Expression GreenExpressing the need for a healthy green lifestyle

With several health care reform bills making their way through congressional committees, many Valley employers are worried how the outcome will affect their financial future.

Already facing increased health insurance premiums, businesses also are concerned about being required to provide health coverage for all workers and how a government-run option might affect their costs. One proposal that has benefits consultants wringing their hands is an excise tax on insurance plans that cost a family more than $21,000 a year.

Kathryn Bakich, national director of health care compliance at the Segal Co. in Washington, said lawmakers must be careful not to do something that will create bad consequences for employer plans.

Most plans cost $15,000 to $18,000 a year, she said, including both the employer and employee portions. With a couple of years of inflation, some of those plans will hit the $21,000 cap and be open to additional taxes on employers.

“Many times they call it a Cadillac tax, but these are not Cadillac plans they are taxing,” Bakich said. “That’s a big problem.”

She said she hasn’t seen any consensus from employers about which plans seem to be most employer-friendly. She said some employer groups don’t like any of the proposals, while others might like a single aspect of a complex plan.

“Everyone is looking to see what the Senate Finance Committee comes up with, which will combine with the Senate Health Committee bill,” she said.
Employer-based coverage

Dennis Hoffman, professor of economics at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, said the U.S. is one of the only countries that relies on employers to provide the bulk of health insurance. That practice originated after World War II, when the government imposed wage and price controls on companies. As a result, employers — beginning with the auto industry — offered health benefits to entice high-quality employees.

“In terms of basic economics, the labor market would be much more efficient if people were free to seek jobs and they could separate insurance coverage from employment,” Hoffman said. “Businesses could feel free to hire and fire people without concerns about insurance implications, pre-existing conditions and lawsuits around health insurance.”

Hoffman, who receives comprehensive benefits from the state, said he is satisfied with his coverage. The state of Arizona recently awarded $750 million in contracts to several health plans, all of which compete to sign up an estimated 135,000 members. Hoffman chose the Boise, Idaho-based AmeriBen plan, which is using the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona provider network.

“I don’t have any complaints about my particular benefits package per se, but it still does cost the state and myself a lot of money,” he said.

Hoffman would rather have the state exclude health benefits and put that money in his paycheck so he can buy his own health coverage.

Jack Lunsford, president and CEO of Westmarc, a West Valley economic development coalition, said a government plan could destroy the employer-based coverage system that works for many Americans. Yet he also said a tax on small businesses for not offering insurance to employees would hurt them.

Lunsford is grateful for Westmarc’s coverage through Health Care Group, which provides a safety net for small businesses that have trouble finding affordable health plans in the commercial sector.

“We were not able to offer health insurance to our staff until we qualified under Health Care Group,” Lunsford said.
Businesses fear mandates

Employers such as Marwan Madanat, who hire independent contractors and don’t provide health insurance, say an employer mandate would be “devastating” to his company, Alphamed Solutions Inc. in Chandler.

Alphamed has four workers in Arizona and 16 across the U.S. who provide medical transcription and billing services for doctors’ offices. All are home-based independent contractors, which means they are responsible for their own insurance.

Madanat hopes to expand his business into the growing electronic medical records segment, which many say ultimately will help lower medical costs.

“In my opinion, we have got the best medical treatment in the whole world,” said Madanat, who was born in Jordan and became a U.S. citizen in 1994. “This is where I’m coming in with the technology. At the end of the day, we can help reduce the cost of providing services and hope the doctor will reduce their fees. This would have a ripple effect.”

Scott Harkey, a partner in Phoenix-based marketing firm Owens Harkey & Associates, said he recently had to cut health insurance benefits for five full-time and four part-time employees.

When a dieter desperately wants to lose weight, sometimes healthy eating tips are thrown out the door in favor of the latest diet fad. For permanent weight loss, though, you’ll want to follow healthy eating tips and get your heart rate up with exercises that help you lose weight. A good pair of walking shoes and a healthy recipe book should be your first line of defense against the battle of the bulge.

If you need to lower your cholesterol, reduce high blood pressure, or minimize your risk of cancer, then a healthy weight loss is you need. A healthy nutrition plan for permanent weight loss will uses natural remedies to detox your body. You need a healthy recipe book with healthy eating tips to lose weight.

A healthy recipe book is a good start in the fight to lower your cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, and reduce your risk of getting cancer. A healthy nutrition plan for permanent weight loss, coupled with exercises that help you lose weight, is one of the safest ways to detox your body. Natural remedies to detox your body can be found in a healthy recipe book.

The way to detox your body using natural remedies is simple: arm yourself with a healthy recipe book and get your heart rate up. A healthy nutrition plan for permanent weight loss starts with a healthy recipe book and a home stocked with nutritious foods. Exercises that help you lose weight also work to detox your body by releasing toxins through your skin’s pores.

If you’re wondering how to detox your body using natural remedies found in a healthy recipe book, here are four detox foods to get you started with a healthy weight loss: leafy greens, cabbage, lemons, and broccoli sprouts. Leafy greens detox the body by strengthening the liver and reducing the body of environmental toxins. Cabbage also helps to detox the liver. Lemons flush out toxins in the body. Research has shown broccoli to ward against certain cancers; broccoli sprouts are especially good at this. So take note of these foods and other detox foods when choosing meals from your healthy recipe book.

In addition to a healthy recipe book and healthy nutrition, regular exercise is important for a healthy weight loss. Exercises that help you lose weight are those that get your heart rate up. The most important thing to do when choosing an exercise program is to find one that fits your lifestyle. Regular exercise should fit your life if you want it to become a habit.

Here is a review of what you should do for permanent weight loss: get your heart rate up with exercises that help you lose weight, follow a healthy nutrition plan for weight loss, and detox your body with natural remedies found in a healthy recipe book. Go to www.yourgoodhealthrecipebook.com to make the first step toward your healthy weight loss. And for more healthy eating tips, check out my blog at www.sandraessex.com. Cheers to new beginnings!

It has been shown in some studies of green tea that it may help develop a treatment to prevent the dormant, non threatening type of prostate cancer they have in their later years from becoming the aggresive and fatal types of cancer.

Also in studies on the diet and cancer show that green tea when tested with mice with an aggressive form of cancer can decrease the spread or metastasis to the liver, bones and other body parts.

Some newer research reveals that green tea might help prevent the spread of prostate cancer. Specifically the phytochemicals found in green tea, called polyphenols attack the growth factors and protiens interupting the growth processes of tumors, resulting in preventing them from spreading to other organs of the body.

Now because earlier studies showed that the same natural plant substances may also help to prevent the start of prostate cancer itself, researchers indicated that more studies need to be done on green teas affect on fighting this common type of cancer. The best way to reduce your risk of prostate cancer still lies in eating a mostly vegetarian diet.

Phytochemicals in green tea seem to increase the number of enzymes that help convert carcinogens in the body to a dormant, or harmless forms. Numerous questions still remain about the amount and or frequency of green tea necessary to affect the formation of prostate cancer itself.

Black tea has also shown similar benefits and effects to green tea, although they appear to have somewhat lower levels of the beneficial substances than green tea has. Whatever the benefits of green tea, it would be a big mistake to rely on the teas alone for this prevention.

Other tests and studies suggest a variety of nutritional influences on prostate cancer risk. Vitamin E use may also offer some protection.

The antioxidant mineral selenium also seems protective. Most people do get adequate amounts of selenium, but these studies used mainly nutrition supplements, so the study participants achieved higher intake levels. So it still remains to be seen whether men can protect themselves by taking supplements, along with multivitamins, with selenium. If total selenium intake exceeds 400 mcg per day, nerve damage and other side effects can occur in the individuals.

Lets add that you should where possible avoid all fatty meats, since high-fat diets also have been linked to prostate cancer, other cancers, heart disease, and numerous other medical problems today. Also definately stay away from refined sugars, salt, hydrogenated oils, canned, packaged, or otherwise processed foods. Skip those soda drinks, alcohol, black teas, and coffee beverages. Stop the consumption of dairy foods, since these products are so closely linked in the to prostate cancer.

Next, most of us don’t realise the effects of stress in everyday life, reduce stress, in particular chronic stress, since it is especially hard on the male prostate. All stress can restrict the flow of blood and energy in the prostate. Now this stress related damage can set the stage for enlargement of the prostate and even possible cancer. The general lifestyle can also contribute to a healthy prostate in men. Remember that exercise promotes circulation and relieves tension in the human body, and this also enhances the chances of a healthy prostate.

In addition, exercise is essential for effective weight management, it is important to exercise regularly, try to excercise at least 30 minutes a day and at least 3 days every week. This regular exercise not only helps burn off extra calories, but help keep the body flexible and helps to maintain muscle strength and endurance. Walking, jogging, and leisure activities such as amateur sports, can be very effective types of exercise. The key is to just stay as active as possible and definately stay off the couch. Many people constantly face that difficult uphill battle to regain control of their weight and healthy body issues. Ultimaletly taking good care of the prostate requires taking better care of yourself.

Now other great foods for natural nutrition and healthy aging are broccoli, blueberries, cabbage, brussels sprouts, flaxseed, soybeans, and tomatoes. But cooked tomatoes are actually a much better source of nutrician than just the raw tomatoes because in the cooking process it releases more lycopene from the cells.

Also it is very important for all men over 50 to have early check-up of his health to help indentify these and other problems early and get proper medical advice and treatments!