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I am a positive and happy person. Most of my friends think I have great humor. I try to roll with things and not get too intense. The world has a lot of people that make up there own drama and I try to avoid!!
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54 • Cape May, NJ • Woman
I'm looking for
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- Ages 48–60
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- Last online
- Sep 18, 2014
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- Christianity, and very serious about it
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- Virgo, and it's fun to think about
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- Graduated from two-year college
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- Has kids, but doesn't want more
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- English (Fluently)
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Hudson Star Observer
Fisher joins national effort to help caregivers of ill, wounded vets
St. Croix Co. abruptly pulls back plan for worker health assessments
Media schooled on River Crossing highway-surface project
Three vie to be Hudson's top educator
Western Wisconsinites sound off against Walker budget
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crime and courts
Raider seniors shine at showcase
Hunter safety course scheduled in Somerset
Sparstad two-time All-BRC
Five Raiders are All-State hockey
Reiter, Wilgren WFCA All-Stars
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high school
Hudsonites among those receiving 'buttons'
Concordia to host Norwegian event at Hudson Middle School on Saturday
Register For Hudson Lions Garage Sale
Octagon House will be open for Sunday's Chocolate March Tour
New Richmond ReStore holds 'Upcycling Contest'
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arts and entertainment
CITY OF HUDSON: Liquor License Application - Hudson Softball Association, LLC
TOWN OF HUDSON: 2015 Town Road Weight Restrictions
TOWN OF SOMERSET: Ad For Bids - 2015 TRI-D, 75th Street Reconstruction
VILLAGE OF NORTH HUDSON: 3/31/15 Public Hearing - Special Assessments
CITY OF HUDSON: Request For Proposals - 2015-17 Tree Services
Emil M. Klatt, 83
Darlene Faye Plemon, 73
Mary Anne (Frable) Hetrick, 64
Roger Kooiman, 60
Lois G. Bradley, 87
Our View: Looking for family fun this Sunday?
Notes from the Dockside: Supervising grandpa
Doug's Diggings: Stadium improvements highlight spring baseball
Our View: You have a right to know
Get me the manager! Forever kissing the Irish: A Cheese State kid's first adventure
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Get Out! Deals
Weather Forecast
Schools take heat for segregated classrooms
The ACLU has sent complaints to the U.S. Department of Education about three Wisconsin schools which separated boys and girls into single-sex classrooms. The group's Wisconsin chapter is asking if Riverview Middle School in Barron and Robinson and McLenegan Elementary Schools in...
March 29, 2013 - 11:59am
Will you be among 1 in 5 to vote Tuesday? State slips again with job creation, more state briefs
MADISON -- The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board is projecting voter turnout for next Tuesday's election at about 20 percent. Voters will decide on local issues plus statewide races for Supreme Court justice and state Superintendent of Public Instruction. More than 9,500...
news / politics / education
March 29, 2013 - 8:20am
March 27, 2013
Parents demand answers about school-employee's arrest
Parents of Whitnall School students vented their anger at a special meeting this week at which the district tried to explain why parents weren't told immediately when the school's food service director was arrested for child enticement. James Heidke, 55, was arrested February 23,...
education / food
March 27, 2013 - 12:16pm
March 22, 2013
Police academy starts March 26
The seventh Hudson Police Department Citizen Police Academy will begin on Tuesday, March 26, at the department. The nine-week course will be...
news / education
March 22, 2013 - 10:14am
March 21, 2013
School Board candidates tackle issues facing education in Hudson
The Hudson Star-Observer posed several questions to the four candidates for two seats on the Hudson Board of Education in the April 2 election. The four candidates are Bruce Hanson, Jamie Johnson, Jeanette Kunz and James Schrock. What option do you support to meet the Hudson...
news / education
March 21, 2013 - 12:11pm
Wisconsinites outraged over omission of slain cop's name; Many GOP lawmakers oppose school aid freeze; 150 cats taken from one house; More briefs
Over 6,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that slain Wauwatosa police officer Jennifer Sebena be added to a national memorial for fallen officers. State law enforcement leaders were outraged after the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund decided not to...
news / education
March 21, 2013 - 10:12am
March 17, 2013
Letter: Says Superintendent raise is unwarranted
Dear Editor, People! It's time to play, "Colossal School Board Blunders" my name is Fred Garvin and I'll be your host for this edition of "Colossal School Board Blunders!" The object of the game is to pick the best path for a school district to follow trying to avoid a "Colossal...
opinion / letters / education
March 17, 2013 - 11:48am
Letter: Hanson will serve Hudson School Board well
Dear Editor, Stephen Covey wisely articulated that effective people lead their lives and manage their relationships around principles centered on how to make all whom they interact with better for it. As a group president at RRD, I have the pleasure of working with Bruce every...
opinion / letters / education
March 17, 2013 - 11:46am
March 15, 2013
Superintendent candidates disagree on school spending
The two candidates for state public school superintendent disagree on whether schools need more tax dollars. Incumbent Tony Evers and state Assembly Republican Don Pridemore debated the funding issue and others this week at a meeting in Madison of the Wisconsin Association of School...
politics / education / government
March 15, 2013 - 10:23am
March 14, 2013
School board candidates all say they will serve with integrity
All four candidates running for the two seats open on the Hudson Board of Education in the April 2 election pledged that they would serve with integrity and not act as a "rubber stamp" for the district's administration. There were only about 35 residents of the district at last...
news / education
March 14, 2013 - 2:07pm
Budget woes worry western Wisconsin schools
State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) knew she was on the hot seat when she showed up at Osceola High School on March 7. School officials...
March 14, 2013 - 9:10am
March 13, 2013
Hudson school district selects new human resources head
The Hudson Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Andrea Voelker of Hudson as Human Resources Director starting on July 1. She will replace longtime administrator Nancy Sweet who is retiring at the end of June after 30 years in the Hudson School District. Voelker is currently...
news / education / government
March 13, 2013 - 11:12am
March 11, 2013
HHS senior seeking OK to wear Marine uniform
When Hudson High School senior Mac Hamlin inquired about wearing his U.S. Marine Corps dress uniform at his graduation ceremony in June, he was initially told no by Principal Laura Love. Hamlin, who has graduated early and just this week left for basic training, told Love that his...
news / education / government
March 11, 2013 - 10:55am
March 10, 2013
Hudson DI teams gear up for regionals
The annual Destination Imagination Instant Challenge Workshop was held recently at North Hudson Elementary School. This workshop kicks off the final preparations for teams preparing to participate in regional competition. Teams of all ages take up four or five mini-challenges,...
news / education / events
March 10, 2013 - 4:08pm
March 7, 2013
Bisexual and LGBT rights activist will hold discussions March 14
Robyn Ochs will be speaking at UW-River Falls on Thursday, March 14, for several lectures. Ochs is an educator, speaker, workshop leader and activist who advocates for the rights of people of all orientations and genders to live safely, openly and with full legal equality. Her work...
education / events
March 7, 2013 - 9:22am
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subset: commoncrawl


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It Has Been Five Years Since Katie Murdered Her Sister And Disappeared With Her Infant Nephew, Hunter. Now, a Mysterious Accident Next Door Leads To Teenage Alex And Her Family Becoming The Temporary Guardians of Robbie, a Very Creepy Neighbor Boy. Cameras Installed Throughout Alex's Home Capture The Sinister Events That Unfold After Robbie's Arrival.
Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Main Cast: Katie Featherston, Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Aiden Lovekamp, Brady Allen, Stephen Dunham, Alexondra Lee
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 88 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: October 19, 2012 (USA)
Official Website: Not Available
Watch It Now: Amazon Instant Video
Own It Now: Buy a DVD/BluRay Copy


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Dr. Jeanne M. Zekan, MD
- 1900 Westchester Dr
High Point, NC 27262
- 2 Locations
- (336) 889-9200
Dr. Jeanne M. Zekan graduated from the Marshall University Edwards School of Medicine in 1987. She works in High Point, NC and 1 other location and specializes in Nephrology and Internal Medicine. Dr. Zekan is affiliated with High Point Regional Health. She speaks English and Spanish.
Gender: Female
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish
Nephrology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Marshall University Edwards School of Medicine; Graduated 1987
*This physician has multiple office locations. See Office Information for details.


text:
Still Life Flowers
Beautiful shot Dania. The colours are quite exquisite :)
Hi Angela, thanks alot for your comment, much appreciated!!:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Very nice and poetic, love the colours
HI Helua, thanks alot for the feedback, much appreciated!Happy Halloween..:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Many thanks for viewing and commenting on my work!! :))
– Dania Reichmuth
Beautiful work my friend. Congratulations
Morning Joy, thank you so much for your wonderful comment! Have a great day…:)))
– Dania Reichmuth
Beautiful. congratulations
Many thanks for your comment, much appreciated!!:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Lovely work, congrats.
Thanks a lot for viewing and your comment!! Cheers:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Congratulations on your wonderful feature, brilliant work and well deserved.
Thank you for your wonderful comment!!! Cheers:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Beautiful softness. They seem to be sharing whispers.
Hi, how are you? many thanks for the feedback. Have a great week..:))
– Dania Reichmuth
Stunning image…
Many thanks for viewing and your comment Ted!! :)
– Dania Reichmuth


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The new Yardbarker app is here! Install on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. You can also find us in Google Newsstand.
Toronto Blue Jays 2015 Preview: 3 Up and 3 Down
The Toronto Blue Jays emerged as a force to be reckoned with during the first half of the 2014 season. They led the A.L. East as late as July 2, but an injury to Edwin Encarnacion seemed to derail the team and its hope for a playoff berth for the first time in 20 years. Other than Mark Buehrle, the starting rotation and bullpen were nothing to write home about, but they weren't...
Via isportsweb.com
12 days ago | Discuss
Toronto' Encarnacion out 4-5 days due to back inflammation
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion likely will be sidelined for four-to-five days because of back inflammation. The two-time All-Star said he felt a little tightness after Sunday's game against Pittsburgh and had a precautionary MRI on Monday night. ''We're checking it today to see what I have,'' Encarnacion said Tuesday. ''It's something I want to make sure it's right...
Via AP on Fox
20 days ago | Discuss
No news is good news for Toronto Blue Jays
Compared to the past two years, the Toronto Blue Jays have had a relatively uneventful Spring Training thus far. Aside from minor injuries to Michael Saunders (who is still targeting a return before Opening Day), Brett Cecil (left shoulder inflammation), and Jose Bautista (right hamstring tightness), the Jays haven't had any notable injuries. This uneventful Spring should be...
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22 days ago | Discuss
Player Profile #12: Edwin Encarnacion | 1B | TOR
The 2015 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide and Draft Pack, with two great draft day tools, are here! Get your copies today! Hitters don't get much more fearsome than Edwin Encarnacion, whose transformation into a perennial 40-homer threat three years ago in his age-29 season caught many all of us by surprise. The primary force behind Encarnacion's breakout isn't difficult�...
Via Baseball Professor
24 days ago | Discuss
Toronto Blue Jays look strong to open Spring
Back in 2013, the Toronto Blue Jays made hefty moves in attempt to become legitimate playoff contenders. Nearly everyone was predicting the Jays to win the AL East, and they were even a popular choice to the win the World Series. The wheels fell off early during the season, though, and the Blue Jays stumbled to a disappointing 74-88 record, good for last in the AL East. Last year...
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26 days ago | Discuss
WATCH: Grown men fight over bat in stands
The Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion had his bat go flying into the stands on Saturday night against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but something awful still did immediately happen in the stands: two grown men got into a tussle over who got to keep the bat. Great example to set for the kids, guys. [CBS Sports] Article found...
Via Next Impulse Sports
May 18, 2014 | Discuss
Orioles ball girl makes great play....on fair ball (Video)
Your browser does not support iframes.A Baltimore Orioles ball girl made a great play to field a ground ball in foul territory during Sunday's game against Toronto which will unfortunately be overshadowed by the fact that the ball was fair.It happened in the fourth inning with a Blue Jays runner on first base as Edwin Encarnacion hit the ball that curved sharply down the line and...
Via Holdout Sports
April 13, 2014 | Discuss
WATCH: Orioles ball girl's embarrassing mishap
Photo: www.bleacherreport.com In today's game versus the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards, an Orioles ball girl mistakenly fielded a live hit by Edwin Encarnacion. As the Orioles announcers say, it was actually a pretty nice catch, just not actually a foul ball unfortunately. Encarnacion was given a ground rule double on the hit, moving Adam Lind to third and saving the Orioles...
Via DC Sports-Kings
April 13, 2014 | Discuss
Rays fans use rock, paper, scissors to stake claim on bat
Your browser does not support iframes.A couple of Tampa Bay Rays fans used a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine ownership of Toronto Blue Jays batter Edwin Encarnacion's bat after it flew into the stands during Tuesday night's game at Tropicana Field.Encarnacion lost the grip on his bat as he swung and missed on strike three, which ended the seventh inning for the Blue Jays...
Via Holdout Sports
April 02, 2014 | Discuss
Toronto Blue Jays: 3 up and 3 down
Toronto Blue Jays: 3 up and 3 downIf you're the Toronto Blue Jays, what do you do one year after having the most talked about off-season in baseball, entering 2013 as a favorite to win the AL East only to walk away in October having won 74 games and finishing dead-last in the division? Blow up the team? Trade for missing pieces? Sign a big name in free agency? If you're Alex...
Via isportsweb.com
March 04, 2014 | Discuss
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Don't wait until Spring to start your baseball training. Now is the time to break those bad habits and instill the good ones. It's all about muscle memory and it's not just any swing to make you into a great hitter, it's the right swing. Contact our baseball academy today and see why athletes of all ages and skill levels come to reach their maximum baseball potential!
D1 Sports Academy is a premier baseball training facility offering year–round baseball and softball instruction. Our facility is designed to give players of all ages a place to work out, hone their baseball and softball skills, and grow their love for the game. We teach the highest level of instruction with a simple approach by which all players of every skill level can learn and understand the degree of discipline and dedication necessary to excel on and off the ball field. Our goal is to educate and inspire each and every player who enters our facility.
If you are looking to take your game to the next level, or if you are just looking to develop a foundation of sound fundamentals, D1 is the place for you.
10U-14U Tryouts 2015
Rescheduled due to weather
WHEN: February 21 - 3PM
WHERE: Roseville High School Baseball FieldsDownload Tryout Flyer
Baseball Training Classes
Speed, Strength, & Agility Program Starting March 2nd, 2015Download Program Flyer


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Warren Smith spent a day... Pictures
Warren Smith spent a day this week making three gallons of chili for a fundraiser for the Edmond Evening Lions Club. The club is celebrating its 50th anniversary. PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
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Pronunciation: prophétie
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Pronunciation in French [fr]
- Pronunciation by NIKLA (Male from France)
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What is this begonia in the front? How to grow it?
It is easy to keep indoors?
Posted by hcmcdole z7 (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 17:47
Wow, you have so many wonderful begonias! Your silver queen is beautiful:) I must have one soon.
One question:
The begonia in the first post appears to have the same pattern on leaves. However, the begonia in the first post seems to have metallic (reflex light like tinfoil) green parts. In comparison, the corresponding green parts of silver queen seem to be not metallic.
The plant in the first post also appears to be extremely large with larger leaves. Hmm ... I am just wondering.
I do believe the first picture was taken with a flash which will cause some of the reflections (also light up some areas of begonias that appear blue). The first one may be bigger but hard to tell without some kind of "yardstick". I still believe it is 'Silver Queen'. Here is what it looked like in warmer temps. The lens cap is 72 mm (about 3 inches) for comparison.
Nothing too magical about care. I use Miracle Gro potting mix but any good quality mix will do you fine. Indoors I grow under shop lights just to keep them happy during winter. In summer I move them out to a semi-shady location and keep them watered. Even during this summer of lots of rain, pots dry out faster than the ground so watering may be a daily occurrence. I don't fertilize religiously in summer but new potting soil with slow release granules helps tremendously. The biggest thing I have to watch for is a clogged drainage hole when water is standing in the pot - this must be corrected as soon as it is noticed else the plant may start rotting very early.
Posted by hcmcdole z7 (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Tue, Aug 6, 13 at 16:48
I bought a few before. The soil in pot never dried out and the plant was simply not growing. They appeared to have root rot and root dry-out intermittently. They never grew new leaf successfully. They always decline and die :( Of course, the climate was very dry and hot. The water was salt-softened. The soil was not sterile, and filled with active fungus, etc.


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April 5 to April 10
We will be closed for Passover and Easter Sunday, April 5 and also Friday, April 10.
April 19, 2015 at 4:00 PM
Please join us for Yom HaShoah, the annual community remembrance for the Six Million Jews…
April 28, 2015 at 5:30 PM
Reservations now being accepted for the Annual Dinner of Tribute!
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The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida · 851 N Maitland Ave · Maitland, FL 32751 · Phone: 407-628-0555 · firstname.lastname@example.com


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BPL Community Profile
Link . (annapurna) - BPL Lifetime Member
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Showing 271 - 280 of 1956 | Page: 1 ...19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 ...196
Re: WTB Ultralight tent, pack, sleeping bag & trekking poles
What sizes on the pack and sleeping bag ?
Re: video
Here are video reviews of the TT double rainbow and the six moon deigns lunar duo before forum member Wallace and his wife set out for their AT hike , it shows the amount of room inside each . They...
Re: Jam 50/70
Are you considering these packs for you trip ? Are you sure a frameless pack is what you really want for the weights you are talking about carrying .
Re: This is my wilderness pack
Did you read the article ? The key to making 624 miles in 24 days carrying only one bag of food was carrying very little of anything else, and making darn sure what we did carry was very light. ...
Re: Re: RE:This is my wilderness pack
Bunta, I have given you many links to articles including the trip David mentions in his post above ( The Arctic 1000 ) so that you could try to see what other people have done . Look at my posts ye...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE:This is my wilderness pack
You are doing about 70% off trail and you are not sure you can make great use of maps ? Sounds dangerous . From your 6th post on this thread: "Not sure i can make great use of maps,but wil...
Re: Re: Re: RE:This is my wilderness pack
Where in Greece will you be starting and will you be going on a trail or will it be an off trail journey?
Re: WTB: Zpacks 10 Degree Sleeping Bag
any particular size or width or type of down ?
Re: Katabatic sleeping quilt
Any particular model or length ( short, regular or long ) , regular or wide width , 900 fill or water resistant down ?
Re: Re: Re: This is my wilderness pack
Will you be on a trail or off trail ?
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Your Santa Ana Apartments Search Guide
California culture fans rejoice, because there is one city in town that has more museums, theaters and other artistic locales than you could possibly ever shake a stick at, and that town is called Santa Ana. Though Santa Ana has become famous is recent years for its terrifying summer winds, the city is also home to some of the greatest cultural environs in the entire state, and fans of the arts would have to search long and hard for a better variety than you can find here. Santa Ana apartment-ites have more than just culture to keep them occupied, however, they also have numerous other entertainment venues, as well as plenty of shopping spots, parks, and other points of interest.
Santa Ana is a city absolute brimming with artistic flavor, no matter where you tastes my lie. They have numerous art galleries, and even an artist colony for those in the mood for taking in the visual arts, and for the performing arts, they have the OC Pavilion, perfect for taking in a night of drama. For those Santa Ana apartment-ites wanting to take in a bit of California history, the city is full of places where you can walk in the shoes of old settlers, including several historic districts and history museums. For all your shopping needs, you can make your way down to the Main Place Mall, a over 1 million square foot shopping space with everything you could need from upscale goods to fast food. When night falls, the town comes alive with a fire all its own, with sizzling night clubs offering up plenty of space to dance, bars offering up cool, refreshing beers to warm visitors, and even lounges offering upscale luxury and the finest spirits.
Santa Ana apartment-ites looking to take in the arts will find themselves with quite a predicament on their hands, and that's trying to choose from all the great cultural attractions the city has to offer. History, art, and of course a healthy dose of fun, are all at your finger tips in this thriving town....more
Santa Ana Apartments
Official Santa Ana Apartments Prices & Pics for March 31, 2015. Check Availability!
Lake Dianne Apartments Santa Ana CA 92705
1 to 2 bedroom apartments $1325 to $1775
Latitude Apartments Santa Ana CA 92705
1 to 3 bedroom apartments $1375 to $2300
The Marke Apartments Santa Ana CA 92707
1 to 3 bedroom apartments $2136 to $3687
Fairview Green Apartments Santa Ana CA 92704
1 to 3 bedroom apartments $1195 to $1770
Villas at Tustin Apartments Santa Ana CA 92705
1 to 2 bedroom apartments $1260 to $1690
South Coast Racquet Club Apartments Santa Ana CA 92707
1 to 2 bedroom apartments $1288 to $1750
Pacific Woods Apartment Homes Santa Ana CA 92704
1 to 2 bedroom apartments $1295 to $1685
The Islander Apartments Santa Ana CA 92706
1 to 3 bedroom apartments $1350 to $2100
Adagio at South Coast Apartments Santa Ana CA 92707
1 to 2 bedroom apartments $1442 to $1795
Versailles On The Lake Apartments Santa Ana CA 92704
studio to 3 bedroom apartments $1520 to $2495
I love you guys. You have a great selection with tons of pictures and updated rents. Thanks - I found the perfect place. — Jasmine W.
Browse Santa Ana Apartments
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text:
This is part of a set…
I took this directly outside the family run Sognefjord Hotel where we stayed in Leikanger Norway….
This small lighthouse was on the point which is only a couple of minutes walk from the front door of the Hotel.
Click on image to enlarge..
Taken with a Panasonic Lumix G2 using a 14 – 42mm Four Thirds lens with a touch of HDR ( x2 ) using Dynamic Photo HDR.
Larry…this is outstanding!!! Love the little lighthouse and scenery!!! Great capture and composition!!!
Thank you Lorraine…I really had to drag myself away from this location…
You will fall in love with the hotel as well, when you see its interior… I was in awe of the whole place..
.And our balcony view was totally amazing..
– Larry Lingard-Davis
I've always heard Norway is beautiful…
Also Denmark and Sweden…They are also very different from each other…
The first thing we noticed that separated them from each other was their style of housing…
But I loved the whole of Scandinavia…. TO DIE FOR..!!!
– Larry Lingard-Davis
Hai sempre cose carine da dire sulle mie fotografie… Ti amo per questo.
– Larry Lingard-Davis
Beautiful result. Well done. Indeed Norway is a very Beautifu country. I was 3.5 years for my work in it.
Thank you my friend…
We are now planning to go back next year to Tromso and The Netherlands to hopefully see the Northern Lights,
as we have missed out for the last three years in a row…We also want to spend more time in Sweden….
– Larry Lingard-Davis
Another beauty Larry !
Keep it up, and I will have to buy you a beer..!!!
– Larry Lingard-Davis
Thank you so much for this great Bonus…
I'm glad you can appreciate it.
– Larry Lingard-Davis
You have just been featured on Scenic Scandinavia!
Feature banner
Way to go João…
It's a shame that you don't get more members uploading, as this is a great group…
– Larry Lingard-Davis
Wonderful work !!!
Click on the link below to view your feature and congratulate your fellow artists
All About Lighthouses ~ FEATURE GALLERY ~ November 5th, 2013
Congratulations! Your work is beautiful!
View your feature in our amazing gallery here
Jan 2014
Thanks so much Tori…
Really appreciated…
– Larry Lingard-Davis


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What an opportunity! Join K&L Wine Merchants on Tuesday, October 22nd at the St. Regis in San Francisco (125 3rd Street) from 6pm until 8pm for an exclusive tasting featuring the Istituto Grandi Marchi - 19 of Italy's most important wineries and families that characterize the Italian winemaking tradition. Featured wineries include Gaja, Umani Ronchi, Rivera, Tasca d'Almerita, Sassicaia, Pio Cesare, Ca' del Bosco, Alois Lageder, Donna Fugata, Masi Agricola, Lungarotti, Antinori and more. This is a great opportunity to meet the owners and principles of all of the 19 brands that capture the quality and diversity of Italian wines. Purchase now!
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
The item you have chosen is not in stock in our retail stores or within our main
RWC Friday Tasting
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Whistle Pig bottle signing with Mr. Whiskey - Dave Pickerell @ K&L Hollywood, March 14th, 2015 - 12-2pm
Grand Bordeaux Tasting - Hollywood Oct. 25th, 2014 4:30-6:00 p.m.


text:
Pronunciation: родословието
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Pronunciation in Bulgarian [bg]
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- Random word: неукротим
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родословието = genealogy
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Hit The Links With Fairway to Speedway Offer
Talladega Superspeedway is encouraging race fans traveling to Alabama for the Aaron's Dream Weekend to bring their golf clubs and hit the links on the legendary Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail (RTJ). The new Fairway to Speedway offer gets race fans two tickets to the Aaron's 499 and two rounds of golf playable at 9 of the 11 RTJ championship golf courses for only $200, a savings up to 25% off peak prices.
"Talladega Superspeedway and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail are nationally recognized venues in the great state of Alabama," said Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey. "It's only natural that we combine the strength of our two great brands to welcome visitors from around the country with the Fairway to Speedway offer. Free overnight parks open on Tuesday of race week, leaving race fans Wednesday and Thursday to play golf and enjoy some of the wonderful attractions our state offers. Friday through Sunday can be all about enjoying the thrill of Talladega Superspeedway."
Golf rounds are valid at all Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses, with the exception of Ross Bridge and Lakewood.
To order the Fairway to Speedway package, race fans can call 1-877-Go2-DEGA or visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com.
In 2009, Talladega Superspeedway proudly celebrates forty years of the most competitive racing in NASCAR. While the track has seen changes made to the cars that circle its high-banks, the surface that they race on and the grandstands that thousands of fans fill twice a year, one constant remains; Talladega Superspeedway is authentic NASCAR racing at its finest.
Race fans should make plans now to experience part of Talladega's history in 2009 during the triple-header, Aaron's Dream Weekend, April 24-26, featuring the ARCA RE/MAX Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. For tickets, visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 1-877-Go2-DEGA. For our hearing impaired guests, please call TDD 1-866-ISC-TRAK (1-866-472-8725). Tickets also are available in person by visiting the Talladega Superspeedway Ticket Office from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. CDT, Monday- Friday.
- Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty!
- "Unrestricted" VIP Package Offers Fans Unmatched Access To Talladega Superspeedway's GEICO 500/ Winn-Dixie 300
- "Two for $88" Dale Jr. Ticket Package Back by Popular Demand for Talladega Superspeedway's GEICO 500, May 3
- ARMY National Guard Preforms Tradition at Talladega Superspeedway with Seven-Mile Foot March
- Celebrity Judges Named for Alabama Wild Game Cook-Off at Talladega Superspeedway This Saturday, February 7


text:
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" Summary
- The narrator is intensely nervous, but claims that he isn't insane.
- The narrator explains to us that he has a "disease" that makes his "senses" super powerful. According to him, this is different than an insane person, whose senses are completely gone, or at least very weak.
- "Hearing" is the narrator's most intensified sense, and claims to be able to hear everything going on in "heaven," "earth," and most of what's going on in "hell."
- Now, the narrator will further prove his sanity by telling the following story.
- (Note: When the narrator says "Hearken!" he means listen up.)
- The narrator's story begins with an "idea," an idea that turns into an obsession. (He doesn't yet reveal to us what this idea is.)
- There's no reason for it. In fact, the narrator "loved the old man," who has always been really cool. It isn't about the old man's money either.
- See, the narrator thinks it might have been the old man's freaky eye that started the idea: "He had the eye of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it" (2).
- Whenever the old man's eye looks at the narrator, the narrator's blood freezes.
- This has gotten to be too much for the narrator to handle. He decides that the old man had to die, so the narrator won't have to ever see the eye again.
- Now the narrator begins defending his sanity again.
- This time the argument is that insane people don't have any knowledge or skill, whereas the narrator plans everything well and is extremely careful.
- (In the text, "foresight" means you can predict things, or see them before they happen. "Dissimilation" means acting a certain way to hide the true feelings.)
- The narrator is super-sweet to the old man all week before the killing goes down.
- Each night of the week, at almost 12am, the narrator goes to the old man's room and cracks the door enough to put in a "a dark lantern" (3).
- The narrator's lantern is lit, but it has plates around it that can be opened and closed to control the amount of light coming out. The narrator has it closed so no light shines out.
- After the lantern, the narrator pokes in his head through the door.
- He's afraid of waking the old man, so it takes an hour for him to stick his head in the room.
- The narrator argues that this is proof that he's not insane. How could the he be insane, he asks, and be so careful at the same time?
- Next, the narrator opens the lantern, just enough to let a tiny bit of light shine on the old man's eye.
- But the narrator can't kill the old man, because he won't open up his eye. See, it's the man's "Evil Eye" the narrator has a problem with, not the man himself.
- Every morning, the narrator comes into the old man's room, and asks him how he slept.
- The old man would have had to be pretty "profound" (deep) to guess that the narrator had been spying on him while he sleeps.
- On the eighth night, the narrator repeats the process, opening the door more carefully than usual.
- He feels at the height of his "power" and can't even believe his own "sagacity."
- ("Sagacity" means quick and clever thinking. It also means an excellent sense of smell. These days, the word is only rarely used in that second way, but considering what the narrator said about his heightened senses, both meanings might apply.)
- Anyhow, the narrator feels intensely that he's going to win this game, and is really enjoying the fact that the old man is asleep and had no idea what the narrator is doing.
- The old man moves in his bed.
- The narrator doesn't draw back. The old man is afraid of "robbers" and keeps his "shutters" closed. The room is so dark that there is no way the old man can see the door opening.
- Just as the narrator gets his head through the door and is about to shine the light, he makes a little noise, and the old man jumps up and says, "Who's there?"
- So the narrator doesn't move for an hour. The man must still be sitting up, listening ("hearkening") to "the death watches in the wall" (4).
- ("Death watches" are beetles that often live in tunnels they make inside of walls. They hit their heads on the tunnel walls to attract mates. For more info, click here.)
- Then the narrator hears a "groan of mortal terror" (5). He knows it's a groan of terror because the narrator groans like that, too.
- He feels sorry for the man, but is laughing inside, knowing the old man is scared out of his mind and had been trying to convince himself there is nothing to fear.
- But, according to the narrator, the man knows there really is something to fear, and knows he's about to die.
- The narrator waits and waits, and then decides to open his lantern just a little bit. He opens it "stealthily" (that is, "sneakily") and then trains the beam on the man's "vulture eye" (6).
- It's open. The eye is open. The narrator gets mad when he sees it. Then he can hear, due to his heightened senses, the old man's heart beating dully.
- So the narrator doesn't move. He just keeps the light shining on the old man's scary eye.
- The heartbeat gets louder and faster as the old man gets more and more scared.
- The narrator reminds us to "mark" (or notice) that he was and still is a nervous person.
- Finally, the noise gets so loud the narrator is afraid the neighbors are going to hear it.
- So the narrator screams, opens the lantern all the way, then jumps into the old man's room.
- The old man only screams one time, and the narrator drags him off the bed and then yanks "the heavy bed over him" (7).
- The narrator smiles. The heartbeat continues, but soon stops. The old man is dead.
- The narrator moves the bed and checks out the body, just to be sure.
- He's definitely dead.
- The narrator says that if you still think he's insane, you won't after hearing what he does with the body.
- First the narrator cuts the arms, legs, and head off the body, then hide the body parts under some loose boards in the floor. ("The scantlings" means the limited space under the floorboards.)
- There isn't even any blood on the floor, because the narrator is too smart for that and cuts up the body in a bathtub.
- By then it's 4am and still dark.
- There's a knock on the door.
- Not worried, the narrator answers the door.
- Three policemen come in. The neighbor heard a scream and thought something bad was going on and called them.
- The narrator tells them he screamed during his sleep. He claims the old man is out of town and invites the officers to search the place, which they do.
- Finally, the narrator takes them to "the old man's chamber" (or bedroom) and even brings in some chairs for them all to sit down.
- The narrator puts his chair on top of the place where the body is hidden.
- The cops aren't suspicious anymore, and the narrator chats with them happily, but soon gets tired and wants them to go away.
- His head is really hurting, and there is "a ringing in [his] ears" (9).
- It gets louder and louder and the narrator talks to try to get rid of the sound. The police officers drone on.
- Uh-oh. The noise isn't coming from the narrator's ears at all.
- As the noise gets louder, the narrator talks more and more wildly. It sounds like the ticking of a watch wrapped up in cloth.
- The policemen don't seem to notice the noise.
- The sound torments the narrator, who starts getting out of control, arguing with the police officers, making wild "gesticulations" (or gestures), pacing, etc.
- But the noise just keeps getting louder.
- The narrator can't take it. He is convinced the police officers know everything and are just toying with him.
- The noise gets so bad the narrator will to do anything to make it stop, and to stop the lying police officers from smiling at him, pretending not to know what's going on.
- So the narrator blurts out, "Villains! [D]issemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! here, here! – It is the beating of his hideous heart!'"
- (To "dissemble" is to pretend not to see or notice something.)
- And that's the end of the narrator's story – his proof that he's not insane.
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REPORT 2 OF THE COUNCIL ON MEDICAL SERVICE (I-01) Transitional Issues in Moving Toward a System of Individually Selected and Owned Health Insurance (Reference Committee A) (December 2001) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Substitute Resolution 116 (I-00) established policy that encourages physicians when setting their fees to take into consideration the out-of-pocket expenses paid by patients under a system of individually selected and owned health insurance (Policy H-165.864, AMA Policy Database). The resolution also called on the AMA to study potential problems in transitioning to a system of individually selected and owned health insurance, including but not limited to the price disadvantage of the individual with a Medical Savings Account (MSA) or other high deductible insurance policy. Council on Medical Service 2 (I-01) addresses two issues in addition to the individual price disadvantage issue raised in Substitute Resolution 116 (I-00): venues for individuals to purchase health insurance prior to the widespread establishment of health insurance marts; and individuals' ability to choose health plans. With respect to the individual's price disadvantage, the Council believes that a number of factors will mitigate the self-paying individual's price disadvantage including: increased access to discounted fees through networks and discount cards; voluntary restraint of physician fees for self- paying patients (per Policy H-390.996); increased market pressure to restrain fees as more patients choose MSAs and other arrangements involving out-of-pocket payments; and physician willingness to offer cash discounts in order to bypass submitting insurance claims. The report also summarizes factors to be considered in assessing how much flexibility physicians have in determining and varying fees individuals. Regarding the second issue of immediate venues for individuals to purchase health insurance, the Council believes that reasonable options already exist for most individuals to purchase coverage, provided that tax credits are appropriately structured. In the view of the Council, there is cause for qualified optimism about the individual market. The Council also recognizes that special measures are needed to address the needs of individuals with chronic illness or disability, who might otherwise have difficulty obtaining coverage outside the employment-based system. Extensive AMA policy supports high-risk pools and other approaches that both protect special populations and permit insurance markets to function properly. As for the third issue, individuals' ability to choose health plans, the Council notes that individuals rather than employers already make numerous complex decisions regarding such issues as education, life insurance, and retirement savings. The Council believes people will quickly become accustomed to choosing their health plans, just as they have become accustomed to choosing 401(k) options and long-distance telephone service, particularly since support for making informed health plan choices is becoming ever-more available. The Council recognizes that the transition to a system of individually selected and owned health insurance will not be entirely smooth. However, the Council believes that transition problems will not be as daunting as some fear. Naturally occurring market responses, some already under way, will go a long way towards addressing the three potential transition issues discussed in this report. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL ON MEDICAL SERVICE CMS Report 2 - I-01 (December 2001) Subject: Transitional Issues in Moving Toward a System of Individually Selected and Owned Health Insurance Presented by: F. Maxton "Mac" Mauney, MD, Chair Referred to: Reference Committee A Arthur R. Traugott, MD, Chair 1 At the 2000 Interim Meeting, the House of Delegates adopted Substitute Resolution 116, which 2 established policy that encourages physicians when setting their fees to take into consideration the 3 out-of-pocket expenses paid by patients under a system of individually selected and owned health 4 insurance (Policy H-165.864, AMA Policy Database). The resolution also called on the AMA to 5 study the potential problems in transitioning to a system of individually selected and owned health 6 insurance, including but not limited to the price disadvantage of the individual with a Medical 7 Savings Account (MSA) or other high-deductible insurance policy. The Board of Trustees referred 8 the requested study to the Council on Medical Service for a report back at the 2001 Interim 9 Meeting. The following report addresses two issues in addition to the individual price 10 disadvantage raised in Substitute Resolution 116 (I-00): venues for individuals to purchase health 11 insurance prior to the widespread establishment of health insurance marts; and individuals' ability 12 to choose health plans. 13 14 THE INDIVIDUAL'S PRICE DISADVANTAGE 15 16 Recent media reports suggest that uninsured patients typically face higher fees for medical services 17 than insured patients. Not only are uninsured patients subject to paying fees out-of-pocket, but also 18 physicians charge higher fees to the uninsured than they charge insurers for the same services. The 19 discrepancy arises from the fee discounts that managed care insurers have negotiated with 20 physicians over the last 10 to 15 years. Like the uninsured, patients with traditional indemnity 21 (fee-for-service) insurance pay for services out-of-pocket until they reach their deductibles, and 22 even after reaching their deductibles, they may initially pay out-of-pocket. The uninsured and 23 those with traditional indemnity insurance fall outside the managed care system, thus lacking the 24 leverage to negotiate fee discounts. 25 26 Historically, it was the norm for patients to pay physicians directly out-of-pocket because they 27 either had no health insurance or had indemnity coverage, and it was common for physicians to 28 charge patients on a sliding-scale basis. More recently, a variety of factors have reduced the scope 29 for physicians to reduce or waive fees for individual patients. Deeper and deeper fee discounts to 30 managed care insurers, obtained unilaterally in many instances, have created financial pressures 31 that hinder physicians from reducing fees for patients who pay out-of-pocket. The trend toward 32 larger group practices has shifted the locus of decision-making about patient fees from individual 33 physicians to group administrators, possibly making it more difficult for individual patients to 34 obtain fee discounts or waivers. In some cases, legal and contractual barriers might also interfere 35 with the use of sliding-scale fees or payments. 36 CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 2 (December 2001) 1 Self-Paying Patients Under a System of Individually Based Insurance 2 3 Patients who lack first-dollar coverage for whatever reason can be classified as "self-paying" 4 because they pay out-of-pocket or out of some sort of individual account. Self-paying patients 5 include those who are uninsured; those with fee-for-service insurance who have not yet reached 6 their deductibles; and those paying for care out of MSAs, flexible savings accounts or individual 7 accounts under other "consumer-directed" health plans. Accordingly, from a practical and a 8 possibly even a legal standpoint, the issue of the individual's price disadvantage applies to all self- 9 paying patients. 10 11 There is a concern that the self-paying individual's price disadvantage will discourage the adoption 12 of MSAs and similar insurance products, thereby impeding acceptance and development of a 13 system of individually based health insurance. Although it would be possible in principle to have 14 an individually based system without MSA-type coverage, a large part of the rationale for such a 15 system is individual freedom of choice in coverage. Further, AMA policy supports patient cost- 16 consciousness not only in purchasing coverage but also in purchasing health care, and MSA-type 17 products promote cost-consciousness at this level. 18 19 Legal and Contractual Barriers to Offering Discounts to Self-Paying Patients 20 21 Although not required by law, many physicians for purposes of administrative simplicity 22 effectively have a single fee schedule used to bill for services to all patients. It is not unusual, 23 however, for physicians to accept payments less than billed amounts, particularly for financially 24 disadvantaged patients. It is unlikely that occasional granting of discounts or waivers to low- 25 income patients would be seen as a violation of any legal or contractual requirements. From the 26 perspective of implementing the AMA proposal for individually based insurance, the main issue is 27 how much latitude a physician has to offer a discount to a non-indigent patient who is paying out- 28 of-pocket because he or she has MSA-type coverage and has not reached the deductible (assuming 29 that the physician has not entered into a preferred provider or other agreement with the patient's 30 insurer that would specify negotiated fees to be paid by the patient). The degree of flexibility the 31 physician has appears to depend largely on the following factors: 32 33 Medicare and Medicaid rates in the physician's locality; 34 Payment provisions of contracts the physician has entered into with private insurers; 35 How low the discount is relative to payments collected from other payors; 36 How routinely discounts are offered to self-pay patients; 37 The proportion of the physician's business made up of services to self-pay patients; 38 Whether the patient pays in cash or is billed; and 39 State Medicaid laws and other state laws. 40 41 In 1987, a federal law was enacted prohibiting physicians from billing Medicare or Medicaid 42 "substantially in excess" of their usual charge (US Code Title 42, Section 1320a-7[b][6][A]). 43 Since 1992–when the old Medicare charge-based payment system was replaced with a Medicare 44 fee schedule determined through a resource based relative value scale (RBRVS), and physicians 45 were to be paid the lower of their actual charge or the fee-schedule amount–federal officials have 46 issued conflicting statements about whether the 1987 law still applies. Most recently, the Office of 47 the Inspector General and the final rule on the fraud and abuse provisions contained in the Health CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 3 (December 2001) 1 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, have taken the position that physicians are 2 still prohibited from collecting more from Medicare than they usually accept from private payors. 3 In theory, providing discounts to individuals could result in a physician being barred from 4 participation in Medicare and Medicaid. At present, this scenario is unlikely given that the law was 5 clearly never intended to discourage fee discounts to low-income or uninsured patients, and that the 6 physician would have to charge a large portion of his or her fees substantially below Medicare and 7 Medicaid rates in the physician's locality. In the future, however, the proportion of a physician's 8 patients who had MSA-type products and who were not necessarily low-income could become 9 large enough to trigger concerns about violating the law, if such patients routinely paid less than 10 Medicare and Medicare rates, and if the physician did not reduce charges to Medicare and 11 Medicaid accordingly. 12 13 Certain contractual agreements between physicians and private insurers may pose a more 14 immediate impediment to offering discounts to self-paying patients. Although payment for 15 physician services under most private-sector contracts is determined by fee schedules or the 16 RBRVS, a relatively small number of contracts are still based on "uniform, customary, 17 (prevailing), and reasonable" (UCR) physician payment methodologies. Under such agreements, 18 the insurer agrees to pay a discounted amount of the physician's UCR fee as determined by some 19 algorithm or guidelines specified in the contract. A problem could arise, however, if the UCR fees 20 reported to the insurer do not factor in lower amounts accepted from self-paying patients. 21 Similarly, routinely offering discounts to patients with MSA-type coverage could potentially be 22 construed as de facto establishment of a separate fee-schedule for such patients. Furthermore, 23 physicians who have signed "most favored nation" contracts might be in violation of their contracts 24 if the payments from self-paying patients are below the fees charged to a "most favored nation" 25 insurer. The extent to which payments from self-paying patients factored into UCR, "most favored 26 nation," and similar arrangements also could depend on whether the payments were billed or made 27 on a cash basis. Depending on the exact contract language, cash discounts to self-paying patients 28 might be treated differently from billed payments, especially given that cash discounts reduce the 29 administrative costs associated with services. 30 31 State laws, including Medicaid laws, also could impact physicians offering discounts to self-paying 32 patients. For example, in 1998 California enacted legislation authorizing physicians and other 33 health care providers to grant discounts to patients who do not have any private or public coverage 34 for the services provided. The law explicitly overrides provisions in contracts between physicians 35 and private insurers, and prohibits insurers from factoring cash payments made by such individuals 36 into UCR calculations or counting them as "most favored nation" fees. The law applies to 37 individuals who are not eligible for "insurance reimbursement" for "the health or medical care 38 provided" and makes no mention of income. Thus, depending on the specific policy provisions of 39 the MSA-type plan, the law would likely apply to the self-paying patient before he or she has 40 reached the deductible. It should be noted, however, that the California law is unusual if not 41 unique, and that physicians practicing in other states do not generally have explicit flexibility to 42 vary fees to self-paying individuals free of UCR and "most favored nation" considerations. 43 44 Relevant AMA Policy 45 46 AMA policy promotes cost-conscious health coverage choice through fixed-dollar, refundable tax 47 credits for individual purchase of health coverage (Policies H-165-920[12] and H-165.865[1f]) and 48 through employer defined contributions toward employee-selected health coverage (Policies H- CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 4 (December 2001) 1 165.881, H-165.895, H-165.890, H-40.969, H-164.920[3], and H-165.889). AMA policy also 2 encourages patient cost-consciousness at the level of day-to-day health care consumption through 3 MSAs and other mechanisms that involve having patients pay for medical care directly out-of- 4 pocket and/or allow patients to retain control over unspent funds in individual accounts (Policies 5 H-165.869; H-165.879; H-180.957; H-165.920[7], [8], and [16]; H-165.865; H-185.982; and H- 6 165.894). 7 8 Several AMA policies bear upon the issue of fees paid directly by patients to physicians (Policies 9 H-165.864, H-380.996, H-380.994, H-185.983, H-165.884, H-385.991, H-385.990, H-380.985, and 10 H-385.986). These policies generally advocate for physicians' freedom to establish fees and to 11 balance bill. As noted previously, Policy H-165.864 encourages physicians when setting their fees 12 to take into consideration the out-of-pocket expenses paid by patients under a system of 13 individually selected and owned health insurance. Policy H-380.996 favors continued commitment 14 to programs for voluntary restraint of physician fees. Policy H-380.994 affirms the basic right of 15 each physician to set reasonable and appropriate fees, and to selectively reduce or waive fees on the 16 basis of courtesy or charity. Policy H-385.990[3] encourages physicians to volunteer fee 17 information to patients and to discuss fees in advance of services, where feasible. Additionally, 18 Policy H-385.935 opposes granting Medicare "most favored nations" status by interpreting "actual 19 charge" as meaning the negotiated rates a physician obtains from a private third-party payor or any 20 other source. Similarly, Policy H-385.938 opposes insurance contract "most favored nation" 21 clauses that require a physician or other health care provider to give the third-party payor his most 22 discounted rate for medical services. 23 24 Factors Mitigating the Individual's Price Disadvantage 25 26 Several factors are likely to mitigate the individual's price disadvantage under an individually 27 based system. Foremost, self-paying patients increasingly have access to discounted fees. MSAs 28 and other consumer-directed insurance plans may be accompanied by networks through which 29 patients can obtain services at negotiated discounts. For example, in Pennsylvania, First MSA, Inc. 30 has arranged a network of over 16,000 physicians, 150 hospitals, and 40 ambulatory centers, as 31 well as laboratories, and pharmacies. For enrollees who do not opt for access to the network, or for 32 patients going out of network, First MSA offers coaching on determining reasonable fees and on 33 negotiating with providers. Even the uninsured can have access to health care at discounted fees 34 through a new breed of companies offering "medical discount cards." Companies such as 35 HealthAllies and Care Entrée set up provider networks for the uninsured and underinsured. 36 Patients pay their own bills but they receive discounted fees because the company has negotiated 37 for them as a group or purchased preferred provider lists. 38 39 Other factors that will mitigate the individual's price disadvantage, perhaps only modestly in the 40 short run, are voluntary restraint of physician fees charged to individuals as supported by Policy H- 41 380.996, and increasing market pressure to restrain fees to individuals as more people choose 42 MSAs and other arrangements involving out-of-pocket payments. Although an individually based 43 system might indeed put patients and physicians across the proverbial negotiating table from each 44 other, explicit negotiations will not necessarily occur between individual physicians and patients or 45 at every encounter, particularly in the presence of uniform billing requirements. Rather, physicians 46 will increasingly have to take self-paying patients into account when determining fees. Eventually, 47 as price information disseminates and online and other systems for providing such information 48 develop, the time and discomfort of fee negotiations will lessen. Another factor favoring adoption CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 5 (December 2001) 1 of MSA-type products is that many physicians will be eager to offer self-paying patients cash 2 discounts in order to bypass the costs, hassles, and delays of submitting insurance claims. 3 IMMEDIATE VENUES FOR INDIVIDUALS TO PURCHASE INSURANCE 4 5 As outlined in Council on Medical Service Report 3 (A-01), the market for health insurance is 6 expected to eventually transform along several dimensions including: new venues for purchasing 7 health insurance, particularly group coverage; containment of premium prices due to competitive 8 pressures; and expanded range of product offerings, including low-premium options such as MSAs. 9 AMA policy encourages the formation of health insurance marts (i.e., voluntary choice 10 cooperatives) as alternative venues for pooling risk beyond employment-based groups (Policies H- 11 165.882[14] and [15] and H-165.895[3]), and Council on Medical Service Report 5 (A-99) 12 reviewed existing employer health insurance purchasing alliances that could serve as prototypes for 13 health insurance marts. 14 15 A potential problem in transitioning to a system of individually based health insurance is the 16 question of where individuals, newly equipped with tax credits and defined contributions, would 17 purchase coverage prior to such market transformations. If tax credits are initially introduced for a 18 limited segment of the population (e.g., the working uninsured), the transformation of health 19 insurance markets will not be as rapid or pervasive as under more general reform (i.e., replacing the 20 tax exclusion with tax credits). Until the full-fledged development of health insurance marts, even 21 individuals of below-average expected cost could face higher premiums on the individual market 22 than under employment-based coverage, due to the loss of administrative savings from group 23 purchasing. Even after the transition to an individually based system, people with chronic or high- 24 cost conditions might have difficulty obtaining coverage without special assistance. 25 26 Recent Studies of the Individual Market 27 28 Two common misconceptions about an individually based system are that insurance would not be 29 purchased through groups and that all individuals would face strictly risk-rated premiums. 30 Although these notions are mistaken, it is possible that a relatively large number of individuals 31 would purchase coverage on the individual market during a transitional period. Several recent 32 studies consider how well the individual market functions, with particular attention to risk rating 33 and the impact of risk rating on access to coverage. 34 35 Pauly and Herring. Pauly and Herring (1999) examined risk rating of premiums using data from 36 1987, prior to the widespread adoption of state regulations on premium rating and terms of issue. 37 Their study focused specifically on the question of whether employment-based group insurance is 38 more effective than individual insurance at cross-subsidization from low-risk to high-risk 39 individuals, i.e., by charging group premiums that are higher than the expected costs of low-risk 40 individuals and less than the expected costs of high-risk individuals. Although they found 41 premiums in the individual market to be generally high, they found that the differences in cross- 42 subsidization between the individual and group markets to be much less than commonly believed. 43 They also found that, although individual-market premiums for a given level of coverage vary 44 considerably, the variation is far from proportional to risk. Specifically, people with estimated 45 expected costs twice the average pay premiums only about 20-40% higher for a given policy. 46 Further, in contrast with the Kaiser Family Foundation findings discussed below, premiums do not 47 appear to vary with the presence of high-risk chronic conditions. 48 CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 6 (December 2001) 1 Kaiser Family Foundation and Commonwealth Fund. A recent study by the Kaiser Family 2 Foundation (KFF) found that individuals with even relatively minor health conditions sometimes 3 face higher premiums, restricted benefits or outright rejection by insurers (Pollitz, Sorian, and 4 Thomas, 2001). In the study, hypothetical people applied for health insurance with specified cost 5 sharing features (a $500 deductible and a $20 co-payment per physician office visit). Each of the 6 six individuals and one family with conditions ranging from hay fever to HIV-positive status 7 applied to multiple insurers in eight different markets across the country, all in states with few 8 restrictions on premium rating or terms of issue. The study found that, compared to employment- 9 based coverage, individual insurance tends to provide limited coverage of maternity services, 10 mental health care, and prescription drug medications; and that applicants for individual coverage 11 are less likely to be offered a policy if they've been previously rejected, making comparison 12 shopping a risky prospect. 13 14 A similar study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund found that adults aged 50 to 64 face 15 individual-market premiums two to four times higher than premiums (for the same benefits) for 25- 16 year-olds, and that they face higher out-of-pocket premium payments than their peers with 17 employment-based coverage (Simantov, Schoen, and Bruegman, 2001). Premiums were found to 18 climb steeply with age: nearly half of older adults with individual-market coverage pay annual 19 premiums over $2,000, and the median cost for a 60-year old is nearly $6,000. The conclusion of 20 the two studies was that commonly proposed individual tax credits (e.g., $1,000 for individuals and 21 $2,000 for families) would be insufficient to make coverage affordable for many low-to-moderate 22 income people, particularly for those whose age, geographic location, or health status make 23 insurance relatively expensive. 24 25 Families USA. A 2001 study by Families USA concluded that a $1,000 tax credit for individuals 26 would not be enough to purchase "standard" coverage on the individual market, and that even with 27 the tax credit, "standard" coverage would be unaffordable for most low income individuals. The 28 study used two hypothetical applicants, age 25 and 50, both healthy, non-smoking females. The 29 applicants sought coverage in 25 states, primarily through eHealthInsurance.com and 30 QuoteSmith.com, two online health insurance brokers. Two types of plans were sought: a plan 31 costing $1,000 and a "standard" plan comparable to the most popular plan in the Federal 32 Employees Health Benefits Program, the FEHBP Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO. The study found 33 that in many states $1,000 plans were unavailable, particularly for the 55-year-old applicant, and 34 that available $1,000 plans provided "substandard" or "deficient" coverage (i.e., fewer benefits 35 and/or higher cost-sharing than the FEHPB BC/BS PPO plan). "Standard" plans were found to be 36 more widely available but more expensive, averaging $2,395 for the 25-year-old and $4,734 for the 37 55-year-old. Compared to the healthy applicants studied, applicants with health conditions would 38 find coverage to be less available and more expensive. 39 40 eHealthInsurance. A 2001 by eHealthInsurance.com, the largest online broker of individual health 41 insurance, refutes the perception that individual-market premiums are unaffordable. Based on a 42 sample of 20,000 policies recently sold through the company, the study found individual-market 43 coverage to be comprehensive, affordable, and widely available. The 20,000 single and family 44 policies sold were for 7,000 different health plans offered by over 70 insurers (including Blue 45 Cross/Blue Shield) in 42 states covering 95% of the U.S. population. Eighty-seven percent of the 46 policies purchased had coverage at least comparable to Medicare Parts A and B plus some level of 47 Medicare supplemental coverage (Medigap), most of these (85%) with some drug coverage. 48 Average per-person annual premiums–$1,200 to $1,500–were far lower than in the KFF and CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 7 (December 2001) 1 Commonwealth Fund studies. The eHealthInsurance study concluded that proposed tax credits 2 would substantially offset premium costs and significantly reduce the number of uninsured 3 Americans. Refundable tax credits of $1,000 per individual and $2,500 per family would fully 4 cover premiums of half of the policies studied, and would cover at least 75% of 75% of the policies 5 studied. 6 7 Pauly, Song, and Herring. Pauly, Song, and Herring (2001) used a variety of approaches to study 8 health insurance premiums in the individual market and the possible impact of a $1,000 individual 9 tax credit on the likelihood of purchasing insurance. To study the likely beneficiaries of a targeted 10 tax credit, people without employment-based coverage, the authors used data on both those who 11 purchased individual market coverage and the uninsured. They also used data on both actual 12 premiums and premium quotes from eHealthInsurance.com. The authors point out that average 13 premium quotes overestimate premiums of policies actually bought because a rational buyer who 14 has obtained multiple premium quotes will choose coverage toward the low end of the range, not 15 the plan with the average or median price. With this in mind, they estimate annual premiums on 16 the individual market for comprehensive indemnity, PPO or HMO plans with annual deductibles 17 under $1,000. They found premiums to range from about $700 to $4,000. Premiums for the 18 median individual were estimated to be in the $1,400 to $1,800 range. Their findings indicate that 19 a $1,000 tax credit would fully cover the premium for approximately one-fourth of individuals and 20 would cover at least half the premium for about two-thirds of individuals (only somewhat less 21 optimistic than the eHealthInsurance findings). Based on estimated premiums, the authors 22 simulated the percentage of eligible individuals purchasing health insurance under a $1,000 tax 23 credit. The simulated take up rates were highly sensitive to methodology and assumptions about 24 individual purchasing behavior, with the most reasonable assumptions yielding take up rates in the 25 50% to 75% range. 26 27 Analysis of Individual Market Studies 28 29 How can such divergent conclusions about the state of the individual market--and the prospects for 30 individual tax credits--be reconciled? The answer lies to some extent in different research 31 questions, methods, and empirical findings, but also to some extent in different inclinations to call 32 the glass "half empty" rather than "half full." For instance, the Commonwealth Fund study 33 reported that nearly half of all older adults pay annual premiums of more than $2,000 on the 34 individual market, rather than reporting the more remarkable finding that over half of all older 35 adults pay less than $2,000 per year for individual coverage. Similarly, the Families USA study 36 reported that in six of 25 states, no $1,000 plans were available for a healthy, non-smoking 25- 37 year-old woman, rather than that $1,000 plans were available in 76% of the states surveyed (and 38 28% of states for the 55-year-old). Likewise, there is nothing surprising about the fact that 39 premiums vary on the basis of age, gender, health history, and geographic location; that premiums 40 are higher in the individual market than in the group market; or that insurers sometimes impose 41 benefit limitations based on pre-existing conditions (a practice not uncommon even for 42 employment-based coverage). The more surprising finding, consistent across studies, is that the 43 approach to setting premiums (i.e., medical underwriting) varies widely across insurers, as do 44 premiums offered by different insurers, even for the same individual. Thus, it pays to shop around 45 for coverage in the individual market. 46 47 Although the KFF study emphasized the low percentage of all applications accepted (63%), the 48 relevant unit of analysis is the applicant. Independent analysis of the study data by the AMA's CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 8 (December 2001) 1 Center for Health Policy Research shows that most applicants obtained coverage in most markets. 2 Four of seven applicants found coverage without pre-existing condition limitations in all eight 3 markets studied, albeit two-thirds of the time with increased premiums or cost-sharing 4 requirements. Remarkably, a seven-year breast cancer survivor got "clean offers" (with premiums 5 the same as if she had a history of perfect health) in all markets. On average, applicants found 6 coverage without pre-existing condition limitations in 73% of markets (excluding the HIV-positive 7 applicant, who was rejected by all insurers, brings this figure up to 85%). 8 9 A closer look at the data also paints a somewhat different picture about premiums relative to 10 proposed tax credits. The KFF study found that, for single individuals, a tax credit of $1,000 11 would cover only 25% of the average premium offer ($3,996). Because the data is skewed towards 12 high-cost individuals, a more meaningful statistic is the percentage of average premiums covered 13 for the average applicant–a more generous 37%. (For comparison, the existing tax exclusion 14 covers 20% of the typical working insured's premium, assuming a 25% marginal tax rate and an 15 80% employer share of the premium.) Proposed tax credits would go even further than these 16 calculations imply because applicants can, and usually do, choose plans with premiums below the 17 average premium offered–as noted by Pauly, Song, and Herring. In addition, both the KFF and 18 Commonwealth Foundation studies focused on single individuals, whereas per-person premium 19 costs are generally lower for those with family coverage. 20 21 Finally, compared to the KFF, Commonwealth Fund, and Families USA studies, the 22 eHealthInsurance and Pauly, Song, and Herring studies found lower premiums, and the Pauly and 23 Herring study found less individual risk-rating. The major source of discrepancy in premiums 24 between the eHealthInsurance and Families USA studies most likely arises from different health 25 plans studied; eHealthInsurance premiums were based on a range of plans purchased by 26 individuals, whereas the Families USA premiums were based on a defined "standard" plan, i.e., the 27 FEHBP BC/BS PPO. Despite the Families USA assertion that this "standard" plan meets "the 28 public's perception of a basic, decent health insurance plan," it is actually quite generous, with 29 features such as 75% coverage for out-of-network office visits, zero cost-sharing for maternity 30 care, 75% coverage for prescription drugs (greater coverage if purchased by mail), $15 copayments 31 for in-network mental health care office visits with no limit on the number of visits, and an annual 32 out-of-pocket limit of $3,000. Another source of discrepancy in premiums is the fact that the 33 eHealthInsurance study was based on policies actually purchased, whereas the KFF and 34 Commonwealth Fund studies looked at multiple policy offers faced by an individual; policies 35 actually purchased tend to be a lower-cost subset of all policies offered. Finally, the 36 eHealthInsurance study might represent a younger, healthier population than the KFF and 37 Commonwealth study populations (i.e., those with less-than-perfect health and those aged 50 to 38 64). Unlike the other studies, the eHealthInsurance report did not provide details about the study 39 population; the degree to which premiums varied with health history and other individual 40 characteristics; or how often applicants were rejected or subject to pre-existing condition 41 limitations. Still, the study, along with the Pauly, Song, and Herring study, provides strong 42 evidence that the individual market can work well for a large portion of the population, and that 43 proposed tax credits would substantially offset premium costs and significantly reduce the number 44 of uninsured Americans. 45 CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 9 (December 2001) 1 Options for Individuals 2 3 In addition to the individual market, several other opportunities exist for individuals to use tax 4 credits or defined contributions to purchase coverage. The eHealthInsurance study demonstrates 5 that the Internet can reduce the premiums of individual insurance by reducing administrative and 6 marketing costs. Internet purchasing of health insurance also serves to restrain prices and enhance 7 quality by giving individuals ready access to price and quality information about competing plans. 8 Access to the Internet varies with factors such as income, education, type of employment, and 9 immigrant status, underscoring the importance of making plan information readily available to all 10 groups. However, it is not necessary for all individuals to seek elaborate plan information in order 11 for health insurance markets to respond for the benefit of all patients. Further, with the increased 12 use of the Internet by individuals to purchase health insurance, the online individual market will 13 increasingly resemble a group market. This is because as more low-to-average-risk individuals 14 switch to Internet-based purchasing, the payoff to insurers of risk rating premiums will diminish, 15 thus preserving cross-subsidies from low- to high-risk individuals. Council on Medical Service 16 Report 5 (A-01) documented the rapid rate of development of virtual health insurance marts 17 already under way. An influx of formerly uninsured individuals equipped with tax credits would 18 accelerate development of online health marts, hastening the transformation of the individual 19 market into an effective group market. 20 21 Another key issue is whether employees with defined contributions can continue to purchase 22 coverage through groups. For example, health economist Uwe Reinhardt distinguishes between the 23 "you're on your own" and "maternal" models of defined contribution systems. The former 24 involves giving people defined contributions (or tax credits) and turning them loose on the 25 individual market, whereas the latter resembles the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program 26 (FEHBP), with a wide choice of pre-screened plans, negotiated group premiums, and extensive 27 support for plan choice and enrollment. The so-called maternal model is already taking place, 28 mostly through Internet-based insurance brokers and plans. 29 30 Some tax credit proposals, including the AMA's, allow individuals to use tax credits toward their 31 share of premiums for employment-based coverage. Depending on the location and individual 32 characteristics, a limited number of individuals have other opportunities to purchase group 33 coverage outside of the employment-based system. A majority of states have high-risk pools with 34 subsidized premiums for those with chronic illness. In a small number of states, private purchasing 35 alliances accept individuals as well as small employment groups. Some policy analysts have even 36 proposed making such private purchasing pools the only venue through which tax credits could be 37 used to purchase coverage (Curtis, Neuschler, and Forland, 2001). In the near future, individuals 38 may be able to buy coverage through state employee purchasing pools or the 39 FEHBP. Tax credits could also be used to buy into public programs such as Medicaid or the State 40 Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). 41 42 Finally, even with widespread eligibility for tax credits and defined contributions, and even after 43 market transformation, individuals with predictably high health costs may need special assistance 44 in order to obtain coverage. Approximately one to two percent of those who apply for private 45 coverage are turned down based on their health status (Frogue and Turner, 2001). As described in 46 Council on Medical Service Report 3 (A-01), AMA policy favors public policies that address the 47 needs of high-risk individuals without undue disruption of health insurance markets for the general 48 population. Policies H-165.920[11] and [15], H-165.995, H-165.988, H-165.882[9], and H- CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 10 (December 2001) 1 165.992[1] support the use of state high-risk pools. Policies H-165.992[1], H-185.968, H-90.995, 2 and H-165.979 support direct premium subsidies or other support for people who are 3 disadvantaged by low income, expensive or chronic illness, or disability. Policies H-165.915 and 4 H-330.933 support the use of risk adjustment and reinsurance in order to make high-risk 5 individuals more attractive to insurers. 6 7 INDIVIDUALS' ABILITY TO CHOOSE HEALTH PLANS 8 9 There have been longstanding concerns that individuals are not equipped to make informed health 10 care plan choices. Indeed, a recent study found that many people lack a basic understanding of 11 even their own managed care plans, e.g., network, cost-sharing, and referral features (Cunningham 12 et al., 2001). On the other hand, individuals rather than employers already make numerous 13 complex decisions regarding education, life insurance, retirement savings, etc. In addition, 14 sophisticated decision-making support regarding health plan choice is available to individuals, with 15 ever-more advanced support forthcoming. 16 17 Research on Decision-Making in Health Plan Choice 18 19 In recent years, considerable effort has been put into developing information and tools to assist 20 individuals in choosing health plans. Efforts have focused on providing consumers with 21 comparative information on plan benefits, costs, and quality, as well as on providing guidance 22 through the decision-making process. The Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set 23 (HEDIS) and the Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Satisfaction (CAHPS) programs were 24 developed to provide information on relative health plan quality. HEDIS and CAHPS measures of 25 plan quality are already being used to assist some employees in plan choice and to assist Medicare 26 beneficiaries in evaluating Medicare+Choice plans. At the state level, efforts have been made to 27 present HEDIS, CAHPS, and other quality information in standardized format (e.g., the Pacific 28 business Group on Health, the New York State HMO Report Card, and the Colorado Health Plan 29 Quality Report). A recent study examined the effect on plan choice of providing supplemental 30 information on expected out-of-pocket costs, in addition to quality and other standard plan 31 information (Schoenbaum et al., 2001). All study participants were given information about plan 32 premiums, patient cost-sharing, and gatekeeping features. Half of the study participants were also 33 provided with information about how much alternative plans might actually cost them depending 34 on their patterns of health care consumption. The study found that the additional cost information 35 significantly changed consumers' choice of health plan, mainly by reducing demand for relatively 36 comprehensive and expensive plans by about 20%. 37 38 A growing body of research in the field of decision-making theory has refined understanding of 39 how consumers approach health plan choice and how to best provide decision-support for plan 40 choice to a variety of consumers. In addition to content, the presentation of plan information 41 influences whether it is used (Hibbard, 1999). For example, grouping plans into meaningful 42 subcategories such as cost strata is more helpful than providing unordered information. Ongoing 43 research is investigating how presentation format (e.g., data tables vs. graphs, measures of specific 44 quality dimensions vs. summary quality measures) affects consumers' ability to accurately take in 45 and utilize plan information. Research has also shown that patients more readily understand 46 information framed as a potential disadvantage rather than a potential advantage, e.g., a downside 47 of managed care plans is reduced access to specialists (Hibbard et al., 2000). Consumers are also 48 more able to absorb new information when it is linked to familiar information (Harris-Kojetin et CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 11 (December 2001) 1 al., 2001). Other research indicates the usefulness of navigational aids such as worksheets and 2 graphics, and of breaking down the decision-making process into discrete steps such as narrowing 3 down plan choices, estimating future health costs, systematically comparing several plan options, 4 and finally choosing the best plan. 5 6 Relevant AMA Policy 7 8 AMA policy supports efforts to assist patients in making informed decisions about health insurance 9 choice and usage (Policies H-165.920[3iii] and [10], H-180.961, H-185.971, H-185.973, H- 10 185.984, and H-405.997). Policy H-165.920[10] encourages the development of programs to assist 11 consumers in making informed choices about sources of individual coverage. Policy H-180-961 12 advocates that all plans use standardized benefit definitions and uniform disclosure formats such as 13 those used by plans participating in the FEHBP. According to Policies H-185.971 and H-185.973, 14 plan literature should explicitly and specifically list exclusions from coverage in order that these 15 are apparent and comparable, as well as explicitly list any limitations in choice of primary care 16 physician or access to specialists. 17 18 Support for Plan Selection 19 20 Already, a variety of resources exist to assist individuals in evaluating, comparing, and choosing 21 among competing health plans. Consumer-friendly information and support is rapidly becoming 22 more available as health plans cater increasingly to individuals rather than employers. Employers 23 who switch to defined contributions–either with multiple plan choices or by contributing fixed- 24 dollar amounts to individual accounts of "consumer directed" health plans–have continued to play 25 a key role in helping employees make informed choices, in some cases redeploying human 26 resources staff to help employees navigate their choices. 27 28 For years, federal employees have obtained comparative information on health plans from health 29 fairs, word-of-mouth, and non-governmental consumer publications geared specifically toward 30 helping them navigate among numerous competing plans. For example, Checkbook's Guide to 31 Health Insurance Plans for Federal Employees: 2001 Edition, an inexpensive paperback widely 32 available at Washington D.C. newsstands and by mail, provides comparative information about 33 every FEHBP plan throughout the country. The impressive array of information about plan costs, 34 special coverage features, and patient satisfaction ratings is made manageable through easy-to-read 35 tables organized by plan type and geographic region. Information on total premium and out-of- 36 pocket costs is presented according to how many family members are covered and alternative 37 scenarios about health care use. The guide also gives advice about how to narrow down the 38 options, how to read plan brochures, and what to do under special circumstances (e.g., if your 39 spouse's employer offers health benefits or you are eligible for Medicare). 40 41 Similarly, Internet software programs can already handle multiple-choice arrangements, assimilate 42 new data, update information instantaneously, display clear price and benefit information, 43 incorporate personal preferences, and compare costs under hypothetical scenarios of health care 44 use. Starting in 1999, members of FEHBP have used an online tool called PlanSmartChoice to 45 help choose plans. PlanSmartChoice asks employees to rate the importance of plan attributes such 46 as cost, access, benefits, and patient satisfaction. Employees are then faced with tradeoffs that 47 force them to choose between plan attributes they have identified as important. On the basis of 48 these answers, the program presents a table of plan details customized to the employee. Eighty- CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 12 (December 2001) 1 three percent of the more than 250,000 users reported that they were either extremely or very 2 satisfied with the tool. The growing number of Internet-based health insurance marts and many 3 large employers have similar decision-support programs, some for choosing physicians and 4 treatments as well as health plans. The Internet health insurance broker Sageo uses a modeling tool 5 that helps consumers consider what type of plan (HMO, PPO, POS) is right for them and rank 6 plans based on personal preferences. The sophistication of these decision-support tools lies in their 7 ability to filter and synthesize what would otherwise be an overwhelming amount of information. 8 9 DISCUSSION 10 11 The Council recognizes that the transition to a system of individually selected and owned health 12 insurance will not be entirely smooth. However, the Council believes that transition problems will 13 not be as daunting as some fear. Naturally occurring market responses, some already underway, 14 will go a long way towards addressing the three potential transition issues discussed in this report. 15 Additional measures, some advocated by existing AMA policy, also can be taken to ensure a 16 smoother transition. 17 18 With respect to the first issue, the Council believes that a number of factors will mitigate the self- 19 paying individual's price disadvantage. Mitigating factors include increased access by individuals 20 to discounted fees through networks and discount cards; voluntary restraint of physician fees 21 charged to self-paying patients (per Policy H-390.996); increased market pressure to restrain fees 22 as more patients choose MSAs and other arrangements involving out-of-pocket payments; and 23 physician willingness to offer cash discounts to bypass submitting insurance claims. 24 25 Regarding the second issue of immediate venues for individuals to purchase health insurance, the 26 Council believes that reasonable options already exist for most individuals to purchase coverage, 27 provided that tax credits are appropriately structured. As advocated by Policy H-165.865, tax 28 credits should be large enough to make insurance affordable for most people, refundable, and 29 inversely related to income. In the view of the Council, there is cause for qualified optimism about 30 the individual market. Recent research indicates that individual-market coverage is not as 31 expensive or inadequate as previously believed. The Council also recognizes that special measures 32 are needed to address the needs of individuals with chronic illness or disability, who might 33 otherwise have difficulty obtaining coverage outside the employment-based system. Extensive 34 AMA policy supports high risk pools, additional direct premium subsidies, risk adjustment, and 35 reinsurance–approaches that both protect special populations and permit insurance markets to 36 function properly. 37 38 As for the third issue, individuals' ability to choose health plans, the Council notes that individuals 39 rather than employers already make numerous complex decisions regarding education, life 40 insurance, retirement savings, etc. In fact, it is only through historical accident that employers play 41 the dominant role in choosing individuals' health insurance, and most people would strongly object 42 to the idea of employers or government making such choices for them. The Council believes that 43 the individually based system proposed by the AMA would not only expand individual choices of 44 health insurance, but give patients a stake in understanding the relative costs and value of health 45 care decisions, from choice of plan to health care consumption. People will quickly become 46 accustomed to choosing their health plans, just as they have become accustomed to choosing 47 401(k) options and long-distance telephone service, particularly since support for making informed 48 health plan choices is becoming ever-more available. Simple, yet powerful decision-making tools CMS Rep. 2 - I-01 -- page 13 (December 2001) 1 regarding health plan choice are already available to individuals, especially via the Internet. 2 Finally, it is worth noting that it is not necessary for all individuals to seek elaborate plan 3 information, hold plans accountable for fulfilling their obligations, or push for quality and service 4 improvements in order for health insurance markets to respond for the benefit of all patients. 5 6 RECOMMENDATIONS 7 8 The Council on Medical Service recommends that the following be adopted and the remainder of 9 the report be filed: 10 11 1. That the AMA inform individual physicians and group practice administrators why self- 12 paying patients (e.g., those who have MSA-type coverage or are uninsured) may be at a 13 significant price disadvantage in purchasing health care services. (Directive to Take 14 Action) 15 16 2. That the AMA reaffirm Policy H-165.920(10), which supports the development of 17 educational programs to assist consumers in making informed choices as to sources of 18 individual health expense coverage. (Reaffirm HOD Policy) 19 20 3. That the AMA reaffirm Policy H-180.961, which encourages the National Association of 21 Insurance Commissioners to develop standards and a uniform disclosure format applicable 22 to health plans and policies offered in the general insurance market; and supports the 23 enactment of federal and/or state legislation requiring the use by health plans of 24 standardized uniform disclosure formats that have had appropriate input by medical 25 organizations. (Reaffirm HOD Policy) References for this report are available from the AMA Division of Health Care Financing Policy.
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