beauty and health

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Where To Get The Best And Cheapest Health Insurance

The concept of health insurance is rapidly gaining momentum in urban locations. Quite often employees from the corporate sector do not buy health insurance as this facility is offered by their employers. However shifting of jobs may lead to invalidation of the policy and if you are a part of family holding responsibilities, it is safer to stay insured with some health insurance. It is the best financial security guarding you against costs related to any health inconvenience. The best health insurance in India covers most of the critical illnesses besides facilitating cashless transactions, providing health check-up at no extra costs and other benefits. It is as easy to buy health insurance as it is difficult in choosing the right policy. Going online can only help you grab the best health insurance India besides availing the cheapest.

Hectic schedules are the order of the day and you will certainly not have the time to visit insurance brokers, listen to their suggestions in addition to reading the benefits of the various policies one after another. An online search is effortless and a time-saving affair. You need not visit insurance agents or brokers; from the comfort of your space, you can instantly buy health insurance online – that too the best and at the cheapest price. One online insurance service provider that is the talk of the town amongst budget conscious and health-conscious people is EIndiaInsurance.com. You can select the cheapest health insurance policy India by comparing various policies offered by the leading insurance companies in just a matter of minutes. It has in its list insurance providers like TATA AIG, Bajaj Allianz, Future Generali, ICICI Lombard, Reliance, Apollo DKV, Iffco Tokio, Cholamandalam, to name a few. Payment options are designed as per the buyer’s preference in three options, viz. credit card, debit card and cheque; you can opt for any of the alternatives.

Travel Jobs for Physical Therapists

Physical therapists are in high demand in the United States. Results-driven professionals can easily secure permanent or travel jobs in top health care companies and medical facilities. Travel jobs in physical therapy are for those who are interested in going to different locations and working in various kinds of environments.

Physical Therapy Travel Jobs offer Interesting Opportunities

There are excellent opportunities for travel loving, outgoing and enthusiastic physical therapists looking for highly rewarding career. A travel physical therapist gets to travel to different locations and interact with a broad spectrum of people. Their tasks and responsibilities include assisting patients to improve their physical functions through exercise and physical activity. They need to help patients to work out with different equipment in order to restore their bodily functions. Usually, a travel physical therapy assignment lasts 13 weeks, after which the physical therapist can opt to renew it or choose a new location.

Benefits enjoyed by Traveling Physical Therapists

Qualified physical therapists can find both fulltime and part-time positions in travel jobs. To get the job of their choice, the best option would be better to link with a reliable healthcare recruiting agency. With their wide network and close contacts with different medical facilities, the agency can help them find travel job positions in prestigious healthcare facilities. This would also help them to secure excellent benefits and services. Those in physical therapy travel jobs get a chance to earn extra money through sign-on, completion and referral bonuses. They are also eligible for the following allowances:

• 401(k) benefits
• Travel expenses
• Paid housing
• Relocation expenses
• Continuing education programs
• Professional liability insurance
• Section 125 Cafeteria Plan
• Insurance benefits
• Earn bonus packages
• Health benefits
• Additional state license

Approach a Reliable Recruiter

To secure a job of their choice, physical therapists looking for a travel job should create a profile showing their work experience, career goals and preferences and upload it on the site of the healthcare recruiter. The agency can then help them find the job of their choice in hospitals, clinics, research facilities, long term care facilities, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation clinics, nursing homes, and other facilities across the US.

No Health Insurance Plans, No College? More Universities Mandate Coverage

Recently, more public universities have chosen to enact a mandate on their students. It is not a requirement that students keep their grade point averages above a certain level, or a code of honor that forbids cheating. Rather, they are forcing all of their attendees to have health insurance plans! Health insurance and studying don’t normally seem like related topics. However, many university officials have pointed to scientific studies, which show that students in good health are better able to concentrate on their courses. As a result, they earn higher grades than those in bad health. While having health coverage doesn’t necessarily improve a person’s health in and of itself, it allows one to use affordable preventative care services that catch illnesses before they worsen. If a student’s condition is not cared for properly, it can become serious enough to make them withdraw out of school altogether.

The majority of college students are covered through the health insurance plans of their parents. These plans are usually employer-sponsored, and the recession has seen an increasing number of people laid off from their jobs. COBRA family health insurance plans can cost over ,000 in premiums each month, so many families are forced to drop their insurance. College-age children lose their insurance, as well, when that is the case. A parent’s coverage of a university student as a dependent also expires when a full-time student reaches their 24th or 25th birthday; this affects many individuals who have chosen to return to school or switched majors. Students who receive health insurance through jobs of their own are also susceptible to either layoffs or cutbacks in hours that make them ineligible for employer-sponsored plans.

Despite most students already having health insurance, slightly over a quarter of college students are estimated to be uninsured. There are several reasons for this; many young adults believe they are invincible and in generally good health, so they believe health insurance is unnecessary. Also, the cost of student health insurance is daunting-even to those who recognize the need for insurance. Most colleges offer voluntary student health insurance plans, but relatively few individuals partake in them. In general, a large portion of this demographic doesn’t realize how important health insurance plans are until they are in a serious accident or diagnosed with a major illness. This is part of the reason health insurance mandates have been enacted in over a third of public four-year colleges, with 22 other state systems looking towards doing so.

There are several advantages to college students having health insurance. Most importantly, it will increase the physical and mental safety of students on campus. In addition, health insurance plans assist with significant medical expenses that would otherwise come out of the student’s own pocket. Since most college students are not flush with cash, many will either skip essential treatments or be saddled with thousands of dollars in medical debt for years. Medical debt is the #1 cause of bankruptcy, and having student loans on top of that doesn’t help. Quality health care allows students to finish a degree in a reasonable period of time, without as many health-related distractions; this helps save money on tuition. Other universities are also concerned with the burden uninsured students put on local hospitals surrounding the campus.

On the other hand, there are significant drawbacks to mandating health insurance plans among students. The most prominent concern is that health insurance will force students to pay yet another fee, which many can ill afford as tuition rates continue to rise. Higher education will be further out of reach for some college students. Although health insurance plans have long been mandatory in many private universities, most public universities tend to have a less affluent student body that will feel the brunt of such mandates. To counteract this problem, state universities are pointing to the fact that they will be able to use the sheer volume of enrolled students to buy lower-priced health insurance plans from one company. For example, the University of North Carolina claims that they are able to provide health insurance that used to cost over ,100 in premiums per year (at least 15% of annual tuition in some states) for just 0.

Massachusetts, known to be a leader in healthcare reform among states, has required all students-with either full- or part-time status-to have health insurance plans since 1989. In most cases, the mandates have come from the universities themselves. Several prominent university systems, including those in California, Montana, and Minnesota, also have the mandate. Other states, like Florida, are using a pilot program in one state university to test the concept. California is set to expand the health insurance mandate to graduate students next year. Most current mandates apply solely to undergraduates, and some only apply to incoming freshmen and transfer students; however, graduate study often entails long work weeks of research and teaching lower-level courses, leaving no time to take a full-time position. In exchange, graduate students receive a small stipend but no health benefits, which leaves them in situations similar to uninsured undergraduates.

(Image: anne.oeldorfhirsch under CC 2.0)

Health Insurance FAQ

nursing homes within illinois bequeath strength insurance to partime employes?
It depends on the nursing home and the position you will be working. For example, if they are in dire need of a fastidious employee for a part time position, next to make the position more enticing they will offer insurance. There are so tons.

0 a month for great form insurance for an fully developed? is this an impossibilty?
I think its possible its only a thing of a society deciding this is what they want. We also know it happens contained by some countries to have premiums that low and good strength care and low life expectancies. Sure I get that some billionaire.

“National vigour insurance:” why not freshly insure the poor, and consent to everyone else maintain the plans they own?
I have issues with the model of government-run health insurance. I really don’t have a definitive position - I am still trying to revise more. But one of many questions I own is this: assuming for the moment that the.

“The most up-to-date rumor is that an individual could be fined or jailed if they go amiss to purchase condition insurance, if?
This isn’t a complete sentence, and it’s not a question, either. Peg, It is not a rumor but as you state it it’s not exactly right. Under the proposed legislation you would be required to purchase health…

“What exactly is the Republican Party’s Plank on what to do w/ poor nation? Sick ethnic group w/o strength insurance?
They don’t have one. A TRUE republican would recommend that you let your mother bleed to death contained by the street before agreeing to meaningful healthcare reorganization. But watch how quickly they become socialists when it is Their insurance.

“You will catch Health Insurance, or I will fine you 00 Dollars?
Oh yeah little dictator, this is supposed to be America, the land of the free, or used to be. Obama is actually against the fine man added the the reform. Get your facts straight. dont blame obama he is against any fines and yet butttbrains.

(In method of Health Insurance) What’s another baptize for a fee-for-service or traditional policy?
Any one know? I don’t i would guess a co pay indemnity. Indemnity? Is that what you’re looking for? Health Insurance: Fee-For-Service (Indemnity) Summary An “indemnity” health insurance plan is traditional health insurance that have been around for over 50 years. The name.

[Health Insurance] What is the difference between “deductible” and “maximum out-of-pocket expense limit”?
[Health Insurance] I dont exactly understand how both the terms apply to my expenses towards a medical consideration. I am talking about Physican and Hospital Services contained by particular, rather than Preventive Care. Deductable is what you’ll pay up front. Maximum out of pocket is supposed to be.

0bama requirements to tender condition insurance to those who lowest possible requirement it. Isn’t that similar to giving an abortion to a mom?
who doesn’t want it or already delivered? Obama wants to tender health insurance to younger people. (The elderly use most attention because they need the most care. By the channel, they paid into Medicare.

17 and have need of robustness insurance?
I am 17 years old and am not under my parents strength insurance because they have none. I go to the University of Toledo and necessitate to have health insurance within order to continue taking my classes. Is at hand any way I can get insurance on my own? Typical situation you.

176 Republicans voted to prevent poor women who rewarded for vigour insurance lower than the proposed policy?
health care program as an amendment to the vigour care bill. Yet only one Republican voted to provide vigour care to those poor women and the fetus they are required them to carry to full occupancy. What do you.

19 year infirm student - vigour insurance beside 1 million lifetime max ample?
I don’t currently have a job; I’m merely a student, so it’s doubtful that I will even keep this insurance the rest of my life. I enjoy a 0 deductible with k max out of pocket and no deductible on prescriptions, but the lifetime max is only.

25 dollars of the child support go toward condition insurance that be carried by is mother?
Now it is carried by the state at no charge for the last 6 months so do i still have to pay cheque 25 dollars for it and can i get the 25 dollars back for the ending 6 months i work 2 job.

6 months of disaster form insurance suggestion?
Hello, I am currently a college student but am forced to take 6 months off — what serious health insurance do you suggest I purchase? I don’t need cheap co-pay or prescriptions but I don’t want to return with diagnosed with cancer or AIDS during this period and be disappeared to drown in debt.

6 weeks pregnant and vigour insurance what would you recommend?
6 weeks pregnant and no health insurance what would you recommend? Get on state insurance, they will almost other accept a pregnant woman, and call the welfare division and ask where on earth can you go for prenatal testing for free until you bring back insurance Well dependingin.

A better instrument acquire an affordable strength insurance to cover my domestic?
if I work for, say Pizza Hut as a part-time while I earn K/yr full-time living? I dont want to spend too much monthly payments on health insurance? healthplans.bebto.com - my family have this vigour insurance. It is affordable and has good coverage for dental issues. cheap affordable.

A better route acquire an affordable form insurance to cover my family unit?
if I work for, say Pizza Hut as a part-time while I earn K/yr full-time livelihood? I dont want to spend too much monthly payments on health insurance? It costs what it costs. A comprehensive family plan is GOING to cost 0 to 00 a month.

A drunk driver hit my friends vehicle and I be hurt I do not own vigour insurance.?
A drunk driver hit my friends car and I was injured I do not hold health insurance, I went to the emergency room already and they said I hold a bruised sternum with severe chest contusions. I want to have a follow up…

A employer offer own flesh and blood strength contemplation insurance for sixty dollars a week near no co-pay or deductable?
The plan went from twenty dollars a week to sixty dollars per week for a family plan. Is this plan still pretty good considering the cost for heatlth care in the U.S? Yes, especially because there is no co-pay…

A examine more or less the robustness insurance reshuffle bill?
Does anyone know that if the health insurance reform bill pass whether or not you have to get your own insurance, even if you are on your spouse’s plan? If you could cite your source(s), that would be really polite. Thanks! As written now you will have coverage via…

A FINE for parents who can’t afford condition insurance for their kids?
Can someone please explain this to me? I caught the tail end of Obamas speech about it. How almost those single parents who are struggling? They get fined? explicitly wrong why should parents be fined i did not know they were,and if Obama say they should…

A former employer forgot to go against robustness insurance…?
My friend quit her job and the former employer forgot to cancel her condition insurance. She is still using it. I think she may have to recompense it back. She says it is their idiosyncrasy for not cancelling it and doesn’t think she will hold to reimburse them. Who is…

A friend of mine have an impacted sense tooth but no robustness insurance or work to compensate for the expenses.?
Are there any government services contained by the US that will help pay for this? no. she could attempt to remove it at home, though. Your friend can check with Medi-cal OR you can own them apply for Care Credit….

A friend of mine is pregnant w/o any vigour insurance. What does she do? ?
She wanted to buy insurance but nobody will insure her if she is already pregnant. Is the only resort left government insurance? She know that’s not a bad option any, but how does that work? Where can she find information about that? Thanks in credit!! …

A give somebody the third degree in the region of the Health Insurance “Crisis” within America?
Can someone explain to me what’s going on? I don’t understand what the problem is and what Obama’s administration is trying to do thats making his popularity dip. Thanks! You have vigour care others do not We have the best robustness system.It only…

A hospital cannot afford to grant patients who do not hold robustness insurance.?
.What are the potential problems of this and what is one way consumers, government and businesses could respond to it? Charity hospitals go broke. Most of them. Hospitals that adopt money from the State are required to accept every emergency patient that comes through the doors…

A hospital has-been to brand a claim on our behalf to our strength insurance for 30 months. Who should recompense very soon?
The hospital claims they called the insurance co. who said my daughter wasn’t covered. So they never sent a bill. Instead they put it to a collections agency that just informed us we in a minute owe the 00.00….

A hunt for “affordable vigour insurance” yield dozens of hits. So why do ancestors want the organization?
to insure them? They don’t. Health care isn’t a right. It’s a privilege and a bill, freshly like water, food, etc. You must budget it inside your monthly spending plans. The system isn’t broken, it’s the people who are. Well, for one I…

A Person Who Is Self Employed and Paying for Their Own Health Insurance?
Is insurance something that can be written off at tax time? Absolutley. I chew over it is Schedule 179 that you will be filling out when it comes time to do your taxes. You will claim it as a deduction on that. We own our own business.

Online Health Insurance Quotes

Online Health Insurance Quotes Advantages and Disadvantages of Individual further Group Health

Switching from bunch up to regular health insurance is a transform many people are currently unrelated. There can be some big differences between the two types of insurance besides their cost. Becoming natural with some of those basic differences will help you to know what to expect.

Group health insurance

Group health insurance is purchased by your employer from a health insurance company. Everyone who is eligible responsibility receive coverage under the plan.huddle health insurance is less admired than individual health insurance, for you presuppose the buying might of the accumulate. The insurance company bases the premium upon a calculation of how vastly insurance the group as a unabbreviated commit use. However, if you are buying individual health insurance, the scheme of your premium is not based on a group, it’s based on you alone. That is why individual health insurance can show therefrom expensive.

Individual health insurance

Individual health insurance is health insurance that you hold from an insurance company on your own, and not through an employer. You can gather coverage for either yourself or your self further your family, fixed policies often provide less coverage than get together policies dispatch. Under an individual plan, some services such over substance abuse constitution may not stand for covered.Another important difference between group and individual health insurance is that with group insurance, the law requires the insurance company to cover everyone who works whereas that employer. With individual health insurance, companies are not required to surface you a arrangement. This can exemplify hugely alarming as people who have pre-existing conditions. If you have recently lost your job, it blame be awe-inspiring to jewel out that stable though you have been covered under a convene plan, adept is no assurance that you entrust be able to obtain marked health insurance coverage.In some states, health insurance companies are allowed to loom policies to kinsfolk with pre-existing conditions, but they are issued ensconce an exclusionary rider. That aspect that any services now the pre-existing element are not cloaked. Each state has its own laws overseeing how individual health insurance is administered. Therefore, plans constraint very a great deal from communicate to state.Plans duty also vary from one insurance company to another. exemplify sure to acknowledge around and compare quotes again plans from various other companies before forming a decision.

COBRA as an option

One of the choicest options presented to kin who have off-track their health insurance coverage is COBRA. COBRA stands through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget adaption Act and it allows you to perdure on your employer’s health insurance plan as up to 18 months after losing your career. However, there are contrastive situations in which employees would not exhibit eligible for COBRA coverage cognate as, if the company busy less than 20 people and went out of business, or if it dropped its assemble health insurance or went suspicion bankruptcy. by oneself of the drawbacks of COBRA is the expense. Under COBRA you have to pay the unexpurgated amount of your health insurance coverage. over when you were employed, your employer paid a portion of your benefits. One recent evolution that will sell for beneficial to COBRA recipients is that after March 1, 2024 recipients will only have to cabbage 35% of the cost of the swindle sheet premium and the federal discipline will pay the remainder for up to nine months.

If you credit recently lost your group health insurance, switching to individual health insurance will cause the cost of your health insurance to increase.Understanding the different types of insurance and how they work, will aid you to inaugurate. If you count on pre-existing conditions and are concerned about accord individual health insurance coverage, canvass COBRA further find out if legitimate is an choice. Also, check with several different health insurance companies and compare the costs before you occasion a decision.

How to Research the Right Allied Health School for You

Over the last few years, the ratio of students opting for an allied health degree has boomed drastically. In fact, it has emerged as one of the most preferred fields in the health care industry whose demand has increased phenomenally. If you really want to bring a positive change in the lives of people, then a career in the field of allied health services can be the most appropriate choice. In addition to this, the field even provides ample space for the students to choose from a wide range of allied health care services according to their interest and specialization. This may include being a medical assistant to optometrist, podiatrist or physicians or working as a medical transcriptionist.

Today in order to achieve success in this field you actually need a good training. Having theoretical knowledge is not always enough, unless you have a good practical exposure. It is one of the few fields that can provide ample scope to chart out a career only after you have gone through the proper training from a good allied health care school. So by now if you have recognized that getting trained or earning a degree from right allied health school can bring more scope to your career, the next step you must follow is the find the right health school. Here are some of the most practicable options that may help you in finding the right allied health care school –

Online Resource- It is simply one of the easiest ways to search about different allied health schools. It is a vast source of information from where you can get more than enough or ample of sources like online directories and educational portals that contain a list of thousands of allied health schools.

Local library- It is important to note that library is not just a place to read books. This is the most ideal place where you can easily find a wealth of information. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that this could be yet another most appropriate source to find out more about allied health care schools as well. In your local library, you can get the listings of thousands of schools offering programs in different allied healthcare fields.

University Office- A visit to the university office can also be the next appropriate option to search for the right allied health school. These days, many universities in the United States contain the list of schools providing specific programs that you want to opt. Thus, you can easily find the list and may even know the eligibility criteria for getting into any particular allied health school as every school has its own terms and conditions.

Apart from all these, you can even consider talking and discussing to your friends or colleagues regarding the best school options available for learning a course. Moreover, education counselors are another key source that can also help you search the right healthcare school. They usually have an extensive knowledge about the various courses and schools and at times can be the best alternative to know more about different accounting schools.

Thus, the above mentioned points are some of the most comprehensive and possible ways of researching the right schools. However, just in case if its taking too long in finding the right information then never lose your temper. Never give up; following any one of the various means can help you get the right school. Once you have the right education you can easily get into the allied health care industry.

This was originally posted by Collette Plantz. I liked and thought I’d share with everyone else. Watch this and then tell me why schools are cutting the art and music departments to save money. Blows my mind.

Actovegin belongs to a group of drugs called metabolism stimulators. The drug activates tissue metabolism, promotes regenerative processes and trophism. The Actovegin is a hemoderivative, which is obtained after dialysis and filtration of calf blood. The drug increases utilization and consumption of oxygen increases energetic metabolism and glucose consumption. As a result the energetic resources of the cell are increased. Increase of oxygen consumption under the influence of Actovegin leads to stabilization of plasmatic membranes in ischemia and decreases the formation of lactates. Actovegin not only increases intracellular concentration of glucose, but also improves oxidative metabolism, satisfying the cells energy needs.

The Actovegin is prescribed in patients with cerebral blood flow impairment as well as impairment of cellular metabolism function in the cerebrum, for example in cases of dementia. The effects of the drug can be monitored within 10 to 30 minutes after administration and reach their maximum in 3 hours.

The drug is prescribed in the following conditions:

• As supportive therapy in metabolic or vascular disorders
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Radiation injuries

The adverse effects of the drug are mainly expressed in possible allergic reactions, such as hives, hyperhydrosis, increased body temperature, itching and etc.

The drug should be avoided during pregnancy as no clinical trial s on the drugs use during the period have been performed. In cases of allergic reactions the use of the drug should be stopped.

EasyToInsureME Individual Health Insurance Reform Weekly

Week of November 9, 2023

Given that the Senate is expected to require much more time than the House to vote on a health care bill (see below), it is likely there is not enough legislative time left in 2009 to wrap up a bill for Christmas delivery to the White House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fueled concerns about the schedule last week when he refused to commit publicly to passing an overhaul bill this year. This makes a “conference” between the House and Senate MORE likely in January 2010 THAN IN 2009, and that could require some time since the current House and Senate versions are vastly different on several key provisions. If the Conference pathway proves too contentious, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid could play legislative “ping-pong,” whereby each Chamber makes a modest change and ships if off to the other, back and forth, until they both approve the same language.

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Federal

Late Saturday night the House of Representatives approved its version of health care reform by the slim margin of 220 to 215 (218 was the minimum needed). The core of the approved House bill remained unchanged from the version the Speaker introduced a few weeks ago and includes: an employer mandate to provide and pay for coverage; a fairly strong individual coverage requirement; a public plan option set up by government that would pay “negotiated” rates to providers; and insurance reforms, including guaranteed issue and modified community rating. It does not include the “Cadillac” plan tax or the insurer tax provisions currently in the Senate bill. The House bill would be paid for in part with cuts to Medicare Advantage and a surcharge on the “wealthy.”

On the Senate side, Majority Leader Reid is waiting for the revenue score from CBO on several different Senate Bill scenarios, given that several Senators have publicly stated opposition to going forward without a hard and fast number on both cost and impact on bending the spending curve. He also needs this time to win over the 60 votes needed to even proceed with consideration of the bill, let alone the 60 needed to cut off debate once the debate begins; he may not have either right now. The earliest the Senate could start debate would be the week of November 16, but a date in December seems more likely. Approval of the House bill will surely put increased pressure on the Senate to move forward but to do so cautiously, given the slim voting margin in the House, as the issue moves closer to the finish line.

Bills to extend and expand COBRA have been introduced in both the House and Senate and could well be part of the final push on health care reform. Both versions extend the Special COBRA subsidy program from end of 2009 to June 30, 2024 and maintain the government’s 65 percent subsidy. The Senate version increases this subsidy to 75 percent, and the House extends basic COBRA eligibility from 18 to 24 months. Given the unemployment numbers, it seems likely that, whether as part of health reform or on its own, a COBRA extension (including the subsidy) will be enacted in 2009.

States

ARIZONA: Governor Jan Brewer and legislative leaders have reached a tentative agreement to reconvene to address the projected 2010 budget shortfall, which ballooned from billion in early September to billion by the end of October. Although the governor favors a temporary tax increase to boost revenue, she is unlikely to float that idea this time around to help limit the length of the session. Governor Brewer is expected to announce her candidacy for re-election. Although the former lieutenant governor is now the incumbent and has never lost an election, she is viewed as vulnerable by some Republicans because of budget concerns and her continued focus on obtaining additional revenue through taxation.

CALIFORNIA: California’s state budget deficit could reach billion for the current fiscal year in part because of recent court decisions blocking state funding cuts. For example, a federal judge recently blocked the state’s plans to cut million from its budget for In-Home Supportive Services, and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has filed a suit to block the sale of part of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, which was projected to generate billion. Some analysts project that the state’s budget deficit will range from billion to billion in the upcoming fiscal year. In other developments, Lt. Governor John Garamendi won a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher (D). Garamendi was elected lieutenant governor in 2006 after 16 years in the legislature and two terms as insurance commissioner.

COLORADO: Senator Betty Boyd, President Pro Tem and Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, met with insurer representatives to highlight the issues likely to get attention in the upcoming session. A proposal to prohibit the use of gender in rating individual policies has a high likelihood of passing, she said. Senator Boyd also advised that efforts will be made to ensure that the Cover Colorado program remains solvent, as it has potential to be used as the state’s public plan option. Speculation has it that Colorado could become one of the first states to act on federal health care reform if it is enacted. Finally, she expressed a strong interest in authorizing the DOI to establish standardized policy forms.

DELAWARE: Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Rita M. Landgraf has issued an update to existing statutes adding virtual colonoscopy as an approved colorectal screening modality. Delaware law requires coverage for colorectal screening modalities and empowers the Secretary to add modalities as recommended by the Delaware Cancer Consortium. Accordingly, all contracts for health insurance issued, delivered or renewed after December 1, 2023 must include coverage for virtual colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Newly passed legislation requires individual and group health plans to provide coverage for orally administered chemotherapy medication in a manner no more restrictive than intravenously administered treatment or injected cancer medications. In other business, the Council of the District of Columbia confirmed Acting Commissioner Gennet Purcell as Commissioner for the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB). Commissioner Purcell, who served as DISB’s Deputy Commissioner since 2008, is an attorney and member of both the State of Maryland Bar and the Commonwealth of Virginia Bar. As deputy, her primary responsibilities included oversight of the agency’s core functional areas, including the divisions of Insurance, Securities, Banking, Fraud Enforcement and Investigation, and Risk Finance.

GEORGIA: A meeting was held last week between health insurance representatives and the Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee to discuss legislation for 2010 that would restrict rental networks. The Medical Association of Georgia also was represented. Aetna has committed to work with all interested parties on the legislation.

ILLINOIS: A fall veto session concluded at the end of October, and three health insurance bills of import passed both chambers. The first bill creates external review requirements for all commercial insurance products, rather than just HMOs, effective July 1, 2010. The bill also establishes committees to create a uniform small-employer group health status questionnaire and an individual health statement for use on January 1, 2011. The legislation also requires insurers to semi-annually prepare and provide the Department of Insurance a statement on aggregate administrative expenses and other information. It is a good compromise versus what was originally proposed. In addition, both chambers passed an orthotics and prosthetics mandate on health carriers and HMOs for policies amended, delivered, issued, or renewed six months after the effective date of the amendatory act. The third bill changed the requirements to obtain a producer license. The Illinois General Assembly is not expected to reconvene until January 2010.

MISSOURI: The Secretary of the State recently approved a ballot initiative proposal for the November 2010 ballot that would essentially eliminate network-based health care delivery in Missouri. The move follows unsuccessful efforts to enact an any-willing-provider bill in past legislative sessions.The petition effort behind the ballot initiative appears to have been spearheaded by a local surgical practice that has been excluded from the medical staffs of local hospitals. Any willing provider is only one portion of the proposal. It would apply to health carriers and health benefit plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, and facilities. It would, for example, prohibit carriers from: Imposing on a beneficiary any co-payment, fee, or condition that is not equally imposed on all other beneficiaries in the same benefit category, co-payment level, or class; prohibiting or limiting a provider from the opportunity to participate in the network if that provider is willing to accept the carrier’s operating terms and conditions, fee schedule, covered expenses, utilization and quality standards. The State Auditor is preparing an assessment of the fiscal impact of the proposed measure as well as a brief summary of the fiscal impact for the petition. Legal challenges to the ballot initiative are permitted. A group of stakeholders, including Aetna, are discussing strategy.

NEW JERSEY: Health insurance issues were front and center in a bitter battle for the governor’s office, which ended last week when Republican candidate Chris Christie defeated Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. The governor-elect has publicly supported greater flexibility for carriers to make health coverage more affordable via mandate-free plan designs and interstate sales of health policies. The Democrats remain in firm control of the legislature, which will make the governor-elect’s agenda an uphill battle. Also, the Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) adopted a regulation standardizing the information and format on health identification cards. Additionally, DOBI initiated a meeting with the state’s major health plans seeking guidance as to how the state might proceed in limiting plans,’ and members,’ exposure to exorbitant out-of-network provider charges. This is one in a series of meetings aimed at developing consensus on an appropriate fee schedule or other mechanism for non-par provider charges. Lastly, the NJ Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) has launched a six-month Hospital Newborn Pilot Program. Nine hospitals throughout the state are participating in a pilot to ensure no newborn leaves the hospital without health insurance. The participating hospitals are expected to submit data to the DHSS.

NEW YORK: Governor David Paterson is calling for a special session to address the current state budget deficit. The Governor’s two-year, .2 billion Deficit Reduction Package would have a current-year impact of .2 billion in 2009-10 and a recurring impact of billion in 2010-11. The components include across-the-board spending reductions and a tax penalty forgiveness program. The Governor indicated that his agenda will include a bill that would completely prohibit all subrogation (collateral source) recoveries on any insured or self-insured plans. The existing collateral source rule eliminates the potential windfall of double recoveries to plaintiffs who receive benefits and make recoveries from both their insurance coverage and defendant payments, while still ensuring that uncompensated losses are fully compensated. This subrogation legislation passed the Senate earlier this year, but it has not passed the Assembly. In other business, State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, chairman of the Codes Committee, and Sen. Neil Breslin, chairman of the Insurance Committee, introduced a bill known as “Ian’s Law,” which is named after a patient with muscular dystrophy. The proposed legislation would prohibit non-renewal of group policies and would require heath plans to get state Department of Insurance approval before discontinuing a class of insurance. The bill also would require plans to continue covering a totally disabled policyholder for 18 months, even if the plan gets state permission to cancel an entire class of policies.

Employer based Health Insurance

When looking for health insurance, the first question you should ask is, “Does my employer offer a health insurance plan?” Most companies provide health insurance as a benefit, and larger firms are required to provide health insurance. If your employer has a health insurance plan you should take the time to look into the costs and benefits. Very often employer-based health insurance is less expensive than comparable individual coverage.

Employer-based health insurance is cheaper for a number of reasons. Number one is your employer bears some of the cost for your health insurance. Another key reason employer-based health insurance can be less expensive than individual health insurance is rates and qualification requirements are typically lower. You can also save additional money with employer-based health insurance. One way is to have your employer pay the premium on a pre-tax basis to lower your overall taxable gross pay. Another way to reduce your taxable income is to participate in your employer’s flexible spending plan to save money for out-of-pocket health insurance expenses such as co-pays, some medications and certain medical devices.

COBRA benefits

A concern you might have about employer-based health insurance is what happens to your health insurance when you change jobs, are released by your employer or otherwise become unemployed? A government program called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) gives you the right to carry your employer-based group health insurance coverage with you for up to 18 months. While COBRA will allow you to remain insured, you will have to pay the entire premium for your group health insurance. Previously both you and your employer contributed to the cost of your health insurance. If you find yourself requiring COBRA benefits make sure to fill out the appropriate forms available from your previous employer’s benefits department within 60 days of leaving the job. Otherwise you could be denied COBRA health insurance coverage.

No employer-based health insurance? No problem!

What if your employer doesn’t offer health insurance? Not a problem, you can always buy an individual health insurance policy. And it’s possible, if you are member of an organization or group that offers group health insurance, to retain the benefit of employer-based health insurance in terms of lower rates and qualification requirements.

Whether your employer offers health insurance or you are just looking for an individual health insurance policy, be sure to take your time and compare health insurance quotes to find a policy that best fits your family’s health insurance needs and saves you money. It pays to shop around for your health insurance policy.

Lawsuit Funding for Medical Malpractice Cases

Lawsuit loans are routinely offered for medical malpractice cases by legal funding companies. The underwriting of these cases however, is often much more complicated than the standard negligence case. This post will attempt to identify some things to remember when attempting to secure a lawsuit loan on a medical malpractice case.

Malpractice Basics

The American legal system places a duty of care upon doctors as they interact with their patients. Medical Malpractice actions are based upon a breach of this duty. The breach must be of the standard of care for similar professionals in that specialty and in the geographic area in which the treatment occurred.

In order to sustain a cause of action for malpractice against a medical professional, the negligence must be causally related to the damages alleged. In other words, the malpractice must have cause an injury or other damages to the plaintiff. Plaintiffs routinely allege different types of damages. Most often, plaintiffs allege physical damage to their bodies. In other instances, lost wages or other economic damages are sought. In still others, emotional or mental damages are available to plaintiffs.

Malpractice Cases are Often Complicated.

People can easily imagine a medical malpractice case where the doctor amputates the wrong leg. Clearly, the doctor should have known which leg to amputate and the resulting damages would be irreparable and not hard to quantify. Such a case would most likely be settled in short order.

But the vast majority of medical malpractice lawsuits are not so cut and dry.

When health care professionals (including doctors, nurses, and other practitioners) treat their patients, most are doing their very best to help. When something goes wrong, victims sometimes blame the health care worker for unexpected complications. However, just because a patient’s condition worsens does not necessarily mean the medical provider deviated from standard practice. After all, the patient is usually ill before he seeks medical attention.

Once a breach of the standard of care is proven, plaintiffs and their attorneys must then prove malpractice caused the plaintiffs damages. In other words, it is not enough to show the patient eventually suffered. The negligence must cause the suffering. In many lawsuits, this is not so easy to show.

For example, a physician may misdiagnose a patient’s Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. And the attorneys, through their skill and expertise can prove that the doctor’s diagnosis deviated from the acceptable standard of care. However, due to the terminal nature of this type of condition, damages would be very difficult to prove. The patient would most likely be facing a terminal diagnosis regardless of its timeliness. In this instance, any damages would certainly be minimized by defense attorneys.

Medical Malpractice and Lawsuit Funding

When funding a malpractice case, lawsuit loan companies attempt to analyze the probability of success based upon much more complex factual and economic scenarios than a typical case loan involving negligence.

For example, malpractice cases usually involve multiple parties. A lawsuit involving a surgery would require the examination of every individual in the Operation Room during the procedure. This normally includes the serving and answering of interrogatories, depositions, and other discovery requests. These steps are taken AFTER the following:

Drafting and filing of the Complaint, service of the Complaint, answering of the Complaint by defense counsel, motions to dismiss, designation of trial counsel, scheduling, logistical issues, document compilation, document production, etc. This must be done for each and every defendant. For these reasons it is not difficult to see why these cases take years to litigate.

Litigation delays are compounded by the fact that many lawsuits involve very serious medical conditions which prevent plaintiffs from earning a wage. This combination frequently results in increased economic difficulty for plaintiffs. Creditors do not usually care whether plaintiffs can work, they only care about getting paid. That is their business.

Lawsuit loans are one way to mitigate against these economic hardships. Essentially, the plaintiff assigns a portion of the proceeds of the case to the lawsuit funding company. If the case settles, the “loan” is paid back according to the terms outlined in the funding agreement. The use of the lawsuit loan is totally at the discretion of the plaintiff. The money can be used for anything at all. Which is great news for plaintiffs who find themselves behind on their expenses.

The bad news is that medical malpractice cases are very difficult to fund. The reason is because they are so difficult to win. Keep in mind, all of the discovery mentioned above costs money in the form of time, expert fees, court fees, stenographers, support staff, etc. A lawsuit based on medical negligence is a commitment of time, money and energy.

Further, in many jurisdictions, plaintiffs only win 1 out of 3 lawsuits filed. Plaintiff attorneys make money because the cases which are won, are very large. But for purposes of lawsuit loans, where any loss is a total loss, 33.33% is just not the ideal scenario.

Despite these obvious pitfalls, lawsuit funding companies offer pre-settlement loans on malpractice cases every single day. They are not the easiest cases to get approved, but the plaintiff’s need still exists. The legal funding business is there to help plaintiffs lessen their financial burdens while they wait for a favorable recovery on their case.

Thank you for your interest in the lawsuit cash advance industry.

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