• Health care costs hit women harder
• Merging past and progressive: Consumer-centric dental benefit models combine old and new approaches
• Group LTC coverage draws a younger crowd
• Taking the pulse of pension plans
• Happiness money can’t buy: In tough economic times, adoption benefits strengthen employee satisfaction, loyalty
• Pulling back on perks: Tips for effective communication when reneging on employee rewards
• Crumbling coverage: Will the recession contribute to the erosion of life coverage?
• Employees resolve to have better work-life balance
• Exercise Corner: Neck Deskercises
• Recipe Corner: Simple Fruit Salad

Research from the Commonwealth Fund shows women are more likely to skip care and also spend a greater share of their income on medical services than their male counterparts.

Although similar proportions of women and men were uninsured for at least part of the year or were underinsured, we found that women were more affected by exposure to health care costs,” Michelle Doty, director of survey research for the group, says.

Fifty-two percent of women (compared to just 36% of men) had one of the following four problems getting care:

• Did not fill a prescription,
• Did not see a specialist when needed, 
• Skipped a recommended medical test, treatment or follow-up, 
• Had a medical problem but did not visit a doctor or clinic.

A similar division was found around cancer screenings and dental care. For example, 45% of women (compared to just 36% of men) delayed or did not receive the screening or care because of cost.

Also, the study — which is based on data from the group’s 2007 biennial health insurance survey — shows that women are much more likely to spend a bigger chunk of their earnings on health care than men. The research looked at low, moderate and high-income women.

The percentage of women making $40,000 to $60,000 a year who spent more than 10% of their earnings on health care nearly doubled between 2001 and 2007 — jumping 20 points to 41%. What’s more, while 60% of moderate income women (those earning $20,000 to $40,000) report having trouble paying medical bills, just 50% of men with moderate incomes said the same.

Source: Employee Benefit News, May 19, 2009

Consumer-centric dental benefit models combine old and new approaches

Two strong forces are at work in the dental benefits market, creating new plan designs that are progressive on one hand, "retro" on the other and increasingly consumer-centric.

"It's very interesting to watch what's happening in the industry right now," says Karen Gustin, vice president of group and managed care products for Ameritas. "Employers and employees are looking for value in dental benefits, not just price. But at the same time, they want products at less cost. The result is that it's taking the industry back to the products of the 1980s."

The economy is at the top of everyone's mind, agrees Alan Hirschberg, head of Aetna Dental. "What we're seeing from our plan sponsors is concern over costs. They are returning to lower-cost options, such as dental maintenance products."

At the same time, employers that offer dental benefits want more for less: more coverage and more flexibility for themselves and their employees.

Dental-medical link
 
Nowhere is the demand for greater coverage more evident than in the integration of dental and medical care.

"Employers are increasingly focused on the link between good dental programs and the impact this has on medical costs," says Evelyn F. Ireland, executive director of the National Association of Dental Plans.

When NADP surveyed 1,900 employers last summer for its 2008 Group Purchaser Behavior Study, it found that 75% wanted enhanced benefits for related medical conditions. Furthermore, among those that were planning to change dental insurance carriers, nearly half (42%) said they were looking for better coverage of dental treatments related to the detection and prevention of diseases and adverse medical conditions.

"There's real value to promoting the worth of dental care and the fact that regular preventive care can really save money in medical care costs over the long run," says Tom McInteer, second vice president in the Group Dental division of Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. "Preventive care also will help save on dental bills in the future."

Dental plans increasingly are covering such things as oral cancer screenings, extra cleanings for those at risk, such as pregnant women, and periodontal treatment for diabetics. Hirschberg expects this trend to persist. "Payers and employers will continue to add benefits and other health conditions to what's covered now," he says.

Ortho and implants

For the majority of employers, dental benefits are no longer merely a differentiator; 62% surveyed by NADP said they are an "essential" part of their benefit program. In addition to enhanced benefits for medical conditions related to dental care, employers told NADP they are seeking the following plan features:

• Coverage of sealants (77%).
• Benefit rollover (76%). 
• Adult orthodontia benefits (73%). 
• Coverage for implants (72%). 
• Coverage of cosmetic procedures (49%).

Dental plan providers are definitely listening.

"We are seeing more of our competitors trying to expand the breadth of what the dental contract covers," McInteer comments. "There's high interest in covering what's important to employers, including teeth whitening, adult fluoride treatments, oral cancer screening and periodontal maintenance as a preventive service. Dental insurance is such a competitive environment; companies are trying to distinguish themselves and compete on product innovation."

Despite cost pressures, that's not likely to change, industry experts maintain.

"Dental is in a fantastic place because, unlike disability or life, it never became a commodity product where everything is alike so you have to compete on price," saysGustin. "With commodity products, companies start cutting back on benefits just to get a less-expensive product on the street."

Consumer-driven focus

About four years ago, leading-edge dental benefit providers began rolling out what they called "consumer-driven" products, designed to be more flexible and to reward employees who get preventive care and kept expenditures down.

"When I think of 'consumer-driven,' I think of a plan where the consumer participates in the financial decision and there are rewards and penalties," says McInteer. "There's an economic incentive to seek out good, appropriate care. Dental has always been that way. Preventive care is typically paid at 100%, and as things get more expensive, insurance drops down."

One of the most popular of the consumer-driven dental plan features is the maximum rollover, introduced by Ameritas and also offered early on by Guardian.

"Four years ago, Ameritas came out with a product that rewarded people who took care of their teeth," Gustin says. "If they had one visit to the dentist and used less than half of their maximum, we would roll over a portion of the remainder to the next year. This feature was criticized by carriers initially as being a big administrative burden, but almost all have copied it."

Aetna developed a consumer-driven plan a couple of years ago that uses financial incentives to encourage use of preventive care benefits.

"We see it as consumer engagement — getting members involved in their overall health," says Hirschberg. "When you go for preventive care, you are rewarded with higher-level benefits the next year. Depending on how the employer sets up the plan, the employee can get either a higher annual maximum or higher coinsurance coverage."

There has been an uptick in quoting and sales activity around this product lately, he continues. "A lot of people are looking at this because it overlaps with medical engagement."

Plan providers are also making products increasingly customizable. For example, Ameritas offers Fusion, a product for groups of 10 or more that covers dental and vision care. Employees can use their benefit schedule toward either or both types of care. Employers can tailor the plan to combine any or all of the following: annual maximums, deductibles and exam frequency. "This is very consumer-driven because a family can decide exactly how it wants to use the benefits," Gustin says.

Last November, Aetna introduced i.Choose,a "personal benefits solution" initially offered for dental, life, accident and disability insurance purchased on either an employer- or employee-paid basis. Traditionally, voluntary plans are defined as benefits where employees pay at least 50% percent of the total premium; however, i.Choose can support any contribution percentage.

Dental FSA

The dental plan that perhaps most closely mirrors consumer-driven plans on the medical side is a new offering from Pendant Health in Dallas, a company launched last year by three dentists. Pendant Health uses debit-card technology to provide employees with prefunded debit cards that are used to pay for dental care.

"The company founders saw a couple of things going on in the dental market," says President Nick Partridge. "Insurance is a pain to deal with and reimbursement rates are low, so dentists are leaving insurance networks or demanding high fee reimbursements. Second, with health care premiums increasing at double-digit rates for most of the decade, a lot of employers have responded by shifting premium costs to employees. Those scenarios create problems for individuals and families looking for coverage."

At the same time, the founders were excited by consumer-driven trends in medical benefits. "We thought: what if we took these principles to dental?'"

A high-deductible plan with an HSA didn't make sense for dental, says Partridge, becausethe average employee only spends about $300 a year for dental services, and only 5% of employees reach the maximum in their benefits in any given year.

"So given that, we felt that the best vehicle would be a flexible spending account with a debit card. Employers and employees contribute pretax dollars to card, and all dollars that are unused at the end of the year go back to the employer."

Pendant Health has partnered with a network of 85,000 providers who provide discounts to card holders.

"The debit card isn't a schedule of benefits," Partridge asserts. "There's no stack of papers with limits and exclusions. The card sits in the employee's wallet with $500 or whatever amount has been put in, and there's a greater likelihood that person will use it."

Kevin Whitney, COO of Flexible Benefit Group, a third-party administrator in McKinney, Texas, agrees. He's impressed with the Pendant Health program.

"I've never been a strong proponent of dental benefits," Whitney remarks. "I believe that if people were to take their money and put it in a FSA, they would get more bang for buck. Too many times, people forget they have a dental benefit. To pay $20 to $30 a month for something that costs $90 year is not a smart tradeoff."

Tamela Southan, a benefits broker and owner of Benefit Solutions By Design in Dallas says the most appealing thing about the FSA-debit card approach is its flexibility. "It's a custom design. You're not going to an employer and saying, 'Here's A, B and C. Which plan do you want?' You're saying, 'Mr. Employer, tell me what you want to spend, and then we'll back into this.'"
Despite their enthusiasm for the Pendant Health plan, Whitney and Southan admit that it hasn't been an easy sell.

"I've gotten very close on several accounts," says Whitney. "But there is skepticism — employers look at projected savings and don't quite believe it. I relate it back to when we first offered HRAs; employers were very skeptical then, too. We'd show them savings of $20,000 to $40,000 a year with no reduction in benefits, and they would not believe us."

Notes Southan: "Many employers don't know what they want to offer in the way of dental, they just know they want a benefit. And they are used to the traditional approach. They don't know that less than 5% [of plan members] actually worry about that maximum benefit. When looking at renewals, most stay at the preventive level. We have to educate employers on benefit utilization."

What's the future look like in dental plan design?

"I think companies will continue to tweak existing products to offer at lower price points," says Hirschberg.

"Dental is no longer just take it or leave it," indicates McInteer. "Plans with choices for consumers are very, very popular. When I say 'choice,' I mean having a suite of products available that enables employees to upgrade coverage however they choose. For example, the employer might pay for a $1,000 maximum benefit, and the employee has the option to buy more coverage."

Choice — in benefits and cost, for employees and employers — is the key, dental experts agree.

"This generates lot of satisfaction," McInteer says. "one dental plan is not best for everyone."

Source: Employee Benefit News, March 25, 2009

Employees who buy long-term care insurance under a group plan at the workplace are younger than those who buy LTC coverage on the individual market, reports the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

The California-based trade group found that 24% of buyers purchasing LTC coverage through an employer-sponsored plan were between the ages of 35 and 44, while only 5% of consumers who purchase LTC insurance on an individual basis fell into that age category.

Even in the 45-to-54 age range, the proportion of individuals buying LTC protection in a group plan (36%) outpaces the proportion of those buying the insurance on their own (24%). By contrast, 53 % of individual purchasers were between the ages of 55 and 64, compared to only 23% of group buyers, according to the 2008 data by AALTCI.

Group customers are more likely to select longer coverage and collect claims against their policy at a younger age, compared to individual buyers. The organization reports that 8.2 million Americans have LTC insurance, and about 400,000 new policies or group certificates are issued annually.

With group coverage, the average premium cost for employees between ages 45 and 55 was $690. The data shows, however, that participants in that age category could face premiums as low as $430 per year or as high as $985 per year.

In the study, the largest open claim under a group plan exceeded $490,000, and the member had been on claim for over nine years.

AALTCI also analyzed claims being paid to members covered by an employer-sponsored LTC insurance. For example, 13% of new claims opened during 2008 were for individuals younger than age 60, and 11.5% of new group LTC claimants file their claim during the fourth or fifth year of their coverage.

“Because many employer-sponsored plans offer some form of simplified underwriting or even guaranteed issue, we expected to find more people qualifying for benefits at younger ages,” explains Jesse Slome, AALTCL’s executive director.

The trade group examined data on 95,000 purchasers of employer-sponsored LTC insurance and over 200,000 individual customers.

Source: Employee Benefit News, March 26, 2008

New analyses on pension plans show that large private-sector plans saw their funding status improve last month by $158 billion. Yet if the recession deepens, more public pension plans may have to take up safer and lower-return investment strategies.

Such an investment policy for underfunded public pension plans may be easier said than done, given that the Government Accounting Standards Board —the arm that regulates the accounting practices for public plans — offers sponsors incentives to pursue aggressive investment tactics, reports the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The nonpartisan group found that underfunded public pension plan sponsors face some “perverse incentives” to uphold aggressive or risky investments polices. For instance:

• Actuarial funding methods project higher investment income for risky asset allocations than what is assumed under more conservative investment strategies. Without that income, plan sponsors with underfunded plans would have to make higher contributions to fund the projected shortfalls in their plans.
• Public plan sponsors that want to use a high discount rate (to minimize their pension liabilities) have an incentive to maintain high-return/high-risk asset allocation strategies; under current accounting practices, a high expected rate of return can be used to lower stated plan liabilities.

“While public pension plan sponsors are unlikely to significantly shift toward safer but lower-return investment policies in the short run, as the current economic recession drags on, administrators and trustees of these plans will need to seriously consider their long-term funding status and investment strategies — especially whether there is too much risk in pension portfolios,” EBRI researchers note.

Big pension plans sponsored by private-sector employers, however, experience some signs of relief as equity markets rebounded in March and bond yields continued to increase, Mercer reports. As a result, the funded status of pension plans of S&P 1,500 companies improved by $158 billion.

The aggregate funded status was 83% at the end of March, up from 74% at the end of February. The December 2008 year-end funded status was 75%, Mercer notes. The aggregate deficit of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1,500 companies was $215 billion at the end of March, down $373 billion at the end of February and down $409 billion at the end of December 2008.

“It’s important for plan sponsors to monitor asset performance to the plan liabilities. Looking at the assets only, the return for a typical plan for the first quarter may be in the region of -7% to -10%,” says Adrian Hartshorn, a member of Mercer’s financial strategy group. “However, measured relative to the plan liabilities the typical return would be around 8%. Plan fiduciaries are tasked with achieving a return that allows them to deliver benefit payment, not to beat an asset-only performance index,” he adds.

Source: Employee Benefits News, March 23, 2009

In tough economic times, adoption benefits strengthen employee satisfaction, loyalty 

At a time when financial uncertainty could discourage some people from adopting a child, many employers are staying committed to providing adoption benefits to their workers. Such offerings could enable a family to proceed with adoption plans, and allow employers to provide or maintain a valued but inexpensive benefit, despite the cost-cutting environment.

“The economy has not affected the continued increase in the number of adoption benefit policies nationwide,” notes Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “It’s the one benefit employers can add without negatively impacting the bottom line. Even though [adoption benefits] are popular with employees, utilization rates are extremely low. Adoption benefits give companies an affordable opportunity to help their employees and impact the lives of children without families.”

Each year, the foundation releases a ranked list of the country’s Best Adoption-friendly Workplaces (see sidebar for list of this year’s top 10 companies). The foundation was started by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted. The company appears to be continuing its founder’s commitment to making adoption a more affordable option for families; Wendy’s is the No. 1 company on this year’s list.

The rankings are based on financial reimbursement for adoption and paid adoption leave offered by U.S. employers. This year, 49 employers on the list enhanced their existing policy, and 43 more established adoption benefits. Utilization rates reported by employers remain consistently low, with less than half of 1% of eligible employees using the benefit in an average year.

Most HR/benefits executives cite this and the minimum of paperwork as the reasons they administer the benefit in-house, according to the foundation. “Utilization is not typically high, but the payback as far as how meaningful this is for parents and employee is amazing,” says Jackie Mitchell, senior manager of work-life programs at Timberland (ranked No. 8 on the 2009 list). “It really strengthens your community.

It’s the type of program that everyone feels good about because it brings so much happiness.” Timberland, which has 5,400 employees worldwide, has provided adoption benefits for 25 employees over the last 15 years. “It helps to fulfill our responsibility to society,” Mitchell remarks. In addition to being affordable, adoption benefits can improve recruitment and retention, provide equity for adoptive parents and enhance work-life programs.

A financial reimbursement for adoption is offered by 90% of employers in the foundation’s survey, and the reimbursement ranges from $750 to $25,000 per employee, with an average of $5,000. For 12% of employers in the survey, the maximum financial reimbursement includes an average of an additional $1,900 for special-needs adoptions. Paid leave is offered by 48% of employers on the list, at an average of five weeks.

Some companies provide unpaid leave beyond what’s required by the Family Leave and Medical Act. It varies widely from one week to three years and is often handled on a case-by-case basis, according to the foundation. At about 58% of employers in the foundation’s survey, adoption benefits are granted to full- and part-time employees. Companies are split evenly on whether to allow participation immediately upon hire, within the first year of employment or after one year.

The foundation offers a free toolkit to help employers implement adoption benefits. Mitchell advises pros to arrange adoption benefits to be on par with the benefits that their company offers to birth parents. Also, she suggests, “Develop a program that aligns with your company values and is consistent with your benefits philosophy.”

Jerilyn Medrea, head of global talent engagement at Liquidnet (ranked No. 3 on the list), sums up why her company offers adoption benefits: “The short answer is we are committed to our employees and their families, regardless of how they evolve. Our adoption assistance program is one example of this commitment. The broader answer is a big part of our culture.”

Grateful employees

The cost to adopt a child can range anywhere from zero (for a public adoption of a child from a local foster care system) to more than $35,000 (for a private international adoption requiring several trips abroad). Adoption costs include application fees and services provided by an adoption agency, such as a home study, medical services for the birth mother, legal services, document preparation, advertising and post-placement supervision.

Wendy’s offers its workers a generous maximum of $24,300 in adoption assistance and up to six weeks of paid adoption leave. Brenda Overturf, a capital control coordinator for Wendy’s, adopted brother and sister, Regina and Jimmy, from Ohio’s foster care system in 2003. “Adopting from foster care was actually very affordable, but the need for time off was crucial.

Wendy’s adoption leave allowed me to have the time I needed to bond with my children, who were nine and 10 years old, to help them adjust to their new environment and to prepare for their new school. I couldn’t have done it without those benefits,” she says. Kevin Kidney, a firmware engineer at LSI Corp. (No. 3), adopted his daughter, Lauren, from China. “Our decision to adopt a little girl could have been met with many obstacles. Instead, we were fortunate to have received encouragement, support and assistance in all aspects of our lives,” he says.

“The adoption process is not for the faint of heart. There is an amazing amount of work, paperwork, stress and financial obligation associated with the process. In a time where the costs associated with adoption make it unattainable for many, it is truly a blessing to have the financial and moral support from one’s employer. Adopting our little girl was one of the greatest experiences of our lives, and we appreciate the help and compassion that LSI provided.” Ed Storrs, project manager for Bowen Engineering (No. 7), says, “Having experienced the process of adopting a child myself, I had the pleasure of leading the steering committee that brought this benefit to Bowen Engineering. I know that our adoption policy will allow more people to achieve their dreams of becoming adoptive parents. Beyond the financial assistance that this benefit provides, excellent counseling is also provided, allowing prospective adoptive parents to fully understand the adoption process. Prior to Bowen including this benefit, we had accepted that we would only be able to go through the adoption process once. Now we have the option to experience it again.”

Likewise, Charles Wallace, a consultant at First Horizon National Corp. (No. 63), adopted two children, now ages three and five, and is fostering an infant with the hopes of adopting her soon. He also has three biological children over the age of 25. “Anything [employers] can do, no matter how little or how much, will be appreciated,” he asserts. “There are so many children out there who need a home.”

Source: Employee Benefit News, May 1, 2009

Will the recession contribute to the erosion of life coverage?

Experts everywhere are gazing into their crystal balls trying to divine exactly when and how severely the economic malaise will impact their business.

Some industry brains say that the voluntary market, which has experienced significant annual growth over the last few years, will continue to grow — just at a slower pace. Others add that it is precisely the current economic turmoil that will fuel some of that growth.

Going product by product, the board of advisors of the Workplace Benefits Association recently outlined the rationale for continued voluntary benefit sales success despite increasing economic insecurity. First up for them is life, which they say may get more attention as people who have suffered significant estate losses realize there won’t be time to let the market make up that money.

They will need to increase life coverage to help cover the loss. What they may have been able to self-fund in the event of a breadwinner’s death is much less now than when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was north of 10,000.

Other market-watchers are decidedly more bearish.

LIMRA is paying careful attention to the life insurance markets as the recession takes hold, deepens and widens. In spring 2008, their membership started itching for good intelligence on how consumers were looking at the industry. The group set about finding out, albeit well before the economic catastrophe of Q4 2008.

“During the last recession, the number of groups declined significantly,” LIMRA’s Jennifer Douglas says.
Her colleague, Anita Potter, says it’s liable to be worse this time around.

“It’s going to be different during this one. You didn’t have as many layoffs as we’re seeing now,” Potter says.
Some group life programs are portable — no job doesn’t have to mean no policy. But LIMRA’s experts say that fact won’t do much to mitigate the impact on brokers and advisers who sell these programs for two reasons.

“A lot of contracts do have a portability feature ... [but] even if it’s on the contract, the HR staff may not know about it, a lot of the employees may not know about it,” Potter says.

And that’s just the half of it. Both Potter and Douglas wonder how well life insurance competes for dwindling household dollars in the broader benefits equation, as American families struggle with income losses and wage freezes.

Times have changed

Potter suggests looking at life insurance from two perspectives to get a sense of how its relevance has potentially diminished.

First, view the product with a 1950s mindset. Back then, the family usually had one breadwinner. Medical technology wasn’t anywhere near its current level. If you had a heart attack or got cancer you likely died, she says. That’s not today’s mindset, Potter continues.

“People probably feel more like that maybe they will become disabled or retire before they die. So do they need term life insurance if they have their partner also working and bringing in income?” Potter says.
LIMRA’s own research shows that consumers still admit to a need for the product, but their consumption patterns show they don’t buy it like they have in the past.

The group’s research shows that since the 1980s individual life coverage has declined. What has not declined, though, is the individual’s willingness to say life insurance is important. Douglas says when LIMRA surveys consumers on financial security they still say life insurance is an important concern. “That’s still very important. They still realize it. The flipside is that they are not doing anything about it,” she says.

Marc Warrington, senior VP of sales for Assurant Employee Benefits, wholeheartedly agrees.
“I do agree with them that as households have changed and demographics have changed, their needs have changed. It’s just a matter of access,” Warrington says. He understands why the number of life insurance policies has dropped significantly over the past two decades, yet aggregate premiums have grown considerably. Everyone in the industry is whale hunting, which he says is a problem.

“Who is accessing those people that aren’t making the $250,000 and above?” Warrington wonders.

Warrington is disappointed with the approach his industry takes to life sales. There is a lot of talk about stats and statistics and other actuarial data, but there is little talk of value.

“Why would you buy it in the first place? We get away from that,” he says. He also chafes at the commoditization of the products and incremental pricing wars — “We run right to the price category and say, ‘Hey, mine is two cents cheaper than theirs.’”

He also says that the small premium numbers may work in the benefit’s favor as families continue to struggle to pay bills.

Reprioritizing

Greystone Benefits’ Joe Vogt says the small-dollar defense doesn’t hold up in areas experiencing the most economic pain.

The medical renewals have been merciless on companies for a long time, and much of that burden has been shifted to the worker. Those workers aren’t reaching deeper into their pockets for voluntary life or other worksite offerings like they used to, even if they only cost a few dollars a month.

Source: Employee Benefit News, May 1, 2009

Tips for effective communication when reneging on employee rewards

Source: Employee Benefit News, March 25, 2009

Ninety-six percent of full-time, U.S. workers say it will be equally or more important to find a better work-life balance in 2009, according to a new survey from FedEx Office.

Age is an important factor in the pursuit of work-life balance. As age increased, respondents were less likely to seek better work-life balance, possibly indicating that an acceptable level of balance has already been reached in older age groups.

To achieve their goal of better balance, 49% of full-time U.S. workers plan to take advantage of all their vacation time, while 41% plan to leave work at a reasonable hour, and 36% plan to take lunch breaks on a consistent basis.

Another 29% plan to avoid doing work at home or during off-hours, while 24% will consider starting their work day earlier in the morning, and 21% plan to take advantage of flex-time options, the survey found.

Despite the recession and rising unemployment rate, 11% of full-time U.S. workers plan to find a better job, change jobs or change work locations as a way to find better work-life balance in 2009.

Related coverage:

• Finances running low, stress running high: Employee stress levels rising as economy declines, surveys show 
• Cheering a jobless friend at no cost 
• Forecasting the future of workplace flexibility.

Source: Employee Benefit News, January 13, 2009

Neck Push 

Many people suffer from neck stiffness arid soreness, and its no wonder your neck has the difficult burden of carrying your bead around, and it never gets a break except when you lay down. This neck push can be done sitting or standing and helps strengthen your neck muscles, which in turn will help alleviate some of the discomfort.

Keeping your head upright, hold the palm of one hand against your forehead, and press your head forward, resisting with your palm. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Now clasp your hands behind your head, and press your head backward, resisting with your hands. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Now hold your right hand against the side of your head, and press your head to the right, resisting with your hand. Again, hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Then repeat on left side.

Relax and Roll

Stress and anxiety often lead to an aching neck. Poor posture also plays a role. This stretch relieves tension in your neck and surrounding muscles.

Relax your shoulders and let your head roll forward, chin to chest. Slowly rotate your head in a circle without straining your neck. Repeat five times. Relax. Then rotate in the opposite direction and repeat five times. Try not to raise your shoulders as you do this exercise.

Source: http://uclivingwell.ucop.edu/deskercise/neck.html

This is the most delicious salad; plump and tender shrimp combines with fresh tomatoes, corn, black beans and a honey mustard salad dressing. Yum.

Ingredients:

• 1 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch slices 
• 1 banana, sliced, 1/4-inch slice 
• 12 green seedless grapes 
• 1 (10 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained, reserve juice 
• 1 red plum, cut in 1/2-inch wedges cut wedges in half 
• 1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda sugar substitute
• 1 lime

Preparation:

1. Prepare and mix all the fruit in a bowl. 
2. Measure 1/4 cup of the reserved Mandarin orange juice, squeeze in the juice of the lime (apprx 2 tbsp) & stir in the sugar (splenda). 
3. Pour over the fruit, refrigerate 1 hour or until well chilled.

Source: http://www.recipezaar.com/Simple-Fresh-Fruit-Salad-114593