Sax and Mic W/ Rats

I don't even care if you don't like rats, you had better understand this is super adorable!!

I Made This - Because It's How I Feel I Am Treated...

Hocus Pocus - It's Almost Here!

Obamacare

(Reuters) - Americans will pay an average premium of $328 monthly for a mid-tier health insurance plan when the Obamacare health exchanges open for enrollment next week, and most will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

Obamacare

The figure, based on data for approved insurance plans in 48 states, represents the broadest national estimate for how much Americans will pay for health coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law next year. The prices of the new plans are at the heart of a political debate over whether they will be affordable enough to attract millions of uninsured Americans.

The Obama administration is counting on signing up 7 million Americans in the first full year of reform through the state exchanges, including 2.7 million younger and healthier consumers who are needed to offset the costs of sicker members.

Debate over whether Obamacare will prove affordable for millions of uninsured Americans has been sharp during the past few months, as states have announced rates. States that have supported the law said it will lead to lower prices. Others that have opposed the reform - including Georgia, Florida, and Indiana - warned of "rate shock" for consumers compared to what they could buy on the individual insurance market a year ago.

HHS said the average price was 16 percent lower than its own projections on premiums. In addition, consumers who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $62,040 for a couple, will qualify for subsidies that will lower the price further.

TEXAS RATES BELOW AVERAGE

The data is mostly based on 36 states where the federal government will operate the insurance exchange. About 14 other states and the District of Columbia are running their own exchange.

Politics aside, states with the lowest average premium tend to have more insurance companies offering plans, the report said. It said eight issuers on average were selling plans in the states with average premiums in the lowest 25 percent, while states with average premiums in the top 25 percent had only three insurers on average.

Texas has been among the Republican-led states most fiercely opposed to Obamacare, but its monthly rates came in below the national average, HHS said. In Austin, Texas, with 76 plans to choose from, a 27-year-old would pay $169 per month for the lowest cost mid-tier plan. In Dallas-Fort Worth, with 43 plans to choose from, that price was $217 per month, the report said. "The rates in Texas are looking good," said Gary Cohen, who is charged with overseeing the exchanges at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Enrolling enough consumers is key to making the healthcare overhaul work economically, with price considered the most important factor driving enrollment, according to insurance industry surveys. Another concern has been that insurance companies will limit access to doctors in order to keep prices low. Cohen said that these so-called "narrow networks" were a trend before the Affordable Care Act went into effect.

The law was adopted in 2010 but two of its main pillars, the health exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid, take effect in 2014.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York; Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Lisa Shumaker)

Taken from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-usa-healthcare-exchanges-idUSBRE98O03P20130925

ANOTHER BLOG BY ME

Maybe you have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, maybe you know some one who has it, maybe you have heard of it but don't know what it really is, or maybe you have no idea what Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is. No matter the case, my new blog: http://complex-regional-pain-syndrome.blogspot.com will only help you. It will be updated weekly with information, links, pictures, or stories if people want to send them to me via an e-mail link on the page. I hope to see you on the page soon!

It's Been A Very Rough Few Weeks

"Happiness is such a fragile thing...one who is a klutz, as I am, should never tamper with it..."

- Alyssa Hellenbrand

My Newest Addiction:

Pinterest...and originally I thought it was so stupid...
Oh, what have I gotten myself into??

9/11/01 - A Day to Remember - 9/11/13

Remembering 9/11/01, I was sitting in a classroom on this day 12 years ago and the intercom annonuced for the teachers to turn on their TVs to the channel that was showing the hit on the twin towers. It was horrifying to experience. A memorable day, indeed. 

At the bottom of this post I have a video that was a live news broadcast, so don't forget to check that out!

Remember all that was lost.

BACON!!

Bacon...a guilty pleasure...I love it!

11.5 Year Old Bunny of Mine Passed Away this Evening (OREO)

This is Oreo.

She's my little brother's very first bunny.

Today she passed away at a hearty 11 (and a half) years of age.

She lived a good life and we swore we would never let her go, she was born at our house and she would die happily at our house surrounded by people who loved her 

R.I.P. Oreo, you died a great, great, great, great, great, great grandma (maybe even more greats)

Dedicated to Memorial Day (TOMORROW) - I'm Proud to be an American Soldier Tribute

Relationships

I just got to help a friend through a rough break-up text message. The only issue is, I am friends with the guy who sent that message and the girl who got the message. Now I am stuck feeling her grief and I know what drove him to do this. It was only because he hadn't talked to her in three weeks and felt he was being a bad boyfriend, she wanted to work it out, he said no. It's no good right now...
No good at all...
Wish me luck!