Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 21.2010 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Dress for Success meeting was a success
Dress for Success program
featured Pam Cavender as the
guest speaker for the Sept. 28
meeting of the Appalachian
Chapter of International Associ
ation of Administrative Profes
sionals®. Mrs. Cavender is a
professional image consultant
and is a graduate of the London
Image Institute.
Representatives Anna Nganga
and Nancy McSweeney from the
Dressbam were on hand to assist
in showcasing the basic clothing
items needed to dress for suc
cess. The chapter appreciates the
time given by Mrs. Cavender,
Ms. Nganga and Ms. Mc
Sweeney. Twenty-eight people
were in attendance.
As a community project, the
chapter is collecting gently used
clothing that is interview appro
priate and business suites to give
to organizations with the means
of assisting women with the
items.
The Appalachian Chapter
IAAP meets the fourth Tuesday
at 6:30 p.m. at various locations.
The chapter’s service area con
sists of Pickens, Gilmer, Fannin,
Dawson and Cherokee counties.
Meetings are open to any admin
istrative professional interested
in attending. For more informa
tion you can contact Sheri Crowe
at 706-253-2457 or e-mail
scrowe@pickenspro gress.com
Pictured L-R are Nancy McSweeney with Dressbam, Linda Jones, CPS/CAP, with Ap
palachian Chapter, speaker Pam Cavender and Anna Nganga with Dressbam.
Q&A from Ga. Insurance and
Fire Commissioner John Oxendine
Q: How will the recent
changes in health insurance af
fect my coverage?
A: On Sept. 23, the next
round of provisions in the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care
Act (PPACA) began to go into
effect. Many of these provisions
provide new or expanded options
and consumer protections for
health insurance coverage.
These benefits could mean sig
nificant changes to policy op
tions during open enrollment or
when renewing an individual
health policy.
The changes beginning Sept.
23 include expanded coverage
and new consumer protections.
If they are not spelled out in the
documentation you receive from
your insurance provider or em
ployer, talk with your employer’s
plan administrator or your health
insurance company about how
these protections will apply to
your coverage and what new op
tions you may have.
If you have health insurance
coverage through an employer,
these new benefits and protec
tions will be added to your policy
at the next policy renewal after
Sept. 23. If you purchased an in
dividual health insurance policy
on your own, the effective date is
a bit more complicated. If your
insurer has specified a “policy
year” for your coverage, the new
provisions will become effective
on that date. Otherwise, the new
benefits and protections will be
added on the date when annual
deductibles and annual limits
reset each year. If your policy
does not have an annual de
ductible or annual limit, these
changes will become effective on
Jan. 1, 2011. If you have ques
tions about when these provi
sions will become effective for
your policy, contact your insur
ance company.
“Grandfathered plans” are
health plans in which either a
group or an individual was en
rolled in prior to March 23,2010,
when President Obama signed
the PPACA into law. Grandfa
thered plans are exempt from
most changes required by the
PPACA. However, if the plan
significantly reduces benefits or
increases deductibles, copay
ments and/or an employee’s
share of premium contributions,
it will lose its grandfathered sta
tus and its exemptions. This
could make a difference in what
provision you see at renewal
time.
Annual and Lifetime Limits -
At the new plan year, plans may
not contain lifetime limits on es
sential benefits. This provision
applies to all plans. Annual limits
will be phased out through 2014
for all plans, except grandfa
thered individual plans. Check
with your insurance company to
see if this applies to your policy
before you renew.
“Rescission” is when an in
surance company retroactively
cancels your policy. The PPACA
bans rescissions except in cases
of fraud or intentional misrepre
sentation of material fact. You
must be notified prior to the can
cellation. This provision applies
to all types of health insurance
plans.
Preventive Health Sendees -
A wide range of preventive care
including immunizations, well
baby and child screenings, and
well women exams must be cov
ered without cost-sharing under
all non-grandfathered plans. For
an exact list of what preventive
services are available without
cost-sharing, contact your insur
ance company.
Adult Dependent Coverage -
Plans that cover dependent chil
dren must extend coverage until
the child’s 26th birthday. This
applies to all types of plans, how
ever before 2014, group health
plans will be required to cover
adult children only if the adult
child is not eligible for employer-
sponsored coverage. Adult chil
dren cannot be charged more
than any other dependent.
Preexisting Condition Exclu
sions - Beginning Sept. 23,
2010, children under 19 years of
age cannot be denied coverage or
benefits based on medical status
or past illnesses. This applies to
all plans except grandfathered in
dividual plans.
Primary Care/Preapproval -
All non-grandfathered plans
must:
• Allow you the choice of any
primary care provider available
(if you are required to designate
a primary care physician).
• Provide covered emergency
services without prior approval,
regardless of whether the
provider is in-network.
• Limit cost-sharing on emer
gency services by nonparticipat
ing providers to the same amount
as that of a participating
provider.
• Allow female patients to re
ceive obstetric or gynecological
care from a participating
provider and treat their authori
zations the same as that of a pri
mary care provider.
• Allow children to receive
care from a participating pedia
trician and treat their authoriza
tions the same as that of a
primary care provider.
Please send your insurance
questions to:
Insurance Commissioner John
Oxendine
716 West Tower
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
Atlanta, Ga. 30334
Or call 404-656-2070 (toll
free at 1-800-656-2298), from 8
a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, for as
sistance with an insurance ques
tion. www.gainsurance.org
Jasper Eye Associates
IS MOVING
Our new office will be opening
November, 2010
located at 800 West Church Street.
(behind Kiker Wealth Management)
To prepare for our move, we will be closed
October 13th, 14th, 28th, and the 29th.
Dr. Gilbert James, Dr. Kenny Holloway and the
entire Jasper Eye Associates staff look forward to
providing superior service to each of our valued
patients in our new, state of the art facility.
We specialize in routine and medical eyecare.
Please contact our office with any
questions you may have at 706-692-7510
Tuesday
Nov. 2
Vote
NO!
to
Multi
Member
Commission
Otherwise:
• More
Government
• More
Cost
• Less Responsive
To You
• Hard To
Clean House
• Political Horse
Trading
Paid for by
Forward Pickens