While researchers have spent ten years developing a cure for Huntington’s Disease (HD) in mice, people suffering with the disease have gained symptom relief with a simple do-it-yourself acupressure technique. According to the theory behind Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), illness and disease are caused by unresolved emotional issues and a disrupted energy meridian system (Chi or Qi). When emotional issues are resolved using EFT, physical symptoms associated with serious diseases have been shown to clear, sometimes immediately and often permanently.

EFT is a do-it-yourself acupressure technique that anybody can use to provide relief from the physical and emotional symptoms associated with HD. It involves fingertip tapping on select acupressure points while focusing on the symptom in question. EFT claims an 80% success rate in calming symptoms associated with serious diseases.

It and can be learned freely by downloading the EFT Manual at http://www.emofree.com/downloadeftmanual.asp?ref=prwHDcw

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have found a way to block the enzyme believed to be instrumental in the development of the disease. For the next five years, researchers will focus on developing and testing a drug that will achieve the same results in humans.

In the meantime, EFT is giving HD patients drug-free relief from the symptoms associated with this degenerative brain disease. EFT theory takes a very different approach to addressing symptoms associated with such diseases.

According to Gary Craig, the Stanford-trained engineer who developed EFT, “When EFT Practitioners approach serious diseases such as Huntington’s, we look at the person’s symptoms and the emotions associated with their symptoms. When we address illness-related emotions like fear, frustration, and grief, we repeatedly find that the symptoms subside, even disappear.”

Children of HD patients have a 50% chance of inheriting Huntington’s. If they have inherited the disease, symptoms generally appear later in life. “I can’t help but wonder whether applying EFT could postpone or even suspend the development of symptoms,” says Craig.

Diane Kendrick is an EFT Practitioner in the United Kingdom whose client had Huntington’s disease. The client presented as having a phobia about walking down stairs, but her HD was evidenced in her slurred speech, jerky gait, twitching and labored breathing.

Because of her symptoms, the woman had difficulty tapping the EFT points, so had her husband do it for her. When she returned a week later, Diane was surprised, “I couldn’t believe the changes in her. Her visual symptoms were about 60% improved.” Her jerkiness and twitching had subsided and her communication had improved. Her speech was less slurred and more clear. During the week between appointments, the woman had done EFT tapping every day on her own. It had become increasingly easy to do as her coordination and enthusiasm had improved.

They did a little more EFT for the phobia of stairs and the woman pinpointed having fallen down stairs ten years previously. With five minutes of EFT, she went up and down stairs with no trace of fear or anxiety. The phobia was gone, but more importantly, she had a considerable improvement in several of the symptoms associated with her incurable physical condition.

Craig explains, “We see this repeatedly with EFT, where addressing a specific issue like a phobia has a generalized positive result for the person’s health. We are not claiming that EFT cures diseases, but EFT users all over the world have experienced remarkable results in the reduction of symptoms associated with cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, lupus, Alzheimer’s disease, MS, arthritis and others. Fortunately, an increasing number of health professionals are incorporating EFT into their medical practices.”

There are no known side effects associated with EFT and it often gives symptom relief where nothing else works. “It is my goal,” says Craig, “to encourage the use of EFT to compliment any medical protocol employed to treat serious diseases. To this end, I make the EFT Manual available freely on the EFT website.”

Although most Americans have yet to hear of it, EFT may be the world’s fastest-growing self-help technique. Over 300,000 have downloaded Craig’s free training manual and another 10,000 download it each month. The official EFT Manual has been translated by volunteer practitioners into nine languages.

The EFT Manual explains the basics so that anyone can begin applying EFT right away. It can be freely downloaded at
http://www.emofree.com/downloadeftmanual.asp?ref=prwHDcw

For further information, contact Gary Craig at 707-785-2848.

Athens Medical Group and ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM), a regional managed care health plan owned by the Sisters of St. Francis and Ascension Health, have signed a multi-year contract to provide health care in the Montgomery County region. This addition to ADVANTAGE’s local network of providers, which includes St. Clare Medical Center, was announced today by Brett Spencer, MD, CEO of Athens and Vicki Perry, president and CEO of ADVANTAGE.

This agreement will allow those enrolled in ADVANTAGE’s Point of Service and HMO plans to select a physician from the Athens Medical Group for their primary care physician. In addition, this new agreement allows ADVANTAGE to kick off its marketing campaign in Crawfordsville, Ind., to health insurance brokers and employers. Employers such as IVY Tech, Eli Lilly, St. Clare, DaimlerChrysler and Subaru already offer the ADVANTAGE plan to their employees. More than 200 employer groups in Indiana offer ADVANTAGE.

With the addition of Athens Medical Group, ADVANTAGE now has more than 5,010 health care providers participating in managed care commercial products. This includes nearly 1,229 primary care providers, over 3,755 specialists, and 26 acute care hospitals throughout Indiana.

Athens Medical Group and ADVANTAGE pursue high standards of medical care and work diligently to improve the health of the communities they serve. “Thanks to our relationship with Athens Medical Group, we can bring our principles of outstanding service, individualized attention, and quality focus to Montgomery County,” said Perry. “Our goal is to enhance the health and well-being of our members, and we look forward to achieving that goal with our new network of providers.”

ADVANTAGE’s growing network in the Crawfordsville, Lafayette and Indianapolis areas serve employers large and small with a variety of benefit plan options, including preventive care, medical services, prescription drugs, vision and dental benefits. ADVANTAGE also offers health savings accounts, which allow employees more flexibility in their health care spending.

ADVANTAGE plans encourage members to practice prevention and healthy lifestyle habits. More than 25 percent of Indiana residents are overweight or obese. Reactionary health care is no longer enough to maintain public health. ADVANTAGE works with providers like Athens Medical Group to increase the number of members using preventative health care and to decrease the need for reactionary health care.

About ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM)
ADVANTAGE is a managed care organization offering HMO, POS, and self funded benefit plans, as well as a high deductible plan with an HSA option and a Medicare Advantage product. Founded by four Catholic health care systems — Ascension Health, Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Inc., and Ancilla Health Systems, Inc., ADVANTAGE began its operations in 2000 as a spin-off from Sagamore Health Network. Since inception, ADVANTAGE has achieved significant milestones, such as its NCQA Excellent Accreditation status, and is one of the fastest growing managed care organizations in Indiana, serving more than 65,000 members. For more information on ADVANTAGE or their ADVANTAGE Preferred Plus plans go to www.advantageplan.com.

CIGNA HealthCare* today announced an agreement with AMA Insurance Agency, Inc. (AMAIAI) to market the CIGNATURE Rx(SM) Medicare prescription drug plans to Medicare-eligible physicians and their spouses. “We are delighted AMAIAI has chosen to offer CIGNA’s Medicare prescription drug plans,” said Terri Swanson, vice president of CIGNA Senior Care. “This decision represents a strong new relationship based on a high level of trust in our Part D program.”

AMA Insurance Agency, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Medical Association, markets and/or administers insurance plans and related products to meet the needs of physicians and their families. AMAIAI chose the simple, affordable CIGNATURE Rx drug coverage because of several leading features:

comprehensive coverage and choice of plans, which align well with the prescription drug needs of physicians and their spouses; broad availability in all regions of the country and in more than 53,000 pharmacies nationwide; and high quality customer service, ensuring all calls are answered by experienced service representatives. For more details about CIGNATURE Rx for Medicare-eligible physicians, contact CIGNA at 1.800.374.3406.

About CIGNA
CIGNA is offering its Medicare Part D plans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in alliance with NationsHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ:NHRX)(NASDAQ:NHRXU)(NASDAQ:NHRXW). The alliance combines CIGNA’s pharmacy product capabilities with NationsHealth’s experience in service and distribution to the Medicare population.

*CIGNA HealthCare, headquartered in Bloomfield, CT, provides pharmacy benefits and products and services that integrate and analyze information to support consumerism and health advocacy. “CIGNA” and “CIGNA HealthCare” refer to various operating subsidiaries of CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) including Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. Products and services are provided by these operating subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation.

About AMAIAI
Established in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Medical Association, AMA Insurance Agency, Inc. markets and/or administers a variety of insurance plans and related products to meet the needs of physicians, resident physicians, medical students, and their families. Select products are available for physicians’ group practices.

AHC Healthcare Receivables Management, an industry leader in providing third-party reimbursement solutions and complimentary education offerings, announced today the completion of the company’s acquisition of Comprehensive Healthcare Solutions (CHS), a division of CB Accounts, Inc. CHS, with offices in Peoria and Jacksonville, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland is a national healthcare accounts receivable management firm offering early-out self-pay programs, self-pay after insurance services, and Out-of-State Medicaid billing and follow-up.

This acquisition enables AHC to offer comprehensive “patient centric” reimbursement programs to healthcare providers. “Patient centric” reimbursement programs enable AHC, on behalf of its hospital clients, to address both third-party payer and patient follow-up requirements, including eligibility and enrollment services, ensuring maximum reimbursement for healthcare providers while offering a single, blended pricing structure. This integrated service approach will simplify invoices for healthcare providers, remove the challenges associated with managing multiple vendors, and improve patient satisfaction by reducing the number of parties a patient needs to interact with during the payment/recovery process. Most importantly, the hospital can be assured it is recovering the appropriate monies from the appropriate responsible party(ies).

“This acquisition provides us greater expertise in the patient recovery process, which, combined with our historic expertise and reputation recovering monies from insurance companies, gives us unlimited potential to meet the future needs of healthcare providers, ” states AHC President, David Langsam. “Expanding our product lines will allow us to deliver a more comprehensive service offering to our clients and the healthcare marketplace in general.”

For more information about AHC’s “Patient Centric” Reimbursement Programs or to schedule a complimentary, state specific, in-service workshop on “Insurance Reimbursement Law”, contact AHC toll free at (888) 511-7901.

About AHC:
AHC Healthcare Receivables Management (www.ahcinc.com) specializes in accounts receivable management solutions for the healthcare industry. Employing over 500 healthcare professionals, approximately 100 of which are attorneys, AHC utilizes federal and state regulations, established case law, and client specific protocols to provide guaranteed accounts receivable management solutions to our 750 clients nationwide. AHC operates out of eight locations, with headquarters located in Manassas, Virginia.

There are more and more forms of health insurance are showing in our society, since competition of health insurance is increase. Now I am list and briefly describe 10 of the most popular types of health inusrance plans in the United State below:

INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE: Ensuring a person individually is a common mode of insurance. This is a process through which one may be selective about what s/he wants in a plan. Accordingly, one’s required premium is calculated, and the insurance plan takes effect.

GROUP INSURANCE: Through this type of insurance, one is compelled to abide by what others are going for, and this is also dependent on the insurance providers. They are the ones that decide what is feasible to include in a plan, and on that basis a group insurance can take place.
PPO:This is the Preferred Provider Organization. If a person has membership of this organization, they can be treated by doctors within the setup. This is because of the arrangement they have; it is such that when a member gets ill, they are treated by their own panel. Otherwise, one has to pay for treatment outside the network.

HMO: The Health Maintenance Organization is one that allows a member to select a particular doctor off the panel. It is these selected doctors that will deal will with members’ problems. The selected doctor is the one that will be approached for checkups of any kind, and if there are problems with a member that cannot be handled by him or her, the member is referred to specialists.

MSA: This is a Medical Savings Account that is also tax-advantaged. It is used for health insurance policy that has high premiums to be paid. Members have to save money in this account in order to pay for their medical bills, which include checkups, treatments, etc. The fact that tax does not apply to it, makes it a good strategy towards coping with high premiums in health insurance.

POS: This is a Point-of-Service Plan, which implements properties of the HMO and PPO plans. Through this arrangement, a member of this plan can either go to any doctor in the network or go to one outside the network. However, generally this is the concept that allows flexibility.
INDEMNITY PLAN:This plan allows one to go to any doctor when one needs to; there are no restrictions on this, and it is believed to be more of a traditional plan. One does not need permission to go to a particular health care provider. However, usually what happens is that the member pays 20% of the total fee for treatment while the insurance provider pays 80%. In addition to this, there is a period through which one pays up in this manner, and then the company takes over paying the whole 100%.

THE PROVIDER: This insurance is like the services provided through the Medicare program.

PCP: This is Primary Care Physician, and it refers to the first provider that a member is associated with. This provider is responsible for making sure that all basic checks are made, and if there are further areas to check up on, the member has to be referred to a specialist.
GENERAL COVERAGE WITH HEALTH & LIFE PROTECTION:This form of insurance includes life coverage as well as health coverage.