| Kool Smiles to open children’s dental clinic
Kool Smiles, a dental clinic that caters to kids, is opening a new location at 3112 N. Main St. in Belvedere Plaza. Kool Smiles provides comprehensive general dental care to under-served young people ages 1 to 21 who are covered by Medicaid and state children's health insurance programs. Renovations to convert the existing space near Rugged Wearhouse into a pediatric dental clinic will cost about $328,750, according to permits filed with the city of Anderson's building and codes office. The Anderson clinic will be Atlanta-based Kool Smiles' second location in South Carolina. The company also has a dental office in Sumter, according to the company's Web site. .
Insurance agency opens in Dallas
The Dawn Wilson Allstate Insurance agency has opened at 877 S. Main St. in Dallas. The agency offers a complete line of insurance products and services. Wilson has 11 years of insurance experience, most recently as an Allstate assistant to her husband. Wilson is a graduate of Western Oregon University. The office is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and evenings by appointment. Call (503) 623-7393. -- Kathie Hodges .
Lincoln Employer Markets Announces Strategic Hires
Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) recently named six new members of its Lincoln Employer Markets Group Insurance team in its Omaha and Atlanta offices. Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 16, 2007 -- Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) recently named six new members of its Lincoln Employer Markets Group Insurance team in its Omaha and Atlanta offices. Lincoln Employer Markets offers a broad breadth of products focused on Retirement, Group Insurance and Executive Benefits and was strategically created to provide employers with integrated solutions for all non-healthcare-related benefits. Timothy Bird, Assistant Vice President of Risk Services
Timothy Bird has been named Assistant Vice President of Risk Services for Lincoln Employer Markets Group Insurance business segment.
John Giblin Named BlueCross Chief Financial Officer
The board of directors of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, in their April 6 board meeting, has confirmed John Giblins appointment to chief financial officer for BlueCross and its affiliated companies.
Most recently, Mr. Giblin served as CFO of Amedisys, Inc., a leading home health nursing company based in Baton Rouge. Prior to that, he worked for 17 years with Crawford & Company in Atlanta, serving as executive vice president and CFO. Crawford & Company is the worlds largest independent provider of claims management solutions to insurance companies and self-insured entities with a global network of over 700 offices in 63 countries. Mr. Giblin, a certified public accountant, began his career with Arthur Andersen LLP in Atlanta.
.
Harvard Study Shows Health Insurance More Expensive For Women
ATLANTA -- High-deductible health insurance plans favored by many employers often wind up being an unfair burden to women, a new study says, largely because women need many routine medical exams that quickly add up. The median expense for men under 45 in these plans was less than $500, but for women it was more than $1,200, according to a study by Harvard Medical School researchers. They also found that only a third of insured men in that age group spent more than $1,050 in annual medical costs, while 55 percent of women did. .
Women end up paying more for high-deductible health insurance ...
ATLANTA - High-deductible, consumer-driven health insurance plans often wind up being an unfair burden to women, a study says, largely because women need many routine medical exams that quickly add up.The median expense for men under 45 in these plans was less than $500, but for women it was more than $1,200, according to the study by Harvard Medical School researchers.They also found that only a third of insured men in that age group spent more than $1,050 in annual medical costs, while 55 percent of women did."High-deductible plans punish women for having breasts and uteruses and having babies," said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, the study's lead author."When an employer switches all his employees into a consumer-driven health plan, it's the same as giving all the women a $1,000 pay cut, on average, because women on average have $1,000 more in health costs than men," she said.Women's costs are higher because women need mammograms, cervical cancer vaccine, Pap tests, birth control and pregnancy-related services that men do not, said Woolhandler, who also is a co-founder of a physicians' group that advocates for a single-payer national health insurance system.The Harvard team's findings are consistent with data from earlier studies, said Ken Thorpe, an Emory University health policy professor who has studied the topic.He said that so far, fewer than 3 percent of Americans with private health insurance use the consumer-driven health plans, which are based on the idea that patients will be more fiscally responsible with how they use medical services if they must pay off the first thousand dollars or more of their own annual health-care bills.But the plans are growing more popular, and President Bush has championed them as a way to control rising U.S.
As legislative session wanes, plenty still left to do
ATLANTA - The tulips that set the Capitol grounds ablaze in color earlier this year are losing their petals, announcing that the 2007 session of the Georgia General Assembly should be well into its homestretch. And yet there is still plenty of heavy lifting to do. The House and Senate still have to approve two budgets: the amended one for 2007 that House and Senate Republicans have been fighting over and a "big budget" for 2008 that they're likely to fight over soon. All the substantial legislation is waiting to move, and some think the two sides are holding up the action to get leverage on the budget. There are seven legislative days left, and it's a guessing game right now how long it will take lawmakers to use them, or what will be accomplished once they're done.
Gwilym Jones (1921-2007)
Members of the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos and others who knew him were saddened by the passing of Gwilym Parry Jones, 85, an active member of the Los Gatos service community for the past six years, a member of Kiwanis International for 29 years, and a Presbyterian minister for more than 60 years. Born in Wales but raised in New Zealand, where he studied at seminary, Gwilym--known to most as "Jonesy"--traveled the world, serving in Japan in time to see the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb. His ministry led him to West Virginia, then Oakland (College Avenue Presbyterian Church), then to Westminster Presbyterian on The Alameda in San Jose. Gwilym founded the Contact telephone ministry that now operates 50 centers across the country and helps 1.7 million people annually.
High hopes, high price for immunity therapy
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - If human blood is a valuable medical resource, then its derivative, immunoglobulin, is a precious commodity. The biological product, at about $100 per gram and up to $10,000 per treatment course, is among the most expensive therapeutic substances in the medical marketplace. And sufferers of any number of immunological diseases say that without regular intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, they would be severely disabled or worse. But the product's high cost - and its growing popularity for use against conditions as varied as baldness and infertility, autism and Alzheimer's disease - has insurers balking. Strict controls on reimbursement have left some patients without means to pay for the treatment. IVIG, as it is commonly known, is made up of antibodies derived from thousands of pooled blood donations.
Monthly Premiums for Low-Cost Health Plans in Massachusetts Fell ...
Monthly premiums for the four lowest-cost health plans submitted to the Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority decreased by an average of 8% in the second round of bidding, the Boston Globe reports (Krasner, Boston Globe, 3/30). The plans are approved to meet minimum coverage requirements to comply with the state's universal coverage law, including requiring prescription drug coverage. Under the state's health insurance law, all residents must obtain health care coverage by July 1 or face tax penalties (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/21). Records obtained by the Globe show that insurers took different approaches to lowering premiums. For example, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care reduced its monthly premiums by 18% after restructuring its plan from a PPO to an HMO and increasing the amount beneficiaries would pay in deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
King County gets $1.9 million to test drive innovative statewide ...
A statewide pilot program initiated by King County that links car insurance rates to the number of miles driven has won a $1.9 million federal grant. Unigard Insurance and the Washington State Department of Transportation are partners in the five-year program that for the first time will collect comprehensive data about driver behavior when insurance rates are based on actual vehicle usage. The federal grant, combined with other public and private matching funds, will allow King County and its partners to launch the Pay-As-You-Drive project beginning next year. The pilot will be phased in over a five-year period and will recruit 5,000 vehicle owners from all across the state of Washington. Senator Patty Murray's support was instrumental in helping King County receive the grant that is part of the U.S.
Is it time to buy a condo?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- I was wondering if I was wise to buy a condo during this period where the market is falling? -Chima We all love bargains. But hey, if you're going to fish at the bottom of the pond, make sure you're at the bottom. Some County Board of Realtors put the price and sales stats online. You'll want to take a look at all of those numbers. .
Mail Call/You Said It
"To all of you that say you're an anti-war protester but not an anti-soldier protester I would like to tell you how wrong you are. As a military member it is my view and the majority of military members I know is that if you're against the war you're against us. By not supporting the war, you are in fact not supporting what we are doing in Iraq. What you are telling us is we should not be there and all the deaths of military members have been for nothing. That is how military members feel about your anti-war protests. Support us in all we do; that's all we ask." Word count: 2213 .
Business for March 15, 2007
NASCAR Busch Grand National and Busch North Series NASCAR driver Mike Speakman from Pylesville Maryland, now calls Apollo Beach home.
Speakman a union carpenter for 24 years and a part time NASCAR competitor since 2000, enjoys running against the big boys with unlimited funds. The race team has had a few top twenty finishes against Americas toughest NASCAR drivers at Dover Delawares monster mile track and also on the twisting turning road courses of Watkins Glen, NY and Lime Rock, Connecticut.
Speakman and his wife, Dawn, have two girls, Kelly 8 and Katie 5 years old. In July of 2006, the family made the big move south to Florida. Racing is put on hold temporarily, until a new raceshop is finished in Riverview.
Dawn Speakman is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty, at the new south shore office, located by Publix, in Apollo Beach.
Health plans would benefit state's uninsured
Almost all the low-income uninsured in Colorado would get basic or comprehensive health coverage under two plans presented Thursday to the state's Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform. Whether those proposals become reality depends greatly on whether the state can afford the costs, whether the feds deem the plans legal and whether employers and insurers back the plans or fight them. About one in six Coloradans - some 770,000 people - don't have health insurance, and that number seems to be growing. Kaiser-Permanente, one of the largest health insurers in metro Denver, proposes a gradual phase-in of coverage, starting with children and moving toward covering most uninsured adults. Highlights of the K-P plan: • The federal government grants a waiver to allow Colorado to use Medicaid dollars to cover more children from low- and modest-income families.
College student health-care plan to improve
Under Governor Rod Blagojevich's proposed "Illinois Covered" plan, college students will not only have the opportunity to remain dependents on their parents' insurance plans until they are 29 years old but will also enjoy improved insurance later in life.
Under the plan, three elements - Illinois Covered Choice, Illinois Covered Rebate and Illinois Covered Assist - will help enable affordable health care for all Illinois residents. In the Illinois Covered Assist portion, students who have jobs offering benefits and insurance will receive help in paying off high premiums.
"Oftentimes, students in college getting ready to graduate may not be hired right away for that great job that offers medical benefits," Blagojevich said in a March 27 press release. "They may end up taking a lower-paying job without benefits and being unable to afford to buy their own health insurance."
Dr.
|
