Health Insurance Agents - Santa Barbara Referral - Edhat

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Health Insurance Agents
updated: Dec 01, 2012, 10:15 AM

I'm on Medicare but my wife's health insurance has now risen to more than $500/month, mostly for catastrophic care. So she's paying out over $6,000/year and almost nothing is covered.

Do EdHat readers have recommendations of independent health insurance agents in town who they trust to help her find more comprehensive coverage?

?COMMENT 349176P	2012-12-01 10:25 AM
Brown & Brown Insurance is a well established Broker & has a local office. Call 805-690-2600 during the week and ask for the Benefits Department.
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?COMMENT 349177P	2012-12-01 10:27 AM
Your situation sound similar to ours a few years back. I used Gretchen Simpson at Kirkpatrick & Associates 966-7322. I had what the insurance companies considered a preexisting condition and she really worked hard to get me the best package she could.
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?COMMENT 349182P	2012-12-01 10:32 AM
I'm also looking for insurance. Self employed. No pre-existing conditions. Not sure where to start or how much will change once the new health care laws come into affect?
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?COMMENT 349183P	2012-12-01 10:32 AM
Brown & Brown Insurance is a well established Broker & has a local office. Call 805-690-2600 during the week and ask for the Benefits Department.
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?COMMENT 349185P	2012-12-01 10:35 AM
Oops, didn't mean to post that twice, sorry!
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?COMMENT 349191	2012-12-01 10:46 AM
I use Diana Llewellyn. I may have misspelled that, but she's really helpful and engaged in your particular needs. I have medical and dental thru her, and have sent quite a few friends her way.
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?COMMENT 349203	2012-12-01 10:58 AM
Insurance Guys. 805-681-3470. Always helpful, they know their stuff!!
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?COMMENT 349213	2012-12-01 11:13 AM
Definitely Kirkpatrick & Associates. We have coverage with Anthem, Humana and Medicaire. My husband has recovered from a heart attack and triple by pass from 5 years ago and I have had hypertension for 20 years. In our late 70's, active and now healthy, both of us require daily pills and feel prepared for what may come.
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?COMMENT 349232	2012-12-01 12:16 PM
William Bailey (805) 698-8820
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?COMMENT 349237	2012-12-01 12:31 PM
Diana Lewallen Higgins (805) 966-4040. I needed private insurance and had a number of pre-existing conditions. Back in the days when they could turn you down, Diana worked really hard to find me good solid affordable coverage. AND followed up afterward to review my situation to make sure I had the best affordable coverage when laws changed or my health status changed. I cannot speak highly enough of her, have referred friends to her with great results, and would certainly contact her if I ever need insurance assistance. Diana is so personable and easy to work with, which is so refreshing and important when dealing with such a major decision.
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?COMMENT 349238	2012-12-01 12:37 PM
I don't have a recommendation, but in the private health insurance business, I believe Blue Shield of CA is a non-profit as opposed to Blue Cross of CA / Anthem which is for-profit. Perhaps that's worth considering?
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?COMMENT 349244	2012-12-01 01:03 PM
KIRKPATRICK & ASSOC. 805-966-7322
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?COMMENT 349252	2012-12-01 01:39 PM
Karen Davis has helped my entire family and many friends. She is an agent @ Stevens and Associates who specializes in Medicare Supplements and Major medical with many carriers. She can be reached at 805-455-4399. She is very knowledgeable and kind.
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?RLMCDON	2012-12-01 02:38 PM
Rob Cavaness at SB Health Insurance Services. 805-568-0138, rob@sbhis.com, www.sbhis.com Very helpful and friendly and took as much time as we needed to answer all our questions. We found a plan for our family that is a good mix of 100% covered care for a couple dr visits per year and less covered after that, with a not too ridiculous deductible. A good mix for a healthy family who rarely sees the dr. $250/month for a family of 3.
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Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=104626

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Nick Fouriezos: Script on Murray to Be Determined by Championship Play

When No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia take the field for the SEC Championship game Saturday, the noise will be deafening. But the uproar has already begun, with a swarm of coverage that has transformed a conference championship into a playoff for the national title.

Forget the reemergence of Notre Dame as one of the nation's elite programs, something that would normally dominate the college football landscape. For this week anyway, all eyes will be turned on the Georgia Dome, and rightly so -- the winner will be riding a streak of six consecutive national championships for the conference. The victor will probably be the favorite in the national title, despite the Fighting Irish's vaunted defense and unblemished 12-0 record.

If Georgia is that team, it will be due to a number of factors: the coaching of Mark Richt, the play of the defense led by All-American Jarvis Jones and the efforts of two freshmen running backs who have fans screaming, "Gurshall." But amidst the myriad of storylines for Georgia's season, the play of Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray exceeds them all.

The junior's story is well-known by now. His career has been marked by brilliant statistics, then discredited by inopportune losses. Murray has already shattered the school record books, and has now moved on to the conference marks. He leads the nation in passer efficiency and holds school records for single-season touchdowns (35) and overall touchdowns (89).

But Murray has also been plagued by a 3-9 record against ranked opponents and the unshakeable notion that he can't win the proverbial "big game." Those first two victories over ranked opponents came against No. 24 Auburn and No. 25 Georgia Tech last season, and the third came in a 17-9 victory over No. 2 Florida earlier this year. But though Murray passed for the game-winning touchdown against the Gators, he also threw three interceptions and completed only 50 percent of his passes.

Murray will be the second Georgia quarterback to play in back-to-back SEC titles, after David Greene accomplished the same feat from 2002-2003. If he can win one, he would join rare company for Georgia, which has won two SEC Championship games, in 2002 and 2005. If he wins the national title, his victories would finally match his statistics in declaring him the best quarterback in Georgia history.

His work can easily be erased though -- a loss would cause a freefall for Georgia's ranking and its bowl hopes. Murray, even with an inspiring performance, would go down as the quarterback who couldn't win.

Murray asked for permission to be excused from media interviews this week. There was nothing controversial about doing so, though it was surprising, since he had never refused weekly interviews in his three years as a starter. But the message was clear: no distractions. The given reason was that he wanted to have as much time to prepare against Alabama.

With the amount of noise surrounding this game, it's no wonder. The weight of storylines yet to be written has to be crushing, when Murray's history could go from one extreme to the next. With one result, he would be dubbed a champion; with the other, a disappointment.

And, in a sport which deifies the starting quarterback's ability to influence games, only the scoreboard will close the book on Murray's legacy.

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Gurley crucial to Georgia's success against Alabama

Todd Gurley has been the revelation that the Bulldogs sorely needed at the tailback position this season.

But if they are to go where they hope, Gurley will need to be a playmaker against No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship game Saturday.

It's the natural progression for a running back that burst into the scene in No. 3 Georgia's first game of the season, rushing for two touchdowns and scoring a 100-yard kickoff return to boot. Reach the SEC Championship game? That was expected. But now the hard part -- winning -- will be dependent on whether Georgia's most prominent addition can make a difference.

Gurley runs like a much smaller man, boasting top-level track speed despite being taller than most running backs. He has runs of 55, 51 and 49 yards on the season, bolstering his reputation as a break-away threat. But it will be his size -- all 6-foot-1, 218 pounds of it --which will prove crucial for No. 3 Georgia's chances of upturning Alabama as the top team in the conference.

It's not that Gurley will need to break a big run. Alabama simply won't allow that, with the defense holding conference opponents to 2.4 rushing yards per carry, on average. In fact, the Crimson Tide hasn't allowed a rush longer than 32 yards all season.

But Gurley, who leads conference running backs with 1,138 yards and 14 touchdowns, can make this game competitive for Georgia simply with his yards after contact. The Alabama defense, which often dominates the line of scrimmage, will hit Gurley early and often. But if he can manage to squeeze through a few yards after the hit, the line will soften.

The Georgia offense will be placed in more favorable second and third down situations. The Bulldogs could maintain the semblance of balance required to get receivers open downfield and quarterback Aaron Murray, who leads the nation in passing efficiency, would receive the extra time required to complete those passes.

This isn't news for the Georgia offense -- offensive coordinator Mike Bobo maintains a strict balance in order to strike this very chord. The blueprint to winning against Alabama has already been given to Georgia in the form of its earlier matchup against then-No. 2 Florida, a 17-9 victory that came partly as a result of the Bulldogs' suffocating defense.

But the overlooked performance of Todd Gurley in that game could be the difference against the Crimson Tide. Gurley ran for 118 yards on 27 carries against the Gators, with most of the yards mirroring the grind-it-out variety, rather than the bigger gains he has been known for.

His longest run was for 23 yards, but it was Gurley's ability to add extra yards that allowed Georgia to gain 14 first downs, despite only going 1-for-10 on third downs and having three turnovers.

If Gurley can reproduce that type of performance, the Bulldogs may have a chance to win a conference championship. And the freshman running back so readily compared to Georgia legend Herschel Walker would be poised to bring the Bulldogs a championship of his own.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-fouriezos/uga-football_b_2221379.html

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Psychiatrists OK vast changes to diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) ? For the first time in almost two decades the nation's psychiatrists are changing the guidebook they use to diagnose mental disorders. Among the most controversial proposed changes: Dropping certain familiar terms like Asperger's disorder and dyslexia and calling frequent, severe temper tantrums a mental illness.

The board of trustees for the American Psychiatric Association voted Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., on scores of revisions that have been in the works for several years. Details will come next May when the group's fifth diagnostic manual is published.

The trustees made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several task force groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.

Board members were tightlipped about the update, but its impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide.

The manual "defines what constellations of symptoms health care professionals recognize as mental disorders and more importantly ... shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care," said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor who was not involved in the revision process.

The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.

The guidebook's official title is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The new one is the fifth edition, known as the DSM-5. A 2000 edition made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.

The manual "seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 ... there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders," Olfson said.

Expected changes include formally adopting a term for children and adults with autism ? "autism spectrum disorder," encompassing those with severe autism, who often don't talk or interact, and those with mild forms including Asperger's. Asperger's patients often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on quirky subjects but lack social skills.

Some Asperger's families opposed the change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services. And some older Asperger's patients who embrace their quirkiness vowed to continue to use the label.

But experts say the change won't affect the special services available to this group.

Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College who was on the psychiatric group's autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger's in the old manual would be included in the recommended new diagnosis.

One reason for the recommended change is that in some states and some school systems, children and adults with Asperger's receive no services or fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.

Other proposed changes include:

?A new diagnosis ? disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, which critics argued would medicalize kids' normal temper tantrums. Supporters said it would address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings from feeling sad and depressed to unusually happy or energetic. Affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums. The new diagnosis would be given to children and adults who can't control their emotions and have frequent temper outbursts in inappropriate situations.

?Eliminating the term "dyslexia," a reading disorder that causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words. The term would be encompassed in a broader learning disorder category.

?Eliminating the term "gender identity disorder." It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender ? they dispute their normal biological anatomy. But many activists believe the condition isn't a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with "gender dysphoria," which means emotional distress over one's gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.

___

Online:

Diagnostic manual: http://www.dsm5.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-12-01-Mental%20Disorders/id-db3a1c059ec34b82ade78e5b6636e206

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Asus USB-N66 Dual-Band Adapter Wireless-N900

Before I tell you what I thought of the Asus USB-N66 Dual-Band Adapter Wireless-N900, I should tell you that I'm generally not a big fan of USB wireless adapters. The USB connection too often in my experiences and testing, slows the performance of the wireless connection.?

Now, of course, if you have an older laptop that, for instance, only supports 802.11b or g and you connect an 802.11n USB wireless adapter to access an 11N WLAN, then, yes, you are going to see throughput improvements. However, when it comes to adapters, an on-board, 3x3, 802.11n adapter beats 802.11n adapters as far as performance and signal reliability. Asus' USB-N66 ($70 street) is a dual-band 3x3 wireless adapter and while it does not eke out the same performance as my laptop's on-board 3x3 Intel Centrino adapters, for those with older laptops that don't have on-board 11N adapters, it's a decent adapter. There's another benefit to the USB-N66?it can also function as an access point.

Specs
The USB-N66 is a dual-band wireless adapter that supports theoretical speeds of up to 450 Mbps. It's?got a unique pyramid design, so it's not a USB stick like many USB wireless adapters on the market. This design according to Asus, is a patented orthogonal antenna design to boost wi-fi coverage.

It's an intriguing-looking device, a real geek conversation starter. When powered, this silver and black futuristic-looking pyramid that attaches to a USB 2.0 port is lit up with blue LEDs.

The back panel has a micro USB port and a toggle switch to operate the device in either standard (STD) or high power (HI) mode. Using a Y cable (sold separately) is recommended when operating in HI mode.

Setup
The USB-N66 can be used with Windows, Mac, or Linux. The adapter ships with a CD which has a setup program. Running setup opens a menu with the following options: Install Asus WLAN card utilities/driver, uninstall, read/install user documentation, explore the CD, or browse the Asus web site.

Selecting the install utilities/driver option on my Windows 7 laptop, gives the choice of only using Windows' wireless function or to use Asus' WLAN utilities. I opted to use the Asus utility.

After install, I had a new shortcut on my desktop to the Asus USB-N66 WLAN Control Center. When I first double-clicked the shortcut to open,?I got a cryptic error message, "Asus Wireless LAN cards is taken apart from your desktop."? Yes, I have no idea what that means, either.

I did have the adapter connected before installing, so I removed it and re-connected. I was then able to get into the Asus Control Center.

Asus Control Center Utility
The utility performs a wireless survey of all access points in proximity. All nearby WLANs were displayed including details such as channel, security type, encryption level, MAC address, and signal strength represented by bars.

You can quickly connect to a WLAN via the utility. Once connected, the interface provides a status of the connection: the signal strength (measured in dBm), frames sent and received, and a line graph showing connection quality.

Also given is IP information. From the Control Center, users can check the IP address assigned to the adapter as well as subnet mask, gateway IP, and DHCP server address. The utility allows performing tasks such as releasing or renewing an IP address or doing a PING.

There are some advanced network management capabilities as well. Once connected to a WLAN, you can adjust very specific settings including RTS threshold, preamble mode, change the channel, or adjust the data rate. You can specify whether to use WPS or PIN numbers by default when connecting to access points, or?can turn the wireless adapter radio on and off.

Using the USB-N66 as an AP
Imagine you are in a hotel room with access to one wired Ethernet cable for Internet. You can connect? that cable to a laptop and connect the USB-N66 to that laptop's USB port. Set the adapter in AP mode by clicking a button in the Control Center utility and you can setup a wireless LAN. The USB-N66 turns into a portable router with the soft AP feature.

Performance
I expected a bit slower performance using the USB-N66 to connect to a wireless router than with my laptop's on-board 3x3 adapter, and I did get slower throughput. Here is a chart comparing throughput connecting at 5GHz to Asus' RT-AC66U router with the USB-N66 and with the an integrated Intel Centrino adapter in my laptop:

Also, generally browsing web pages? was a bit slower using the USB-N66 than with the laptop's integrated adapter.

Few Quirks
I noticed a few issues with this adapter' software. When connected to the 5GHz band of the Asus RT-AC66U router, the Control Center utility insisted on reporting my connection at the 2.4 GHz band. The problem cleared up if I turned the adapter's radio on and off again, but would re-appear whenever I reconnected to the 5GHz SSID.

I also did not find any way to disconnect from an access point through the utility. You will also want to disable any other wireless utilities you may have installed.? I found the Asus utility conflicted with the Intel wireless manger that is installed on my laptop by default.

Slow Performance but Nice Bonus Feature
The USB-N66 did not further endear me to USB wireless adapters. As is my usual experience, it's just not as robust a performer as using a 3x3 on-board adapter. However, if you don't have a laptop with an 802.11n adapter, it's not a bad choice. The bonus feature is the ability to use it as an AP. The USB-N66 gets 3 stars for wireless adapters.

More?Networking Reviews:
??? Asus USB-N66 Dual-Band Adapter Wireless-N900
??? Asus RT-AC66U Dual Band 3x3 802.11AC Gigabit Router
??? Axis M1031-W Network Camera
??? D-Link Wireless AC1200 Dual Band USB Adapter (DWA-182)
??? Linksys WUMC710 Wireless-AC Wi-Fi 5GHz Universal Media Connector Bridge with 4-Port Switch
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/1ni2fSBUJCk/0,2817,2412743,00.asp

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