How Long Do People Stay On Public Benefits?

May 29, 2015, 12:06 pm

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WASHINGTON -- Most poor people who avail themselves of a U.S. government safety net program are off benefits within three years, according to a government survey that tracked individual people over time.

Of the one-in-five Americans who participated in a program like Medicaid or food stamps from 2009 through 2012, the Census Bureau reported this week, 56 percent stopped participating within 36 months, while 43 percent lingered between three and four years. Nearly one-third quit receiving benefits within one year.

Here's a chart from the report that breaks down the accumulated months of participation in different programs for poor people:Arloc Sherman, a researcher with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., that advocates for antipoverty programs, said the data outlines two broad categories of people who use public benefits.

"There are people who need help briefly because they lost a job or something temporarily went wrong," Sherman said, "and there are people who have longer-term circumstances -- they have a disability, or they’re elderly, or they live in an economically isolated area like a rural town where the factory shut down."

Medicaid, which provides health insurance to the poor, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often described as food stamps, are the two programs that cover the most people. During an average month in 2012, 15.3 percent of Americans received Medicaid coverage and 13.4 percent received SNAP benefits.

Depending on what state they live in, people poor enough to qualify for the programs usually can enroll for six months or a year at a time. Sherman said it's important to not think of Medicaid enrollees as constantly soaking up medical services during the entirety of their enrollment.

"It’s not that you’re going to the hospital for 48 months," Sherman said. "It means you’re able to go to the hospital or see the doctor if you need to."

*HuffPost readers: Do you get SNAP benefits? Tell us about it -- email arthur@huffingtonpost.com. Please include your phone number if you're willing to be interviewed.*-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.

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Health insurance plans

May 29, 2015, 12:00 pm

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Read full story for latest details. Reported by CNNMoney 14 hours ago.

Finding affordable health insurance

May 29, 2015, 12:12 pm

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Read full story for latest details. Reported by CNNMoney 14 hours ago.

Buying health insurance

May 29, 2015, 12:12 pm

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Read full story for latest details. Reported by CNNMoney 14 hours ago.

STOCKS FALL, OIL SURGES: Here's what you need to know (SPY, DJI, IXIC, USO, WTI, OIL, VDE, AXP, HUM, RST)

May 29, 2015, 1:39 pm

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Stocks closed lower to end the short trading week. The second estimate of GDP showed the economy contracted in the first quarter, but not as badly as expected.

First, the scoreboard:

· *Dow:* 18,035.50, -90.62, (-0.50%)
· *S&P 500:* 2,109.95, -10.84, (-0.51%)
· *Nasdaq:* 5,074.38, -23.60, (-0.46%)

And now, the top stories on Friday:

1. The second estimate of gross domestic product showed the US economy shrank by 0.7% in the first quarter. Economists had expected the revision to show a 0.9% slump, after the first estimate showed just 0.2% growth. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said the decrease reflected a drop in exports, government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment. Also, corporate profits tanked due to slow growth, the strong dollar, and lower energy prices, according to Bloomberg economist Carl Riccadonna.
2. One positive takeaway from the report was a 1.4% rise in gross domestic income. GDI, which measures the costs as well as incomes of all domestically produced goods and services, is "a much more accurate gauge of the economy's true performance over the three months of this year," Capital Economics' Paul Ashworth wrote in a client note following the report.
3. The Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index tanked and missed expectations in May. The index from the Institute of Supply Management fell to 46.2 from 52.3 in April, below expectations for 53. Philip Uglow, chief economist of MNI Indicators, said the plunge showed that weaknesses caused by bad weather and the West Coast port slowdown unexpectedly persist. 
4. Consumer confidence beat expectations in May but fell from April. The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index rose to 90.7 from a preliminary reading of 88.6, but fell from a 95.9 reading in April. Richard Curtin, chief economist for the report, said the drop showed consumers are cautiously optimistic that the economy will bounce back in the second quarter.
5. The count of US oil rigs fell yet again last week, by 13 to 646, the lowest level since August 13, 2010. Data from driller Baker Hughes showed that the tally of combined oil and gas rigs fell by 10 to 875, the lowest since January 31, 2003. Last week, the oil rig count fell by just one, the slowest pace in 24 weeks.
6. West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices climbed higher after the data. It rose as much as 4% to around $60.28 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, also jumped 4% to around $65.32. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy reported that US oil production surged to a 43-year high.
7. American Express president Ed Gilligan died. According to a letter to employees from CEO Kenneth Chenault, Gilligan fell suddenly fell ill on a flight home to New York this morning. He was 55. He joined the company in 1980, and became president in April 2013. 
8. Humana shares spiked as much as 18% after a report that it is considering a sale. The health insurance company has hired Goldman Sachs to advise it on a possible deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. Aetna and Cigna are among the companies that may reportedly be bidding for Humana.
9. Rosetta Stone said it has received an expression of interest from RDG Capital Fund Management. Its stock spiked more than 17%. The company makes the popular software for learning new languages. In a statement, the company said it will consider the offer carefully.

*DON'T MISS: Here's why traders on New York Stock Exchange floor aren’t convinced the bull market is over »*

Join the conversation about this story »

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Stocks solidly lower following disappointing economic data

May 29, 2015, 1:22 pm

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Shares of Humana jumped $37.23, or 20 percent, to $214.79 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the health insurance company has hired investment bankers to potentially sell the company. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said a Greek exit from the euro remains a possibility, while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also appeared cautious in comments following the end of a meeting of top finance officials in Berlin. Figures from the European Central Bank showing Greek bank deposits at their lowest in more than a decade only added to the prevailing gloom. ANALYST TAKE: "With it being a Friday and the uncertainty around the Greece situation and the disappointing economic data, naturally investors are taking some of their positions off the table," said JJ Kinahan, a strategist at TDAmeritrade. The video game retailer posted results that exceeded analysts' estimates, helped by the sale of recently released video game titles. Reported by SeattlePI.com 13 hours ago.

Colorado health-insurance industry group loses its top official

May 29, 2015, 1:53 pm

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Colorado’s health-insurance trade group is looking for a new leader. Executive director Ben Price is leaving the Colorado Association of Health Plans after seven years at the helm when he and industry leaders had to deal with a seismic shift in the American health care scene, CAHP announced on Friday. After his mid-June departure, Price will take over as CEO of the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, the Littleton-based certification group for those professionals. During… Reported by bizjournals 12 hours ago.

Stocks end week lower following disappointing economic data

May 29, 2015, 2:10 pm

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"With it being a Friday and the uncertainty around the Greece situation and the disappointing economic data, naturally investors are taking some of their positions off the table," said JJ Kinahan, a strategist at TDAmeritrade. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said a Greek exit from the euro remains a possibility, while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also appeared cautious in comments following the end of a meeting of top finance officials in Berlin. Among individual stocks, shares of Humana rose $36.24, or 20 percent, to $214.65 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the health insurance company has hired investment bankers to potentially sell the company. The video game retailer posted results that exceeded analysts' estimates, helped by the sale of recently released video game titles. In other futures trading on the NYMEX, wholesale gasoline rose 10.1 cents to close at $2.086 a gallon, heating oil rose 8.5 cents to close at $1.955 a gallon, and natural gas fell 6.4 cents — its fifth decline in a row — to close at $2.642 per 1,000 cubic feet. Reported by SeattlePI.com 12 hours ago.

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When Are Employee Wellness Incentives No Longer Voluntary?

May 29, 2015, 2:22 pm

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Many workers like the programs, and employers say they help hold down health insurance costs. But there are legal questions about how far companies can go to encourage participation. Reported by NPR 12 hours ago.

Protecting Fifty Years of Child Health Progress

May 29, 2015, 2:59 pm

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“It was a generation ago that Harry Truman said, and I quote him: ‘Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and to enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. And the time has now arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and to help them get that protection.’ . . . The need for this action is plain; and it is so clear indeed that we marvel not simply at the passage of this bill, but what we marvel at is that it took so many years to pass it.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson said this as he signed Medicaid into law on July 30, 1965, thanking former President Harry S. Truman and the many members of Congress from both parties who laid the groundwork and worked tirelessly to make the Medicaid program and its protections reality. Not only has Medicaid been a lifesaver for tens of millions of older Americans for fifty years, it has helped Americans of all ages, including millions of children. Together with the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) it has brought the number of uninsured children to a historic low. Medicaid and CHIP provide comprehensive and affordable health coverage to more than 44 million children—57 percent of all children in America. With the new coverage options offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 93 percent of all children now have health coverage.

Yet at a time when we should be celebrating Medicaid and CHIP successes, serious threats to Medicaid, CHIP, and the ACA continue to surface in Congress. So in addition to advocating for continuing improvements in children’s health coverage, we must also play defense to protect the hard earned gains made for children as well as adults. 

The 2016 Budget Resolution passed by both the House and the Senate paves the way to radically restructure Medicaid, making deep cuts that will reverse the progress made in reducing the rate of uninsured children, pushing tens of millions of Americans – including millions of children – into the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. The Budget Resolution also puts in motion a process to repeal the ACA, which prohibits discrimination against the 129 million children and adults with pre-existing health conditions, helps over 5 million uninsured 18-26 year olds now covered under parental insurance plans, and extends Medicaid coverage to age 26 for some youths leaving foster care. More than 10 million near poor adults, including many parents, in the twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia that have expanded their Medicaid rolls under the ACA will lose Medicaid coverage as a result.

While children comprise 48 percent of those enrolled in Medicaid, they account for less than a quarter of Medicaid costs.* *Medicaid’s current structure guarantees children the health and mental health care to meet their individual needs when they need it and must be protected.* *Major structural changes like block grants or per capita caps that limit expenditures for the entire Medicaid program don’t create cost efficiencies. They shift costs from the federal government to states, local communities, and/or beneficiaries. To meet rigid constraints of such federal limits states would have to increase their spending, make deep cuts, or both. Any “savings” would likely come from reducing eligibility, limiting benefits, increasing cost sharing, or cutting already below-market provider payment rates. Any of these steps would impose significant harm on millions of vulnerable children and families. Changes that result in loss of or limits on children’s health coverage would also require states and local communities to absorb substantial costs. An uninsured child costs the local community $2,100 more than a child covered by Medicaid.

Right now Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit guarantees the full range of comprehensive primary and preventive coverage children need, preventing more serious and costly consequences later on. Almost 75 percent of children enrolled in Medicaid had a preventive well-child visit in the past year compared to 41 percent of uninsured children. Children enrolled in Medicaid miss fewer classes and perform better in school than uninsured children.

Medicaid covers more than 40 percent of all births in the United States, and every $1 spent on prenatal care can save $3.33 in costs associated with care immediately after birth and another $4.63 associated with costs later in the child’s life. Medicaid is also a special lifeline for children with disabilities, serving 40 percent of children in America with special health care needs. For many of these children Medicaid is the only source of financing for their care. For others Medicaid supplements private coverage to help ensure access to the medical equipment and devices (such as hearing aids) they need to survive and thrive.       

New research documents the long-term benefits of Medicaid coverage in childhood. The National Bureau of Economic Research compared children eligible for Medicaid during childhood to their non-eligible peers and found that the Medicaid-eligible children were more likely to attend college, make greater contributions as adult taxpayers, and live longer than those without coverage. The findings reaffirm the economic case for doing what common sense and morality already dictate: by investing in childhood well-being now, the government will recoup the benefits later. After fifty years of Medicaid’s protections, how can any elected leaders still not get it or get it but simply not care about the most vulnerable among us? We should let them hear from us.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 11 hours ago.

Protecting 50 Years of Child Health Progress

May 29, 2015, 3:41 pm

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It was a generation ago that Harry Truman said, and I quote him:

'Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and to enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. And the time has now arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and to help them get that protection.'

... The need for this action is plain; and it is so clear indeed that we marvel not simply at the passage of this bill, but what we marvel at is that it took so many years to pass it.


President Lyndon B. Johnson said this as he signed Medicaid into law on July 30, 1965, thanking former President Harry S. Truman and the many members of Congress from both parties who laid the groundwork and worked tirelessly to make the Medicaid program and its protections reality. Not only has Medicaid been a lifesaver for tens of millions of older Americans for 50 years, it has helped Americans of all ages, including millions of children. Together with the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), it has brought the number of uninsured children to a historic low. Medicaid and CHIP provide comprehensive and affordable health coverage to more than 44 million children -- 57 percent of all children in America. With the new coverage options offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 93 percent of all children now have health coverage.

Yet, at a time when we should be celebrating Medicaid and CHIP successes, serious threats to Medicaid, CHIP and the ACA continue to surface in Congress. So, in addition to advocating for continuing improvements in children’s health coverage, we must also play defense to protect the hard-earned gains made for children as well as adults. 

The 2016 Budget Resolution, passed by both the House and the Senate, paves the way to radically restructure Medicaid, making deep cuts that will reverse the progress made in reducing the rate of uninsured children, pushing tens of millions of Americans -- including millions of children -- into the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. The Budget Resolution also puts in motion a process to repeal the ACA, which prohibits discrimination against the 129 million children and adults with pre-existing health conditions, helps over 5 million uninsured 18-26 year olds now covered under parental insurance plans, and extends Medicaid coverage to age 26 for some youths leaving foster care. More than 10 million near poor adults, including many parents, in the twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia that have expanded their Medicaid rolls under the ACA will lose Medicaid coverage as a result.

While children comprise 48 percent of those enrolled in Medicaid, they account for less than a quarter of Medicaid costs.* *Medicaid’s current structure guarantees children the health and mental health care to meet their individual needs when they need it and must be protected.* *Major structural changes like block grants or per capita caps that limit expenditures for the entire Medicaid program don’t create cost efficiencies. They shift costs from the federal government to states, local communities and/or beneficiaries. To meet rigid constraints of such federal limits states would have to increase their spending, make deep cuts or both. Any “savings” would likely come from reducing eligibility, limiting benefits, increasing cost sharing, or cutting already below-market provider payment rates. Any of these steps would impose significant harm on millions of vulnerable children and families. Changes that result in loss of or limits on children’s health coverage would also require states and local communities to absorb substantial costs. An uninsured child costs the local community $2,100 more than a child covered by Medicaid.

Right now, Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit guarantees the full range of comprehensive primary and preventive coverage children need, preventing more serious and costly consequences later on. Almost 75 percent of children enrolled in Medicaid had a preventive well-child visit in the past year compared to 41 percent of uninsured children. Children enrolled in Medicaid miss fewer classes and perform better in school than uninsured children.

Medicaid covers more than 40 percent of all births in the United States, and every $1 spent on prenatal care can save $3.33 in costs associated with care immediately after birth, and another $4.63 associated with costs later in the child’s life. Medicaid is also a special lifeline for children with disabilities, serving 40 percent of children in America with special health care needs. For many of these children, Medicaid is the only source of financing for their care. For others Medicaid supplements private coverage to help ensure access to the medical equipment and devices (such as hearing aids) they need to survive and thrive.       

New research documents the long-term benefits of Medicaid coverage in childhood. The National Bureau of Economic Research compared children eligible for Medicaid during childhood to their non-eligible peers and found that the Medicaid-eligible children were more likely to attend college, make greater contributions as adult taxpayers and live longer than those without coverage. The findings reaffirm the economic case for doing what common sense and morality already dictate: by investing in childhood well-being now, the government will recoup the benefits later. After 50 years of Medicaid’s protections, how can any elected leaders still not get it, or get it, but simply not care about the most vulnerable among us? We should let them hear from us.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.

For Boomers, It's the Retirement Plan That Never Happened

May 30, 2015, 2:15 am

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Filed under: Retirement, Early Retirement

*Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock*

By Ilana Polyak

Call it the retirement that never was. The oldest baby boomers are turning 69 years old this year, yet many are still working and have no plans to go anywhere.

In 1990 just 12.1 percent of workers were 65 and older; by 2010 more than 16 percent were, according to the Census Bureau. That number is likely to grow as more boomers move into the over-65 demographic. Modern retirement calls for different rules, so it's no wonder that boomers are redefining retirement.

"To think that you can finance a 40-year retirement is mathematically impossible," said Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. A Transmerica survey shows that almost two-thirds of baby boomer workers plan to stay on the job beyond age 65-or don't plan to retire at all. "Baby boomers do not envision not working," Collinson said.

People who are at least 65 can expect to live another 19 years, and those who make it to 75 should plan to live well into their 80s, reported the Centers for Disease Control. At the same time, the average account balance for workers in their 50s and 60s is less than $150,000, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

"Unless you socked away a lot of money, retirement for many is just not going to be what we grew up believing retirement was," said certified financial planner Mark Singer, president of Safe Harbor Retirement Planning, author of "The 6 Secrets to a Happy Retirement" and himself a boomer, at age 60. As a result of working longer, boomers are transforming not just retirement, but the workplace itself.

*Benefits of Working*

Working longer is the most obvious solution to the retirement savings problem. Among all of the options available to pre-retirees, it's the one that has the biggest impact on a nest egg, said Judith Ward, a senior financial planning with T. Rowe Price. Working three years longer and contributing 15 percent of income can grow a 401(k) by 22 percent; working five years more can increase savings by 39 percent. Combining more years of work with a bigger retirement-plan contribution (say, 25 percent) has an even more powerful impact.

Of course, not all boomers will be content to continue pounding out 40-hour weeks, said Kerry Hannon, a jobs expert with AARP and author of "Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness." Some will opt for phased retirement schemes, where they're able to cut back on their hours but still stay employed. Depending on the number of hours, they may be able to hold on to crucial health insurance and retirement-plan perks. Most important, however, is that even part-time work can keep boomers from tapping their nest eggs too soon.

However, employers may not be so quick to jump on the phased-retirement bandwagon. "The trend is happening so quickly that employment practices have simply not kept pace with the changing times," Collinson said.

There are some legal obstacles in switching from full-time to part-time work-specifically, how to account for insurance and pensions for part-time workers-noted Mark Schmit, executive director of the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation. What's more, these arrangements could be seen as unfair to younger workers. "They might be thinking, 'These older folks are getting a perk that the rest of the organization is not getting,'" he said.

Some industries, however, are more open to it, said Schmit, especially if they have a looming brain drain, as is the case in health care and mining. Phased retirement might give businesses time to accelerate their recruiting efforts while still benefiting from the talents of boomers.

*Intergenerational Conflicts Loom*

Of course, staying in the workplace longer is not without glitches. According to Dan Schawbel, founder of WorkplaceTrends.com, a research and advisory firm focusing on millennials in the workplace, every generation has a negative view of the generation that's coming up but a positive view of their elders'. "The younger generation is seen as more connected and they're cheaper to hire, so they're seen as a threat [by boomers]," he said.

In SHRM's survey of human resource managers, more than a quarter reported some level of intergeneration conflict in their organizations. Dress code is a particular issue, with millennials advocating for casual dress and boomers insisting on business attire. "Millennials want you to appreciate what's coming out of your head, not the costume they're wearing," said Anne Donovan, a managing director and millennials expert at accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Focusing on dress code might seem trivial, said Donovan, but it speaks to workplace culture. Businesses that cling to formal dress will continue to lose young talent to companies that do not, she said. Few would argue that the hoodie-wearing engineers in Silicon Valley aren't getting the job done.
Communication style, too, causes conflicts. "The technology divide is getting wider," said Schawbel. "[Younger people] don't use email; they're texting and using Snapchat, and voice mail's dead."

These issues come to a head in particular when millennials supervise workers 20 years or more their senior. "We're seeing more and more of that, and that's just life," said AARP's Hannon. Boomers lamenting this reality, she added, are just "going to have to get with the program."

*Reverse Mentoring*

To quell these conflicts, some companies have instituted reverse mentoring programs -- pairing up boomers with younger workers who can help guide them in today's technology and communications.

At Pricewaterhouse Coopers, where 80 percent of workers belong to the millennial generation, boomers in the company's Atlanta office can get help with their technology questions through their millennial mentors. "What we've done is taken the stigma away for the boomers, and millennials want to have that interaction with leadership," Donovan said.

Philips, a Dutch lighting company that's a client of WorkplaceTrends.com, uses cross-generational teams of millennials who manage employees nearing retirement. "The millennials are learning from the baby boomers, but the baby boomers are also learning from the millennials," Schawbel said.

 

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Online USA Doctors Brings Healthcare to the Masses with New E-Consults

May 30, 2015, 5:02 am

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Online USA Doctors announces new E-consults, connecting patients with licensed physicians via the power of the internet.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 30, 2015

One of the pervasive problems plaguing the American public is the lack of local healthcare options available. Often, the ruralness of a location can severely inhibit access to adequate healthcare. For those in rural areas feeling the crunch of a strained healthcare system, or those simply without health insurance or tired of paying high premiums and copays, Online USA Doctors announces new E-consults, connecting patients with licensed physicians via the power of the internet.

E-consults are a natural extension of an evolving healthcare system, connecting patients with licensed doctors regardless of physical location, health insurance, or physician availability. Online USA Doctors always has physicians available for consult.

Electronic consultations (E-consults) and telemedicine are promising approaches to the challenge of improving access to specialty care. Telemedicine is the delivery of health services via remote telecommunications and videoconferencing. E-consults are interactive consultative and diagnostic services, where patients have full access to the range of services provided by traditional in-house doctor visits, including new or altered prescriptions for patients. E-consults offer a rapid, direct, and documented communication pathway for consultation between primary care providers and patients. One of the most beneficial aspects of E-consults is their ability to avert the need for a typically much more expensive in-person visit between doctor and patient. As a result, E-consults have the potential to enable cost-effective and convenient care for patients while improving access to, and coordination of, specialty care across the system. As such, they may offer an appealing new modality for rational appropriation of health care services.

In-office doctor consults, or “Curbside” consultations, are common in the primary care setting; however, these informal consultations are limited in that they require traveling to the physical location of the desired physician. But with evolving technology, telemedicine modalities such as email and videoconferencing are overcoming the limitations of such consults. E-consults, like those provided by Online USA Doctors, are asynchronous and do not require data review. E-consults address many of these limitations. E-consults formalize the consultant role, they occur within a secure and dedicated platform, they allow for proper documentation, and provide both provider and patient with a comfortable and reassuring face when videoconferencing are used.

E-consults can provide the potential for improving the quality of medical care including fewer inappropriate clinic visits, fewer avoidable follow-up visits, and an increase in necessary follow-up visits with e-consult-based versus paper-based referrals. Utilizing telemedicine also has advantages for patients. Videoconferencing is very convenient both in terms of reducing travel time and more prompt scheduling. Compared to the cost of an office visit or trip to an urgent care or emergency facility, expense for a telemedicine consult is dramatically lower.

E-consults are available through Online USA Doctors, a company dedicated to bringing medicine and traditional healthcare into the twenty-first century. An E-consult with Online USA Doctors goes beyond the use of an online symptom checker, an informational website with generic medical information, or an online doctor available to respond to very general questions about health conditions. Online USA Doctors’ E-consults are real doctor/patients visits performed online using the advantages of technology to provide convenient medical care.    

Online USA Doctors Contact Information:

Online USA Doctors
888 315 9647
Info(at)OnlineUSADoctors(dot)com

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From the projects to a $2.3 billion fortune — the inspiring rags-to-riches story of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

May 30, 2015, 6:37 am

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Growing up in New York City housing projects, Howard Schultz says he never dreamed of going into business.

Schultz certainly never imagined he'd one day run a global coffee chain and have a net worth estimated at $2.3 billion, according to Wealth-X.

The chairman and CEO of Starbucks writes in his book "Pour Your Heart Into It" that he was raised in a working-class Jewish family in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

While his mother Elaine tended to him and his siblings full-time (she later became a receptionist), his father Fred held a series of blue-collar positions, including truck driver, factory worker, and cab driver.

In 1961, when Schultz was 7 years old, his father broke his ankle while working as a truck driver picking up and delivering diapers. At the time, Fred had no health insurance or worker's compensation, and the family was left with no income.

Today, Schultz writes, he still remembers the way his father looked laying on the couch with his leg in a cast. In a way, his tremendous professional success is a tribute to his father, who died years later and "never attained fulfillment and dignity from work he found meaningful."

Almost from the outset, Schultz's career path was different from his parents. In high school, he played football and earned an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University, becoming the first college graduate in his family.

After graduation, Schultz landed a job in the sales training program at Xerox, where he got experience cold-calling and pitching word processors. In a few years, he took a job at Hammarplast, a housewares business owned by a Swedish company called Perstorp. There Schultz ascended the ranks to vice president and general manager, leading a team of salespeople.

Despite his seeming success, Schultz writes that he was "getting antsy. It may be a weakness in me: I'm always wondering what I'll do next."

Or perhaps it was because he hadn't yet found what he would discover in Starbucks: "what it means when your work truly captures your heart and your imagination."

Schultz first encountered Starbucks when he was working at Hammarplast. The coffee shop had four stores in Seattle and caught his attention when it ordered an unusually large number of drip coffeemakers.

Intrigued, Schultz traveled to Seattle to meet the company's then owners, Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. He was struck by the partners' passion and their courage in selling a product that would appeal only to a small niche of gourmet coffee enthusiasts.

Joining Starbucks would mean moving across the country and taking a significant pay cut, but Schultz was certain it would be the right move for him. It took a year to persuade Baldwin to hire him as the director of marketing.

Schultz's career — and Starbucks's fate — changed forever when the company sent him to an international housewares show in Milan. While walking around the city, he encountered several espresso bars where owners knew their customers by name and served them drinks like cappuccinos and cafe lattes.

"It was like an epiphany," Schultz writes of the moment he understood the personal relationship that people could have to coffee. He was convinced that Starbucks should start serving espresso drinks the Italian way — that Starbucks should be an experience, and not just a store. 

Baldwin and Bowker, however, felt differently. In 1985 Schultz decided to leave Starbucks to start his own coffee company: Il Giornale (Italian for "the daily").

He spent two years away from Starbucks, wholly focused on opening Il Giornale stores that replicated the coffee culture he'd seen in Italy. It caught on quickly. In 1987, Il Giornale bought Starbucks, and Schultz became CEO of Starbucks Corporation.Throughout his career at Starbucks, Schultz's first priority has been his employees' well-being, he says. Largely because of his father's experience when he was injured, Schultz offered all his employees (including part-time workers) complete healthcare coverage as well as stock options. Last year, Starbucks announced it would pay for employees' college tuition.

Schultz has also been committed to maintaining the quality of his product. In 2008, when Starbucks was struggling financially, he temporarily closed 7,100 US stores in order to retrain baristas on how to make the perfect espresso. Over the next two years, he led Starbucks' massive turnaround.

Today, there are more than 21,000 Starbucks stores in 65 countries, and the company is valued at $77 billion.Although it's been years since he was a college football player, Schultz writes that he still identifies with the persona of the blue-collar athlete whose determination and perseverance more than compensate for his lack of training.

"I've always been driven and hungry," Schultz says. "Long after others have stopped to rest and recover, I'm still running, chasing after something nobody else could ever see."

*SEE ALSO: From welfare to one of the world's wealthiest women — the incredible rags-to-riches story of J.K. Rowling*

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NOW WATCH: Scientists figured out how to avoid making a bad first impression Reported by Business Insider 20 hours ago.

Leading Health Insurers in These 4 States Just Proposed 25% to 52% Premium Price Hikes

May 30, 2015, 6:22 am

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Premium increases in 2015 were generally mild, but the kickoff of health insurance premium rate proposals for 2016 started off with a bang in these four states. Reported by Motley Fool 21 hours ago.

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ObamaCare will require insurers to file proposed rate increases

May 30, 2015, 10:59 pm

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As May comes to a close and summer officially gets under way, it’s time again for your health-insurance carrier to make you hot under the collar by notifying you of... Reported by NY Post 4 hours ago.

Insurance Agent Jim Liufau Helps Ensure the Safety of International Students

May 31, 2015, 1:08 am

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Jim Liufau (jimliufau.com) marks one year anniversary with Others of Destin, helping international students assimilate.

Destin, FL (PRWEB) May 31, 2015

State Farm agent, Jim Liufau, is celebrating his first anniversary working with Others of Destin, Inc., which was formed in 2014 to help students that are in the United States on the J-1 program. The J-1 Visa is given to individuals approved to participate in work- and study-based exchange visitor programs.

“The Destin United Methodist Church (DUMC) formed the organization in an effort to help J-1 students that are in this country, in response to the many different ways they are mistreated and to help with assimilation,” said Jim. “Common concerns the church tries to assist with include, crowded accommodations, employment, money management, health issues, language, cultural differences, homesickness and transportation.”

One such incident occurred last year when J-1 Visa holder Galina Bumbalova passed away after an accident. Galina was riding her bike to work and was struck by a car and killed on impact. “I’d like to think that if she had proper transportation and safety gear this tragedy could have been avoided,” said Jim. Since then, the DUMC has hosted dinners, provided food-filled backpacks and donated hundreds of bikes, helmets and locks. They also provided employer, host family and sponsor mediation.

The DUMC will be hosting a free dinner for international students every Wednesday through August that starts at 6:30 p.m. On June 24 at 8 p.m., the church will also be hosting a “Southern Style Snack Dinner” to welcome its international guests. For more information, please contact Cynthia Wilson at cynthia(dot)wilson(at)cox(dot)net or (850) 543-6339.

About Jim Liufau, State Farm
The Jim Liufau State Farm Insurance Agency offers auto, home and property, life and health insurance, as well as banking products, annuities and mutual funds. Jim is the former president of the Destin Chamber of Commerce and was the Destin Business Person of the Year in 1990. For more information, please call (850) 837-1329.

About NALA™
The NALA offers local business owners new online advertising & small business marketing tools, great business benefits, education and money-saving programs, as well as a charity program.

PR Contact:
news(at)thenala(dot)com
805.650.6121, ext. 361 Reported by PRWeb 2 hours ago.

Advanced Medical Reviews' is attending the 2015 AHIP Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3-5.

June 1, 2015, 12:02 am

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Visit Advanced Medical Reviews' (AMR) booth No. 1212 during the upcoming 2015 American Health Insurance Plans Institute taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3-5.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 01, 2015

Visit Advanced Medical Reviews' (AMR) booth No. 1212 during the upcoming 2015 American Health Insurance Plans Institute taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3-5. Taking place in the Music City, also one of the nation's leading medical hubs, the AHIP Institute provides opportunities for professional networking, learning about industry advancements and fostering a conversation about creating a brighter future for patients and providers. AMR is excited to meet with 4,000 other health care professionals to discuss advancements in patient care.

The AHIP Institute is the largest and most respected health insurance conference, according to the organization's website. The institute brings together a number of industry experts including managers and executives, as well as innovative voices in health insurance. The 2015 conference includes speeches by a wide range of health care leaders and stakeholders, as well as former President Bill Clinton, who will be giving the keynote address. AHIP Institute offers a great opportunity to stop by AMR's booth to talk about IRO trends and to learn more about what we do- medical case reviews, pharmacy benefit reviews, and utilization management reviews.

This will be AMR’s first year exhibiting at AHIP. According to AMR’s CEO Vince Bianco, “We felt it was important for us to be at AHIP this year as we have many large health insurance clients and we are well known in the health insurance industry. As a company who is leading the way in innovation within the IRO industry we look forward to collaborating with the top leadership in the industry to improve our services and our commitment to quality patient care."

AMR can be found in the 1200 aisle in the exhibition hall's southeast region at booth No. 1212. We're located right between the Doctor on Demand and Silverlink booths, only an aisle away from one of the main stages. AMR is a leading provider of IRO and UM reviews, is an active member of the National Association of Independent Review Organizations and is accredited by the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission. Using unmatched technology and a network of health care specialists, AMR provides independent medical reviews that benefit patients, private practices, insurance companies, hospitals and other health care facilities.

About Advanced Medical Reviews
At Advanced Medical Reviews (AMR) we believe that every patient deserves quality healthcare. AMR delivers services to a diverse group of healthcare and legal organizations, including: health plans, managed care groups, workers compensation and disability clients, PBMs, TPAs, IPAs, Medical Groups, MSO, Medicare and Medicaid Teams, hospitals and government entities. Our commitment is to provide our clients with a fully integrated, compliant and cost effective service emphasizing continuous quality improvement, innovation and client satisfaction. Need more information? Find us at http://www.admere.com - Follow us on twitter @Amr_reviews -Connect with us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/advanced-medical-reviews Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.

Rajan Sambandam, CRO from TRC Market Research Will Teach Marketing Research Course at Columbia University This Summer 2015 From Which Many Start-up Companies Benefit.

June 1, 2015, 12:02 am

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Rajan Sambandam, Chief Research Officer from TRC Market Research, will teach at Columbia University this Summer Semester as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Marketing. He will teach a marketing research course from which many start-up companies benefited in the past.

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) June 01, 2015

Rajan Sambandam is Chief Research Officer at TRC Market Research, a firm near Philadelphia specializing in conjoint analysis and new product research. This upcoming summer semester, Rajan will continue to teach a Marketing Research course to MBA students at the Columbia University Business School as Adjunct Associate Professor of Marketing.

Rajan has two decades of experience in the market research industry across several fields including telecommunications, packaged goods, health insurance and healthcare, financial services, technology, business-to-business, and utilities. He brings invaluable knowledge, insights and his desire to innovate when solving client problems. He is especially focused on bridging the gap between academic ingenuity and practical business concerns through a variety of means such as lectures, conferences and one-on-one collaborative efforts. Recently, he had served as a Knowledge Partner to the Yale Center of Customer Insights.

The primary focus of the Marketing Research course this summer is to provide business school students with tools to undertake and critically evaluate market research projects. The course will emphasize fundamentals of research design, marketing analytics and practical considerations. Rajan Sambandam employs a hands-on approach to explore both qualitative and quantitative marketing research tools, including the use of SPSS for data analysis. During the summer semester, student groups complete an entire marketing research project, using its results to make recommendations to a real company. Many start-up companies have benefited from the research projects conducted by class students as part of their project work requirements.

About TRC Market Research, a new product development research firm
TRC Market Research is a new product research and analytics firm that pairs customized solutions with senior-level attention to help solve business problems. TRC provides expertise in designing and implementing successful brand research, pricing research, business to business market research, market segmentation and satisfaction and loyalty research.

Philadelphia-based TRC Market Research is affiliated with CASRO, ESOMAR and the American Marketing Association. Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.

Harvey Building Products to Participate in 7th Annual Employee Wellbeing Month

June 1, 2015, 12:02 am

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Harvey Joins Leading Organizations Worldwide to Support Employee Wellbeing and Creating Healthy, Productive Workplaces and Cultures

Waltham, Mass. (PRWEB) June 01, 2015

Harvey Building Products announced today it has pledged support for, and will participate in, Employee Wellbeing Month, taking place throughout June 2015. This initiative, originally known as National Employee Wellness Month and now in its seventh year, helps business leaders across the world learn new ways to engage employees in healthy habits and lifestyles while celebrating their successes. Hundreds of companies around the world and thousands of employees have pledged their support for this important initiative.

Company culture plays a critical role in employee health and wellbeing, driving productivity and helping organizations improve their bottom lines. Employee Wellbeing Month will promote and celebrate workplaces like Harvey Building Products that are taking steps to encourage employees to create and sustain healthy habits that produce long-lasting results.

During the month, companies like Harvey will actively promote and showcase how company culture can improve employees’ wellbeing, engagement and productivity. Harvey’s Healthy Choices, Healthy Lives wellness program was introduced to employees in 2011 and has included wellness motivators such as a fitness tracking program, health club and fitness reimbursements, smoking cessation reimbursement and a newly instituted tobacco-free premium differential for health insurance. They are looking forward to re-energizing employees during Employee Wellbeing Month in a variety of ways.

“When we decided to implement a wellness program for our employees, we knew it had to be comprehensive and diverse to address the many different facets of our employees’ lives,” said Harvey Building Products' President, Jim Barreira. “In addition to the more popular programs like activity tracking and smoking cessation, we also provide financial education workshops and have an employee assistance program to address other stressful work-life balance challenges that our employees might face. With less stress and more healthy habits, our employees are happier and more focused on their jobs. Everyone becomes more productive and it’s a true win-win”.

Find more information and resources about workplace wellbeing, as well as suggested ideas to celebrate Employee Wellbeing Month at http://www.employeewellbeing.com.    

About Harvey Building Products
Serving professional contractors and builders since 1961, Harvey Building Products fabricates its own lines of windows, doors, and PVC millwork in the United States. Harvey is the premier distributor of quality building supplies in the Northeast. Items manufactured and distributed by Harvey – including major lines of roofing, siding, building envelope and decking – are used in residential and light commercial buildings across the region. Learn more at http://www.harveybp.com Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.