Providence Insurance Group

It might be due to the darkness that accompanies shorter days, or the invasion of warmer, comfier clothes into the winter workplace, but now is the time when long hours, slouching, slumping, and straining dominate the office. Clean up your act around the computer, before bad habits lead to poor health.

Do you ever feel too tired to exercise after a long day at work? Do you end up craving sweets and junk food after a stressful day? Are you frustrated by feeling as though you simply can't stay healthy and fit because you sit at a desk too much? You're not alone. I'm a health coach, but my whole professional background is working in a corporate world, so I know the challenge of staying in shape in an office job all too well.

There are three types of individually purchased health insurance plans that meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act. They are major medical plans (sold off-exchange), qualified health plans (sold off and on-exchange), and catastrophic plans.

Choosing a health insurance plan can be complicated. Knowing just a few things before you compare plans can make it simpler.

Which health insurance plan is right for you depends on many factors, most notably your age, whether you are employed, and whether your employer offers you insurance or you have to buy on your own. Regardless of your situation, see our guide below for what you need to know. And use our health insurance rankings to look for the plan that is right for you based on where you live, your circumstances, and the kind of coverage you think you need.

Studies have shown that happy employees perform better. If your employees are stressed, it's important to question how this is affecting your business's bottom line. Is it part of your job as a business owner to keep your employees happy and reduce their stress levels at work? Some would argue that maintaining happiness and managing stress levels are each individual’s responsibility. But that line of thinking is falling out of favor and is viewed as more than a little old school.

To get some ideas on how to motivate employees, leaders of small businesses were interviewed, and two common themes emerged: keep the communication going both ways and know your employees.

With busy schedules and lifestyles, keeping the mind, body and soul healthy can be a major challenge. Moen, which manufactures kitchen faucets, bathroom faucets, showerheads and stainless steel sinks for residential and commercial applications and offers employees a comprehensive health and wellness program, offers these tips to help you and your employees live a happy, healthy, safe and balanced life:

Your alarm goes off and the day-to-day drudgery beings. Hurray. It’s often tough to get excited about the daily events, and some days are more challenging than others to get motivated, yet there are a few simple things everyone can do to inject a little happiness and higher productivity into their lives. Granted, these aren’t going to change your mood from total sadness to gladness, but they should give you a brighter outlook on the day. The Forbes website had a story coverin...g this topic, titled, Daily Grind Getting You Down? Make Yourself Happier And More Productive At Work With These Simple Tips and the tips were so simple it was like a lightbulb turned on. If you were to think about a few small things that could make you happier and more productive, what would they be? Certainly, more money is up there, but what are some things you can change immediately in your life to have an impact on how happy you feel and how productive you can be? http://pos.li/5QCk

On November 13, 2015, federal agencies issued a final rule that essentially combined a variety of interim final rules and non-regulatory guidance on a variety of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) initiatives such as grandfathered health plans, preexisting condition exclusions, internal and external appeals, rescissions of coverage, lifetime and annual limits, emergency care access and dependent coverage. The final rule was very similar to the previous guidance it consolidated. The final rule goes into effect on January 1, 2017. At that time all of the prior interim rules will be superseded.

In October 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) provided an informational FAQ relating to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and ACA market reform provisions. Non-grandfathered group health plans and individual or group market health insurance must cover a variety of preventive services without any cost-sharing requirements. Required preventive services include breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breastfeeding supplies, obesity screening and weight management services for certain individuals, colonoscopies for certain age groups, and contraception coverage for women.

4 in 10 insured husbands and wives have only group life insurance coverage.

Despite women rising in the workforce and their incomes growing, they still overall have less confidence with money and have less life insurance coverage than men. Many women feel that financial information is too difficult to understand and geared only toward men. In today’s world, women also feel that their everyday responsibilities keep them too busy to address financial planning strategies.