Nouveau médicament imite les effets bénéfiques de l'exercice !

J'ai vu ce matin et j'ai eu à vous faire savoir que...Un médicament appelé SR9009, qui est actuellement en développement à l'Institut de recherche Scripps (IRST), augmente le niveau de l'activité métabolique dans les muscles squelettiques des souris. Les souris traitées devient maigres, développent des muscles plus gros et peuvent exécuter des distances beaucoup plus simplement en prenant SR9009, qui imite les effets de l'exercice aérobie.Si des effets similaires chez les personnes peuvent être obtenus, inversion de l'obésité, le diabète métabolique syndrome et type II pourrait être le résultat très bienvenu.Lire la suite...Pilule miracle qui vous aide à perdre du poids sans exercer ? La réponse a vraiment découvert science ?Bon à ce stade, qui sait ?Cependant, alors que les tests de souris sont évidemment une étape très tôt, c'est un développement intéressant. Et bien sûr, même « travaillé » chez l'homme, je peux imaginer comment un médicament si jamais pourrait éliminer la nécessité ou les avantages de l'exercice. Question est... n'est-ce ? Et si vous le feriez, cela fonctionnerait ?

Nous y revoilà ! (Plus d'informations sur Phenocal, LLC Synetgy & Craig Schwartz)

Eh bien, il semble que Craig Schwartz de médias d'Etat or, eagle juridique, et le représentant de Synetgy LLC (fabricants de Phenocal) est de retour chez elle à nouveau. Si vous n'êtes pas au courant de l'histoire, Craig et les braves gens au sommet de Synetgy LLC n'aime pas notre revue de vos produits Phenocal et est fait de son mieux pour réprimer, qui nous menacent avec des jugements fausses.Vous pouvez le mettre dans l'histoire ici et ici !En tout cas, mercredi, le 4 décembre, Craig était revenu à nous hanter à nouveau. Voici la note envoyée à moi, notre hébergement (je vous félicite une fois de plus à Quinn et le peuple de l'hébergement de web Qwk s'être arrêté par nos soins à travers tout cela) et à notre registraire vieux...À qui de droitMon nom est Craig Schwartz, et je suis dûment autorisé à agir au nom de Synetgy LLC, DBA, propriétaire de la marque "Phenocal".Il a suivi le type & dans une sorte http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html représentent les informations au sujet de Phenocal ne sont pas bonnes. Il affecte la valeur de la marque de Phenocal et de tromper les visiteurs.Sur la page http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html du site web fait la promotion directement produits d'affiliationLe site web tente d'utiliser la valeur de la marque en ligne de Phenocal de vendre la société affiliée de leur produit n'est pas conseillé.Cette lettre est la mise en demeure au titre de la section 512 (c) de la Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") et demander le retrait du matériel tiré de leurs serveurs incriminé. Je demande que vous devez aviser immédiatement l'auteur de cet avis que vous informera de leur devoir d'immédiatement retirer le matériel contrefaisant et signalez-lui de cesser toute validation supplémentaire de violation substantielle de votre serveur à l'avenir.Gardez à l'esprit que la Loi exige que vous, comme un fournisseur de services, de supprimer ou désactiver l'accès à du matériel contrefaisant dès réception du présent avis. Selon la loi américaine, un fournisseur de services, comme vous, bénéficie d'immunité contre une poursuite du droit d'auteur sous réserve que vous agissez avec vitesse délibérée d'enquêter et de corriger la violation de copyright en cours. Si les fournisseurs de services ne pas enquêter et supprimer ou désactiver des éléments litigieux cette immunité est perdue. Par conséquent, dans l'ordre, donc vous pouvez rester immunisés contre une action pour violation du droit d'auteur devra enquêter et en fin de compte supprimer ou désactiver sinon matériel incriminé dans des ses serveurs dans le respect de vitesse si le contrefacteur direct, son client, ne se conforme pas immédiatement.Remettez-leur cet avis de bonne foi et dans la croyance, possède des droits raisonnables de ma compagnie sont violés. Sous peine de parjure, j'atteste que les informations contenues dans la notification sont véridiques et exacts, et j'ai le pouvoir d'agir au nom du propriétaire du droit d'auteur (s) impliqué.C'est le courriel final de déclarer la plainte si le spam est répété à nouveau puis préparez-vous à des poursuites judiciaires contre les expéditeurs de spam et spammeur partisans.P.S.: - S'il vous plaît trouver le PDF ci-joint correctementCraig SchwartzLe Golden Middle Street50 Boulevard de TiceSuite 340Woodcliff LakeNJ 07677Téléphone: + 1. 661-748-0240Courriel : legal@goldenstreetmedia.comMalheureusement, à ce stade, il semble que Craig et les braves gens au sommet de Synetgy LLC ne seront pas toujours "get it" et cesser de nous importuner.Alors cette semaine, j'ai connecté avec notre représentation en justice. Oui, je livrerai cela à notre avocat maintenant.Plus de détails comme garantie.

“Big Fat Fatty” == Joyless Eating

 I like food. Always have. And while I’m a strong advocate of healthy eating, it’s not a “prison” that I’ve immured myself in – life’s too short to turn my nose up at indulgences.I cannot understand, however, those who eat for the sake of eating. Eating contests, for example, give me the shudders. IMHO, it’s disgusting to wolf down food (particularly the crap food routinely featured in such competitions) simply for the sake of… well, getting and keeping down as much as humanly possible.This has nada to do with nutrition – or even pleasure. It strikes me as a soulless, joyless activity, done largely as an attention-getting device. The sad thing is that it seems to work: various “chefs” and eateries now vie with one another to create the most disgustingly huge, greasy and over-the-top concoctions – just for the publicity the “dishes” bring.Here’s exhibit A: The “Big Fat Fatty” – as featured in the Los Angeles Times. Click for full pic and article. Urrrp.“Imagine every fast-food item you’ve ever loved together in one sandwich. Such a thing exists, and it’s called the Big Fat Fatty.…Let us break this bad boy down for you. It’s got cheesesteak, cheese burgers, pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, fried eggs, jalapeno poppers, fries, onion rings, chili, marinara and fat sauce. Oh, and it comes on a 27-inch garlic bread roll.The sandwich looks like every fast-food restaurant in the nation collided with a semi truck and had a big, fat baby, then covered that baby with French fries and pink sauce. Is anyone sweating yet?The sandwich costs $49.99, and you can only order it if you’re up for the eating challenge — if you can finish it in 40 minutes or less, the sandwich is free.”Even for free, what’s the point? The thing sounds absolutely revolting. But even if it turned out to be edible – even delicious – what would be the point of stuffing it all down? To save money? I’d just as soon spend more $$$ on a vastly smaller meal that I truly enjoyed, vs. feeling bloated, miserable and gross for “free.” The people who opt for a “challenge” like this should have their heads examined.(h/t: Consumerist)

Cyclospora Outbreak Caused by Fecal Contamination

 I’ve been idly following the news of the Cyclospora outbreak for the last few days… according to the latest report, there are 425 reported cases across 16 states (I don’t live in any of them, knock on wood!). It appears that salad mix produced by Taylor Farms de Mexico and served in Darden-owned chain restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster) was ID’d as the primary source in Iowa and Nebraska, two of the states hardest hit by the outbreak.Cyclospora cayetanensis is a microscopic parasite that causes a nasty gastrointestinal illness (aka Cyclosporiasis) that can last from a few days to more than a month. While its normally found in tropical/subtropical regions outside the US, cases of infection from imported fresh produce – raspberries, basil, snow peas and mesclun lettuce – have occurred here before.One thing I’ve found irksome about the current reports, however, is the… delicacy of the language used to describe the nature of the outbreak. Most beat around the bush, saying that the outbreak has been “linked” or “traced” to the salad mix. A few go so far as to use the “C word” – “contaminated” but don’t go much further than that. For example…CBS News:“Cyclospora parasites, found in contaminated food and drinking water, cause the gastrointestinal infection cyclosporiasis.”ABC News:“Because the illness doesn’t spread from person to person, it’s possible it came from contaminated food or water, said Dr. Nicole Bouvier, an infectious diseases professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.”Hmmm… for some reason, the stories don’t quite answer the question, “Contaminated with what???” It’s a good question, though. After all, Cyclospora cayetanensis is a single-celled parasite, so it just doesn’t get into food/drinking water on its own.Out of all the mainstream/online media reports I’ve eyeballed, only one – from Consumerist.com – answers the question directly:“Hundreds of people in the Midwest got very sick from a bagged salad mix contaminated with a nasty little parasite called cyclospora. That’s how many cases authorities were able to confirm: there are probably many more who didn’t see a doctor or let the health department know they were sick. What no one will tell the public is where the fateful poo-contaminated salads were served.”Emphasis mine. Yes, you read that right: “poo” – aka “feces.” Cyclospora has a rather interesting life cycle: infected people shed non-infective, “unsporulated” oocysts into the environment (soil or water) in their feces. Once excreted, the oocysts sporulate over a period of days – weeks. Once they sporulate, they’re capable of infecting a human. If the sporulated oocysts happen to be on/in water or food that’s ingested, the cycle starts all over again.So wassup with those news reports? Guess they don’t want to reveal that parasites from human excrement were being served up in restaurant salads. Admittedly, that’s a pretty gross detail, but I really think this is something that people need to understand, particularly at a time when imported food inspections are declining. According to the New York Times, the FDA inspects only 2.3 percent of the 10 million+ shipments of imported food, due to limited resources. IMHO, being graphic about the nature of the problem is one way to combat complacency.At this point, I think that the next time I find myself in a chain restaurant, and the server asks “soup or salad?” – I’ll take the soup, lol. I’m no purist: the notion that food isn’t always clean or hygienic to the nth degree doesn’t automatically gives me the vapors. For example, when the pro-vegan Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine tried to gross people out over fecal (E. coli) contamination on supermarket chicken, I didn’t even raise an eyebrow… after all,  I clean my chicken, take precautions to avoid any cross-contamination during handling/preparation and cook it thoroughly before eating it. But foods normally eaten raw, like fresh vegetables and fruits, are a different story – there’s much less margin for error, especially for fecal organisms like Cyclospora, that can cause disease in very low doses.

Sh * t qui Me rend fou ! (Pensée critique au revoir)

Si il y a une chose qui me fait presque batsh * t fou, est que si souvent, capacités de raisonnement critique semblent être jeté dans le caniveau dès que vient la question de « Big Pharma ». Il y a une spasme brusque, instinctif, théorie du complot qui semble paralyser le cerveau de certaines personnes. Par exemple...Partisans de la médecine complémentaire et alternative (CAM) citent régulièrement « Conflit d'intérêts financiers » « Big Pharma » à l'appui de son argument selon lequel il est dans l'intérêt de l'industrie pharmaceutique pour vous garder malade ni de matière grasse. Il va quelque chose comme ceci : Big Pharma est motivé par les bénéfices et les réponses aux actionnaires, Big Pharma est donc mauvais. Big Pharma gagne de l'argent vente de drogues--si vous avez bien, déjà vous n'aurez pas besoin de drogue - par conséquent, n'est pas dans l'intérêt de la Big Pharma qu'être bon.Toutefois, cet argument de « conflit d'intérêts » n'est jamais appliqué à la médecine complémentaire et alternative elle-même, qui a exactement les mêmes raisons. À ma connaissance, médecines alternatives n'étaient pas libres. Enfin, j'ai vérifié, une visite à la naturopathe ou homéopathe n'était pas libre. Ces personnes faire de l'argent avec leurs malheurs et, si il a discuté avec la même logique appliquée à la « Big Pharma », n'ont pas de vraies raisons de se guérir soi-même, ce faisant, il prive d'une source de revenus.Cet argument est complètement faux pour quelques autres raisons...Ce n'est pas une goutte de gomme dappy heureux Earth, où sucettes poussent sur les arbres et les gens passent leurs journées dansant joyeusement dans les prés de soleil marbrées rempli de belles fleurs jaunes et rose. Vous avez de gagner sa vie, ou vous ne mangez pas. En d'autres termes, tout le monde est motivé par le profit. Votre mécanicien n'a aucune raison de réparer la voiture, depuis ce faisant à le priver d'une source de revenus. Même plombier, électricien, charpentier - cet argument peut être appliqué à l'ensemble de la planète. Nous vivons dans une société capitaliste. À moins qu'ils proposent pour le communisme, industries et les gens ont le droit à payer pour leurs efforts. Et juste parce qu'ils sont payés pour leurs efforts pas intrinsèquement immoraux ou malhonnêtes.Les compagnies pharmaceutiques dépensent des milliards en recherche et développement. Il en coûte beaucoup d'argent d'enquêter et de commercialisation de nouveaux médicaments sur le marché. Ils ont le droit de recouvrer les coûts.Alors que les entreprises pharmaceutiques devraient mener des essais et démontrer que les avantages de votre produit l'emportent sur ses effets secondaires, l'industrie de la CAM n'est pas grevé par ces perturbations. L'industrie est réglementée presque entièrement, ce qui signifie une plus grande partie du temps, les gens qui vendent des CAM peuvent faire et dire ce qu'ils aiment - et n'ont pas à étayer leurs affirmations avec quelque chose de semblable à la preuve scientifique. Passer du temps sur le site web de la Federal Trade Commission pour avoir une idée de l'ampleur des escroqueries perpétuées par ceux du côté « des anges ».Maintenant, il est important de comprendre que je ne prétends pas que...Sociétés pharmaceutiques agissent toujours sur le plan éthique, ou pas coupables de comportement terrible de temps en temps. Mais la peinture eux tous avec la même brosse et refuse d'appliquer la même critique à CAM sont irresponsables et contraires à l'éthique.Herbes, médicaments naturels et similaires peuvent ne pas fonctionner ; Ce site web est un témoignage sur le fait qu'il y a beaucoup de choses à faire. Mais sont soutenues par des preuves scientifiques, c'est pourquoi nous pouvons dire qu'ils font.N'oubliez pas...Médecine alternative ou n'a pas été testé pour fonctionner, ou s'est avéré ne pas fonctionner. Tout le reste est juste de la médecine.

La sordide histoire de Phenocal, LLC Synetgy et un gars nommé Craig Schwartz

Il y a quelques semaines un gars nommé Craig Schwartz, qui est « autorisé » à agir au nom de Synetgy LLC (créateurs de Phenocal et une compagnie de * tousse * hautes normes d'éthique et de morale, * tousse *) a envoyé une note à notre hébergeur (vous pouvez lire la note ici) alléguant la violation de l'article 512 (c) de la Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA").La réclamation, bien sûr, il est complètement fausse - une simple tactique d'intimidation. Notre hébergement web, à leur crédit, avait reconnu comme tel et a contesté la Craig à venir avec les précédents juridiques appropriées.Au lieu de faire un effort, Craig simplement allé à un niveau supérieur - puis envoyé la même note à notre registraire de noms de domaine, Dotster, qui a montré aucune telle colonne vertébrale et au lieu de cela nous envoie cette note...SalutVeuillez noter que nous avons reçu des avis (copie jointe) de l'atteinte présumée sur son site Web. S'il vous plaît, supprimer ou désactiver l'accès au matériel de l'auteur présumé dans les 48 heures et nous donner avis écrit à cet effet une fois terminé.Échec pour supprimer ou désactiver l'accès a cette infraction dans le délai cadre allégué matériel peut entraîner la suspension ou la résiliation de votre site Web.Si vous avez d'autres questions, veuillez nous contacter.MerciZach PalmerCompliance ManagerLegal@Dotster-Inc.comAVIS pour le parti de la plainte : après l'expiration du délai de 48 heures avis et avisez-nous si vous déterminez que le contrefacteur présumé du matériel n'a pas été supprimé ou que l'accès n'est pas a été désactivé et nous prendrons d'autres mesures, veuillez consulter le site ci-dessus.Vous noterez que l'avis dit « présumé ».Il n'y a aucune substance à l'une des revendications de Craig, mais cette politique d'enregistrement est un simple, Big Co. « couvrir vos arrières » ; Tirez votre client "sous le bus" et c'est à eux de prouver son « innocence ».Oui, il y a un processus qui peut procéder par l'intermédiaire de différend ces allégations.Cependant, Elissa et je ne savais pas immédiatement a été le chemin à parcourir.Si quelqu'un a à faire est « soutiennent » une violation de la DMCA pour obtenir votre hôte qui menacent de faire tomber votre site, puis ce qui est d'empêcher que les autres fabricants de supplément avec moins élogieuses de leurs produits font la même chose ?Ensuite, ce que nous avons fait ?Nous avons décidé de faire le Phenocal critique de « disparaître » de l'affichage public (n'avait aucun autre choix) tandis que la cession du domaine d'un registraire canadien.Vous voyez, le Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) est une loi des États-Unis, pas un international. Si un enregistrement international n'est pas lié par elle. C'est quelque chose que j'ai confirmé avec notre nouveau service, avant de rejoindre le domaine. Donc plus d'allégations de violation de la DMCA par Craig - ou toute autre personne d'importer, est dûment ignoré.Qu'il suffise de dire que l'examen des Phenocal est en ligne.Dans les circonstances, je regrette poster un examen aussi « lisse », mais je ne vais pas à céder à la tentation et le changer. Cependant, je ne peux pas dire que cette expérience m'a laissé avec beaucoup de respect par Craig et Synetgy. Le fait que Craig a opté pour intimider et antagoniser route vs et fournissant un précédent juridique réel parle son altruisme de selon l'échéance diligence - qui reflète mal l'entreprise qui représente. Zut, nous avons précisé aux détaillants dans les années - si nous avons tort, ou si quelque chose vous voulez dire dans votre propre défense, par tous les moyens... nous contacter et faire.Nous serons heureux de publier leurs commentaires - comme nous l'avons fait par Rob Dente, CEO de Lipovarin.Ah oui, et...C'est une chose à Craig et vers le haut de Synetgy personnes aurait dû réfléchir jusqu'à ce qu'ils ont commencé de cette façon...Intéressent beaucoup généré Phenocal examen sur UltimateFatBurner.com ? Et menaçant pour l'enlever attirera davantage d'attention à l'examen, notre entreprise et notre éthique en affaires moins que stellaire.Telles sont les questions que quiconque est familier avec le « effet Streisand » demandera avant d'engager toute action. De Wikipedia...« L'effet Streisand est le phénomène par lequel une tentative de cacher, enlever ou le censeur qui a fait a la conséquence involontaire de diffuser l'information plus large, généralement facilitée par Internet ».Dans notre cas, l'examen ne génère pas de presque aucun intérêt de nos visiteurs (j'ai les captures d'écran de Google Analytics pour tester) et les redirections de moteur de recherche occasionnelle seulement. Le seul intérêt qui a reçu ces derniers temps a été le résultat des tentatives de supprimer. En d'autres termes, les mesures prises par Craig ont fait plus d'efforts pour mettre en valeur le produit et la société derrière elle qui a fait notre examen.Argent bien dépensé.Juste.Ah oui et voici le lien vers le magazine est de nouveau.Si vous êtes à la recherche pour la grande fête - pour les personnes qui s'occupe du téléphone, retour et arranger les choses quand elles vont mal (comme l'éveil il n'y a rien à voir ce que UltimateFatBurner.com a été piraté et l'ensemble du domaine est arborant un logo « Pentium » par les mots: « hacker à l'intérieur »), puis les gens sur le dessus de la Qwk.net vous appartient. En toute sincérité, UltimateFatBurner.com a été accueilli avec eux depuis 10 ans et nous n'avons jamais déçu.

4 Maneras de mantenerse motivado en el gimnasio!

Il devient un cadre historique...Un individu (l'appelle M. Smith) a été recommandée par son médecin pour perdre du poids pour des raisons de santé. Avec résignation tranquille, Monsieur Smith adopte un plan de régime sensible en conjonction avec un régime d'exercice intelligent. Un voyage à la salle de gym locale faite et achètent un abonnement (ou peut-être une pièce d'équipement d'exercice est achetée pour faciliter le travail à domicile).Au début, tout se passe sur roues. Séances d'entraînement sont excitant, amusant, le régime alimentaire n'est pas « si mal » et M. Smith se sent mieux que ce qu'il a au cours des années. Cependant, peu à peu, inévitablement, quelque chose arrive. M. Smith perd vapeur. Leur motivation est vacillant. Vos séances d'entraînement sont... Eh bien, la plupart du temps ne dérange pas. Il « sous » colle à son régime alimentaire, mais l'exercice qui l'accompagnent, tout faire des profits est insignifiante. En conséquence, il devient encore plus découragé et définitivement fermée au total. C'est un cercle vicieux qui devient trop commun.Nous allons parler de ce scénario.Can, Mr.Smith ou quiconque importe, prévenir une défaillance, être motivé et atteindre vos objectifs de remise en forme ?Évidemment, vous devez être dans l'alimentation correcte. Mais il s'agit d'un débat qui pourrait remplir des volumes, et franchement, ce qu'ils ont déjà fait la mort. Nous allons donc se concentrer sur le programme d'exercices. Comment pouvez vous continuer semaine après semaine - peut faire il fait partie de la vie quotidienne ?C'est une bonne question. À mon avis, il y a quatre éléments clés pour maintenir votre programme d'exercice.1. Toujours exercer au gymnase.Nombreuses pièces d'équipement de gymnastique à la maison vont à travers des œuvres de la vie comme un cintre ? Vous voyez, bien que la plupart d'entre nous est bien quand nous avons l'intention d'exercer à la maison, peu d'entre nous peuvent éviter le flot des distractions qui sont communs à toute la maison occupée. Si vous allez obtenir le monte-marches pour changer de vêtements de la laveuse à la sécheuse, répondre au téléphone, quelque chose de sortir du four ou pour rompre le combat entre Johnny et Susie... vous perdez votre temps.Aller à la gym. C'est dommage, mais une fois que vous êtes là, vous pouvez vous concentrer sur la tâche. Non seulement vous pouvez vous concentrer, mais d'autres vont vous motiver et vous stimuler. La plupart du temps, votre ego vous emmènera vers l'avant - qui veut être un « lâche » dans une salle pleine de « buddies ».2 Autant que possible, de travailler avec un partenaire.Trouver quelqu'un qui partage les mêmes objectifs, et vous vous engagez à s'entraider.Nous nous engageons à motiver votre partenaire lorsqu'il ne parvient pas à votre motivation et en supprimant la promesse même de votre partenaire vous. En d'autres termes, être que mutuellement des sergents. Un partenaire d'entraînement bien peut serrer plus que vous, vous motiver, vous inspirer et transformer monotonie commune à la fête.Une compétitivité débonnaire jamais tué personne non plus ! Encore une fois, votre ego peut vous aider ici - vont vraiment devoir finir dernière ? D'utiliser un poids plus faible ? Faire quelques répétitions ? Il n'est pas possible !3. Surveillance de l'ensemble.Savez-vous si vous n'obtenez rien si vous ne suivez pas tous ? Vous devez documenter tout le temps passé dans la salle de gym, la dernière fois faire cardio et force, ainsi que des représentants, ensembles, et ils font des poids d'entraînement d'endurance. Si il n'est pas le cas, vous ne serez pas en mesure de retracer leurs progrès - et les mêmes progrès sont très inspirant.En dehors de la salle de gym, vous devriez suivre régulièrement leur poids, leur donnés corps, les mesures du pli de peau et votre taille.4 Trouver quelqu'un qui vous pouvez être responsable !Dans de nombreux cas, cela peut impliquer d'embauche d'un entraîneur personnel qui va concevoir un programme personnel pour vous, fournir des conseils de motivation et fixé des objectifs à atteindre. Même si cela ne fonctionne pas pour tout le monde, avoir à répondre à une autre personne sous forme régulièrement sur l'état de votre appareil photo dans le programme de formation sera très motivant.Ne vous « you raise à lui » quand votre patron vous donne un nouveau projet, alors que leurs propres projets stagnantes pendant des mois ? C'est parce que vous devenez responsables de leurs actions à une autre personne. en fait peut être fait si vous pouvez transposer cela dans les bénéfices de ce grand ensemble « du scénario de l'exercice ».Et bien sûr, c'est aussi une « chose de l'ego ». Je veux vraiment admettre l'échec d'une autre personne ? La plupart d'entre nous ne sont pas.Donc là que vous avez - programme 4 façons simples, mais incroyablement efficace pour garder votre exercice sur la bonne voie. Mettre en pratique... et savourez votre succès. C'est juste une courte distance en voiture.

Comme une éruption de mauvaise, Craig retourne

Ceux d'entre vous qui ont suivi ainsi que notre histoire de Craig Schwartz (représentant Synetgy LLC) et ses tentatives maladroites pour notre examen des Phenocal tiré du site que vous devez savoir que Craig était un chemin de retour à notre hébergement web, envoyer cette note hier (9 octobre 2013).La page http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html est encore vivante. S'il vous plaît supprimer le matériel en question au plus tôt. Pour éviter toute confusion. [sic]Quel « confusion » tu parles de, Craig ?Il est la seule personne qui semble confondre à ce sujet.Mais juste pour le plaisir, nous allons revenir à sa plainte, envoyée le 5 septembre, où il a écrit de notre société d'hébergement qui prétend...J'ai très bonne compréhension des entreprises en ligne. Le site web tente de promouvoir la http://www.burnthefat.com/index_aff.html de la réputation de la marque en ligne de Phenocal. Veuillez consulter le site http://www.ultimatefatburner.com une fois et retirer le matériel en question, au plus tôt pour éviter les sanctions et autres actes juridiques.Envisager...« Brûle de la graisse » de Tom Venuto n'est pas un produit de la concurrence. Il s'agit d'un livre - pas une bouteille de pilules.Elle est représentée par une annonce de 125 x 125 petites, la séance générique au bar côté gauche dans tous les commentaires sur ce site... n'est pas un contrôle exclusif de Phenocal.El annonce en elle-même n'est pas liée avec la vente de Tom Venuto, mais à l'examen du produitpage. Serait le cas si nous ont été effectivement essayer d'utiliser la « Réputation de la marque » ligne de Phenocal (quel réputation en ligne?), ne pas lier directement à la vente du site ? Nous ne pouvons pas commencer avec quelque chose le long des lignes, "vous n'avez pas besoin de Phenocal à perdre de la graisse et obtenir le corps de vos rêves. Cliquez ici pour plus d'informations sur le programme populaire "brûler le muscle graisse, aliments pour animaux" de Tom Venuto".Il n'est pas contraire à la loi du droit d'auteur ou de marque qui ont recommandé des produits ou publicité sur les pages qui contiennent le contenu rédactionnel.Il est difficile de prendre au sérieux Craig approche « eagle juridique » lors de la communication dans la confusion des peines, comme: « J'ai très bonne compréhension des entreprises en ligne ». Très professionnel !Tout cela, cependant, ont décidé de jeter Craig un OS. Juste pour le fun, Elissa peaufiner la feuille de style UltimateFatBurner.com, afin de l'enfreindre « publicité » n'apparaît plus sur les pages liées à la Phenocal, dont celui-ci (ces pages sont mis en cache, donc il peut prendre quelques heures avant d'arrêter les annonces apparaissant sur toutes les pages).Il vous faire plaisir ? Ou y a-t-il quelque chose à se plaindre ?Restez branchés pour plus de détails !

Nutiness plus de Nutella

J'ai vu cette superbe vidéo de Dr Yoni Freedhoff crédules question ce matin et devaient partager...Dr Yoni utilise des tactiques visuelles excellentes démontrer la « nutritif » de Nutella (si vous voulez en savoir plus sur le Nutella, Elissa a un blog fantastique ici!).Toutefois, lorsque Elissa et moi parlions ce matin à ce sujet, fait un bon point de...Justice (légère) avec Fererro, bien que - je ne vois vraiment Nutella comme pire que bien d'autres choses sucrées qui a poussé comme petit déjeuner: « boulangeries », gruau instantané aromatisé, Trix/Lucky Charms/Frosted Flakes et al., boit « Déjeuner instantané », Pop Tarts, et ainsi de suite. Est vraiment beaucoup plus trompeur que la revendication de « Baked avec de vrais fruits » qui se trouve sur le devant une fenêtre de Huckleberry POPtartes (ainsi que les photos de bleuets dodus, mûres) "94 noisettes par jar". Autant que je ne supporte pas Nutella - est presque le seul coupable.Amen. Il me semble logique.

Cyclospora Outbreak Caused by Fecal Contamination

 I’ve been idly following the news of the Cyclospora outbreak for the last few days… according to the latest report, there are 425 reported cases across 16 states (I don’t live in any of them, knock on wood!). It appears that salad mix produced by Taylor Farms de Mexico and served in Darden-owned chain restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster) was ID’d as the primary source in Iowa and Nebraska, two of the states hardest hit by the outbreak.Cyclospora cayetanensis is a microscopic parasite that causes a nasty gastrointestinal illness (aka Cyclosporiasis) that can last from a few days to more than a month. While its normally found in tropical/subtropical regions outside the US, cases of infection from imported fresh produce – raspberries, basil, snow peas and mesclun lettuce – have occurred here before.One thing I’ve found irksome about the current reports, however, is the… delicacy of the language used to describe the nature of the outbreak. Most beat around the bush, saying that the outbreak has been “linked” or “traced” to the salad mix. A few go so far as to use the “C word” – “contaminated” but don’t go much further than that. For example…CBS News:“Cyclospora parasites, found in contaminated food and drinking water, cause the gastrointestinal infection cyclosporiasis.”ABC News:“Because the illness doesn’t spread from person to person, it’s possible it came from contaminated food or water, said Dr. Nicole Bouvier, an infectious diseases professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.”Hmmm… for some reason, the stories don’t quite answer the question, “Contaminated with what???” It’s a good question, though. After all, Cyclospora cayetanensis is a single-celled parasite, so it just doesn’t get into food/drinking water on its own.Out of all the mainstream/online media reports I’ve eyeballed, only one – from Consumerist.com – answers the question directly:“Hundreds of people in the Midwest got very sick from a bagged salad mix contaminated with a nasty little parasite called cyclospora. That’s how many cases authorities were able to confirm: there are probably many more who didn’t see a doctor or let the health department know they were sick. What no one will tell the public is where the fateful poo-contaminated salads were served.”Emphasis mine. Yes, you read that right: “poo” – aka “feces.” Cyclospora has a rather interesting life cycle: infected people shed non-infective, “unsporulated” oocysts into the environment (soil or water) in their feces. Once excreted, the oocysts sporulate over a period of days – weeks. Once they sporulate, they’re capable of infecting a human. If the sporulated oocysts happen to be on/in water or food that’s ingested, the cycle starts all over again.So wassup with those news reports? Guess they don’t want to reveal that parasites from human excrement were being served up in restaurant salads. Admittedly, that’s a pretty gross detail, but I really think this is something that people need to understand, particularly at a time when imported food inspections are declining. According to the New York Times, the FDA inspects only 2.3 percent of the 10 million+ shipments of imported food, due to limited resources. IMHO, being graphic about the nature of the problem is one way to combat complacency.At this point, I think that the next time I find myself in a chain restaurant, and the server asks “soup or salad?” – I’ll take the soup, lol. I’m no purist: the notion that food isn’t always clean or hygienic to the nth degree doesn’t automatically gives me the vapors. For example, when the pro-vegan Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine tried to gross people out over fecal (E. coli) contamination on supermarket chicken, I didn’t even raise an eyebrow… after all,  I clean my chicken, take precautions to avoid any cross-contamination during handling/preparation and cook it thoroughly before eating it. But foods normally eaten raw, like fresh vegetables and fruits, are a different story – there’s much less margin for error, especially for fecal organisms like Cyclospora, that can cause disease in very low doses.

Like a Bad Rash, Craig Returns

 Those of you who have been following along with our story of Craig Schwartz (representing Synetgy LLC) and his ham-handed attempts to have our review of Phenocal pulled from the site will be interested to know that Craig was back blustering to our web host again, sending this note yesterday (Oct 9, 2013)…The page http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html is made live again. Please remove the material in question at earliest. To avoid confusion. [sic]What “confusion” do you speak of, Craig?The only person who seems to be confused about this is YOU.But just for fun, let’s go back to your initial complaint, sent on September 5, where you wrote our hosting company alleging…I do have very well understanding of online business. The website is trying to promote http://www.burnthefat.com/index_aff.html by using Phenocal’s online brand reputation. Please review the whole website http://www.ultimatefatburner.com once and remove the material in question at earliest to avoid further legal action and penalties.Consider…Tom Venuto’s “Burn the Fat” is not a competing product. It’s a book – not a bottle of pills.It is represented by a small, generic 125 x 125 ad that sits way down in the sidebar on the left on all the reviews on this site… it is not unique to the Phenocal review.The ad itself does not link to Tom Venuto’s sales page, but to our review of the product. If we really were trying to use Phenocal’s “online brand reputation” (what online reputation?) , wouldn’t we link directly to the sales site? Wouldn’t we preface it with something along the lines of, “You don’t need Phenocal to lose fat and get the body of your dreams. Click here for information on Tom Venuto’s popular “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” program”?It is not against the copyright or trademark law to feature advertising or featured products on pages that contain editorial content.It’s hard to take Craig’s “legal eagle” approach too seriously when he communicates in garbled sentences, like: “I do have very well understanding of online business.” Very professional!All this notwithstanding, we decided to throw Craig a bone. Just for fun, Elissa tweaked the UltimateFatBurner.com style sheet, so the offending “ad” no longer appears on any Phenocal-related pages, including this one (these pages are cached, so it may take a couple of hours before the ads stop appearing on all pages).Will that make him happy? Or will there be something else to complain about?Stay tuned for more details!

“Big Fat Fatty” == Joyless Eating

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

I like food. Always have. And while I’m a strong advocate of healthy eating, it’s not a “prison” that I’ve immured myself in – life’s too short to turn my nose up at indulgences.

I cannot understand, however, those who eat for the sake of eating. Eating contests, for example, give me the shudders. IMHO, it’s disgusting to wolf down food (particularly the crap food routinely featured in such competitions) simply for the sake of… well, getting and keeping down as much as humanly possible.

This has nada to do with nutrition – or even pleasure. It strikes me as a soulless, joyless activity, done largely as an attention-getting device. The sad thing is that it seems to work: various “chefs” and eateries now vie with one another to create the most disgustingly huge, greasy and over-the-top concoctions – just for the publicity the “dishes” bring.

Here’s exhibit A: The “Big Fat Fatty” – as featured in the Los Angeles Times.

Click for full pic and article. Urrrp.

“Imagine every fast-food item you’ve ever loved together in one sandwich. Such a thing exists, and it’s called the Big Fat Fatty.

…Let us break this bad boy down for you. It’s got cheesesteak, cheese burgers, pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, fried eggs, jalapeno poppers, fries, onion rings, chili, marinara and fat sauce. Oh, and it comes on a 27-inch garlic bread roll.

The sandwich looks like every fast-food restaurant in the nation collided with a semi truck and had a big, fat baby, then covered that baby with French fries and pink sauce. Is anyone sweating yet?

The sandwich costs $49.99, and you can only order it if you’re up for the eating challenge — if you can finish it in 40 minutes or less, the sandwich is free.”

Even for free, what’s the point? The thing sounds absolutely revolting. But even if it turned out to be edible – even delicious – what would be the point of stuffing it all down? To save money? I’d just as soon spend more $$$ on a vastly smaller meal that I truly enjoyed, vs. feeling bloated, miserable and gross for “free.” The people who opt for a “challenge” like this should have their heads examined.

(h/t: Consumerist)

Here We Go Again! (More on Phenocal, Synetgy LLC & Craig Schwartz)

 Well, looks like Craig Schwartz, legal eagle and representative of Synetgy LLC (makers of Phenocal) is back at it again. If you’re not up to speed on the story, Craig and the good folks over at Synetgy LLC don’t like our review of their Phenocal product, and are doing their best to suppress it, by threatening us with bogus lawsuits.You can catch up on the story here and here!Anyhow, on Wednesday, December 4th, Craig was back to threatening us again. Here’s the note the sent to me, our web host (kudos once again to Quinn and the folks at Qwk web hosting for standing by us through all of this) and to our old registrar…To whom it may concernMy name is Craig Schwartz and I am duly authorized to act on behalf of Synetgy LLC, DBA who owns the “Phenocal” trademark.The type & way http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html has followed to represent information regarding Phenocal is not good. It is affecting the brand value of Phenocal and misleading visitors.On the page http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/phenocal-fat-burner-review.html the website is directly promoting affiliate productsThe website is trying to use the online brand value of Phenocal to sell their affiliate product which is not a good practice.This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights my company owns are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.This is final email for reporting complaint if the spam is again repeated then be prepared for legal action which will be taken against the spammer and supporters of spammer.P.S. :- Please find the duly attached PDFCraig SchwartzGolden Street Media50 Tice BoulevardSuite 340Woodcliff LakeNJ 07677Phone: +1. 661.748.0240Email: legal@goldenstreetmedia.comUnfortunately, at this point, it looks like Craig and the good folks over at Synetgy LLC aren’t ever going to “get it” and stop pestering us.So this week, I have connected with our legal representation. Yes, I am handing this over to our lawyer now.More details to come as warranted.

More Nutella Nutiness

 Saw this great video from Dr. Yoni Freedhoff of Weighty Matters this morning and had to share…Dr. Yoni uses some great visual tactics to demonstrate the “nutritional” value of Nutella (if you want to read more on Nutella, Elissa has a fantastic blog post here!).However, when Elissa and I were chatting this morning about this, she made a good point…In (slight) fairness to Fererro, though – I really don’t see Nutella as being worse than a lot of other sugary crap that gets pushed as breakfast food: “toaster pastries,” flavored instant oatmeal, Trix/Lucky Charms/Frosted Flakes et al, “Instant Breakfast” drinks, Pop Tarts, and so on. Is “94 hazelnuts per jar” really that much more deceptive than the “Baked with Real Fruit” claim that’s on the front of a box of Blueberry PopTarts (along with pictures of plump, ripe blueberries)? As much as I can’t stand Nutella – it’s hardly the only offender.Amen. Makes sense to me.

Sh*t That Drives Me Crazy! (Good-Bye Critical Thinking)

 If there’s one thing that drives me nearly batsh*t crazy, it’s that so often, critical thinking skills seemed to be washed away into the gutter as soon as the topic of “Big Pharma” comes up. There’s a sudden, knee-jerk, conspiracy theory spasm that seems to paralyze some people’s brains. For instance… Advocates of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) regularly cite “Big Pharma’s” financial “conflict of interest” in order to support their argument that it is in the pharmaceutical industry’s best interest to keep you sick and fat. It goes something like this: Big Pharma is motivated by profit and answers to shareholders, therefore Big Pharma is evil. Big Pharma makes money selling you drugs – if you get well, you won’t need the drugs anymore – therefore, it’s not in Big Pharma’s interest that you be well.However, this “conflict of interest” argument is never applied to complimentary and alternative medicine itself, which has exactly the same motivations. Last I checked, alternative medicines were not free. Last I checked, a visit to the naturopath or homeopath was not free. These people make money off your maladies, and, if argued with the same logic applied to “Big Pharma”, have no real reason to cure you, since doing so will deprive them of a source of income.This argument is completely disingenuous for a couple of other reasons…This isn’t happy dappy gum drop land, where lollipops grow on trees and people spend their days dancing merrily around in sun dappled meadows filled with beautiful yellow and pink flowers. You have to earn a living or you don’t eat. In other words, everyone is motivated by profit. Your mechanic has no reason to fix your car, since doing so will deprive him of a source of income. Same for your plumber, electrician, carpenter – this argument can be applied to everyone on the planet. We live in a capitalist society. Unless you’re advocating for communism, people and industries have a right to be remunerated for their efforts. And just because they are being paid for their efforts does not make them inherently unethical or dishonest.The drug companies spend BILLIONS in research and development. It costs a ton of money to research and bring new drugs to the market. They are entitled to recoup their costs.While the drug companies must conduct clinical studies and prove their product’s benefits outweigh its side effects, the CAM industry is un-burdened by such inconveniences. The industry is almost entirely unregulated, which means a lot of the time, folks selling CAM can do and say whatever they like – and do not have to support their assertions with anything resembling scientific evidence. Spend some time on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s web site to get an idea of the magnitude of the scams perpetuated by those on the “side of the angels.”Now it’s important you understand that I am not arguing that…Drug companies always act ethically, or have not been guilty of terrible behavior occasionally. But painting them all with the same brush and refusing to apply the same criticisms to CAM is dishonest and unethical.Herbals, natural medicines and the like can’t work; this web site is a testament to the fact that there are a LOT of things that do. But they are supported by scientific evidence, which is why we can say that they do.Remember…Alternative medicine has either not been proven to work, or has been proven not to work. Everything else is just medicine.

New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise!

 I saw this earlier this morning and had to let you know about it…A drug known as SR9009, which is currently under development at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), increases the level of metabolic activity in skeletal muscles of mice. Treated mice become lean, develop larger muscles and can run much longer distances simply by taking SR9009, which mimics the effects of aerobic exercise.If similar effects can be obtained in people, the reversal of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and perhaps Type-II diabetes might be the very welcome result.Read more… Miracle pill that helps you lose weight without exercise? Has science really discovered the answer?Well at this stage, who knows?However, while mouse trials are obviously a very early step, this is an interesting development. And of course, even it “worked” in humans, I can’t imagine how a drug like this could ever eliminate the need for, or the benefits of, exercise. Question is… would you take it? And if you would, would you stop exercising?

“The Zero Gravity Coffee Cup”

 Speaking of the science of coffee… this NASA video on solving the problem of drinking coffee in space is pretty cool.(via All Things D)

4 Ways to Stay Motivated at the Gym!

 It’s fast becoming an age-old scenario… An individual (let’s call him Mr. Smith)has been recommended by his doctor to lose some weight for health reasons. With quiet resignation, Mr. Smith adopts a sensible diet plan in conjunction with a smart exercise regime. A trip to the local gym is made and a membership is purchased (or perhaps a piece of exercise equipment is bought to facilitate the ease of working out at home).At first, everything goes swimmingly. Workouts are invigorating and fun, the diet isn’t “all that bad”, and Mr. Smith feels better than he has in years. Yet slowly, inevitably, something happens. Mr. Smith loses steam. His motivation falters. His workouts are… well, most of the time he doesn’t bother. He “sort of” sticks to his diet, but without the exercise to accompany it, any gains he makes are insignificant. Accordingly, he becomes even more discouraged and eventually quits altogether. It’s a vicious circle that’s becoming all-too-common.Let’s address this scenario.How can you, Mr.Smith, or anyone else for that matter, avoid failure, remain motivated and reach their fitness goals?Obviously, you need to be on the right diet. But that’s a discussion that could fill volumes, and frankly, it’s been done to death already. So let’s focus on the exercise program. How can you keep exercising week after week — how can you make it part of everyday lifestyle?That’s a good question. In my opinion, there are 4 key elements to maintaining your exercise program…1. Always workout at the gym.How many pieces of home gym equipment spend their lives functioning as a clothes hanger? You see, although most of us mean well when we plan to work out at home, few of us can avoid the constant stream of distractions that are common to any busy domicile. If you’re getting off the stair climber to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer, answer the phone, take something out of the oven, or to break up the fight between Johnny and Susie… you’re wasting your time.Get to the gym. It’s a pain, but once you’re there, you can focus on the task at hand. Not only can you focus, but others will motivate you and spur you on. Most of the time, your ego will drive you forward — who wants to be a “quitter” in a room full of “go-getters?” 2. As much as possible, work out with a partner.Find someone who shares similar goals, and commit yourselves to helping one another.Pledge to motivate your partner when his or her motivation fails, and extract the same pledge from your partner to you. In other words, be each other’s drill sergeants. A good training partner can squeeze more from you, motivate you, inspire you, and turn common drudgery into fun.A little good natured competitiveness never hurt anybody either! Again, your ego can help you here — are you really going to be the one to finish last? To use a lower weight? To do one fewer reps? No way!3. Track everything.How do you know if you’re accomplishing anything if you don’t track everything? You need to document all your time spent at the gym, the time spent doing cardio and the intensity, as well as the reps, sets, and weights of any resistance training you are doing. If don’t do so, you won’t be able to track your progress — and progress itself is very inspiring.Out of the gym, you should regularly track your weight, your body fat percentages, your skin fold measurements and your waist measurement.4. Find someone to whom you can be accountable!In many cases, this may involve hiring a personal trainer who will craft a personal program for you, provide motivational counseling, and set goals for you to achieve. While this doesn’t work for everyone, having to answer to another individual on a regular basis on the status of your workout program cam be very motivating.Why do you “hop to it” when your boss hands you a new project — while your own projects lie stagnating for months? It’s because you become accountable for your actions to another person! if you can transpose this into this entire “exercise scenario” great gains can be made indeed.And of course, it’s also an “ego thing.” Do you really want to admit failure to another person? Most of us do not.So there you have it — 4 simple, yet incredibly effective ways to keep your exercise program on track. Implement them… and enjoy your success. It’s a only a short journey away!

The Sordid Tale of Phenocal, Synetgy LLC and Some Guy Named Craig Schwartz

 A few weeks ago, a guy named Craig Schwartz, who is “duly authorized” to act on the behalf of Synetgy LLC (the makers of Phenocal and a company of *cough* great ethical and moral standards, *cough*) sent a note to our web host (you can read the note here) alleging violation of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”).The claim, of course, is totally bogus – a simple bullying tactic. Our web host, to their credit, recognized it as such and challenged Craig to to come up with the appropriate legal precedents.Rather than make an effort, Craig simply moved up to the next level – he then sent the same note to our domain name registrar, Dotster, who showed no such backbone, and instead sent us this note….Hello,Please be advised that we have received notice (copy attached) of alleged infringement on your website. Please remove or disable access to the alleged infringing material within 48 hours, and provide written notice to us to that effect when completed.Failure to eliminate or disable access to such alleged infringing material within such time period could result in suspension or termination of your website.Should you have further questions, please contact us.Thank You,Zach PalmerCompliance Managerlegal@dotster-inc.comNOTICE TO COMPLAINING PARTY: Please review the above web site after the expiration of the 48 hour notice period, and notify us in the event you determine that the alleged infringing material has not been eliminated or that access to it has not been disabled, and we will take further action.You’ll notice the warning notice says “alleged.”There’s no substance to any of Craig’s claims, but this registrar’s policy is a simple, Big Co. “cover your ass” one; throw your customer “under the bus” and put the onus on them to demonstrate their “innocence.”Yes, there is a process you can proceed through to contest these allegations.However, Elissa and I knew right away this was not the way to go.If all someone has to do is “allege” a DMCA violation to get your host to threaten to pull down your site, then what’s to prevent other supplement manufacturers with less than glowing reviews of their products from doing same thing?So what did we do?We decided to make the Phenocal review “disappear” from public view (we had no choice) while we transferred the domain to a Canadian registrar.You see, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is an American law, not an International one. So an International registrar is not bound by it. This is something I confirmed with our new service prior to moving the domain. So further allegations of DMCA violation by Craig – or anyone else for that matter, will be duly ignored.Suffice to say, the Phenocal review is back online.Under the circumstances, I regret posting such a “mild” review, but I am certainly not going to yield to temptation and change it. However, I cannot say that this experience has left me with much respect for Craig and Synetgy. The fact that Craig chose to bully and antagonize vs. taking the high road and providing some real legal precedent speaks to his disinterest in due diligence – which reflects poorly on the company he represents. Heck, we have made it clear to retailers over the years – if we’ve got it wrong, or there’s something you’d like to say in your own defense, by all means… contact us and do so.We’ll be happy to post your comments – just like we did for Rob Dente, CEO of Lipovarin.Oh yes, and…One thing Craig and the folks over at Synetgy should have considered before they started down this path is…How much interest does the Phenocal review on UltimateFatBurner.com generate? And will threatening them to remove it draw more attention to the review, our company, and our less than stellar business ethics?These are the questions anyone familiar with the “Streisand Effect” will ask before engaging in any action. From Wikipedia…“The Streisand effect is the phenomenon whereby an attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely, usually facilitated by the Internet.”In our case, the review generated almost NO interest from our visitors (I have the Google Analytics screenshots to prove), and only occasional search engine referrals. The only interest it has received of late has been as a result of the attempts to suppress it. In other words, the actions taken by Craig have done more to highlight the product and the company behind it than our review ever did.Money well spent?Hardly.Oh yeah, and here’s the link to the review again.If you’re looking for great hosting – by people who answer the phone, have your back, and fix things when they go wrong (nothing like waking up to see that UltimateFatBurner.com has been hacked and the entire domain is sporting a modified “Pentium” logo with the words, “hacker inside”), then the folks over at Qwk.net are your guys. In all seriousness, UltimateFatBurner.com has been hosted with them for 10+ years and they have never let us down.

Puis-je obtenir de l'aide pour payer une assurance santé ?

Erreur lors de la désérialisation du corps du message de réponse pour l’opération « Translate ». Dépassement du quota maximal pour la longueur du contenu de chaîne (8192) lors de la lecture de données XML. Ce quota peut être augmenté en modifiant la propriété MaxStringContentLength sur l’objet XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas utilisé pendant la création du lecteur XML. Ligne 1, position 9313. Erreur lors de la désérialisation du corps du message de réponse pour l’opération « Translate ». Dépassement du quota maximal pour la longueur du contenu de chaîne (8192) lors de la lecture de données XML. Ce quota peut être augmenté en modifiant la propriété MaxStringContentLength sur l’objet XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas utilisé pendant la création du lecteur XML. Ligne 1, position 8854. Are you having trouble affording health insurance? Health insurance can be so expensive that many low and middle income people can’t afford it without help.Answer: The Affordable Care Act provides for subsidies to help low and middle-income people afford health insurance. You might be able to get help paying for health insurance premiums, as well as help paying costs like coinsurance, copays, and deductibles once you have health coverage.The Affordable Care Act created these health insurance subsidies because the law’s individual mandate requires people to have health insurance, get an exemption certificate, or pay a penalty. People who don’t have health insurance through their job or a government program like Medicare or Medicaid have to buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty.There are three different programs for people who need help paying for health insurance.Medicaid: The first program, for the lowest income folks, enrolls them in Medicaid. Most often, Medicaid is provided for free to the people who qualify for it. Eligibility varies from state to state, so you won’t know for sure if you qualify until you apply. In many states, the rules for Medicaid eligibility have been changed by the ACA, so even if you’ve applied before and been turned down, you should apply again through your state’s health insurance exchange. (You’ll learn more about this later.)Premium Tax Credits: The second program, for both low and middle-income folks, provides money each month to help pay a portion of your monthly health insurance premiums. It's like getting a discount on the price of health insurance. This money is sent from the government directly to your health insurance company on your behalf—you never actually get the money yourself. You’ll still have to pay your share of your health insurance premium each month, though.Decreased Cost Sharing: Also for low income people, the third program decreases your out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, copays and coinsurance when you actually use your health insurance. For example, if you bought a health insurance policy that says you have to pay a $50 copay each time you see the doctor, your cost-sharing subsidy might decrease that copay to, say, $30 each time you visit the doctor. Since the insurance company pays for more of your health care expenses, the effect of the cost-sharing subsidy is like getting a free upgrade on health insurance. The decreased cost-sharing program also limits the out-of-pocket maximum you’ll pay if you end up using your health insurance a lot. Some low income people will get both premium tax credits and decreased cost sharing.You can apply for a health insurance subsidy, as well as for Medicaid, through your state’s health insurance exchange. When you apply for health insurance through your state’s exchange, the exchange will determine if you’re eligible for a premium tax credit, decreased cost sharing, or Medicaid.If you’re eligible, the exchange will arrange for the premium tax credit to go directly to your health insurance company each month so you’ll owe less each month for premiums. The exchange will also tell your health insurance company if you're eligible for the cost-sharing subsidy so your insurer will lower your out-of-pocket costs.Learn how to find your state’s health insurance exchange.Eligibility for a health insurance subsidy like the premium tax credit or decreased cost sharing is based on comparing your income to the federal poverty level. Federal poverty level changes every year, and is based on both your income and your family size. You can look up this year’s FPL here.You’ll qualify for the premium tax credit if your income is between 100 and 400 percent of last year’s FPL. To qualify for a subsidy in 2014, use the 2013 levels: an individual with an income range of $11,490-$45,960, couples with incomes from $15,510-$62,040, and a family of three earning from $19,530-$78,120.The closer you are to poverty level, the more subsidies you’ll get. You’ll qualify for the decreased cost-sharing subsidy if you choose a silver-tier plan from the exchange and your income is between 100 and 250 percent of last year’s FPL. To qualify for decreased cost sharing in 2014, you’ll use the 2013 FPL guidelines: an individual earning from $11,490-$28,725, couples with incomes from $15,510-$38,775, and a family of three earning from $19,530-$48,825 would qualify for help paying their deductible, copayments, and coinsurance costs.You won’t qualify for a health insurance subsidy if you can get affordable health insurance by other means. For example, if you could get affordable health insurance through your job, but you’d rather have a health plan purchased through your health insurance exchange, you won’t qualify for a subsidy.The law makes an exception about this if the health insurance your employer offers is lousy, or if the coverage isn’t affordable. In this case, the Affordable Care Act defines "affordable" as health insurance that costs you less than 9.5 percent of your income. If the health coverage available through your job doesn’t provide minimum value, in other words it doesn’t pay an average of 60% of covered costs, then it won’t disqualify you from getting a subsidy just because it’s available.However, if you choose to enroll in employer-offered health insurance even though it’s not affordable or doesn’t provide minimum value, then you won’t be eligible for a subsidy as long as you’re enrolled in that health plan. The government isn’t going to give you help paying for health insurance if you already have job-based health insurance.You won’t qualify for a subsidy if you’re eligible for government-sponsored health insurance such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Veterans Administration, Medicare or Medicaid. Note that you don’t have to be enrolled in these programs to be disqualified for subsidies; just being eligible for one of these programs is sufficient to disqualify you.You won’t qualify for a subsidy if you’re in prison or if you’re not living in the United States legally.If you’re married, your tax filing status must be “married filing jointly” in order to qualify for a subsidy. You won’t qualify for a subsidy if your filing status is “married filing separately.”Ridiculous as it sounds, you won't qualify for a subsidy if your income is less then 100 percent of FPL. That's right; the poorest of the poor don't get premium tax credit or cost-sharing subsidies.The lawmakers who wrote the Affordable Care Act intended that everyone earning less than 133 percent of FPL get Medicaid. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn't force states to give all of those people Medicaid. This means each state can decide whether or not it will provide Medicaid to everyone earning less than 133 percent of FPL, or limit it to only the people who qualified for Medicaid under the older, stricter criteria.If your state has chosen not to expand its Medicaid program and you're living below the poverty line, you won't be eligible for help paying for health insurance. Instead, consider taking advantage of a Community Health Center that provides primary care services regardless of your ability to pay. Find your nearest Community Health Center. Learn more about the premium tax credit health insurance subsidy.Learn more about decreased cost sharing to reduce your deductible, copays, and coinsurance.Learn more about the subsidy for your out-of-pocket maximum.Learn more about getting Medicaid.Learn more about Community Health Centers for the uninsured.

Am I Being Pushed Into Picking a Silver Health...

  Answer: If you’re buying individual or family health insurance through your state’s health insurance exchange, you may feel as though you’re being prodded to pick a silver-tier health plan. Although you ultimately have free choice to pick any plan the health insurance exchange offers, lawmakers designed the system such that it encourages you to choose a silver plan.How Am I Being Influenced to Choose a Silver Plan?The most blatant evidence that the lawmakers who wrote the Affordable Care Act want you to choose a silver plan involves cost-sharing subsidies. Cost-sharing subsidies lower the amount of deductibles, copayments and coinsurance when you use your health insurance. By lowering the deductibles, copayments and coinsurance without changing the monthly premium, your cost-sharing subsidy effectively gives you a free upgrade on health insurance.Cost-sharing subsidies will only be given to people who choose a silver health plan. If you meet the income eligibility criteria for a cost-sharing subsidy by having an income of less than 250 percent of federal poverty level, you must choose a silver–tier plan to get the subsidy. If you pick a lower cost bronze-tier health plan, or a higher cost gold or platinum-tier health plan, you won’t get the cost-sharing subsidy. This will obviously influence your decision about whether to choose a silver-tier plan over a bronze, gold or platinum health plan.A more subtle indicator that the design of the Affordable Care Act encourages you to choose a silver plan comes in the form of the premium tax credit subsidy. If you’re eligible for the premium tax credit subsidy, the federal government will pay part of the monthly premium for your health insurance. In effect, the premium subsidy gives you a discount on the cost of health insurance. To be eligible for the premium subsidy, your income must be from 100-400 percent of federal poverty level.The dollar amount of this subsidy is based on comparing your income to the price of the second-cheapest silver-tier health plan available on your state’s health insurance exchange. The design of the premium tax credit subsidy strives to make a silver-tier plan affordable for people of modest means.Gold-tier health plans have an actuarial value closer to the average value of employer-sponsored health insurance than silver-tier plans do. The Affordable Care Act could have stipulated that the premium subsidy be based on a comparing your income with a higher-valued gold-tier health plan. This would have had the effect of making gold-tier plans more affordable for people of modest means.Since lawmakers chose to base the premium subsidy on the cost of a silver-tier health plan rather than on a gold-tier plan, or on a lower cost bronze-tier plan, it could be construed as encouraging people receiving premium tax credit subsidies to choose a silver-tier plan.Unlike the cost-sharing subsidy, you’ll still get the premium subsidy if you choose a bronze plan, a gold plan or a platinum plan. But, you’ll pay the difference if you choose a more expensive plan than the one used to figure the amount of your subsidy. To learn more about the premium tax credit subsidy, read, “How Does the Health Insurance Subsidy Work?”To learn more about the how the tier system works and what it tells you about the value of a health plan, read, “Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum—Understanding the Metal-Tier System.”

Frequently Asked Medicare Questions

Le canal de demande a dépassé le délai imparti en attendant une réponse après 00:01:00. Augmentez la valeur du délai d’expiration transmise à l’appel à Request ou augmentez la valeur SendTimeout sur Binding. Le temps alloué à cette opération fait peut-être partie d’un délai d’attente plus long. AppId is over the quota I will be happy to answer questions about Medicare. If I don’t have the answer, I will research it for you or provide you with resources that are credible and up to date. If the answer to your question is of interest to other readers, I may post it as a FAQ or in my Blog or newsletter.Although I may not always be able to advise you about your specific health insurance situation, I can let you know some of your options and how to find the information you need.You also can get some of your Medicare questions answered directly from the “horse’s mouth” at the Medicare Support Center.Resources:Do you have questions about Medicare? Are you having a problem with Medicare coverage or a Medicare claim? Not sure where to turn?Medicare Questions and Problems: Where to Get Help will show you the six best resources for answering your Medicare questions and resolving your Medicare problems.

Comment la subvention pour le Maximum de leur poche...

Erreur lors de la désérialisation du corps du message de réponse pour l’opération « Translate ». Dépassement du quota maximal pour la longueur du contenu de chaîne (8192) lors de la lecture de données XML. Ce quota peut être augmenté en modifiant la propriété MaxStringContentLength sur l’objet XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas utilisé pendant la création du lecteur XML. Ligne 1, position 9202.  Buying health insurance is expensive, and paying the monthly premium isn’t the only cost involved with health insurance. You also have to pay deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance when you use your health insurance. These additional out-of-pocket costs, known as cost sharing, can add up to thousands of dollars per year.The Affordable Care Act created health insurance subsidies to make buying and using health insurance more affordable for people with low and modest incomes. There are two types:Subsidies that pay monthly health insurance premiums so buying health insurance is more affordable. Learn more about this in, “How Does the Health Insurance Subsidy Work—Understanding the Premium Tax Credit.” Subsidies that help pay out-of-pocket costs like deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. These are known as reduced cost-sharing subsidies and come in two parts: Part one reduces the amount you pay for your deductible, copayments, and coinsurance each time you use your health insurance. Learn more about this subsidy in, “How the Cost-Sharing Health Insurance Subsidy Works.” Part two reduces your out-of-pocket maximum so you pay less when your health care expenses are high.The out-of-pocket maximum, or the out-of-pocket limit, is the worst-case-scenario maximum amount you’ll have to pay toward cost-sharing expenses like your deductible, copayments, and coinsurance each year. Once you’ve paid enough in deductible, copayments and coinsurance to have reached the out-of-pocket maximum, your health insurance pays all your covered healthcare expenses for the rest of the year.If you don’t use your health insurance much, your cost-sharing expenses aren’t likely to reach the out-of-pocket limit. However, if you have an expensive chronic health problem or even a single catastrophic illness or injury, you could easily pay enough in coinsurance and deductible costs to reach the out-of-pocket maximum.For example, if you fall off of a ladder and break your hip while trimming a tree, your share of the emergency room, surgery and hospitalization costs could exceed $10,000 if your health insurance policy doesn’t have an out-of-pocket limit.However, if your health insurance policy has an out-of-pocket limit of $6,000, you stop paying once you’ve paid $6,000 toward your health care bills. After that, your health insurance company pays 100 percent of your health care bills for the rest of the year. You would pay $6000 rather than $10,000. If you needed more care later in the year, your health plan would pay the entire cost.The out-of-pocket maximum doesn’t include your monthly health insurance premiums. It doesn’t include expenses for things that aren’t covered by health insurance or aren't essential health benefits. For example, if your health insurance doesn’t cover acupuncture services, your acupuncture expenses won’t count toward your out-of-pocket maximum. It doesn’t include the balance-billed portion of care you got from an out-of-network health care provider.All individual and family health insurance policies bought through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges must have an out-of-pocket limit. The federal government regulates how high that limit can be, and the allowed amount changes each year.For 2014, the out-of-pocket maximum can’t be more than about $6,400 for an individual or $12,800 for a family. A health insurance policy can, however, have an out-of-pocket limit lower than that.How much the subsidy reduces your out-of-pocket limit depends on your income. The closer your income is to the federal poverty level, the more your out-of-pocket maximum will be reduced. FPL changes each year and varies depending on family size and where you live.The FPL used to determine your 2014 subsidy is $11,490 for an individual, $15,510 for a couple, and $19,530 for a family of three. You can find the FPL for other years and family sizes here.Since both FPL and the federal limit on out-of-pocket maximum amounts change each year, the dollar amount of your reduction will change each year.For 2014, if your income is: 100-200 percent of FPL, your out-of-pocket limit won’t be more than $2,250 for an individual. your out-of-pocket limit won’t be more than $4,500 for a family.200-250 percent of FPL, your out-of-pocket limit won’t be more than $5,200 for an individual. your out-of-pocket limit won’t be more than $10,400 for a family.A special reduction is available for Native American Indians with incomes below 300 percent of FPL. In their case, the health insurer will eliminate all cost sharing for any of the essential health benefits.The out-of-pocket maximum subsidy doesn't actually give you money. Instead, it potentially saves you money since you pay less before reaching your out-of-pocket maximum.If you reach that reduced out-of-pocket maximum and continue to use health care services, your health insurance company will end up paying more for your care than if you hadn’t received the subsidy. In that case, the federal government will reimburse your health insurance company for the extra money it spent because of your subsidy.To be eligible for this subsidy: Your income must be 100-250 percent of FPL. (This could vary from year to year but won't exceed 400 percent of FPL.) You must get your health insurance through your state’s health insurance exchange. You must choose a silver-tier health plan. If you’re married, your tax filing status must be married filing jointly. A status of married filing separately will disqualify you. You must reside in the United States legally. You can’t be incarcerated.Apply for the reduced out-of-pocket limit subsidy at your state’s health insurance exchange when you shop for health insurance. You can apply for the other health insurance subsidies at the same time. Be prepared to give the health insurance exchange information about your income, family size, and employer if you have a job. Find your state’s health insurance exchange.Except for special circumstances, you can only buy health insurance through the health insurance exchange during the yearly open enrollment period. The first-ever open enrollment period is October 1, 2013-March 31, 2014. Thereafter, open enrollment will be from October 15-December 7 every year.If you get the reduced out-of-pocket maximum subsidy, make sure to notify your health insurance exchange if your income changes during the year. If your income decreases, you may be eligible to have your subsidy adjusted to further reduce your out-of-pocket maximum.The Affordable Care Act stipulates the out-of-pocket limit be reduced by 2/3 for people with incomes from 100-200 percent of FPL. 1/2 for people with incomes from 200-300 percent of FPL. 1/3 for people with incomes from 300-400 percent of FPL.However, that’s not how it ended up working. The Department of Health and Human Services determined it would be impossible to discount the out-of-pocket maximum that much for people making more than 250 percent of FPL without violating other parts of the law or causing an increase in the deductible for some subsidy recipients. So, in the final rule fleshing out how the subsidy will work, HHS changed those figures to reduce the out-of-pocket maximum by about: 2/3 for people with incomes from 100-200 percent of FPL 1/5 for people with incomes from 200-250 percent of FPL No reduction for people with incomes above 250 percent of FPL.HHS can make adjustments to these amounts each year when it publishes its “Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters” for the coming year.Sources:The Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014, Department of Health and Human Services, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-03-11/html/2013-04902.htm. Accessed September 10, 2013.Actuarial Value and Cost-Sharing Reductions Bulletin, Department of Health and Human Services, http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Resources/Files/Downloads/Av-csr-bulletin.pdfThe Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, section 1402 (c). Accessed September 9, 2013.Jost, Timothy, “Implementing Health Reform: The Benefit and Payment Parameters Final Rule” accessed on HealthAffairs.org, September 9, 2013.

Silver Plan–What Is It?

  Definition: A silver health plan is a standardized type of health insurance that pays, on average, 70 percent of your health care expenses. You pay the other 30 percent of your health care expenses in the form of copayments, coinsurance and deductibles.BackgroundTo make it easy for you to compare the value you’re getting for the money you spend on health insurance premiums, the Affordable Care Act standardized value levels for health plans. These levels, or tiers, are bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. All of the health plans within a given level are expected to offer the same overall value. For silver-tier plans, the value is 70 percent. Bronze plans offer a 60 percent value; gold plans are valued at 80 percent; platinum plans offer a value of 90 percent.What Does Value Mean When Talking About Health Insurance?The actuarial value tells you what percentage of covered health care expenses a plan is expected to pay for its membership as a whole. This doesn’t mean that you, personally, will have exactly 70 percent of your health care costs paid by your silver plan. It’s an average value spread across all of a plan’s members. Depending on how you use your health insurance, you might have more or less than 70 percent of your expenses paid.Non-covered health care expenses don’t count when determining a health plan’s value. For example, if your silver-tier health plan doesn’t provide coverage for over-the-counter medicines, the cost of them isn’t included when calculating your plan’s value.What Will I Have to Pay With a Silver Plan?You’ll have to pay monthly premiums to get the health plan coverage. Silver plan premiums are more expensive than bronze-tier plans because silver-tier plans expect to pay out more money toward your health care bills than bronze plans do. Likewise, silver plan premiums tend to be less expensive than gold or platinum-tier plans since silver plans expect to pay out less toward your health care bills.In addition to your monthly premiums, each time you use your health insurance, you’ll have to pay cost-sharing like deductibles, coinsurance and copays. How each silver plan makes you pay your 30 percent share will vary. For example, one silver plan might have a high $2000 deductible paired with a low 20 percent coinsurance. A competing silver plan might have a lower $1000 deductible paired with a higher coinsurance and a $40 copay for prescriptions.Why Should I Choose a Silver Plan?Choose a silver health plan if you’re looking to balance the cost of your monthly premiums with the cost of your out-of-pocket expenses like coinsurance and deductibles. If you want to avoid the high premium costs of gold and platinum plans, but also want to protect yourself from the possibility of having to pay an entire 40 percent of your health care expenses as you would with a bronze plan, a silver plan might work for you.If you’re eligible for cost-sharing subsidies because your income is below 250 percent of federal poverty level, you must choose a silver-tier plan to get the subsidies. You won’t get the cost-sharing subsidies if you choose a health plan from any other tier.Cost-sharing subsidies lower your deductible, copays and coinsurance so that you pay less when you use your health insurance. In effect, a cost-sharing subsidy increases the value of your health plan without raising the premium. It’s like getting a free upgrade on value. You won’t get the free upgrade unless you choose a silver health plan.Why Should I Avoid a Silver Pan?You shouldn’t choose a silver health plan if you can’t afford to pay approximately 30 percent of the cost of your health care expenses. If you’re trying to limit your expenses each time you use your health insurance, you’ll do better with a gold or platinum plan.If you use your health insurance a lot, perhaps because you have an expensive chronic condition, take a careful look at the silver plan’s out-of-pocket maximum. If you know in advance that your out-of-pocket expenses will exceed this out-of-pocket maximum, you might be able to save money by choosing a bronze-tier plan with a similar out-of-pocket maximum but lower premiums. Your total yearly out-of-pocket expenses will be the same, but you’ll pay less for premiums. You can read more about how this technique works in, “How To Save on Health Insurance if You Reach the Out-Of-Pocket Maximum.”

Medical Necessity

  Le canal de demande a dépassé le délai imparti en attendant une réponse après 00:01:00. Augmentez la valeur du délai d’expiration transmise à l’appel à Request ou augmentez la valeur SendTimeout sur Binding. Le temps alloué à cette opération fait peut-être partie d’un délai d’attente plus long. Definition: Health insurance companies provide coverage only for health-related serves that they define or determine to be medically necessary. Medicare, for example, defines medically necessary as: “Services or supplies that are needed for the diagnosis or treatment of your medical condition and meet accepted standards of medical practice.”Medical necessity refers to a decision by your health plan that your treatment, test, or procedure is necessary for your health or to treat a diagnosed medical problem.Most health plans will not pay for healthcare services that they deem to be not medically necessary. The most common example is a cosmetic procedure, such as the injection of medications (such as Botox) to decrease facial wrinkles or tummy-tuck surgery. Many health insurance companies also will not cover procedures that they determine to be experimental, or not proven to work.It’s important to remember that what you or your doctor defines as medically necessary may not be consistent with your health plan’s coverage rules. Before you have any procedure, especially one that is potentially expensive, review your benefit handbook to make sure it is covered. If you are not sure, call your health plan’s customer service representative.

Bronze Plan–What Is It?

 Definition: A bronze health plan is a type of health insurance that pays, on average, 60 percent of your health care expenses. You pay the other 40 percent of your health care expenses in the form of copayments, coinsurance and deductibles.BackgroundTo make it easy to compare how much value you’re getting for the money you spend on health insurance premiums, the Affordable Care Act standardized value levels for health plans. These levels, or tiers, are bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. All of the health plans of a given level are expected to offer the same overall value. For bronze-tier plans, the value is 60 percent.What Does Value Mean With Respect to Health Insurance?Value, or actuarial value, tells you what percentage of covered health care expenses a plan is expected to pay for its membership as a whole. This doesn’t mean that you, personally, will have exactly 60 percent of your health care costs paid by your bronze plan. Depending on how you use your health insurance, you might have more or less than 60 percent of your expenses paid. It’s an average value spread across all of a plan’s members.Non-covered health care expenses aren’t taken into account when determining a health plan’s value. For example, if your bronze tier health plan doesn’t provide coverage for over-the-counter medicines like cold tablets or first-aid cream, the cost of those things isn’t included when calculating your plan’s value.What Will You Have to Pay With a Bronze Plan?You’ll have to pay monthly premiums for the health plan. You’ll also have to pay cost sharing like deductibles, coinsurance and copays when you use your health insurance. Bronze plan monthly premiums tend to be cheaper than higher value plans because bronze plans expect to pay less money toward your health care bills. You get what you pay forHow each plan makes you pay your share of your health care expenses will vary. For example, one bronze plan might have a high $3000 deductible paired with a low 15 percent coinsurance. A competing bronze plan might have a lower $900 deductible paired with a high 35 percent coinsurance and a $25 copay for prescriptions.Why Should I Choose a Bronze Plan?In choosing a health plan, if the most important factor to you is a low monthly premium, a bronze-tier health plan can be a good choice. If you don’t expect to use your health insurance much, or the high cost sharing inherent in a bronze plan doesn’t concern you, a bronze health plan might fit the bill.You might find that a catastrophic plan offers an even lower monthly premium, although with a correspondingly lower actuarial value. If you’re over 30 years old, though, you won’t be able to buy a catastrophic plan on a health insurance exchange unless you have a health insurance exemption certificate.Why Shouldn't I Choose a Bronze Pan?Don’t choose a bronze-tier health plan if you want a plan that pays for most of your health care expenses. If you expect to use your health insurance a lot, or you can’t afford high copays, coinsurance, and deductibles, a bronze plan might not be for you.If you’re eligible for cost-sharing subsidies because your income is 250 percent of federal poverty level or lower, you’re only eligible for the cost-sharing subsidies if you choose a silver-tier plan. You won’t get the cost-sharing subsidies you qualify for if you choose a bronze plan.Cost-sharing subsidies make your deductible, copays, and coinsurance lower so you pay less when you use your health insurance. In effect, a cost-sharing subsidy will increase the value of your health plan without raising the monthly premiums. It’s like getting a free upgrade on value. You won’t get the free upgrade if you choose a bronze plan.

Bronze Plan–What Is It?

 Definition: A bronze health plan is a type of health insurance that pays, on average, 60 percent of your health care expenses. You pay the other 40 percent of your health care expenses in the form of copayments, coinsurance and deductibles.BackgroundTo make it easy to compare how much value you’re getting for the money you spend on health insurance premiums, the Affordable Care Act standardized value levels for health plans. These levels, or tiers, are bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. All of the health plans of a given level are expected to offer the same overall value. For bronze-tier plans, the value is 60 percent.What Does Value Mean With Respect to Health Insurance?Value, or actuarial value, tells you what percentage of covered health care expenses a plan is expected to pay for its membership as a whole. This doesn’t mean that you, personally, will have exactly 60 percent of your health care costs paid by your bronze plan. Depending on how you use your health insurance, you might have more or less than 60 percent of your expenses paid. It’s an average value spread across all of a plan’s members.Non-covered health care expenses aren’t taken into account when determining a health plan’s value. For example, if your bronze tier health plan doesn’t provide coverage for over-the-counter medicines like cold tablets or first-aid cream, the cost of those things isn’t included when calculating your plan’s value.What Will You Have to Pay With a Bronze Plan?You’ll have to pay monthly premiums for the health plan. You’ll also have to pay cost sharing like deductibles, coinsurance and copays when you use your health insurance. Bronze plan monthly premiums tend to be cheaper than higher value plans because bronze plans expect to pay less money toward your health care bills. You get what you pay forHow each plan makes you pay your share of your health care expenses will vary. For example, one bronze plan might have a high $3000 deductible paired with a low 15 percent coinsurance. A competing bronze plan might have a lower $900 deductible paired with a high 35 percent coinsurance and a $25 copay for prescriptions.Why Should I Choose a Bronze Plan?In choosing a health plan, if the most important factor to you is a low monthly premium, a bronze-tier health plan can be a good choice. If you don’t expect to use your health insurance much, or the high cost sharing inherent in a bronze plan doesn’t concern you, a bronze health plan might fit the bill.You might find that a catastrophic plan offers an even lower monthly premium, although with a correspondingly lower actuarial value. If you’re over 30 years old, though, you won’t be able to buy a catastrophic plan on a health insurance exchange unless you have a health insurance exemption certificate.Why Shouldn't I Choose a Bronze Pan?Don’t choose a bronze-tier health plan if you want a plan that pays for most of your health care expenses. If you expect to use your health insurance a lot, or you can’t afford high copays, coinsurance, and deductibles, a bronze plan might not be for you.If you’re eligible for cost-sharing subsidies because your income is 250 percent of federal poverty level or lower, you’re only eligible for the cost-sharing subsidies if you choose a silver-tier plan. You won’t get the cost-sharing subsidies you qualify for if you choose a bronze plan.Cost-sharing subsidies make your deductible, copays, and coinsurance lower so you pay less when you use your health insurance. In effect, a cost-sharing subsidy will increase the value of your health plan without raising the monthly premiums. It’s like getting a free upgrade on value. You won’t get the free upgrade if you choose a bronze plan.

How Much Is the Health Insurance Penalty for...

a  Learn to calculate your family health insurance penalty and know what you'll owe.image ©iStockphoto/Tim McCaig Will your family have to pay a tax penalty for not having health insurance? How much is the family health insurance penalty? Will it be cheaper to go without family health insurance and pay the penalty, or to buy health insurance?Knowing the amount of your penalty can help you budget for it, but calculating the penalty for a family can be trickier than calculating the penalty for an individual.BackgroundA controversial part of the Affordable Care Act, the individual mandate requires Americans to have health insurance by January 1, 2014. Those who don’t have coverage face a penalty tax, the shared responsibility payment. Only a small number of Americans are exempt from the requirement to have health insurance coverage.Each state has a health insurance exchange to help families and individuals find insurance. Subsidies are available to help low-income families afford health insurance. But, if you’re accustomed to going without insurance and don’t qualify for a subsidy, you’ll have to squeeze this new expense out of the family budget or you’ll owe the penalty tax.How to calculate the family health insurance penaltyFirst, scroll down to look at the penalty table at the bottom of the page. Then come back up to learn how to use it.The penalty your family will owe is either a fixed minimum amount or a percentage of your family’s income, whichever is larger. The percentage-of-income penalty usually hits middle-class or wealthier families. It ensures that the penalty isn't so small it's merely a nuisance. The fixed minimum penalty usually hits low-income families. It ensures everyone pays at least a minimum penalty.Here’s how you figure out your family's penalty.Calculate the family’s minimum penalty.Calculate the family’s percentage-of-income penalty.Compare the two results; you’ll owe the larger of the two.How to calculate the family’s minimum penaltyTo calculate the family’s minimum penalty, add together the individual penalty amounts for each family member using the penalty for the appropriate year from the table below.Two rules make the family’s minimum penalty smaller. The individual penalty is halved for children under 18 years old. The family’s minimum penalty is capped at three times the individual penalty.ExampleTom and Sandy have 3 young children. Nobody in the family has health insurance. They need to calculate the family’s minimum penalty for the year 2015.The table shows the minimum penalty is $325 for each individual in the family. But, only the adults owe the full amount. The minimum penalty is half that amount, or $162.50, for each of the kids.$325 (for Tom) + $325 (for Sandy) + $162.50 (for child 1) + $162.50 (for child 2) +$162.50 (for child 3) = $1,137.50 (for the family)But, a family’s minimum penalty maxes out at three times the individual minimum penalty, or $325 x 3 = $975. Since $1,137.50 is larger than $975, they’ll use $975 for the amount of their minimum family penalty as they move forward with their calculations.How to calculate the family’s percentage-of-income penaltyFigure the percentage-of-income penalty for the family based on the entire household’s income. From the table below, the penalty percentage for 2015 is 2% of the income above the filing threshold.Tip: Don't pay the government too much. Only pay the health insurance penalty on the portion of your income that's over the filing threshold. Subtract the filing threshold from your income before calculating the penalty.Tip: The filing threshold is the amount of income that requires you to file a tax return. People with incomes below the filing threshold don’t have to file an income tax return; those with incomes above the threshold must file.Tip: You can estimate the filing threshold using the 2012 figures of $9,750 for single filers, $12,500 for head-of-household filers, and $19,500 for married couples filing jointly. Or, for the most accurate results, you can get the filing threshold for the year in question from publication 501 at the IRS forms and publications page.ExampleTom and Sandy together will make $100,500 in 2015. They file their taxes as a married couple filing jointly, so they’ll use $19,500 as an estimate of their filing threshold, subtracting it from their income before they calculate the percentage.$100,500 - $19,500 = $81,000The family’s income - the filing threshold = the portion of their income to be penalized.$81,000 x 0.02 = $1,620The portion of income to be penalized x the 2% penalty = their percentage-of-income penalty.Pulling it all together: know what you’ll oweNow that you’ve calculated your family’s minimum penalty and your family’s percentage-of-income penalty, you need to compare them. Your family’s shared responsibility payment will be based on the larger of those two amounts.There are a few situations that might decrease your family’s penalty.Do you have a large penalty?The penalty maxes out at the national average cost of a bronze-tier family health insurance plan for that year. Will your family have health insurance for part of the year?Only pay the penalty for the months your family is uninsured. For example, if your family was uninsured for seven months of the year, you would only pay seven-twelfths of the yearly health insurance penalty. Can’t find affordable health insurance?If you can’t find family health insurance that costs less than eight percent of your household income, your family may be exempt from the penalty. The eight percent figure is based on what your family has to pay for the coverage, not on the cost before employer contributions or premium subsidies.ExampleTom and Sandy’s minimum family penalty for 2015 was $975. Their family’s percentage-of-income penalty was $1,620. Since their percentage-of-income penalty is larger, that’s the figure their family penalty will be based on. If their family had been uninsured all year, they would owe a shared responsibility payment of $1,620.However, Sandy switched jobs in July, and her new employer offered health insurance. The entire family was covered by health insurance starting in September. Since they were only uninsured for the first 8 months of the year, they only have to pay the penalty for the portion of the year they were without coverage.$1,620 x 8/12 = $1080The yearly penalty amount x the part of the year they were uninsured = the final family penalty owed.Tom and Sandy owe a shared responsibility payment of $1080 because their family lacked health insurance coverage for 8 months of 2015. Along with their 2015 income taxes, this penalty tax is due to the IRS by April 15, 2016.Sources:US Code 2011, Title 26, subtitle D, Chapter 48, sec5000AIRS: Questions and Answers on the Individual Shared Responsibility ProvisionCongressional Research Service report: Individual Mandate and Related Information Requirements Under the PPACAYear 2014Year 2015Year 2016After 20161% of income above filing threshold2% of income above filing threshold2.5% of income above filing threshold2.5% of income above filing threshold

What Is a Shared Responsibility Payment?

aDefinition: A shared responsibility payment is a tax penalty created by the Affordable Care Act. There are two types on shared responsibility payments: the employer shared responsibility payment and the individual shared responsibility payment.The employer shared responsibility payment is a tax penalty imposed on businesses with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees if the businesses don't offer affordable health insurance benefits. If any of the employees get subsidies or tax credits to help them buy health insurance from a health insurance exchange, their employer gets a tax penalty.The individual shared responsibility payment, created by the ACA’s individual mandate, is a tax penalty imposed on individual US citizens and residents who don’t have health insurance after December 31, 2013.Background:ACA proponents hope the threat of the shared responsibility payment will motivate employers to offer health insurance to their employees, and motivate uninsured individuals to get health insurance.The constitutionality of the individual mandate was challenged by Obamacare opponents arguing that the government doesn’t have the right to penalize its citizens for not buying something. But the mandate was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. The court found that the shared responsibility payment was actually a type of tax, and determined the individual mandate was constitutional because the government has the right to tax its citizens.Learn More:If you think you'll owe a shared responsibility payment because you're uninsured, you can find out how much you'll owe in “How Much Is the Health Insurance Penalty for an Individual?” and "How Much Is the Health Insurance Penalty for Families?"To avoid the shared responsibility payment by getting a health insurance exemption certificate, read "Can You Get a Health Insurance Exemption? How To Avoid the Shared Responsibility Payment."To avoid the shared responsibility payment by getting health insurance, first read, “Before You Buy Health Insurance: What You Need to Know When Shopping for Health Insurance.” Small business owners can learn about the small business healthcare tax credit by reading, “Small Business Health Tax Credit--FAQs for Small Business Owners“ and learn strategies for getting an employee health plan in “Health Insurance Options for Your Small Business.”Also Known As: health insurance penalty, health insurance penalty tax, individual mandate penalty, employer mandate penalty, shared responsibility penalty.