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More Than 8 Million Poor Americans Uninsured Under New Health Care Law

The national health care law that went into effect yesterday will leave two-thirds of poor blacks and single mothers uninsured, as well as more than half of low-wage workers who do not have health coverage.

According to an analysis of census data by The New York Times, the law was originally intended to help such individuals, but they will be left out under the new program. More than eight million needy individuals will be left out because they live in Republican-controlled states that have declined to participate in an expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program to aid the poor. The federal government will pay for the expansion through 2016 and 90 percent of costs afterwards.

Such individuals are indigent but rendered ineligible for help. Many of those left uninsured are stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place; individuals with slightly lower incomes than those who quality for federal subsidies with the new health exchange cannot qualify, and those who are poor enough to quality for Medicaid in its current form are left out. In its current form, Medicaid has income ceilings as low as $11 per day in certain states.

Many people who are trying to participate in the health insurance exchanges that went live this week are discovering that they are ineligible.

 By Jessica Michele Herring
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Six Helpful Tips for Reducing College Debt

Estimates put total U.S. student loan debt at around $1 trillion. With that kind of debt floating out there, it's important to figure out ways to try to reduce it. Here are six helpful tips for reducing college debt.

1)Don't borrow more than you need

Student lenders often offer you more than you need for tuition, and it's tempting to take the maximum amount, which you could use to cover living expenses or to have a little spending money. However, doing so increases your debt. If you stick to the minimum you need to cover tuition, it will reduce your debt.

2)Stick with a state school

Though you may have your heart set on a private school or a university in another state, you should stick with your in-state school unless you have a scholarship to reduce the cost or the private school offers a lucrative major that your in-state school doesn't.

3)Stick with federal loans

If you qualify for a federal student loan, you should take advantage. These loans typically have lower interest rates and more flexible repayment terms than private student loans. Federal loans also sometimes offer debt forgiveness if you go into certain jobs, such as teaching or medicine.

4)Make payments while in school

Though most student lenders defer repayment until you leave school, that doesn't mean the interest is deferred. If you can afford to make payments while you are in school, it will greatly reduce the amount of debt you have when you leave school.

5)Finish as quickly as possible

Very few students finish college in four years, but doing so can greatly reduce your student loan debt. One thing you definitely want to avoid is changing majors, which can easily add at least a year to your necessary schooling. Carefully select your major and use your adviser to make sure you don't take classes you don't need or that won't count toward your major.

6)Take advantage of consolidation

If you can get a lower interest rate on any of your loans, take advantage of it. For example, if you have both private and federal loans and you can consolidate the private loans into the federal ones to get a lower rate, you should do so.

Student loan debt is nearly possible to get rid of, even if you declare bankruptcy. If your student debt has damaged your credit score, you can use Lexington Law credit repair services to get it back in shape.

Guest Writer : Annabelle Smyth (Freelance Writer,International content writer)E-mail           : annabellesmyth@gmail.com

5 ways to improve business effectiveness

Today if you want to have your place in business world you have to be flexible and change the way you run your business to satisfy constantly changing market conditions, and following 5 tips will hopefully help you improve the way you manage your business and your time.

Intensify your marketing efforts. Keep in mind that while online marketing, SEO and social media are no doubt important, if you are running local business it would be mistake not to use standard marketing techniques like coupons, ads on local radio and in newspapers, participation in local fares and so on.

Launch business website. It’s hardly news for anyone, but in today’s reality you must have online representation if you want to stay competitive. Nowadays when more and more people make their decisions on whether to use certain service or not based on the company’s website, informative and convenient to navigate website or blog is a must for modern-day business. Keep in mind that a website is not only a way for customers to find you on the Internet and learn more about your services, it can also be a great way of maintaining customer relationship and get valuable feedback on your services.

Change the way you manage your projects. If you still use whiteboards while explaining your team their tasks and write emails to remind that the deadline is coming – it’s time for you to move on to more advanced project management. Use workflow software that will not only let you build up workflows on your own, but will also enable you assign tasks and track activities using your smartphone or tablet. Choosing flexible management software you will get fully customizable tool that will help you managing multiple projects at once. If you go with web-based management solution you will get an opportunity to work with distant teams without resorting to phone calls and confusing email threads. Modern-day management solutions provide excellent collaborative features that allow sharing files, starting discussions, leaving comments and cooperating on the tasks.

Start tracking tasks. With all kinds of gadgets that surround us tracking tasks became as easy as ever. Use Cloud task management software for making to-do lists, prioritizing tasks, setting up deadlines and notifications that will alert you so you won’t forget to make an important call or to send urgent request.

Never stop learning. Modern business keeps evolving and so should you. If you want to keep your clients and win new ones you have to be the ahead of the curve and know all about new products, new techniques and new services in your field.

Hope that some of these tips will help bringing your business to a completely new level.

What you might need for organizing effective working process

Whether you are working at the office or from home, there are certain things that have to be done so you could work productively without any distraction. Of course, everyone has their own requirements for a perfect working place, but today we are going to talk about the gadgets that might help you organize effective working process no matter whether you work at home or at a busy office.
With so many gadgets that surround us all these cords and cables on and behind our working desk can only be described as “unavoidable evil”. But man, when my phone’s battery is dying or I have to upload pictures from my camera and can’t find the right cord among a nest of wires of all kinds it’s driving me insane, proving the point that sometimes it’s the smallest things that are the most irritating. To be able to avoid cord chaos use cable organizers that keep all the cables in order, so you will easily find the one you need.

Charging your phone or Bluetooth headset in a big office can be quite a headache, because nowadays even children have multiple gadgets. But all the fights near available power outlets can be avoided with the help of USB charging stations with multiple outlets. These devices are not that expensive, and only several items per office can solve a problem of charging laptops, tablets and headphones.
Speaking of tablets. If you are one of those people who use them only when your desktop pc or laptop are unavailable, you clearly haven’t studied all the awesome management and task tracking opportunities tablets provide. With the help of specialized applications they can fully replace your organizers, so planning your days, meetings, phone calls and to-do lists will be so much easier. Plus, you will be able to set up notifications, so you definitely won’t forget about any important task.
In order to work efficiently you have to be able to call your clients and partners at any time, which can be problematic if you have issues with cell phone connection at your office. To deal with problem of dropped calls and weak signal you can install specialized mobile repeater that will amplify the signal and provide you with stable cell phone connection, which means you will always be available to your current and potential clients. If you are working in a big office the model that will suit you the best is AnyTone AT600. This particular amplifier covers up to 300 m2 and it is wireless, meaning that everyone who is in coverage zone can benefit from amplified signal.
Even if you are one of those people who think that working in chaos doesn’t distract you that much, make an experiment: try organizing your schedule, your working desk and make sure your internet is paid for and cell phone is fully charged. And you’ll see that working when everything’s at hand and easy to find is so much more productive and far less distracting.