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Waiting periods
The length of time
an individual must wait to become eligible for benefits for a specific condition
after overall coverage has begun.
Waiver
Approval that the
Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA, the federal agency that administers
the Medicaid program) may grant to state Medicaid programs to exempt them from specific
aspects of Title XIX, the federal Medicaid law. Most federal waivers involve loss
of freedom of choice regarding which providers beneficiaries may use, exemption
from requirements that all Medicaid programs be operated throughout an entire state,
or exemption from requirements that any benefit must be available to all classes
of beneficiaries (which enables states to experiment with programs only available
to special populations).
Wellness
A dynamic state of
physical, mental, and social well-being; a way of life which equips the individual
to realize the full potential of his/her capabilities and to overcome and compensate
for weaknesses; a lifestyle which recognizes the importance of nutrition, physical
fitness, stress reduction, and self-responsibility. Wellness has been viewed as
the result of four key factors over which an individual has varying degrees of control:
human biology, environment, health care organization and lifestyle. Preventive medicine
associated with lifestyle and preventive care that can reduce health- care utilization
and costs. "Wellness" programs became popular with the advent of managed care in
the 1980s, with the philosophy and business idea that health plans needed to emphasize
keeping their beneficiaries well. However, there has been a drop off in these programs
in the 1990s as health plans recognize the difficulty in assessing efficacy and
they found that subscribers tend to change plans regularly, thus reducing benefit
of keeping one population "well".
Workers' compensation
A state-mandated program
providing insurance coverage for work-related injuries and disabilities. Several
states have either enacted or are considering changes to the Workers Compensation
Laws to allow employers to cover occupational injuries and illnesses within their
own existing group medical plans. See also Occupational Health.
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