Rescue Your Recipe: Easy Ingredient Swaps

A woman looks into a refrigerator
Now that I’m spending most of my time at home, I am cooking more than usual. This gives me the perfect opportunity to try out all those recipes that I’ve been saving on my computer. While I’ve been able to create quite a few culinary masterpieces, I’ve also had a couple recipes almost derailed by one missing ingredient....
Read More

Mental Health Month: Stress Management for Your Overall Health

If you let your stress go unmanaged, you could be putting your health at risk.
As we go from adolescent to adult, it’s typical for our responsibilities to grow over time. It starts with being on time for school and doing homework and evolves to a line-up that includes bills, jobs, significant others, home ownership, debt, kids, and more. Before you know it, you’re full-blown adulting. And, if you’re like me,...
Read More

How the COVID-19 Outbreak Made Independence Member Robert Heiler a Believer in Telemedicine

An older man uses telemedicine from his laptop
Technology has made our lives simpler, faster, and better in more ways than we can count. But having grown up in a generation where the most techie thing I owned was a transistor radio, I’ve been admittedly slow to embrace the electronic world in which we live. I finally converted to a smart phone last year,...
Read More

Top 3 Ways to Add Well-being to Your Workday

A young man stretches at the desk in his home office
Sitting at a desk all day can take a toll on your mind, body, and spirit. Consider these three things you can do while you work to protect your health and well-being.

Stand Up for Yourself (Literally!)

It’s been said that that sitting is the new smoking. Don’t believe it? Google it! Even if you’re physically active outside of work,...
Read More

How to Stay Physically and Mentally Active at Home

A woman stretches in her home, as a dog watches
Let’s just get it out in the open: it’s not easy staying home right now. It’s spring and we’ve had some beautiful days. We want to enjoy lunchtime walks, the start of baseball season, hockey and basketball playoffs, weddings, graduations, spring musicals, and socializing with family and friends. Instead, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the best course of action we can take right now is to stay home....
Read More

Don’t Be Fooled: 6 “Health Foods” That Are Really Junk Foods in Disguise

A woman checks the label on an item at the supermarket
We are lucky to live during a time when there’s an abundance of information available about the food we eat. The tricky thing is, sometimes there’s almost too much information available, so it can be hard to decide what’s healthy and what isn’t. You’ll see dozens of products in the grocery store aisles that lead you to believe they’re healthy....
Read More

Talking to Kids About COVID-19

A little girl draws in a coloring book
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a life-changing experience for everyone. And while we are all learning as we go, children and young adults need extra help understanding and adapting to the changes happening around them. Understandably, each child responds to change differently. Their age, personality, and life experiences affect this response. The one thing all children have in common,...
Read More

Broad Street Beats 2020: Dancing Through the Decades

A young runner adjusts the phone strapped to her arm
Last year, we released our first Blue Cross Broad Street Run Beats playlist compiled by the running community. We loved your responses so much, we decided to ask you again. What songs push you forward and keep you going?  The energizing, feel-good playlist we put together based on your responses will get your feet moving and your heart pumping!...
Read More

Get Care from Home with Telemedicine

A mother feels her son's forehead while consulting with a doctor via telemedicine
Independence Blue Cross has offered telemedicine benefits to our health plan members for years. It gives members convenient, 24/7 access to a doctor by phone or video chat for non-emergency medical conditions. Without telemedicine, your only care option might have been urgent care or the ER if you were out of town, couldn’t get an appointment,...
Read More

Handwashing: The Secret to Good Health

An adult and kid wash their hands.
The easiest way to protect yourself against illness? Handwashing. It seems too simple to be true, but a mere 20-30 seconds of proper handwashing, following the CDC’s handwashing guidelines, is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of germs and disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 80 percent of infectious diseases are transmitted by dirty hands....
Read More