A major milestone in health reform implementation took place on September 23, 5 days ago, most of the 2010 health reform mandates became effective for employee groups. The mandates that you should be aware of and went into effect include:

1.     Removal of pre-existing condition exclusion for enrollees under age 19

2.     Coverage for dependents up to age 26 (Blue Shield implemented on June 1, 2010)

3.     Preventive care with no member cost-sharing

4.     Regulation on lifetime dollar limits

5.     Regulation on annual coverage limits

6.     Nondiscrimination rules for group coverage

7.     Patient protections

8.     Updated rescission rules

9.     Updated member appeals process

As implementation continues  we will keep you up-to-date with the latest information. Please contact your benefits consultant for more information.

In the last month we have posted two blogs about the 2010 health care cost trends. This information has been very insightful to our readers, therefore, one of BayPoint’s founders Brian Hassan has written a white paper on health care cost trends. Here is a brief introduction and please CLICK here for the white paper.

Over the last several years, the issue of rising health care  costs has been increasingly brought to the forefront.  When  you combine this with a severe economic recession and large government deficits, individuals are going to have to pay more of the costs for health care and insurance.  To prevent the vast disparities from becoming worse we are going to examine why health costs are rising.

For more information regarding health care cost trends, please contact BayPoint Benefits.

Have you heard of TRX? Do you have friends who have done TRX and love it? If your feeling bored with your same exercise routine, running is hurting your knees, your sick of reading magazines on the elliptical, then why don’t you try TRX! TRX is a challenging, fun and rewarding exercise program. Don’t wait to start, after reading this you will be inspired to give it a try!

What is TRX? TRX is suspension training where you use an exercise device (see picture). With this device you can select your resistance from nearly zero resistance to the your full body weight. You can easily adjust between the different exercises and target different muscles immediately. Here you can find a demonstration of the device on “Good Morning America,” (VIDEO). Now that you understand what TRX is, let’s look at the benefits.

Here are the top 6 benefits of the TRX Lower Body Challenge:

1) Suspended lunge – doing independent leg work helps to improve strength/balance in non-dominant leg therefore when both legs are working together such as cycling, running or swimming there will be more efficiency/power/strength/balance in pedal stroke/kick/running stride.

2) Suspended Hip press – builds strength in lower back, glutes, hamstrings and hips all in one movement. Whether running, jumping, swinging, punching, pushing or pulling, essentially all sport movements initiate from this core area.

3) Both exercises challenge balance and core throughout the entire movement.  Due to nature of suspension training the lower body is in a state of constant challenge, improve agility and balance in even the most common everyday movements.

4) Incredibly time efficient and targets entire lower body in 2 exercises (lower back, abs, glutes, hips, quads, hamstrings, calves).  Great for the busy person who wants to get the biggest effect in the shortest amount of time.

5) Fantastic metabolic workout – high output in short period of time, giving your body the boost it needs to build a faster metabolism and burn unwanted fat.

6) Get a lower body that shorts and swim swimsuits want to be on! Develop the assets that will look good in a pair of shorts and great on the beach!

We are excited to announce that BayPoint Benefits has partnered with Fitness Anywhere. If you would like to try TRX and want more information check out their website Fitness Anywhere.