Day 2 Semi-Vacation Edition

Well, Echo and Nicole are doing their best to give me some time off, but the phones are ringing and people keep needing help, so semi-vacation is as good as it's going to get. In the meantime, I want to make sure you're up to date on the goings on of the day.

The big news yesterday was the release of the medical loss ratio regulations. Remember medical loss ratio, the percentage of premium dollars that are spent on health care? The regulations tell us what gets included in health care, and what counts as administrative. The regulations are 305 pages long and I didn't read them yesterday, but they appear to track the National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommendations, which are very consumer friendly. When I finally read the whole thing, I will let you know if there's anything you need to know about. But in the meantime, you can read about them here and here and here and here. The rules do allow waivers for what are called mini-med plans -- limited benefit plans that only provide certain limited benefits and are not comprehensive in coverage.

In other news,

Parents may not be able to keep their adult children on their RETIREE insurance policies, so don't assume anything, says WaPo.

An annual global survey shows progress against AIDS. Great news. And there's indication that one of the AIDS treatment drugs, Truvada, may help prevent HIV -- even better news!

This is a great article. When I first got sick and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, they sent me to a shrink, thinking it was all in my head. The NY Times says that's the wrong thing to do. If your kid has a stomach ache, be persistent.

This is interesting. Seniors -- and why not those with chronic illness -- are using electronic health trackers to monitor their health care, sending relevant info to the doctor using high tech communications.

Be careful at Thanksgiving dinner. It's exactly the kind of meal that can bring on a heart attack.

So go easy on the gravy and heavy on the family. Unless your family stresses you out, in which case you have my permission to eat desert. Jennifer