According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, starting on September 23, 2012, your health plan must provide your policy in language you can understand.  Along with that, there’s a new SBC  — Standard Benefits and Coverage – form that all health plans will be using in the U.S. to help you understand what you owen, what they owe, and what isn’t paid at all.  In case you didn’t know, for example, “urgent care” is described as

Even before Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010, making sense of your health plan was difficult.  Now, overlay hundreds of new requirements affecting virtually every American, and the task is more difficult.  No easy feat, for sure. I can help.

Second only to my love of writing comes reading a good book.    When my own pen stalls on the page, I know it’s time to pick up a good book and see what someone else has to say.  There’s always a good tip on style, voice or rhythm that inspires me to keep writing.   

With the season changing, it’s a good time to get outdoors for a healthy brisk walk or bike ride.  You can also bring healthy habits indoors and live more naturally at home.  I visited with Rancho La Puerta’s on-site herbalist, homeopathic therapist and all-around naturalist, Anita Boen who offered these suggestions for bringing healthy habits found in nature into your home.

The late 1990s were a dark time for me.  My mother was in her third round of treatment for a rare form of cancer and her mother, who lived with her, had suffered a debilitating stroke. My job was secure, but an ambitious decision to go to law school at night required me to spend four nights a week in Baltimore.