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In North Carolina a teenager has officially dropped out of school to become a professional Guitar Hero player. Not an actual guitar player but a Guitar Hero player. In case you have been frozen in ice, or trapped in a fall out bunker or any other generic Brendan Fraser style plot for the last 50 years and you do not know what Guitar Hero is then I will endeavour to unveil the cultural phenomenon that has been sweeping the world.

Guitar Hero is a game that simulates playing the guitar by having a plastic model of a guitar as a controller. The game itself is a series of songs which are represented by what they call a Musical Staff modelled on the neck of a guitar down which fly different coloured blobs which hit a line and explode indicating that the player must hit the corresponding colour on the Fisher Price style plastic guitar. The art is to flick the strumming button at the same time as the coloured buttons are activated, in synchronisation with the coloured blobs on television.

This is all done to an array of classic guitar tracks and although I have massively oversimplified it, as it is quite difficult, that is literally all there is to do. The simplicity might go some way to explain the massive popularity of the game which has created a sub culture consisting of young and old, crossing the class boundaries and uniting want-to-be musicians in their rock and roll simulating fantasies. The burning question is, can this lead to actual guitar playing ability?

The answer is a definitive no from basically anybody who has any musical ability or knowledge, however there are some diehard guitar hero loyalists who insist that their abilities are transferable. Looking into the concept a bit further and we can see that there are some skills that could potentially be transferable. The act of site reading in music is similar to that when playing guitar hero, as you need to see a certain symbol and transfer it into a movement.

The art of reading ahead in music is a valuable on and this is also important when playing guitar hero however this is generally where the similarities end. What people forget is that as opposed to six coloured buttons there would need to be approximately 140 for it to naturally replicate a real guitar and in real musical sight reading, the years of theory that it took to get to that position are squeezed into a couple of hours of intensive practice on Guitar Hero.

All being said there must be something in the cultural phenomenon, even if it is just people with no musical ability living out their repressed ambitions of rock stardom. The global obsession has gone so far that there are actually professional Guitar Hero players! This is absolutely astonishing and as previously mentioned there is a young man in North Carolina that is 16 and has just quit school, with his parents consent to pursue his dream of becoming a professional Guitar Hero player. The saga continues.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert on guitar hero and contributes to trade publications on the subject.

If you have you been rated up or declined for health insurance it's probably because you have a pre-existing condition.

Thousands of uninsured, underinsured and uninsurable individuals are facing serious health issues like heart disease, heart attack, diabetes, cancer, stroke, liver disease, AIDS, pregnancy, depression and kidney disease. Any of these pre existing conditions can cause them to be declined for health coverage. Today, you may even be declined if you are over-weight.

It's a real challenge obtaining health insurance for someone with pre existing conditions. However, before we get ahead of ourselves, here are some questions we need to address.

What is a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing condition is any injury or sickness for which diagnosis has been made, treatment has been recommended, treatment has been rendered, or expenses have been incurred within a set amount of months prior to the effective date of coverage (usually 3, 6 or 12 months and this can vary by state). It includes any condition manifesting itself in symptoms which would cause a prudent person to seek medical advice.

What is a pre-existing condition exclusion period?

Insurance companies try to discourage people from waiting until they get sick to purchase medical insurance. This is accomplished by imposing what is known as a preexisting condition exclusion period. This simply means, if you have a medical problem which exists at the time you purchase insurance, the insurer will deny the claims pertaining to that medical problem for a certain period of time.

The rules governing preexisting condition exclusion periods in individual health policies vary widely from state to state and are very much different from the rules of an employer-sponsored plan. If you have or recently have had health coverage, you may be able to apply this creditable coverage to offset a preexisting condition exclusion period.

Why all the hoopla over a pre-existing condition?

The biggest stumbling block with private individual medical insurance is the problem with preexisting conditions. Plain and simple... insurance companies don't like preexisting conditions. They know in the long run... it will cost them more money to insure you. Frankly, insurers prefer to insure people who are not very likely to need the insurance.

But stop and think! Who doesn't have some kind of health or medical issue? It may be something as simple as asthma or as complex as cancer. Some pre-existing conditions can be managed and these individuals can live a relatively healthy and normal life.
Yet, insurers can and do turn down "high risks" individuals for coverage because of an existing or previous illness. Even if coverage is found, the premiums charged are often unaffordable. Sometimes the individual may end up with a modified policy paying more because of their medical history or having to take a policy that excludes their pre existing conditions.

Are there things I can do to get healthcare coverage?

Here are some choices for obtaining health coverage. See if any apply to your situation.

(1). Employer-sponsored group health plan

(2). Join a professional organization (e.g. Chamber of Commerce)

(3). Individual health insurance

(4). State risk pool (if one exist in your state)

(5). Discount health cards

(6). Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance

Whether covered by insurance or by some other means, the total cost of health insurance for someone with pre existing conditions is high enough to dramatically impact that person's lifestyle.

Today it is important for all of us to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, if you already have a preexisting condition that is keeping you from getting affordable health coverage, you should investigate the 6 options listed above to see which would work best for you.

Rudy Wilson is an avid proponent of affordable health insurance and a researcher of guaranteed acceptance health insurance plans. To learn about the guaranteed acceptance health insurance plan that Rudy recommends after extensive research, visit http://www.UninsurableHealthSolution.com now.