Green Smoothie Challenge

Today on the Morning Show the topic was health. It went from exercise to wellness to making livable communities to green smoothies.

Geri stopped by and talked about her 40 day Green Smoothie Challenge - along with Jamie ... the most hard core green smoothie drinker around!

What's in a green smoothie you ask? ANYTHING you like. I made one today that had swiss chard, carrot tops, raspberries, banana and yogurt in it. Packed full of vitamins and nutrients. Plus I had to trudge to the garden for most of the ingredients (the banana tree is not in bloom yet) so I got some exercise to boot.

Here's a green smoothie recipe to try from Geri's blog:

1 cup spring salad mix
1 cup green tea
3 very ripe peaches
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup ground pecans
2 cups pure juice (I made this in my juicer: 2 apples, 2 pears, 2 kiwi)

If you do not have a juicer, any 100% juice is a good choice.

What Does Health Insurance Cost?

So, what would it cost for a 25 year old person to get health insurance in Minnesota?

Well, that kinda depends on what you are willing to accept as a deductible. For example, this 25 year old living in Grand Rapids could get coverage from Blue Cross for $60/month. But, that comes with a FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLAR ($15,000) annual deductible. Bring that deductible down to $5,000 and the monthly cost is about $120 (source: eSurance).

The cost of insurance is higher for a 50 year old. The same policies would cost about $123 for a policy featuring a $15,000 deductible, and about $250/month with a $5,000 deductible.

Remember, that deductive means that you also pay 100% of your annual health care costs up to the deductible amount.

Chad Haatvedt gave us permission to post his health insurance cost from his benefit package as a State of Minnesota employee. Family coverage costs about $650/month. This includes a employee contribution of $65 and the State pays about $590 of the cost.

What do you pay for health insurance? How is your coverage. Let us know.