The state's health insurance exchange finished the year with less than half its target for private plan signups, but MNsure officials said Monday they were still on track to meet that critical goal.
Reported by TwinCities.com 12 hours ago.
MNsure says it's on track to meet enrollment goal
↧
↧
Will It Be As Always?
Thomas B. Reed, a Republican politician and Speaker of the House at the end of the 19th century, warned: "One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation." For more than 100 years since then, Americans not only ignored this warning but have been doing exactly the opposite -- they went into a legislative binge.
Prohibition was the first big failure proving that excessive legislation leads to common disrespect for the law in general, breeds corruption and spurs organized crime. Following this blunder, Americans were reluctant about legislating other similarly grandiose policies on the national level. Besides a few exceptions, such as the set of the Great Society acts voted in about 50 years ago during the Lyndon Johnson administration and, more recently, the Affordable Care Act, most of the legislative binge went into small regulations here and there, on all levels -- federal, state and local. As a result, Americans are ensnared in a network of ubiquitous petty regulations -- well-intended, but effectively hindering entrepreneurship -- thus thwarting our economy, which under these conditions cannot create the well-paying jobs that Americans need. At least this is the mantra propagated by many Republicans.
It sounded convincing to Americans during the last November midterm elections; Republicans gained a majority in the Senate and increased their majority in the House. In Illinois -- where I live - a reform-minded Republican was elected as the new state governor. It will be interesting to observe how -- starting in January -- Republicans will go about reversing the legislative binge. Or, will they?
One can make a reasonable assumption that among thousands (if not millions, when we include all local ordinances) of legislative acts there is a sizable number of those which -- similar to Prohibition -- were well-intended, and similarly have been causing more harm than good. So far, every time when a problem is identified, legislators go to work and produce new laws intended to fix it. Knowing that at least some of our problems are caused by previous regulations, should we expect that, beginning in January, when recognizing a problem, before even thinking about proposing a new regulation, Republican legislators will examine the existing laws first? Will they look into the option of fixing the problem not by introducing a new law but by eliminating the existing one and leaving nothing in its place? Now, as their achievements, legislators list the laws they helped to pass. Starting in January, will they list as their achievements the laws that they eliminated and in place of which they left nothing?
Is the new wave of Republicans serious about achieving more by legislating less? Are they ready to seek solutions by eliminating or scaling down existing regulations? Are they set to resolve our problems by shrinking or even eliminating government agencies, not by expanding them or creating new ones?
Occasionally, one may get an impression that this is what will be happening. Take as an example the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. It brings unprecedented government intervention into the health care industry. It can be seen as nationalization of 17.4% of our economy, health care part of GDP in 2013. Also, it brings previously unheard government intrusion into how Americans handle their health care, a very private matter. Furthermore, there is a justifiable concern that with the deep involvement of government bureaucracy, health care will become even less affordable and costlier than it ever was before. On this premise, there are voices on the Republican side calling for repealing Obamacare. Will they come to fruition beginning in January?
Any real attempt of repealing Obamacare will bring back the debates from 2009 about how bad our health care was and why it needed fixing. In the special report heralding ACA, prepared by the Council of Economic Advisers to the President, the case was made that "health care is very different from conventional goods and services" because "The markets for health insurance and medical care are classic examples of markets in which asymmetric information is important -- that is, where one party to a transaction is likely to have more information than another." Hence, "because of these market failures, government programs and policies play a large role in health care." (pp 13-14) With this ideological approach, the conclusion was obvious: health care should not be market-driven; it should be a government-run service.
Opponents of Obamacare argue exactly the opposite: our health care became inefficient and costly mostly because of excessive regulations, and that reforming it should happen by eliminating many rules and increasing the role of the free market. The scholarly argument for this line of thinking was made the best by John C. Goodman in his monumental book Priceless. The book MediCrats, by Ralph Weber, provides popular, easy-to-read presentation of the same view. Following this ideological approach would mean telling Americans that their health needs would be better served if doctors, clinics, hospitals and health insurance companies were profit driven. I wonder how many Republicans, among those advocating for repealing Obamacare, sincerely believe that greed driven health care providers would serve us better with little regulation than when tightly regulated by the government? Furthermore, how many of them would dare to tell their constituents that health care should be run like any other business, with as little government intervention as possible?
Immigration is another example. Some Republicans are very vocal about annulling the recent presidential executive orders. This reopens the debate as to why we have such a big immigration mess to begin with. On immigration, the mainstream Republicans stand for excessive government control. Some of them, if they only could, would place a policeman behind every employer, just to make sure that no illegal immigrant is hired. The radical Republican faction claiming that it is taxed enough already, aggressively advocates for government expanding its reach in limiting immigration, even if it takes more taxes to do so. No one seems to understand that our immigration laws are rooted in the same times and thinking as Prohibition was; they delegalize the otherwise moral actions -- in this instance, the desire of individuals to be able to enter freely mutually beneficial labor contracts. The thought that Americans imposed the immigration disarray upon themselves by overregulating it is not given any serious consideration. Will it change suddenly in January?
It is often said that Washington became dysfunctional. Washington reflects what Americans want. Americans want a small, efficient government and low taxes, with the exception of issues of particular concern, where they want a strong government imposing their agenda on others and they are willing to pay higher taxes to get it achieved. No one dares to tell Americans that what they want is self-contradictory; it simply cannot be done. This is why so little is accomplished in Washington.
Americans lost faith in the free market, but they still want to keep the benefits of it. They are suspicious that without government oversight, big corporations will screw them left and right. They trust much more the visible hand of the tight government regulations over the invisible hand of the free market. They are suspicious of greed-driven corporate managers, and they have much more confidence in the morality of the elected or hired government officials. There is an underlying assumption that bad people work for big corporations and good people work for the government. The only problem that Americans see in this picture is in the ballooning of lobbying, where the corporations are perceived as using their money to demoralize good people working in government. No one seems to see that lobbying can exist only with excessive regulations. The fewer regulations we have, the less it is that lobbyists can buy, regardless of how much money they have. Most regulations are intended to help a little man. However, the more aspects of our everyday life are regulated, the more opportunities the special interests have in turning these regulations their way. The proverbial ordinary Americans did not get it yet that, with every new regulation intended to protect their interests, there is an increasingly meaningful risk of them being screwed by lobbyists. The invisible hand of the free market is the only hand that cannot take bribes and does not need money for reelection.
Politicians need money for reelection, and lobbyists are a dependable source of it. Will, starting in January, Republican legislators advocate for fewer regulations and will they voluntarily give up the significant part of their funding?
When, in 1983, President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union "an evil empire," I lived in Poland, then a part of the Soviet Bloc. I was well aware of the faults of the system. At the same time I knew many decent people sincerely supporting it. I was told many times that the criminal excesses of socialism as we knew it were the pains of growth of an otherwise superior and, most of all, more just political system. The "evil empire" speech made me aware that the evil was not in the illicit extremes of the system but in its core concept of all-embracing government hampering the personal freedom of an individual.
The "evil empire" was not created by people with immoral intentions. It arose from the universal desire of bettering the society we live in -- a desire shared by many Americans. During my almost exactly 30 years of living in the U.S., I have been observing a gradual expansion of government intrusion limiting my liberties. Often I joke that the longer I live here, the more I feel like still being in the Poland I left 30 years ago. We still do not have the "evil empire," but we have made a giant leap in that direction. Will we go into reverse beginning in January?
It will be a challenging task as the bureaucratic monster (we have to acknowledge that we have one) tends to be hard to curb. When, in the 1990s, Russia tried to dump its Soviet ballast, commenting on one of the failures in this path, Viktor Chernomyrdin, then the Prime Minister of Russia, said: "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always." In 2016, when Republicans summarize their achievements during the two years of having controlled both chambers of Congress, will they have more to say than simply quoting Chernomyrdin? Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
Prohibition was the first big failure proving that excessive legislation leads to common disrespect for the law in general, breeds corruption and spurs organized crime. Following this blunder, Americans were reluctant about legislating other similarly grandiose policies on the national level. Besides a few exceptions, such as the set of the Great Society acts voted in about 50 years ago during the Lyndon Johnson administration and, more recently, the Affordable Care Act, most of the legislative binge went into small regulations here and there, on all levels -- federal, state and local. As a result, Americans are ensnared in a network of ubiquitous petty regulations -- well-intended, but effectively hindering entrepreneurship -- thus thwarting our economy, which under these conditions cannot create the well-paying jobs that Americans need. At least this is the mantra propagated by many Republicans.
It sounded convincing to Americans during the last November midterm elections; Republicans gained a majority in the Senate and increased their majority in the House. In Illinois -- where I live - a reform-minded Republican was elected as the new state governor. It will be interesting to observe how -- starting in January -- Republicans will go about reversing the legislative binge. Or, will they?
One can make a reasonable assumption that among thousands (if not millions, when we include all local ordinances) of legislative acts there is a sizable number of those which -- similar to Prohibition -- were well-intended, and similarly have been causing more harm than good. So far, every time when a problem is identified, legislators go to work and produce new laws intended to fix it. Knowing that at least some of our problems are caused by previous regulations, should we expect that, beginning in January, when recognizing a problem, before even thinking about proposing a new regulation, Republican legislators will examine the existing laws first? Will they look into the option of fixing the problem not by introducing a new law but by eliminating the existing one and leaving nothing in its place? Now, as their achievements, legislators list the laws they helped to pass. Starting in January, will they list as their achievements the laws that they eliminated and in place of which they left nothing?
Is the new wave of Republicans serious about achieving more by legislating less? Are they ready to seek solutions by eliminating or scaling down existing regulations? Are they set to resolve our problems by shrinking or even eliminating government agencies, not by expanding them or creating new ones?
Occasionally, one may get an impression that this is what will be happening. Take as an example the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. It brings unprecedented government intervention into the health care industry. It can be seen as nationalization of 17.4% of our economy, health care part of GDP in 2013. Also, it brings previously unheard government intrusion into how Americans handle their health care, a very private matter. Furthermore, there is a justifiable concern that with the deep involvement of government bureaucracy, health care will become even less affordable and costlier than it ever was before. On this premise, there are voices on the Republican side calling for repealing Obamacare. Will they come to fruition beginning in January?
Any real attempt of repealing Obamacare will bring back the debates from 2009 about how bad our health care was and why it needed fixing. In the special report heralding ACA, prepared by the Council of Economic Advisers to the President, the case was made that "health care is very different from conventional goods and services" because "The markets for health insurance and medical care are classic examples of markets in which asymmetric information is important -- that is, where one party to a transaction is likely to have more information than another." Hence, "because of these market failures, government programs and policies play a large role in health care." (pp 13-14) With this ideological approach, the conclusion was obvious: health care should not be market-driven; it should be a government-run service.
Opponents of Obamacare argue exactly the opposite: our health care became inefficient and costly mostly because of excessive regulations, and that reforming it should happen by eliminating many rules and increasing the role of the free market. The scholarly argument for this line of thinking was made the best by John C. Goodman in his monumental book Priceless. The book MediCrats, by Ralph Weber, provides popular, easy-to-read presentation of the same view. Following this ideological approach would mean telling Americans that their health needs would be better served if doctors, clinics, hospitals and health insurance companies were profit driven. I wonder how many Republicans, among those advocating for repealing Obamacare, sincerely believe that greed driven health care providers would serve us better with little regulation than when tightly regulated by the government? Furthermore, how many of them would dare to tell their constituents that health care should be run like any other business, with as little government intervention as possible?
Immigration is another example. Some Republicans are very vocal about annulling the recent presidential executive orders. This reopens the debate as to why we have such a big immigration mess to begin with. On immigration, the mainstream Republicans stand for excessive government control. Some of them, if they only could, would place a policeman behind every employer, just to make sure that no illegal immigrant is hired. The radical Republican faction claiming that it is taxed enough already, aggressively advocates for government expanding its reach in limiting immigration, even if it takes more taxes to do so. No one seems to understand that our immigration laws are rooted in the same times and thinking as Prohibition was; they delegalize the otherwise moral actions -- in this instance, the desire of individuals to be able to enter freely mutually beneficial labor contracts. The thought that Americans imposed the immigration disarray upon themselves by overregulating it is not given any serious consideration. Will it change suddenly in January?
It is often said that Washington became dysfunctional. Washington reflects what Americans want. Americans want a small, efficient government and low taxes, with the exception of issues of particular concern, where they want a strong government imposing their agenda on others and they are willing to pay higher taxes to get it achieved. No one dares to tell Americans that what they want is self-contradictory; it simply cannot be done. This is why so little is accomplished in Washington.
Americans lost faith in the free market, but they still want to keep the benefits of it. They are suspicious that without government oversight, big corporations will screw them left and right. They trust much more the visible hand of the tight government regulations over the invisible hand of the free market. They are suspicious of greed-driven corporate managers, and they have much more confidence in the morality of the elected or hired government officials. There is an underlying assumption that bad people work for big corporations and good people work for the government. The only problem that Americans see in this picture is in the ballooning of lobbying, where the corporations are perceived as using their money to demoralize good people working in government. No one seems to see that lobbying can exist only with excessive regulations. The fewer regulations we have, the less it is that lobbyists can buy, regardless of how much money they have. Most regulations are intended to help a little man. However, the more aspects of our everyday life are regulated, the more opportunities the special interests have in turning these regulations their way. The proverbial ordinary Americans did not get it yet that, with every new regulation intended to protect their interests, there is an increasingly meaningful risk of them being screwed by lobbyists. The invisible hand of the free market is the only hand that cannot take bribes and does not need money for reelection.
Politicians need money for reelection, and lobbyists are a dependable source of it. Will, starting in January, Republican legislators advocate for fewer regulations and will they voluntarily give up the significant part of their funding?
When, in 1983, President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union "an evil empire," I lived in Poland, then a part of the Soviet Bloc. I was well aware of the faults of the system. At the same time I knew many decent people sincerely supporting it. I was told many times that the criminal excesses of socialism as we knew it were the pains of growth of an otherwise superior and, most of all, more just political system. The "evil empire" speech made me aware that the evil was not in the illicit extremes of the system but in its core concept of all-embracing government hampering the personal freedom of an individual.
The "evil empire" was not created by people with immoral intentions. It arose from the universal desire of bettering the society we live in -- a desire shared by many Americans. During my almost exactly 30 years of living in the U.S., I have been observing a gradual expansion of government intrusion limiting my liberties. Often I joke that the longer I live here, the more I feel like still being in the Poland I left 30 years ago. We still do not have the "evil empire," but we have made a giant leap in that direction. Will we go into reverse beginning in January?
It will be a challenging task as the bureaucratic monster (we have to acknowledge that we have one) tends to be hard to curb. When, in the 1990s, Russia tried to dump its Soviet ballast, commenting on one of the failures in this path, Viktor Chernomyrdin, then the Prime Minister of Russia, said: "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always." In 2016, when Republicans summarize their achievements during the two years of having controlled both chambers of Congress, will they have more to say than simply quoting Chernomyrdin? Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
↧
Predictions, Predilections, Prophecies, Punditry...and Future Babble
How do you end one year and begin another without the onslaught of future gazing by the experts who know....
There was a time when looking forward was a function of truly challenging imaginations: Leonardo DaVinci imagining flight - parachutes, airplanes, helicopters, even retractable landing gear; or centuries later, HG Wells writing "Anticipations of the Reactions of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought," where he codified his projections of what was to come that he so eloquently developed in his novels and that Hollywood continues to produce in film.
Then of course there were those who, when actually confronted by development, were unable to see beyond their own sadly myopic, biased vision; and I refer you to BuzzFeed (no doubt never predicted) to view a list of some of the best.
When reviewing this list and reading others, it's funny (in retrospect) to see leading scientists dismiss everything from X-Rays to Telephone to Space Travel; music experts deride rock and roll and the Beatles; social commentators be sure that democracy would fail; business mavens be positive that radio could never be commercially sold, the iPhone was a fad or that Japanese cars would never be successful; military pundits be positive that tanks, planes and torpedoes would never be feasible methods of warfare; transportation technocrats be sure that the locomotive and the car were doomed to fail; and of course computer whizzes who knew they had it right that no one would want a computer in their home or that anything more than 32 bits was a waste....
I leave it to you to follow the links...here is another one.
And explore the sources - some might even surprise you...or not, and please share more!
On the other hand there have been fairly recent predictions that weren't wrong in the sense of no imagination - they were wrong in believing that somehow we had conquered it all: "We can close the books on infectious diseases." - Surgeon General of the United States William H. Stewart, 1969, speaking to the U.S. Congress. Yet Ebola is still ravaging Africa and the fear of a global pandemic keeps many awake at night.
What troubles me is that when I look at the predictions for 2015, I find them sorely lacking in inspiration and vision while awash in buzzwords, rehashed/recycled thinking and the notion that what is pontificated is new and has never happened before.
Let me save you the time and trouble - copy these down and sprinkle them in your conversations and correspondences: wearables, mobile video, connected home, personalized, content, from real-time to preemptive, content distribution strategy, happiness gets quantified, tech to help disconnect, family robots, omni-device, targeting, more intimate visual stories (point of view from helmets, goggles, etc. ), hyper-segmentation, post-demographic consumerism, selling ads based on time spent....
For example, "I woke up this morning as my connected home targeted me with personalized content, preemptively delivering me mobile video on my wearable...."
So it goes....
Don't get me wrong, that could happen and some form of it will be the norm - but enough with the buzzwords....
Then of course there are the astounding predictions of what we can expect this year. I present them, linked to their sources, and leave the comments to you. Some are in my opinion "duhs," as in obvious; some show no sense or understanding of what is actually happening in the world; some are actually insightful and some just make you wonder....
1. "Local Love" - In 2015, as time-limited branded spaces (pop-ups) become so ubiquitous, consumers will reform their expectations of what brands can and should do, make lasting commitments and real impact through "lasting spaces." (Southwest Airlines revitalizes public spaces, VANS opens up London's only indoor skate park, and Australian Health Insurance Medibank opens outdoor play space for children.) - Trendwatching.com
4. Evolution of ephemeral - Digital/physical (like the app Spayce that allows you to match digital memories to physical locations). - Trendwatching.com
7. Content will be ever more important. - Forbes
10. Marketers will finally realize that there are two core pillars of a content marketing strategy: publication and distribution. While the content marketing buzz continues to pick up steam, marketers needs to remember that a distribution strategy for that content is just as important, if not more important, than the content itself. - LinkedIn
13. Happiness gets quantified - The Happy for Life app serves as a digital rubric by which one can increase overall happiness. Through nuggets of suggestions - "Go for a swim" or the underused "Have a good cry" - users can log how each activity stacks up on their totem pole of bliss. - PSFK
16. Preemptive technology - 2015 will see things go a step further, from real time to preempting. Google Now has offered a glimpse of how this will work with information, but there will be much more. Content providers will get better at predicting what we want to watch or read with improved recommendation engines, or even by analyzing our voice or biometrics through wearables. Our connected homes will know when we're on the way home and when to switch on the lights. Marketers will need to respond to this and learn how to spot trends before they happen so they too can preempt what their customers want. - The Guardian
19. The Humanization of Technology - "All brands - whether tech-oriented or not - should aspire to offer an integrated, holistic product that's aware of data trickling in from the surrounding environment." - Iconoculture
22. "Personalized means better personalization" is expected to become a widely adopted practice in 2015, leading to the growth of 1-to-1 marketing. - Inbound Now
25. Glanceability - The promise of smartwatches is that users will get the info they need (without asking for it) with just a subtle (and socially acceptable) nod of the head toward the wrist -- easy on the eyes. Android Wear is one of the first smartwatches to deliver this experience. - Iconoculture
28. Point of view - "The love affair with our own point of view isn't over. Thanks to technology, it's just getting more intimate. Now we take photos from ski masks, surfboards and the collars of our four-legged friends. The visual stories of 2015 bring us unexpected perspectives, up close and personal." - Digiday
31. "Uber Replaces Tesla as Chief Disruptor" - "Uber is the envy of the technology community as it transforms transportation and explores the potential scope of its widening expertise....Uber can tap into product delivery, navigation, routing and e-commerce. About the only opportunities not immediately on the table are mapping and search, but maybe Uber can have an impact in these applications as well." - LinkedIn
34. Massive security breaches challenge the enterprise platform -- 2014 will go down as the "year of the massive security breach." Target, eBay, J.P. Morgan, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang's, Michaels, Goodwill, Sony. This next year will be defined by how enterprises respond to the breach. - LinkedIn
37. Content-free user-generated content. - LinkedIn
40. "Brands will be more like Kim Kardashian." - LinkedIn
43. Mobile games will play an increasingly central role in a brand's growth and development. - LinkedIn
46. Robots will play a bigger role in daily life - The Fellow Robot retail prototype, as one instance, is an information kiosk that has the ability to navigate across big-box store interiors in search of customers requiring assistance. - PSFK
49. Employees will finally gain the upper hand - Companies may be tempted to exaggerate how cool their workplace is. - LinkedIn
52. Kids will rule the Internet - You will see some of most exciting inventions sparked in the digital world by kids. - LinkedIn
55. "Silicon Valleys Will Spring Up Around the World" - "The world has been trying to replicate the Silicon Valley for years. 2015 is the year when it will happen and the world will be a better place." - LinkedIn
58. Walmart becomes your health care insurer - "With a store within five miles of 95 percent of all Americans and retail transactional data from its consumers, Walmart can provide tailored population health services and incentivize healthier shopping decisions to prevent diabetes and heart disease." - TechCrunch
My favorite is the Kim Kardashian comment - does that mean that every brand exposes its butt?
I think it's also instructive to look back at prior year predictions to get a sense of where we might be going...for example, in 2013, "Buzzwords will die.... Words that implied new and disruptive just a few short years ago will disappear. They include 'mobile,' because everything new is mobile; 'social networks,' because all new apps will have a social component; and 'cloud-based,' because it's all going into the cloud, as well it should. By the end of 2013, we just won't be using those words to differentiate products anymore." - Forbes
WOULD THAT THEY HAD...but so it goes....
Some, though, had vision, imagination and openness, and understood where the world was going. For example, during an interview with Omni magazine (I miss that book!) in 1987, Roger Ebert predicted video-on-demand services Netflix and Hulu: "We will have high-definition, wide-screen television sets and a push-button dialing system to order the movie you want at the time you want it."
Going back to the '60s, I found the following prediction from TIME to be both narrow and insightful, not to mention sexist: In a 1966 article about 2000 called "The Futurists," TIME predicted that "Remote shopping, while possible, would never become popular because women like to get out of the house, like to handle the merchandise, like to be able to change their minds."
Maybe start with sexist, as they missed the point - it wasn't one or the other, one gender or the other; BUZZWORD alert - we now call it OMNICHANNEL...
And then there were those who missed it in round one but quickly jumped in and brought imagination, vision and innovation to the new, making it even better. In 1916 Charlie Chaplin opined: "The cinema is little more than a fad....It's canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage."
Need I say more - his contributions still resonate...
So we can be like the legendary Thomas Watson of IBM who, in 1943, said: "I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers," or like Albert Einstein: "I never think of the future - it comes soon enough," or even perhaps like Niels Bohr, who said: "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."
My crystal ball is cloudy....But personally I'd rather model after Peter Drucker...drop the Babble...look hard at our world and get with the program....Listen:
*
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker
*
So if your future is linked to following behind Kim Kardashian...or is it following her...there are plenty of predictions, no lack of prophecy, tons of predilections, mucho prognostication, endless punditry and sadly a sea of Babble.
OR you can predict and create and really change the world....
What do you think? Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
There was a time when looking forward was a function of truly challenging imaginations: Leonardo DaVinci imagining flight - parachutes, airplanes, helicopters, even retractable landing gear; or centuries later, HG Wells writing "Anticipations of the Reactions of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought," where he codified his projections of what was to come that he so eloquently developed in his novels and that Hollywood continues to produce in film.
Then of course there were those who, when actually confronted by development, were unable to see beyond their own sadly myopic, biased vision; and I refer you to BuzzFeed (no doubt never predicted) to view a list of some of the best.
When reviewing this list and reading others, it's funny (in retrospect) to see leading scientists dismiss everything from X-Rays to Telephone to Space Travel; music experts deride rock and roll and the Beatles; social commentators be sure that democracy would fail; business mavens be positive that radio could never be commercially sold, the iPhone was a fad or that Japanese cars would never be successful; military pundits be positive that tanks, planes and torpedoes would never be feasible methods of warfare; transportation technocrats be sure that the locomotive and the car were doomed to fail; and of course computer whizzes who knew they had it right that no one would want a computer in their home or that anything more than 32 bits was a waste....
I leave it to you to follow the links...here is another one.
And explore the sources - some might even surprise you...or not, and please share more!
On the other hand there have been fairly recent predictions that weren't wrong in the sense of no imagination - they were wrong in believing that somehow we had conquered it all: "We can close the books on infectious diseases." - Surgeon General of the United States William H. Stewart, 1969, speaking to the U.S. Congress. Yet Ebola is still ravaging Africa and the fear of a global pandemic keeps many awake at night.
What troubles me is that when I look at the predictions for 2015, I find them sorely lacking in inspiration and vision while awash in buzzwords, rehashed/recycled thinking and the notion that what is pontificated is new and has never happened before.
Let me save you the time and trouble - copy these down and sprinkle them in your conversations and correspondences: wearables, mobile video, connected home, personalized, content, from real-time to preemptive, content distribution strategy, happiness gets quantified, tech to help disconnect, family robots, omni-device, targeting, more intimate visual stories (point of view from helmets, goggles, etc. ), hyper-segmentation, post-demographic consumerism, selling ads based on time spent....
For example, "I woke up this morning as my connected home targeted me with personalized content, preemptively delivering me mobile video on my wearable...."
So it goes....
Don't get me wrong, that could happen and some form of it will be the norm - but enough with the buzzwords....
Then of course there are the astounding predictions of what we can expect this year. I present them, linked to their sources, and leave the comments to you. Some are in my opinion "duhs," as in obvious; some show no sense or understanding of what is actually happening in the world; some are actually insightful and some just make you wonder....
1. "Local Love" - In 2015, as time-limited branded spaces (pop-ups) become so ubiquitous, consumers will reform their expectations of what brands can and should do, make lasting commitments and real impact through "lasting spaces." (Southwest Airlines revitalizes public spaces, VANS opens up London's only indoor skate park, and Australian Health Insurance Medibank opens outdoor play space for children.) - Trendwatching.com
4. Evolution of ephemeral - Digital/physical (like the app Spayce that allows you to match digital memories to physical locations). - Trendwatching.com
7. Content will be ever more important. - Forbes
10. Marketers will finally realize that there are two core pillars of a content marketing strategy: publication and distribution. While the content marketing buzz continues to pick up steam, marketers needs to remember that a distribution strategy for that content is just as important, if not more important, than the content itself. - LinkedIn
13. Happiness gets quantified - The Happy for Life app serves as a digital rubric by which one can increase overall happiness. Through nuggets of suggestions - "Go for a swim" or the underused "Have a good cry" - users can log how each activity stacks up on their totem pole of bliss. - PSFK
16. Preemptive technology - 2015 will see things go a step further, from real time to preempting. Google Now has offered a glimpse of how this will work with information, but there will be much more. Content providers will get better at predicting what we want to watch or read with improved recommendation engines, or even by analyzing our voice or biometrics through wearables. Our connected homes will know when we're on the way home and when to switch on the lights. Marketers will need to respond to this and learn how to spot trends before they happen so they too can preempt what their customers want. - The Guardian
19. The Humanization of Technology - "All brands - whether tech-oriented or not - should aspire to offer an integrated, holistic product that's aware of data trickling in from the surrounding environment." - Iconoculture
22. "Personalized means better personalization" is expected to become a widely adopted practice in 2015, leading to the growth of 1-to-1 marketing. - Inbound Now
25. Glanceability - The promise of smartwatches is that users will get the info they need (without asking for it) with just a subtle (and socially acceptable) nod of the head toward the wrist -- easy on the eyes. Android Wear is one of the first smartwatches to deliver this experience. - Iconoculture
28. Point of view - "The love affair with our own point of view isn't over. Thanks to technology, it's just getting more intimate. Now we take photos from ski masks, surfboards and the collars of our four-legged friends. The visual stories of 2015 bring us unexpected perspectives, up close and personal." - Digiday
31. "Uber Replaces Tesla as Chief Disruptor" - "Uber is the envy of the technology community as it transforms transportation and explores the potential scope of its widening expertise....Uber can tap into product delivery, navigation, routing and e-commerce. About the only opportunities not immediately on the table are mapping and search, but maybe Uber can have an impact in these applications as well." - LinkedIn
34. Massive security breaches challenge the enterprise platform -- 2014 will go down as the "year of the massive security breach." Target, eBay, J.P. Morgan, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang's, Michaels, Goodwill, Sony. This next year will be defined by how enterprises respond to the breach. - LinkedIn
37. Content-free user-generated content. - LinkedIn
40. "Brands will be more like Kim Kardashian." - LinkedIn
43. Mobile games will play an increasingly central role in a brand's growth and development. - LinkedIn
46. Robots will play a bigger role in daily life - The Fellow Robot retail prototype, as one instance, is an information kiosk that has the ability to navigate across big-box store interiors in search of customers requiring assistance. - PSFK
49. Employees will finally gain the upper hand - Companies may be tempted to exaggerate how cool their workplace is. - LinkedIn
52. Kids will rule the Internet - You will see some of most exciting inventions sparked in the digital world by kids. - LinkedIn
55. "Silicon Valleys Will Spring Up Around the World" - "The world has been trying to replicate the Silicon Valley for years. 2015 is the year when it will happen and the world will be a better place." - LinkedIn
58. Walmart becomes your health care insurer - "With a store within five miles of 95 percent of all Americans and retail transactional data from its consumers, Walmart can provide tailored population health services and incentivize healthier shopping decisions to prevent diabetes and heart disease." - TechCrunch
My favorite is the Kim Kardashian comment - does that mean that every brand exposes its butt?
I think it's also instructive to look back at prior year predictions to get a sense of where we might be going...for example, in 2013, "Buzzwords will die.... Words that implied new and disruptive just a few short years ago will disappear. They include 'mobile,' because everything new is mobile; 'social networks,' because all new apps will have a social component; and 'cloud-based,' because it's all going into the cloud, as well it should. By the end of 2013, we just won't be using those words to differentiate products anymore." - Forbes
WOULD THAT THEY HAD...but so it goes....
Some, though, had vision, imagination and openness, and understood where the world was going. For example, during an interview with Omni magazine (I miss that book!) in 1987, Roger Ebert predicted video-on-demand services Netflix and Hulu: "We will have high-definition, wide-screen television sets and a push-button dialing system to order the movie you want at the time you want it."
Going back to the '60s, I found the following prediction from TIME to be both narrow and insightful, not to mention sexist: In a 1966 article about 2000 called "The Futurists," TIME predicted that "Remote shopping, while possible, would never become popular because women like to get out of the house, like to handle the merchandise, like to be able to change their minds."
Maybe start with sexist, as they missed the point - it wasn't one or the other, one gender or the other; BUZZWORD alert - we now call it OMNICHANNEL...
And then there were those who missed it in round one but quickly jumped in and brought imagination, vision and innovation to the new, making it even better. In 1916 Charlie Chaplin opined: "The cinema is little more than a fad....It's canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage."
Need I say more - his contributions still resonate...
So we can be like the legendary Thomas Watson of IBM who, in 1943, said: "I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers," or like Albert Einstein: "I never think of the future - it comes soon enough," or even perhaps like Niels Bohr, who said: "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."
My crystal ball is cloudy....But personally I'd rather model after Peter Drucker...drop the Babble...look hard at our world and get with the program....Listen:
*
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker
*
So if your future is linked to following behind Kim Kardashian...or is it following her...there are plenty of predictions, no lack of prophecy, tons of predilections, mucho prognostication, endless punditry and sadly a sea of Babble.
OR you can predict and create and really change the world....
What do you think? Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
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Wonkblog: Harvard professors are angry that their amazing health insurance is getting slightly less generous
The New York Times served up a bit of health-care irony on Monday, writing that Harvard University professors are mad that they'll have to pay more for their health care in 2015 because of Obamacare.For years, Harvard’s experts on health economics and policy have advised presidents and Congress on how to provide health benefits to the nation at a reasonable cost. But those remedies will now be applied to the Harvard faculty, and the professors are in an uproar.
Reported by Washington Post 9 hours ago.
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How the GOP plans to replace Obamacare
The new Republican majority in the US House and Senate claim they are going to replace the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) now that they control both houses. With what? The same old stale policies of the past two decades: malpractice reform, allowing insurance to be sold across state lines, and "personal responsibility for health insurance" (high deductible plans and Health Savings Accounts). These ideas are so stale that I decided to re-post a modified version of something I wrote for Huffington Post over four years ago when a wacky person named Christine O'Donnell was running for the Senate in Delaware. Here is a version of that post:
Since the Clinton health reform effort failed in the early 1990s, Republicans have been making these same points. They had eight years during the Bush Administration to show that these three talking points or "solutions" could make a difference. They did nothing about it. Why? Because these three talking points would have little to no impact on the real problems health reform has been trying to solve. Here's why.
1) *Take malpractice reform*. Please. For years, studies have shown that malpractice reform, while desirable for a variety of reasons, would have almost no impact on the reduction of health care costs.
In fact a study, published in Health Affairs in 2010 suggests that costs associated with medical malpractice are far less than the $650 billion figure (26% of all money spent on health care) cited by some Republicans who have made tort reform a cornerstone of their vision for "bending the cost curve" in health care. The newly calculated figure, $55.6 billion, represents just 2.4% of health costs.
Reform the malpractice and medical liability system? Of course. But don't make it the centerpiece of a plan to reform health care. At best it's a byline.
2) *Selling insurance* across state lines? Republicans love this idea. Why? Because the very sleaziest of health insurance products and companies -- the ones that have such high deductibles you might as well not even have insurance (e.g. $10,000), what they call "catastrophic" plans, are just waiting for your state to allow them in, to sell you stuff that has almost no value. There has been legislation over the years to allow this sale of policies across state lines, but the conclusion is that it would have little to no impact on the real problems we face. (2015 Update: Many health insurance companies already sell their products in multiple states and the ACA offers options for companies to do just that by setting up "compacts" among states that will protect consumers.)
As Ezra Klein pointed out in the Washington Post awhile back, this is a terrible idea.
As it happens, the Congressional Budget Office looked at a bill along these lines back in 2005. They found that the legislation wouldn't change the number of the uninsured and would save the federal government about $12 billion between 2007 and 2015. That is to say, it would do very little in the aggregate.
But those top-line numbers hid a more depressing story. The legislation "would reduce the price of individual health insurance coverage for people expected to have relatively low health care costs, while increasing the price of coverage for those expected to have relatively high health care costs," CBO said. "Therefore, CBO expects that there would be an increase in the number of relatively healthy individuals, and a decrease in the number of individuals expected to have relatively high cost, who buy individual coverage."
That is to say, the legislation would not change the number of insured Americans or save much money, but it would make insurance more expensive for the sick and cheaper for the healthy, and lead to more healthy people with insurance and fewer sick people with insurance. It's a great proposal if you don't ever plan to be sick, and if you don't mind finding out that your insurer doesn't cover your illness. And it's the Republican plan for health-care reform.
3) *Taking personal responsibility* for your health? This is the Republican answer to "personal accountability," but what it really means is transferring the risk and responsibility for the purchase of insurance and the costs to you through the sale of consumer-driven or consumer-directed health plans, where the high up front deductible is meant to discourage people from seeking unnecessary care. Not a bad idea if it's a real choice for people. If they have enough money to pay those deductibles before they get the care, fine. But it has been shown that consumer-driven products tend to work better with higher income consumers, and consumers tend to delay care when they enroll in those plans. The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this analysis:
A December 2005 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute notes that patients with consumer-directed or high-deductible health plans "were significantly more likely to avoid, skip or delay health care because of costs than were those with comprehensive insurance, with this behavior particularly pronounced among those with health problems or incomes under $50,000."
(2015 update: Unfortunately, buying health insurance is quite a bit more complicated than buying auto or life insurance, and under Republican rules could be even less regulated than those products. Consumers generally do not know the cost of the treatment their doctor has prescribed (and often the doctor does not know the cost either) and even with insurance, they don't have access to information to help them buy that treatment responsibly. Personal responsibility in Republican lingo simply means you are on your own. Enjoy your freedom!)
As you listen to the Republican chatter in the next few weeks, raise a glass every time you hear those talking points (but be careful to drink something non-alcoholic or you'll pass out). And remember -- as complicated as health reform is -- it is too complicated for three talking points. It is the Democrats who attempted to really solve these problems and will continue to work on this year after year until all the wrinkles are ironed out. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.
Since the Clinton health reform effort failed in the early 1990s, Republicans have been making these same points. They had eight years during the Bush Administration to show that these three talking points or "solutions" could make a difference. They did nothing about it. Why? Because these three talking points would have little to no impact on the real problems health reform has been trying to solve. Here's why.
1) *Take malpractice reform*. Please. For years, studies have shown that malpractice reform, while desirable for a variety of reasons, would have almost no impact on the reduction of health care costs.
In fact a study, published in Health Affairs in 2010 suggests that costs associated with medical malpractice are far less than the $650 billion figure (26% of all money spent on health care) cited by some Republicans who have made tort reform a cornerstone of their vision for "bending the cost curve" in health care. The newly calculated figure, $55.6 billion, represents just 2.4% of health costs.
Reform the malpractice and medical liability system? Of course. But don't make it the centerpiece of a plan to reform health care. At best it's a byline.
2) *Selling insurance* across state lines? Republicans love this idea. Why? Because the very sleaziest of health insurance products and companies -- the ones that have such high deductibles you might as well not even have insurance (e.g. $10,000), what they call "catastrophic" plans, are just waiting for your state to allow them in, to sell you stuff that has almost no value. There has been legislation over the years to allow this sale of policies across state lines, but the conclusion is that it would have little to no impact on the real problems we face. (2015 Update: Many health insurance companies already sell their products in multiple states and the ACA offers options for companies to do just that by setting up "compacts" among states that will protect consumers.)
As Ezra Klein pointed out in the Washington Post awhile back, this is a terrible idea.
As it happens, the Congressional Budget Office looked at a bill along these lines back in 2005. They found that the legislation wouldn't change the number of the uninsured and would save the federal government about $12 billion between 2007 and 2015. That is to say, it would do very little in the aggregate.
But those top-line numbers hid a more depressing story. The legislation "would reduce the price of individual health insurance coverage for people expected to have relatively low health care costs, while increasing the price of coverage for those expected to have relatively high health care costs," CBO said. "Therefore, CBO expects that there would be an increase in the number of relatively healthy individuals, and a decrease in the number of individuals expected to have relatively high cost, who buy individual coverage."
That is to say, the legislation would not change the number of insured Americans or save much money, but it would make insurance more expensive for the sick and cheaper for the healthy, and lead to more healthy people with insurance and fewer sick people with insurance. It's a great proposal if you don't ever plan to be sick, and if you don't mind finding out that your insurer doesn't cover your illness. And it's the Republican plan for health-care reform.
3) *Taking personal responsibility* for your health? This is the Republican answer to "personal accountability," but what it really means is transferring the risk and responsibility for the purchase of insurance and the costs to you through the sale of consumer-driven or consumer-directed health plans, where the high up front deductible is meant to discourage people from seeking unnecessary care. Not a bad idea if it's a real choice for people. If they have enough money to pay those deductibles before they get the care, fine. But it has been shown that consumer-driven products tend to work better with higher income consumers, and consumers tend to delay care when they enroll in those plans. The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this analysis:
A December 2005 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute notes that patients with consumer-directed or high-deductible health plans "were significantly more likely to avoid, skip or delay health care because of costs than were those with comprehensive insurance, with this behavior particularly pronounced among those with health problems or incomes under $50,000."
(2015 update: Unfortunately, buying health insurance is quite a bit more complicated than buying auto or life insurance, and under Republican rules could be even less regulated than those products. Consumers generally do not know the cost of the treatment their doctor has prescribed (and often the doctor does not know the cost either) and even with insurance, they don't have access to information to help them buy that treatment responsibly. Personal responsibility in Republican lingo simply means you are on your own. Enjoy your freedom!)
As you listen to the Republican chatter in the next few weeks, raise a glass every time you hear those talking points (but be careful to drink something non-alcoholic or you'll pass out). And remember -- as complicated as health reform is -- it is too complicated for three talking points. It is the Democrats who attempted to really solve these problems and will continue to work on this year after year until all the wrinkles are ironed out. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.
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Hawaii Health Connector expects to break even by 2022
The Hawaii Health Connector outlined its financial future in its annual report released Monday that projects enough revenue for the state's online health insurance exchange to break even by 2022. Its base-case calculation shows the Connector's revenue could exceed its costs in seven years, if personnel expenses, professional services, and other operating costs remain stable. The 10-year financial forecast was based on calculations by SMS Research that include participant and service fee projections. The…
Reported by bizjournals 8 hours ago.
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Jessica Biel Is a Fan of Jake Gyllenhaal in First 'Accidental Love' Trailer
Biel, who plays a woman who suffers from a unique condition with no health insurance, brings her case to Gyllenhaal and expresses her interest in him.
Reported by AceShowbiz 43 minutes ago.
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Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP Addresses the Pitfalls of Using Independent Contractors in Lieu of Employees
Too many businesses are finding themselves penny wise and pound foolish, as the IRS, Labor Department and state governments work together to crack down on those that are misclassifying the status of their workers. In light of the recent case of Jorge Contreras v. Aventura Limousine & Transportation Service, Inc., Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP (kvllaw.com), a business and employment litigation law firm, warns businesses of the pitfalls of using independent contractors in lieu of employees.
Fort Lauderdale, FLA (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
With the increasing costs of affordable health care and the rising tide of minimum wage, many companies are considering the idea of converting employees to independent contractors or simply hiring independent contractors in lieu of employees. The Affordable Care Act (referred to as “Obamacare”) requires certain employers to provide their employees with health insurance or money that can be used to buy health insurance. Some companies may consider re-classifying an employee as an independent contractor in order to avoid having to either provide health insurance under the law or pay overtime. Such attempts to be penny wise will result in being pound foolish according to Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP Partner Brian L. Lerner. If the individual has been misclassified, the penalties are severe.
According to a recent Forbes article, “Disputes are common, and many different agencies can second-guess your decision. There’s the IRS, state tax authorities, labor departments, and insurance companies. All of them scrutinize the status of workers. Even workers who accept their pay and sign contracts as independent contractors can still sue claiming they are really employees. Signing a contract does not prevent the worker from suing and winning.”
In the recent case of Jorge Contreras v. Aventura Limousine & Transportation Service, Inc. (Case #13-22425), Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP successfully represented Jorge Contreras, a limousine driver that the company had called an independent contractor. As an independent contractor, the Fair Labor Standards Act provides that an employer does not have to pay the worker overtime wages. According to the court documents (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida), the jury found Contreras to be an employee, which entitled him to several thousand hours of overtime. The jury reached this verdict even though Contreras signed a document saying that he was an independent contractor. In all, the jury awarded Contreras $104,000, and the court imposed a liquidated damages penalty entitling Contreras to another $104,000, for a total of $208,000.
At trial, the company argued that its classification was proper because the IRS and the state tax authority approved the classification. Even so, the jury still found Contreras to be an employee because the Fair Labor Standards Act applied a different standard than used by tax authorities. “The lesson learned here is that there are many methods that apply and both businesses and individuals need to make sure that they are covered under all of those methods. Relying on just one method may not protect one from liability and can end up costing far more in the long term than what is saved in the short term,” said Brian L. Lerner.
Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is a business litigation firm currently in its tenth year of successfully representing clients with a range of legal concerns in the South Florida area. The firm focuses on business disputes faced by companies and individuals and offers cost-efficient and results-oriented legal counsel for business problems, including contract disputes, insurance-related claims, employment disputes, trade secret disputes, international dispute resolution, officer and director disputes, as well as construction claims, among others.
The are Jay Kim, Robert C.L. Vaughan, and Brian L. Lerner, all of whom have extensive experience in litigating and resolving commercial disputes and are peer-review rated "AV," the highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call 954.527.1115. Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is located at One Financial Plaza, 100 SE Third Avenue, Suite 2001, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33394.
About Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP
Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is a minority-owned business and a certified minority business enterprise established in 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The firm focuses on business disputes faced by companies and individuals.
About NALA™
The NALA is a full-service marketing agency providing custom personalized service for small and medium businesses throughout the United States.
PR Contact: Tiffani Tendell
ttendell(at)thenala(dot)com,
805.650.6121, ext. 361 Reported by PRWeb 1 day ago.
Fort Lauderdale, FLA (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
With the increasing costs of affordable health care and the rising tide of minimum wage, many companies are considering the idea of converting employees to independent contractors or simply hiring independent contractors in lieu of employees. The Affordable Care Act (referred to as “Obamacare”) requires certain employers to provide their employees with health insurance or money that can be used to buy health insurance. Some companies may consider re-classifying an employee as an independent contractor in order to avoid having to either provide health insurance under the law or pay overtime. Such attempts to be penny wise will result in being pound foolish according to Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP Partner Brian L. Lerner. If the individual has been misclassified, the penalties are severe.
According to a recent Forbes article, “Disputes are common, and many different agencies can second-guess your decision. There’s the IRS, state tax authorities, labor departments, and insurance companies. All of them scrutinize the status of workers. Even workers who accept their pay and sign contracts as independent contractors can still sue claiming they are really employees. Signing a contract does not prevent the worker from suing and winning.”
In the recent case of Jorge Contreras v. Aventura Limousine & Transportation Service, Inc. (Case #13-22425), Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP successfully represented Jorge Contreras, a limousine driver that the company had called an independent contractor. As an independent contractor, the Fair Labor Standards Act provides that an employer does not have to pay the worker overtime wages. According to the court documents (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida), the jury found Contreras to be an employee, which entitled him to several thousand hours of overtime. The jury reached this verdict even though Contreras signed a document saying that he was an independent contractor. In all, the jury awarded Contreras $104,000, and the court imposed a liquidated damages penalty entitling Contreras to another $104,000, for a total of $208,000.
At trial, the company argued that its classification was proper because the IRS and the state tax authority approved the classification. Even so, the jury still found Contreras to be an employee because the Fair Labor Standards Act applied a different standard than used by tax authorities. “The lesson learned here is that there are many methods that apply and both businesses and individuals need to make sure that they are covered under all of those methods. Relying on just one method may not protect one from liability and can end up costing far more in the long term than what is saved in the short term,” said Brian L. Lerner.
Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is a business litigation firm currently in its tenth year of successfully representing clients with a range of legal concerns in the South Florida area. The firm focuses on business disputes faced by companies and individuals and offers cost-efficient and results-oriented legal counsel for business problems, including contract disputes, insurance-related claims, employment disputes, trade secret disputes, international dispute resolution, officer and director disputes, as well as construction claims, among others.
The are Jay Kim, Robert C.L. Vaughan, and Brian L. Lerner, all of whom have extensive experience in litigating and resolving commercial disputes and are peer-review rated "AV," the highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call 954.527.1115. Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is located at One Financial Plaza, 100 SE Third Avenue, Suite 2001, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33394.
About Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP
Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP is a minority-owned business and a certified minority business enterprise established in 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The firm focuses on business disputes faced by companies and individuals.
About NALA™
The NALA is a full-service marketing agency providing custom personalized service for small and medium businesses throughout the United States.
PR Contact: Tiffani Tendell
ttendell(at)thenala(dot)com,
805.650.6121, ext. 361 Reported by PRWeb 1 day ago.
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Healthfirst® Selects eCaring to Provide Real-Time Care and Disease Management System
Healthfirst managed care plans, using eCaring’s advanced home patient monitoring system, expect to generate extensive, actionable data for patients in their home
New York, New York (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Healthfirst®, a not-for-profit health plan serving more than one million members in downstate New York, announced today that it is partnering with eCaring, in an effort to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions, for Healthfirst members. eCaring is the nation’s leading developer of care and disease management systems to deliver real-time patient health care data generated from the home to providers and payers.
The partnership will work with dual-eligible Healthfirst members enrolled in Healthfirst’s CompleteCare Special Needs Plan (SNP), which combines Medicare and Medicaid with added long-term care services for individuals over age 18. eCaring will provide data analyses on outcomes, utilization, and patient experience. eCaring will also provide its unique Cloud-based care management and monitoring software on tablets in a program that will initially involve over 200 CompleteCare members that qualify for Medicare and Medicaid and are living in their homes. CompleteCare currently serves over 3,000 of Healthfirst’s members, allowing individuals to remain in their homes and be as independent as possible while receiving essential benefits and services.
“Using eCaring with our home health care aides and our mobile medical practice partners will enable Healthfirst to promote timely home and community interventions that we believe will result in fewer unnecessary emergency department visits, fewer inpatient admissions and improved chronic disease management,” said Susan Beane, MD, Healthfirst VP and Medical Director.
Robert Herzog, founder and CEO of eCaring, added, “We have demonstrated with other leading health care providers that our system provides great benefits to the organizations and patients using it, including a reduction in unnecessary emergency department visits, hospitalizations and readmissions. In previous trials, eCaring has demonstrated significant monthly savings and return on investment (ROI).”
“Healthfirst is partnering with eCaring to utilize their new technology to gather real-time data on our members,” said Jim Curcio, Executive Director of SHP. “We believe this data will allow us to improve member outcomes by providing appropriate in-home interventions that will decrease unnecessary ED visits and hospitalizations.”
The data collected is filtered into several alerts and notifications that can be quickly addressed by the Healthfirst care manager and support team, leading to improved long-term quality outcomes for members. For more information on eCaring, please visit http://www.ecaring.com. For more information on Healthfirst, please visit http://www.healthfirst.org.
About Healthfirst
Healthfirst is a not-for-profit health plan serving more than one million members in downstate New York. Created in 1993 by a consortium of the region’s health systems, Healthfirst’s operating model strives to achieve quality outcomes and member satisfaction through collaboration with its extensive provider network and community organizations.
Healthfirst offers a comprehensive selection of free and low-cost health insurance options for individuals and families at every stage of life, including government-sponsored health plans such as Child Health Plus, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicare Advantage, Managed Long Term Care, as well as commercial plans, such as Healthfirst Leaf Plans. We treat our members with the same care and attention we give our own families. For more information on Healthfirst, please visit http://www.healthfirst.org.
About eCaring
eCaring, a privately held, New York-based company, is dedicated to improving patient care in the home. Its unique system integrates behavioral, clinical, and medication adherence data to provide a real-time home healthcare management and monitoring system for seniors and people with chronic conditions. eCaring’s Cloud-based platform allows care managers and providers, hospitals and health plans to receive alerts enabling timely interventions to keep small problems in the home from becoming big ones in the hospital. The result is a more efficient allocation of resources, improved information sharing, and reduced overall cost of care. Among eCaring’s growing list of clients are Metropolitan Jewish Health System, Jewish Home Lifecare, Senior Health Partners, Beth Israel Medical Center, and others. To learn more, please visit http://www.ecaring.com.
# # # Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
New York, New York (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Healthfirst®, a not-for-profit health plan serving more than one million members in downstate New York, announced today that it is partnering with eCaring, in an effort to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions, for Healthfirst members. eCaring is the nation’s leading developer of care and disease management systems to deliver real-time patient health care data generated from the home to providers and payers.
The partnership will work with dual-eligible Healthfirst members enrolled in Healthfirst’s CompleteCare Special Needs Plan (SNP), which combines Medicare and Medicaid with added long-term care services for individuals over age 18. eCaring will provide data analyses on outcomes, utilization, and patient experience. eCaring will also provide its unique Cloud-based care management and monitoring software on tablets in a program that will initially involve over 200 CompleteCare members that qualify for Medicare and Medicaid and are living in their homes. CompleteCare currently serves over 3,000 of Healthfirst’s members, allowing individuals to remain in their homes and be as independent as possible while receiving essential benefits and services.
“Using eCaring with our home health care aides and our mobile medical practice partners will enable Healthfirst to promote timely home and community interventions that we believe will result in fewer unnecessary emergency department visits, fewer inpatient admissions and improved chronic disease management,” said Susan Beane, MD, Healthfirst VP and Medical Director.
Robert Herzog, founder and CEO of eCaring, added, “We have demonstrated with other leading health care providers that our system provides great benefits to the organizations and patients using it, including a reduction in unnecessary emergency department visits, hospitalizations and readmissions. In previous trials, eCaring has demonstrated significant monthly savings and return on investment (ROI).”
“Healthfirst is partnering with eCaring to utilize their new technology to gather real-time data on our members,” said Jim Curcio, Executive Director of SHP. “We believe this data will allow us to improve member outcomes by providing appropriate in-home interventions that will decrease unnecessary ED visits and hospitalizations.”
The data collected is filtered into several alerts and notifications that can be quickly addressed by the Healthfirst care manager and support team, leading to improved long-term quality outcomes for members. For more information on eCaring, please visit http://www.ecaring.com. For more information on Healthfirst, please visit http://www.healthfirst.org.
About Healthfirst
Healthfirst is a not-for-profit health plan serving more than one million members in downstate New York. Created in 1993 by a consortium of the region’s health systems, Healthfirst’s operating model strives to achieve quality outcomes and member satisfaction through collaboration with its extensive provider network and community organizations.
Healthfirst offers a comprehensive selection of free and low-cost health insurance options for individuals and families at every stage of life, including government-sponsored health plans such as Child Health Plus, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicare Advantage, Managed Long Term Care, as well as commercial plans, such as Healthfirst Leaf Plans. We treat our members with the same care and attention we give our own families. For more information on Healthfirst, please visit http://www.healthfirst.org.
About eCaring
eCaring, a privately held, New York-based company, is dedicated to improving patient care in the home. Its unique system integrates behavioral, clinical, and medication adherence data to provide a real-time home healthcare management and monitoring system for seniors and people with chronic conditions. eCaring’s Cloud-based platform allows care managers and providers, hospitals and health plans to receive alerts enabling timely interventions to keep small problems in the home from becoming big ones in the hospital. The result is a more efficient allocation of resources, improved information sharing, and reduced overall cost of care. Among eCaring’s growing list of clients are Metropolitan Jewish Health System, Jewish Home Lifecare, Senior Health Partners, Beth Israel Medical Center, and others. To learn more, please visit http://www.ecaring.com.
# # # Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
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↧
How Affordable Care Act tax credits are working
About 87 percent of people who selected federal Affordable Care Act health insurance for 2015 are receiving federal financial assistance to pay for coverage. That percentage is out of the more than 3.4 million who enrolled for health coverage that began Thursday through the federal HealthCare.gov website, according to the latest data. These figures are important because a key of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, involves expanding health insurance coverage to low- to moderate-income people. The…
Reported by bizjournals 21 hours ago.
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Maine Community Health Options Implements Essette
MCHO Implements the Essette Medical Management Software Suite
Longmont, CO and Lewiston, ME (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Maine Community Health Options (MCHO) has implemented the Essette Medical Management Software Suite to support their ongoing focus on health outcomes improvement. Essette’s comprehensive Care Management platform will also enhance MCHO’s continued emphasis on excellence in service.
Maine Community Health Options is a Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan (CO-OP), a non-profit health insurer that is Member-led and focused on reducing the total costs of care. MCHO leveraged Essette’s easily configurable tools and evidence-based care plans to get the system up and running in time for the 2015 plan year. As MCHO’s Membership continues to grow, MCHO will benefit from Essette’s highly customizable applications which support MCHO’s mission of offering individuals and small businesses more affordable, consumer-friendly, and high quality health insurance options.
“Our partnership with Essette signals the strength of MCHO’s care management focus and support for the provider-patient relationship which is paramount to optimal health outcomes,” said Kevin Lewis, chief executive officer at MCHO. “The additional visibility and process supports that come from Essette’s tools will further enrich the care management resources that MCHO brings to our Members and our provider network.”
“Essette is proud to partner with MCHO’s consumer-directed CO-OP, and shares their values of providing cost-effective care and building healthy communities by driving improved health outcomes,” said Marc Lawrence, SVP of Business Development at Essette.
-About Essette
Improved health and lowered costs require an integrated approach. One that’s flexible, affordable and promotes care across the continuum. Essette® (pronounced eh-SET) web-based care management software offers a robust alternative to ‘shrink wrapped’ applications. Incredibly powerful and user-friendly, Essette software—built upon a refreshingly efficient platform—is rapidly becoming the preferred choice for healthcare organizations seeking a simple means of delivering high-value, collaborative care. Whether the need is for real-time monitoring and reporting of data, interface ability with “core systems,” analytics, exchanges and external EMRs, or the added expertise of our Clinical Consultants, Essette is committed to providing its clients with integrated solutions that combine technology with creative thought and integrity. Learn more about EssetteCM, EssettePM, EssetteUM, and Essette’s other simple software solutions by visiting http://www.essette.com, or through info(at)essette(dot)com.
-About Maine Community Health Options
Maine Community Health Options (MCHO) is Maine’s first nonprofit, consumer operated and oriented health insurance plan. MCHO is the only member-directed health insurance plan partnering with people, healthcare providers, and small businesses. MCHO believes that healthcare can be both better and more affordable when doctors, patients, health insurers, and employers all work together. Maine Community Health Options is a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) created with the support of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. For more information, visit http://www.maineoptions.org. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.
Longmont, CO and Lewiston, ME (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Maine Community Health Options (MCHO) has implemented the Essette Medical Management Software Suite to support their ongoing focus on health outcomes improvement. Essette’s comprehensive Care Management platform will also enhance MCHO’s continued emphasis on excellence in service.
Maine Community Health Options is a Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan (CO-OP), a non-profit health insurer that is Member-led and focused on reducing the total costs of care. MCHO leveraged Essette’s easily configurable tools and evidence-based care plans to get the system up and running in time for the 2015 plan year. As MCHO’s Membership continues to grow, MCHO will benefit from Essette’s highly customizable applications which support MCHO’s mission of offering individuals and small businesses more affordable, consumer-friendly, and high quality health insurance options.
“Our partnership with Essette signals the strength of MCHO’s care management focus and support for the provider-patient relationship which is paramount to optimal health outcomes,” said Kevin Lewis, chief executive officer at MCHO. “The additional visibility and process supports that come from Essette’s tools will further enrich the care management resources that MCHO brings to our Members and our provider network.”
“Essette is proud to partner with MCHO’s consumer-directed CO-OP, and shares their values of providing cost-effective care and building healthy communities by driving improved health outcomes,” said Marc Lawrence, SVP of Business Development at Essette.
-About Essette
Improved health and lowered costs require an integrated approach. One that’s flexible, affordable and promotes care across the continuum. Essette® (pronounced eh-SET) web-based care management software offers a robust alternative to ‘shrink wrapped’ applications. Incredibly powerful and user-friendly, Essette software—built upon a refreshingly efficient platform—is rapidly becoming the preferred choice for healthcare organizations seeking a simple means of delivering high-value, collaborative care. Whether the need is for real-time monitoring and reporting of data, interface ability with “core systems,” analytics, exchanges and external EMRs, or the added expertise of our Clinical Consultants, Essette is committed to providing its clients with integrated solutions that combine technology with creative thought and integrity. Learn more about EssetteCM, EssettePM, EssetteUM, and Essette’s other simple software solutions by visiting http://www.essette.com, or through info(at)essette(dot)com.
-About Maine Community Health Options
Maine Community Health Options (MCHO) is Maine’s first nonprofit, consumer operated and oriented health insurance plan. MCHO is the only member-directed health insurance plan partnering with people, healthcare providers, and small businesses. MCHO believes that healthcare can be both better and more affordable when doctors, patients, health insurers, and employers all work together. Maine Community Health Options is a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) created with the support of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. For more information, visit http://www.maineoptions.org. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.
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Health Dialog to Provide Nurse Line Services to Network Health Members
24/7 Nurse Line to support commercial, self-funded and Medicare populations
Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Health Dialog, a leading provider of population health management solutions, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Network Health, a Wisconsin-based health insurance company. The agreement gives Network Health’s commercial, self-funded and Medicare members access to Health Dialog’s Nurse Line, a professionally staffed telephone support system that will give all members direct access to Registered Nurse (RN) Health Coaches 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Health Dialog’s Nurse Line provides guidance and information to help people make informed decisions about their medical care and avoid unnecessary and costly emergency room visits. Using evidence-based clinical data, experienced Registered Nurse Health Coaches rapidly assess the urgency of symptoms and direct members to the appropriate level of care for their specific condition. They also prepare members for physician visits and help them understand medication side effects. Effective health coaching is a valuable part of Health Dialog’s services, designed to help individuals participate in their own healthcare decisions, develop more effective relationships with their physicians, and live longer, healthier, happier lives.
“Network Health has consistently achieved excellent quality rankings on both state and national levels,” said Deborah Anderson, Director of Health Promotion at Network Health. “Health Dialog is equally committed to high-quality health services and integrating its Nurse Line into our program is a natural fit. Their depth of experience, proven success with patients and clinical strength of their Health Coaches ensure we will continue both our track records of high quality and high member and client satisfaction rates.”
Health Dialog’s Nurse Line is certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and has served more than 30 million patients. According to a 2013 member survey, 93% of members were satisfied with the Health Coach’s knowledge of the member’s condition, and 90% would recommend the Nurse Line program to family or friends.
“Our Health Coaches go through rigorous training programs and rely upon the best evidence-based clinical data available to ensure they are effectively guiding members to appropriate levels of care,” said Web Golinkin, Chief Executive Officer of Health Dialog. “More importantly, our Health Coaches transfer the skills and knowledge to promote lasting behavior change. Good decision making skills can empower members to make better healthcare choices long after a coaching session, creating a lasting effect that benefits patients, their families and our healthcare system at-large.”
About Health Dialog:
Health Dialog Services Corporation is a leading provider of population health management solutions. The company works with the nation’s largest third-party payers, employers and providers – as well as Health Dialog’s parent company, Rite Aid – to improve the health and wellness of their members, employees, patients and customers while reducing costs and improving performance in key quality measures, such as NCQA’s HEDIS and CMS’ Stars ratings. Health Dialog’s unique capabilities include data analytics, a multi-media coaching platform, and a 24/7 nurse line. For more information, visit http://www.healthdialog.com.
About Network Health:
Founded in 1982, Network Health offers customized commercial and Medicare health insurance services to employers, individuals and families in more than 17 counties throughout Wisconsin. Through its strong reputation for quality health care coverage and superior customer service, Network Health has grown to serve more than 137,000 members. Network Health's Medicare Advantage PPO product holds the highest possible accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Network Health has received the "Excellent" accreditation status for its commercial HMO insurance plans every year since 2002. Learn more at networkhealth.com. Visit our blog at copilotwi.com.
Media Inquiries:
Shanti Skiffington
Samvega Public Relations
mobile: 617.921.0808
shanti(dot)skiffington(at)gmail(dot)com Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Health Dialog, a leading provider of population health management solutions, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Network Health, a Wisconsin-based health insurance company. The agreement gives Network Health’s commercial, self-funded and Medicare members access to Health Dialog’s Nurse Line, a professionally staffed telephone support system that will give all members direct access to Registered Nurse (RN) Health Coaches 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Health Dialog’s Nurse Line provides guidance and information to help people make informed decisions about their medical care and avoid unnecessary and costly emergency room visits. Using evidence-based clinical data, experienced Registered Nurse Health Coaches rapidly assess the urgency of symptoms and direct members to the appropriate level of care for their specific condition. They also prepare members for physician visits and help them understand medication side effects. Effective health coaching is a valuable part of Health Dialog’s services, designed to help individuals participate in their own healthcare decisions, develop more effective relationships with their physicians, and live longer, healthier, happier lives.
“Network Health has consistently achieved excellent quality rankings on both state and national levels,” said Deborah Anderson, Director of Health Promotion at Network Health. “Health Dialog is equally committed to high-quality health services and integrating its Nurse Line into our program is a natural fit. Their depth of experience, proven success with patients and clinical strength of their Health Coaches ensure we will continue both our track records of high quality and high member and client satisfaction rates.”
Health Dialog’s Nurse Line is certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and has served more than 30 million patients. According to a 2013 member survey, 93% of members were satisfied with the Health Coach’s knowledge of the member’s condition, and 90% would recommend the Nurse Line program to family or friends.
“Our Health Coaches go through rigorous training programs and rely upon the best evidence-based clinical data available to ensure they are effectively guiding members to appropriate levels of care,” said Web Golinkin, Chief Executive Officer of Health Dialog. “More importantly, our Health Coaches transfer the skills and knowledge to promote lasting behavior change. Good decision making skills can empower members to make better healthcare choices long after a coaching session, creating a lasting effect that benefits patients, their families and our healthcare system at-large.”
About Health Dialog:
Health Dialog Services Corporation is a leading provider of population health management solutions. The company works with the nation’s largest third-party payers, employers and providers – as well as Health Dialog’s parent company, Rite Aid – to improve the health and wellness of their members, employees, patients and customers while reducing costs and improving performance in key quality measures, such as NCQA’s HEDIS and CMS’ Stars ratings. Health Dialog’s unique capabilities include data analytics, a multi-media coaching platform, and a 24/7 nurse line. For more information, visit http://www.healthdialog.com.
About Network Health:
Founded in 1982, Network Health offers customized commercial and Medicare health insurance services to employers, individuals and families in more than 17 counties throughout Wisconsin. Through its strong reputation for quality health care coverage and superior customer service, Network Health has grown to serve more than 137,000 members. Network Health's Medicare Advantage PPO product holds the highest possible accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Network Health has received the "Excellent" accreditation status for its commercial HMO insurance plans every year since 2002. Learn more at networkhealth.com. Visit our blog at copilotwi.com.
Media Inquiries:
Shanti Skiffington
Samvega Public Relations
mobile: 617.921.0808
shanti(dot)skiffington(at)gmail(dot)com Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.
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Crozer-Keystone Delivers Just What the Patient Ordered with CarePayment’s Affordable Financing
PORTLAND, Ore. & SPRINGFIELD, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crozer-Keystone Health System is partnering with CarePayment®, a leading national patient financing firm, to offer its patients new affordable payment options. Patients will be able to finance medical expenses for up to 25 months at 0.00% APR for the life of the account, with no impact on credit scores. “We have seen a strong increase in people paying more out of pocket for medical services, from those with group health insurance to others wit
Reported by Business Wire 19 hours ago.
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Main Street Morning: Controversial health insurance plans
Welcome to Main Street Morning, The Washington Post’s daily collection of news affecting entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses, with a special focus on policy, politics and government. Here’s what’s affecting my small business, my clients and other entrepreneurs today.
Reported by Washington Post 19 hours ago.
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Rise Health Provides Data-Sharing Solution for Colorado Health Plan Collaboration
Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative-driven effort brings aggregated actionable data to clinicians’ fingertips.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Rise Health, the premier provider of fully integrated population health management solutions, has been selected to provide the data-sharing online tool for seven Colorado health plans coming together to enhance and improve the delivery of care for Colorado residents.
The collaboration emerged from the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative, a national collaboration among public and private health plans to strengthen primary care. Health plans participating in the Colorado CPC (CO CPC) are working together to make it easier for primary care practices to transition to a more integrated, family care centered approach to serving patients.
Care providers currently receive multiple reports from each health plan and have to log on to several different websites to access patient data, making it cumbersome and inefficient for care providers to coordinate a patient’s care.
Rise Health, working with CO CPC members, is developing a single source for patient-level information that will help care providers save time and resources, enabling them to spend more time with patients.
A majority of the payers participating in CO CPC agreed to finance an innovative tool that allows care providers to access their patients’ claims data from one website. Rise Health will partner with Colorado’s Center for Improving Value in Health Care and other state and local entities to build the tool and help ensure a comprehensive approach to data aggregation.
“Designing a platform that will allow the CO CPC to develop the data-sharing tool is right up our alley,” says Dr. Mark Crockett, CEO for Rise Health. “We understand what needs to be done to create actionable tools to support the type of collaborative patient management envisioned by CO CPC.”
A single reporting solution will provide more accurate patient-level reporting and information. For the first time, health care practices will be able to look at patient care across the entire spectrum of services. Ultimately, it will enable physicians and health plans to benchmark their practices in a more efficient manner.
“We are moving into a new era of health care and it is exciting to be a part of providing this level of data to the providers of care, especially in rural areas” said Cindy Palmer, CEO of Colorado Choice Health Plans.
"This initiative represents a major step forward for both providers and payers in Colorado. For the first time, physicians will be able to access actionable, patient-specific data across multiple insurers and self-funding employers in a single analytic tool." said Patrick Gordon, associate vice president at Rocky Mountain Health Plans.
“This represents an innovative solution to a longstanding problem. Too often, it’s either feast or famine: providers either lack sufficient information or they are bombarded with too much. Now, we can provide them the right amount of information at the right time,” said Kelly Henry, network director, payment innovation programs at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Over the past two years, the payers looked at the evidence, listened to physician leaders, agreed on common measures of success, and collaborated on a rigorous, competitive process that resulted in an aggregated-data solution that is both practice-focused and patient-centered, while meeting the unique needs of the Colorado market.
Colorado Medicaid is hopeful that the multi-payer agreement, and the selection of Rise Health as the vendor, marks the beginning of another, much longer, process. The payers are committed to sustainable practice transformation in Colorado; and data aggregation may be one piece of a longer-term strategy.
“We’re building on the CO CPC opportunity, but it’s just a launching pad. We believe we’ve created a program that is the beginning of a long collaboration to help improve Colorado’s health care system,” said Dr. Judy Zerzan, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (Colorado Medicaid).
The following payers are participating in the data aggregation solution:· Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
· Cigna
· Colorado Access
· Colorado Choice Health Plans
· Colorado Medicaid/Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
· Rocky Mountain Health Plans
Practices can expect access to the data aggregation tool in the first quarter of 2015; details about implementation will be available soon.
About the CPC initiative
The Comprehensive Primary Care initiative is a national pilot to foster collaboration among public and private health plans to strengthen primary care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center launched the CPC initiative in 2012. The ultimate goal: Establish a new national model for the purchase and delivery of comprehensive primary care that will enhance care management, improve health and reduce costs throughout the country. Colorado was one of only seven markets selected to participate in the pilot. Practices receive support from all participating payers to better coordinate primary care for their patients.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service, Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM® is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado is available at http://www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, or visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.
Media inquiries should be directed to Joyzelle Davis at joyzelle(dot)davis(at)anthem(dot)com, or (303) 831-2005.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company of North America and Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products including group life, accident and disability insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has approximately 85 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit http://www.cigna.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Michelle Vroom at michelle(dot)vroom(at)cigna(dot)com or (267) 606-5822.
About Colorado Access
Founded in 1994, Colorado Access is a local, nonprofit health plan serving more than 950,000 Coloradans. The company’s members receive healthcare under Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), Medicaid behavioral and physical health programs, long-term support, and/or Medicare Advantage. Colorado Access provides care coordination and management for three (3) of the seven (7) Regional Care Collaborative Organizations under Colorado’s Accountable Care Collaborative Medicaid program. To learn more about Colorado Access, visit coaccess.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Palwasha (Sasha) Khan at Palwasha(dot)Khan(at)coaccess(dot)com, or (720) 744-5436.
About Colorado Choice Health Plans
Colorado Choice Health Plans in a not-for-profit organization that has served rural communities in Colorado for over 42 years. Over the past few years the Company has moved into several urban/suburban communities as well. Colorado Choice provides products and services for small and large employer groups, individuals, Medicare beneficiaries, and the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) as well as participating with Connect for Health Colorado (the Colorado Healthcare Exchange). Colorado Choice Health Plans offers personal service and is committed to the members and communities served. We are dedicated to improving member’s quality of life through the delivery of health care coverage and health and wellness programs for our members and our communities. To learn more, visit http://www.cochoice.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Cindy Palmer at cpalmer(at)cochoice(dot)com, or (719) 589-3696.
About the Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing
The Department administers the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus programs as well as a variety of other programs for low-income Coloradans who qualify. For more information about the department, please visit Colorado.gov/hcpf.
Media inquiries should be directed to Marc Williams at marc(dot)williams(at)state(dot)co(dot)us, or (303) 866-3144.
About Rocky Mountain Health Plans
Founded in 1974 in Grand Junction, Colorado, as an independent, not-for-profit health insurance provider, Rocky Mountain Health Plans uniquely understands the needs of Coloradans. We provide access to affordable, high quality health care enabling our almost 300,000 Members to live longer, healthier lives, while maintaining our mission to put people before profits. Rocky Mountain Health Plans is the only health plan in Colorado to serve every market segment, including individuals, families, employers, Medicare, Medicaid, and Child Health Plan Plus beneficiaries. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently awarded Rocky Mountain Health Plans a commendable status for continuously improving the quality of care and services provided to Members. For more information, visit rmhp.org or connect with RMHP on social media @RMHPColorado on Facebook, @RMHP on Twitter, @rmhpColorado on Pinterest, and @rmhpcolorado on Instagram.
Media inquiries should be directed to Leanne Hart at Leanne(dot)hart(at)rmhp(dot)org, or (970) 263-5511.
About Rise Health
Acquired by Best Doctors, Inc. in 2014, Rise Health creates personalized care experiences by combining actionable data insights and medical excellence. The company provides payers, provider organizations and employers the tools and services necessary to improve the quality of care, lower costs and enhance care interactions. The Rise Solution Suite includes the Ascend Enterprise Data Aggregation Platform, Stratus Predictive Healthcare Analytics Application, the Cirrus Patient Relationship Manager, as well as local access to the best minds in the global medical community. To learn more, visit http://www.risehealth.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Amanda Cecconi at Amanda(at)punchingnungroup(dot)com, or (615) 473-7536. Reported by PRWeb 17 hours ago.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 06, 2015
Rise Health, the premier provider of fully integrated population health management solutions, has been selected to provide the data-sharing online tool for seven Colorado health plans coming together to enhance and improve the delivery of care for Colorado residents.
The collaboration emerged from the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative, a national collaboration among public and private health plans to strengthen primary care. Health plans participating in the Colorado CPC (CO CPC) are working together to make it easier for primary care practices to transition to a more integrated, family care centered approach to serving patients.
Care providers currently receive multiple reports from each health plan and have to log on to several different websites to access patient data, making it cumbersome and inefficient for care providers to coordinate a patient’s care.
Rise Health, working with CO CPC members, is developing a single source for patient-level information that will help care providers save time and resources, enabling them to spend more time with patients.
A majority of the payers participating in CO CPC agreed to finance an innovative tool that allows care providers to access their patients’ claims data from one website. Rise Health will partner with Colorado’s Center for Improving Value in Health Care and other state and local entities to build the tool and help ensure a comprehensive approach to data aggregation.
“Designing a platform that will allow the CO CPC to develop the data-sharing tool is right up our alley,” says Dr. Mark Crockett, CEO for Rise Health. “We understand what needs to be done to create actionable tools to support the type of collaborative patient management envisioned by CO CPC.”
A single reporting solution will provide more accurate patient-level reporting and information. For the first time, health care practices will be able to look at patient care across the entire spectrum of services. Ultimately, it will enable physicians and health plans to benchmark their practices in a more efficient manner.
“We are moving into a new era of health care and it is exciting to be a part of providing this level of data to the providers of care, especially in rural areas” said Cindy Palmer, CEO of Colorado Choice Health Plans.
"This initiative represents a major step forward for both providers and payers in Colorado. For the first time, physicians will be able to access actionable, patient-specific data across multiple insurers and self-funding employers in a single analytic tool." said Patrick Gordon, associate vice president at Rocky Mountain Health Plans.
“This represents an innovative solution to a longstanding problem. Too often, it’s either feast or famine: providers either lack sufficient information or they are bombarded with too much. Now, we can provide them the right amount of information at the right time,” said Kelly Henry, network director, payment innovation programs at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Over the past two years, the payers looked at the evidence, listened to physician leaders, agreed on common measures of success, and collaborated on a rigorous, competitive process that resulted in an aggregated-data solution that is both practice-focused and patient-centered, while meeting the unique needs of the Colorado market.
Colorado Medicaid is hopeful that the multi-payer agreement, and the selection of Rise Health as the vendor, marks the beginning of another, much longer, process. The payers are committed to sustainable practice transformation in Colorado; and data aggregation may be one piece of a longer-term strategy.
“We’re building on the CO CPC opportunity, but it’s just a launching pad. We believe we’ve created a program that is the beginning of a long collaboration to help improve Colorado’s health care system,” said Dr. Judy Zerzan, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (Colorado Medicaid).
The following payers are participating in the data aggregation solution:· Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
· Cigna
· Colorado Access
· Colorado Choice Health Plans
· Colorado Medicaid/Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
· Rocky Mountain Health Plans
Practices can expect access to the data aggregation tool in the first quarter of 2015; details about implementation will be available soon.
About the CPC initiative
The Comprehensive Primary Care initiative is a national pilot to foster collaboration among public and private health plans to strengthen primary care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center launched the CPC initiative in 2012. The ultimate goal: Establish a new national model for the purchase and delivery of comprehensive primary care that will enhance care management, improve health and reduce costs throughout the country. Colorado was one of only seven markets selected to participate in the pilot. Practices receive support from all participating payers to better coordinate primary care for their patients.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service, Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM® is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado is available at http://www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, or visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.
Media inquiries should be directed to Joyzelle Davis at joyzelle(dot)davis(at)anthem(dot)com, or (303) 831-2005.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company of North America and Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products including group life, accident and disability insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has approximately 85 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit http://www.cigna.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Michelle Vroom at michelle(dot)vroom(at)cigna(dot)com or (267) 606-5822.
About Colorado Access
Founded in 1994, Colorado Access is a local, nonprofit health plan serving more than 950,000 Coloradans. The company’s members receive healthcare under Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), Medicaid behavioral and physical health programs, long-term support, and/or Medicare Advantage. Colorado Access provides care coordination and management for three (3) of the seven (7) Regional Care Collaborative Organizations under Colorado’s Accountable Care Collaborative Medicaid program. To learn more about Colorado Access, visit coaccess.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Palwasha (Sasha) Khan at Palwasha(dot)Khan(at)coaccess(dot)com, or (720) 744-5436.
About Colorado Choice Health Plans
Colorado Choice Health Plans in a not-for-profit organization that has served rural communities in Colorado for over 42 years. Over the past few years the Company has moved into several urban/suburban communities as well. Colorado Choice provides products and services for small and large employer groups, individuals, Medicare beneficiaries, and the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) as well as participating with Connect for Health Colorado (the Colorado Healthcare Exchange). Colorado Choice Health Plans offers personal service and is committed to the members and communities served. We are dedicated to improving member’s quality of life through the delivery of health care coverage and health and wellness programs for our members and our communities. To learn more, visit http://www.cochoice.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Cindy Palmer at cpalmer(at)cochoice(dot)com, or (719) 589-3696.
About the Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing
The Department administers the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus programs as well as a variety of other programs for low-income Coloradans who qualify. For more information about the department, please visit Colorado.gov/hcpf.
Media inquiries should be directed to Marc Williams at marc(dot)williams(at)state(dot)co(dot)us, or (303) 866-3144.
About Rocky Mountain Health Plans
Founded in 1974 in Grand Junction, Colorado, as an independent, not-for-profit health insurance provider, Rocky Mountain Health Plans uniquely understands the needs of Coloradans. We provide access to affordable, high quality health care enabling our almost 300,000 Members to live longer, healthier lives, while maintaining our mission to put people before profits. Rocky Mountain Health Plans is the only health plan in Colorado to serve every market segment, including individuals, families, employers, Medicare, Medicaid, and Child Health Plan Plus beneficiaries. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently awarded Rocky Mountain Health Plans a commendable status for continuously improving the quality of care and services provided to Members. For more information, visit rmhp.org or connect with RMHP on social media @RMHPColorado on Facebook, @RMHP on Twitter, @rmhpColorado on Pinterest, and @rmhpcolorado on Instagram.
Media inquiries should be directed to Leanne Hart at Leanne(dot)hart(at)rmhp(dot)org, or (970) 263-5511.
About Rise Health
Acquired by Best Doctors, Inc. in 2014, Rise Health creates personalized care experiences by combining actionable data insights and medical excellence. The company provides payers, provider organizations and employers the tools and services necessary to improve the quality of care, lower costs and enhance care interactions. The Rise Solution Suite includes the Ascend Enterprise Data Aggregation Platform, Stratus Predictive Healthcare Analytics Application, the Cirrus Patient Relationship Manager, as well as local access to the best minds in the global medical community. To learn more, visit http://www.risehealth.com.
Media inquiries should be directed to Amanda Cecconi at Amanda(at)punchingnungroup(dot)com, or (615) 473-7536. Reported by PRWeb 17 hours ago.
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Reflections on Governor Mario Cuomo's Health Leadership
Over the past few days, I have read many stories and remembrances of Governor Mario Cuomo, who passed away on New Year's Day. People are discussing the "poetry" of his campaigns, his "Tale of Two Cities" speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, his love of basketball.
Those of us who work in health policy and health care are reflecting on Governor Mario Cuomo's innovative leadership and passionate advocacy for the health of residents across New York State. As governor, he introduced important public health measures that became models for the nation. In 1990, he created the Child Health Plus program to provide subsidized health insurance coverage for children; the state's program helped inform the landmark federal Children's Health Insurance Program established in 1997. Governor Cuomo established the State's AIDS Institute during his first year in office and pushed for services, research, education, and funding to combat the AIDS epidemic throughout his career. And under his leadership, New York State was the first in the nation to enact seat belt laws.
I always say with pride that New York is a leading state when it comes to health issues. The late Governor Mario Cuomo deserves credit for establishing or laying the groundwork for many of our successful initiatives to improve health. I join the millions of New Yorkers and others throughout the nation in mourning his loss. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
Those of us who work in health policy and health care are reflecting on Governor Mario Cuomo's innovative leadership and passionate advocacy for the health of residents across New York State. As governor, he introduced important public health measures that became models for the nation. In 1990, he created the Child Health Plus program to provide subsidized health insurance coverage for children; the state's program helped inform the landmark federal Children's Health Insurance Program established in 1997. Governor Cuomo established the State's AIDS Institute during his first year in office and pushed for services, research, education, and funding to combat the AIDS epidemic throughout his career. And under his leadership, New York State was the first in the nation to enact seat belt laws.
I always say with pride that New York is a leading state when it comes to health issues. The late Governor Mario Cuomo deserves credit for establishing or laying the groundwork for many of our successful initiatives to improve health. I join the millions of New Yorkers and others throughout the nation in mourning his loss. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
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Which States Have the Savviest Health Exchange Consumers?
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Selecting a health insurance plan through the exchanges can be confusing. However, a website calculator has helped thousands of people across the country understand that picking the right plan involves more than selecting one with the...
Reported by PR Newswire 14 hours ago.
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Mass. Health Connector Executive Director Jean Yang to Step Down
The Massachusetts Health Connector, the state’s health insurance marketplace, announced today that its Executive Director, Jean Yang, plans to step down after two years at the post.
Reported by Boston.com 14 hours ago.
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Marriage: A Transgender Man's Perspective
I had the pleasure of first meeting Ryan Sallans through a mutual friend and colleague of ours several years ago. Rosy, our mutual friend, knew and worked with us both via her role as producer for the Larry King Live Show. Rosy asked me if I would be willing to write a quote for Ryan's new book, Second Son, which explored both his physical and psychological journey: born female and transitioning into a male. After reading Second Son, which I couldn't put down, by the way, I jumped at the chance to share my glowing thoughts about the book with Ryan and his future audience.Second Son was such a powerful and engaging book, I must confess, I was a little sad when it ended. I wanted to hear more about Ryan's remarkable story. The book ended on such a positive and hopeful note, I felt the need to follow up with him to find out what happened next.
What happened after he met the love of his life and got engaged? Fortunately, Ryan, agreed to indulge my inquisitiveness and answer some of the questions I had about his life, his marriage and being a husband, as a transgender man. Here is the unedited version of our interview:
Dr. Robi: * What are your thoughts about married life? Is it what you expected?*
Ryan: At first, I thought that being married would connect me to another person and solidify a long-term relationship. But after four years of being together, I realize that I never fully understood what family feels like, until I married my wife. When we first started dating I was worried about coming out as transgender to her family. How would they take the news? Would they see me as a man? Would they support our relationship and treat us like anyone else? I thought back to when I came out to my own parents and siblings and how I was, at first, disowned by my dad, misunderstood by my mom, ignored by my sister, and received expressed concern from my brother. Although my family has grown tremendously over the past decade, if they at first felt and reacted this way, how would my wife's family respond? What I experienced from them was life-changing; they all proudly opened their arms to me, no judgment and no questions. Marriage didn't just join me with my wife, it joined me with people who have shown me unconditional love.
Dr. Robi: * Did you always want to get married? And if so, was this something you thought about as a child and young adult? *
Ryan: It's difficult to think back to my childhood and my feelings around marriage, mainly, because I felt very confused by what marriage would look for me, especially since I didn't feel like a girl. I grew up in the 80's in a rural Nebraska community. Back then, people didn't talk about being transgender, and any comments about being lesbian or gay were followed by shame or disgust. I had fantasies as a child of marrying both men and women, but both fantasies brought confused emotions for me. Marrying a boy would mean that I would be the one in the dress, I would be female, which didn't feel right. Marrying a girl meant I was a lesbian, it reminded me that I was not the boy, which also made me feel uncomfortable. When I was a teenager, I had pushed down my feelings around being a boy and focused on my female identity. This identity was very uncomfortable for me and made me feel like I didn't belong in any group no matter what clothes I wore, what hairstyle I chose, or what boy I dated. In my relationships with boys, we would talk about marriage, but it was hard for me to see the actual wedding because I didn't want to wear a dress and I didn't want to become pregnant. My dad would always joke that if I got married, I would most likely be wearing my basketball outfit and high tops underneath the wedding dress. We all would laugh while I secretly fantasized about just ditching the dress all together. As I moved into college, I began dating a guy that I would have married (even though, in the end, I realized he wasn't that into me). When I fantasized about our wedding, I saw us both in jeans and hiking boots on top of a mountain. The interesting thing with this fantasy is that I could see my clothes, but I couldn't see or feel me as a person. I felt completely detached and also disgusted by my body and female identity. But, I truly believed that if I married him, then all of these feelings would go away because marriage would mean that someone did love me and also show my community that I was a "normal" person. After that relationship abruptly ended, I became undone and even more disgusted by my body, which unfortunately led me to unhealthy behaviors that quickly morphed into anorexia nervosa. My eating disorder ended all of my relationships: dating, family, friends and with myself. As anorexia took over my life, the thought of marriage also ended, until four years later when I began exploring and fantasizing more and more about being in a relationship with another woman.
Dr. Robi: *When you thought about marriage, did your image or fantasies about it change when you transitioned from Kimberly into Ryan?*
Ryan: After six years into recovery from anorexia, I came out as lesbian and started dating my first girlfriend. I wanted to marry her within the first few months. I wasn't interested in dating around because I believed that I was unattractive, so no one else would want to date me. When my girlfriend and I talked about marriage, we both fantasized about having a beach wedding, being barefoot, and both being dressed in linen pants and shirts. I wasn't out to my family as a lesbian at this time, and I also still felt uncomfortable in my female body, so it was difficult for me to fully get excited by the idea of having a wedding. I also live in a state that still doesn't recognize marriage equality, so when we talked about a wedding, a part of me felt disappointed since it "wouldn't count" or be recognized. After eight months of dating my girlfriend, I came out as transgender, and then five months later I began my transition. I still wanted to marry her after my transition, and knew this time it would be recognized at the state and federal level since I was now recognized as a man. My girlfriend, however, went the opposite direction, and became scared of our relationship and hesitant about moving forward. As we struggled in our relationship I again felt the reoccurring theme and belief surface within me; I believed I wasn't lovable, no matter how much I changed.
Dr. Robi: *What's the most interesting thing you've learned about yourself, as a result of being married?*
Ryan: All of my life I wanted to get married to prove to people that I was lovable, now I realize that the most important thing in life is loving yourself first. This is something I still struggle with, but being married, I realize that when I am not kind to myself, it impacts my partner/spouse. The good news for my relationship is that I live with a hot-blooded Italian who is also a psychotherapist, so when I am being passive or holding in emotions, she doesn't let it last too long before she starts to push me into bringing out my thoughts and feelings. Another interesting thing I am still learning is how to define myself as a man, and how that plays into my role in our relationship. My wife is the main breadwinner in our household, so our roles are oftentimes opposite from what I grew up observing between my parents. I work out of a home office, and a lot of the work I do is seasonal, which means I do more cleaning, tend to our children (we have four fur babies), and attempt to prep dinner at night (she is a much better cook than I am). We have found a nice balance in our relationship's roles; our financial security is dependent on her, while our home security is dependent on me. I am also a pretty good carpenter, and I have remodeled the majority of our house, along with building some of our furniture . . . which I guess kind of allows me to keep my stereotypical man card.
Dr. Robi: * Do you feel that there are misconceptions about marriage amongst the transgendered community? And if so, what are they?*
Ryan: When it comes to marriage I think EVERYONE, no matter how you identify, has one big misconception, which is that you marry the person you love, and those feelings you had on your wedding day will be with you the rest of your life. Marriage is HARD and requires a lot of communication, compromise, and selflessness to survive. Some misconceptions that can be unique among relationships where one (or both) people are transgender is that if you were dating before the transition, then you'll automatically break up after the transition. While some relationships do end, not all come to a demise. Another misconception is that if you transition, then you become a traitor to the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. I know that when I first started my transition, my former girlfriend struggled with how my physical appearance would impact her social identity as a lesbian, as well as her physical and emotional attraction to me. Going from an outwardly perceived lesbian relationship to a heterosexual relationship was difficult for her on all fronts. For me it was difficult because it made my LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) identity invisible to my LGBT community, so in a way, I felt like an outsider in these spaces. I also became very aware that we would now be afforded heterosexual privileges, including the right to legally marry because my driver's license had a "M" on it instead of a "F". Being transgender is not easy, transitioning is not easy, and relationships are not easy, but receiving certain privileges just because your gender marker changes causes a lot of guilt among folks in the transgender community and anger from the LGB (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual) community. As a side note, it will be interesting to see how some feelings shift after all marriage bans end in the United States.
Dr. Robi: *Do you feel modern culture has become more accepting of transgender marriages? If not, what do you think needs to change in order for this to happen?*
Ryan: I don't think modern culture is even aware of "transgender" marriages. For example, when I am out on the town with my wife, they just see a guy with a gal; there is nothing out of the ordinary in the appearance of our relationship. For people's whose gender expression (the way they communicate their gender) is outside of what we deem as "traditional" there may be more misconceptions about who they are and what that person's relationship is like. This is one of the reasons why I am a HUGE advocate and supporter of marriage equality. If all of us have the right to marry, it symbolically takes the power away from heterosexual relationships. Stigma and discrimination will still exist, but hopefully with time this will also change. While different people in the LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) community have different views on marriage; the symbolism along with the 1,138 state and federal rights and protections that come with it are important to many. Along with marriage equality other issues that impact the physical health and well-being of folks in the LGBT community, as well as their relationships, include: employment and housing protections, immigration policies, correctional facilities and police harassment, hate crimes, access to medical and mental healthcare, health insurance coverage, adoption/foster parenting rights, racism and family acceptance. Which means we have a lot of work to do.
Dr. Robi: *As a transgender individual, what do you think is important for others to know about marriage? Do you feel you face challenges within the relationship that are unique or different from "traditional" marital relationships? What would you like people to know?*
Ryan: There are some challenges I face in my relationship that can be the same for folks who are not transgender, one thing that may be similar is reproduction and fertility. Starting a family would take a lot more work for me and my wife since I do not have sperm, much like it would for a heterosexual couple where one person is sterile. Fortunately for us, we have decided we do not want children (traveling and wine bars are too much fun), but if that were to change, we would have to look into different fertility options, including: in vitro-fertilization, surrogacy, finding a sperm donor and attempting impregnation at home, or adoption. Adoption or fostering a child may not be a possibility for us since we live in a state that can deny adoption or fostering to LGBT couples. I mentioned before how questions arose around whether my wife's family would accept me and our relationship since I am transgender, while they did fully accept me, I know some people who choose not to disclose their transgender identity to their spouses family out of fear of how they will be treated and if their relationship will be supported. Some people will also hide old photo albums or avoid any conversations around their childhood out of either feeling uncomfortable about their past or again fearful of how people will react. When you have a body that doesn't exactly fit the range of what is normally seen for that gender other issues can arise. For the transgender person, feelings around their sexual bodies may be a challenge. For the spouse, there is fear and questions around what will happen if my transgender partner is in an accident and admitted to a hospital? How will they be treated? How much will the doctors know about transgender bodies and how to treat them? These fears bring up the issue too of finding providers, in general, that one can trust. I know that I aggravate and stress out my wife because I am fearful of medical providers, so I just don't go to the doctor, even when I am sick.
Dr. Robi*: What's your advice to achieve a happy, healthy marital relationship? Is your advice the same for people who are transgender and married as it is for other marriages?*
Ryan: For any of us, falling in love is easy, but staying together and supporting each other after the euphoria of new love burns off is a difficult thing to do, especially the longer you are with a person. For any marriage or long-term relationship to succeed I feel some of the most important things one can do is have open communication, flexibility and comfort in the unknown with their partner or spouse. When I first began my transition I decided to get a tattoo on my back that says "Life is Ever Changing." I did this as a reminder that nothing will ever stay constant, life is always in flux, including our relationships. Being able to support each other when one or both are going through a hard or difficult time is a great test to see if a relationship will last. My wife and I have gone through some difficult times together, but we have a saying that helps us get through the rockiness - "This too shall pass." Another big issue that I haven't mentioned yet is sex. Sex and the intimacy that comes with it can be difficult for people who are victims of sexual assault. It can also be difficult for people who are transgender, especially if they feel that their physical sexual body does not align with their internal identity. This isn't the case for everyone in the trans community, but I know for me, it has always been an issue. I feel that my own feelings of insecurity or discontent with my body affects my relationship and our intimacy, but being able to talk about it and negotiate what is allowed and what is not has helped.
Dr. Robi: * What do you think people would find surprising about your marriage, or you as a husband?*
Ryan: First, if people didn't know who I was, they would probably find it surprising that I was born assigned female. Then they would probably be curious about how myself and my wife identify our sexual orientation. But if they were to look inside our home and see our life, they would see our marriage is like many marriages, we get up in the morning, drink our coffee and cuddle with our kids on the couch, then say good-bye to each other and go to work. Something that is unique for us is that due to my national and international speaking, we travel . . . a lot. As a husband who is also transgender, I always joke that I am a catch for any female; I can understand and empathize with female menstrual cycles and the emotions that go along with it, I can relate to what it feels like to be cat called, but then I can go out and do the things that my wife is not interested in doing like the yard work, building fences or installing windows (my wife has to shoo away the garter snakes in the yard though, I am pretty terrified of them). When I return indoors I do one of my favorite things -- vacuuming and using a steam cleaner.
Dr. Robi:* Do your attractions to other men or women cause jealousy within your relationship?*
Ryan: My wife often jokes that she is not worried about me cheating on her with another woman, but she does worry about me cheating on her with another man because I am more physically attracted to men than women. Whereas I am jealous if anyone flirts with my wife, a man or a woman. I think A LITTLE jealousy is a normal and healthy thing to have in a relationship. I say A LITTLE, and want to emphasis that taking jealousy to extremes like invading your partner or spouse's privacy, controlling or manipulating them, creating scenarios in your head and getting mad at the other person, or lashing out at them, are NOT healthy. I find though, when either one of us gets jealous, it reminds us that we are attached to each other and that we don't want to lose what we have. It also reminds us not to take our relationship, or each other, for granted, and that even though we live with each other, we may not know everything the other person is feeling.
*Closing Thoughts:*
Now that we are married, I feel that my wife is always with me, even when we are apart. When I am flying on an airplane or going in to do either an interview or presentation, I roll my ring around my finger and think back to our wedding day, as well as all that we have been through so far in life. She is my home. We could lose everything in life, but having each other makes me feel secure and grounded to this earth.
Ryan felt it was important to emphasize that marriage and what makes a family, looks different for every couple, and that the answers he gave came from his own personal experiences and do not represent all couples who are transgender and married.
People can read more about Ryan Sallan's relationship in his memoir, Second Son: Transitioning Toward My Destiny, Life and Love -- http://www.ryansallans.com Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
What happened after he met the love of his life and got engaged? Fortunately, Ryan, agreed to indulge my inquisitiveness and answer some of the questions I had about his life, his marriage and being a husband, as a transgender man. Here is the unedited version of our interview:
Dr. Robi: * What are your thoughts about married life? Is it what you expected?*
Ryan: At first, I thought that being married would connect me to another person and solidify a long-term relationship. But after four years of being together, I realize that I never fully understood what family feels like, until I married my wife. When we first started dating I was worried about coming out as transgender to her family. How would they take the news? Would they see me as a man? Would they support our relationship and treat us like anyone else? I thought back to when I came out to my own parents and siblings and how I was, at first, disowned by my dad, misunderstood by my mom, ignored by my sister, and received expressed concern from my brother. Although my family has grown tremendously over the past decade, if they at first felt and reacted this way, how would my wife's family respond? What I experienced from them was life-changing; they all proudly opened their arms to me, no judgment and no questions. Marriage didn't just join me with my wife, it joined me with people who have shown me unconditional love.
Dr. Robi: * Did you always want to get married? And if so, was this something you thought about as a child and young adult? *
Ryan: It's difficult to think back to my childhood and my feelings around marriage, mainly, because I felt very confused by what marriage would look for me, especially since I didn't feel like a girl. I grew up in the 80's in a rural Nebraska community. Back then, people didn't talk about being transgender, and any comments about being lesbian or gay were followed by shame or disgust. I had fantasies as a child of marrying both men and women, but both fantasies brought confused emotions for me. Marrying a boy would mean that I would be the one in the dress, I would be female, which didn't feel right. Marrying a girl meant I was a lesbian, it reminded me that I was not the boy, which also made me feel uncomfortable. When I was a teenager, I had pushed down my feelings around being a boy and focused on my female identity. This identity was very uncomfortable for me and made me feel like I didn't belong in any group no matter what clothes I wore, what hairstyle I chose, or what boy I dated. In my relationships with boys, we would talk about marriage, but it was hard for me to see the actual wedding because I didn't want to wear a dress and I didn't want to become pregnant. My dad would always joke that if I got married, I would most likely be wearing my basketball outfit and high tops underneath the wedding dress. We all would laugh while I secretly fantasized about just ditching the dress all together. As I moved into college, I began dating a guy that I would have married (even though, in the end, I realized he wasn't that into me). When I fantasized about our wedding, I saw us both in jeans and hiking boots on top of a mountain. The interesting thing with this fantasy is that I could see my clothes, but I couldn't see or feel me as a person. I felt completely detached and also disgusted by my body and female identity. But, I truly believed that if I married him, then all of these feelings would go away because marriage would mean that someone did love me and also show my community that I was a "normal" person. After that relationship abruptly ended, I became undone and even more disgusted by my body, which unfortunately led me to unhealthy behaviors that quickly morphed into anorexia nervosa. My eating disorder ended all of my relationships: dating, family, friends and with myself. As anorexia took over my life, the thought of marriage also ended, until four years later when I began exploring and fantasizing more and more about being in a relationship with another woman.
Dr. Robi: *When you thought about marriage, did your image or fantasies about it change when you transitioned from Kimberly into Ryan?*
Ryan: After six years into recovery from anorexia, I came out as lesbian and started dating my first girlfriend. I wanted to marry her within the first few months. I wasn't interested in dating around because I believed that I was unattractive, so no one else would want to date me. When my girlfriend and I talked about marriage, we both fantasized about having a beach wedding, being barefoot, and both being dressed in linen pants and shirts. I wasn't out to my family as a lesbian at this time, and I also still felt uncomfortable in my female body, so it was difficult for me to fully get excited by the idea of having a wedding. I also live in a state that still doesn't recognize marriage equality, so when we talked about a wedding, a part of me felt disappointed since it "wouldn't count" or be recognized. After eight months of dating my girlfriend, I came out as transgender, and then five months later I began my transition. I still wanted to marry her after my transition, and knew this time it would be recognized at the state and federal level since I was now recognized as a man. My girlfriend, however, went the opposite direction, and became scared of our relationship and hesitant about moving forward. As we struggled in our relationship I again felt the reoccurring theme and belief surface within me; I believed I wasn't lovable, no matter how much I changed.
Dr. Robi: *What's the most interesting thing you've learned about yourself, as a result of being married?*
Ryan: All of my life I wanted to get married to prove to people that I was lovable, now I realize that the most important thing in life is loving yourself first. This is something I still struggle with, but being married, I realize that when I am not kind to myself, it impacts my partner/spouse. The good news for my relationship is that I live with a hot-blooded Italian who is also a psychotherapist, so when I am being passive or holding in emotions, she doesn't let it last too long before she starts to push me into bringing out my thoughts and feelings. Another interesting thing I am still learning is how to define myself as a man, and how that plays into my role in our relationship. My wife is the main breadwinner in our household, so our roles are oftentimes opposite from what I grew up observing between my parents. I work out of a home office, and a lot of the work I do is seasonal, which means I do more cleaning, tend to our children (we have four fur babies), and attempt to prep dinner at night (she is a much better cook than I am). We have found a nice balance in our relationship's roles; our financial security is dependent on her, while our home security is dependent on me. I am also a pretty good carpenter, and I have remodeled the majority of our house, along with building some of our furniture . . . which I guess kind of allows me to keep my stereotypical man card.
Dr. Robi: * Do you feel that there are misconceptions about marriage amongst the transgendered community? And if so, what are they?*
Ryan: When it comes to marriage I think EVERYONE, no matter how you identify, has one big misconception, which is that you marry the person you love, and those feelings you had on your wedding day will be with you the rest of your life. Marriage is HARD and requires a lot of communication, compromise, and selflessness to survive. Some misconceptions that can be unique among relationships where one (or both) people are transgender is that if you were dating before the transition, then you'll automatically break up after the transition. While some relationships do end, not all come to a demise. Another misconception is that if you transition, then you become a traitor to the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. I know that when I first started my transition, my former girlfriend struggled with how my physical appearance would impact her social identity as a lesbian, as well as her physical and emotional attraction to me. Going from an outwardly perceived lesbian relationship to a heterosexual relationship was difficult for her on all fronts. For me it was difficult because it made my LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) identity invisible to my LGBT community, so in a way, I felt like an outsider in these spaces. I also became very aware that we would now be afforded heterosexual privileges, including the right to legally marry because my driver's license had a "M" on it instead of a "F". Being transgender is not easy, transitioning is not easy, and relationships are not easy, but receiving certain privileges just because your gender marker changes causes a lot of guilt among folks in the transgender community and anger from the LGB (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual) community. As a side note, it will be interesting to see how some feelings shift after all marriage bans end in the United States.
Dr. Robi: *Do you feel modern culture has become more accepting of transgender marriages? If not, what do you think needs to change in order for this to happen?*
Ryan: I don't think modern culture is even aware of "transgender" marriages. For example, when I am out on the town with my wife, they just see a guy with a gal; there is nothing out of the ordinary in the appearance of our relationship. For people's whose gender expression (the way they communicate their gender) is outside of what we deem as "traditional" there may be more misconceptions about who they are and what that person's relationship is like. This is one of the reasons why I am a HUGE advocate and supporter of marriage equality. If all of us have the right to marry, it symbolically takes the power away from heterosexual relationships. Stigma and discrimination will still exist, but hopefully with time this will also change. While different people in the LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) community have different views on marriage; the symbolism along with the 1,138 state and federal rights and protections that come with it are important to many. Along with marriage equality other issues that impact the physical health and well-being of folks in the LGBT community, as well as their relationships, include: employment and housing protections, immigration policies, correctional facilities and police harassment, hate crimes, access to medical and mental healthcare, health insurance coverage, adoption/foster parenting rights, racism and family acceptance. Which means we have a lot of work to do.
Dr. Robi: *As a transgender individual, what do you think is important for others to know about marriage? Do you feel you face challenges within the relationship that are unique or different from "traditional" marital relationships? What would you like people to know?*
Ryan: There are some challenges I face in my relationship that can be the same for folks who are not transgender, one thing that may be similar is reproduction and fertility. Starting a family would take a lot more work for me and my wife since I do not have sperm, much like it would for a heterosexual couple where one person is sterile. Fortunately for us, we have decided we do not want children (traveling and wine bars are too much fun), but if that were to change, we would have to look into different fertility options, including: in vitro-fertilization, surrogacy, finding a sperm donor and attempting impregnation at home, or adoption. Adoption or fostering a child may not be a possibility for us since we live in a state that can deny adoption or fostering to LGBT couples. I mentioned before how questions arose around whether my wife's family would accept me and our relationship since I am transgender, while they did fully accept me, I know some people who choose not to disclose their transgender identity to their spouses family out of fear of how they will be treated and if their relationship will be supported. Some people will also hide old photo albums or avoid any conversations around their childhood out of either feeling uncomfortable about their past or again fearful of how people will react. When you have a body that doesn't exactly fit the range of what is normally seen for that gender other issues can arise. For the transgender person, feelings around their sexual bodies may be a challenge. For the spouse, there is fear and questions around what will happen if my transgender partner is in an accident and admitted to a hospital? How will they be treated? How much will the doctors know about transgender bodies and how to treat them? These fears bring up the issue too of finding providers, in general, that one can trust. I know that I aggravate and stress out my wife because I am fearful of medical providers, so I just don't go to the doctor, even when I am sick.
Dr. Robi*: What's your advice to achieve a happy, healthy marital relationship? Is your advice the same for people who are transgender and married as it is for other marriages?*
Ryan: For any of us, falling in love is easy, but staying together and supporting each other after the euphoria of new love burns off is a difficult thing to do, especially the longer you are with a person. For any marriage or long-term relationship to succeed I feel some of the most important things one can do is have open communication, flexibility and comfort in the unknown with their partner or spouse. When I first began my transition I decided to get a tattoo on my back that says "Life is Ever Changing." I did this as a reminder that nothing will ever stay constant, life is always in flux, including our relationships. Being able to support each other when one or both are going through a hard or difficult time is a great test to see if a relationship will last. My wife and I have gone through some difficult times together, but we have a saying that helps us get through the rockiness - "This too shall pass." Another big issue that I haven't mentioned yet is sex. Sex and the intimacy that comes with it can be difficult for people who are victims of sexual assault. It can also be difficult for people who are transgender, especially if they feel that their physical sexual body does not align with their internal identity. This isn't the case for everyone in the trans community, but I know for me, it has always been an issue. I feel that my own feelings of insecurity or discontent with my body affects my relationship and our intimacy, but being able to talk about it and negotiate what is allowed and what is not has helped.
Dr. Robi: * What do you think people would find surprising about your marriage, or you as a husband?*
Ryan: First, if people didn't know who I was, they would probably find it surprising that I was born assigned female. Then they would probably be curious about how myself and my wife identify our sexual orientation. But if they were to look inside our home and see our life, they would see our marriage is like many marriages, we get up in the morning, drink our coffee and cuddle with our kids on the couch, then say good-bye to each other and go to work. Something that is unique for us is that due to my national and international speaking, we travel . . . a lot. As a husband who is also transgender, I always joke that I am a catch for any female; I can understand and empathize with female menstrual cycles and the emotions that go along with it, I can relate to what it feels like to be cat called, but then I can go out and do the things that my wife is not interested in doing like the yard work, building fences or installing windows (my wife has to shoo away the garter snakes in the yard though, I am pretty terrified of them). When I return indoors I do one of my favorite things -- vacuuming and using a steam cleaner.
Dr. Robi:* Do your attractions to other men or women cause jealousy within your relationship?*
Ryan: My wife often jokes that she is not worried about me cheating on her with another woman, but she does worry about me cheating on her with another man because I am more physically attracted to men than women. Whereas I am jealous if anyone flirts with my wife, a man or a woman. I think A LITTLE jealousy is a normal and healthy thing to have in a relationship. I say A LITTLE, and want to emphasis that taking jealousy to extremes like invading your partner or spouse's privacy, controlling or manipulating them, creating scenarios in your head and getting mad at the other person, or lashing out at them, are NOT healthy. I find though, when either one of us gets jealous, it reminds us that we are attached to each other and that we don't want to lose what we have. It also reminds us not to take our relationship, or each other, for granted, and that even though we live with each other, we may not know everything the other person is feeling.
*Closing Thoughts:*
Now that we are married, I feel that my wife is always with me, even when we are apart. When I am flying on an airplane or going in to do either an interview or presentation, I roll my ring around my finger and think back to our wedding day, as well as all that we have been through so far in life. She is my home. We could lose everything in life, but having each other makes me feel secure and grounded to this earth.
Ryan felt it was important to emphasize that marriage and what makes a family, looks different for every couple, and that the answers he gave came from his own personal experiences and do not represent all couples who are transgender and married.
People can read more about Ryan Sallan's relationship in his memoir, Second Son: Transitioning Toward My Destiny, Life and Love -- http://www.ryansallans.com Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
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Walgreens to Provide Up to 30-Day Prescription Supply at No Upfront Cost for Public Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollees Who Have Not Been Assigned an Identification Number
DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As newly insured Americans begin using their 2015 benefits under the Affordable Care Act, Walgreens will again provide medication assistance to those patients who may have difficulty using their new insurance coverage. Through the end of January, patients who haven't yet received a plan identification number from their insurer or are otherwise having difficulty can bring confirmation of their Marketplace enrollment to a Walgreens pharmacy, and Walgreens will pr
Reported by Business Wire 14 hours ago.
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