What is a health insurance exchange?
If you’ve paid attention at all to discussions of health care reform, technically known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA) and commonly referred to as Obamacare, you have heard the phrase “Health Insurance Exchange”. Although you may be familiar with the term, most likely your knowledge of what an exchange […]
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Discount dental plans
Many clients struggle with finding value with traditional dental insurance. Plans that cover major services (root canals, oral surgery, etc) start at $30/mo and can easily be priced higher depending on the maximum yearly benefit and out of dental network benefits provided. An alternate solution is a dental discount plan. The main benefit of this type […]
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Genworth VP: “Consumers often believe life insurance costs nearly three times its actual price…”
The full quote is from Genworth VP Brian Bulakites is: Consumers often believe life insurance costs nearly three times its actual price, and this is a major contributor to the large coverage gap we’re seeing in these four groups These 4 underinsured groups according to Genworth are: Large families Unmarried parents Women Those with certain […]
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The Health Insurance Exchange: What flavor does your state have?
States have now declared their intention to the Federal Government regarding the option they have selected regarding the establishment of a health care exchange. Their choices are: State based exchange Partnership exchange with the Federal Government Default to Federal exchange To view which option your State has selected view the Kaiser Foundation Exchange map. You […]
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Health Reform Subsidy Calculator
Determine your subsidy eligibility and estimate using the Kaiser Foundation calculator.
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Are urgent care visits covered by an office visit Copay?
I’ll address this for individual plans. For group plans the answer will change from group to group. In general Urgent Care visits are NOT covered by an office visit copay. What happens in most cases is the bill is sent to your insurance company. Assuming the urgent care center is in-network, here is what will […]
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Affordable care act Prescription mandates are weak
When the Obama administration set initial rules last December to determine what minimum benefits insurers must offer in plans sold to individuals and small groups starting in 2014, one provision stood out: Insurers selling small group and individual policies would have to provide at least one drug per class of drug. In other words, insurers […]
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News you can use: Diabetes drug metformin may be new cancer drug
Bloomberg News: Diabetes Pill From 1958 May Be New Cancer Drug The medicine is dispensed about 120 million times annually, according to a 2010 report in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. If the latest trials on breast and other tumors are successful, the drug could become a cheap weapon in the fight against a myriad […]
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Urgent care visits from sports accidents/injuries
More kids in sports could lead to more urgent care injuries Children can be very active whether playing outside or, especially while competing in sports. Although high school athletes make up the bulk of sports-related injuries each year, children ages 5 to 14 still make up nearly 40 percent. The number injuries in that age […]
