Robs Daily Health and Healthcare Newsletter - Dec 29, 2005

Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare Newsletter -    December 29, 2005
"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."-- Leonardo da VinciThe perils of transparent pricing: the time for speculation is over: transparent pricing is becoming a reality for hospitals.Two years ago, transparent pricing was the subject of speculation more than certainty. Recent events and emerging trends, however, have caused this phenomenon--in essence, the publication of a hospital's retail prices--to become more of an imminent reality, bringing a potential sea change for the industry.  FULL STORYhttp://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article.asp?ID=605939&Page=1&Newly Combined Company Expands Role in Creating Affordable Quality CareINDIANAPOLIS, and NEW YORK, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and WellChoice, Inc. (NYSE: WC) announced the completion oftheir merger today.   FULL STORYhttp://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-28-2005/0004240219&EDATE=New practice is just what the doctor orderedDec 28th - 1:20pmFRESNO, Calif. -- Dr. Karen Hansen-Smith earned a six-figure salary as a family-practice physician and had a nice office in a shared medical complex in north Fresno.  But she also treated so many patients that she couldn't spend the time she wanted with them. Two months ago, the frustrated doctor ditched it all for a slower pace. She joined the growing ranks of doctors practicing what is commonly referred to as boutique medicine.  FULL STORYhttp://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=106&sid=659648#HSA Bank Announces Relationship With Metavante's MBI BenefitsWATERBURY, Conn., Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- HSA Bank(TM), a division of Webster Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS), announced today that it has formed a relationship with MBI Benefits, Inc., a strategic business unit of Metavante Corporation, to offer a fully integrated employee benefits debit card solution.   FULL STORYhttp://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051228/nyw039.html?.v=35Employers test health care ideaOption offers workers high deductible coupled with savings accountBy KEVIN HARLIN, Business writerThursday, December 29, 2005ALBANY -- Capital Region employers are slowly testing the waters of a new health plan option: the high-deductible health plan, coupled with a tax-exempt health savings account.  FULL STORYhttp://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=434340&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=12/29/2005Teachers' contract avoids binding arbitrationBy: Jim Taylor12/29/2005Town officials also said that this agreement is one of the first in the state to incorporate health savings accounts (HSAs), which could save the town substantially on health insurance.  FULL STORYhttp://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15831569&BRD=1379&PAG=461&dept_id=162906&rfi=6       WellPoint completes purchase of rival WellChoiceTHE ASSOCIATED PRESSPosted on Thu, Dec. 29, 2005INDIANAPOLIS - WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer, completed its acquisition of WellChoice Inc. on Wednesday, gaining 5 million new customers and more access to nationwide accounts.  FULL STORYhttp://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/business/13505654.htmLong-term care is hub of insurers' next pitch - Push for policies tied to Medicaid shift, baby boomers' agingJEFF D. OPDYKEWall Street JournalInsurers are ramping up efforts to sell long-term-care insurance, offering new products and forging alliances with employers to make the policies more widely available in the workplace.  FULL STORYhttp://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/business/13497965.htm
It's Not About Healthcare, but about your Health!
UCSD Team Discovers Diabetes Trigger in Fatty DietNewswise — A new study, published in the December 29 issue of the journal Cell, reports the discovery of a molecular link between a high-fat, or Western-style, diet, and the disruption of insulin production, explaining how a high-fat diet causes type 2 diabetes.   FULL STORYhttp://www.newswise.com/articles/view/516940/Carmakers widen seats for wider ... seatsBy Chris Woodyard, USA TODAYIf you gorged at the holiday buffet, don't worry: You'll still fit in your car. The front seats in the 2006 Honda Civic are three-quarters of an inch wider than those in the 2005 model. The front seats in the 2006 Honda Civic are three-quarters of an inch wider than those in the 2005 model. As Americans grow heftier, automakers are making seats wider, adding more space to interiors and using bigger virtual mannequins to help design vehicles. Domestic automakers say they already had seats for increasingly rotund motorists. Now foreign brands are catching up. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-12-27-wide-seats-usat_x.htmNavy Seal invents cure for childhood obesityWith 30 percent of U.S. schoolchildren overweight, childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. And many parents are taking drastic measures - putting their kids on twigs-and-bark diets or shipping them off to fat camps. But former Navy SEAL Instructor Phil Black has a much simpler solution: Give your kids a deck of cards to help them lose weight.   FULL STORYhttp://sheknows.com/about/look/6517.htm
Practice Golden Rule SellingBy Brian Tracy
To improve your sales performance, adopt the Golden Rule mentality. The Golden Rule says to, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It also says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The Golden Rule mentality in sales, says simply, "Sell unto others as you would have them sell unto you."
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