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1. Consider choosing a high-deductible health insurance plan, and try to max out your HSA each year and invest some of your HSA savings for long-term growth.
2. Make sure you take care of the rest of your finances as well.
3. Get your physical each year.
4. Take care of your teeth.
5. Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
6. Minimize junk food and eat more vegetables.
7. Get some exercise; at least 3-4 times a week.
8. Try to relax.

• LOW-COST ALTERNATIVES
• THE RIGHT VACCINES
• A HEALTHY DIET
• DRUG DISCOUNTS
• CONSIDER INSURANCE

• Vision plans
• Glasses
• Contact lenses
• Lens replacement

• FINDING A PLAN
• ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS
• THE RIGHT COVERAGE

• Know exactly what your plan covers.
• Find out what your insurer’s reasonable and customary fee is for specific treatments.
• Negotiate with your doctor.
• Prepare for a hospital visit.
• If you think you were overcharged - fight back. 
• Use a health care advocate who can negotiate on your behalf, for a fee. To find one near you click here.

• PROVIDERS AND FEES
• PAYMENT PLANNING
• AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVES
• INSURANCE COVERAGE
• UNEXPECTED EXPENSES

• Losing weight
• Sleeping on your side
• Avoiding alcohol before bed
• Clearing nasal passages

• EARLY DIAGNOSIS
• AT-HOME TREATMENT
• TAKING ON THE INSURANCE CARRIER   
• FINDING OTHER FREE TREATMENT
• FINDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

• TRYING OLDER DRUGS FIRST
• SAVING ON SUPPLIES
• GETTING SCREENED ANNUALLY
• ADOPTING HEALTHIER HABITS
• FINDING SUPPORT

• Plug the gaps with insurance, including long-term care insurance
• Focus on out-of-pocket expense
• Save for it
• Don't bank on good health

• GUARD YOUR CARD
• BEWARE OF FREE SERVICES
• EXAMINE YOUR STATEMENTS 
• AVOID ENROLLMENT HAZARDS 
• CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT 
• MAKE A REPORT

• Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan stopped hiring smokers for full-time positions at both its Michigan campuses.
• Alaska Airlines, based in Washington state, requires a nicotine test before hiring people.
• The Tacoma-Pierce County (Wash.) Health Department has applicants sign an "affidavit of nontobacco use."
• Union Pacific won't hire smokers.

• The number of students who drank a soda a day dropped, from 34 percent in 2007 to 29 percent in 2009.
• More students ate fruit or 100 percent fruit juice (30 percent in 2005 and 34 percent in 2009).
• Fewer students engaged in risky weight-loss diets, such as not eating, taking diet pills or vomiting or taking laxatives.

• 78 percent had not eaten fruits or vegetables five or more times daily in the week before the survey.
• 82 percent said they had not been physically active for at least an hour per day.
• 19 percent smoked cigarettes.
• 28 percent rode in a car driven by a person who had been drinking alcohol.
• 39 percent of sexually active students had had sex without using a condom.

The survey contradicts a common perception that emergency rooms are packed with uninsured people and illegal immigrants. It also rejects some claims that people are using the emergency department for routine care — just 10 percent of visits were for non-urgent causes.

"In 2007, approximately one in five persons in the U.S. population had one or more emergency department visits in a 12-month period," the report from the National Center for Health Statistics reads.

"Among the under-65 population, the uninsured were no more likely than the insured to have had at least one emergency department visit in a 12-month period."

Tamyra Carroll Garcia and colleagues at the center used two large national surveys of healthcare use in 2007 for their study.

"Since 1996, demand for emergency services in the United States has been rising," they wrote.

"While the number of emergency departments across the country has decreased, the number of ED visits has increased. As a result, EDs are experiencing higher patient volume and overcrowding, and patients seeking care are experiencing longer wait times," they added.

"As national health care costs continue to rise and policymakers become increasingly interested in ways to make the health care system more efficient, it is important to understand the characteristics of those individuals who use EDs — often in place of other sources of ambulatory care."

They found that the more income people had, the less likely they were to ever visit an emergency room. People over 75 and blacks were the most likely to visit emergency rooms.

The American College of Emergency Physicians published a survey this month showing that 61 percent of emergency doctors surveyed believe U.S. healthcare reform will send even more people to emergency departments.

Only 1 percent of the 1,800 doctors surveyed thought visits would decrease. And 47 percent said the reforms signed into law in March would worsen overcrowding in emergency rooms.

"It's important to note the report finds that having a usual source of medical care, such as a primary care provider, does not affect the number of times people under age 65 visit the emergency department," Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said of Wednesday's report.

After trying to tough it out for a while, I finally sought medical advice.

I was hoping some simple solution, like exercises, would allow me to continue my normal, active life. The first doctor I went to tried everything — orthotics, taping my feet, a brace — but nothing worked. He then reluctantly referred me to an orthopedic surgeon.

That doctor said surgery was necessary, though he was hesitant because the procedure is invasive and recuperation is long and painful.

I sought a second opinion. The next surgeon wanted to schedule me for surgery in a week. I realized there was no running from the inevitable.

In most cases, pes planus does not interfere with everyday life, but it can in severe cases like mine. I had no arches at all, causing my body to compensate in ways that caused serious pain in my back and knees. I could see why the military used to defer draftees with flat feet. (Its policy now is to accept some recruits with flat feet who have less severe cases and who can deal with the extensive traveling on foot that the military demands.)

By this point, the pain was so intense that I had started going out less, which I hated. I felt as if elements of my life were being taken from me. I’m an actor, so if I don’t work, I don’t eat — and as it happened, I was up for the role of a lifetime: Macbeth, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

But it was time to make a choice. My agent in New York, Tim Stone, wanted me to have the surgery. “Think long term,” he said. I pulled out of the running for Macbeth and scheduled the surgery.

The first operation would be on my left foot; both feet could not be done at the same time or I would be an invalid. Before the operation, I was told I needed six procedures, whose names might as well have been in Mandarin: posterior tibial tendon repair, F.D.L. tendon transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, lateral column lengthening, iliac aspiration and gastroc release. Though I have insurance through the Screen Actors Guild, my out-of-pocket costs could be more than $4,000.

On Dec. 2, I went to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. I was lucky. During the operation, led by Dr. Martin J. O’Malley, my foot adjusted better than he expected and I needed only two of the six procedures.

Still, they were like something out of science fiction. In the osteotomy, the doctors used a needle to extract marrow from my hipbone and soaked an inchlong bone graft from a cadaver in the marrow so that it would take to my body better. The graft was wedged in the ankle to change shape of my foot and ease pressure on it when I stand. The doctors then cut off my heel, moved it over a few millimeters and screwed it back to my foot to help create an arch. Gastroc release involved lengthening my calf muscle to correct years of tightness from my unnatural gait.

Before I left the hospital — four hours after surgery — I was given two six-week prescriptions for the painkiller oxycodone. A nurse called the next day to ask if I’d taken it.

I had never taken prescription painkillers, even when I was awakened by horrific pain after shoulder surgery two years ago. I figured that was preparation enough for when the feeling came back in my foot. “I’d really prefer not to take the drugs,” I said.

She replied: “Oh, you definitely need to take them. You don’t want to get behind the pain.”

I thanked her for her concern and went back to a favorite pastime — criticizing talking heads as I flipped back and forth between Fox and MSNBC.

Two hours later, I was punching the air blindly and biting the cushions on my couch. I couldn’t get the pills down my throat fast enough.

After five days, most of the pain had subsided, so I was able to stop taking the painkiller. Two weeks later, depleted by bed rest and leg atrophy, I borrowed a friend’s car and drove myself to my first follow-up visit.

The doctor took X-rays, and I could actually see an arch, as well as two large screws driven into my heel. (He told me I’d never feel them, even when running.) I could also see the graft from the cadaver, which will become less visible on X-rays as my body heals and absorbs it.

The nurse took the stitches out and traded my soft cast for a boot. It would be four more weeks before I was allowed to put weight on my foot with the boot on. At Week 10, I could start physical therapy. After 14 to 16 weeks, I would be able to blend in with other New Yorkers.

After the surgery (I should have done this before), I searched the Internet for information about the recovery process. Among the sites I found most helpful were the journal Podiatry Today (podiatrytoday.com); HealthBoards.com, a message-board site where people share information about their conditions; and BioPortfolio.com, a life-sciences news site.

The chat rooms warned that I might not be 100 percent for up to a year. My doctor said that because I am young (31) and athletic, I have strong and dense bones that should heal quickly. Also, I don’t smoke or drink, other factors that might slow the healing process. (My longstanding vice is ice cream.) And of course there is my superhuman mutant healing X factor, though I had trouble convincing my doctor about that one.

The doctor said I would not be able to fly for a month after surgery. But after the two-week checkup, he cleared me. Three days later, I was on a plane to Mexico. When we landed, my foot was so swollen it looked like a clown’s contorted balloon. There was no pain, just discomfort. Before I went to sleep, I elevated my foot, as the nurse at the hospital had told me to do. By the next morning, the swelling was down to normal.

The hyperactive optimist in me has no doubt that I’ll be counted among the 90 percent success rate for calcaneal osteotomies. Dr. O’Malley said I healed like a 12-year-old — a full month ahead of schedule — and this week I’m rehearsing for a one-man show here in Seattle.

My right foot’s up next.

• uninsured
• low income &
• high risk

• With more than 400 healthcare products, shoppers will save an average of 40 percent over national-brand products. Shoppers can search by category (such as "allergies") or by national-brand equivalents (such as "Zyrtec"). For national-brand comparisons, eHealthSource.com provides active ingredients, dosage strength and quantity, and suggested retail price.

• eHealthSource.com is currently the only online independent retailer with Inventory Information Approval System (IIAS) certification, allowing shoppers to pay for their purchases using FSA/HSA debit cards.

• Shoppers can also save an additional 10 percent off of their total purchase if their company is a member of the Employer Discount Program. Companies that enroll for the free program receive a discount code that employees can use at checkout.

For employers, eHealthSource.com offers a no-cost extension of their healthcare benefits.

By carrying more than 400 FSA/HSA eligible products, eHealthSource makes it easy for employees to take full advantage of their benefit plans. eHealthSource.com helps alleviate employees' "use it or lose it" fears by offering free account management tools such as printable receipts and automatic reminders alerting customers to check their balance before the plan cut-off.   eHealthSource.com provides the materials to introduce the program to employees, including print collateral for annual enrollment packages and stand-alone electronic communications.
 

To read the full article and learn how it can help you, click here:   Lifting the Veil on Pricing for Health Care

• 84% of account holders say their HSA-qualified plans are affordable.
• 72% of account holders say they pay the same or less than a traditional type of health plan.
• After moving to an HSA, more than half of account holders say they more closely monitor their healthcare costs, while 48% read their medical bills more closely than when they did not have an HSA, 46% have a better understanding of where their money goes, and 40% more closely evaluate costs before electing medical services.
• 81% of account holders said the ability to personally control healthcare costs is an important factor that caused them to select an HSA.
• Of the employers offering HSAs for more than three years, 86% indicated that plan costs were the same or less than the previous year.
• 96% of employers claimed that HSAs allow the company to continue offering group-sponsored health insurance.