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Women Are Better Than Men at Parking, Study Finds


"A U.K. study has shown that while men are more confident drivers and take less time to park into a perpendicular space, women end up with their cars closer to the center of the space and are better at parking overall.
Driving instructor Neil Beeson came up with the experiment, which examines how the different sexes perform using parking-lot surveillance. A team of researchers observed 2,500 drivers across 700 parking lots. The project is reportedly one of the most comprehensive studies ever that looks at gender differences in driving.
Researchers found that women were better at finding spaces, because men drove too quickly and missed free spots. Female drivers were also in more accurate positions before starting each maneuver and were more likely to reverse into the spaces, which is encouraged by instructors in the U.K. When using this parking method, women were more likely to cleanly execute reversing into a space than men. But men were more adept at driving forward into spaces, while fewer chose to reposition their cars after pulling into a space.
Based on scores for seven components, women averaged 13.4 points out of 20, compared to the men’s score of 12.3 points.
Beeson told the Telegraph that the findings might imply that women retain information better. “They results also appear to dispel the myth that men have better spatial awareness than women,” he said. NewsFeed assumes that if “asking for directions” was a scoring component, women would have scored even higher."
in Time
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Breast implant boss face charges


" Breast implant boss, Jean Claude Mas, the owner of a French breast implant maker that sparked a safety scare faces charges of "involuntary injury", his lawyer says.
He said Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, had been freed on bail of 100,000 euro ($130,000).
In 2010, France banned PIP implants made with the low-grade silicone, amid fears they could rupture and leak.
Up to 400,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have been given breast implant.
Mr Mas remained at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages, in the South of France, while police searched it - as required by French law. He was later taken to the national police station in Marseilles.
His lawyer, Yves Haddad, told AFP news agency: "He is not well, he is tired and he is waiting for his doctor."
Mr Mas has been under investigation since he revealed in a police interview last year that PIP ordered employees to hide the unauthorised silicone when inspectors visited its factory.
It was thought that he would be investigated for manslaughter but although Mr Mas is still considered a suspect, his lawyer told Reuters news agency that "on the charge of involuntary homicide [manslaughter], the judge decided that for now there is no link".
A lawyer representing women who had been fitted with PIP implants said he welcomed the arrest of Mr Mas.
"This is a relief. It's come late, but at least it's happened," Philippe Courtois said.
"He's been placed in preventive detention. Let's see in the coming hours what his interrogation by the investigating magistrate brings. But what we're really hoping for is his formal investigation, under remand in custody, just to make sure that he doesn't leave French soil during the investigation."
Mr Mas told police in an interview last year that PIP had deceived European safety inspectors for 13 years.
But he has insisted they posed no threat to health and attacked the French authorities for offering to pay for their removal because it put women through a "surgery risk".
He also said he had "nothing" to say to women facing surgery for their removal and that victims had only filed complaints "to make money".
Excerpts from Mr Mas's interview have been re-examined by a French magistrate.
In France, 30,000 women have been advised to remove the implants and 2,700 have filed complaints against Mr Mas.
Women in 65 countries - mainly in Latin America and elsewhere in Europe - have received implants made by the company, which closed down in March 2010.
Health officials in Germany, the Czech Republic and Venezuela have advised women to have them removed.
But the medical advice in the UK, where 40,000 are affected, is that there is no need for all the implants to be removed, only those causing problems such as pain or tenderness.
In England, patients fitted with PIP implants by the NHS will have them replaced by the health service, while it will remove implants from private patients if their clinics refuse. The NHS in Wales said it would replace implants only when it was deemed medically necessary.
Women in Northern Ireland who received PIP implants for health reasons will have them replaced, but the NHS will only remove, not replace, those inserted for cosmetic reasons.
Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said concerned women who had them fitted privately would be offered advice and the option of removal if necessary. There are no records of PIP implants being used by the NHS.
On Thursday, two more private firms in the UK said they would remove PIP implants free of charge.
Transform, which has just over 4,000 UK patients with the implants, had originally said patients would have to pay for removal. It now says those who have had the implants fitted since 2001 can have free removal - but will have to pay around £2,500 for replacements.
Those who had replacements since 2006 may still be within their warranty period and would therefore get both removal and replacement for free.
The Hospital Group also announced it would offer free removal for patients who had PIP implants fitted between 2001 and 2009 - but would charge between £1,500 and £3,500 for replacements.
The international police agency Interpol has said Mr Mas is wanted in Costa Rica over a drunk driving charge.
It said the "red notice" over an alleged incident in June 2010 was "totally unconnected" to PIP."
in BBC
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Breast implant boss arrested in France



"Breast implant owner of a French maker at the centre of a safety scare has been arrested in southern France.
Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, was held at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages, police sources told reporters.
In 2010, France banned PIP implants made with the low-grade industrial silicone, amid fears they could rupture and leak.
Up to 400,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have been given implants.
In France, 30,000 women were advised to remove the breast implant.
Mr Mas has been under investigation since he revealed in a police interview last year that PIP ordered employees to hide the unauthorised silicone when they visited its factory.
He told police in an interview last year that PIP had deceived European safety inspectors for 13 years.
But he has insisted they posed no threat to health and attacked the French authorities for offering to pay for their removal because it put women through a "surgery risk".
He also said he had "nothing" to say to women facing surgery for their removal and that victims had only filed complaints "to make money".
Excerpts from Mr Mas's interview have been re-examined by a French magistrate.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris said he had been "quite arrogant" about what had happened and had not felt any remorse.
Around 2,700 women in France have filed complaints against Mr Mas.
Women in 65 countries - mainly in Latin America and elsewhere in Europe - have received implants made by the company, which closed down in March 2010.
The medical advice in the UK, where 40,000 are affected, is that there is no need for all the implants to be removed, only those causing problems such as pain or tenderness.
In England, the NHS will only replace them in exceptional circumstances and the NHS in Wales said it would only do so when it was deemed medically necessary.
Northern Ireland women who received PIP implants for health reasons will have them replaced, but the NHS will only remove, not replace, those inserted for cosmetic reasons.
Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said concerned women who had them fitted privately would be offered advice and the option of removal if necessary. There are no records of PIP implants being used by the NHS.
The international police agency Interpol has said Mr Mas is wanted in Costa Rica over a drunk driving charge.
It said the "red notice" over an alleged incident in June 2010 was "totally unconnected" to PIP."
in BBC
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First patients shown to improve with embryonic stem cells


"Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable to read a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt's disease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, since she was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.
A second patient, aged 78, suffered from dry macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness in the elderly -- and could not even see well enough to go shopping.
But after being treated with stem cells from a donated human embryo, both women have improved dramatically, researchers said on Monday. Stem cells are master cells that can differentiate into any of the 200 kinds of cells in the human body.
Their results are the first-ever report of the medical use of stem cells taken from human embryos, making them crucial barometers of whether the controversial technique will ever find widespread therapeutic uses.
In a paper published online in The Lancet on Monday, physicians at the University of California, Los Angeles, and scientists at biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology report that the first two patients in the clinical trial suffered no adverse health effects from the treatment and seem to have benefited from it.
A week after having cells derived from a days-old embryo injected into her eye, the graphic artist could count fingers, and after one month she could read the top five letters on the eye chart. She can see more color and contrast, has started using her computer, and for the first time in years can read her watch and thread a needle. The macular degeneration patient recently went to the mall for the first time in years.
The safety findings, not any vision improvement, is what people should focus on, said Dusko Ilic, senior lecturer in stem cell science at Kings College London, who was not involved in the work.
"If everyone expects that the blind patients will see after being treated ... it will end up as disaster," he said.
Nevertheless, advocates for the blind are already hailing the results. "At last we are seeing fruits of human embryonic stem cell research entering clinical trials," said Peter Coffey, Director of the London Project to Cure Blindness.
Using human embryonic stem cells for research or treatment has incited controversy for ethical and medical reasons. Some opponents argue that because removing stem cells from days-old human embryos almost always destroys the embryo, the technique amounts to murder.
ACT is the only company currently testing human embryonic stem cells in study patients. Last November, stem-cell pioneer Geron announced that it was halting what had been the first-ever clinical trial of the cells-testing them in patients with spinal cord injuries - and leaving the field.
When Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of ACT, approached ophthalmic surgeon Steven Schwartz of UCLA about leading the clinical trial, Schwartz asked for ethical advice from two of his patients: elderly nuns. They gave him the go-ahead, he said last year.
Even scientists who support stem cell research argue that they could be dangerous to use therapeutically. The very property that makes them so valuable in research - stem cells can morph into any of the kinds of cells in the human body - also makes them risky.
They can form teratomas, a type of tumor that arises when stem cells differentiate into a profusion of cell types. (...) "

in Reuters
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Bioterror fears halt research on mutant bird flu

"Scientists who created a potentially more deadly bird flu strain have temporarily stopped their research amid fears it could be used by terrorists.

In a letter published in Science and Nature, the teams call for an "international forum" to debate the risks and value of the studies.

US authorities last month asked the authors of the research to redact key details in forthcoming publications.
A government advisory panel suggested the data could be used by terrorists.
Biosecurity experts fear an altered, more contagious form of the virus could spark a pandemic deadlier than the 1918-19 Spanish flu outbreak that killed up to 40 million people.
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) recommended key details be omitted from publication of the research, which sparked international furore.
"I would have preferred if this hadn't caused so much controversy, but it has happened and we can't change that," Ron Fouchier, a researcher from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, told Science Insider.
While the H5N1 strain of bird flu is extremely deadly when caught by humans, its impact has so far been limited because it is not easily transmissible between humans.
But the latest joint research, by Erasmus University in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, altered the strain and found it was much more easily passed between ferrets.
Two scientific journals now want to publish the research - albeit in redacted form - and are trying to work out with the US government how to make the data accessible to "responsible scientists".
The World Health Organization said in a December statement that limiting access to the research would harm an agreement between its members.
The NSABB is made up of scientists and public health experts, 23 from outside the government, and 18 from within.
It cannot stop publication but makes recommendations to researchers.
The scientists' letter published on Friday argues that knowledge of more infectious strains before they mutate in nature is valuable for public health.
"More research is needed to determine how influenza viruses in nature become human pandemic threats," the statement says, "so that they can be contained before they acquire the ability to transmit from human to human, or so that appropriate countermeasures can be deployed if adaptation to humans occurs."
But some said the 60-day pause on research was not enough.
One critic of the studies, Richard Ebright, a biologist at Rutgers University, told Science Insider that the letter "includes flatly false statements" making assurances about the safety of H1N1 research labs.
Reports say that a meeting debating the research and steps forward could come during a World Health Organization meeting in February."
in BBC
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California Town Wards Off Crime With Birdsong

"How do you sweep crime from L.A.’s streets? With the lusty shrieks of a male songbird.
The mayor of Lancaster, Calif. swears that the sound of tweeting blackbirds, wrens and robins has deterred potential criminals in his town. “Everybody is now in a better mood, a better place,” R. Rex Parris told the Wall Street Journal. He says chirping noises along the city’s main drag have reduced crime in the area.
Is the bird-loving mayor a latter-day John Keats? Hardly. Gone is the nightingale – Lancaster’s improvement is owed to a loudspeaker. Or rather seventy loudspeakers, blasting birdsong blended with synth tones five hours every day for the past 10 months.
Minor misdeeds in the city dropped 15% last year, while serious crimes fell 6%. But not everyone believes it’s down to the winged warblers. “Just because somebody tries something and you see a drop in crime, it doesn’t mean it necessarily caused it,” says Laura Dugan, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Maryland.
But Mayor Parris is a believer. After first trying out a recording of birds from his backyard, he went to the land of the dawn chorus, commissioning a birdsong mashup from a London sound consultant, who says the sounds can ease the body’s response to stress.
This isn’t the first instance of auditory crime control. The London Underground broadcasts classical music in the hopes of soothing ne’er-do-wells. Because that worked so well in A Clockwork Orange."

in Time
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Do Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer?

"Maybe you remember the scary rumors that zipped around the Internet a few years ago claiming antiperspirants and deodorants could cause breast cancer. The claims had several things going for them — the fact that antiperspirants and deodorants are applied in the underarm area, close to the lymph nodes, where cancer cells like to congregate, and in the general vicinity of where most breast tumors develop. Then there were the concerns about parabens and aluminum, both ingredients in these products that are easily absorbed by the skin and which some studies had detected in breast tumors.
Doctors scrambled to help patients understand that the disparate facts did not necessarily coalesce into a coherent whole of cause and effect. Just because the parabens were found in breast tumors, for example, didn’t mean that they triggered the cancer.
The latest research on the matter, published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, may help to alleviate concerns about underarm products further — or rekindle the worry. U.K. researchers have found that paraben traces are present in the tissue of almost all breast cancer patients, whether or not they use antiperspirants.
Among 160 breast-tissue samples from 40 English mastectomy patients, 99% of samples had traces of at least one paraben, and 60% had traces of five different parabens. Even patients who’d never used underarm products had paraben traces in their breast tissue. That’s not surprising, say the authors, since parabens are found in shampoos, make-up, moisturizers, pharmaceuticals and even some food products, where they are used as a preservative. (If you’re looking for them in your own home, they may be listed as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, or butylparaben.)
The new study does not support the idea that parabens cause cancer, despite the incredibly high proportion of patient tissues that contain paraben traces. It’s possible that people without cancer might be equally exposed to the chemicals, so that the tissue levels are no higher among women with cancer than among those who are cancer-free. But the study didn’t include an analysis of breast tissue from women without cancer.
Still, people worry about these chemicals because, in the body, parabens act similar to the female sex hormone, estrogen. Lifelong exposure to estrogen has a reasonably well documented association with breast cancer risk. Some researchers have begun to wonder whether lifelong exposure to parabens might not have a similar effect — and there has been great interest in the last 10 years in testing for such a connection."
in Time
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Donate to Cancer Charity: Dreams come true

" Donate to Cancer Charity making dreams come true: A youngster battling cancer had his dream come true this week – to blow up a building, Fox affiliate WUPW in Ohio reports.
Maxwell Hinton, a 7-year-old from Fresno, Calif., didn’t think he’d have the chance to play with explosives at an elementary-school age. But in stepped the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Hinton was soon initiating the demolition of a massive ConAgra grain silo in Erie County. The site was scheduled for an implosion as part of a redevelopment plan for the area and many people Donate to Cancer Charity.
Maxwell, who is currently cancer-free after undergoing treatment, told reporters he was a fan of the show Mythbusters. “They inspired me to blow a building up,” he told reporters. "
in Time
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Stocks up


"Stocks up. European stocks rose and the euro stayed under pressure on Tuesday as investors weighed the debt turmoil in the euro zone against an improved U.S. economic picture that looks set to deliver upbeat corporate results.
European shares gained from the start on Tuesday, led by mining stocks after forecast-beating results from U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa (AA.N) improved the outlook for commodities.
"A good start to the earnings season; it shows the demand outlook is not so bad and we could get more positive surprises," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist and head of research at Brewin Dolphin Securities, said.
The key FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index was up 1.3 percent at 1,021.47 points, while the STOXX Europe 600 euro zone banking index .SX7P gained around 2.0 percent.
Nervous currency markets remained focused on the outlook for the euro zone economy, upcoming government debt sales and how the region's banks will raise much needed capital to repair their balance sheets.
The euro rose slightly to trade around $1.2792, holding firmly above the 16-month lows of $1.2666 hit on Monday, due mainly to traders buying back the currency to square their positions after recent heavy selling.
The Bank of France focused attention on the ailing euro zone economy by reporting growth had stalled at zero in the fourth quarter of 2011 in the region's second-biggest economy.
But separate data showed French industrial production rose 1.1 percent in November, bucking expectations for no growth as output from refineries rose from weak levels of a year ago during strikes.
"There's short-covering and a bit of risk appetite with positive equity markets overnight," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen.
"But we have the debt auctions, the ECB meeting on Thursday and it's still a weak and vulnerable euro..., with no sign of a quick solution to the debt problems in the euro zone," he said.
The worries about the health of the region's banks saw commercial lenders' overnight deposits held at the European Central Bank hit another record high of 482 billion euros.
The banks are awash with cash after taking an unprecedented 489 billion euros in the ECB's first-ever three-year liquidity operation late last month, but they are still uncertain about what to do with the money in the longer term.
French banks were also likely to be in the spotlight after an internal memo obtained by Reuters on Monday showed Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) is forecasting a sharp drop in investment bank revenue in 2012, weighed by higher funding costs and efforts to slash its balance sheet.
Earlier, data showed China's exports and imports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in December. The figures fuelled expectations of more policy action from Beijing to support the world's second biggest economy, and most Asian markets gained on Tuesday.
Wall Street ended slightly higher on Monday in a light-volume session as investors stayed cautious ahead of the earnings season that kicked off with Alcoa.
Tuesday's focus in euro zone debt markets will mainly be on Austria's auction of 1.3 billion euros of 10-year bonds which should give an indication of how worried investors are about the country's exposure to neighboring Hungary, which is locked in a dispute with the IMF over international aid.
Bund futures were slightly lower in midmorning trade.
Elsewhere, British retailers finished 2011 with the best sales growth in months as hefty discounting lured in shoppers, while weak business a year earlier flattered the figures, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.
It added that it expected another tough year."
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Car donations


"The number of car donations offered to Operation Lookout has increased, over the past year, from a couple per week to dozens every month.
In a recent email to Michael Irwin, President of Kars-R-Us (a Professional Fundraiser specializing in car and boat donation programs), Melody Gibson, Treasurer of Operation Lookout, had this to say:
"I want you to know the net income from KARS R US is literally saving Operation Lookout from extinction! Other sources of donations have crashed and burned - your program is getting it right. You have used a fresh approach and it is fruitful!"
Irwin, with over 15 years experience in car donations, pointed out that: "Car donations are a win-win situation for everyone. First, the donor gets to take a tax deduction. Second, the charity gets much needed funding. And third, that old car puts money back into the economy. Someone gets paid to answer the phones, someone gets paid to pickup the vehicle, someone gets paid to sell it at an auction, and advertising dollars are spent. In short, the money generated by that car donation not only gets used by the charity, it also puts a lot of people to work!"
One criticism of car donations has been that "not enough money goes back to the charities". The truth is that no tow truck drive could afford to transport the cars and trucks for free. And no auction can afford to process the paperwork for free. And, of course, no newspaper or radio station is going to run ads for free. So yes, it does cost money to run a car donation program. But is the glass half full or half empty?
Irwin says, "I think the fact that Kars-R-Us has sent checks to our charity clients for over $500,000 speaks for itself. Some charities would have to close their doors, or at least significantly cut back on their services if they did not have income from car donations."
in Yahoo
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Financial help for single moms

"It is not a easy job being a single mother. At every stage of life, financial help and preparation is essential. At this time as a single mother you have to consider your kids in your planning as well. Your job circumstances, everyday expenditure, medical expenses and the cost of education are few important things you need to keep in mind. You should always be ready and able to take on a second job to support your kids. Always be on the watch out for a better career and keep your resume refined up, in case you must pass it out.

SingleMomFinancialHelp.com is a Quality Resource created to Assist Single Mothers Financial Help.

The Single Mom Help Network is centered on 4 websites, which help with education, parenting, finance and career. Managing Finances can also be very difficult and that is why they have many useful articles and other resources for single moms to use onhttp://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/
Single Moms must know that there are many financial aid options available to them. There are many places where to get financial aid. The best aid for struggling mothers is grants for single mothers. These differ in the amount they offer according to the specifications but they can help many needy families substantially.
Many Single Moms are also looking towards buying a home for themselves. While this is great news, it can be quite a huge jump. Our websites also have many complied resources that make buying a house easy. There are many step by step articles that we have put-together to make then process easy for single moms.
There are other financial aid for parents available. There are many government and private agencies that provide many useful financial solutions for single moms. For single moms that are looking to go back to school and get their desired degree, there are also many scholarships that they are eligible for. All of this is covered on the websites alongside help with financial aid.
These websites all have very useful information and they are each connected with a forum in which single moms can talk to other single moms to get ideas and share their success!
This network of sites is also incorporated with Facebook and twitter so they can connect better and get their vision across to single moms. The Single Mom Help Network also has a forum in which people answer questions and other single moms can also ask and answer questions. This is meant to increase the community as a whole and establish a friendly environment on our online resources. The single Mom Help network is also on YouTube. Visit this channel to see lots of helpful videos for single moms. "

in PR
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How to purchase your own health coverage

"Buying private medical insurance international is no picnic, but group benefits aren't an option for everyone. Here's what you need to know to purchase for an individual health policy.

As companies cut expenses and more entrepreneurs strike out on their own, the individual health insurance market is growing.
"There's been a precipitous drop in the number of businesses offering coverage," says Sam Gibbs, the senior vice president of eHealthInsurance, an online insurance broker.
These days, the same people who traded company pension plans for self-managed 401(k)s are being asked to take on one more chore that used to be handled by human resources: shopping, selecting and purchasing health coverage. And it can be daunting.
Rob Snow put it off for more than a year. When he left a successful online company at age 39 to start Snow Portfolio Management in Bethesda, Md., he took advantage of COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which allowed him to remain on his old company's group plan as long as he paid the premiums. But that privilege extends only for 18 months. And he was nearing the end of it. (For more, see "Know your COBRA rights.")
So, one weekend, Snow sat down at his computer and searched for "health insurance" -- and got a million hits. "I probably spent an entire day scrolling through those," he says. "I got worn out. I probably didn't do anything for three weeks."
But Snow eventually went back to the computer and zeroed in on a few sites that allowed him to get quotes or compare policies.
His pick was a regular preferred provider organization, or PPO, plan with a high deductible that allowed the family to keep their doctors -- one of his wife's must-haves. "There's no way she was ever going to change pediatricians," he says. And the monthly premiums were $603, a savings of as much as $435 per month for their family of five.
"One of the reasons I probably saved as much as I did was that we're all, thankfully, pretty healthy," Snow says.
Not surprisingly, when you're buying health insurance, your health is a key factor.
"The healthy individual out there buying insurance does not have that much trouble," says Sandy Praeger, Kansas' insurance commissioner and the 2008 president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. But for people with health issues or pre-existing conditions, "it can be tough, if not impossible, to find coverage in the individual market."
And then there's shopping for policies. For people who've never had to do it themselves, "there is the perception that you make a call or two and you've got it," says Jerry Flanagan, the health care policy director for Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group. "You have to do a lot of research, know what you're getting and buy it before you cancel your (current) coverage.
"The individual market is a very difficult place for consumers to find affordable care with good coverage," Flanagan says.

Key insurance questions

If you're purchasing your own health coverage, there are three big issues:
  • Can you get coverage?
  • Can you afford the premiums?
  • Does it cover what you need covered? (...) "

    in Bankrate

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