This post is a little delayed, since most people are getting excited and making their New Year’s resolutions right before and after the 1st of the year. It’s actually an ideal time to discussing this, because the shine has worn off your grand plans for creating a better, healthier you this year. You may have lost steam on your ambitions and have start falling back into hold habits. Don’t! There are small, easily attainable steps to living a healthy life this year and for the rest of your years. Read on and take things one minute at a time. After all, improving your health also means an improvement in the costs of your individual health insurance plan.

Veggie Tales and Your Health

You know how your mom was always trying to get you to eat your vegetables? Well, she knows her stuff. You should be aiming to get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. If you dread the thought of biting into an apple of spearing a piece of broccoli, fear not. Vegetable servings are hiding in some possibly unexpected places. if you are a big fan of baked goods, you can sneak lots of fruit in there. Bake some zucchini bread, use applesauce instead of oil; you can even use prunes to bake! If you love your carbs, grate some carrots into your pasta sauce. Just try and pretend they’re not there.

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If you don’t think you’re low-income and aren’t sure if you’d qualify for the services we talked about in our pregnancy health insurance article (it’s always a good idea to check just in case), there may be other options you can look into as a pregnant, mother-to-be. They do come at a cost, but at a much more reduced cost than other traditional pregnancy health care plans.

Maternity Advantage is a discounted health care program that can help pregnant woman save upwards of 60% on things like prenatal doctor visits, sonograms, lab work, and the hospital stay when you give birth. Although Maternity Advantage itself isn’t health insurance, it works with provider maternity networks to find the best plan that will work for you. All the benefits available through Maternity Advantage are still offered to you even after you find out that you are pregnant.

AmeriPlan is another discount plan that is currently available in all U.S. states except Alaska. AmeriPlan can help save up to 50% on health care services, and is a great choice for expecting mothers. Benefits include physician, hospital, and ancillary services (i.e., lab work, tests, x-rays). Since AmeriPlan, like Maternity Advantage, is not insurance, all pre-existing conditions are covered, there are no deductibles, no waiting periods, no claim forms, and no annual limits. This all sounds too good to be true, so make sure you look into every little detail of these plans before making your choices.

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“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” This is the opening line to the famous novel “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, but to many Americans bidding adieu to 2008, it really just feels like the worst of times with no sunshine in sight.

About 1 million people lost their jobs in 2008, which means that over the course of a mere twelve months, 33% of the entire nation’s population found themselves jobless. That is pretty darn terrifying itself, not to mention the plethora of problems that come along with having no job. Not the least of these problems is losing your health insurance, if you were receiving it through your employer. As if worrying about making ends meet wasn’t problem enough, so many of us are worrying about keeping ourselves and our families healthy. Luckily, there are ways to cope with this situation, so don’t toss your health hopes out the window just yet.

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Editor’s Preface: The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a revolutionary step in addressing our most vital economic challenges. A significant portion of the money doled out by the ARRA ($59 billion) will go towards immediately addressing the health crisis. This is the second part in a two-part series on subsidies for COBRA in the ARRA. We have also extensively covered this subject in “COBRA Health Coverage in a Bad Economy” and “Stimulus Package and COBRA Health Coverage.” You can find Part 1 of this series at: “COBRA Health Subsidies and the Economic Recovery Act“

COBRA Subsidies and Your Health Insurance

Knowing who is and isn’t qualified for this 65% COBRA subsidy coverage can get a little sticky. The ARRA only provides the subsidy to AEI, or “assistance eligible individuals.” Who qualifies as one of these special AEI’s? Anyone who is eligible for COBRA coverage on or before September 1, 2008 or on or after December 31, 2009. This is an interesting way of looking at things, because wouldn’t it just be simpler to say anyone on or after September 1, since December 31 falls after that date? Moving on. An AEI is also someone who chooses to use COBRA during the original COBRA period, or during a special period of coverage. Just what is a special period of coverage? This special election period begins on the date of enactment of the ARRA and ends 60 days after the person’s health plan administrator provides the required notice to the individual. You also have to be covered by COBRA via an involuntary termination (covered in my last post) by your former employer’s health insurance coverage plan.

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Editor’s Preface: The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a revolutionary step in addressing our most vital economic challenges. A significant portion of the money doled out by the ARRA ($59 billion) will go towards immediately addressing the health crisis. This two-part series by Tara Barnes will delve into the benefits of the stimulus package’s COBRA subsidy. We have also extensively covered this subject in “COBRA Health Coverage in a Bad Economy” and “Stimulus Package and COBRA Health Coverage.”

It cannot be denied-COBRA is a huge topic in the United States right now. People are up in arms about COBRA coverage (as can be seen from response here on previous blog postings) and some significant changes and new legislation put into place by the Obama administration may change the face of COBRA.

Spending in the ARRA for Health Insurance and Care Compared with Other Sectors

The ARRA (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) was signed on February 17, 2009 and directly affects the COBRA continuation coverage rules. Because so many Americans are upset with the way COBRA coverage works, will these changes benefit or hurt those who need to rely on COBRA to keep their health insurance? Are these new changes really going to make a difference in the things that citizens are frustrating about, like the monthly cost of COBRA? Read on to find out about the new act passed and how it will affect COBRA for those people living in the real world.
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Birth control is something that all women who are sexually active and aren’t ready for children need to be thinking about. It doesn’t matter if you are already a mom of three and don’t want any more little ones running around, or if you are a young woman getting serious with your first serious boyfriend: learning about birth control options is incredibly important. All effect a woman’s body and work differently than one another, and knowing what you are putting into your body is crucial as any other information you can educate yourself with. If you are unsure about what type of birth control you want to be on and want to know the ins and outs of all your choices, please read on and educate yourself. I am no doctor, and every assertion made here should be thoroughly discussed with your doctor before starting a birth control regimen, but I at least aim to give you a starting off point to help you in making a decision.

The Pill

How exactly does the pill work? Birth control pills work mostly by preventing ovulation (the release of an egg by the ovaries). Most pills are made of two hormones called estrogen and progestin. Estrogen is a female hormone produced by the ovaries and progestin is a synthetic progesterone used as a contraceptive. For the pill to work, you have to take it every day, preferably as close to the same time every day as possible. As with any medication you take, there are risks of side effects. These could include: nausea, headaches, acne, increased blood pressure, breast tenderness, bloating, weight gain and depression. These side effects will definitely not occur in every woman, and nowadays there are varying types of birth control pills and different hormone levels, so talk to your doctor about which one might work best for you. If you are a smoker and want to take the pill, quitting is highly advised, as smoking can interfere with the pill’s effectiveness.

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