Do You Live in a Healthy or an Unhealthy State?

Nov 17, 2009 -   If you want to be healthy, live in Vermont—or at least act like you do. It is the healthiest state in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit United Health Foundation. The annual ranking looks at 22 indicators of health, including everything from how many children receive recommended vaccinations, to obesity and smoking rates, to cancer deaths. - 5 Comments

Band teacher who died in crash called heroine

Oct 13, 2009 - BOISE, Idaho - A Utah music teacher killed while trying to prevent the crash of a bus carrying dozens of her students was hailed as a heroine. Heather Christensen, 33, a woodwind instructor at American Fork High School, was killed Saturday night when the bus veered from Interstate 15 and rolled south of Pocatello, where the band had won a competition hosted by Idaho State University. Christensen, of Spanish Fork, Utah, left her seat to grab the steering wheel after seeing the bus driver slump over, students and colleagues said. - 4 Comments

Another Sign of Global Warming

Oct 07, 2009 - Wood River Valley News Some Idaho school kids enjoy an early snow day BELLEVUE -- Just one week ago, we were bracing for a "cool down" from the 80s to the 60s. Now, it's getting downright wintry. And in some parts of our viewing area, snow is piling up. - 4 Comments

Domestic violence as pre-existing condition? 8 states still allow it

Oct 04, 2009 - By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — Eight states and the District of Columbia don't have laws that specifically bar insurance companies from using domestic violence as a pre-existing condition to deny health coverage, according to a study from the National Women's Law Center. The states are Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. The study by the nonpartisan, nonprofit center focused on individual coverage, not group coverage. - 40 Comments

Woman survives tree branch that impaled her neck

Sep 18, 2009 - KAMIAH, Idaho. - A North Idaho woman's drive along the Lochsa River earlier this month turned into a nightmare after she was impaled through her neck by a tree limb. Twenty-year-old Michelle Childers and her husband, 22-year-old Daniel Childers, were taking a recreational drive along the Lochsa River on September 5. - 22 Comments

Insurance Industry on Claiming Domestic Violence as a "Pre-Existing Condition"

Sep 15, 2009 - In eight states as well as the District of Columbia, it is legal for insurance companies to reject individual health coverage for people because they are survivors of domestic violence.   The problem was examined in a report released last fall by the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. Titled "Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women," the report examined the so-called "gender gap" -- the difference in premiums charged to male and female applicants of the same age and health status -- as well as other insurer policies related to gender.It found that women often face higher premiums than men, that it is difficult and costly for women to find insurance that covers maternity care, and that insurers can reject applicants for a variety of reasons particularly relevant to women -- including domestic violence.The Service Employees International Union, which is pressing for reform of the health insurance system, wrote about the domestic violence insurance issue at its blog on Friday:   Words cannot describe the sheer inhumanity of this claim. - 11 Comments