© Remains – Fotolia
Last year, I paid $30 for my flu shot. This year, I’ll pay nothing, as long as I go to my own clinic or one of dozens of others approved by my health insurance company. That’s one of the changes made by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requires insurance policies to cover ten basic areas: Continue reading
Filed under health care, health insurance
Beatriz Ramirez and her two young children moved into Chicago’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in September. Rosa Robles Loreto has lived in Tucson’s Southside Presbyterian Church since August. In Philadelphia, the Indonesian Mennonite Philadelphia Praise Center and the Jewish Tikkun Olam Havurah stand ready to welcome immigrants seeking sanctuary. They are part of a new sanctuary movement, with religious groups from Maine to California committing to shelter immigrants in danger of deportation. Besides offering sanctuary to immigrants, they challenge the country’s leaders to change harsh and punitive immigration laws. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
© phasinphoto Fotolia.com
In 2013, Chris had inexpensive health insurance. His premiums were only $200 each month. That sounds pretty good, especially since average premiums for a single person are more than $400 per month.
This is the one of a series of articles on understanding health insurance. Click here for all of the articles. This series covers basics — exceptions and complications go beyond the basics.
Trouble was — Chris’s actual health care costs were a lot higher. Besides paying the premium, he had to pay $3,000 of medical costs out of his pocket before the insurance paid a dime. Premiums are just one of the costs to look at when you buy health insurance. Continue reading
Filed under health care, health insurance
Photo by Midquel, published under Creative Commons license. FFI – https://www.flickr.com/photos/39151655@N00/191432293
“A fish rots from the head down,” according to an old saying. The state shut down Community Action of Minneapolis (CAM), and executive director Bill Davis needs a good defense attorney, but the “head” of this and other non-profit organizations includes the board of directors. Even though CAM is dead, the problems that brought it down continue in other non-profit organizations. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Every year that annoying notice comes. It’s open enrollment time. During this time, you can make choices about health insurance. You can compare deductibles, calculate premiums, check coverage, and read policies. Or you can do nothing, and your insurance will automatically renew. If you have employer-sponsored insurance, individual insurance, MNSure insurance, or Medicare, you need to decide. Continue reading
Filed under health care, health insurance
When should the media publish photos and full names of crime victims? When two thirteen-year-old girls went missing, the sheriff sent out their names, descriptions and photos in a call to the public to help find them. That seemed like a necessary step in the search, and publishing the information could help. But after they were found, should news media continue to republish their full names and photos? Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
© Igor Zakowski – Fotolia
The new sharing economy masquerades as a people-to-people economy. That sounds friendlier than the corporate, profit-driven economy. Take a second look, thought, and this new sharing economy turns out to be the old corporate wolf in a new internet fleece. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
(c) Rini Templeton
Teaching English led Artika Tyner to become a lawyer. “When I began student teaching,” she writes, “I witnessed firsthand the disparities in the school system influenced by factors such as race and poverty. This was a formative moment in my personal and professional development…. I became committed to shaping public policy and standing up for children. At this point, I also recognized that the law is a language of power and I wanted to learn this language in order to empower others in my community.” Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
“If you know one person with Alzheimer’s, you know one person with Alzheimer’s,” my mom reminds me often. Every person has his or her own story. Each story has different, heart-breaking details, as the disease steals away reason and personality and physical strength and coordination. One thing does not change: the disease moves inexorably onward. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
© lenets_tan – Fotolia.com
Think you don’t need to worry because you already have health insurance? Think again: insurance companies keep changing the game. Three stories give reasons to think twice about your insurance: Preferred One’s pull-out, higher costs with “automatic” renewal, and sneaky drug price increases. Continue reading
Filed under health care
Mary Turck