Health Reform and Long Term Care Health Insurance Changes

Have You Heard of The CLASS Act?

The CLASS act is not an old movie or a book about rules for good behavior. Instead it is a provision of health reform, that is voluntary, and may help some families make nursing care more affordable.

CLASS stands for Community Living Assistance Services and Supports. It is a pat of the new health reform bill. It was passed by the US Senate and House of Representatives. Workers will be enrolled in this program, but may choose to decline it at any time according to the wording in the bill.

What Does the CLASS Act Do?

It is a voluntary program. Employers will be required to deduct premiums, but employees can opt out of this program if they choose to. Premiums have not been determined yet. It is believed they will be lower tor people with low incomes, but.that average workers can expect to pay about $120 a month If people under the program become disabled, it will pay about $50 a day for nursing care. Note that these people do not have to be over 65 years old. The nursing care could be from a nursing home, but it could also be in-home care, such as a home health aide, adult day care or assisted living. So it pays for nursing homes or alternatives. The plan premiums are set to be adjusted at a rate that will keep it solvent without any federal funds. The CLASS act is NOT A TAX. It is voluntary.

Will This Health Reform Measure Help?

There is no doubt that nursing care is expensive, and that most of us faced a high chance of needing long term care at some point in our lives. A nursing home can cost well over $100 a day so this new bill is just part of the picture. It would help, but not totally keep us from needing to rely upon other assets, long term care insurance or government aid.

Is There Already Government Help To Pay For Nursing Care?

Note that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors and disabled people, does not pay for long term nursing care today. It only pays for short term stays. Medicaid, the federal heath insurance for the poor, only starts to pay after a person has almost exhausted their other assets.

Many people confuse Medicare and Medicaid. They do have similar names, but are very different programs. Some people are on both Medicare and Medicaid, but they are on them for different reasons. Medicare is for seniors and disabled people. Medicaid is for people with low assets and incomes.

What About Private Long Term Care Insurance Policies?

Again, even if a worker opts into the health reform plan, they cannot rely on $50 a day to fully pay for nursing home care. In fact, it may pay 30 - 50 percent of it. The other $50 - $100 a day would have to come from another source. This could be a private or group nursing home insurance policy, assets, or Medicaid.

This part of the plan has not been implemented yet. I also understand that there will be a waiting period, so nobody can sign up for the plan a few days before they need it. The benefits of this part of health reform are not going to affect us in the next few years, but may help younger people with their retirement planning.

Concrete Polishing Makes Old Floors New Again

New York is a historic city filled with magnificent old buildings with aging interiors. Many interior designers are delighted to work on the walls and ceilings, but until recently concrete floors offered a challenge. Often they could either cover them up or leave a dull looking surface. Today's new concrete polishing techniques and floor treatments offer many possibilities and almost infinite design choices.

Designers are often confronted with old cement floors which may be uneven, cracked, marred, and damaged. Interior features such as floor vents, drains, and door jams add extra challenges. Although the untrained eye may see an old concrete floor as a problem, today's resurfacing wizards see them as exciting canvases which they can transform into beautiful surfaces.

First, chips, holes and cracks need to be repaired. Since every concrete floor is different and aggregate material used over the past decades greatly vary, the finished product will always be different. If the surface is uneven or height issues present problems around doorways and entrances, self-leveling overlays can be applied and polished. These self-leveling treatments can be colored or decorated with a wide variety of color pigments and textured decorative elements. The floors are then sealed, polished, and burnished with a resulting finish that is often a major interior design highlight.

Modern innovations in concrete floor treatments can create surfaces that look like marble, granite, tile, or terracotta. Logos and designs can even be added to the floor. Don't fall into the trap of ignoring the cement floor and only consider the walls. Designers and architects consider these decorating options in the overall interior design. Polished concrete floors are popular in apartment lobbies, galleries, and skyscrapers all over New York City because they provide a functional, decorative, flooring solution.

New concrete polishing treatments have several advantages over other floor options. The wide variety of looks and styles offer you many choices, but the overall cost and lasting durability make it one of the smartest economic floors available. When choosing between concrete polishing and self-leveling treatments, remember polished floors can be used almost immediately after the work is done, whereas self-leveling floors take longer to dry so completion time is longer.

The next time you are in the city, look down. You might think you're walking on a marble, granite, or stone floor, but it just might be Polished Concrete.

Build the Snowball and It Will Run

Setting up your own online business can seem extremely daunting. Whether you've already got a business and want to sell products and services online or want to start from scratch with a new business, there is a great deal to think about.

However, despite the economic doom and gloom, there is real money to be made from web-based businesses. But where do you begin?

If you're starting from scratch, the first thing you need to decide is what you're going to sell and who you want to sell it to. The Web is a global marketplace, but that doesn't mean your business has to be international. Some of the most successful internet businesses target tight niches. When making the decision about what type of business to start you'll need to research the types of products and services that are in demand and the competition for supplying those to customers. The ratio of demand to supply will give you an idea of the likely profitability of any business idea. After all, there's no point in starting a business that's not going to make a profit, is there?

If you have expertise in a particular subject or area, then that's a great place to start. If there's a subject you're passionate about then start there. Focus on what you can offer that's unique. It's much better to offer something unique in a small niche market than try and compete with a thousand other companies in a huge market. Remember the bigger the market the more competitors you'll have. And on the Web, the chances are high that they'll all know more than you about the techniques associated with marketing and selling on the internet.

If you've already got an offline business that you want to promote on the Web, or have products or services that you want to sell on the internet, then you're a good part of the way there.

However, whether you've already got a business or have a good idea for starting one, there's a great deal to do to be successful on the Web. You have to come up with a domain name and register it, build a website (or get someone to build it for you), and find someone to host it. If you want to sell products or services directly from your site, you'll need to build-in online shopping facilities, and if you want to accept credit cards, you'll need a merchant account .

Then there's the promotion. It's all very well having a website out there in cyber space, but if no-one knows it's there, you won't get any customers. So you have to promote it, on and off-line.

How do you get visitors and how do you ensure they are in your target market? The most cost-effective way of generating targeted traffic on the Web is by ranking highly in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN for keywords related to your business. Unfortunately there are thousands of Web marketing professionals out there who are intent on making sure their sites rank highly, meaning that the chance of a relative newcomer getting a top 30 ranking in a search engine is small. Without a ranking in the top thirty on the major search engines you might as well be invisible.

Finally, and most importantly, once you've got traffic, how do you convert a reasonable percentage of it into income? How do you build the kind of trust and credibility online that keeps visitors coming back and spending money?

Phew! If you weren't daunted before, you will be by now. Fortunately, none of the problems outlined above is insurmountable. It's hard work sure, but very rewarding. And you don't have to do all the work yourself, there are plenty of solutions which will do lots of the hard work for you, like the one I use.

The important thing, as with any project, is to start and then to keep going. Imagine your website as a snowball running down a hill. It starts off very small and has no momentum. It takes hard work to roll it and help it grow, but once it reaches critical mass it gains a momentum of its own, starts to roll by itself and grows exponentially very quickly. Your web business is that snowball.

Why You Should Have Vision Insurance

If you are part of the group that is wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses, you might want to look at the advantages of having a plan that offers you vision benefits. The plan may be obtainable by your employer or straight from the insurance that has vision benefits. Some companies that want to keep on their employee may want to add on vision coverage to the benefits package. Insurance for vision either offers a discount on eye care and eye wear or a benefits package.

When you have a package for vision insurance benefits it will include eye exams, which you might need to pay a co-payment up front from the time of your service, the balance will then be paid by the plan. However, with a vision discount plan, you have to pay for the complete service but at a price that is lower than normal which your eye practitioners agreed to charge. Upon buying your discount plan or benefits package, you need to purchase two products.

The network of eye care providers that you have access to, have agreed to help with a service and maybe a product that is at a reduced price, this will be for you or the company that is handling the plan. The types of providers for service will be an optometrist and a ophthalmologist. If there is a case where the ophthalmologists deal with LASIK as well as other procedures for correction they could be included as well. The other is eye care products and services that are specific to your needs; they will include an exam for the eyes, contact lenses or eyeglasses. When you are looking at choosing a plan it is best to know what the eye care provider and service that is included in the package.

When you are looking to chose a vision insurance plan, always look at what is available and how the service would benefit you. You should look at the past years or your medical records to see the type of eye care services you have done and your family as well, and including how many times they have used the same service. This can give you an idea of what you will need in the future. While you are looking at different plans, make notes of what your needs are, what will save you the most money. Finally, will the plan give me the assurance that I think is quality and guidelines and procedures that I can follow.

In conclusion, choosing to have a vision insurance plan, will give you the benefits and discounts when you need them. If you want the best discounts and benefits it is best to do your research and see what is out there. As you don't want to choose the wrong one for you, always ask questions if you need to, to make sure your getting what is said in the package and take note of it so you can come back to it later. See what is available in the package and what you will need and want, if it doesn't have those then maybe this isn't the best one for you. Overall it is wise to look into vision insurance, as it can save you money and give you benefits in the end.

Ischemic Heart Disease

Ischemic heart disease is better known as a description for the reduction of blood flow to the heart. You probably have read in the media that one of the major heart conditions is hardening of the arteries or blocked arteries. This is the lay description of ischemic heart disease, a major health issue throughout most Western countries.

It is a natural process for tiny deposits of plaque to accumulate along our arterial walls. Depending on our individual make up, this can result in a potential problem called arteriosclerosis. In others, no symptoms or problems develop at all. Call it nature's luck.

Our body attempts to cope with the problem of the build up of plaque by basically 2two mechanisms. One, the arteries can expand to allow the blood flow to continue unimpeded. Two, if the expansion is too rapid or if there is not enough natural elasticity in the arterial walls, a rupture can occur, usually causing death or massive brain or other organ damage.

Watch Out For Fats The good news about ischemic heart disease is we know the cause and so we can do something about it. The answer is simple and straightforward and easy to implement.

Stop smoking, stop eating foods which are high in fat, and get some regular exercise.

It seems so simple but the fact remains that we in the western world appear to have great difficulty giving up our habits and vices. In some countries there is a marked difference in the incidence of ischemic heart disease. Maybe it's that we have so much choice and an increased tendency to eat what we want without having to think about the cost or nutritional value, whatever it is, we need to sit up and take a lot more notice to prevent what amounts to an epidemic of ischemic heart disease.

One thing our society has in its favor however is our excellent education system and the plethora of government agencies that continually advise us of the need to change our ways. This same process has lead to vast improvements in lifestyle and we can live with the real expectation that things will change for the better once the message gets through. We have cut back on smoking, we've regulated harmful drugs and our health experts continue to find new ways to influence us for the better.

Even the large fats food outlets have modified their menus in the face of this accumulated knowledge. We have new exercise programs in schools, better food offered at schools, and young people are influencing their parents. All of these developments will contribute to a lessening of ischemic heart disease.

How To Create A Brand That Sticks

Most people, when they hear the word branding, think logos - but in fact, branding is really much more than that. A brand involves blending the image, purpose, and focus of your business, with your core marketing message, and coming up with something which will stick in the minds of people who encounter it. As a business or an independent professional, it is who you are and what you do, packaged neatly, clearly, and memorably. A logo is only a tangible representation that works to reinforce a brand.

So - what kind of personality does your business have? Is it conservative and solid? Outgoing and fun? Or robust and strong? And, what is your business focused on doing? Whom do you want to work with? How does your business differ from the competition? And what makes it so special, after all? Do not try to name every special quality or unique selling point - you can actually build a brand on just one unique quality! Once you can answer these questions, you can begin to create your brand. The question is what you want YOUR brand to leave behind in people's heads.

Practically any business or professional can benefit from a strong brand. But branding is even more important for micro businesses and independent professionals because they face tighter competition. A well executed brand and identity can help them compete on a larger playing field, appear more professional, and stand out from the hordes of competitors.

Once you determine how you want to be remembered, your image and your message will need to communicate that. The image can simply be a consistent look used in all your correspondence, a logo that marks everything that comes from your business, and the identity you use on your web site and brochure. The message can be a tag line, your 30 second "elevator speech," and woven through the content on your web site.

A logo is only one manifestation of brand identity, used to create a memorable impression, but it is useless if you have not clearly defined your audience and the focus of your business. There are plenty of clearly branded businesses using only consistent fonts or colors in their marketing collateral. But whatever you decide chose one image to stick with through all your business communication, and make sure that image is professional. In other words, if you do not have the resources or finances right now to have a professional image developed for you, work with less, rather than using badly formatted clipart or a layout that makes you look amateurish or cheap. That approach can only hurt your business and your brand, so find the level that Works for you without a negative effect.

Once you determine what brand you want to create, and have developed an identity to accompany it, the work has just begun. You will need to vigilantly reinforce your brand every moment you are in business. Your brand needs to affect everything your business does, everything you and your employees say, and every bit of information that comes out of your office. Letterhead, invoices, proposals... these should all consistently promote your brand. In your voice mail, in your email sig, and every time someone says, "What do you do?" your brand should come out to shine. Domain names and web site content should, again, reinforce your brand. Everywhere you use your brand with consistency, you are communicating with the voice of your company.

Be aware, though, that this does not happen overnight - your brand will need to build over time. Develop a strong brand, and use it consistently, and more and more often, your brand will pop into people's minds when they have a need that you can provide.

Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek (c) 2003 All Rights Reserved