In this current climate of funding cuts and continued threats to the Affordable Care Act, your healthcare coverage through your Benefit Fund has never been more valuable and more important, particularly for those with chronic conditions for whom access to care is critical. In fact, a third of our members suffer from hypertension. In this issue, our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Van H. Dunn, discusses the risk factors and explains what you can do to prevent the condition–or control it if you have it.

And because diabetes is a risk factor for hypertension, we include information about our upcoming “Diabetes Prevention and Management” workshop on July 21. If you are at risk, have been identified as pre-diabetic, have diabetes or would like to learn more about what you can do to prevent it, we hope you take advantage of this resource.

A workshop helped change the life of Vernice Mitchell, a Cardiac Technologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Vernice shares her story of how she used what she learned at one of the Benefit Fund’s wellness workshops to change her nutrition and fitness habits and improve her health.