<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Listmates:

In today's newspaper (9/19/2004) there are two items worth noting.  I
have described the information for each below and given the links.
The Sunday Wall Street Journal item goes beyond just finding health
insurance--good information about health insurance that might be
helpful.   Both articles had information of interest to me.

Betsy
Austin, Texas

1.  A Practical Guide to Better Health:  Taking Charge of Our Own
Health, When Insurance Won't Pay, Best Medical Help Online, and
Cardiac Arrest & Home Defibrillators, in Parade Magazine, Sunday,
September 19, 2004:  http://www.parade.com/  Links from the article
are featured on Home Page.
        ******There is an insert in the actual article on "How to
Evaluate Online Advice."  I could not get that insert at the web
site.  In summary the points are:  Check the creator (look for most
reliable gov and edu sites), look for medical and health credentials,
read the references--recent, and watch out for bias (disguised
advertisements).  At the bottom of the page a note refers to the
links for sites most often recommended by doctors:  "The Best Medical
Help Online"   http://www.parade.com/weblinks/index.html
        "When Your Insurance Won't Pay" is at the same weblink URL
above.  Dr. Theo Online is referenced for forms to download when you
are appealing a claim denial. http://www.drtheo.com/ Use this site to
apply the above information on evaluating online advice.  Draw your
own conclusions.

2.  Using the Web to Find Health Coverage from the Sunday Wall Street
Journal    http://sunday.wsj.com/articles/SB109554915021121469.html
Items are featured in many local papers, Sunday, September 19, 2004.
This article was in the Business Section of the Austin
American-Statesman.  The sunday.wsj.com site lists the partner papers
that carry items featured if you want to see if a paper in your area
has the article.
        An insert, "Coming Up With a Plan," includes 5 consumer sites
with information about health insurance.  One includes a
comprehensive guide to each state's rulings, others contain
definitions, ratings for quality and service and another a link to
state insurance departments.  Worth looking at and bookmarking any
sites that are of interest to you.

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