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Hawaii: A Well-Being Paradise for 4th Year
If you visit Hawaii – or better yet – live in Hawaii – you will not find the latest report from Gallup-Healthways surprising. For the fourth year in a row, Hawaii ranks #1 in the Gallup-Healthways...
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Is Sacrificing Health Benefits for Cost The New Normal?
Employer-based health insurance in the U.S. has been around for over a century. In the 1870s and 1890s, industrial employers and unions provided company doctors and other forms of health care. During...
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Boomers Live Longer But Who Takes Care of Whom?
There are nearly 80 million baby boomers – those of us born between 1946 and 1964. You read stories about boomers now caring for their aging parents. Or are they? A report from JAMA Internal Medicine...
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Health Savings Accounts Survive Health Reform Knockout
Employers flock to health savings accounts (HSAs) like geese to favorite fields and lakes. The tax-favored plans feed employers’ hunger for slowing down run-away health care costs. And individuals who...
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Are Health Apps on Physicians’ Prescription Pad?
There are a reported 40,000+ health applications (apps) for download to a smartphone, tablet or other device. Google and Apple app stores alone have 27,000 health apps. The term health does little to...
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Do Health Insurance Mandates Rank High in Your State?
In the U.S. health insurance industry, one size does not fit all. Especially when you examine state differences. For the last few decdes, special interest groups have influenced state legislators in...
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Employment-based Health Insurance in Decade Decline
Don’t blame this one on health reform. You may not be the only one without employer-sponsored health insurance. The percentage of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance is down So, too, is the...
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Laugh Out Loud Healthy Moments
Did you know the first Sunday in May is World Laughter Day? Seriously. There are World Laughter Day events planned around the globe. Dr. Madan Kataria started the laughter in 1998 She is the founder of...
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Health Plan Sponsors: HIPAA Rears Its Head – Again!
As if health reform’s Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act is not enough to keep human resource (HR) professionals jumping, an old nemesis is back on the scene. Who is this nemesis? The Health...
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Skin Cancer Gets Personal
The word cancer defies rationality. No matter how familiar you are with the statistics, when you hear that diagnosis, your heart lurches. I was no different when diagnosed with skin cancer. I’ve spent...
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Health Plan Survey Shows Business as Usual for Employers
Despite the political rage – Even with the initial heel-dragging – Employers are getting down to the business of sponsoring health plans. After the whirlwind that accompanied the passing of health...
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Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act Fines Get Serious
The headline was probably one that most would pass by. It caught my attention for two reasons. It was in my backyard It involved the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) The...
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Grown Kids’ ER Visits Hit Mom and Dad’s Health Insurance
For some young adults, emergency room (ER) visits are not quite as painful in out-of-pocket costs. Families can thank health reform for that. Now there’s a sentence you don’t see every day. However, a...
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Consumer-Directed Health Plans Are a Mixed Bag
Consumer-directed health plans drag employees into health care’s reality. For decades, plan designs and employer-sponsored health plans shielded employees from the true cost of health care. $20 office...
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Snooki-Don’t Give Up Your Spray Tanning Just Yet
Not everyone cared about a provision in health reform’s Affordable Care Act that imposed a tax on tanning salons. Snooki and her Jersey Shore friends cared. Reportedly, so much so that Snooki was...
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Health Plan Transparency: Protecting the Holy Grail
Automobiles have Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates. Houses have home inspection. Businesses insist on full disclosure before spending big dollars – except when it’s health coverage....
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Tech Companies See Value in Products for Seniors
Seniors are a hot market for online and mobile services – finally. With over 41 million Americans age 65 and older, there is plenty of opportunity. Leading the charge is the youth-oriented heart of...
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Health Reform Status: What’s In, Out and Coming?
Rarely does a day go by that there isn’t something written about health care reform’s Affordable Care Act (ACA). The recent announcement of a delay in the employer mandate has some sighing in relief....
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Health Reform Status: Part 2-What’s Out
Health reform status is a moving target. Final rules, delays, and politics shift our focus daily. In Part 1 of a 3-part series, we reviewed provisions already in place. This post reviews what...
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Health Reform: Part 3-What’s Coming?
No, this post does not attempt to predict the future of health reform in the U.S. I don’t own a crystal ball capable of handling that. Instead, this 3-part series was an attempt to let you know where...
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