The Observer, Billionaires Meeting

Here is something worth noting and perhaps the U.S. government might want to emulate.

Billionaires plan to put the world to rights following secret supper
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are among those signing up to the greatest private donation in history

It was a dinner meeting that fed the appetites of the world's conspiracy theorists just as much as those sitting down to eat. Held in May 2009 at a secret location in New York, the meal was a meeting between some of the globe's richest billionaires, organised by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
A year later, we know what they were talking about. Not taking over the world, but working out ways to give away billions of dollars.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/ click here for more information

Medical Costs Will Increase in 2011, Companies to Add Wellness Programs

According to a new report published by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PWC) Health Research Institute, employers across the nations can expect medical costs to increase by 9% in 2011. As a result, about two-thirds of companies intend to expand or improve wellness programs in an effort to reduce preventable medical conditions related to those expanding costs.

Medical Costs Will Increase in 2011, Companies to Add Wellness Programs click here for more information:

*Experts say travel health insurance can be crucial

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer- Sun May 9, 1:32 pm ET
CHICAGO - Plane tickets, check. Passport, check. Medical evacuation insurance? It's probably not something most people think about when packing for a vacation.

But Louise Robbins says she'd probably be bankrupt without it. The University of Wisconsin library educator and her husband, Robby, were in southwest China last summer when Robby slipped and fell backward on a hotel walkway made of the region's famed red marble.

Their regular health insurance covered many expenses, but not flying him home on a jet specially equipped for transporting critically ill patients and medical equipment. The cost exceeded $100,000.

"We would have been lost" if not for the medical evacuation insurance, Louise Robbins said.

With summer vacation season approaching, experts say there are several ways international travelers can protect themselves against medical emergencies - from registering in advance with the State Department, which can help locate doctors abroad and arrange emergency medical flights, to buying supplemental insurance or stand-alone medical evacuation policies.

Thousands of American travelers each year are flown home with medical assistance because of health emergencies. Car accidents and heart attacks are among the most common reasons.

......

But most regular health insurance plans don't cover costly evacuations. And finding that out after an emergency can be catastrophic.

A 21-year-old California woman died last year after her insurance company initially said its emergency coverage wouldn't pay to fly her home from China when she developed a blood disorder, according to her family's lawsuit. The suit, claiming wrongful death and breach of contract, says the company relented too late. Anthem Blue Cross, the insurer, disputes the claims.

Travelers should check their policies to see what kind of expenses are covered, said Susan Pisano of America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade association. Most will pay for emergency care outside the United States - but for leisure travelers that often doesn't include medical evacuation.

"Just make sure you know very clearly" what your policy says, she advised.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends considering supplemental health insurance, including medical evacuation, if your existing policy is lacking.

According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association, another trade group, Americans increasingly have been buying travel insurance; more than $1 billion was spent in 2008. Most covered things like unexpected trip cancellations - disruptions caused by the erupting Iceland volcano have prompted a flurry of recent business. But growth also has been strong in policies covering medical emergencies and evacuation, the group says.

A thought on good health!

Positive attitudes—optimism, high self-esteem, an outgoing nature, joyousness, and the ability to cope with stress—may be the most important bases for continued good health.

helen hayes

June 2010 Health Care Reform Insights, "Rules on Coverage for Children Clarified"

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act (the abbreviated name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care, the new health care reform law) contains a provision requiring group health plans that provide dependent coverage for children to continue to make such coverage available for an adult child until the child turns 26 years of age. This requirement ("the age-26 mandate") applies to all group health plans, including "grandfathered" plans (those in existence when the law was enacted).


Health Care Reform Insights Sibson Consulting for more information click here also download pdf

Youth Clubs Build Confidence, Reduce Problem Behaviors

Would you like your child to have more confidence and stay out of trouble? An Ohio State University study reveals that children who belong to youth clubs develop a better self concept and are less likely to engage in problem behaviors.

Youth Clubs Build Confidence, Reduce Problem Behaviors click here for more info

Accident Patients without Health Insurance Have Higher Mortality

If you are the victim of an auto accident or gunshot wound and you don’t have health insurance, you are more likely to die of your injuries than if you have private insurance. This statistic comes from University Buffalo researchers who also found that accident patients with Medicaid had a lower death rate than those who had private insurance.

Accident Patients without Health Insurance Have Higher Mortality click here for more information;

NASA Face in Space

Fly Your Face in Space

NASA wants to put a picture of you on one of the two remaining space shuttle missions and launch it into orbit. To launch your face into space and become a part of history, just follow these steps:

NASA Face in Space

Life

Life is like a game of cards. Reliability is the ace, industry the king, politeness the queen, thrift the jack: Common sense is playing to best advantage the cards you draw, and every day, as the game proceeds, you will find the ace, king, queen, jack in your hand and opportunity to use them.

edgar watson howe

The Internal Revenue Service recently released the inflation-adjusted minimums and maximums for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) for 2011.

A new Checkup includes a chart noting the numbers for 2011, which are the same as for 2010. AMS can help plan sponsors that are considering offering HSAs:  
Small Business (2-50 Employees)  HSA and Other plan quotes

• Create the "right" strategy for their participant populations

• Determine whether HSAs would be a "good fit" for their participants' needs

• Identify the impact that implementing an HSA option with an HDHP would have on existing benefits

• Decide between an HSA/HDHP plan and a design that includes Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs)

• The chart below notes the numbers for 2011, which are all the same as for 2010.

2011 Minimums and Maximums for HSAs* and HDHPs (All the Same as for 2010)
2011 Minimums and Maximums for HSAs* and HDHPs (All the Same as for 2010)


Maximum Annual                                 Individual Coverage     Family Coverage



HSA Contribution**                             $3,050                         $6,150

Minimum HDHP Deductible                  $1,209                         $2,400

Maximum HDHP Deductible                 None                           None

Maximum HDHP

Out-of-Pocket Expense***                  $5,950                         $11,900

*

HSAs, established by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) as of January 1, 2004, allow individuals or employers to contribute to an HSA as long as the individual is covered under an HDHP. (For more information about HSAs, refer to various publications available on Sibson Consulting's Web site.)

**

As in 2009 and 2010, individuals age 55 or over can contribute an additional $1,000 to their HSAs in 2011 and subsequent years.

***

The out-of-pocket expense does not include premiums.

News Analysis - Health Insurers and the Administration Find They Need Each Other - NYTimes.com

AFTER squaring off as political foes for more than a year, the Obama administration and the health insurance industry have suddenly discovered that they need each other.
Both have huge stakes in the success of the new health care law. The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price. News Analysis - Health Insurers and the Administration Find They Need Each Other - NY Times.com

Continue reading article:


NOTE: One thing is very clear, as citizens we need to continue to voice our opinions and help guide this monumental tasks; the real question is how do we as a nation cover everyone, have no limits on spending and make available the funds to pay for services? A very important and often overlooked fact is; in countries where there is Socialized Health Care they have limits on services based on available funds to pay for services, just ask the right people, service providers. There can not be a system without restrictions, or you will not be able to raise the money to pay for services. This maxim applies to everything; as one

This becomes a real push/pull between bringing care to an affordable level while being able to pay for all services.

Heath reform will increase costs, survey finds - The Hill's On The Money

Nearly all employers — 94 percent — tapped by the Towers Watson Health Care Reform Pulse Survey believe the new healthcare law will raise health costs for their organization.

Additionally, 61 percent believe reform will have a minimal effect on encouraging healthier lifestyles, and 73 percent said it will either have a negative impact or no impact on the quality of care.

"Employers are currently weighing the short-term challenges and long-term opportunities of the new law," said Mark Maselli, North American Health and Group Benefits Leaders for Towers Watson, in prepared remarks. "While many employers have not yet assessed the full impact that reform will have on their businesses, they do realize that the responsibilty to hold costs down will fall primarily on their shoulders."

click here for additional article:

Investors Tap Into 401(k) Money Tax-Free for Business Startups - BusinessWeek

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Hal Mottet, a Lake Oswego, Oregon, businessman bought a family-owned packaging company for $3.5 million in late 2007, and he and a partner financed 40 percent of the sales price with their retirement money.

Start a 401 K plan today: Pension Plans

More Americans Enrolling in Health Savings Accounts

"A new census released by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) has found that ten million Americans are now using a Health Savings Account (HSA), an increase of 25% since last year. With upcoming changes likely to most insurance plans due to the health care reform law, will an HSA benefit you?" Read More

HSA Heatlh Plan Quotes: Affordable HSA PLANS

Learn about HSA here: HSA Plans explained

Federal Plans and What They Mean for Small Business

Employee Benefit Newsletter










The United States Small Business Administration states that, among the 25.8 million businesses in the United States, over 99 percent of employers are small businesses. In fact, small businesses are key drivers of growth in the U.S. economy, creating more than 66 percent of all new jobs each year. President Obama’s initiatives to create jobs reflect these statistics by including substantial assistance plans for small businesses to free up access to capital, ease the burdens of health care costs, and fund innovation and development.



According to Obama, “The true engine of job creation will always be businesses. What government can do is fuel that engine: by giving entrepreneurs and companies the support to open their doors, expand, and hire more workers. Today, we're taking another step towards assisting small business owners to get the capital they need to grow and hire.”



The Small Business Lending Fund and Other Financing Sources



The Administration has earmarked $30 billion in Small Business Lending Fund capital to assist community-based banks in increasing lending to small businesses.



Approximately 8,000 banks fit the mold, with assets of just under $10 billion and a customer base of local community businesses.



Small Business Lending Funds would provide these banks with the necessary liquidity to loosen the reins on small business lending and jump-start growth in this sector. This initiative would be funded by repayments from large banks that benefited from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout of Wall Street’s financial crisis that culminated in the fall of 2009. In addition, banks would receive a substantial cut in the dividend tax rate for up to 5 years. For small businesses, it provides new and expanded access to capital necessary to invest, hire, and grow.



In addition to government-sponsored programs to fuel lending to small business, other financing options include angel investors and venture capitalists, commercial bank loans, Small Business Administration loans, and home-equity loans.



Small Business Real Estate Refinancing



The President has also proposed a program to allow small business owners to refinance existing mortgages through a Small Business Administration 504 Loan Program that provides guarantees for loans for the development of real estate and other fixed assets. SBA Administrator Karen Mills states, “Thousands of good, creditworthy businesses find themselves caught by declining real estate values as a result of this recession. With many of them now facing mortgages coming due in the next few years, the ability to refinance into SBA’s 504 loan will give them the chance to lock in long-term, stable financing, as well as protect jobs by protecting small businesses from foreclosure.” Learn more about 504 loans.



Health Care Initiatives



Providing health care to employees without the bargaining power and leverage held by large corporations has made health care costs prohibitive to owners of small businesses. In response, Obama has proposed:



•A tax credit of up to 50 percent of the premiums paid to cover workers for firms with 25 full-time workers or less. The White House Council of Economic Advisers states that approximately 4 million small businesses will be eligible for this tax credit for providing health insurance to their employees.

•Creation of The National Health Exchange, a low-cost, high-quality source of health insurance that all small businesses can buy into, raising the collective purchasing power and spreading the risk and administrative costs.

•Reimbursement of catastrophic costs, or “reinsurance” for small business employers of those workers with chronic illness.

Keep up-to-date on the latest health care reforms impacting small business.



Tax Incentives and Additional Funds for Small Business



The Obama Administration has proposed the elimination of all capital gains taxes for small and start-up businesses to create incentives for investment in the small business sector. Last year’s Recovery Act instituted an exemption of 75 percent. This proposal would increase that exemption to 100 percent on investments in small business.



In addition, Obama states that he would like to double federal funding for research, alternative energy sources, continued advancement of broadband technology, and implementation of a research and development tax credit to help businesses invest in innovation.

By Jim Casey

Leader, Small Business Marketing, D&B

Employees with Company Health Insurance Will Pay More

Will health care reform will push up an already escalating cost for health insurance.

If you are an employee with a big company and you have health insurance, chances are your employer will continue to provide you with insurance. However, 88 percent of employers plan to pass along increases in health care to their employees, which in turn will make it hardly anymore affordable for the workers.

Helping Employers and Employees to find affordable health care coverages.

Small Business (2-50 Employees)

More Medicare, Medicaid Patients Turning to Alternative Therapies?

Submitted by Denise Reynolds RD on 2010-05-26

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing in the United States. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), about 38% of adults in the US used some form of CAM in 2007. Most of those are women with higher levels of education and income, however it appears that more patients on government healthcare plans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are also using CAM due to frustration with access to standard healthcare.  click on the here for full article

Looking for medicare coverage:  Medicare Supplements

Employee Fraud and how to cope!

If you ever worry about the risk of being defrauded, here's

a number to take your breath away: almost a trillion dollars per year.



That's how much businesses lose to occupational fraud –

inside jobs, usually by employees. Shocking, isn't it? It

represents about 7% of total company revenues.



The numbers come from the experts – the Association of

Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – in their latest annual report.



Not surprisingly, the firms that lose the most are the ones

that have taken the least action to try to prevent employee fraud.

And the crime is disproportionately worse in small and medium

sized businesses, which are the most vulnerable.



You won’t be surprised to know that most employee fraud originates

in the accounting department, but it's distressing to learn that second

place goes to executives and management, followed by

operations and sales departments.



And although you can actually insure against loss through

fraud, I'm sure you'd agree that taking some smart and simple

steps to prevent the crime is your best starting point – and the

best way of keeping any insurance premium as low as possible!



Nothing's fool-proof but I've compiled this list of a dozen things

you can start to do right now to virtually eliminate the risk of

employee fraud – or to quickly expose the culprits:



1. Build your company culture on integrity. Be a role model of honesty yourself.

2. Be seen to deal quickly and firmly with any employee misconduct whatsoever.

3. Don’t allow one employee to be responsible for both billing and handling payments.

4. Insist that all checks above a fairly low amount have two signatures.

5. Never sign blank checks, or checks for new suppliers without verifying them.

6. Tell your bank not to permit transfers between accounts without your say-so.

7. Carefully screen all new employees, taking up references and monitoring them.

8. Keep an eye on disgruntled employees or those who seem to be living above their means.

9. Regularly check financial statements yourself – take a course if you're not up to scratch.

10. Conduct surprise audits – with no warnings, or when your bookkeeper is on vacation.

11. Use sequential numbering on checks, purchase orders, invoices, so it's easy to spot gaps.

12. Run a test by submitting a money order or check as an unspecified payment.



It's important to let your employees know of these policies –

especially items 2 and 12 – since that's the easiest way to

discourage fraud in the first place.



You might also want to implement – and tell everyone about it –

an anonymous "whistleblower" policy that enables suspicious

employees to report their concerns to you.



With a little bit of forethought, you can slash the likelihood of

fraud in your business – even the ACFE figures show that.

If you're not already doing it, there's no time like the present

to tackle my Top 12 list!

Dr. Oz Gives GMA Viewers Six Step Plan for Long Life

Because of the many demands placed on us today, many people find it difficult to take the necessary time to exercise and plan for healthy meals. But Dr. Mehmet Oz, physician, talk show host and author, told AARP Magazine and Good Morning America Viewers to “stop making excuses”. Poor diet and lack of exercise can be more harmful than a disease.

Dr. Oz says that it is never too late to start following a better lifestyle, and one of the best ways to go about making major changes is to do them in a step-wise fashion, incorporating them slowly so that they become habits and not burdens.

Dr. Oz Gives GMA Viewers Six Step Plan for Long Life click here for more information

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Hopes to Remove Stigma

Mental health issues affect all of society in some way, shape, or form. It is estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year and that translates to about 57.7 million people.


May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Hopes to Remove Stigma: click here for more information