· If your spouse has a separate plan, act quickly to get on it.
· Ask about your COBRA rights. With some exceptions, laid-off workers can continue their coverage for 18 months by paying its full cost. (Congress is considering a temporary, 65 percent premium subsidy.)
· If COBRA coverage isn’t an affordable option, explore non-group plans. Make sure that any coverage meets the requirements to protect you against preexisting condition exclusions Read the rest of this entry »

It seems clear that change is coming to the U.S. healthcare system. President-elect Barack Obama wants it. Congress wants it. Even the insurance industry says the time is ripe to do things differently.
But not too differently. The idea of doing away with the employer-based insurance system — which has become increasingly unsustainable for businesses and has resulted in 47 million Americans going without coverage — seems to be off the table.
Read the rest of this entry »

It seems clear that change is coming to the U.S. healthcare system. President-elect Barack Obama wants it. Congress wants it. Even the insurance industry says the time is ripe to do things differently.
But not too differently. The idea of doing away with the employer-based insurance system — which has become increasingly unsustainable for businesses and has resulted in 47 million Americans going without coverage — seems to be off the table.
Read the rest of this entry »

Associated Press
10.13.08,
10:20 AM ET
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -
New Mexico ranked worst in the country for the percentage of residents who are covered by health insurance through their employers, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.
The Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank found that 50.7 percent of New Mexico’s population under 65 years old was covered by employer-sponsored health insurance in 2006-2007 Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past six years, Texas workers have lost employer-sponsored health insurance coverage at a rate greater than the national average, according to a new report.
The report from Washington D.C.-based
found that 62 percent of Texas workers had employer-provided coverage in 2006-2007, down 4.7 percent from 2000-2001.
Nationally, the decline was 3.5 percent, the report found.
South Carolina had the biggest drop in coverage at 7.6 percent, Read the rest of this entry »

Health Related Activity Doing Regularly Started within
For Over One Year Past Year
—————– —————
Had health-related screening/exam 55% 23%
Went for physical exam 54% 21%
Tried to improve health through
exercise, better nutrition 53% Read the rest of this entry »

As a national debate over the future of the nation’s health-care system swirls, a new report from a liberal think tank indicates fewer working-age Americans, including Ohioans, are being covered under employer-sponsored health plans.
A briefing paper from the Washington, D.C.-based
, titled The Erosion of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, shows employer coverage for workers and their families dropped for the seventh consecutive year. Read the rest of this entry »

Baker said employers were bracing for potentially bigger increases next year. “Historically, downturns in the economy have often correlated with higher medical trends,” she said.
But higher deductibles could prompt cash-strapped workers to think twice about visiting a doctor, and healthcare experts have long argued that people who avoid treatment end up having bigger medical problems — at greater cost — later.
“What this says is that the employers Read the rest of this entry »

It seems clear that change is coming to the U.S. healthcare system. President-elect Barack Obama wants it. Congress wants it. Even the insurance industry says the time is ripe to do things differently.
But not too differently. The idea of doing away with the employer-based insurance system — which has become increasingly unsustainable for businesses and has resulted in 47 million Americans going without coverage — seems to be off the table.
Read the rest of this entry »

Home Depot employees who participated in a company-sponsored program to support workers in setting exercise goals notably increased their levels of moderate or vigorous physical activity.
.
For three months, 1,442 participants set weekly personal and team physical activity goals and reaped incentives for meeting them. After six weeks, slightly more than half of the participants did at least five 30-minute moderate exercise sessions or two 20-minute Read the rest of this entry »