Basic Types Of Health Insurance

Health care insurance can be confusing even for those who have some experience with it. For those who are new to it, it can be downright unfathomable. A good place to begin learning more about the issues behind health care insurance is with the basics.

There are, generally, two types of health care insurance: indemnity and managed care which is often referred to as HMO.

Indemnity health care insurance is also known as “fee-for-service”. This type of insurance will offer the most flexibility because it allows you to pick your own doctor, clinics, hospitals, etc. The downside is that it will cost a good deal more than the managed types of health care plans. These added costs may be reflected in the premiums that you pay, but they will certainly be reflected in the out of pocket costs that you have to pay when you go for care. For many people, the out of pocket costs can make indemnity health insurance a non-option.

In addition to much higher out of pocket cost you will also be required to pay an annual deductible, which can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. This amount must be paid before the insurance will even begin to pay.

Once the annual deductible has been paid into your account, the insurance company will then pay a portion of what is owed. You will normally have to make a co-payment of around twenty percent or so, and the insurance company will then pay its eighty percent. If the doctor or other health professional charges high rates to begin with, you may end up paying a higher rate because the insurance company will normally pay only what it considers to be “usual and customary” fees for the service.

Generally, indemnity health care insurance covers only illness or accidents, and does not pay for preventive care such as flu shots or birth control medication or devices. Depending on your policy, it may or may not pay for prescription drugs or psychotherapy.

Managed care can be thought of as the opposite of indemnity care. With a health maintenance organization (HMO), your deductibles are often smaller than with other plans. In some cases, there may not be any deductibles at all. Co-payments are almost always fixed and kept low. Most preventive care, drugs, and mental health treatments are covered but you should always check on this.

The downside to managed care health insurance is that you must choose from doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who have contracts with your HMO. In other words, you cannot simply go to whomever you want. Also, you are limited to receive only those medical services authorized by the plan that you have. If you use non-authorized providers or receive non-authorized care, your insurance will not pay any portion of the bills.

Because many people did not like these restrictions, managed care has begun to evolve to include hybrid plans that blend HMOs with some of the features of indemnity health care coverage.

One example is the Point-of-Service plan. If you are under a point-of-service plan (POS), you can keep your overall costs low by using a network of doctors and hospitals that have contracts with your insurer. If you decide to go outside the network that has been set up for the plan, you will have to pay an added deductible as well as higher co-payments for the services rendered.

Baby Boomer Issues

As the Baby Boomer generation continues to grow older, their primary concerns have shifted to their health, money and retirement. The days of idly wondering where their next vacation should be and whether their bonus check will be as much as they deserve are quietly passing. Today, Baby Boomer issues are mostly about concerns with maintaining their dwindling health and having enough money to live comfortably through their twilight years.

Health Concerns For Baby Boomers

As people grow older, they often experience problems with their health. Their bodies grow more fragile and susceptible to diseases and bacteria. In addition, many people 50 years of age and older are reporting health problems that were not experienced by people in their same age group long ago.

This problem is exacerbated by rising health care costs. As the Boomer generation begins to require more medical care, the cost of that medical care continues to increase. Health issues and their ability to cope with them and find the proper medical support is a major concern for Baby Boomers.

Money And Retirement Concerns For Baby Boomers

Along with rising health care costs, Baby Boomers also worry about money and retirement. During the last several years of their careers before retiring, people usually enjoy salaries and bonuses that are larger than at any other point in their career. As a result, money is rarely a major concern.

However, many people fail to save that money. Instead, they spend it on vacations, their families and in the pursuit of living fun and fulfilling lives. This can lead to a rude awakening when they retire. Because they have not saved much money during their career, a lot of people discover that they do not have enough money to live comfortably during their retirement years.

When they retire, they no longer earn a salary. They no longer receive bonus checks. Instead, they are forced to live off the income that can be generated by the investments they have made throughout their lives. Unfortunately, many have not invested any money that can generate this income.

Other Baby Boomer issues complicate this money problem. People live longer lives today. When a Baby Boomer retires, he can expect to live many years in retirement. In the past, a 65-year old man could expect to live approximately 10 years in retirement before passing away. The financial requirements of living comfortably for these 10 years were manageable for most people.

Today, financial planners use a life expectancy of 90 to 95 years. That is, when a person retires at 65 years of age, he can expect to live up to 30 years in retirement. With dwindling health, rising health care costs and a lack of savings to generate a fixed income, the financial requirements of living 30 years in retirement are out of reach for many people.

These health, money and retirement concerns will grow as more of the Baby Boomer generation moves into retirement. Some will choose to work part-time jobs to keep active, stay healthy and generate supplemental income. Others will require the aid of family and friends. Still others may require more help than is available to them. As the Baby Boomer issues are beginning to emerge the Boomers will experience the issues that have been quietly gaining momentum for years, their health, money and retirement concerns will continue to grow.

Baby Boomer Health

Baby boomer health is a big issue for today’s seniors. Fortunately the focus isn’t so much on which of the many ailments people will be stricken with and how soon. With all of the advances that have been made in the field of medical science, people are living longer and they’re spending their later years healthier, too. That’s why much of the talk about Baby boomer health revolves around keeping mentally and physically fit.

Perhaps that’s because the one thing that has set the Baby boomer generation apart since its beginning has been the focus on the self. As this generation grows older past behaviors that may have been considered selfish or self-indulgent are being replaced with behavior that’s focused on self-preservation. And that’s a truly beneficial change, especially when you consider the impact that this generation has had on trends.

Which senior health issues matter most?

With a lifetime of focusing on the self, today’s Baby boomers place much emphasis on maintaining a youthful appearance. Fortunately they are smart enough to understand that looking and feeling good are totally within their control. That may even explain why so many older people have finally started replacing their bad habits with good ones such as regular exercise and a healthy diet. Eating right and exercising can help the body perform optimally and perhaps even more importantly, it may help reduce or eliminate the need for costly prescription medication.

Another Baby boomer health issue that has grown enormously popular is anti-aging. Baby boomers realize that they cannot stop the clock from ticking but they’re also not willing to sit back and do nothing about it either. That quest for eternal youth is what’s fueling the market for new products that promise to stop or reverse the effects of aging. Baby boomers are buying up nutritional supplements, creams, lotions, ointments, elixirs, spa treatments and more almost as fast as these products come to market. It’s a billion-dollar industry that shows no signs of slowing.

Baby boomers know too that many of their worn out body parts can be replaced, but unfortunately the costs of replacement surgery is high. Interestingly, figuring out how they’re going to afford to pay for all of the surgeries, the prescription medications and the anti-aging products that they’ve been led to believe they need is another of the big Baby boomer health issues seniors are facing. It’s easy to lose track of the fact that the quest for eternal youth and longevity is coming at a very high cost for many.

What’s the answer?

While science and technology can do a lot to enhance Baby boomer health, there’s a lot you can do without having to resort to such extreme and expensive measures. For example, you can reap tremendous rewards just by making the right choices when it comes to diet and exercise. But even protecting yourself against the sun’s damaging rays, quitting smoking and reducing stress can takes years off your appearance. So don’t wait any longer. Start taking better care of yourself today!

Couples Cutting Health Care Costs

Baby boomer couples cutting health care costs by pooling resources to reduce the cost of long term care premiums. Instead of buying for one, advisers and analysts say you can sometimes slash premium costs by approaching long term care insurance as a couple.

For those willing to shop around the following three strategies are worth exploring:

1.Shared care plans

In general, sharing long-term policies doesn’t eliminate the need for both partners to buy separate plans. But unlike traditional policies, a special rider is tacked on to each to allow one spouse to dip into another’s benefits.

The main advantage of shared coverage is that if you need more than your current plan allows. But what happens if both eventually go over their allotted amounts?

If you’ve bought a contract with plenty of flexibility and terms that stretch over long periods, experts say that won’t necessarily be a problem. They point out that some providers offer policies that can cover an entire lifetime. A longer time frame usually means greater premiums. A lifetime policy can translate into extra costs when compared with short-term plans covering three- to five-years of long-term care.

“That can defeat the whole purpose of buying a policy that allows you to share benefits,” says Neil Gholson, President of LTC Finical Solutions, inc..

To make sure you don’t run out of benefits, Neil suggests at least four years of coverage. The Consumers Union senior policy analyst says that’s based on data showing nursing-home use averages around 2.5 years in long-term policies.

“Very few people spend more than five years in a nursing home,” Gholson said. “So if you’re going to get a long-term plan that shares care between spouses, look at a four-year term. Fewer years could be a little shy, especially considering that policies can cover home as well as nursing home care.”

Best suited for shared care policies might be couples that want to buy shorter-term plans but still want some flexibility to reach into their spouse’s pool of benefits, he added.

2. Long term care partnership deals

Two years ago, Congress expanded to most of the country a program that had been running for years in less than a handful of states. It allows the total value of long-term-care policies to be counted against Medicaid requirements for drawing on personal assets to pay health bills.

But different states have different contingencies. For example, in New York consumers must purchase a long-term-care policy that covers at least three years in a nursing home and six years of home-based care. In return, the state pledges not to go after any personal assets once someone exhausts the benefits in their private policy, says Gholson.

“So Medicaid care becomes a free benefit without any strings attached,” he added.

States such as California and Connecticut use what’s termed dollar-for-dollar protection. In those cases, authorities count the value of a private insurance policy to determine the amount of assets that are protected against pay-down requirements in Medicaid.

It saves the states money because they’re shifting costs of long-term care to insurance companies. And it puts fewer burdens than we currently have on the entire Medicaid system.

For individuals, such partnerships can limit the size of policies they’ve got to buy. The trade-off is that if you buy less coverage than a state’s threshold to qualify for Medicaid, you’ll still wind up dipping into your savings.

“If you live in a dollar-for-dollar state, you might want to buy enough insurance to protect your entire portfolio in a partnership program,” Gholson said.

3. Ask insurance agents about discounts on bundled purchases

This could be the simplest way to savings.

Some carriers now offer promotional rates for two people that buy a long term care package at the same time.

Those are marketed as spousal discounts and can range between 15% and 25% off regular premiums. And if you qualify as extremely fit and healthy candidates, some carriers will even add another 10% discount on top.

Some things to consider:

Each of the three options presents different caveats. “People need to remember that the shared-care marketplace is a fairly new phenomenon,” said Cheryl Matheis, a health strategist at AARP. “They need to ask a lot of questions and carefully examine all of the details in each policy.”

1. Check the insurers’ history of changing prices and policy conditions. Only a few carriers haven’t hiked premiums.

2. Shared long term care benefits likely will cost you slightly more than traditional long-term-care policies of a similar term.

The alternative is that if two people aren’t sharing long-term-care insurance, they’ll probably need to buy more extensive individual policies to get the same level of coverage. The big advantage to shared care is that you reduce the term of policies.

3. If you’ve got enough money, the best option is always to buy separate longer-term plans.

4. If you’re looking at a more affordable alternative, then shared care is an option to at least consider.

5. If you choose a state partnership programs need to note any loopholes may exist, Gholson says. Even buying enough private care insurance to match asset levels isn’t a guaranteed solution.

“Depending on where you live or move, the different Medicaid eligibility and income requirements in each state, the government might still be able to come after your assets in certain cases,” Gholson said.

Spouses cutting health care costs can produce significant benefits with the right amount of research. Contact a Long Term Care Professional that represents several carriers to see what your options are.

Attract Vibrant Health Into Your Life With The Law Of Attraction

There have been quiet a few books written on the Law of Attraction. You may have already read some of them yourself the information about the Law of Attraction is powerful. The Oprah show and Larry King live talked about the Law of Attraction. Joe Vitale has written his famous book the “Attractor Factor”, Michael J. Losier has written the book “Law of Attraction “ to mention just 2 of the many books written on it.

Countless people have already been able to make big changes in their lives.

With the rising healthcare costs and the increasing prices in medicines many people looking for alternative healthcare.

Watching the “Secret” and learning about the Law of Attraction has helped already many people to improve their health. Our bodies are made to heal themselves. Determination and will power will help us to use the power of the Law of Attraction and keep vibrant health. Of course that sound easy but it is still some work involved. First of all we have to believe that it is possible. If we think that we cannot change certain health conditions then they probably will not change. On the other hand if we have a strong will and are convinced that we can get well, this may be possible. There are many cases of persons who have been cured from dreadful deceases without a possible explanation. The Secret DVD even introduced 2 people who are telling their extra ordinary story of healing when using the power of the Law of Attraction.

You can take the first steps to help yourself and to improve your health. You can have a healthy body way up into old age. Of course you want to do as far as it is up to you to live a healthy lifestyle.

Here is how you can get started today to use the power of the universe to improve your health:

1. Find some more information about the Law of Attraction. You can do this going to a local book store, checking out books from the library, or going online while drinking a cup of coffee.

2. We are vibrational beings and the Law of Attraction responds to our vibrations

with exact matches there are no exceptions. So what we feel and what we think makes all the difference. It is not what we say but it is what we feel that affects our vibrations and the Law of Attraction simply responds to this. To get well we need to feel well. How can we change our feelings? By reprogramming our thoughts! Start to meditate every day for at least about 10 minutes. This helps you

to relax your mind and body! It enables you to listen to your inner being and become one with your inner self. It will help you to connect things together mentally and emotionally. Now you can begin your healing process.

3. When using the Law of Attraction the way you intend, you can start saying

affirmations that are in harmony with good health and happiness. You could say for example “ I am a happy person and I love my healthy and strong body”. When saying your affirmations put your feelings and emotions into it! Try to feel how it feels to be strong and healthy. Of course it may be difficult at first. Feeling healthy when you are not may be challenging. It is however a process that will get you to experience a healthier you.

You will not experience drastic changes overnight but if you pay attention to yourself you will notice a difference soon after you start your healing program using the Law of Attraction. You can say these affirmations daily or throughout the day. Determination to get well will help you along the way.

You can also read books of success stories of people who overcame sever health conditions. Your body will respond to this and you will see at least an improvement if not total recovery. This is a wonderful method which has been proven affective for many people who have used the Law of Attraction to overcome their health problems. Try it for yourself! To find more information check out this link:

Group Health Insurance

Many small business owners know that in order for them to be successful they must offer an incentive to recruit employees to work for them. This can be any number of things, but most often it is the benefit of offering group health insurance. While this could be an excellent strategy for your small business to take in order to recruit new employees, there are a few things that you must know first before you dive into selecting a plan. Research group insurance policies thoroughly before choosing one for your company.

A group health insurance plan can be obtained by any small business that has as little as two employees to as many as fifty. There are two ways you can go about supplying the health insurance to your employees; this will mainly be decided by your own budget. Many small businesses that offer group health insurance help contribute towards the cost of the plan. On the other hand if an employee wants to have coverage for their families, the employer might offer to pay the employees’ premiums and have them pay the premium for their families.

Another aspect of the group health insurance plan will be deciding between managed care or fee-for-service. Managed care plans include Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), or Point of Service plan (POS).

An HMO will significantly reduce the cost that your members will have to pay for medical care as long as they use the providers specified by the HMO. A PPO will not require a referral in order for them to see a specialist. While the PPO is more flexible it will bring higher costs to the per-visit and annual deductibles. The POS plans are basically a combination of the features that you will find in an HMO and PPO. Members get to decide whether to pay a flat fee for offices in the network, or pay a deductible charge to see someone out of network. The fee-for-service plan gives the employee the power to select health care providers themselves. This means that they will have way more flexibility with where they can go for medical assistance.

Adding an appealing Group Health insurance plan to your business could potentially bring you more employees. This is just the basic information about Group Health insurance; there are many options to consider when choosing a plan. Be sure to investigate all options to create the best plan for your employees.

Fit and Beautiful Body

A healthy body is just enough for everyday life but a fit body is one that can do even more. It is capable of
eliminating the toxic substances generated by its normal functioning and imposed on it by an unnatural lifestyle. In retrospect,
an unhealthy body is when you don’t care enough about yourself to take care of your body. The way to a healthy body is through
fitness exercises and a proper diet.

Diets and weight loss programs are generally more flexible now than they once were. Dietary changes combined with exercise
programs and supplements will result to a long-lasting weight loss. The American Cancer Society recommends a predominantly plant-based
diet that includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, and grain-based foods for nutrition and prevention for certain types of cancers.
Diets are better when tailored personally and professionally to the client’s individual needs.

Fitness represents an evolution in home fitness moving beyond one-dimensional fitness videos and self-help books as it is truly personalized.
Fitness involves one’s physical capacity, age, and endurance, so exercise should aim to elevate one’s rate of heartbeat and breathing
during the workout. The five basic components of physicalfitness: cardiorespiratory or aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, muscular
strength,flexibility, and body composition, are explained. Fitness is also about good nutrition, flexibility, relaxation,
sleep, and more.

Health is the first principle of a good life and living well and honestly is the way to excellent health. Healthy weight loss is possible when you combine a healthy diet with a regular exercise regime. Healthy lifestyle habits including mental stimulation, physical exercise, good nutrition, stress management, and sleep can improve brain fitness. Thanks, Anne, for your lessons on healthful
eating, and most of all, your encouragement.

A nutritionist and a professional weight loss consultant with more than 23 years experience. Anne Collins is arguably the best
value downloadable diet program on-line. Anne Collins is offering nine various diet plans, the South Beach Diet teaches you the “good”
carbohydrates, and with the Atkins Diet you can eat everything you like and stay fit in the same time.

Compared to many other weight loss eBooks on the market, Anne Collins is a better choice.

Asthma treatment utilizing natural health products

Traditionally, Asthma is researched and known as a condition, which affects the respiratory track of the lungs. Asthma can be categorized into allergic and non-allergic or extrinsic, intrinsic and mixed asthma.

An extrinsic Asthma (allergic) :It is normally attacked by allergic things such as dust particles, fumes or smokes, animal dander, sugar, chemicals, drugs, environmental and industrial pollutants, food additive and tobacco, etc

An intrinsic Asthma (Non-Allergic): Generally triggered by adrenal glands’ disorder and emotional disorder such as stress, tension and anxiety.

It is wholly depends on the stimuli that trigger or target in attacking a person.

Mixed Asthma
Mixed asthma is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic asthma. Mixed asthma patients react to certain allergies but also are triggered by other reasons and things.

It is a two- steps problem.
• When a person is affected by asthma, inflammation is felt in the air passages and it becomes red and swollen.
• When the air passages get inflamed, the patient becomes extra-sensitive to different things, which may aggravate asthma.

Symptoms:

It is a respiratory disease caused from allergies; it can be identified or its presence can be felt by symptoms like chest constriction, labored breathing and continuous coughing.

Asthma is a chronic disease, which cannot be cured permanently but can be controlled. One can control his asthma if it is early and properly diagnosed and then patient goes for early treatment. If treatment is not done earlier or a patient becomes careless about his health then there will be frequent and severe attack of asthma, which may lead to fatal consequences.

Treatment:

We know that asthma cannot be cured permanently but we can control it to great extend if we opt natural treatment and take some precautions. Heavy doses of medicines of different chemical compositions may aggravate asthma instead of controlling it. So it is better to start treatment using natural products.

Natural treatment is safe and result oriented; it can control asthma to great extend without any side effects. The health condition of the lungs, immune system, nervous system and adrenal system are the vital areas for the treatment of asthma through natural products.

Asthma treatment using natural product

Natural treatment starts by avoiding things, which trigger asthma such as aerosol, sugar, food additives, fats food, salt, fast food, junk food, ice cream and chemically preservative food.

The patient must add more juicy fruits, green vegetables, fiber vegetables and raw nuts in his diet.

Patent must avoid such conditions and situations, which cause emotional disturbances or negative emotions such as depression, restlessness, anger, anxiety, destructiveness, self-condemnation and self -pity.

In natural treatment of asthma diet, emotional and physical aspects to be taken care.

Herbal products must be taken that help in removing excessive mucous and clear respiratory track.

Herbal asthmatic formula contains 13 types of herbs, which reduces excessive mucus, chest constriction; clear respiratory track and helps in comfortable breathing.

Herbs contain antitussive and antispasmodic qualities, which helps in toning lungs and helps in relieving congestion.

There are herbs included for the treatment of asthma that having demulcent and expectorant qualities to tone up bronchial tubes that help in expelling excessive mucus and phlegm.

Some herbs have multi qualities, which act on the body suitably and positively to tone and shape up lungs, clear air passage, control and calm down coughing and control labor breathing.

Herbs like elecampane, garlic, mustard, ginger, skullcap and valerian easily available naturally and these herbs are highly recommended for the treatment of asthma.

There are herbal chocolate and tea, which can be used for the treatment to control asthma. There are tonic, based on herbs to strengthen the immune system and respiratory system. Food powders are made of herbs and fruits to fight asthmatic attacks.

There are ointments made by herbs to rub the chest during the breathing problems or chest constriction.

There are also ayurvedic and homeopathic treatment to control asthma, which is found to be very effective and substantial.

Asthma should be treated opting natural products and herbs because it is safety, cheaper and free from any side effect. These applications will certainly control your asthma and same time you can enjoy life normally and naturally.

Asthma Education is Critical for Community Health

Rather than treating asthma like a string of isolated asthma attacks, doctors are now treating asthma as a chronic condition that is affected by nearly every aspect of the patient’s life. Instead of focusing on acute care intervention, doctors now focus on daily management, medication and monitoring to help minimize symptoms of asthma and lessen the severity of asthma attacks when they do happen.

Asthma education is a key part of that management. By teaching the patient and his family how to monitor his own condition, what causes flare-ups of symptoms and how to avoid them, doctors can reduce the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to asthma. Using a peak flow meter, an asthmatic can keep track of his lung capacity – and seek appropriate treatment if it wanders into the danger zone. Education about asthma can impress upon him the importance of measuring every day – and keeping careful records.

Extending that education into the community can literally save your child’s life. Something as simple as spending an hour with a third grade class to show them how to help someone having an asthma attack can pay back unexpected dividends. After all, wouldn’t you rather know that all of your child’s classmates will recognize an asthma attack – and do the right thing when they see one?

The administration of your child’s school is another place where asthma education can pay off big dividends. Many schools still don’t understand how vital it is that a child with asthma has his inhaler with him at all times. When schools deny an asthmatic child his right to carry his inhaler for fear that other children will find a way to abuse it, the results can be disastrous. Making the effort to do a bit of advocacy and asthma education can literally make the difference between life and death.

Community asthma education can also make a big difference in whether or not children with asthma are properly diagnosed. Many people still don’t recognize the symptoms of asthma unless they see an acute attack – but mild asthma, and the symptoms of chronic asthma can be devastating to a child’s life. Chronic respiratory illnesses, bronchitis, pneumonia and chest pain can keep children out of school and in the emergency room. By educating the community through public service announcements, school outreach programs, clinic visits and physician incentives, many children with hidden asthma can be reached and treated, reducing the overall costs of health care as well as improving the individual child’s health.

Like diabetes education ten years ago, asthma education today can help alert parents, identify those who suffer from asthma and make sure that appropriate treatment is available to everyone who needs it. This is especially important in the case of childhood asthma, where the diagnoses and treatments and standards of care so often seem to be inequitable. Asthma education can help ensure that all parents are aware of the standard of treatment that their children SHOULD be getting – which is the first step to ensuring that the children get the care that they require.

Assessing Your Health

If counting sheep is not working for you, here are some facts you may want to sleep on-chronic sleep deprivation can do more than make you tired. It can significantly affect your health, safety, performance, and lifestyle.

Most people are surprised to learn that sleeping less than six or seven hours a night can increase their mortality risk more than smoking, high blood pressure or heart disease.

Losing as little as one and a half hours of sleep for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32 percent. This loss can impair memory and the ability to think and process information effectively.

Decreased alertness can also affect your life by limiting your participation in activities that require sustained attention, such as reading a book or watching your favorite TV show. And the risk of receiving an occupational injury more than doubles when a person is sleepy.

Car accidents are another problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobiles crashed, 71,000 injuries and 1,550 fatalities.

As many as 70 million Americans have sleep disturbances-which include taking a long time to get to sleep, sleeping less and waking up frequently.

Sleep disturbances may in fact be a symptom of a much larger problem, especially if they are associated with irritability and mood swings. Emotional stress, racing thoughts and restlessness can be signs of something more serious, such as bipolar disorder.

“If someone is experiencing restlessness and irritability, along with sadness or emotional ups and downs for more than two weeks,” said Dr. Ellen Frank, professor of psychiatry and psychology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, “they should seek medical attention from a specialist who is trained to diagnose or perhaps just rule out depression or bipolar disorder.”

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) has launched a new Web site, www. sleeplessinamerica.org, which offers educational resources that provide screening for sleeplessness, information on when to see a doctor and a questionnaire to determine when sleeplessness might be symptomatic of a more serious illness. The Web site is also available in Spanish.