Social Media Comes to Health Care

A cadre of social platforms aims to disrupt the way consumers share information about personal health, physicians, and treatments. What the upstarts lack in scale (for now), they more than make up for in utility. Imagine joining an online global community of people with the same rare disorder, or finding a doctor on the basis of detailed patient reviews. Facebook may provide its fans with tools they love, but this new wave of social networks offers tools that its users can't live without -- in some cases literally.

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Legislation Would End FSA "Use It Or Lose It" Rule

Legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would end a decades-old Internal Revenue Service rule that requires the forfeiture of unused health care flexible spending account contributions. Under that 1984 rule, often called “use it or lose it,” unused FSA contributions must be forfeited at the end of a plan year. Under H.R. 1634, which was introduced last week by Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) employers could return as taxable cash FSA contributions that remain in an account at the end of a plan year.

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Alabama House Approves Offering HSAs to State Workers

Alabama state employees could soon be offered a variety of new health insurance plans with higher deductibles. A bill sponsored by Rep. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) authorizes the State Employees’ Insurance Board to extend health insurance savings accounts to state employees and retirees who do not qualify for Medicare. The measure passed the Alabama House of Representatives 96-0 on Thursday. It now moves on to the Senate.

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Study Recommends Consumer-Driven Health Plan for Oklahoma Workers

Oklahoma officials have recommended that the Legislature make funding for a consumer-driven health insurance plan a funding priority for the state to give its workers and retirees more control over their health insurance needs and to stabilize health insurance costs. "We've got a lot going on," said Trish Frazier, policy director for the 10,000-member Oklahoma Public Employees Association, which helped prepare a study of the employee insurance and benefit plan for state workers.

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