To all the small business owners out there: Happy National Small Business Week! Good luck to the owners of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, North Carolina’s Small Business Person of the Year, who are competing for the national title, to be announced on Friday in Washington DC.   About National Small Business Week, from the Small [...]

Alzheimer’s patients often wander away from their houses or care facilities and become disoriented or lost. This bracelet can provide information essential to safety for your family member. The bracelet lists the person’s name, home address, names of family members and a phone number to call. If you see someone with this bracelet who seems [...]

Found this and thought it worth sharing… Link to original Article

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the division tasked with enforcing ERISA, is showing a renewed vigor. ERISA—the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974—covers more than just retirement plans.  It also imposes many obligations on non-pension benefits (i.e., welfare benefits including employer-sponsored group health plans).  EBSA employs approximately 1,000 people nationwide, in ten regions [...]

Most of us would say of course not.  According to a recent RAND report, approximately half of U.S. employers with 50 or more employees offer wellness promotion initiatives.  The general consensus is that a healthier workforce is a more productive workforce.  Wellness programs in the workplace are a hot topic right now - the ACA’s attention to [...]

The IRS, DOL, and HHS (the Departments) have jointly issued final regulations addressing employee wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  These final regulations modify the proposed wellness regulations that were issued in November 2012.  The final  regulations apply to insured and self-insured group health plans (both grandfathered and non-grandfathered) effective for plan years [...]

The IRS has published the new Form 720 with new lines to be used for reporting and paying the Patient Centered Outcomes Research fees (PCOR fees) for plans ending October 31, November 30 and December 31, 2012.  PCOR fees for applicable self-insured health plans and specified health insurance policies ending on these dates are due [...]

A recent article in The Business Journal by Owen Covington begs the question:  Will North Carolina have a marketplace or a mini-mart for health insurance in the fall?  A key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the Health Insurance Marketplace, scheduled to open in October.  The marketplace is designed to give families, individuals and [...]

Within days of releasing the revised IRS Form 720, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel released a memorandum addressing whether fees paid by issuers and self-insured plan sponsors to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Trust Fund are ordinary and necessary business expenses, and, thus, deductible business expenses. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) establishes a private, non-profit corporation, the Patient-Centered [...]

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have introduced the Family and Retirement Health Investment Act of 2013.  This bill is designed to broaden the scope of both health savings accounts (HSAs) and health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and to make these types of accounts more consumer friendly as [...]

We wish all Dads a very Happy Day and thank them for being such great guys! Don’t miss out. If you haven’t already attended a workshop to take advantage of our members’ talents and knowledge – sign up now! June 17 – EntreDotJune 17 – Center For Excellence™ Weekly MeetingJune 17 – SOC – “Keep [...]

Worldwide, stroke is the second leading cause of death. Worldwide, it is estimated that six people dies from stroke every 60 seconds. A stroke occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel that is traveling to the brain or a blood vessel bursts. Blood flow and oxygen flow to the brain are disrupted, resulting in [...]

A practical approach to “green” home building and remodeling, when you are aging-in-place and there is a universal design you have arrived. Aging (getting old) is something that happens to the best of us. No matter the race, class, education, religion or gender—we are all headed in that direction and our biggest issue is mobility [...]

Fireworks on the 4th of July are some of the best memories we have each summer! Here is a list of activities sorted by town and city. Several celebrations include “old fashioned” festivities for families such as face painting, potato … Continue reading → The post July 4th: Fireworks and Events Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill [...]

Will You Need Surgery For Your Headache? I certainly hope not. Unless you’ve got a brain tumor, surgery is rarely an option considered by people with benign headaches. When I say benign, I mean not caused by cancer or some other serious medical disorder. Benign headaches can, in fact, be quite disabling and completely disrupt [...]

Becoming an author has never been easier than now – that is both GOOD and BAD though! Anyone can become an author by self-publishing their own book. I’ve read dozens, if not hundreds, of self-published books. Some were impressive and looked just like what you would buy in Barnes & Noble while others were, to [...]

Having worked in health care for over 25 years I realize that much health care today has nothing to do with getting healthy but rather treating symptoms of ill health .As a Certified Health Coach, I appreciate it when I discover tools that help my clients improve their health and find natural alternatives to wellbeing. [...]

Rippln Is Social Network Marketing   Rippln, a startup network marketing company, is an incentivised sharing application that helps you track your social graph across the world! How’s that? Well, it’s common knowledge that smartphones have revolutionized the way people communicate, play games, go places, and live life. With apps for Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Pinterest, [...]

Homeowners are researching ways to use or work with technology that will add to the future value of the home by giving them safety, convenience, and comfort. Newly-built and existing homes have highly-desired features of energy management for different area heating only when you are present, continued circulation of air, and air-conditioning systems and lighting [...]

Raleigh restaurant for Business Meetings With professionals coming to the Triangle for business meetings every single day and the business traveler needing a welcome smile and a great experience, don’t settle for fast food or a quick meal. Instead, stop in at Mia Francesca Trattoria, conveniently located adjacent to the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel [...]

How many times over the course of a week does someone ask you , “What do you do?” Instead of telling them that you’re a writer, author, entrepreneur, or broke as hell, turn that question around and answer as if they ask you, “Why do you do what you do?” Dave Baldwin pens another fantastic [...]