Archive for the ‘Other Insurance Posts’ Category.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas season has officially begun. Over the weekend my neighborhood and the local stores have literally transformed into a sea of twinkling lights and jolly decorations in red and green. The Christmas season is met with joy, kindness and, of course, shopping.

While sometimes it is sad that Christmas is so focused on the material (that is another argument for another day), it is no doubt that a busy holiday shopping season is a big focus.

Black Friday kicks off the shopping season, pushing shoppers into a panic of Christmas arriving in less than a month. If you want to keep your sanity, follow these tips to keep your holiday season merry and bright.

• Budget. Budgeting is the number one way to keep your holiday sanity this season. Stores try to lure costumers to overspending with deals, free gifts and an overall sense of holiday. There just is something about the holidays that makes people just want to shop. If you want to indulge that feeling, make sure to budget for Christmas gifts all year long. If not, you will feel the weight of your bad decisions just as the wrapping paper hits the floor. Make a list of everyone you plan on purchasing a gift for the upcoming year. Give yourself a limit for each person. Combine that number and you will have your budget. Make sure to add about $50 on top of that for gift wrapping, shipping, etc. Next, divide that number up by 12. That is how much you need to set aside each month to make your budget. If you save all year long it won’t seem like such a big burden in December. If that is too much for you to put aside every month then you need to pare down your budget. But most importantly, remember to stick to your budget. It may be tempting to go over to get that one extra gadget or thing, but just remember that is just isn’t worth it.
• Center Christmas around things that are not stuff. Whatever your religious feelings are, Christmas can be more than just about giving stuff. For Christians, Christmas is celebrating Christ’s birth. If this is your cup of tea, try to focus your events, gifts and traditions around why you are celebrating the season. For those who are less religious, center your holiday around service and finding ways to benefit others. These memories will mean more than just getting things. And think back, which gifts/events do you remember most? Try to create memories instead of filling stockings to ensure a truly magical Christmas season.
• Line up your bills. The last thing you want to do after Christmas is to receive a stack of bills. If you stick to the budget above, you should not have to charge anything on your credit card. But your other regular bills can be a pain during December. Make sure to put your payments for your car, inexpensive insurance and utility bills on auto pay so you won’t have to worry about paying them on time.

The leftovers are filling the fridge and people are starting to awake from their food induced coma. My friends, Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are left with the aftermath.

I finished my Thanksgiving dinner feeling twice the size I was before I started downing the turkey. Thanksgiving marks the middle of the holiday season: Halloween one month earlier and Christmas one month later. And the bad habits are usually out of the window by then. But you can still enjoy the holidays without letting your health go downhill.

Try not to overeat. No, this does not mean starving yourself. In order to have a safe and healthy holiday season you need to eat well and often. But with the extra treats at holiday parties and from neighborhood gifts, it is easy to eat way more calories than you intend to. My rule is to only eat things you enjoy. Why would you waste calories on brownies if you are not a big brownie fan? Use those calories for the homemade caramels you adore. Eating healthy does not mean you have to restrict or deny yourself, it just means you need to make smarter choices.

However, if you did indulge a bit too much (and you feel like I did after my second Thanksgiving dinner), there are a few ways to get back on track.

• Drink plenty of water. Water is a great way to help flush things out. Staying hydrated is one of the many easy ways to keep your body intact. You might think that water will add to water weight, but it helps cleanse the body.
• Speaking of cleansing, doing a quick cleanse can help get the impurities out of your system. And most of that awful day after feeling is mostly attributed to bloat. Try this recipe to help flush out excess water weight and impurities: 60 ounces of pure water, 1 tablespoon of sugar free cranberry juice, 1 dandelion root tea bag, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Drink one of these every day for a week.
• Do not, under any circumstances, starve yourself. It may seem like a good idea to skip a couple of meals the day after eating a large meal, but that will generally back fire. Your body needs constant nutrients to continue functioning. Not only will skipping meals probably make you crabby (it sure does for me) but it can really mess up your metabolism, not to mention breeds unhealthy eating habits. Instead, try and trade out unhealthy options for a big salad, or eat fruit and nuts for a snack. Starving yourself if unhealthy and could leave to worse consequences that could involve a visit to your doctor (and no one wants to spend the holidays looking for health insurance quotes so they can visit the doctor).
• Exercise. It may seem impossible to roll yourself out the door after Thanksgiving, but any form of exercise is good. No need to run 10 miles. Bundle the family up and take a walk around the block to ease you back into your fitness routine.

While the holidays signify ugly sweaters, overeating and family, it can also mean an increase of drinking. Whether recreationaly for a party or to take the edge off when spending time with family, drinking generally increases during the holidays.

And the morning after a night of drinking is usually not full of fun and games. Yes, the dreaded hangover is the ugly step-child of the holidays, but a constant after a night of drinking. (Want to avoid a hangover? The best way is to curb your drinking or to not drink at all.) If you do decide to drink, get a designated driver. No amount of Humana health insurance can take back an accident.

Here is a few ways to minimize the pain of hangovers so you can quickly bounce back.

• Moderation, moderation, moderation. If you must drink at a party, moderation is key for a few reasons. Alcoholic beverages are full of empty calories,which can add to some extra poundage during the holiday season. Limit yourself to one drink to save on calories. Moderation is also important to help keep you from overdrinking. Sure, people might have a cocktail to loosen up, but no one likes the drunk guy. Try alternating between alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. And make sure to have a stomach full of food to absorb the alcohol.
• Dump old wives tales. Don’t even think about chasing a night of drinking with another drink in the morning like a Bloody Mary. Sure, the alcohol in the Bloody Mary will help ease your symptoms by numbing them, but you will be worse off. After a night of drinking, your body needs time to work off the toxins from the alcohol. Give it time to rest. And greasy food is not going to help your hangover, especially if you have an upset stomach. You must eat when you wake up but stick to foods that are easy to digest.
• Avoid gimmicks. Ever heard of a hangover pill? You might as well take a placebo, say doctors. No evidence has showed that hangover pills work, so try to take a multivitamin instead to help replenish any nutrients lost. While there is no hangover pill, a small dose of ibuprofen or aspirin can help ease the sharpness of the hangover. Just make sure not to take it on an empty stomach.
•  Sometimes coffee can help. If you rely on a morning cup of jo to survive through the day, do not avoid one during a hangover. You might add a caffeine withdrawal headache on top of the pounding hangover migraine. However, if you are not regularly caffeinated, avoid caffeine. It constricts the blood vessels which can create a bigger headache.
• Drink, drink, drink. Water that is. Drinking alcohol dehydrates you, which drains you of necessary nutrients. Make sure to drink plenty of water or Gatorade to get your electrolytes back up to snuff. Plus, it will help you feel better overall.
• Get moving! Exercise is the go to remedy for many reasons. Can’t imagine doing a run? Try some light yoga.

Most importantly. Rest.

While the end of November reminds most people of Thanksgiving: a day full of turkey, pumpkin pie and family. A day where most of America (except for Golden Corral) takes the day off to watch football, or in my family’s case, eat treats and play games all day.

But for other Americans the end of November signifies a whole other breed of day: Black Friday shopping.

For those who are not familiar with Black Friday shopping, it is a huge shopping day to kick off the holidays the Friday after Thanksgiving. It is called Black Friday because it is usually the first day of the year that the companies are out of the ‘red’. Or simple, they are making money.

Crazed shoppers, scrounging for the cheapest prices on all of their holiday wishes line up hours, even days, before a store opens its doors so they can get the best deal possible. The store opening times have gotten earlier and earlier every year with many opening on midnight (Thursday night/ Friday morning) or earlier Thanksgiving evening.

To add to the excitement, Black Friday ads for the big stores (Wal-mart, Best Buy, etc.) were leaked weeks in advance.

For those who want to sleep in, fine. Take the day off. But Black Friday signifies more than just a day of deals; it signifies the beginning of the holiday season. If anything, it is a wake up call to get into holiday high gear.

Just like the anticipation of Black Friday deals, the year’s hottest toys are always circling around. Thankfully, I do not have kids yet so I do not get pushed into the hustle of the ‘it’ toy that I must buy to be considered a good parent.

With each yearly list of the toy of children’s dreams comes a list of the most dangerous holiday toys to avoid. And a consumer watch group has published their toy black list. In recent years toy recalls have increased significantly. The increase can be attributed to two different causes. One, the production of toys is becoming careless. Or two, companies are taking action sooner and recalling toys.

The scariest issue with toy recalls is that the recall is often spurred by a serious injury or death. Why else would a company yank a toy off the shelves?

To avoid any unwanted holiday injuries, make sure to buy safe toys. First and foremost, buy toys that are age appropriate. Some games have an age minimum because it is intellectually too hard for younger children. However, many have an age minimum (usually printed on the box) because the pieces might be a choking hazard for a young child.

Also be cautious about the accessories on toys. A toy wooden toy on wheels pulled by a string is a seemingly innocent toy for a young toddler to pull around the house. But long pieces of string are extremely dangerous for young children to play with as they can be a choking hazard.

This holiday season, nix using your personal health insurance for a visit to the emergency room by selecting safe toys for your kids.

The cold weather has ushered in crisp breezes and fluttering of snow. And sadly, a cougher in my office who just cannot get the hint to stay home when sick.

If you work in tight confined cubicles, or you just happen to live in the outside world, you will come across a sickie: someone who is sick but for lack of better judgment cannot just stay home until they get well. Instead, the germs are passed on to unsuspecting passerbys. And these offenders come from all different places: work, the gym (I saw you over there sniffling on the treadmill!), family gatherings (someone would rather spread feverish germs than miss out on the good time) or at a play or concert (can’t give up those tickets). While no one wants to miss out on any fun wintertime activities, diseases and germs are spread by people who have them.
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Is the almost the week of Thanksgiving. It is fair to say that the holidays are in full swing. The grocery stores were filled with customers piling their carts high with Thanksgiving fare, and so the cooking flurry begins.

And in my case, so long sleep. The holidays are wonderful, but Thanksgiving just starts off a whole month of sleep depravity. Sadly, lack of sleep tends to make me crabby. So here are a few ways you can make sure to maximize your sleep to maximize your holiday experience.

• Find the right position. Yes, the position you sleep in can actually determine if your quality of sleep. I prefer sleeping on my side. But all sides are not created equal. The left side is the preferred of the two because it promotes blood flow and can help ease muscle pain. Unfortunately, sleeping on your side can curve your spine causing minor back pain. Want to make a side sleep position work best for you? Sleep with a pillow between your legs (any old pillow will do or you can buy a specialized pillow) to keep your back in alignment. If you prefer to sleep on your back, you can actually prevent heartburn or acid reflux by propping up on a pillow.  But beware: back sleepers are usually heavy snorers, especially if you have sleep apnea or asthma. The ultimate remedy to back sleeping is to sleep on your stomach. Stomach sleepers tend to snore less and can breathe easier. But don’t be surprised if you wake up with a crick in your neck as sleeping on your stomach puts your neck completely out of natural alignment.
• Eat right. It sounds silly, but your eating, exercising and sleep patterns all work together to create your overall health and wellness. One off balance part can push the others askew. First, ditch caffeine. If you need it to start your day, drink it early in the morning (and just ditch those energy drinks- they are just plain awful for you). Avoid anything with caffeine after 2 in the afternoon. Caffeine sticks in your system for up to 7 hours. It can make it difficult to fall asleep with so much caffeine in your system. When you eat dinner plays a big part in your sleep as well. Your body needs at least 2 hours to fully digest. Eat a full meal too close to bedtime and your body will be focusing on digesting instead of calming down for sleep. But you want to make sure you have a little snack before bed. Your blood sugar drops so low during the night because you have not eaten any food. The low blood sugar levels can actually disrupt your sleep, making you even more tired in the morning. About an hour before you go to sleep, have a high protein carb filled snack.

You can beat the no-sleep blues by maximizing your sleep and taking care of yourself. If you find that your sleep problems cannot be fixed alone, get a health insurance quote online to find a plan that will pay for a doctor’s visit.

A healthier lunch is not coming to a school near you. That is, if congress has anything to say about it.

Yes, my friends. We live in a world where pizza sauce is considered a vegetable. And yes, french fries are potatoes. Which is also considered a vegetable.

Public school lunch has been under fire recently for contributing to childhood obesity. With famous chefs like Jamie Olliver and the Obama administration behind a school lunch overhaul. But congress just wouldn’t bite.

In some what is called a throwback to the Reagan administration (you know, when they tried to save money by considering ketchup as a veggie), or is history just repeating itself?

Famous British chef Jamie Olliver is unhappy about school lunches. So unhappy that he created and hosted a reality show about the horror of school lunches and teaching young children how to eat healthy. In his show he invited a few famous chefs and cooks at the best restaurants in L.A. out for lunch. Instead of serving his usual delectable fare, he served school lunch. The cooks were disgusted. Not only did the school lunches look disgusting, but they lamented about how they would never dream of serving a meal like that to their own children.

So would you eat school lunch?

Here is what we know on both sides of the coin:

- Childhood obesity is increasing. Skyrocketing in some cases. Cute baby leg rolls are adorable. But a third grader who cannot play out at recess because he is winded is a problem. (If your child is overweight and it affecting his or her health, grab your Cobra health insurance card and visit your doctor.)

- Cutting out french fries and frozen pizzas out of school lunch hurts the farmers. Yes, farmers have a strong interest in keeping their produce and goods inside school lunch. Think of public schools as the biggest client and market for farmers. Who is a bigger client than millions of hungry little mouths? These said farmers were the exact ones that lobbied Congress to not change the school lunch policy.

- Children are not getting the nutrients they need. And it shows by the choices they make and the lifestyles and habits they create. And school lunch is often a choice. But what child is going to pick a salad over a piece of pizza?

- Some advocates are afraid if the stuff children like is taken away, they will make worse choices. If sugary flavored milk is taken off the menu, will kids still drink milk?

Both sides of the argument bring up interesting questions.

Should school lunch be run by the government? Sure the schools are public schools run by our tax dollars. But some people feel like the government has stepped over the line into too much control by trying to tell our children how and what to eat.

What do you think? Who does the burden lean on- parents or the school lunch? Is government stepping over too far? And since when is school lunch a business transaction?

Big changes could be coming to a Medicaid health insurance plan near you. Medicaid, a health insurance program for low income individuals and families, is one of the cheapest health insurance plans out there.

Simply, Medicaid is a health insurance option for low income families. It is federally funded but state run. To be eligible, you must fit a certain amount of guidelines. Medicaid is not a free pass to health care on demand, however, it does provide health care otherwise unattainable to those who cannot afford it.

Medicaid is one of the only reasons that low income families can afford health care. And some people feel like they should work for it.

A pilot program is hoping to reduce entitlement and get those who receive Medicaid to give back to the community by requiring them to volunteer in the community.

For the pro side: volunteering strengthens our community. Nonprofits thrive and can only survive with volunteers. These volunteer opportunities benefit the community in many ways. And it can build a sense of community for those receiving Medicaid, according to officials who are trying to push the new bill.

And getting involved in the community can help erase- or at least ease- the sense of entitlement everyone is accusing this generation of having. Instead of opening their greedy pockets for hand outs, they can give back in order to receive them.

Volunteering is good, right?

Those opposed to the pilot program are protesting. Loudly.

First, forced volunteering really is not volunteering. I work for a volunteer program. The best volunteers are the ones that want to be there, not because they have to. Those forced to volunteer (mostly school volunteer hours for a class, to look good on a resume) do not last very long, are not reliable and have a hard time putting their hearts in it. They tend to do the minimum and duck out before anything else if asked of them. And if something else more important comes along, the volunteer opportunity is the first thing to go. (Over-generalization? Not in my experience.)

So really, it is an exchange of work. You work (volunteer) and we will pay you (in health insurance). This exchange is making some people really angry. One woman says it puts her in the same class as court ordered community service participants (those who get community service as punishment for a crime instead of jail time). And that is not someone she wants to be associated with just because she is low income.

Another draw back: when would they have time? Imagine this. You work part time so you are not eligible for health insurance through your employer. Your income is still low enough that you could qualify for Medicaid. But in order to get health insurance you must donate your time. If you have kids, that would require hiring a babysitter to volunteer, costing you more money.

Should we require low income families to volunteer for Medicaid? Or how about seniors who receive Medicare? Is there a happy medium?

“They don’t make ‘em like they used to!”

“It wasn’t like that in the good old days!”

“Well, back in the day we used to…”

Raise your hand if you have ever been forced to listen to one of these phrases. If you spend much time around your grandparents (and around seniors like I do for work), you will hear at least one of these phrases when they are reminiscing about the “golden years.”

But frankly, they are right. Things have changed. People used to leave their home doors unlocked, but now wouldn’t dream leaving the house without locking the door. Yes, things have changed. In some cases for the good, and in others, not so good.

Cheap health care. Like all things, health care costs are increasing. But unlike a lot of other products, health care costs are skyrocketing at an astronomical rate. And in turn, health insurance rates are increasing to match the cost. No longer are you able to find inexpensive health insurance without really searching. Save yourself the trouble and enter your ZIP code in the box above to find inexpensive health insurance. (I said it was tough, not impossible.)

The post office. Maybe I’m predicting the future and the post office’s looks a bit grim. Ever since the computer boom and the rise of email, the postal service has been declining. Don’t get me wrong: I love, I repeat, love getting stuff in the mail (except for bills). But it is so much easier, quicker and cheaper (hello, free!) which is why internet communication has dominated. Last year the USPS or United States Postal Service lost more than $5 billion. Enjoy receiving your snail mail while you can. It might not be around for much longer.

VHS/Cassettes. Entertainment technology is one of the industries that has made the greatest strides in advancement. And much to the betterment of society. Walkman and VCR sales became almost nonexistent when VHS and cassette tapes were outshone by CDs. While some still use cassette players in their car, a Walkman lives in obscurity. Now CDs are facing extinction thanks to Steve Jobs (R.I.P) who bought iPods into popular culture. Why only carry around one CD, when you can have more than 1,000 on your iPod?

Home phones. If you were to poll the homes of those who are 30 years or younger, you would find that most do not have a landline at home. With the increase of cell phones (and their monthly cost), landlines are becoming extinct. And why shouldn’t they? If both parents in a household have a cellphone (and in some cases, the kids as well) there is often no need for a landline.

Cable. Having 500 channels used to be some sort of a status symbol, but the need for cable has dropped for many families. On-demand and instant gratification is king. That desire has catapulted sites like Hulu to the top. Who doesn’t want to watch their favorite shows whenever they want.

Newspapers. The internet. Does that say enough?

The Social Work department at the local university has offered a challenge: learn to live how the other half lives. Poverty is skyrocketing, affecting more than 46 million people. And almost just as many do not even have discount health insurance. And programs that help those who are poverty stricken are often paid through our taxes.  So the social work department is hoping people will have a chance to see how those with poverty must live and the choices they make.

The challenge: eat for $4 a day for a week. Why four dollars? That is how much someone receiving food stamps lives off every day.

Well, I love a challenge. Intent to buckle down and start saving, I did the math. $4 times two people (my household) times 30 days equals 240. That is $90 more than my current monthly food budget. So I could actually increase my monthly food budget than normally. (Think of all the things we could eat…)

Perhaps it is my deep disgust for spending money on food or my shopping prowess that saves money on food, but it is not that hard to keep your food budget under control. Here are some tips on how: (note: I do not have kids. However, these tips can be extended to a family with children.

• Eat at home. The biggest money sucker is eating out. Even fast food restaurants are not giving you bang for your buck. And you are not getting all of the nutritional value that you need either. So if you want to cut down on your bill, eat at home. Think about it: a good hamburger is going to cost around $5. But if you make it from home, you can cut the price in half.
• Avoid processed foods. It always frustrates me when families who complain about food prices fill their carts with name brand snack foods. As a general rule in our house we do not have snack foods. If I want a snack, I’ll cut up an apple. Chips and snack cakes are too expensive and have no nutritional value.
• Invest in produce. One of our biggest chunks of our grocery bill goes to produce. Having fresh produce on hand has a lot of benefits. I hate throwing food away so I will be sure to eat up the produce before anything else to make sure that it gets eaten. If you compare produce to processed foods, you will actually save a lot more money if you ditch the processed foods. And your waist band will be happier, too. I participate in a weekly co-op that provides great discounts on produce that I can use all week long.
• Cook from scratch. Having fresh produce also forces you to cook from scratch. This is what I consider to be the biggest money saving tip. Every packaged meal or restaurant dish can be made for a fraction of the cost if you make it from scratch. The best part: you can tailor the recipe to fit your family’s tastes.