Consumer Reports’ investigation found that, in comparison to employer offered insurance, individual insurance sucks and it’s expensive. Here’s the results of their survey, published in the January issue, asking consumers about their experience with both types of insurance.
health
Congress Set To Ban Soda, Junk Food From Schools
By 12.2.07
Snickers and Cokes would be a thing of the past at school cafeterias and vending machines if the Senate approves an ambitious amendment from Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Murkowsky (R-AK). The amendment to the Farm Bill would establish strict federal guidelines limiting the sale of deliciously unhealthy treats brimming with sugar, salt, and fat.
The nutrition standards would allow only plain bottled water and eight-ounce servings of fruit juice or plain or flavored low-fat milk with up to 170 calories to be sold in elementary and middle schools. High school students could also buy diet soda or, in places like school gyms, sports drinks. Other drinks with as many as 66 calories per eight ounces could be sold in high schools, but that threshold would drop to 25 calories per eight-ounce serving in five years.
Teenager Discovers Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria In Chicken
By 12.1.07
A 17-year-old student in New Zealand has discovered antibiotic resistant bacteria that could be difficult to treat in humans… in a bunch of grocery store chickens.
Too Stinky To Fly: "Unfamiliar Smell" Grounds Southwest Flight
By 11.30.07
An “unfamiliar smell” grounded a flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Thursday after flight attendants noticed the smell shortly after take off.
Walgreens Drops Some CVS Prescription Plans
By 11.30.07
Negotiations have broken down between Walgreens and rival CVS Caremark, and Walgreens has withdrawn as a provider from four of their prescription plans.
Customers affected include members of prescription benefit plans managed by CVS Caremark for ArcelorMittal, Johnson Controls, Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and Wisconsin Education Association Trust, the company said.
Just Because You Have Health Insurance Doesn't Mean Your Bill Won't Be A Million Dollars
By 11.30.07
Here’s a scary thought: What if you have health insurance and still get stuck with a million dollar hospital bill? That’s what happened to Jim Dawson after a staph infection spread throughout his body.
What Are They Feeding The Kids At School?
By 11.30.07
The always feisty Center For Science In The Public Interest has released a school lunch report card and while no state received an “A”, only Kentucky and Oregon are close to the CSPI’s standards. Oregon went from an F to an A-, but it wasn’t easy:
10 Secrets Of Primary Care Physicians
By 11.29.07
The latest SmartMoney list of insider secrets and unpleasant truths is just as bleak as every other news item about health care these days, starting with the fact that a primary care doctor—”someone to coordinate your health care, help choose your specialists and be the first to diagnose just about any problem”—is getting harder to find, and fewer med students are showing any interest in the (comparatively) low-paying profession: “the number of primary-care internal medicine residency positions dropped by more than 50% in the past decade.”
New Nutrition Label Coming To Some Supermarkets In '08
By 11.29.07
The Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), a supplemental, easy-to-read nutrition labeling system, will be introduced on a voluntary basis next year by participating Wegmans, IGA, Hy-Vee, and Food City grocers. ONQI was developed by a bunch of nutrition and health experts and assigns products a value from 1 to 100 by scoring a number of good and bad qualities of the food. Shoppers can then compare similar products easily to see which one is more nutritionally sound.
Asbestos Found In Several Products
By 11.28.07
Lead-tainted toys are old news! This Christmas, the new new thing is asbestos-tainted toys and other products.
Top 10 Most Calorie-Packed Fast Food Items
By 11.28.07
ACalorieCounter.com compiled the 272 fast food items most densely packed with calories. Here’s the 10 worst offenders:
How To Avoid The Medicare Donut Hole
By 11.27.07
Anyone who has Medicare and takes lots of drugs or a few very expensive ones (or who has an older relative who does) knows about the dreaded “donut hole”—the gap in coverage that happens each year if you have to spend a lot of money on prescriptions. If you’re above the poverty level but don’t have good gap insurance, it can be financially devastating. The New York Times notes that for a quarter of at-risk patients, planning ahead with generics may help you skirt the donut hole altogether. The big stumbling block is that you have to be prepared to discuss your personal finances with your doctor.
Health Insurance 101
By 11.27.07
We get a lot of questions about health insurance. We’re not experts, so we’ve turned to the folks at Kiplinger. They’ve put together a section on their site that will help you understand the “alphabet soup” of health care options that are available to you. Good luck out there.
Tamiflu And Relenza Treat Flu, But Might Make You Crazy
By 11.27.07
This week, an FDA advisory panel will review a recommendation to put a warning on flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza that says there have been “psychiatric events observed in some patients.” The companies who make the drugs have both responded that they’ve found no causal link between their drugs and “psychiatric events.”
The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips
By 11.26.07
The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips [Free Money Finance]
Walmart Pays For Brain Damaged Employee's Medical Bills, Then Sues For The Money Back
By 11.21.07
A Walmart employee was hit by a semi, leaving her permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Walmart paid for her medical fees and her family successfully sued the trucking company. Now Walmart wants all the money she got from the trucking company. The family only has Social Security benefits and medicaid to pay for her 24 hour medical care. The company health plan contains a clause that allows it to recoup medical expenses it paid if the person also wins damages in an injury suit. This cost-effective management of the employee health plan is just another way Walmart delivers America everday low prices.
By 11.19.07
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Don’t buy a house near an airport: a Swedish study has found a correlation between living near noisy airports and “an elevated risk of high blood pressure due to noise pollution.” [Reuters]
