While the benefit is extremely rare in the private sector, where use-it-or-lose-it policies prevail, state and local government workers around the country can convert unused sick time into straight cash, retirement credits or use them to pay for health care when they retire.

Say you've had a heart attack and your insurer offered you free medicines to help prevent another one. Doctors did that in a major study and were stunned to find that only about half of patients took them.

According to the IRS, what, if any, is the limit on the amount of money you or your employer can contribute to a flexible spending account in 2012?

The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear arguments next March over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul a case that could shake the political landscape just as voters are about to decide if Obama deserves another term.