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Employer-based health insurance rates in N.C. level off slightly in 2015

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Health insurance premiums increased slightly less than 6 percent for employer-based renewal plans this year. That’s actually a lower rate of increase than in recent years, according to the 2015 North Carolina Healthcare Benefits and Cost survey conducted by Raleigh human resource management firm CAI. “The good news is that it doesn’t look like premiums are increasing by huge numbers,” says Molly Hegeman, CAI vice president for HR Services. “Which is certainly positive news for both an… Reported by bizjournals 5 hours ago.

Here's How a New Social Contract Can Empower the Individual Under Globalization

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ISTANBUL -- Nowadays, with the global economy undergoing fundamental transformation, workers worldwide are coming under significant pressure. Particularly in developed economies, social policies must adjust to provide the support that lower income groups need, while encouraging growth and advancing wellbeing.

The pressure has been unrelenting and inescapable. In the United States, real (inflation-adjusted) compensation for men with only a high school diploma fell by 21 percent from 1979 to 2013. In much of Europe, which provides stronger wage protection, unemployment has soared, especially since the euro crisis began in 2008. Germany and some Northern European countries remain an exception, although the German labor market contains a large low wage, mini-jobs segment.

Driving these trends is the changing nature of work. For starters, services have been gaining ground worldwide, especially in developed economies. From 1970 to 2012, the GDP share of services in the OECD countries increased from 53 percent to 71 percent.

New technology and "intelligent" machines are not only displacing many types of workers in both the manufacturing and services sectors; they are also facilitating the rise of new business models, in which individuals perform (mostly low-paid service) jobs within loose networks, instead of as dedicated employees of structured organizations.

For example, the ride-sharing service Uber now has 162,000 active drivers in the U.S. alone and is displacing traditional taxi services. The startup Handy hopes that its app achieves similar success in connecting customers to independent contractors providing various household services. As technology races ahead and value chains become globalized, workers must adapt, whether by changing jobs, relocating or acquiring new skills -- a challenge that is particularly burdensome for older workers, but demands a new approach to life planning for all.

Some people -- especially those who acquired valued and flexible skills early in life, as well as those who are already in strong positions because of inherited wealth -- can flourish in this new economy. Millions of others, however, are ill-prepared for the new age. And it is their growing anxiety that is fueling the rise of identity politics, with populist leaders and movements appealing to ethnic or religious solidarity in the face of the impersonal forces of change.

Center-left parties face a particularly difficult challenge, as their lower-income electoral base is lured away by anti-immigration, chauvinist competitors. Making matters worse, the fragmentation of production (whether in goods or services), together with intensifying fiscal pressures, militates against these parties' traditional reliance on collective bargaining to create systems and policies that insure citizens against shocks and misfortune.

The right-wing response to this challenge -- essentially to dismantle the welfare state -- would leave the majority of citizens exposed to economic shocks and structural shifts (merely reinforcing their sense of isolation and vulnerability). The progressive response, by contrast, must entail strong social policies -- including both insurance and protection -- compatible with new technologies and types of work. Concretely, this means that, instead of generalized social protection, each citizen would have a lifelong individual budget of support and security, while requiring that eligible recipients show initiative in determining how to adapt.

The main difference between the progressive vision of a society underpinned by these "citizen accounts" and the conservative idea that individual citizens should create personal retirement accounts, take out student loans or cover their own health insurance is the public sector's role. Not only would the public sector take primary responsibility for financing social protection; public policy would also frame cooperation among government, employers and recipients to eliminate duplication and bolster effectiveness and fairness.

For example, a lifelong "family account" would enable paid maternity and paternity leave, provide child care support and allow time away from work to care for the sick or elderly. It would combine some general rules with income-adjusted financial contributions by the state, employers and individuals. A "learning account" would set the parameters for educational support, including lifelong opportunities to acquire new skills and to teach skills to others.

Basic forms of such a scheme already exist in many countries. Norway offers 49 weeks of parental leave with full pay, or 59 weeks with 80 percent pay. Both parents must use at least 10 percent of this budget, but they can also roll part of it over to use when their children start school (and again benefit greatly from parental support). Of course, few countries are as wealthy as Norway; but the principle -- including support for elder care -- can be applied to 30-, 40- or 50-week periods.

France, too, is now moving in this direction, creating "individual activity accounts" that aim to streamline its social policies, without sacrificing its sense of national solidarity.

To be sure, this approach will not magically resolve all of the challenges countries currently face. Fiscal constraints will remain, as governments continue to fund public goods. Adequate taxation of high-income individuals and high-profit companies, together with strong and sustained efforts to reduce tax avoidance, will become even more vital to defend the revenue base. And unions will still be needed to defend their members' interests.

Nonetheless, a new social contract is needed to account for the increasingly important role that individual preferences, and individual responsibility, play in today's world. Each citizen should feel empowered, not isolated and abandoned, in the face of globalization and technological transformation.

With this approach, social democracy can again drive progress, instead of being stifled by identity politics and market fundamentalism. That would serve not only the cause of social justice, but also the goal of sustaining the skilled, happy, and healthy workforce that a successful economy requires.

© Project Syndicate-- 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 5 hours ago.

Anthem surges on Cigna takeover report

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U.S. health insurance sector said to be ripe for consolidation

 
 
 
 
 
 
  Reported by USATODAY.com 4 hours ago.

Anthem, other health insurers are eyeing potential consolidation

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Another consolidation wave may be coming to the health insurance industry with Anthem Inc. playing a major role. Reported by L.A. Times 4 hours ago.

Anthem, other health insurers are eyeing consolidation

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Another consolidation wave may be coming to the health insurance industry with Anthem Inc. playing a major role. Reported by L.A. Times 4 hours ago.

WSJ report: Anthem makes takeover bid for Cigna

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Talk of consolidation in the health insurance industry is intensifying. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., which has operations in Louisville, has approached Connecticut-based Cigna Corp. about a takeover. Both of these companies are competitors of Louisville-based Humana Inc., which itself has been the subject of acquisition rumors. The WSJ story, which cites anonymous sources "familiar with the matter," said the two companies have been in discussions for… Reported by bizjournals 3 hours ago.

STOCKS TUMBLE: Here's what you need to know (SPY, DJI, IXIC, TGT, CVS, BABA, CI, ANTM, GS, AIG, ITB)

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STOCKS TUMBLE: Here's what you need to know (SPY, DJI, IXIC, TGT, CVS, BABA, CI, ANTM, GS, AIG, ITB) Stocks fell for a second straight session. Greece's talks with its creditors stalled again over the weekend, and economic data started the week on a lukewarm note.

First, the scoreboard:

· *Dow:* 17,773.92, -124.92, (-0.70%)
· *S&P 500:* 2,081.89, -12.22, (-0.58%)
· *Nasdaq:* 5,023.90, -27.20, (-0.54%)

And now, the top stories on Monday:

1. Economic data out today was mixed. Industrial production fell 0.2%, missing forecasts for a 0.2% gain. The April print was revised lower to -0.5% from -0.3%. Capacity utilization fell to 78.1% from 78.2%, versus the forecast for 78.3%. The index on mining fell 0.3%, a slower pace from the previous month due to a moderation in the pace of decline in the index for oil and gas drilling. PNC senior economist Gus Faucher summed up the data in an email: "Auto sales were very strong for the month. But lackluster results in other areas held back production. The stronger dollar is a drag, as it makes exports from the US more expensive and imports to the US less expensive. And energy production continues to decline." 
2. The biggest miss was from the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which came in at -2, versus expectations for a reading of 6. The new orders index fell -2.1, and an index measuring expectations for future business conditions fell for a second straight month. In a client note, Barclays economists wrote that the data "implies further headwinds for regional manufacturing, and we look ahead to Thursday’s release of the Philly Fed index for more clarity on this trend."
3. Homebuilder sentiment beat estimates and rose to a nine-month high. The housing market index from the National Association of Homebuilders came in at 59 (versus 56 expected.) Present single-family sales, and sales expected in the next six months also jumped to the highest levels in at least a year.
4. CVS is buying Target's pharmacy business for $1.9 billion. The drugstore operator will acquire over 1,660 Target pharmacies in 47 states to boost its sales. 
5. Alibaba is launching a streaming video subscription service called TMall Box Office in China. "Our goal is to become like HBO in the United States, to become like Netflix in the United States," said Patrick Liu, head of Alibaba's digital entertainment business. Netflix shares fell as much as 2%.
6. Cigna shares surged more than 14% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Anthem has approached the health insurance company for a merger. The companies have reportedly been in talks for several months. Anthem is offering $175 a share in its second offer. If it comes through, the deal would be the latest of several deals in the healthcare insurance industry that we've seen this year as companies seek to lower costs.
7. Goldman Sachs wants to lend you money. The investment banking firm is looking to offer loans online to consumers and small businesses to get a piece of the $850 million-market, according to the New York Times. Goldman has hired Harit Talwar, the former CMO at Discover Financial Services, as a partner. Goldman will be taking on a bigger pool of competitors like Lending Club and On Deck. 
8. A federal judge ruled that the terms of the government bailout to insurance giant AIG were illegally harsh. But no damages were awarded to Starr International, the company chaired by Hank Greenberg that was one of AIG's largest shareholders in 2008; Greenberg is also a former AIG CEO. Greenberg had sued the Federal Reserve, arguing that it didn't have the right to take 79.9% 0f AIG's equity as a condition for a bailout.

*DON'T MISS: What one of Wall Street's top bulls thinks about the market »*

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 words to eliminate from your vocabulary to sound smarter Reported by Business Insider 2 hours ago.

Hospital Group Says Illinois Could Lease Healthcare.gov

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A hospital group in cash-strapped Illinois says the state might be able to set up a health insurance exchange at a lower cost by leasing the federal government's technology. Reported by Newsmax 2 hours ago.

Hospital group says Illinois could lease Healthcare.gov

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CHICAGO (AP) — A hospital group in cash-strapped Illinois says the state might be able to set up a health insurance exchange at a lower cost by "leasing" the federal government's technology. Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 hours ago.

Anthem makes $45bn offer for rival Cigna

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Health insurance industry consolidation spurred by Obamacare Reported by FT.com 44 minutes ago.

Anthem Makes Bid for Rival Cigna as Insurers Talk Deals

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Anthem has made a takeover approach to Cigna, according to people familiar with the matter, as a consolidation wave in the health-insurance industry intensifies. Reported by Wall Street Journal 26 minutes ago.

3 states get feds' OK to run health insurance marketplaces

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(AP) — The Obama administration is giving conditional approval to Arkansas, Delaware and Pennsylvania to run state-based insurance marketplaces created under the 2010 health care law. [...] plaintiffs in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court say the Obama administration is unlawfully providing subsidies to millions who buy insurance through those marketplaces. Reported by SeattlePI.com 11 minutes ago.

Americans Aren't Paying Attention To That Huge Obamacare Supreme Court Case

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The Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling in a major Affordable Care Act case that could force millions off their health insurance this June. But if you're like most Americans, you're pretty much clueless about it.

That's right: More than seven in 10 people have heard "nothing at all" or "only a little" about King v. Burwell, a lawsuit brought by conservative and libertarian activists that seeks to eliminate Obamacare's health insurance subsidies for 6.4 million people in 34 states, according to survey results published Tuesday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The share of Americans saying they'd heard nothing -- 44 percent -- about this latest challenge to Obamacare's survival outnumber those who have heard "a lot" or at least "something" by almost two to one.

Although some of those millions who use these tax credit subsidies to purchase insurance are paying closer attention, the survey findings suggest the disappearance of that financial assistance, and the damaging effects that would cause to the health insurance market, will catch Americans by surprise if the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs when it issues its decision later this month.

At issue is a brief phrase contained in the Affordable Care Act -- "exchange established by the state" -- that the plaintiffs contend limits subsidies to health insurance exchange marketplaces set up by states like California, Idaho and New York, not the federally operated exchanges in most of the states, including Florida and Texas. The Obama administration maintains the statute provides for subsidies in every state, regardless what governmental entity built the exchanges.

A decision for the plaintiffs would take away subsidies from more than 6 million low- and moderate-income beneficiaries, making their coverage unaffordable and causing most of them to be uninsured. Experts also expect that those with the greatest medical needs -- who are the costliest to insure -- would be more likely to seek to retain their policies. That would drive up expenses for insurers, forcing them to raise rates on their remaining customers, which in turn would cause more healthy people to exit the market.

Awareness of the Obamacare lawsuit is slightly higher than it was three months ago, but remains low. That's despite massive news coverage of the oral arguments about the lawsuit in March, and political jockeying by President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress as the ruling nears and the the need rises for a solution to the problems that a decision against the subsidies would bring.

Last Monday, Obama said the high court shouldn't have taken up the case in the first place, and the next day gave a speech labeling those who want to see Obamacare's expansion of health insurance coverage to millions of people rolled back as "cynical."

On Capitol Hill, Republicans have rejected Obama's call for a straightforward fix that would restore the subsidies -- and remain divided amongst themselves about whether to do anything at all for those who would lose their subsidies. And the leading GOP proposals so far all would unwind the Affordable Care Act itself, an approach Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell plainly told Congress last Wednesday Obama wouldn't support.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, the public wants Congress or state governments to essentially undo a Supreme Court ruling that eliminates health insurance subsidies -- which for now puts a majority on Obama's side in a potential dispute with Congress and Republican state officials. The foundation surveyed 1,200 adults from June 2 to June 9.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said Congress should simply give the subsidies back. Views on what Congress should do fall on predictable partisan lines: Eight in 10 Democrats and two-thirds of independents favor this action -- but so do almost four in 10 Republicans. And 55 percent of people who live in locales with federal health insurance exchanges want their home states to create their own marketplaces to keep the subsidies flowing.

Most Americans would want subsidies restored even though less than half of the public says it even supports the Affordable Care Act, the survey shows. Just 39 percent of respondents view the law favorably, compared to 42 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of it.
-- 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 16 hours ago.

Most Americans want Congress to ensure Obamacare subsidies: poll

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(Reuters) - A majority of Americans say Congress should make sure Obamacare subsidies to buy health insurance are available nationwide if the Supreme Court rules that the payments in at least 34 states are illegal, according to a poll released on Tuesday. Reported by Reuters 16 hours ago.

Most Americans — but few Republicans — want Congress to protect Obamacare subsidies

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A majority of Americans say Congress should make sure Obamacare subsidies to buy health insurance are available nationwide if the Supreme Court rules that the payments in at least 34 states are illegal, according to a poll released on Tuesday. The Kaiser Family Foundation poll surveyed 1,200 people ... Reported by Raw Story 12 hours ago.

Young adults find health insurance enrollment on HealthCare.gov challenging, according to study

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When trying to enroll in a health insurance plan through HealthCare.gov during the first open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance marketplaces, young adults were confused by unfamiliar health insurance terms, concerned about the affordability of plan options, and unsure how to seek good primary care. Those findings were among the results of a study that followed a group of well-educated young adults as they shopped for health insurance on HealthCare.gov. Reported by Science Daily 9 hours ago.

hCentive Appoints Senior Vice President of Marketing

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RESTON, Va., June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- hCentive, the leader in health insurance exchange solutions has appointed VJ Bala as Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing, reporting to Sanjay Singh, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. As head of marketing and member of the... Reported by PR Newswire 11 hours ago.

Report: Anthem makes takeover bid for Cigna

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Talk of consolidation in the health insurance industry is intensifying. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM), which has operations in the Dayton region, has approached Connecticut-based Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) about a takeover. The WSJ story, which cites anonymous sources "familiar with the matter," said the two companies have been in discussions for months. Within the past 10 days, according to the report, Anthem has made two takeover bids, the… Reported by bizjournals 10 hours ago.

I'm a Teacher, and I Do Whatever It Takes to Make the Hunger Go Away

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I am a teacher. Here's a typical day for me:

Every day I get up at 5:30 AM to get ready for work. Caffeine is my first friend of the day. If I have not had the money to go grocery shopping within the past month, I pop a couple of Sudafed pills to both curb my appetite and give me the energy to get through my day.

I drop off my daughter at 7:00 AM, an hour before school starts, in a deal I have made with her principal, and often she is the first person at her school. She must wait outside no matter what the weather or temperature is, until an adult comes and unlocks the door. She often knows better than to ask for breakfast, and she holds her own hunger inside until she either gets a lunch or sneaks off to the nurse to get a snack in another deal I have made with the school. I don't let myself feel hungry, and coffee, if it is available, helps me put those feelings in the back of my mind.

My daughter worries when I don't eat, but I can't eat often. I look at food in the fridge and put it back, wanting her to eat first. She often does the same, I noticed. We don't eat out, but sometimes we share a sandwich at Subway because it is still cheaper than buying all the ingredients to make a meal. We eat a lot of potatoes and cheap noodles. We never eat meat, which has turned me into a vegetarian. I can't afford to buy a lunch at the school where I work, so I eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches during the school year. I make too much money for food assistance, so I subsidize my budget with occasional trips to the food pantry, but never in my own community, and I never let my daughter know. I do whatever it takes to make the hunger go away. It's true that it gets easier to live with hunger over time; I know because I have been doing it for quite a few years now.

It's hard to be 13 and the daughter of a teacher -- really hard. We don't go on vacations, we don't take driving trips, and we often ride our bikes to save gas money. My daughter loves to figure skate, and she has the talent for it, but she only skates when there is free ice time. Skating is her release and her opportunity to forget about everything else.

We shop at dollar stores and discount places. We shop at thrift stores for clothes, but even this is a great luxury. We don't ever buy clothes new. Most of my daughter's clothes (and they are not fancy) were bought by her grandmother. She was very happy when I bought her new tights for $5 from Walgreens for Christmas. And this year, thankfully, a dollar store had warm fuzzy pants, also for $5, that she was thrilled to get as a present. These are luxury items for us, just as much as an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen is.

We have health insurance, sort of. In my district, insuring the two of us would cost $800 a month for health insurance, so I use the ACA health care exchange for my daughter. It still costs me $311 a month for her insurance with my subsidy, which is more than my car payment and nearly half my rent. Needless to say, going to the doctor is a luxury. I had an ear infection for three months, and my daughter often doesn't tell me when she is in a lot of pain either, knowing that the co-pays will mean less money for food for ourselves or her cats and our dogs. An accident that required stitches left us $1,500 in debt after the insurance was paid, and I continue to chip away at that bill $50 at a time.

I have bone-crushing student loan debt. It keeps me awake at night, and although I'm very grateful for the recent programs that have been made available, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, I also feel like I am completely stuck as a result. I must work as a teacher to get loan forgiveness, but I don't make enough to make basic ends meet. I am required by law to pay for my own pension (9.8% of my salary), but because I still have to pay my student loans, I can't save any additional money for anything else.

I once spent $5 on lottery tickets out of desperation, despite knowing as a math teacher that the probability of winning was essentially zero. But I still teach, hoping that it gets better for me, for my students, and for my own kid who falls into that strange not-rich, not-poor-enough no man's land. There is no middle class that we fit into.

-- 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.

OneNeck IT Solutions Announces Completion of HIPAA and HITECH Examination

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OneNeck® IT Solutions, a hybrid IT services provider of colocation services, cloud computing and managed services announces the company has successfully completed the HIPAA and HITECH examination.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (PRWEB) June 16, 2015

OneNeck® IT Solutions, a hybrid IT services provider of colocation services, cloud computing and managed services announces the company has successfully completed the HIPAA and HITECH examination.

The examination included review of OneNeck’s adoption of the essential elements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule of 2003 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). As part of the examination, the security program OneNeck has in place for colocation services and related controls were examined. The overall results determined that OneNeck’s information security program has adopted the critical components of the program, including:· Administrative safeguards
· Physical safeguards
· Technical safeguards
· Breach notification

The scope of the examination included the colocation services at OneNeck’s data centers in Eden Prairie, Minn.; Fitchburg, Wis.; Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz.; and Waukee, Iowa.

“Successfully completing the HIPAA and HITECH examination shows our commitment to protecting our customers and ensuring that their patient data is both protected and remains private,” said Clint Harder, CTO and senior vice president of Cloud and Managed Services at OneNeck. “Our healthcare customers expect us to mitigate any security vulnerabilities. We are committed to putting forth the controls necessary to assure our customers that their patient’s confidentiality is being fully protected.”

The examination was performed by BrightLine CPAs & Associates, Inc., an independent Certified Public Accounting firm that provides assurance and compliance services to global companies. Following completion of the examination, BrightLine issued an opinion confirming that OneNeck’s description of its information security program was fairly presented and that the program has adopted essential elements of the HIPAA Security Rule and HITECH requirements.

Completion of the HIPAA and HITECH examination follows announcements by OneNeck that they have also completed PCI Data Security Standard validation, ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification and Type 2 SSAE 16 (SOC 1) examination.

OneNeck IT Solutions offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including: cloud and hosting, ReliaCloud® enterprise cloud services, managed services, ERP application management, professional services and IT hardware. The company also operates more than 200,000 square feet of data center space with Tier 3 data centers in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Oregon, and will soon be opening a newly constructed facility in Colorado. Visit oneneck.com for more details.

# # #

About OneNeck IT Solutions:
OneNeck® IT Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, employs approximately 630 people throughout the U.S. The company offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, ReliaCloud® enterprise cloud services, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, and IT hardware. OneNeck has Tier 3 data centers in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Oregon and opening in July 2015 in Denver, Colorado. Visit oneneck.com for more information.

TDS Telecommunications Corp., headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, TDS Baja Broadband LLC, and BendBroadband. Combined, the company employs 3,300 people. Visit tdstelecom.com.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS] a Fortune 1000TM company, provides wireless; wireline and cable broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately six million customers nationwide through its business units, U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecommunications, OneNeck IT Solutions and BendBroadband. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employs 10,600 people. Visit tdsinc.com. Reported by PRWeb 10 hours ago.
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