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The Obama Administration rejected Texas request that it be allowed to phase in federal health reforms medical loss ratio to prevent the states health insurance market from destabilizing.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ruled that state officials failed to convince the agency of its argument that if insurers had to meet the new requirements the number of companies providing health insurance in the state through employers would drop.

A total of 17 states have sought waivers from the MLR provision. Six received them, nine were denied and two more are pending.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed in March 2010, requires health insurers to spend no more than 20% of individual and small-group premiums and 15% of large-group premiums on administrative costs, including agent commissions. The remainder must be used for medical costs, as President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress sought to ensure that health insurance companies and their executives were not taking too much of premiums for profits.

Insurance companies who exceed the medical loss ratio must pay rebates to their customers, starting Aug. 1.

The Texas Department of Insurance had asked for the law to be phased in over four years to ensure that small carriers and those writing individual policies dont leave the states insurance market.

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Mention festival season and you might think of long summer days lazing around in fields dried from the sun. But festival season in the northern hemisphere isn’t just a warm weather summer love-in, as these ski and snowboard parties show.

With line ups as good as their summer counterparts and all encompassing tickets to get you there, put you up and get you on the slopes, these winter festivals are a hedonist’s dream. You have the beauty of the mountains, the daytime thrill of the piste and sparkling night-time parties to give you a fantastically fun – but no doubt very tiring – winter break. Pack winter sports travel insurance from World First and you’ll have everything you need for the trip of a lifetime.

What more could you ask for? Here are five of the best winter festivals in the northern hemisphere.

SnowBall in Vail Valley, Colorado takes place between March 2nd and 4th. It’s a music festival with a strong student and indie vibe and a line up that this year includes The Kooks and Deer Park among an eclectic mix of dance and rock music.

The Brits in Laax, Switzerland (March 18th to 25th) is now in its 23rd year. It’s the big party for British alpine regulars and includes an intensely competitive snowboard and skiing championship that is famously fought by those hoping to be crowned the year’s best (and bravest) on the slopes. Last year the music included The Correspondents and Pendulum. This year’s line up is to be announced shortly. Not for the faint

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This RV travel guide is as valuable for young families as it is for the young at heart. Exploring the country in an RV is about what you see and where you stop, so for the science-minded in your touring group, visit any or all of these great southern science centers!

The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL

Known as MOSI (MOH-zee), The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida has over 400,000 square feet of education and entertainment ranging from meteorology to physics with weather exhibits in Disasterville and a 98-foot long high-wire bicycle ride 30 feet in the air!

MOSI also has an amateur radio club for the “hams” in your family, and their “Kids in Charge!” section is the largest children’s science center in the country for learning through play.

The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC

This wonderfully diverse science center in Durham, NC boasts its very own Dinosaur Trail, live animals with motorized cameras to see deeper into the wildlife exhibits, and a uniquely entertaining outdoor chain of interactive exhibits called “Catch the Wind” that explores how humans, animals, and the earth adapt to and use the natural phenomenon of wind.

Their indoor exhibits are also a blast including SoundSpace, a room that you play like a musical instrument by moving throughout the room at different speeds and moving in different ways. Their “Magic

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A Jacksonville, Fla.-based Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance subsidiary agreed to acquire Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Highmarks Medicare subsidiary.

Diversified Service Options (DSO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and the and the holding company for First Coast Service Options (FCSO), will acquire Highmark Medicare Services (HMS).

Financial terms of the transaction, expected to close by Jan. 1, 2012, were not disclosed.

Both HMS and FCSO will continue to operate as separate, independent organizations, as wholly owned subsidiaries of DSO, officials said.

This change was prompted by Highmarks provider strategy, said David OBrien, executive vice president of Highmark, in a statement. The decision was a difficult one but one which best positions HMS to maintain its current business and pursue its government business growth strategy.

HMS holds the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) contract for Jurisdiction 12 (J12), which is comprised of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. When combined with FCSOs existing MAC J9 contract, which includes Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the two DSO companies will serve Medicare beneficiaries in five states, two U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C.

I want to apologize to President Obama. But first, some background.

I found out three weeks ago I have cancer. Im 49 years old, have been married for almost 20 years and have two kids. My husband has his own small computer business, and I run a small nonprofit in the San Fernando Valley. I am also an artist. Money is tight, and we dont spend it frivolously. Were just ordinary, middle-class people, making an honest living, raising great kids and participating in our community, the kids schools and church.

Were good people, and we work hard. But we havent been able to afford health insurance for more than two years. And now I have third-stage breast cancer and am facing months of expensive treatment.

To understand how such a thing could happen to a family like ours, I need to take you back nine years to when my husband got laid off from the entertainment company where hed worked for 10 years. Until then, we had been insured through his work, with a first-rate plan. After he got laid off, we got to keep that health insurance for 18 months through COBRA, by paying $1,300 a month, which was a huge burden on an unemployed father and his family.

By the time the COBRA ran out, my husband had decided to go into business for himself, so we had to purchase our own insurance. That was fine for a while. Every year his business grew. But insurance premiums were steadily rising too. More than once, we switched carriers for a lower rate, only to have them raise rates significantly after a few months.

With the recession, both of our businesses took a huge hit my husbands income was cut in half, and the foundations that had supported my small nonprofit were going through their own tough times.

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It is. But we don’t want to risk our customers getting caught out. The cost of foreign medical care can very rapidly get out of control. Way out of control. And if you haven’t got travel insurance cover, you’ll have to find a way to pay the costs yourself. Not having a policy is not an excuse.

Take a look at this short viral from the Foreign Office. Could you afford to lose out in the same position?

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