Northeast Ohio –Embrace celebrates is third anniversary offering direct claim deposits to pet parents this month. Embrace was the first pet insurance company to offer claim reimbursements via direct deposit. Since launching direct deposit for claims in October 2007, Embrace has seen the percentage of claim payments using it more than double from just 12% in 2007 to over 27% in 2010.

Direct deposit is fast, easy, and efficient compared to waiting for a paper check in the mail. All Embrace customers can receive their claim refund directly into their bank accounts, usually the next business day after the claim is completed, if not the same day. P

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The mandate for individuals to obtain health insurance is constitutional, a federal judge in Michigan has ruled in the first court decision on the merits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

An individual’s decision not to have health insurance has the same effect as a delberate decision to pay for medical care out of pocket, said U.S. District Court Judge George C. Steeh in a 20-page decision. It meets the standard of “activities that substantially affect interstate commerce” that the U.S. Supreme

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“Eat your veggies.”

If you just had flashbacks to your childhood where your mom is standing over you wagging her finger. Parents have tried for years to bribe, trick or beg their children to eat vegetables. Their efforts have even been immortalized on television in Veggie Tales, a show about animated vegetables who go on adventures and teach a moral, spiritual message.

Now that you are an adult, the message about eating your greens still might not have sunk in. But long gone are the days of nibbling on a flavorless celery stick. You can add veggies to any dish to bring out the flavor and get some of the added health benefits. Tos

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Today, we have a guest post from Dr. Rex Riggs, owner of Best Friends Veterinary Hospital in Powell, Ohio. He is a veterinarian, and an Advisory Board member of Embrace Pet Insurance. Dr. Riggs writes about treatment for a torn or ruptured cruciate ligament in a dog’s knee. ___________________________________________________________

Rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament is a very common injury in our canine patients. The cranial cruciate ligament is the main ligament that is responsible for the stability of the knee.

Some breeds of dogs, such as Goldens and Labrador retrievers, are more likely to tear their knee ligaments than others; perhaps because there are more Goldens and Labs in our practices. T

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The results of a growing trend in education and workforce demand are being felt in homes across America. In most areas of the country, unmarried women between the ages of 22 and 30 without kids are making 8 percent more than men are in the same demographic. Data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that at this point in time, young women are 1.5 times more likely to earn college degrees than their male counterparts.

Make no mistake, The survey does not conclude that a woman in the same job makes more than a man. Overall, women make 80 percent of what men make.

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Sept. 23, 2010, marked the six-month anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. There has been a lot of news coverage on this milestone during the past few days and it is likely that more will follow.

Certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act are effective starting with plan years (in the individual market, policy years) beginning on or after Sept. 23, 2010. We believe that some of our members or groups may not recognize or understand the plan/policy year concepts and mistakenly assume that certain Affordable Care Act provisions will immediately apply to their coverage on Sept. 23, 2010.

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Videos are a cheap an effective way to add some personality to your brand and put a human face on your message.

High-definition cameras for web videos are relatively inexpensive, as is basic editing software. It’s worth the expense, as more and more users on the Web are now coming there for more than just pictures and text; they want to see helpful videos as week.

There are a number of sites where users like you can post videos they have created, and where other users can comment or respond with other videos. They include: YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe, Magnify.net and Ustream.

Using video is a good way to get involved in the online conversation with someone’s real voice. It

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Life insurance company, American International Group Inc. (AIG), may return to independence soon. Ready to get rid of debt and finally fully repay the bailouts handed out in 2008 and 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department could announce plans for repayment as early as this week.

Tentative Plans for Repayment

There are a few ways that sources expect the Treasury to try to recoup its money. It may begin converting its $49 billion preferred stake into common stock to sell by the first half of next year.

Also, it hopes to get rid of two non-U.S. divisions, which are expected to help largely repay the firm’s federal credit line. W

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