Short term medical insurance in New York

New York residents face a triple threat when it comes to short term health insurance. First, the insurance products used in most states that are specifically designed for this purpose are not available in New York. Second, the coverage that is available is slow; often taking at least a month just to get through the manual application process. Third, the coverage is expensive. No pricing discount is recognized for the likelihood that this insurance will not be in force long enough to accrue catastrophic claims.

The easiest solution is to buy temporary insurance while staying in another state. Insurance issued in another state is valid in New York and allows treatment with any doctor or hospital in the U.S. There is no requirement that the address on temporary health insurance be your permanent residential address. Some New Yorkers residents purchase health insurance while staying at their out-of-state colleges, while at their second home in another state or while on vacation or visiting relatives. The insurance covers treatment while they are away from home as well as with the doctors and hospitals at home in New York. Almost all short term medical insurance is purchased online and most offer immediate download of the policy and insurance ID cards. Most insurance companies allow you to have the policy mailed back to a New York address if you will be returning from your trip soon.

The only other possible alternatives we can offer are:
1. Core Health Insurance – a limited benefit policy that does a fairly good job at mimicking the benefits of major medical insurance
2. International Medical Insurance - for individuals who are not permanent residents of U.S.
3. Inbound Immigrant Insurance – for individuals who have recently moved to the U.S.

If none of these options will work then it is especially important to explore all options to keep, extend or convert prior health insurance regardless of the higher cost.

Masschussets learns that "insurance is not health care"

A flood of articles in recent weeks discuss the difficulties triggered by Massachusetts' experiment in mandadted health insurance.

The Kaiser Founation published an excellent summry report at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51517 .

Several other states including California have declined similar proposals. Pols show that the majority of Americans do not wnt mandated health insuance, yet this provision remains a key provision in Hillary Clinton's campaign platform.

Health insurance in a recession

A new article titled "Health Insurance in a Recession" points out some general strategies that may prevent costly mistakes when making desicions about health insurance in financially difficult times.

Going offline

Hey, everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I won't be updating this blog again for a few weeks.

If Bey-Z gets married and there are no photos released, did it really happen?

There is an article over at the NY Daily News today that wonders out loud if tabloid magazines are bias against non-white celebrities.

In this instance they're pointing to the soft coverage given Beyonce and Jay-Z's recent wedding.

Of the major celebrity tabloids, only US Weekly gave Beyonce the cover while most of the other relegated the wedding to the sidebar. Interestingly, People Magazine (the bathroom literature of choice for Middle America) gave Beyonce the cover as well.

According to the article a "top" tabloid editor said that the wedding was played down because (wait for it) "African Americans don't sell covers." Another source shared that ""We have a saying, 'Only Oprah.' Oprah is the only black celebrity big enough to put on our cover."

Yep, we are sharing air with people who think that "stars" from fake reality TV shows trump established actors for space on magazine covers. No big surprise here.

But is the lack of attention from tabloids really a bad thing?

I'm reminded of an article I read a few years back about Raven Symone who is one of Disney's top moneymakers yet rarely appears on the pages of celebrity magazines alongside other Disney stars like that dude with they eyebrows who kind of looks like a robot and that girl who posted nude pictures of herself online.

If I remember correctly, the conclusion of the piece was that this fact was a double edged sword.

On the one hand, black celebrities don't have to deal with the unwanted attention that fame brings while the flip side makes them less visible to the people in Hollywood with enough clout to keep them gainfully employed.

Then there is the issue of certain black celebrity focused blogs.

I'll admit that I read them. I am just as curious about who wore what wear and general entertainment news but I usually have to draw the line at reading the mainly anonymously posted comments given about any particular actress. I'm just too old and the comments are usually just too mean. The focus of some of these blogs is "who are we going to hate on today" instead of just providing the mindless entertainment I crave.

Now, this isn't to imply that celebrity magazines represent the bastion of journalistic integrity but damn, at least someone over there has to talk to a publicist every now or maybe do the most basic fact check.

So back to Beyonce. I think it's great that it appears that she hasn't sold her wedding photos to the highest bidder and is keeping the whole affair private but....

I do want to know what her wedding dress looked like and if it was designed by her mama.

I want to know if the former members of Destiny's Child sent gifts.

I want to know if the Popeye's chicken that was reportedly served at the reception was served on fine china or if they just passed around a bucket.

Lastly, I want to know the identity of the guest (or guests) that is rumored to have brought a handgun to the ceremony (I know in my heart that it was Gwenyth Paltrow.)

I'm just nosy like that. I love weddings and babies and cake. Sue me.

Are Gay Men to Blame for Racism/Sexism in Fashion?

Honestly, because I have no idea. But I hear and read this opinion all the time. It breaks down like this:

Gay men run the fashion industry.
Gay men secretly hate women.
Gay men are responsible for the racism and sexism in the fashion world and only want to work with models who look like fuckable androgynous boys.

I find it interesting that opinions like these bandied about like the gospel. I don't recall ever reading them challenged.

Now, I don't doubt for a moment that gay men have a strong foothold in the industry. The overwhelming majority of bold face designers as gay white men. And I'm not so naive as to believe that just because someone is homosexual and may have suffered bigotry because of it, that that person is automatically free of any racist notions.

I just wonder if this blanket statement is really true?

Part of me believes that it is yet another attempt by fashion magazine editors (who are overwhelmingly white and female) to shift the blame. Like when they claim that there just aren't any ethnic models at agencies or that the bookers never send them over for a shoot when they are looking for a fresh face.

It reads to me like the myth that if a black person is on a magazine cover, it will be the lowest selling issue of the year.

It makes me laugh to envision a scenario where Vogue's Anna Wintour is battling in her plush office for hours with Andre Leon Talley, just begging him to let her put a size 6 model (or actress more realistically) on the cover. It just doesn't ring true for me.

On the flip side I am convinced that she was more than a little reluctant to put full figured Jennifer Hudson and believe that the Dreamgirls star would never have made it if it wasn't for a certain 6'6" gay black man.

Wintour's passive aggressive side showed through however when Hudson's ill chosen gaping mouth photo was picked for the cover (which incidentally, was neither the worst or best seller of the year.)

Lastly, nothing will convince me that any gay man worth his salt would champion slack jawed yokle model Agyness Deyn because she looks like a hot dude. To me, the chick doesn't look fuckable to anyone.

I read somewhere once that true fashion magazine editors just don't care about making the names and faces they promote accessible, they just care about their own exclusive world in which everyone is whiter, richer, thinner (and slightly more miserable in my estimation) than YOU.

I mean, it's not like they're eating anything either.

So what do you think, who is to blame. Is it really all about the gay men in fashion?

Pour La Victoire

Sandals season. Ugh.

As much as I am looking forward to warmer weather and trading in gray Seattle skies for something clear and blue, I hate dealing with my crocodile feet in the summer. There is simply not enough cocoa butter in the world to keep the ash at bay on my dogs.

I've decided that I need a new pair of gladiator sandals but I keep putting it off because I don't want to deal with the injustice of showing the shoe salespeople at Nordstrom the crusty fire-walkers called my feet so online shopping has become my method of choice. This even though I have terrible luck buying shoes this way. Last month I bought two pairs of the sandals Pierre Hardy designed for the Gap only to be disappointed with how they looked in person and last year I bought four pair of Steve Madden flats only to have them arrive and discover that just because something is marked size 10 medium does not mean that it will fit.

I spotted this gray and cream faux reptile pair at Endless.com and fell in love on the spot. They're made by Pour La Victoire, which is a Brazilian shoe maker with a "French" twist. They arrived today (free overnight shipping!) and I couldn't be more pleased. They are pretty, comfortable and stylish and they come nicely package in a pretty pink box. They're just so darn cute that I had to share them with you.

Now if I could just find my Ped-Egg...