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US health insurers raise rates to match increase in usage

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A Retirement Journey: Health Insurance Issues

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Health insurance giant Empire pulls out of NYC’s controversial Medicare plan for retired city workers

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

How to avoid a tax surprise from marketplace health coverage

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Retiree health insurance to end for new administrators in Buffalo schools | Education

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US health insurers raise rates to match increase in usage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

A Retirement Journey: Health Insurance Issues

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Health insurance giant Empire pulls out of NYC’s controversial Medicare plan for retired city workers

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

How to avoid a tax surprise from marketplace health coverage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Featured Story

US health insurers raise rates to match increase in usage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

A Retirement Journey: Health Insurance Issues

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Health insurance giant Empire pulls out of NYC’s controversial Medicare plan for retired city workers

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

How to avoid a tax surprise from marketplace health coverage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Retiree health insurance to end for new administrators in Buffalo schools | Education

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

US health insurers raise rates to match increase in usage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — After putting off routine health care for much of the pandemic, Americans are now returning to doctors’ offices in big numbers — a trend that’s starting to show up in higher insurance rates across the country.

Health insurers in individual marketplaces across 13 states and Washington D.C. will raise rates an average of 10% next year, according to a review of rate filings by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That’s a big increase after premiums remained virtually flat for several years during the pandemic as insurers seek to recoup costs for more people using their policies, combined with record-high inflation that is driving up prices for virtually everything, including health care.

The rates review included Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

“We’re at a point in the pandemic where people are using health care that they

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A Retirement Journey: Health Insurance Issues

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Over the past two weeks, we’ve focused on the story of Bob, a recent retiree. We’ve gone over his pre-retirement experience and his journey through the processing of his retirement application. This week, we’ll look at his health insurance choices.

Bob has an ongoing dilemma when it comes to health insurance. He arguably doesn’t really need Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage or Medicare, because he is a veteran with a service-connected disability. That means all of his medical needs (service-connected and otherwise) are provided by the Veterans Health Administration, at no charge. VHA does bill private insurers (including those in FEHB) for the non-service connected care it provides.

Nevertheless, Bob enrolled in FEHB during his civilian service at the Federal Aviation Administration for a couple of reasons: in case he should need it for a future spouse, should he remarry, and in order to meet the requirement of

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Health insurance giant Empire pulls out of NYC’s controversial Medicare plan for retired city workers

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

A major insurance company has pulled out of a deal to administer New York City’s new Medicare Advantage Plan — the latest setback in the city’s effort to shift roughly 250,000 retired municipal workers onto the controversial health coverage.

Empire BlueCross BlueShield, one of the country’s largest health insurance providers, notified Mayor Adams’ office that it’s not going to help roll out the Advantage plan after the city failed to provide a start date and benefit specifics as requested by July 15, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

“This timeline was important because delaying any further would not give retirees enough time to fully understand their options, benefits, and coverage in advance of open enrollment,” the statement read. “Given the level of uncertainty at this time, we informed the city that (Empire) is not able to participate.”

In light of Empire’s withdrawal, City Hall spokesman Jonah Allon said

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How to avoid a tax surprise from marketplace health coverage

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Kateryna Onyshchuk | iStock | Getty Images

If your income is trending much higher this year than you anticipated, it’s likely a welcome shift.

However, for anyone who gets their private health insurance through the public marketplace, that extra cash could mean an unexpected tax bill when they prepare their 2022 return next spring. A midyear income check could help avoid that.

Basically, if you receive premium subsidies (technically, advance tax credits) through the marketplace, having annual income that’s higher than what you estimated when you enrolled could mean you’re not entitled to as much aid as you’re receiving. And any overage would need to be paid back at tax time.

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Report changes that may affect insurance subsidies

“You really should go

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Retiree health insurance to end for new administrators in Buffalo schools | Education

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Lifetime health insurance is about to become a thing of the past for administrators in the Buffalo Public Schools.

Administrators hired after July 2023 will not be eligible for health insurance paid for by the district after they retire, under the terms of a new contract approved this week by the School Board. 

“It is significant. It’s something the district had pursued for at least the last two collective bargaining agreements,” said Robert Boreanaz, the attorney for the Buffalo Council of Supervisors and Administrators.

Over the years, Boreanaz said, Buffalo had become one of the few districts in New York State still providing retirees with health insurance.

Administrators hired prior to July 2023 will remain eligible for retiree health insurance.

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Those hired after July 2023 will have the option of selling back to the district up to 120 unused sick days to be used toward

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In Order to Live Longer, Weigh Exercise and Nutrition Equally

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

According to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, putting all of one’s eggs in either the exercise basket or the nutrition basket cannot protect you from chronic diseases. An effective longevity routine needs to include a balance of both.

An international team of researchers sourced data from 350,000 individuals from the U.K. Biobank, a massive database of health information on British citizens, which medical professionals rely on for these sorts of sweeping analyses. They began the study a decade ago, when the median age was 57, and the participants were all free from “cardiovascular disease, cancer or chronic pain.”

The researchers set rubrics for diet quality and level of activity. For instance, as The New York Times pointed out, the best diets included “over four cups of fruit and vegetables per day, two or more servings of fish per week, less

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N.J. public workers face big increase in health insurance rates in coming year

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Hundreds of thousands of public workers, early retireesm and school employees in New Jersey are facing potential rate increases of as much as 24% for health benefits under proposals being considered by the State Health Benefits Commission.

Rate increases being considered include a 24% increase for medical and a 3.7% increase for pharmacy benefits for active public workers, as well as a 15.6% increase in medical and a 26.1% increase in pharmacy benefits for public workers who retired before the age of 65, according to an email sent to county administrators from New Jersey Association of Counties Executive Director John Donnadio.

Donnadio said in the email that the figures, which haven’t been made public, were shared by an insurance and benefits broker.

StateTreasury spokeswoman Jennifer Sciortino acknowledged rate increases were being considered and added that rates for active members and early retirees would likely increase between 12-20% across the various

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US$ 500 Million Project Will Help to Strengthen Egypt’s Food and Nutrition Security

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

Washington, June 29, 2022 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors yesterday approved a US$500 million loan to bolster Egypt’s efforts to ensure that poor and vulnerable households have uninterrupted access to bread, to strengthen Egypt’s resilience to food crises and to support reforms in food security policies, including to improve nutritional outcomes.

The Emergency Food Security and Resilience Support Project will help cushion the impact of the war in Ukraine on food and nutrition security in Egypt. The Russian Federation and Ukraine are the world’s largest wheat exporters, and the war has driven up prices and created nutritional shortfalls, particularly for people who rely on bread for their daily nutritional needs. Bread is a staple in Egypt and this new project links wheat imports to direct assistance to the poor and vulnerable population through Egypt’s Bread Subsidy Program.

“This project supports the government’s strong commitment to ensuring that

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Health & Nutrition 101: Weight Loss or Health Gain?

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

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Gina Cousineau

By Gina Cousineau

As a nutrition expert and trained chef, you might think I am outside of my scope of practice when I tell you my goal is to save my clients’ lives, not only one plate at a time, but also through teaching them how to advocate for their health.

Unfortunately, as

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Sports Nutrition Market In Europe – 2022-2026, Rising Inclination Toward Fitness Owing To Increasing Awareness Of Lifestyle-related Conditions to Boost Market

4 months ago Billie S. Dickenson

NEW YORK, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The “Sports Nutrition Market In Europe by Application (Non-protein sports nutrition, Protein powder, Protein RTD, and Protein bar) and Geography (UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Rest of Europe) – Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026” report has been added to Technavio’s offering. With ISO 9001:2015 certification, Technavio is proudly partnering with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies for over 16 years.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Sports Nutrition Market in Europe by Application and Geography – Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

The potential growth difference for the sports nutrition market in Europe between 2021 and 2026 is USD 2.01 billion. To get the exact yearly growth variance and the Y-O-Y growth rate, Download Sample Report.

Key Market Dynamics:

  • Market Driver

  • Market Challenges

The increasing propensity for fitness as a result of growing awareness of

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