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UnitedHealthcare of Illinois

UnitedHealth Group stands firmly behind the concept of consumer-driven health care. When properly designed, delivered, and utilized, consumer-driven health plans and concepts will

• Make you a smarter and more effective user of health care services
• Improve the quality of the health care services you receive and the quality of your health
• Make paying for health care services more affordable

Click here for your own copy of the Consumer Driven Health handbook.

May 5, 2008

Nursing Home, Assisted Living Costs Increase for Fifth Consecutive Year

Costs for nursing homes and assisted living centers rose again from 2007 to 2008, making this the fifth consecutive year of price increases, according to results from Genworth’s latest Cost of Care Survey.

Costs for nursing homes have jumped 17 percent since 2004 and now average $76,460 annually or $209 per day for a private room. Assisted living charges escalated even more during the same period, rising 25 percent to average $36,090 nationally.

In contrast, in-home care costs for non-Medicare certified workers have remained relatively stable since 2004 and continue to average $18/hour for homemaker services and $19/hour for a home health aide. The cost of a Medicare-certified aide, however, has changed, rising 7 percent over the past four years to reach $38/hour on average in 2008.

For the first time, the survey looked at adult day health care. The annual cost for five-day-a week participation in a community-based care setting is $15,000, with an average daily price of $59.

The study speculates that costs will rise further if the shortage of long-term care workers continues.

Long-term care costs can vary significantly by locale. For cost information by state or metropolitan area, visit www.genworth.com/costofcare. You can also read the full report and a description of the research methodology used.

isos » Mock Recall
Mock recall is basically like your usual twice-a-year fire drills. Having a mock at your employee just to practice your Product Recall System. If your products is base on food, then a good mock would be having a deadly contamination. If your product is more likely for the industrial use, then data for the strength of materials can be used. The key is to recall all your products so that it will not be used by your consumers. Though this is a bit expensive system, but quality must be served first. Think of what could happen if a consumers eats your contaminated products, litigations will surely follow. Your cement which has a problem in its mixing, is being used to install bridges. The company will surely be the one responsible if the building fails. Not to mention all those people affected with the company’s miscalculation. This problem is very crucial as it can lead to the closure of your organization. So it is better to practice your Product Recall system at planned intervals.

Wildy’s World: POLITICS: Obama, Hillary, Pennsylvania and terrorists
POLITICS: Obama, Hillary, Pennsylvania and terrorists

For Pennsylvanians, today is the day to tell the rest of us what you want. All of the polling and punditry goes out the window starting at 7:00 AM EST. For residents of North Carolina and Indiana, your time is coming shortly.

The question is what do you want?

We’ve spent a lot of time in the past six weeks hearing about issues manufactured and real. Much of the political discussion has not been about how to make America a better place, but about how Obama’s association with Rev. Wright will hurt him in the general election, or how about Hillary’s lying to the American Public on the campaign trail only serves to remind voters that there is a general perception about the Clintons in general, and her in particular, that you can not trust what they say.

Let’s take a look at these issues for a moment, shall we? Let’s start with Barack Obama. The big issues about Obama that have surfaced in the past six weeks are the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his past association with Bill Ayers of The Weather Underground (so deftly referred to as John McCain as The Weathermen), and the so-called “bitter-gate”.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright – Hillary Clinton has stated, particularly in ABC New’s laughable “debate” of last week that Obama should have left his church because of the controversial comments of Rev. Wright. At issue is a particular line from one of Wright’s speeches that is certain to be general election fodder for the Republicans “God Damn America”. There were also comments about the US bringing 9/11 upon itself and being responsible for the start or spread of AIDS in the black community.

Is The Consumer Directed Health Plan An Affordable Solution? Part Four « Wiserwordsonhealthcare
By Allen Cadora

Consumer Directed Health Plan (CDHP) Experience - Results That Have Worked

Part Four of Five

If consumers get needed healthcare education and guidance, is there reason to believe that the CDHP model can succeed?

Where consumer plans have been used for a sufficient time to make a valid evaluation, the answer is definitely “yes”. Consumer directed plans have also been successful in promoting wellness, preventive care and improved lifestyles.

Aon Research Study. In November, 2006, Aon Corporation, a Chicago-based international human resources and insurance firm, released a research brief covering the long-term impact of consumer-directed healthcare. The data selected for the study was provided by Discovery Health Insurance, of South Africa, and Destiny Health, of the US, which are affiliated and which combine to cover more than two million lives.

The study focused on markets where consumer directed plans had been in use for periods long enough to provide conclusive results. The research information covered insured organizations that only offered consumer directed coverage plans.

The conclusions of the study were that consumer directed health plans can provide sufficient motivation for employees to spend their healthcare money wisely. The study also showed that CDHP’s can work in conjunction with wellness programs to improve personal health status, to lower claims and to reduce costs.

8 Freelance Startup Entry Plans | Michael’s Voice Tips
8 Freelance Startup Entry Plans
Here’s an amazing article from the Freelance gurus at Freelance Sprout. This article talks about plans to make freelancing practical. I currently follow plan #2. It works GREAT!

“Many of us (most of us?) had a dream to start a business and, at some point, realized the dilemma of balancing a full-time job with home life and a startup life. I don’t think there’s ever a true balance. A tolerable balance but not a comfortable balance.

Most freelance businesses don’t require a heavy equipment investment. Marketing and living expenses will eat most of a freelancer’s budget.

Unless you have a few months of clients lined up, or you’re independently wealthy, you’ll need a plan to support yourself until you can freelance full-time.

The following are eight freelance entry plans…

1. The Moonlighter

This is the plan that comes to mind most often when people think of starting a business. It involves doing client work in the evenings and on weekends to make way for a full-time job.

Good cell phone service is a must. I have a friend who actually brought his own laptop and wireless air card to work so he could answer client emails during lunch and other breaks. He actually became more productive in his regular job because he stayed at his desk most of the day.

If you have banked vacation or sick days, take a few days off each month to complete larger projects. Being deliberate but flexible with your time off will help you succeed much faster.

2. The Part Timer

This plan is different in that the freelancer takes a part-time job while working the business in the mornings or afternoons.

If you’re super efficient, you might be able to setup an arrangement with your employer to work part-time a few days each week. Once your boss sees that you can still get your work completed without glitches, you might be able to go part-time…full-time.

3. The Employee to Contractor Plan

If you love what you do, but you’d rather do it as a freelancer, you might be able to turn your full-time job into a contracting position—taking your employer as your first customer.

If you’re trying to make a case for saving your employer money, try dropping what I call the “non benefit, benefits”. For instance, my previous, and last, employer had a magnificent profit sharing/retirement plan.

The catch? I had to work a minimum of seven years to receive any actual monetary compensation. Was it a benefit? Yes. Was it something benefiting me at the moment? No. So, it was no love lost on my end. But my employer saw it as a huge money saver in the long run.

4. The Cash Plan

Attention all penny pinchers and budgeteers. If you have the discipline to save all your profits, and look for ways to save within your salary, you can amass a nice cushion to live off when you quit to go full-time.

Once you have the money saved, you can focus on getting a customer backlog a month or two deep. If your business takes off, you won’t feel pressured to stay at your job. Your bank account will give you the confidence to put in your notice.

5. The Spouse Plan

This is a popular option for two income couples, especially if one spouse can produce enough income to cover all monthly expenses.

One way to make this work is to pay off all consumer debt (credit cards) and car loans. When one debt is paid off, rollover the payment to the next debt. With each card, or car, paid off, you get an instant raise.

When the first spouse’s business starts going strong, the other spouse has the option to quit and start a business too.

Google’s Ginormous Free Food Budget: $7,530 Per Googler, $72 Million A Year* - Silicon Alley Insider

Here’s the math: Googlers in the U.S. get two meals a day free, according to the jobs page, but people we talk to at the Mountain View Googleplex tell us employees there are often chowing down three times a day. Google is open 251 days a year. So let’s say that Google is providing about 600 meals per year, per employee.

By its own count, Google has about 8,000 workers at the Googleplex in Mountain View, and another 700 at the office on Ninth Ave. in New York City.

The rest of Google’s American employees get fed, but Google doesn’t break down employment for its other offices. Internationally, benefits vary — employees in Australia get a free lunch, whereas employees in Ireland get a fully subsidized canteen.

New Survey Indicates Widespread Lack Of Planning For Possibility Of An Income-Limiting Disability
Most workers are not prepared for the financial consequences
PORTLAND, Maine – Although the risk of experiencing an income-limiting disability continues to rapidly rise among
the American workforce, most workers are not preparing for the potential financial consequences that a disability
can create. According to a new survey from the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA), a majority of workers – 56
percent – have never discussed with anyone how they would continue to pay for their living expenses if a disability
kept them out of work for several months or longer.
The survey found that while the majority of workers rated their ability to earn a living as the most important
contributor to their long-term financial security – three times greater than those who rated retirement savings as
number one – two in three workers do not even think about disability when they discuss their “financial planning.”
Among the workers surveyed:
almost 90 percent believe disability planning should start in a person’s 20s or 30s; yet large majorities (82 percent) are still concerned about how they would pay their normal living expenses if their income suddenly stopped because of an accident or illness; seven in 10 workers could cover their expenses for six months or less, a potential challenge to their financial
security since the average long-term disability lasts more than two years; and young workers ages 21 to 35 are particularly vulnerable, as over half (68 percent) indicated that they could cover normal living expenses for just three months or less if they were to lose their income.
“The survey underscores the need for workers to incorporate the financial risks associated with disability into their financial planning mindset and actions. The ability to earn a living is the most important driver of financial security
for the majority of people; it needs to be valued like a retirement fund, savings account or a home,” explained
Robert Taylor, president of CDA.
As the survey illustrates, workers are not financially preparing for a disability. Most believe that if they were out of work for a year, they could rely on a patchwork of income sources to make ends meet, including help from friends
and family, retirement savings accounts, home equity loans and credit cards. Most – 62 percent – would rely to
some degree on a spouse’s or partner’s income. However, that may be optimistic, since the majority of households
live paycheck to paycheck and have a negative savings rate.
The survey also highlights a considerable lack of clarity about employer-sponsored disability programs and the
Social Security Disability Insurance program. Only half of workers who are provided with employer sick-leave
benefits feel they understand them very well. For those employees who are offered a long-term disability program
by their employer, only 28 percent feel they have a good understanding of the program and close to 20 percent
don’t even know if their employer offers a program. The survey also pointed to a lack of basic knowledge about
Social Security disability benefits. One in three surveyed workers does not understand or is not aware of Social
Security Disability Insurance, a key disability program for 150 million workers across America.
“Broader awareness and education about available disability programs is a critical starting point to helping more
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workers assume responsibility for their long-term financial security, which continues to shift to the American worker,”
Taylor said. “When workers understand the impact of disability on their finances and the resources available to
them, they will take more informed actions to protect their financial stability.”
On CDA’s Web site, www.disabilitycanhappen.org, workers have access to tools that can help them estimate what
their income and expenses might look like during a disability and provide them with a guide for developing a specific
action plan. A financial review is accessible, along with facts and figures about disability, real-life stories, current
articles and tips for a healthy lifestyle.
About the Survey
In January and February 2008, CDA worked with the research firm Mathew Greenwald & Associates to conduct an
online survey of 1,448 full-time working American adults ages 21 to 65 nationwide. The margin of error for the
sample size was +/-3.1 percentage points at the 97 percent level of confidence. For more information on the survey
results, visit www.disabilitycanhappen.org.
About the Council for Disability Awareness
The Council for Disability Awareness (CDA), founded and governed by leading disability insurance companies, is
dedicated to helping raise awareness of the increasing challenges of disability and providing education about the
many attributes of disability insurance protection.
CDA is located in Portland, Maine.
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