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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 31 December 2012

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The new year is expected to arrive with frosty temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecast for the coming week includes patchy nighttime and early morning frosts, with light winds and highs in the mid 50s.

Monday is forecast to have winds up to 15 miles per hour with mostly sunny conditions and daytime highs up to 56 degrees, with lows down to 26 degrees, according to the forecast.

Similar frost and temperature conditions are expected on New Year’s Day and night, as well as on Wednesday. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 30s on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, the forecast calls for mostly cloudy conditions with a chance of rain during the day and evening. Daytime highs will range up to 53, with nighttime lows down to 32 degrees.

Cloud conditions and chances of rain also are predicted from Friday through next Sunday, with daytime temperatures in the mid 50s and nighttime lows down to 32 degrees.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 31 December 2012

Average premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance plans rose 62 percent between 2003 and 2011, from $9,249 to $15,022 per year, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

The report, which tracks state trends in employer health insurance coverage, finds that health insurance costs rose far faster than incomes in all states.

Workers are also paying more out-of-pocket as employee payments for their share of health insurance premiums rose by 74 percent on average and deductibles more than doubled, up 117 percent between 2003 and 2011.

The report, State Trends in Premiums and Deductibles, 2003-2011: Eroding Protection and Rising Costs Underscore Need for Action, finds that total health insurance premiums now amount to 20 percent or more of annual median family incomes in 35 states, affecting 80 percent of the U.S. working-age population.

States in the South and South-Central U.S. had the highest costs relative to household income – in West Virginia, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas, average total health insurance premiums amounted to more than 25 percent of median incomes.

“Wherever you live in the United States, health insurance is expensive, and for many middle- as well as low-income families it is becoming ever less affordable,” said Commonwealth Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen, lead author of the report. “Workers are paying more for less financial protection when they get sick. The steady increase in health care costs over the past decade underscores the urgent need to build on the groundwork laid by the Affordable Care Act to slow the growth in private insurance costs.”

In 2011, average annual premiums for family plans ranged from about $12,400 to $13,500 in the lowest-cost states (Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa, Tennessee, Idaho, Mississippi, Utah, and North Dakota), to more than $15,000 a year in 21 states.

Premiums averaged from $16,000 to nearly $17,000 in Delaware, Alaska, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, which have the highest average family premiums.

Paying more for less

Premiums rose far faster than incomes across the country from 2003 to 2011. While average family premiums jumped 62 percent during that time, median family income rose just about 11 percent.

The increase in premiums ranged from 42 percent in the lowest-growth state, Tennessee, to 76 percent in the highest-growth state, New York. Twenty-seven states had increases of 60 percent or more.

The report finds that deductibles and employees’ premium shares grew, leaving employees with more out-of-pocket expenses and less protective health insurance benefits.

The average annual amount an employee paid toward a family health insurance plan rose from $2,283 in 2003 to $3,962 in 2011 – a 74 percent increase.

Looking state-by-state, employee contributions ranged from about $3,300 in Indiana, Hawaii, West Virginia, Ohio, and Wisconsin, to more than $4,600 in Arizona, South Carolina, New Mexico, Colorado, and Mississippi.

Deductibles more than doubled from 2003 to 2011, increasing an average of 117 percent per person during the eight years the report studied.

In 2011, 78 percent of workers faced deductibles, up from 52 percent in 2003. In 2011 average deductibles exceeded $1,000 in 35 states, compared to none in 2003. Deductibles have been rising for employees working for large as well as small firms.

However, workers in small firms with fewer than 50 employees typically face higher deductibles than those working for larger firms.

Deductibles in small firms were highest in North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont, exceeding $2,200 per person.

Future trends: Affordable Care Act provides platform for further action

If historical trends continue, family premiums will reach $24,740 by 2020, an increase of 65 percent from 2011.

The analysis also shows that slowing the rate even modestly would make a significant difference for families and businesses.

For example, reducing the annual growth rate by one percentage point would lead to $2,029 in savings for families by 2020. Slowing annual cost growth by 1.5 percent would yield savings of $2,986 per family.

The report’s authors note that the Affordable Care Act lays the groundwork for lowering cost growth and improving and expanding insurance coverage. The law’s provisions put pressure on private insurance plans to lower their overhead and focus on the underlying costs of health care, setting standards for how much of each premium dollar must go to health care, as opposed to administrative costs, with insurers who don’t meet the new standard paying rebates to policyholders.

Other reforms provide private insurers with a platform for further cost-reduction efforts. The authors conclude, however, that more will need to be done to confront the forces driving up the cost of care in private insurance markets.

“The Affordable Care Act has put the United States on a path toward a high performing health care system, where everyone has access to high-quality, affordable, and secure health care,” said Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis. “As we implement the law’s reforms, it will be crucial to stabilize cost growth by holding care systems and private insurers accountable for better outcomes and lower costs.”

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Written by: Linda Drake

Published: 30 December 2012

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The year 2012 was a very busy one at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum.

Docents greeted visitors each weekend day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The docent pool continued to grow and now includes people of many diverse talents. We have woodworkers, seamstresses, floral arrangers, bakers, computer geeks, historians and barn builders, to name just a few. Displays change as new acquisitions are received.

In April, Congressman Mike Thompson visited the museum as part of his Lake County tour. He saw firsthand how all involved with the museum have contributed to preserving a part of Lake County history.

Fulfilling a promise made during that visit he returned to the museum on Oct. 15 to present a United Sates flag that was flown over the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The museum has become a destination for social and educational events.

On separate Saturdays in May the museum welcomed the Lake County Model A Club and a science and museum camp put on by the Lake County Children’s Museum of Art and Science.

In June the Lake County Historical Society held its annual picnic on the grounds giving members and guests a special opportunity to learn about the county’s colorful history of highwaymen as well as history of the Ely Stage Stop itself.

At the 2011 Lake County Wine Alliance Auction, a Wildhurst Winemaker Dinner using the stage stop as its setting was purchased as a silent auction item. That dinner was held at the Stage Stop on July 22 and proved a huge success.

Partnering with the community took hold this year in three forms. One was with the Clear Lake Trowel & Trellis Garden Club as they took the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum on as one of their newest civic beautification projects.

Phase one has been completed with the construction, installation and planting of four beautiful planter boxes just off the museum porch. This project will benefit the community for many generations.

A second partnering was with this year’s 20th Anniversary of the Kelseyville Pear Festival inside the Pear Pavilion. The museum’s authentic stagecoach was on display and docents were available during the day to answer questions about the stage stop and museum facilities and plans for the future.

The third partnering was with Wildhurst Vineyards as a Fall Farm to Table Winemaker Dinner was presented on Oct. 20 as a benefit for the stage coach which was on display for the diners.

And let’s not forget our latest news – our long-awaited barn raising has begun.

Over the weekends since Aug. 18, weather permitting, volunteers have met at the museum site to begin the first display barn.

The 2,000-square-foot barn will house many of the Lake County Historical Society’s artifacts. The Carpenter’s Star quilt patch, donated anonymously through the Lake County Quilt Trail Project, will grace the side of the completed barn.

Come share the excitement as 2013 beings.

The museum is located at 9921 Soda Bay Road (Highway 281) in Kelseyville near the Clear Lake Riviera.

Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

Linda Drake is a docent at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville, Calif.