HSA Clearing Corp Announces Costa Rican Medical Care

HSA Clearing Corp Announces Costa Rican Medical Care

Working with the finest private hospitals and physicians in Costa Rica, Costa Rican Medical Care will help people save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on certain medical care procedures. According to a recent study by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, the number of U.S. residents traveling across borders for medical care is expected to increase 700% -- from 750,000 in 2007 to 6 million in 2010.

Lake Geneva, WI (PRWEB) March 4, 2009 -- HSA Clearing Corp. the leading provider of Health Savings Account educational services to financial institutions, employee benefit companies and health agents, is announcing a new division, Costa Rican Medical Care. The new division will provide medical tourism services specializing in only Costa Rica.

Working with the finest private hospitals and physicians in Costa Rica, Costa Rican Medical Care will help people save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on certain medical care procedures. According to a recent study by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, the number of U.S. residents traveling across borders for medical care is expected to increase 700% -- from 750,000 in 2007 to 6 million in 2010. With health care costs skyrocketing out of control in the United States, medical tourism has become a very attractive option for cost-conscious consumers seeking quality care at an affordable price. While many medical tourism providers are recommending travel half-way around the world to places like India and Singapore (twelve time zones away), Costa Rican Medical Care is focusing only on the excellent care available in Costa Rica, a beautiful, friendly country much closer to home and in the Central Time Zone. Costa Rica has the competitive advantage of geography, a stable economic and political system and an international reputation for the quality of its health care system

"Educating people on ways to save on health care has always been our main goal, and now more than ever, people need help. There are millions of people who have to pay hard-earned money out of their own pocket. Some have a Consumer Driven Health Plan or an HSA, and some simply have no insurance at all." said Tim Morales President of HSA Clearing Corp.

"Many of our banking customers are self-insured. Having a cost-efficient alternative to high cost care in the States will mean lowering costs for these institutions. For example, a hip replacement can cost as much as $70,000 in the US. However, the same procedure in Costa Rica, including all tests, surgery, physician costs, rehabilitation, and follow-up care in the U.S., travel, lodging and meals in Costa Rica can run about $15,000 -- all costs included"

Costa Rican Medical Care program is simple and stress-free. We provide the consumer with answers to their questions and let them know the approximate cost of their total trip. Patients (and their companions, if applicable) are picked up at the airport by an English-speaking guide. Hotel accommodations are carefully selected to provide convenience to the patient. The guide will accompany the patient to and from the doctor appointments. Following the surgery and recovery, our counselors will arrange for any further rehab or care that might be needed, and contract with an in-home service in the U.S. to provide further care if needed.

Our people in Costa Rica have been providing these services for many years to people from around the world. Their facilities are modern and patient care is state-of-the-art. Most physicians are trained U.S. trained and use the latest available technology and equipment. Both the medical and tourism staff speaks excellent English.

"With the thousands of health agents, employee benefit firms and customers of our HSA bank and credit union network across the country, offering Costa Rican Medical Care will help many people get and stay healthy and save money at the same time", Morales continued. "You would be surprised by the growing number of insurance companies that work with many of these providers and we hope to introduce more."

Sampling of Costa Rican Medical Care Services

Bariatric Surgery, Angioplasty, Heart By-Pass, Hip and Knee Replacement, Ophthalmology and Medical Check Ups, Dental Surgery and Care, Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, are some of the many healthcare services we can recommend.

For more information on providing or using Costa Rican Medical Care services, visit their website at www.costaricanmedicalcare.com or call 262-348-1300.

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Contact Information TIMOTHY MORALES

HSA Clearing Corp

http://costaricanmedicalcare.com

262-348-1300

R&B Solutions' Rapid Application for Medical Programs (RAMP) Web-Based Software Programmed to Tackle Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act (SB2380)

R&B Solutions' Rapid Application for Medical Programs (RAMP) Web-Based Software Programmed to Tackle Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act (SB2380)

Program facilitates hospital's state-mandated need to provide Uninsured Illinois residents with discount.

Waukegan, IL (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- The R&B Solutions Rapid Application for Medical Programs (RAMP), a copyrighted and trademarked web-based and stand-alone software solution that automates the process for determining Medicaid and Charity Care eligibility, serves as a direct facilitator to meet and exceed many of the requirements in Illinois' Uninsured Patient Discount Act.

With an agreement reached between Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois Hospital Association, amended SB2380 (or the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act) passed out of the Illinois State Senate and now Public Act 09-0965 requires all hospitals to provide discounts to eligible Illinois residents. The discounted amounts vary based on the resident's income compared to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and based on the type of hospital. Hospitals must provide discounts to 135% of cost to eligible uninsured patients who request it. In addition, hospitals cannot collect more than 25% of annual income from eligible patients who do not have significant assets. There are currently over 1.8 million uninsured individuals in Illinois approximately fourteen percent of the state's population. The new law goes into effect on April 1, 2009.

"R&B has been contracted by hospitals for over twenty years to assist their patients applying for medical assistance, charity care and other financial assistance programs," said Dennis A. Brebner, CEO of R&B Solutions, Inc. "R&B is a professional patient advocate organization that can attest to the strong commitment of Illinois Hospitals to assist their patients as an important part of their organization's mission. With this in mind we have programmed the Uninsured Patient Discount Act into our RAMP product to allow hospitals to easily transition and track their charity care and to conform to the new law."

The RAMP program was developed as a result of R&B's extensive experience with the application process for Charity Care and Medicaid through its Medicaid Advocacy and Solutions for Uninsured Patients (SUP) program. For over 20 years, R&B Solutions has supplemented hospitals' growing need for Medicaid and other charity applications, and in the process developed its own software to compliment their needs and those of the uninsured that they are assisting. The web-based program helps to correctly identify self-pay patients who are eligible for charity care, Medicaid, Crime Victims, and other public assistance programs, and auto-populates that information into the necessary forms with electronic signature verification. RAMP greatly improves the timely efficiency crucial to meeting program deadlines and maintaining a database on community benefit efforts.

"One of the real solutions in health care is leveraging technology for greater productivity," Brebner continued. "New Health Care directives by President Obama's administration are focusing attention on the need to streamline enrollment and the eligibility process particularly for the 46 million uninsured in the United States. R&B's RAMP program has been designed to automate the medical assistance and charity care processes. RAMP also provides the record database of the hospital's efforts for compliance and to demonstrate the effectiveness of their efforts. RAMP also delivers credit products to expedite the process and to provide identity verification as well as identity fraud and theft alerts. This is a real solution to help with some of the difficulties faced by the uninsured in the U.S." concluded Brebner.

Contact: Ryan Brebner

847-887-8514

About R&B Solutions

R&B Solutions is a leading Medicaid Advocacy corporation that both uninsured patients and medical providers alike have come to trust to solve many of the problems facing uninsured patients and the medical facilities from which they seek help. R&B Solutions offers a wide variety of solutions for medical providers to assist their patients. The company uses highly-trained patient advocates efficient in State Human Services processes, internally developed software, and years of legal experience to identify and assist the uninsured. R&B Solutions offers expertise in the field of Medicaid Advocacy (inpatient solution), Solutions for Uninsured Patients (SUP), outpatient solutions, and RAMP, Rapid Application for Medical Programs, a proprietary software that screens for Medicaid and charity eligibility. Founded in 1986, R&B assists health care providers and their uninsured patients across the United States. Visit us at randbsolutions.net

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Contact Information Ryan Brebner

R&B Solutions

http://www.randbsolutions.net

800-283-0310

Ryan Brebner

R&B Solutions

http://www.randbsolutions.net

CIRM Completes Briefing Visit to Stemedica Cell Technologies

CIRM Completes Briefing Visit to Stemedica Cell Technologies

Leadership of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine ("CIRM") completed a two part visit to Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. ("Stemedica") to tour its manufacturing facility, R&D lab and corporate headquarters.

San Diego, Calif. (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- Leadership of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine ("CIRM") completed a two part visit to Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. ("Stemedica") to tour its manufacturing facility, R&D lab and corporate headquarters.

"I was glad to have the opportunity to visit Stemedica and get to know more about its leadership, plans for the future and to see first hand the assets and potential they represent to the stem cell movement in California", said Dr. Alan Trounson, President of CIRM. "We want to have strong working relationships with all sectors of California's stem cell industry, including for-profit companies like Stemedica."

Prior to Dr. Trounson's visit, Dr. Marie Csete, CIRM's Chief Scientific Officer had the opportunity to visit Stemedica's manufacturing facility and R&D laboratory. "We're delighted to see Stemedica make the effort to secure a clinical grade manufacturing license from the State of California. We believe this capability will aid numerous organizations in California and around the world in their efforts to manufacture stem cell products for clinical application", said Dr. Csete.

"We were pleased to have Dr. Trounson and Dr. Marie Csete visit our facilities and receive a briefing from our leadership", said Dr. Maynard Howe, Stemedica's Vice Chairman & CEO. "We continue to play a pivotal role in the evolution of the stem cell industry in California and believe a supportive working relationship with CIRM is an essential part of this process.

Stuart Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director and Senior Vice President of the Del E. Webb Center for Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, San Diego, CA, joined Dr. Trounson during his visit to Stemedica's manufacturing facility. "I was impressed with the progress that Stemedica has made on the licensing process for clinical grade allogeneic stem cell manufacturing and am excited about expanding our research relationship with the Stemedica team. Having a manufacturing resource like this in California will be a great asset to our entire research community. I anticipate that many CIRM-funded stem cell research institutions will take advantage of Stemedica's manufacturing facility that will soon become FDB (Food & Drug Board) cGMP licensed."

Dr. Nikolai Tankovich, Stemedica's President and Chief Medical Officer organized the visits for Dr. Trounson, Dr. Csete and Dr. Lipton. "We're delighted that these outstanding leaders within California's stem cell movement took the time to find out more about Stemedica and our plans to lead this industry from a manufacturing standpoint. We will continue to seek the wise counsel of CIRM in an effort to align our efforts with theirs. In addition, we are expanding our collaborative research efforts with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and several other California stem cell research institutions", said Dr. Tankovich.

About Stemedica Technologies, Inc.:

Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc. (http://www.stemedica.com (http://www.stemedica.com)) is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that is committed to the development and manufacture of best-in-class adult stem cells for use by approved research institutions and hospitals for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Within the United States, the Company is currently developing regulatory pathways for stroke, traumatic brain injury and wound repair. Outside the United States, Stemedica provides its adult stem cells to hospitals and research centers that are conducting studies under protocols approved by the appropriate regulatory agencies. These studies are focused on the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, sight restoration and wound repair. Stemedica is based in San Diego, California.

About CIRM:

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was established in 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities. To date, the CIRM governing board has approved 229 research and facility grants totaling more than $614 million, making CIRM the largest source of funding for human stem cell research in the world. For more information, please visit http://www.cirm.ca.gov (http://www.cirm.ca.gov/).

Media Contact for Stemedica: Dave McGuigan at dmcguigan (at) stemedica.com.

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Contact Information Dave McGuigan

Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc

http://www.stemedica.com

+1 858 658 0910