Economies of the world, still reeling under the effects of recession, are witnessing con artists trying to trick people out of their hard-earned money by offering them fake plans such as fake health insuranceplans .

Before you buy any health insurance plan, it is highly imperative for you to ascertain authenticity of the plan. This is because a fake medical plan can exacerbate your financial problems.

From Foxbusiness.com:

Tips for avoiding health insurance scams

These scofflaws can be skillful and convincing; they try to reel you in by pretending to work for big, trusted insurance companies. Here’s how to protect yourself.

* Check the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud’s watchlist of health plans to avoid. Even if a company is not on the list, be wary.

* Get the Web site and phone number for any company you’re thinking of doing business with. Investigate the company.

* Get the list of providers who participate in a company’s plan and call them to ask if they’re really part of this plan; ask which of services are eligible for the discounts or coverage. Avoid any company that won’t give you a provider list.

* Read the entire policy, including the fine print, along with a trusted friend or family member. (You should be able to get your enrollment fee refunded if you cancel within 30 days.) Avoid any company that won’t give you a copy of the policy they’re selling.

* Do not respond to plans offered through faxes from strangers, e-mails, telemarketers or door-to-door salespeople.

* Call your state’s insurance department to check the license of every company and insurance agent you deal with. Investigate them also through your state’s consumer protection office and attorney general’s office.

* Get salespeople to explain all costs, including enrollment fees, monthly charges, deductibles, coverage maximums and any other expenses. Calculate exactly how a plan would affect your out-of-pocket costs so you don’t end up spending more than you save.

* Don’t buy anything you don’t understand. Avoid aggressive sales people or those who make you feel dumb.

* Beware of “guaranteed coverage,” or promises of a specified percentage of savings (”30% off!”) and of pressure to close a deal fast because “time is running out!”

* Be suspicious of large upfront costs. Compare costs among several health insurance plans. Genuine health insurance, unfortunately, is expensive, says Quiggle. If you’re offered something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Remember, it is better to buy a genuine health insurance at a slightly higher price than opting for a fake, cheap insurance plan.

A tailored diet and fitness programs should be followed to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

It is never too late to adapt a new and a healthy lifestyle. You can start practicing from the day you realize that you are not any more a fit and a healthy person. Look to activities such as exercise, aerobics, swimming, jogging, yoga and other physical activities in your daily routine and see the difference. The more you are active, higher is your metabolism rate and higher number of calories you burn. You see much happier days with the gaining health every day.

Exercise has lots of benefit-Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, Improve joint stability, it increases and improve range of movement, it helps maintain flexibility as you age, it also maintains bone mass, prevents osteoporosis and fractures, improves mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, Enhances self esteem, improve memory in elderly people, reduces stress. Along with the physical health part, you really should try including a diet rich in protein and fiber.  Making small changes to the diet plan you have daily can show drastic changes. Adding salads, green leafy veggies in the diet is very important. Switching to low fat diet or fat tree diary is essential.

Including an exercise plan in your daily routine increases longevity and provides a disease

According to two new studies, deficiency of Vitamin D is common in patients with a variety of rheumatic diseases.

Dr. L. Idolazzi, of the Rheumatology Unit, University of Verona, Italy, said that patients with a wide range of rheumatic diseases usually experience deficiency of vitamin D, a fact that was disclosed after making use of several clinically accepted measures of disease activity.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

A further study assessing response to vitamin D supplementation found that taking the recommended daily dose did not normalise vitamin D levels in rheumatic disease patients.

“We have seen in studies that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with a range of rheumatic diseases, and our results have confirmed this using several clinically accepted measures of disease activity,” said Dr. L. Idolazzi, of the Rheumatology Unit, University of Verona, Italy.

“What we need to see now is a range of long term studies, which examine the clinical response of patients to vitamin D supplementation,” Idolazzi added.

Results of the three studies were presented recently at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.

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