The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of Californians get health insurance, but an estimated 4 million are likely to remain uninsured when the law is fully implemented in 2019, according to a new report by The Greenlining Institute. While a significant portion of the uninsured immigrated illegally, many did not. Some still can’t afford insurance. Others have experienced temporary loss of insurance due to unforeseen life events, knowingly decided not to buy insurance or haven't signed up…
Reported by bizjournals 8 hours ago.
California's health-care safety net under stress, new report says
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Blue Shield Multi-Million $$ Skybox Underscores Public Concern About Excessive Health Insurance Rates; Consumer Watchdog Calls On Attorney General To Investigate Blue Shield Non-Profit Status Until Prop 45 Offers More Protections
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to news of Blue Shield's new $2.5 - $8 million luxury skybox at the 49ers' new stadium, Consumer Watchdog sent a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris asking for an investigation of "Blue...
Reported by PR Newswire 8 hours ago.
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Insurance Companies Give $45 Million To Fight Proposition 46; Rake In Profits As New Ads Threaten Doctors and Patients With Price Hikes, Says Consumer Watchdog Campaign
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medical malpractice and health insurance companies have given $45 million, or 77%, of the $58 million to the campaign against Proposition 46 as they rake in profits at the expense of doctor and patient policyholders, said...
Reported by PR Newswire 8 hours ago.
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Time to Put Policy Over Politics
In August 2012, President Obama extended the policy of deferred action (known as DACA) and provided temporary relief from deportation and made available work permits for certain undocumented children and young adults. For many, this has been nothing short of life-changing.DACA children and young adults, also known as DREAMers, epitomize the hopes and aspirations of our young generation. They are driven and many, of those who are eligible to do so, work. Most have strong English skills because they have spent their lives in the U.S. and, because gaining a quality education is a prerequisite for the program, they are whip smart and hungry to learn. More than 40 percent have graduated high school and more than 20 percent are enrolled in higher education. They are our future doctors, teachers and job creators.What they do not have, however, is the same commitment we make to the rest of the children in this nation - access to routine quality health care. Since 1997, federal and state policy makers have teamed up and dramatically improved insurance rates amongst children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, and more affordable private coverage options through the Affordable Care Act. Insurance coverage among children is now just about 93 percent -- not perfect, but leaps from where we started.For decades, we as a nation have recognized the crucial need for health care in the early years. That is why we offer no-cost immunizations, have robust protections for kids insured by CHIP and Medicaid, and prioritize children's health. Uninsured kids are less likely to have a usual source of care and, like their adult counterparts, are more likely to have unmet medical needs. An adult may be able to put off a trip to the doctor, but a child in grade school or a teen just starting college would do so with potentially more harsh consequences.In the wake of Congress' failure to advance meaningful immigration reform, it has become crystal clear that Congress will not act in any way that matters. One thing that can be fixed now with a swipe of the pen is the regulation impacting DREAMers, preventing them from accessing health care. Most of these children and young adults have always called America home and yet their futures are stymied by our complex laws.During the last two years, more than half of the 1.2 million youth who qualify for DACA have applied. They come largely from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Korea and Honduras. An estimated 33,000 children and young adults from Korea, 15,000 from the Philippines and 12,000 from China are eligible for relief.While the administration took a pivotal step in extending temporary relief from deportation, it did so with limits that disadvantage these aspiring citizens. DACA kids and young adults are excluded from the same health care options other similar classes of immigrants qualify for. They are locked out of the Affordable Care Act, even if they purchase coverage at full price, and barred from federal CHIP and Medicaid.As a result, DACA kids must navigate a patchwork of coverage options: state-funded programs, if they are lucky enough to live in states that have them; emergency care; coverage on the open market that is simply cost-prohibitive for most; or already cash strapped safety-net clinics.And because DACA recipients are young and tend to be healthier, excluding them from the Marketplace knocks out a key population that could help spread actuarial risk and lower costs for everyone, a key concern heading into the second enrollment period this November.
As the president contemplates executive action in the wake of Congress' inaction, he would do right to bring DACA kids in line with other immigrants granted similar reprieve and allow them access to the same health programs. It's the right policy now and an investment in everyone's future. Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.
As the president contemplates executive action in the wake of Congress' inaction, he would do right to bring DACA kids in line with other immigrants granted similar reprieve and allow them access to the same health programs. It's the right policy now and an investment in everyone's future. Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.
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Anthem Blue Cross sued again over narrow-network health plans
Health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross faces another lawsuit over switching consumers to narrow-network health plans — with limited selections of doctors — during the rollout of Obamacare.
Reported by L.A. Times 4 hours ago.
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Governor Herbert and Rep Bishop team up to host town hall meetings
Ogden, Utah (ABC 4 Utah)- Utahns have questions and Tuesday night they took them all the way to the top.
One by one people fired off questions and suggestions at Governor Gary Herbert and Representative Rob Bishop.
The two teamed up to host a town hall meeting on the campus of Weber State University.
Terry Schow is concerned about veterans. He wants to see a vet center built in Ogden and says the vet clinic is too small.
"Worked with the state veteran’s office for a few years and now I work on the national level with the American Legion, so I care about the veterans. They are humble and modest people and I'm proud to advocate for them," said Schow.
Warren Hill doesn’t think it’s right that an estimated 77,000 people in our state are going without health insurance while lawmakers negotiate the best way to expand Medicaid.
"To me that's a compassion issue as much as anything. In a country as rich as the United States I firmly believe that everybody should have access to medical care," said Hill.
Participants used up every last minute. The discussion also included education, public lands, air quality and mental health.
"We as elected officials need to spend less time talking and more time listening," said Governor Herbert.
Taking it a step further the governor says this type of public dialogue can lead to action.
"We ought to, when we develop policy represent the will of the people. Now, it doesn't make everybody happy, but there is a consensus out there, there's good principals and values talked about that will help us get it right."
SOME IN ATTENDANCE LIKED THE PERSONAL TOUCH.
"For the average person to come up here, talk directly to the governor or to a congressman I think is great," said Schow.
Other believe it could have been more productive.
"One hour for two leading officials is pretty inadequate. It would have been better to have one or the other for the hour," said Hill.
After the Ogden meeting the two traveled to Brigham City for another town hall meeting there.
The governor says we could see more of these town hall style meetings across the state. Reported by abc4 2 hours ago.
One by one people fired off questions and suggestions at Governor Gary Herbert and Representative Rob Bishop.
The two teamed up to host a town hall meeting on the campus of Weber State University.
Terry Schow is concerned about veterans. He wants to see a vet center built in Ogden and says the vet clinic is too small.
"Worked with the state veteran’s office for a few years and now I work on the national level with the American Legion, so I care about the veterans. They are humble and modest people and I'm proud to advocate for them," said Schow.
Warren Hill doesn’t think it’s right that an estimated 77,000 people in our state are going without health insurance while lawmakers negotiate the best way to expand Medicaid.
"To me that's a compassion issue as much as anything. In a country as rich as the United States I firmly believe that everybody should have access to medical care," said Hill.
Participants used up every last minute. The discussion also included education, public lands, air quality and mental health.
"We as elected officials need to spend less time talking and more time listening," said Governor Herbert.
Taking it a step further the governor says this type of public dialogue can lead to action.
"We ought to, when we develop policy represent the will of the people. Now, it doesn't make everybody happy, but there is a consensus out there, there's good principals and values talked about that will help us get it right."
SOME IN ATTENDANCE LIKED THE PERSONAL TOUCH.
"For the average person to come up here, talk directly to the governor or to a congressman I think is great," said Schow.
Other believe it could have been more productive.
"One hour for two leading officials is pretty inadequate. It would have been better to have one or the other for the hour," said Hill.
After the Ogden meeting the two traveled to Brigham City for another town hall meeting there.
The governor says we could see more of these town hall style meetings across the state. Reported by abc4 2 hours ago.
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30 Facts That Prove The American Middle-Class Is Being Destroyed
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,*The 30 statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class in America is being systematically destroyed. * Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a staggering pace. Yes, the stock market has soared to unprecedented heights this year and there are a few isolated areas of the country that are doing rather well for the moment. *But overall, the long-term trends that are eviscerating the middle class just continue to accelerate. *
Over the past decade or so, the percentage of Americans that are working has gone way down, the quality of our jobs has plummeted dramatically and the wealth of the typical American household has fallen precipitously. Meanwhile, we have watched median household income decline for five years in a row, we have watched the rate of homeownership in this country decline for eight years in a row and dependence on the government is at an all-time high. Being a part of the middle class in the United States at this point can be compared to playing a game of musical chairs. We can all see chairs being removed from the game, and we are all desperate to continue to have a chair every time the music stops playing. * The next time the music stops, will it be your chair that gets removed?*
And in this economy, you don't even have to lose your job to fall out of the middle class. Our paychecks are remaining very stable while the cost of almost everything that we spend money on consistently (food, gas, health insurance, etc.) is going up rapidly. Bloomberg calls this "the no-raises recovery"...
Call it the no-raises recovery: Five years of economic expansion have done almost nothing to boost paychecks for typical American workers while the rich have gotten richer.
Meager improvements since 2009 have barely kept up with a similarly tepid pace of inflation, raising the real value of compensation per hour by only 0.5 percent. That marks the weakest growth since World War II, with increases averaging 9.2 percent at a similar point in past expansions, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Bloomberg.
There are so many families out there that are struggling right now. So many husbands and wives find themselves constantly fighting with one another about money, and they don't even understand that what is happening to them is the result of long-term economic trends that are the result of decades of incredibly foolish decisions. Without middle class jobs, we cannot have a middle class. And those are precisely the jobs that have been destroyed during the Clinton, Bush and Obama years. Without enough good jobs to go around, we have seen the middle class steadily shrink and the ranks of the poor grow rapidly.
*The following are 30 stats to show to anyone that does not believe the middle class is being destroyed...*
*1.* In 2007, the average household in the top 5 percent had 16.5 times as much wealth as the average household overall. But now the average household in the top 5 percent has 24 times as much wealth as the average household overall.
*2.* According to a study recently discussed in the New York Times, the "typical American household" is now worth 36 percent less than it was worth a decade ago.
*3.* One out of every seven Americans rely on food banks at this point.
*4.* One out of every four military families needs help putting enough food on the table.
*5.* 79 percent of the people that use food banks purchase "inexpensive, unhealthy food just to have enough to feed their families".
*6.* One out of every three adults in the United States has an unpaid debt that is "in collections".
*7.* Only 48 percent of all Americans can immediately come up with $400 in emergency cash without borrowing it or selling something.
*8.* The price of food continues to rise much faster than the paychecks of most middle class families. For example, the average price of ground beef has just hit a brand new all-time record high of $3.884 a pound.
*9.* According to one recent study, 40 percent of all households in the United States are experiencing financial stress right now.
*10.* The overall homeownership rate has fallen to the lowest level since 1995.
*11.* The homeownership rate for Americans under the age of 35 is at an all-time low.
*12.* According to one recent survey, 52 percent of all Americans cannot even afford the house that they are living in right now.
*13.* The average age of vehicles on America’s roads has hit an all-time high of 11.4 years.
*14.* Last year, one out of every four auto loans in the United States was made to someone with subprime credit.
*15.* Amazingly, one out of every six men in their prime working years (25 to 54) do not have a job at this point.
*16.* One recent study found that 47 percent of unemployed Americans have “completely given up” looking for a job.
*17.* 36 percent of Americans do not have a single penny saved for retirement.
*18.* According to one survey, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
*19.* More than half of all working Americans make less than $30,000 a year in wages.
*20.* Only four of the twenty fastest growing occupations in America require a Bachelor’s degree or better.
*21.* In America today, one out of every ten jobs is filled by a temp agency.
*22.* Due to a lack of decent jobs, half of all college graduates are still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school.
*23.* Median household income in the United States is about 7 percent lower than it was in the year 2000 after adjusting for inflation.
*24.* Approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.
*25.* It is hard to believe, but more than one out of every five children in the United States is living in poverty in 2014.
*26.* According to one study, there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.
*27.* Ten years ago, the number of women in the U.S. that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
*28.* If the middle class was actually thriving, we wouldn’t have more than a million public school children that are homeless.
*29.* If you can believe it, Americans received more than 2 trillion dollars in benefits from the federal government last year alone.
*30.* In terms of median wealth per adult, the United States is now in just 19th place in the world. Reported by Zero Hedge 18 hours ago.
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Illinois exchange on 3 additional insurers' radar for 2015
Three new insurers plan to offer policies on the Illinois health insurance exchange in the second year of the Affordable Care Act, including one that counts hospitals as financial partners.
Reported by ChicagoTribune 15 hours ago.
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ASCO’s Peter Yu, MD, and Priority Health’s Burton VanderLaan, MD, to Give Keynotes at AJMCLive Event
The American Journal of Managed Care meeting series AJMCLive aims to bring stakeholders together, and this is reflected in the two keynote speakers for Patient-Centered Oncology Care on Nov. 14: a leader of physicians, Peter Yu, MD, the current president of ASCO; and a leader among payers, Burton VanderLaan, MD, FACP, medical director of Priority Health.
Plainsboro, NJ (PRWEB) August 22, 2014
Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, the current president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; and Burton VanderLann, MD, FACP, medical director for Priority Health, will be keynote addresses Nov. 14, 2014, at Patient-Centered Oncology Care, the upcoming AJMCLive event in Baltimore, Md. For agenda information and to register for the event, which begins Nov. 13, 2014, click here.
The selection of Drs. Yu and VanderLaan reflects the mission of The American Journal of Managed Care in its AJMCLive series, which aims to bring together stakeholders from across the healthcare spectrum: providers, payers, policymakers and pharmaceutical company leaders come together to share ideas and network. Patient-Centered Oncology Care, which will be in its third year, will explore the challenges in cancer care as those who deliver care and those who pay for it seeks to define “value” as the cost of cancer therapy soars.
“Having two well-known keynote speakers offering different viewpoints embodies our goal: to create the settings where problem-solving occurs,” said Brian Haug, publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. “This is a must-attend event for health insurance decision-makers, in oncology, for Medicare or Medicaid officials, or large employers with self-funded health plans.”
Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, a medical oncologist and hematologist, is the Director of Cancer Research at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, where he worked since 1989. Dr. Yu received his medical degree from Brown University, and performed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and a fellowship in neoplastic diseases at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was a research fellow and associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Yu spoke to the need to bring different perspectives together in a recent interview. “If we are going to make progress in improving and designing a healthcare system that is sustainable, we need to engage all the stakeholders in the system,” he said.
Burton VanderLaan, MD, FACP, is medical director for Network Effectiveness at Priority Health. Dr. VanderLaan is responsible for improved performance of the networks and delivery systems. His focus is on successful development and implementation of medical management programs in partnership with the organization's network of physicians and hospitals. Prior to joining Priority Health, he served as regional medical director for Aetna, Inc. for the Midwestern area.
About the Journal
The American Journal of Managed Care, now in its 20th year of publication, is the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care. Other titles in the AJMC family of publications are The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, which provides pharmacy and formulary decision makers with information to improve the efficiency and health outcomes in managing pharmaceutical care. In December 2013, AJMC introduced The American Journal of Accountable Care, which publishes research and commentary devoted to understanding changes to the healthcare system due to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. AJMC’s news publications, the Evidence-Based series, bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policymakers and pharmaceutical leaders in the areas of oncology, diabetes management, and immunology and infectious disease. To order reprints of articles appearing in AJMC publications, please call (609) 716-7777, x 131.
CONTACT:
Nicole Beagin (609) 716-7777 x 131
nbeagin(at)ajmc(dot)com
http://www.ajmc.com Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.
Plainsboro, NJ (PRWEB) August 22, 2014
Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, the current president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; and Burton VanderLann, MD, FACP, medical director for Priority Health, will be keynote addresses Nov. 14, 2014, at Patient-Centered Oncology Care, the upcoming AJMCLive event in Baltimore, Md. For agenda information and to register for the event, which begins Nov. 13, 2014, click here.
The selection of Drs. Yu and VanderLaan reflects the mission of The American Journal of Managed Care in its AJMCLive series, which aims to bring together stakeholders from across the healthcare spectrum: providers, payers, policymakers and pharmaceutical company leaders come together to share ideas and network. Patient-Centered Oncology Care, which will be in its third year, will explore the challenges in cancer care as those who deliver care and those who pay for it seeks to define “value” as the cost of cancer therapy soars.
“Having two well-known keynote speakers offering different viewpoints embodies our goal: to create the settings where problem-solving occurs,” said Brian Haug, publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. “This is a must-attend event for health insurance decision-makers, in oncology, for Medicare or Medicaid officials, or large employers with self-funded health plans.”
Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, a medical oncologist and hematologist, is the Director of Cancer Research at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, where he worked since 1989. Dr. Yu received his medical degree from Brown University, and performed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and a fellowship in neoplastic diseases at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was a research fellow and associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Yu spoke to the need to bring different perspectives together in a recent interview. “If we are going to make progress in improving and designing a healthcare system that is sustainable, we need to engage all the stakeholders in the system,” he said.
Burton VanderLaan, MD, FACP, is medical director for Network Effectiveness at Priority Health. Dr. VanderLaan is responsible for improved performance of the networks and delivery systems. His focus is on successful development and implementation of medical management programs in partnership with the organization's network of physicians and hospitals. Prior to joining Priority Health, he served as regional medical director for Aetna, Inc. for the Midwestern area.
About the Journal
The American Journal of Managed Care, now in its 20th year of publication, is the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care. Other titles in the AJMC family of publications are The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, which provides pharmacy and formulary decision makers with information to improve the efficiency and health outcomes in managing pharmaceutical care. In December 2013, AJMC introduced The American Journal of Accountable Care, which publishes research and commentary devoted to understanding changes to the healthcare system due to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. AJMC’s news publications, the Evidence-Based series, bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policymakers and pharmaceutical leaders in the areas of oncology, diabetes management, and immunology and infectious disease. To order reprints of articles appearing in AJMC publications, please call (609) 716-7777, x 131.
CONTACT:
Nicole Beagin (609) 716-7777 x 131
nbeagin(at)ajmc(dot)com
http://www.ajmc.com Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.
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How Much Money Do You Need to Retire?
Filed under: Saving*Alamy*
By Tom Sightings
Do you need $1 million to retire, as some experts have suggested? Or is it $2 million for a retired couple? Or is it 10 times your current annual salary, or 12 times?
There are many ways to figure how much money you need in retirement, just like there are different methods to make money in the stock market. But here's the best method I've seen, which requires a bit of math but nothing too challenging.
First, figure out approximately how much you'll need to spend, either on an annual basis or a monthly basis. If you do it by the month, don't forget to add in expenses that only come once or twice a year, such as insurance bills, tax bills and vacation bills.
How do you estimate how much money you'll spend in retirement? You know how much money you're currently earning. So that tells you roughly how much you're spending now. It provides a baseline number for how much you'll spend in retirement. But there are adjustments:
· Deduct the amount you've been saving every month. Obviously, after you retire, you won't be saving for retirement anymore.
· Deduct what you've been paying in payroll tax since you won't have a paycheck anymore. You might also estimate a new income tax level, which likely is less than what you're paying now.
· Deduct how much you'll save in taxes, utilities and other expenses if you're moving to a less-costly housing arrangement, either by downsizing, moving to a cheaper area or both.
· Factor in your changes in lifestyle. For people who intend to travel the world in retirement, those expenses might actually increase. But for most people, the expenses will go down. You won't have commuting expenses, your clothing budget may be less and your grocery bill may even go down since you'll have more time to shop for sales.
· Factor in any changes in what you'll spend on your kids. This is a number that varies widely depending on the situation -- and it may change over time -- but you still need to take it into account.
All these adjustments should bring down your cost of living significantly, by as much as 30 percent, or even 40 percent or 50 percent.
You have a lot of control over how you're going to live your new, retired life, and therefore you have a lot of control over your expenses.
Finally, factor in an adjustment for health care. A few people -- those who've been paying for their own individual health insurance -- might actually see their medical insurance expense go down when they join Medicare. But most people will likely spend more on health-related services as they get older. So you need to check your health insurance options and also do a realistic evaluation of your own health.
Financial experts estimate that the average person, after it all nets out, will need about 75 percent to 80 percent of their preretirement income to sustain their standard of living after they retire. But this is just a rule of thumb. Do your research, and then do the math to see how much retirement savings you need. Here's the math:
· Add up the retirement income you'll receive on a regular basis -- again either monthly or annually -- from Social Security, a pension, rents or royalties and any other recurring income.
· Subtract your income from your expenses. If your result is zero or negative ... congratulations! You have more than enough income. But in retirement, most of us will have more expenses than income, so we'll end up with a positive number that represents the income gap we need to close with our savings.
· Now multiply the number of your yearly gap by 25. That gives you the amount of savings you need so you can withdraw the recommended 4 percent annually.
For example, suppose you'll spend $5,000 a month to keep yourself fed, clothed, housed and happy in retirement. You estimate you're getting $1,500 a month from Social Security and $1,500 a month from your pension, for a total of $3,000 a month. That results in a shortfall of $2,000 a month, or $24,000 per year. And $24,000 x 25 = $600,000. That's the amount you need in your individual retirement account, 401(k) or other savings vehicle to close the gap of $2,000 a month.
Like all the other numbers you project into retirement, these are estimates and averages. But you're probably not average. So by doing some homework, you can customize your own retirement plan and finance your own retirement lifestyle.
Tom Sightings is a former publishing executive who was eased into early retirement in his mid-50s. He lives in the New York area and blogs at Sightings at 60, where he covers health, finance, retirement and other concerns of baby boomers who realize that somehow they have grown up.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 9 hours ago.
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United States: California Repeals 60-Day Limit On Health Insurance Waiting Periods - Littler Mendelson
On September 30, 2013, California Governor Brown signed into law a bill that limited such waiting periods to 60 days for California insurers.
Reported by Mondaq 9 hours ago.
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Can One of These Obsessions Get You Scammed?
We all have our areas of interest -- make that obsession -- and when something related to them crops up online, we can be instantly transformed into monster click machines. The problem here: Many of those clicks can either lead to your victimization or becoming an unwitting co-conspirator in cybercrime.
To make matters worse, once your computer is infected, it can become a soldier in a zombie army -- aiding and abetting a variety of online crimes -- not to mention a conduit for transmitting your information to people who view the theft of your data as their day job.
In the best-case scenarios, the objects of our passion and mania are used by unscrupulous click farmers to trick you into helping them make money. Usually this has to do with artificially driving up traffic or social interaction for a product or site, but there are plenty of worst-case scenarios.
Here are some common tactics and items that may, unfortunately, sound all too familiar to you.
*1. Celebrities*
Recently, it was Robin Williams (or worse yet, this week's tragic beheading in the desert), but any celebrity or high-profile person will do. And it doesn't have to be a murder or death--Justin Bieber getting arrested is a sufficient catalyst. When the news goes into real-time mode, scammers come out of the woodwork offering bread and circuses to the world: the panache of what's missing -- something new.
Sometimes there's malware attached to the video or "breaking news." Or in the case of Robin Williams, there was no video and no malware. Instead, the Robin Williams links circulated on Facebook sent users to a fake BBC site, which required them to share the video on Facebook before they could see it. The result: an avalanche of posts about a nonexistent video.
The same click-stealing method has been associated with the real death of Amy Winehouse and the fake death of many others. Celebrity sex tapes follow a similar path. The bottom line at the user end is that if the content you want to view requires an action on your part, the only action you should take is to close that window in your browser.
*2. Your Facebook Friends*
Facebook is the second most-trafficked site on the Internet. When it comes to your time and productivity, Mark Zuckerberg has given us the ultimate gift that keeps on taking.
Because the herd is so large, scammers have spent a lot of time hatching schemes for harvesting everything from clicks and "likes" to the kinds of personally identifiable information that can be used to commit serious financial fraud, health insurance fraud and a host of identity-related crimes. And it all depends on your obsession with what your friends are talking about this hour.
Here is a list of common Facebook scams. But the rule of thumb is simple: If you aren't sure about something on the second biggest site online, go to the number one trafficked site -- Google -- and check it out before you click. Don't just blindly "like" a friend's Facebook post without knowing what's behind it.
*3. Cat Videos*
The way hackers work this particular scam is very specific and most likely not one that need overly concern you (unless you're a terrorist or happen to own or run a large corporation with trade secrets that are worth billions in the grubby little fingers of a rival nation state).
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto studies the way information moves--including the way it can be filtered and grabbed and re-routed. A recent report detailed leaked information about software that took advantage of the flow of clear-text data used on YouTube (the opposite of encrypted data, which is how email and other sensitive information moves around the Internet).
The technique detailed by Citizen Lab created a very sophisticated man-in-the-middle hack that allows nation states to place surveillance software on a target computer. The underlying assumption: Even the bad guys watch cat videos.
Could it become available to a crime ring or terrorists who want to create data havoc? Of course it could. Worry level: SNAFU.
*4. Pornography *
Let's say "someone" is clicking on pornographic images. Then suddenly a window pops open showing something truly revolting -- and illegal -- followed immediately by a message informing the voyeur that his or her device is locked, but can be unlocked for a $300 penalty fee. That's known as the FBI ransomware scam. The idea is that you'll pony up some cash just so no one ever has to know what you were viewing at the time.
The most recent version of this malware is bouncing around the Android platform, but it can be found all over the Internet. Embarrassment aside, it can be fixed, but it will take time. While there's plenty of advice out there for staying safe -- like making sure you only install legitimate apps, and don't fall for phishing attacks, to name some -- you won't be safe unless you heed it. Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.
To make matters worse, once your computer is infected, it can become a soldier in a zombie army -- aiding and abetting a variety of online crimes -- not to mention a conduit for transmitting your information to people who view the theft of your data as their day job.
In the best-case scenarios, the objects of our passion and mania are used by unscrupulous click farmers to trick you into helping them make money. Usually this has to do with artificially driving up traffic or social interaction for a product or site, but there are plenty of worst-case scenarios.
Here are some common tactics and items that may, unfortunately, sound all too familiar to you.
*1. Celebrities*
Recently, it was Robin Williams (or worse yet, this week's tragic beheading in the desert), but any celebrity or high-profile person will do. And it doesn't have to be a murder or death--Justin Bieber getting arrested is a sufficient catalyst. When the news goes into real-time mode, scammers come out of the woodwork offering bread and circuses to the world: the panache of what's missing -- something new.
Sometimes there's malware attached to the video or "breaking news." Or in the case of Robin Williams, there was no video and no malware. Instead, the Robin Williams links circulated on Facebook sent users to a fake BBC site, which required them to share the video on Facebook before they could see it. The result: an avalanche of posts about a nonexistent video.
The same click-stealing method has been associated with the real death of Amy Winehouse and the fake death of many others. Celebrity sex tapes follow a similar path. The bottom line at the user end is that if the content you want to view requires an action on your part, the only action you should take is to close that window in your browser.
*2. Your Facebook Friends*
Facebook is the second most-trafficked site on the Internet. When it comes to your time and productivity, Mark Zuckerberg has given us the ultimate gift that keeps on taking.
Because the herd is so large, scammers have spent a lot of time hatching schemes for harvesting everything from clicks and "likes" to the kinds of personally identifiable information that can be used to commit serious financial fraud, health insurance fraud and a host of identity-related crimes. And it all depends on your obsession with what your friends are talking about this hour.
Here is a list of common Facebook scams. But the rule of thumb is simple: If you aren't sure about something on the second biggest site online, go to the number one trafficked site -- Google -- and check it out before you click. Don't just blindly "like" a friend's Facebook post without knowing what's behind it.
*3. Cat Videos*
The way hackers work this particular scam is very specific and most likely not one that need overly concern you (unless you're a terrorist or happen to own or run a large corporation with trade secrets that are worth billions in the grubby little fingers of a rival nation state).
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto studies the way information moves--including the way it can be filtered and grabbed and re-routed. A recent report detailed leaked information about software that took advantage of the flow of clear-text data used on YouTube (the opposite of encrypted data, which is how email and other sensitive information moves around the Internet).
The technique detailed by Citizen Lab created a very sophisticated man-in-the-middle hack that allows nation states to place surveillance software on a target computer. The underlying assumption: Even the bad guys watch cat videos.
Could it become available to a crime ring or terrorists who want to create data havoc? Of course it could. Worry level: SNAFU.
*4. Pornography *
Let's say "someone" is clicking on pornographic images. Then suddenly a window pops open showing something truly revolting -- and illegal -- followed immediately by a message informing the voyeur that his or her device is locked, but can be unlocked for a $300 penalty fee. That's known as the FBI ransomware scam. The idea is that you'll pony up some cash just so no one ever has to know what you were viewing at the time.
The most recent version of this malware is bouncing around the Android platform, but it can be found all over the Internet. Embarrassment aside, it can be fixed, but it will take time. While there's plenty of advice out there for staying safe -- like making sure you only install legitimate apps, and don't fall for phishing attacks, to name some -- you won't be safe unless you heed it. Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.
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United States: CMS Fingerprint-Based Background Checks are Underway - Impacting "High-Risk" Providers and Suppliers - Reed Smith
CMS's long-awaited fingerprint-based background check screening process is underway for certain "high-risk" providers and suppliers participating in federal health care programs (specifically, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program).
Reported by Mondaq 8 hours ago.
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Roundup Of Key Research Papers At Jackson Hole
With all eyes and ears firmly focused Janet Yellen's opening oratory this morning (due at 10ET), the contents of the rest of the conference appear to have been forgotten (and yet in the past have been among the most crucial to comprehend central banks' actions after the fact - forward guidance and QE for 2). As Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports, *robots don’t steal jobs*, the U.S. *labor market is less flexible than it was*, and *workers haven’t suffered unprecedented periods out of work* (and rehiring odds are the same as always), are among the conclusions of key papers being presented at the symposium, along with (unsurprisingly) findings that *policymakers would benefit from a better understanding of labor market dynamics*. The following is a brief review of their contents...*Robots and computers don’t steal as many jobs as some believe, and automation actually benefits many workers*, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor David Autor said in his paper.
A key reason humans aren’t obsolete yet is that simple tasks such as visually identifying a chair, which any child can do, aren’t so easy for engineers to teach to computers, Autor said.
“*Journalists and expert commentators overstate the extent of machine substitution for human labor and ignore the strong complementarities that increase productivity, raise earnings, and augment demand for skilled labor,*” he wrote. “Challenges to substituting machines for workers in tasks requiring flexibility, judgment, and common sense remain immense.”
*The U.S. labor market became less fluid in recent decades partly because of an aging workforce, a shift to older businesses, and the spread of occupational licensing and certification,* economists Steven J. Davis and John Haltiwanger wrote in their paper.
The economists define labor market fluidity as “flows of jobs and workers across employers.” The paper found the U.S. “underwent a large, broad-based decline in the pace of labor market flows in recent decades.”
*“An aging workforce is a factor behind the slowdown of worker reallocation,”* the paper said.
Other factors they found included the “information revolution in hiring practices”; minimum wage laws; and “job lock” associated with employer-related health insurance.
*US workers in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 recession haven’t experienced unprecedentedly long bouts of non-employment*, according to a paper by economists Jae Song and Till von Wachter.
Their findings “suggest that* the potential for hysteresis in the aftermath of the Great Recession is moderate*,” the paper said.
Hysteresis posits that people out of work for too long have a harder time finding work, leading to a persistent decline in the employment-to-population rate.
In contrast to long-term unemployment, the extent of long-term non-employment *“was comparable to that in previous recessions,”* the paper says, finding that non-employment spells lasting more than two years “exhibited moderate cyclical movements” also similar across downturns.
*Policy makers would benefit from a better understanding of labor markets*, economist Giuseppe Bertola argued in a paper that weighed the impact of rules making those markets rigid or flexible.
*Rules that protect workers from job losses and provide more generous unemployment benefits can soften and smooth shocks to the economy*, said Bertola.
More rigid policies have a greater appeal to policy makers “after a crisis that casts doubt on the efficacy of financial markets and shows that monetary and other macro policies cannot always prevent deep recessions”
*Rules that make it easier for companies to fire workers can speed up how an economy adjusts after a crisis* and are particularly useful when “sector reallocation” is needed “but it would be wishful to suppose that it can quickly and painlessly restore equilibrium”
Pros and cons of market rigidities depend on circumstances, and labor policies should adapt to specific conditions
“Policy makers should be ready to react appropriately to cyclical and structural developments in labor as well as monetary, financial and goods markets”
“Labor market rigidities may yet become fashionable in the aftermath of a crisis where they were useful”
* *
So, there you have it - in full Obi Wan Kenobi 'this is not the reality you are looking for' style - the smartest people in the room want you to believe that robotification does not mean minimum wage hikes are impossible (just don't tell McDonalds) and that workers really haven't suffered that much (compared to ther recessions) -* despite this being the worst recovery ever.*
Source: Bloomberg and Bloomberg BusinessWeek Reported by Zero Hedge 6 hours ago.
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British Citizen Told She Can't Have Surgery To Fix Heart Problem Unless She Has A 'Major Episode'
British Citizen Told She Can't Have Surgery To Fix Heart Problem Unless She Has A 'Major Episode'British Citizen Told She Can't Have Surgery To Fix Heart Problem Unless She Has A 'Major Episode'
Health
World
Carla Maclean
Has Been Optimized
British citizen Carla Maclean, 19, feels like England’s National Health Service (NHS) is turning a cold shoulder to her. Maclean has a heart problem that causes palpitations, shortness of breath, and headaches but has been told funding for a corrective procedure is not available to her. What’s worse, she was told by health officials that she would need to have a “major episode” -- think stroke or heart attack -- for the procedure to be funded.
Maclean was diagnosed with a patent foramen ovale (PFO) several years ago. The condition is common – about 25% of the general population has it – but it causes more problems for some than others. Roughly 40% of people who have a stroke also have PFO.
After being diagnosed with PFO, Maclean figured she would be given an operation date to have the problem corrected. Instead, she was told she wasn’t eligible for the surgery.
“When we went for the meeting I thought the specialist was going to give me a date for the operation, not tell me I couldn’t have it,” Maclean said. “The NHS will only fund it if I have a heart attack or a stroke. I’m worried I may drop dead if I exercise or do anything too strenuous.”
Maclean says the problem seems to be getting worse. She hasn’t been able to work for two months because of her daily palpitations and chest pains.
“To find out it has either got bigger, or it was initially misdiagnosed is devastating,” she says. “Everything has got worse. I am short of breath and have chest pain every day. I can feel my health going downhill fast…”
The NHS would fund the procedure if she was an infant or an elderly citizen, the Gloucester Citizen reports. Since she is neither, and because people in England typically don’t have private health insurance, she must fund the roughly $25,000 procedure herself.
“I’m worried I may drop dead if I exercise or do anything too strenuous,” she says. “I’m starting to lose faith in doctors, it is upsetting. I can’t get on with normal life.”
Sources: Metro, Gloucester Citizen
Photo credit: SWNS
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OV in Depth: Reported by Opposing Views 4 hours ago.
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The ACA might boost employer-sponsored health insurance
Wal-Mart employees have been signing up in droves for health insurance, though the plans and subsidies being offered now are -More-
*Webinar: How to Build a Performance Culture*
EXOS is revolutionizing human performance solutions for companies worldwide with an integrated approach to mindset, nutrition, movement, and recovery. Join Amanda Carlson-Phillips, EXOS' vice president of nutrition and research, on *August 28 at 2pm ET* for an inside look at the company's methodology, results, and dollarization/ROI. *Register for the webinar now*. Reported by SmartBrief 4 hours ago.
*Webinar: How to Build a Performance Culture*
EXOS is revolutionizing human performance solutions for companies worldwide with an integrated approach to mindset, nutrition, movement, and recovery. Join Amanda Carlson-Phillips, EXOS' vice president of nutrition and research, on *August 28 at 2pm ET* for an inside look at the company's methodology, results, and dollarization/ROI. *Register for the webinar now*. Reported by SmartBrief 4 hours ago.
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Innovative Alternative to Obamacare Crisis
Innovative Alternative to Obamacare CrisisInnovative Alternative to Obamacare Crisis
Has Been Optimized
In the months since being enacted, the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) has significantly changed the landscape of the United States' healthcare system. That was to be expected, though. What came a bit unexpectedly, however, is the law's shortcomings. Despite the efforts of the federal government, millions of Americans are still without health insurance and benefits.
While the jury is still out on whether Obamacare has been and will be a success, it is clear that certain sectors are already experiencing growing pains. Not least of these is the effect that the law has had on individuals' ability to purchase healthcare and prescription medication.
Because of the fact that major corporations are cutting employee hours, dropping health insurance for part time employees, and/or are simply not hiring new workers, Obamacare has not brought health insurance to as many citizens as the President had anticipated.
For instance, as Daily Caller reported earlier this year, "The popular retail company Target announced its decision to drop health insurance coverage previously offered to its 36,100 part-time employees." It is worth noting that the company managed to do this because Obamacare only requires companies to offer health insurance to individuals who are employed for 30 hours per week or more. This is just one example of how the law has actually hurt the citizens who it was created to help.
Luckily, some third party organizations are helping to fill the gaps left by this imperfect new system. Specifically, such services provide employers with the opportunity to help their employees save money on healthcare, without having to purchase expensive insurance for each of their workers individually.
National Drug Card (NDC) is an innovative, alternative money saving healthcare platform that is giving Americans who do not have access to health insurance the chance to receive considerable discounts on their healthcare and prescription medications. As Alexander Acuna, Founder and CEO of the National Drug Card organization, explained to Opposing Views, “Our Free drug card allows groups of all sizes to help their members, volunteers, and employees afford their prescriptions, while at the same time generating monthly residual income as a result of providing them with that service.” According to their website, the National Drug Card “can save 10% – 85% on all FDA approved brand name and generic drugs.” The site adds, “The card can be used at over 73,000 pharmacies nationwide.”
Founded in 2005, National Drug Card is a Washington, D.C. based organization that offers a free discount drug card to millions of people across the United States and its territories that have little or no prescription insurance to help them save money on their medication. Anyone is eligible for the card, but it especially benefits those with no health insurance, senior citizens, small business owners, families, college students, unemployed and the undocumented. Additionally, individuals who have prescription benefits can use NDC to receive discounts on medications not covered by their plan, and even people with high co-pay can use the card.
NDC is one of the first free discount drug card programs in the nation, and was the first to offer a free pet drug card, Spanish drug card, and 2 free mobile drug card apps. National Drug Card recently launched the nation’s first Free Healthcare Savings Club. This new program offers more than 75 types of savings and preferred pricing benefits, with discounts on medical, dental, vision, labs, blood work, Lasik, podiatry, diabetes care, hearing aids, holistic medicine, legal services, travel club, shopping, groceries, entertainment and more. The NDC Savings Club website also includes sections dedicated to savings specifically for men, women and seniors.
"If individuals can't afford healthcare because it has been dropped by their employer, a savings club is the resource that is going to step in and help people save money on their healthcare, and help keep them afloat during this trying time," Acuna further noted. "These people are going to need somewhere to go, and a healthcare savings club is able to offer just that."
Interestingly, anyone can enjoy these free benefits, and there are no limits as to what kinds of organizations can obtain these money-saving programs. Group, Non-profit organizations, churches, and unions have all been able to utilize NDC to benefit their members and constituents.
The jury is still out on Obamacare, but many cannot afford to wait for all of the wrinkles to get ironed out. Fortunately for them, there are alternatives available.
"You asked for our help, and we heard you," said Acuna in a press release. "Millions of people are struggling to afford not just the cost of health care, but the basics of daily living. We want to make our customers' dollars go further, so they can stop focusing on surviving and start thriving."
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OV in Depth: Reported by Opposing Views 4 hours ago.
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Health Life Insurance Quotes - Clients Can Find Health Insurance Plans at Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com!
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com announces a new blog post, “5 Tips for Finding Health Insurance Quotes”
(PRWEB) August 22, 2014
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com has released a new blog post explaining how to find affordable health insurance quotes online.
Clients can now compare health insurance quotes online and for free. Comparing health insurance quotes will help clients find affordable coverage. Having health insurance is very important as medical expenses can be very high.
There are different types of health insurance plans. Some are governmental, but clients can get the best protection from an individual policy. Individual policies do not have to be expensive. Clients can see the newly released blog post for important tips and useful advice.
Having health insurance provides financial protection in case clients fall ill or have an accident. A health insurance plan covers a part of the medical expenses. Clients can learn more by reading the newly released blog post.
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com is owned by Internet Marketing Company.
For more information, please visit http://healthandlifeinsurancequote.com/. Reported by PRWeb 4 hours ago.
(PRWEB) August 22, 2014
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com has released a new blog post explaining how to find affordable health insurance quotes online.
Clients can now compare health insurance quotes online and for free. Comparing health insurance quotes will help clients find affordable coverage. Having health insurance is very important as medical expenses can be very high.
There are different types of health insurance plans. Some are governmental, but clients can get the best protection from an individual policy. Individual policies do not have to be expensive. Clients can see the newly released blog post for important tips and useful advice.
Having health insurance provides financial protection in case clients fall ill or have an accident. A health insurance plan covers a part of the medical expenses. Clients can learn more by reading the newly released blog post.
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
Healthandlifeinsurancequote.com is owned by Internet Marketing Company.
For more information, please visit http://healthandlifeinsurancequote.com/. Reported by PRWeb 4 hours ago.
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State Forces Catholic Colleges to Pay for Abortion
Thanks to a reversal by Governor Jerry Brown’s administration, two Catholic universities, Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount, have now been prevented from offering insurance plans for their employees that refused coverage for “elective” abortions and only permitted abortions if the woman’s life were in danger or her health could be severely damaged, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.Brown’s administration had previously allowed such plans to be available; Loyola Marymount had put that policy into place in January, while Santa Clara was to follow suit next year.
But now Brown’s administration has caved to abortion-rights advocates and leaders of the Legislature's Women's Caucus, claiming it is only following state law that forces health insurance plans to cover all abortions. On Friday, the Department of Managed Health Care sent letters to the insurance companies for both universities claiming that if the insurance companies offered the plans barring abortions, they would violate a 1975 state law that forces group health plans to cover all basic services. Those “basic services” are explained by the legalese as those that are “medically necessary."
In the letter, Michelle Rouillard, the director of the department, said, "Abortion is a basic health care service … the California Constitution prohibits health plans from discriminating against women who choose to terminate a pregnancy. Thus, all health plans must treat maternity services and legal abortion neutrally."
Rouillard also informed the insurance companies to check all their health plans to ascertain if they are legal.
Last fall, both universities were informed by their insurers, Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser Permanente, that the state permitted the plans barring abortions, and the universities subsequently announced they would offer the plans.
Santa Clara's president, Michael Engh, had said, "Our core commitments as a Catholic University are incompatible with the inclusion of elective abortion in the university's health plan."
Both schools employ more than 1,000 people. At both schools, faculty protested the offering of the abortion-free policies, asserting that the schools had asserted they were open to people of all faiths. Loyola Marymount answered the protests by offering plans to employees that would enable employees to pay more for abortion coverage by using a private administrator.
The federal health care law does not require insurance coverage for abortion, but California law insists that abortion is protected by statute and by the state’s constitutional privacy protections.
Beth Parker, chief counsel for Planned Parenthood in California, said, "We're thrilled that the state is complying with California law and ensuring that women of California have access to all reproductive health services." Reported by Breitbart 2 hours ago.
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Obama administration announces new HHS mandate rules
Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2014 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Department of Health and Human Services issued on Friday new rules regarding its contraception mandate, which address both non-profits and closely held for-profit entities.
The new rules create a new way for non-profit groups to voice their objections to the required coverage, prompting their insurance company to offer the coverage free-of-charge. For closely held for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby, the federal department said it is asking for ideas on how to extend the same accommodation offered to non-profits.
Sylvia Burwell, HHS secretary, said Aug. 22 that the new rules will ensure access to free contraception, “while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies.”
The HHS department has issued a mandate under the 2010 Affordable Care Act which requires employers to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
It has been particular burden for Catholics and others with pro-life religious and moral convictions. Non-compliance with the mandate is punished by severe fines.
While the mandate includes a narrow religious exemption for houses of worship, non-profit organizations had been offered an “accommodation,” under which a religious employer would sign a form authorizing another company or third party to provide payments for the products they find objectionable.
The new rules announced Friday “are in response to recent court decisions,” the HHS stated.
For non-profits, the newly issued rules “lay out an additional way for organizations eligible for an accommodation to provide notice of their religious objection to providing coverage for contraceptive services,” the Health and Human Services department stated Aug. 22.
“The rule allows these eligible organizations to notify the Department of Health and Human Services in writing of their religious objection to providing contraception coverage. HHS and the Department of Labor will then notify insurers and third party administrators so that enrollees in plans of such organizations receive separate coverage for contraceptive services, with no additional cost to the enrollee or the employer.”
“The interim final rule solicits comments, but goes into effect upon publication.”
Regarding closely held for-profits, such as Hobby Lobby, the HHS said it is “issuing a proposed rule soliciting comments on how it might extend” to them “the same accommodation that is available to non-profit religious organizations.”
“Under the proposal, these companies would not have to contract, arrange, pay or refer for contraceptive coverage to which they object on religious grounds. The proposal seeks comment on how to define a closely held for-profit company and whether other steps might be appropriate to implement this policy.”
On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled that closely held for-profit corporations – such as Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Services – are protected against the mandate by the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The two closely-held businesses, run by Protestant and Mennonite owners, objected to aspects of the HHS rule that require them to provide coverage for drugs that they believe can cause abortions.
The ruling quickly led to the introduction in the Senate of a bill aiming to thwart the Supreme Court's decision, co-sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).
The HHS department's Aug. 22 release noted that the Obama administration “continues to encourage Congress to act to ensure that women affected by the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision have access to the same coverage options offered to others.”
At least 100 lawsuits filed by more than 300 plaintiffs have challenged the constitutionality of the HHS mandate. In the wake of the Hobby Lobby ruling, the closely-held entity Mersino Management Company won an injunction against the mandate from the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court, and the Supreme Court granted a similar injunction to Wheaton College, a Protestant liberal arts college in Illinois. Reported by CNA 2 hours ago.
The new rules create a new way for non-profit groups to voice their objections to the required coverage, prompting their insurance company to offer the coverage free-of-charge. For closely held for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby, the federal department said it is asking for ideas on how to extend the same accommodation offered to non-profits.
Sylvia Burwell, HHS secretary, said Aug. 22 that the new rules will ensure access to free contraception, “while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies.”
The HHS department has issued a mandate under the 2010 Affordable Care Act which requires employers to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
It has been particular burden for Catholics and others with pro-life religious and moral convictions. Non-compliance with the mandate is punished by severe fines.
While the mandate includes a narrow religious exemption for houses of worship, non-profit organizations had been offered an “accommodation,” under which a religious employer would sign a form authorizing another company or third party to provide payments for the products they find objectionable.
The new rules announced Friday “are in response to recent court decisions,” the HHS stated.
For non-profits, the newly issued rules “lay out an additional way for organizations eligible for an accommodation to provide notice of their religious objection to providing coverage for contraceptive services,” the Health and Human Services department stated Aug. 22.
“The rule allows these eligible organizations to notify the Department of Health and Human Services in writing of their religious objection to providing contraception coverage. HHS and the Department of Labor will then notify insurers and third party administrators so that enrollees in plans of such organizations receive separate coverage for contraceptive services, with no additional cost to the enrollee or the employer.”
“The interim final rule solicits comments, but goes into effect upon publication.”
Regarding closely held for-profits, such as Hobby Lobby, the HHS said it is “issuing a proposed rule soliciting comments on how it might extend” to them “the same accommodation that is available to non-profit religious organizations.”
“Under the proposal, these companies would not have to contract, arrange, pay or refer for contraceptive coverage to which they object on religious grounds. The proposal seeks comment on how to define a closely held for-profit company and whether other steps might be appropriate to implement this policy.”
On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled that closely held for-profit corporations – such as Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Services – are protected against the mandate by the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The two closely-held businesses, run by Protestant and Mennonite owners, objected to aspects of the HHS rule that require them to provide coverage for drugs that they believe can cause abortions.
The ruling quickly led to the introduction in the Senate of a bill aiming to thwart the Supreme Court's decision, co-sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).
The HHS department's Aug. 22 release noted that the Obama administration “continues to encourage Congress to act to ensure that women affected by the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision have access to the same coverage options offered to others.”
At least 100 lawsuits filed by more than 300 plaintiffs have challenged the constitutionality of the HHS mandate. In the wake of the Hobby Lobby ruling, the closely-held entity Mersino Management Company won an injunction against the mandate from the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court, and the Supreme Court granted a similar injunction to Wheaton College, a Protestant liberal arts college in Illinois. Reported by CNA 2 hours ago.
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More Pages to Explore .....
