Reg Baker, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, will resign from the health insurance company next week. Baker, who has been with the health insurer since October 2010 and took over CFO and COO responsibilities in 2013, is stepping down effective Monday. John Henry Felix, HMAA’s CEO and president, will temporarily assume the COO and CFO positions. Baker told PBN he has two or three opportunities he is exploring… Reported by bizjournals 2 hours ago.

A Minneapolis firm that administers private health insurance exchanges is seeking $5 million in financing, according to a regulatory filing. OutSourceOne Inc., which does business as CieloStar, is trying to raise capital through the sale of debt and other securities. Private insurance exchanges allow businesses’ employees to shop for health coverage online. Employers often chip in a set amount of money, called defined contributions, that workers can put toward coverage payments. CieloStar makes… Reported by bizjournals 2 hours ago.

Ninety plans from 10 insurers are heading toward Washington’s exchange marketplace, if the exchange board approves, with rate increases a fraction of what companies requested. Reported by Seattle Times 23 hours ago.

Traditional public housing is out of favor and substantially out of funds. It’s bureaucratic, concentrates the very poor, and is literally crumbling due to a huge backlog of deferred maintenance. Yet despite real catastrophes—such as Chicago’s bleak, crime-ridden Robert Taylor Homes, dynamited over a decade ago—public housing provides low-rent apartments to some 2.2 million people, and much of it is reasonably well run by local authorities.

For half a century, presidents, legislators and housing developers have sought alternatives, involving supposedly more efficient private market incentives. However, these alternatives, too, have been far from scandal-free. The Johnson-era Section 236 program (named for part of the housing code) gave private developers tax benefits and direct payments to build low-rent housing, underwritten by subsidized thirty-year mortgages. But then, as the mortgages started being paid off in the 1990s, many developers kicked out poor tenants and converted the buildings to middle-class and even luxury apartments—taking low-rent units that had been built and maintained with taxpayer money and removing them from the pool of affordable housing.

Attempts to de-concentrate big public housing projects, such as the Clinton-era “HOPE VI” program (Home Opportunities for People Everywhere), ended up evicting thousands. The Robert Taylor site, which at its peak housed 27,000 low-income Chicagoans, was replaced, using over $500 million in HOPE VI funds, with a low-rise mixed-income development of just 2,300 units.

 

(AP Photo/Gary Sussman)

The first of the five stripped high-rise concrete and brick buildings that were once the Lexington Terrace housing projects begins to collapse as support columns are dynamited during the 20-second chain reaction implosion west of downtown Baltimore, Saturday July 27, 1996. Heavy dust filled the air for 15 minutes afterward. The projects were opened in 1959 and housed over 2,100 residents. 

 

Now comes the latest attempt to save public housing by injecting private capital. The idea is to bring in private developers—drawn by tax breaks and subsidies—and have them refurbish and manage the buildings. The end result is to be some kind of hybrid, where rents will stay low (at least for a time), tenants may have more mobility but fewer rights, and the total stock of affordable housing could shrink yet again. The approach is not cheap, and it may be more cost-effective to just appropriate more direct funds to the program and thereby keep it in the public sector—but Congress is not about to do so.

The new plan, promoted by HUD, developers and some city governments with few alternatives, is known as the Rental Assistance Demonstration, or RAD. It is set to transfer 60,000 public housing units across the country to the control of private developers. While billed as a limited test program, many participating cities are taking far-reaching gambles on their city’s affordable housing stock. In Baltimore, 43 percent of all public housing units will be converted through RAD, and in San Francisco, roughly 75 percent.

RAD is an emblematic case of this era’s intensified push to use privatization in the pursuit of social goals—not because that approach is necessarily better policy, but because it is politically possible. In that respect, RAD is a second cousin to everything from privatized highways to the Affordable Care Act, which keeps the public provision and modest expansion of health insurance mostly private.

 

Public housing—a program financed through direct government subsidies since its inception in the late 1930s—has been severely underfunded by Congress for decades. The dearth of funds has translated into a housing stock decline: Since the mid-1990s, more than 260,000 dilapidated units have been demolished or removed from the program. And despite long waiting lists around the country, agencies have only built new units to replace about one-sixth of those that were removed. HUD estimates that nearly $30 billion is needed to repair and restore the nation’s 1.2 million remaining public housing units.

“Primarily because of Congress’s failure to fund public housing, and so many long-term repairs and rehabilitation needs going unmet, RAD was an idea to get a new flow of capital and funds into the program,” says Megan Haberle, policy counsel at the Poverty Race and Research Action Council (PRRAC).

 

Council of Large Public Housing Authorities

 

RAD alters public housing’s funding and ownership structure to one that experts hope will be more politically sustainable over time. For example, a local housing authority could either sell or lease a public housing building to a private developer; the developer in turn would agree to make certain renovations, and to respect tenants’ rights. The traditional funding mechanism—direct subsidies to local housing authorities—would be replaced by tax credits and housing vouchers under the program known as Section 8. The total subsidy would be lucrative enough to entice the developer yet still maintain low rents for tenants. In effect, RAD turns public housing into something like the Section 8 program—low-rent housing that is privately managed or owned, and publicly subsidized.

Some cities, like Chicago, Philadelphia, Tampa and Charlotte, applied to convert thousands of their public housing units through RAD, but given the program’s demonstration cap, they’re stuck, for now, on a waitlist. (Chicago had the largest RAD application in the country, with nearly 11,000 units.) Other cities that were approved for conversion have taken a more cautious approach: Omaha will convert only 306 units, and Houston just eighty-nine.

Tenants and housing rights activists share deep concerns about RAD. These include the risk of increased rent costs, the fate of tenant legal rights, and the need to ensure affordable housing for generations to come. In addition, building trade unions see the potential for eliminating unionized middle-class jobs under these new private deals. Yet no formal national coalition has formed to address all these fears, in part because of the highly localized nature of the program. Since the RAD legislation was designed for regional flexibility, the risks and stakes for tenants and workers can vary considerably from city to city. The strength of local housing activist networks, civil rights lawyers and unions will ultimately shape RAD’s impact.

“Everyone is working on their own programs. Some of them are doing things this way or that way, some are a little bit more transparent, others are not,” says David Prater, an attorney at the Maryland Disability Law Center. Prater has been involved with the RAD program in Baltimore, fighting to ensure that protections for disabled tenants are preserved under the new regime.

 

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

RAD has garnered great controversy in Baltimore—the largest East Coast city to participate—due to its cagey rollout. While Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Granziano has pitched RAD as the only feasible way to salvage the old units, advocates are left with many questions and few details. In mid*-*June, some 60 Baltimore tenants and union workers organized a protest against RAD outside one of the buildings set to be converted, the Bernard Mason Senior Apartments. Demonstrators raised concerns of resident displacement, middle-class job cuts and public housing loss.

“We’ve been at a number of residential information meetings that [the Housing Authority] organized, and they’ve yelled at residents who have tried to ask questions about long-term affordability and said it was inappropriate for them to even ask those questions,” said Jessica Lewis, an organizer at the Right to Housing Alliance, an advocacy group led by low-income Baltimore residents. At another public meeting, residents invited Karen Wabeke, a lawyer working for the Homeless Persons Representation Project, to ask legal questions on their behalf, but the housing commissioner refused to even take her questions.

Cheron Porter, director of communications for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC), says that HABC is proud of the efforts they have made to engage residents and housing advocates throughout the RAD process. Porter adds that Baltimore’s version of RAD “goes far beyond the requirements under the federal law and is much closer to public housing than programs in other parts of the country.”

In other cities such as San Francisco, RAD has met less opposition. The San Francisco Housing Authority, with a $270 million backlog in deferred maintenance costs, has been in a state of organizational tumult for years. Its last director was fired in 2013 after alleged involvement in a host of corruption and discrimination scandals. While some activists and union workers have raised questions, ultimately the Bay Area pushback has been mild in comparison to Baltimore. Many residents eagerly welcome the promise of improved physical conditions.

Deborah Thrope, a lawyer with the National Housing Law Project, a policy organization concerned with preserving affordable housing and tenant rights, says the response was tamer in part because everyone agreed the status quo was untenable. While Thrope hopes to safeguard tenant rights in San Francisco then disseminate those principles nationally, she acknowledges that San Francisco is different than the rest of the country because of its well-mobilized advocacy organizations that collaborate with the city in ways unique to the northern California progressive scene.

 

Despite significant concerns, many housing policy experts remain cautiously optimistic. One promising feature of the program is a “mobility” option not currently permitted for tenants in traditional public housing. For example, some families that want to move and switch school districts could do so using a voucher obtained through RAD. “We see [RAD] as an opportunity not only to inject capital,” says Phil Tegeler, executive director of PRRAC, “but as a break with that whole history of residential segregation and concentrated poverty.”

Given the funding crisis, the large public housing authorities are among RAD's most enthusiastic boosters. “This was not something that was a brainchild of a developer,” stressed Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA). “This is very intentional in its approach as a preservation and reinvestment strategy.” 

 

TheRealNews.com

Tenants of public housing protest in front of the Baltimore Housing Authority on June 13, 2014.

 

Nonetheless, critics’ concerns about tenant displacement appear justified, given the government’s track record with privatizing public housing. HOPE VI projects deliberately decreased the number of public housing units. Many tenants lost their homes through rescreening and thousands were permanently displaced during the rehab process.

“The housing authorities just didn’t try hard enough to keep in touch with many residents during that year or two that units were getting fixed up, and people were just lost and never had an opportunity to return,” says Ed Gramlich of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

In an effort to avoid the pitfalls of Hope VI, policymakers have tried to design RAD in a way that would prevent some of the worst possible outcomes. For example, unlike in HOPE VI conversions, no tenant will have to be re-screened to establish eligibility to live in RAD properties.

And under RAD, an implicit commitment exists to have a “one-to-one replacement policy,” meaning that any demolished units must be replaced with the same number of units as was originally there. But advocates such as Gramlich worry that developers and local authorities could exploit loopholes in the statute. Exceptions to the one-to-one rule include allowing public housing authorities to reduce the number of assisted units by up to 5 percent without HUD approval, consolidate units (such as converting efficiencies to one-bedroom apartments), and remove units that have been vacant for at least twenty-four months. This last exception is particularly troubling, as housing authorities sometimes intentionally leave units empty in an effort to lessen their administrative fees or anticipate eventual demolition.

 

Capital Needs in the Public Housing Program, Abt Associates Inc., 2010; Housing Authority of El Paso; San Francisco Housing Authority

 

Erosion of tenant legal protections also worries advocates. For example, under current public housing law, if a landlord or housing authority mistreats a tenant, the tenant may pursue redress without resorting to expensive and lengthy lawsuits. But under RAD, the contracts will be between private developers and housing authorities, which could make it much more difficult for tenants to hold landlords accountable. Some, like David Prater of the Maryland Disability Law Center, want housing authorities to formally add tenants to the housing contracts as “third party beneficiaries.” This change would strengthen tenants’ ability to pursue grievances.

Prater sees potential for an unholy alliance between housing authorities that want to save money by limiting tenant appeals and private developers who seek to avoid liability. Cheron Porter, speaking for the Baltimore housing authority, says, “While we certainly understand the residents’ point of view,” giving tenants third party status “could potentially lead to unduly lengthened processes and less certainty among the parties’ roles.”

As long as these developers receive HUD subsidies, the units will be subjected to federal audits and monitoring. Still, the regulations leave room for legal sidestepping. “I think legal advocates rightly see that the RAD notice HUD drafted did not completely replicate the protections that people already have under the public housing regulations and handbooks,” says Gramlich.

A further concern is possible changes to RAD under future administrations. For now, the Obama administration has sought to balance developer incentives with tenant protections. But future administrations, facing different political considerations, might opt to shift this balance.

 

Although this housing experiment was to be tried first on only 5 percent of the nation’s public housing stock, HUD is now pushing to eliminate the program’s cap entirely. (In other words, gut the “demonstration” part of “Rental Assistance Demonstration.”) Zaterman of CLPHA argues that RAD’s long waitlist “demonstrates its demand and feasibility.” Other affordable housing advocates, however, urge for a more gradual approach in case there are unforeseen ruinous consequences.

With cash-strapped cities lacking the dollars needed to renovate, repair and maintain their public housing, many more are likely to apply for RAD conversions in the future.

If implemented carefully with robust federal oversight, RAD may actually advance the goal of more affordable housing. Decrepit and dangerous buildings could be upgraded and more families may have the opportunity to move into the areas they want. However, if the public looks away or if crafty private developers evade government supervision, the state of affordable housing could look even worse than it does today.

“All of these deals between housing authorities and developers are made behind closed doors," says Gramlich. "That’s how deals are done in the private marketplace, and that runs against the whole notion of public assets. It’s hard to assess what might happen, and by the time the negotiations are settled, residents might be stuck with a done deal. And the done deal might be great, or it might not be. The people who have the biggest stake in it are left out." Reported by The American Prospect 22 hours ago.

Families and kids can avoid going into needless debt with a few smart-shopping strategies

San Mateo, Calif. (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

As families prepare to send their kids back to school, the airwaves and mailboxes are loaded with back-to-school sales, tempting people to get out and spend. But families do not need to, and should not, go into debt to prepare for school – if they have an education in smart choices and bargain shopping, says Kevin Gallegos, vice president of Phoenix operations for Freedom Financial Network (FFN).

This year’s National Retail Federation survey of back-to-school shopping reports that the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, electronics and other school supplies, 5 percent more than last year.

“Expenses seem to climb annually, but it’s not necessary for families to break the bank to prepare their kids for the new school year,” Gallegos said. “With a few steps in the right direction, back-to-school shopping can be an education in itself.”

Gallegos suggested that families investigate the following areas when building a back-to-school budget.

1.    Involve the kids. Parents may want to give their children all they can, but one of the greatest gifts is not a material one. Gallegos suggests parents engage kids in back-to-school shopping. “It’s the perfect opportunity for kids, especially teens, to learn that everything has a price, and that going into debt is not an option.” Adults can establish a back-to-school budget. Then they can divide that budget, in cash, into envelopes for each child. With adult supervision, kids can pay for some needed items from their envelopes. When the cash is gone, the shopping is done.

2.    Buy needs, not ads. Sales promotions can be persuasive. Ads make it appear that every child goes to school in all-new clothes every year, and furnishes a dorm room top to bottom. “In reality, the weather is still warm for months after school begins, and many kids can wear an existing wardrobe, rather than buying and potentially outgrowing a new one before the holidays,” Gallegos points out. “Students can re-use lunch boxes and backpacks, too.” Focusing on replacing just a few needed items can be a major budget-saver.

3.    Take advantage of tax savings. Some states offer tax-free dates when the sales tax is waived on clothing or school purchases up to a certain amount. Find out which states participate (and when) at the Federation of Tax Administrators.

4.    Recycle. Go beyond hand-me-downs to re-use clothes and supplies – and maximize funds. Check out consignment shops, both to buy and to turn outgrown garments into cash or credit. Chains such as Plato’s Closet and Buffalo Exchange make thrift shopping chic, even for label-obsessed teens. Specialty stores like Play It Again Sports stretch athletic budgets, and eBay and Craigslist offer everything from equestrian boots to soccer goals at a discount.

5.    Tackle technology expenses. Kids might want the latest Macbook Air or PC, but before a family goes into debt to buy a new computer, do a reality check, Gallegos suggests. “Many schools that require specific technology tools also provide those tools,” he says. “In other cases, kids don’t need the high-tech toys.” If older kids in high school and college genuinely need tech tools, look for student specials, or check out refurbished items that come with solid warranties at a lower price. Also consider bare-bones options like the Chromebook.

6.    Manage health costs. Back-to-school is a great time to make sure families are protected in case of medical expenses. If a family does not have health insurance policies that cover children, most states have insurance plans available for kids. Find information on individual state programs via Insure Kids Now. For young adults, the Affordable Care Act allows parents’ plans to continue to cover children up to age 26. In the fall, many children need to update immunizations, get an annual checkup or obtain a sports physical. “Check whether the best bet for your family is to combine services into one doctor’s office visit or to visit a free-standing health clinic to minimize these costs,” Gallegos said.

7.    Remember to plan for college. School expenses for K-12 students are nothing compared to college, Gallegos reminds families. “Back-to-school is a good reminder to begin, or update, a financial strategy for college,” he says. Investigate costs and scholarships, and gain a realistic expectation of the family’s and student’s contribution to an education. The College Board’s “estimated family contribution” calculator is a good starting point.

For more back-to-school financial tips, editors can get in touch with Kevin Gallegos via Aimee Bennett at aimee(at)faganbusinesscommunications(dot)com.

Freedom Financial Network (http://www.freedomfinancialnetwork.com)
Freedom Financial Network, LLC (FFN), provides comprehensive consumer credit advocacy services. Through the FFN family of companies – Freedom Debt Relief, Freedom Tax Relief, ConsolidationPlus, FreedomPlus and Bills.com – FFN works as an independent advocate to provide comprehensive financial solutions, including debt consolidation, debt resolution, debt settlement and tax resolution services for consumers struggling with debt. The company, which has resolved more than $3 billion in debt and assisted more than 265,000 clients since 2002, is an accredited member of the American Fair Credit Council, and a platinum member of the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators.

Based in San Mateo, Calif., FFN also operates an office in Tempe, Ariz. The company, with 650 employees, was voted one of the best places to work in the San Francisco Bay area in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and in the Phoenix area in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. FFN’s founders are recipients of the Northern California Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

(end) Reported by PRWeb 19 hours ago.

Series of live webinars for business owners will discuss provisions and upcoming deadlines for the Affordable Care Act.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

As the next phase of open enrollment approaches under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) have announced a series of live webinars launching this fall to assist business owners. As part of its Small Business Health Care Advisory Council, the SBDC has partnered with legal, employee benefits, and tax experts to develop business-focused ACA presentations specifically for small firms. Confirmed speakers include:

Jessica Dunlap, CPA, The Catanese Group, PICPA Representative
Bill Long, SMC Insurance Agency
Eric Pochas, Vantagen LLC
Nicole Radziewicz, Rhoads & Sinon LLP

The webinars will be delivered in two parts, ACA 101 for employers with less than 50 employees and ACA 201 for employers with 50-100 employees. There is no fee to attend these webinars, however online registration is required.

ACA 101 (less than 50 employees) will cover important definitions and thresholds such as shared responsibility and minimum essential coverage, qualifying for exemptions, coverage options for sole proprietors, premium assistance subsidy (also known as tax credits or rebates), information on calculating full time employees under the Act, employee notice requirements for employers, practical advice on where to get insurance, and budgeting for health care.

ACA 101 Webinar – September 16, 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
ACA 101 Webinar – October 14, 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
ACA 101 Webinar – November 11, 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.

ACA 201 (more than 50 employees) will address important scenarios and examples such as what provisions of the Act are already in effect, calculating full time equivalents, determining full-time status and eligibility, requirements of insurance coverage by applicable large employers, obtaining health insurance coverage for company employees, and next steps for employers related to the ACA.

ACA 201 Webinar – September 16, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
ACA 201 Webinar – October 14, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
ACA 201 Webinar – November 11, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Advisory Council is comprised of business and trade associations, economic development organizations and the Pennsylvania SBDC. The Council has developed educational sessions and a referral web site to assist small businesses and connect them with the agencies and associations to provide the answers, resources, and guidance they need to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition, the Council provides web-based educational material and live seminars throughout the Commonwealth in cooperation with the network of 18 Small Business Development Centers. The Council’s website (http://www.pahealthcare.org) provides referrals to service providers, news updates, and event announcements.

Business owners are encouraged to research coverage options, conduct sound financial planning and determine company policies on health insurance offerings to employees. The statewide network of SBDCs is available to provide confidential, no-fee assistance to businesses with financial analysis and business planning related to the ACA. Business owners and managers should contact their local SBDC by visiting http://www.pasbdc.org/centers.

###

About Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
The Pennsylvania SBDC network is the only statewide, nationally accredited program that provides high quality one-on-one consulting, training and information resources to empower new and existing businesses. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, individualized sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business plan, investigating funding opportunities, and much more. The SBDC program is a public/private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth.

About Rhoads & Sinon LLP
Established in 1935, and located in the heart of Harrisburg's commercial and government districts, Rhoads & Sinon is one of Central Pennsylvania's premiere regional firms providing sophisticated counsel to corporate, municipal, governmental and individual clients throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

About SMC Insurance Agency
SMC Insurance Agency professionals are experienced in making sense of insurance for small and medium size businesses. SMC offers a comprehensive array of insurance options for all business needs, and provides the guidance to help business owners get exactly what they need, no less and no more.

About Vantagen LLC
Vantagen is an affiliate company of ParenteBeard, dedicated to human resources consulting and administration services. Its niche practice serves clients located throughout the U.S. and is primarily focused on traditional HR consulting, executive search and employee benefits administration.

About the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA)
The PICPA is a premiere statewide association of more than 22,000 members working in public accounting, industry, government, and education. Founded in 1897, PICPA is the second oldest and fourth largest state CPA society in the country and is committed to serving the public interest while also helping its members belong, grow and achieve. Reported by PRWeb 19 hours ago.

Seizing the world’s attention, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 1,000 people and was spotlighted when two infected Americans were brought to the United States to be treated.

Richmond, Va. (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

When two Americans were recently transported back to the United States from West Africa last month, it had many people talking. Why? The two individuals were infected with Ebola— a virus that is sweeping over West Africa, killing upwards of 1,000 people.

However, U.S. residents shouldn’t worry. There have been no reported cases in the United States aside from the two Americans who contracted the virus while in Africa. The outbreak is currently centered in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

That's what Experient Health, the health insurance arm of the Virginia Farm Bureau, reported this month in its blog series on health care reform, health insurance and health care issues. The blog was launched last year to keep the community informed of issues and trends that impact their lives.

"Ebola is an acute viral illness characterized by the sudden onset of fever, debilitating weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. People often confuse the illness’ early symptoms with cold or flu symptoms," Experient Health wrote in its blog. "The disease incubates in the sufferer’s body for between two and 21 days, and victims become contagious once they present symptoms."

As it progresses, Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function, and internal and external bleeding, particularly from the mouth, ears and eyes.

"There is no vaccine for Ebola, although experts are currently testing several options," Experient Health wrote. "While the two infected Americans received experimental treatments, it’s not clear whether the medicines could be made widely available. The lack of a viable vaccine is made all the more troubling due to the disease’s high mortality rate—anywhere from 50 to 90 percent."

Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids and organs of infected animals, many of which are not native to the United States. Humans contracted the disease in Africa after touching infected animals in the rain forest.

After humans are infected, Ebola can spread to other humans via contact with their bodily fluids, including saliva, sweat, blood and vomit. Ebola is not a respiratory disease like the flu, so it is not transmitted through the air. Nor can Ebola be contracted through contaminated food or water. People can only get Ebola from touching the bodily fluids of a person or animal that is sick with or has died from Ebola, or from exposure to contaminated objects, such as needles.

"Right now, the best way to avoid contracting Ebola is simply to avoid unessential travel to the affected countries," Experient Health wrote. "While it is possible that Ebola could surface in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls that scenario remote, and is assisting with active screening and education efforts on the ground in West Africa to prevent sick travelers from getting on planes."

The CDC has provided guidance to U.S. airlines for managing ill passengers and crew and for disinfecting aircraft. It has also provided guidance to U.S. health care workers explaining how they can protect themselves from infection and how to test and isolate suspected patients.

To read more about the symptoms of Ebola and ways to protect yourself from the virus, visit the Experient Health blog online here: http://experientinsurance.com/2014/08/13/health-news-brief-us-ebola-threat-remains-low/. Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.

Companies achieve single largest agent gain in more than 20 years.

Springfield, MO (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

American National recently announced its single largest agent gain in more than 20 years due to the release of the Agent Career Program (ACP) in 2013. The ACP provides paid training for American National and Farm Family multiple line agent candidates through Kelly OCG, a third-party, while they work alongside an established agent to gain business experience.

Over the past year, American National embarked on a mission to identify and select qualified agent candidates to complete this innovative program. After experiencing significant growth within the first year of the ACP’s release, American National is on track to meet its 2014 recruiting objectives for multiple line agents and expects continued growth in the future.

“Our agents are the face of our company and are essential to our success,” said Gary Lukovich, vice president of multiple line distribution and sales. “We invest in the training of our new agents because we entrust them with demonstrating the personalized service that has become a hallmark of our companies.”

American National encourages job seekers of all backgrounds to consider a career in the insurance industry. Dedicated professionals looking for a flexible schedule, an entrepreneurial endeavor, opportunities for leadership and unlimited income potential are invited to consider an American National or Farm Family agent opportunity.

To learn more about agent career opportunities through American National, go to AgentCareerToday.com or FarmFamily.com/AgentCareers.

About American National
American National Insurance Company (American National), headquartered in Galveston, Texas, was founded in 1905 and is licensed in all states except New York. American National and its subsidiaries offer a broad line of products and services, which include life insurance, annuities, health insurance, credit insurance, pension products and property and casualty insurance for personal lines, agribusiness, and certain commercial exposures. The American National companies operate in all 50 states.

American National established a dedicated property and casualty division in 1973 with American National Property And Casualty Company, Springfield, MO. This company serves thirty-eight states not including New York. To better serve the unique insurance needs of the agricultural market, American National acquired the Farm Family group of insurance companies based in New York in 2001.

For corporate and investor relations information, go to American National’s web site at http://www.anico.com. Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.

Filed under: Family Money, Personal Finance, Having a Baby

*Iurii Sokolov*

Babies bring a ton of joy and wonder into our lives -- and a ton of extra expenses.

The average cost to raise a child, over the course of 18 years, is around $241,000 for a middle-income couple, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (This doesn't include the cost of college, which is another article in itself). Let's break down basic baby costs in two categories: what you need at the beginning and what you'll be spending in the months that follow:

*Upfront Costs*

· *Childbirth. *The* *costs of pregnancy, delivery and postnatal care are huge. Even if your insurance pays for part of it, you'll end up on the hook for your deductible (which may range from $500 to $3,000), plus your co-insurance (with can be 20 percent to 30 percent of the total), plus office visit co-pays (with can cost $30 to $75 per office visit.) Review your health insurance policy to see what is covered and what you must pay out-of-pocket, but expect the following price ranges for overall cost, according to Parenting.com: vaginal delivery ($7,000-$10,000), C-section delivery ($10,000-$12,500); delivery with complications (up to $250,000-$300,000)
· *Mementos. *You might want a few keepsakes from your baby's birth, but remember that posting pictures from your phone on Facebook (FB) is free. Consider these price estimates: birth announcements ($50), baby book or scrapbook ($25) and photo printing ($130)
· *Insurance. * You'll have two major insurance needs: health care for the baby, plus term life insurance for yourself. Adding a baby to a family health insurance plan will cost in the neighborhood of $200 to $450 a month. The cost of taking out life insurance for yourself will depends on your age, health and the amount of coverage you desire. But as an example, a healthy non-smoking male can get $500,000 in coverage for around $350 to $450 a year.
· *Supplies. *Are you ready for an incredible list of everything you'll need when the baby arrives? Assuming you purchase everything new, here are the price estimates: furniture ($1,000-$3,000 for crib, changing table, rocking chair and accessories); bedding, blankets and mattress ($150-$200); bassinet ($100); stroller ($100); baby carrier ($20-$50); car seat ($100-$200); diaper bags ($50); feeding supplies ($90 for bottles and nipples, bibs, burp cloths and bottle brush); highchair ($100); baby monitor ($50); cleaning and toiletries ($50 for bathtub, towels and washcloths and accessories); play yard ($80); bouncer ($40); play mat ($50); mobile ($30); childproofing supplies ($45); and safety gate ($120). According to Parenting, new parents typically shell out $6,000 in total for supplies, though you could pull it off for $2,000 or less if you're a careful shopper.

*Monthly Costs*

Baby is here! Now here's what you can expect to pay going forward, according to a combination of estimates from BabyCenter.com and WhattoExpect.com:

· *Diapers. * Many parents report that diapers are one of the biggest sticker shocks when their first baby arrives. Here are the costs: disposable diapers ($30 to $85 a month), diaper pail ($25), cloth diapers ($20 a month), diaper service ($75 a month) and cleaning wipes ($20 a month).
· *Food. *You may or may not need baby formula, depending on your health and choices, but your child will start eating solid food after roughly six to eight months. Expect these costs: formula ($60-$100 a month); nursing bras ($50-$75 each); breast pump ($50-$250); nursing pillow ($30); milk storage bags, breast pads, ice packs and accessories ($75); baby food once your baby starts solid food ($50-$100 a month); and plates, bowls, sippy cups, utensils once on solid food ($45 one-time cost).
· *Day care.* Day care when your child is a newborn will cost more than it will in later years since babies require extra care and attention. Depending on where you live, annual day-care costs can be $5,000 to $20,000 a year.
· *Clothes, toys, books, etc.* These items are actually among of the cheapest, in part because they're mostly discretionary. Plan on spending $30 to $80 a month, for a reasonable quantity of clothes and other items.

*Helpful Hints*

By any measure, these are worrying numbers. And if you and your spouse decide that one of you should look after the child full-time, thus becoming a one-income family, the numbers become even more daunting.

One of the best ways to defray the costs of having a baby is by tapping into your network of family and friends. Can your brother, sister or your friends give you items -- like a crib, stroller, toys, books or some clothing that their own children have outgrown? Would grandma or grandpa be willing to watch the kids, even just one or two days per week, while you're at work?

Paula Pant ditched her 9-to-5 job in 2008. She's traveled to 32 countries, owns seven rental units and runs a business from her laptop. Her blog, Afford Anything, is a gathering spot for rebels who want to ditch the cubicle, shatter limits and live life on your own terms -- while also building wealth, security and freedom.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 17 hours ago.

The Rev. Patrick J. Frawley, president and CEO of Fidelis Care, sees small business as one of the biggest losers under the Affordable Care Act. He is starting to compare small-business owners to people eligible for Medicaid, the government health care program for low-income residents. That's because many small businesses are facing drastic hikes in health insurance bills, or having prior coverage plans dropped entirely, because of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. "There is a real need," Frawley… Reported by bizjournals 17 hours ago.

Rivers Casino employees will picket in front of the casino's front entrance Thursday to demand an end to what they refer to as "slashed hours and benefits." Workers contend there have been deep reductions in the number of full-time positions in favor of part-time positions that do not qualify for health insurance. The group will meet under the Allegheny T-Stop at noon, according to a media advisory issued by Unite Here. Hourly workers at the casino have been trying to start a union since April… Reported by bizjournals 15 hours ago.

You know how some people get a case of the blues around the winter holidays? Well, I feel that way around Labor Day.

I jokingly tell people that I suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when it comes to my job. I have one now, but for two years during the recession, I didn't. I was laid off in 2009 from the newspaper where I worked for almost two decades and then spent two years freelancing until I was hired by The Huffington Post in 2011. While by most standards, I did pretty well for myself for those two years freelancing -- no one in my family went hungry, was without health insurance, or became homeless. But don't kid yourself: The experience left scars.

Here's what being laid off taught me and why I think many mid-lifers may still not be celebrating this Labor Day:

*Job security is just a myth.*
When I entered the work force, you had a job for life. Sure, you made moves to advance your career but that was generally accomplished by staying within the same company. When people retired at 65, the company threw big parties for them and gave them gold watches to thank them for their 40+ years of service. Loyalty to your company was a given and the company rewarded that loyalty with annual raises, end-of-year-bonuses and even turkeys at Thanksgiving. One of the tasks of the personnel office was to send flowers to your wife in the hospital after she gave birth.

That all ended in the years leading up to the recession. As companies focused more on the bottom line, they began to refer to workers as "assets" and when times got tough, they looked at which "assets" to cut. "Do more with less,""Get rid of the fat," and "leaner and meaner" were the propaganda slogans that sent chills down workers' spines.

Older workers quickly read the writing on the wall: Those with higher salaries were led into the gas chambers first while corporate lawyers dangled "don't sue us if you hope to get a dime in severance" agreements in front of our stunned faces.

We signed. All of us did. I still question how this coerced agreement signed under duress was legal and not protested. Why didn't the ACLU jump in to protect workers from the slaughter? But everyone who could have done something about it instead turned deaf, dumb, and blind.

And the result is that what we are now left with a workplace culture riddled with insecurity and restlessness. When people are afraid of losing their jobs, they strive to be compliant, not creative. Toeing the line has replaced pushing the envelope. And company loyalty went the way of the Thanksgiving turkey -- killed, roasted, and gobbled up while CEOs belched all the way to the bank.

*Older workers stay out-of-work the longest.*
This has been long-documented, but we can regurgitate it here for the millennial disbelievers.

According to AARP's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average, workers age 55 and up remain unemployed for 45.6 weeks, compared with 34.7 weeks for workers younger than 55.

Sara Rix, senior strategic policy adviser with AARP's Public Policy Institute, notes that recent research says many of these unemployed people "will never become re-employed."

While we can safely claim that all generations were hurt by the recession, only one group has the least amount of time to mitigate the recession's financial impact -- and that group is older workers. If you lost your job in the mid-2000's, you likely also lost your nest egg. And you can't actually rebuild it unless you find a job, which isn't happening for many. Time is running out.

*Age discrimination is real.*
Certain stereotypes exist about older workers -- we can't keep up technologically, we will spend all day reminiscing about the good old days, we don't fit in to the current office culture.

These stereotypes are at the root of the discrimination. I'd also throw in the fact that employers want to hire the cheapest workers possible, and that's less experienced folks.

But even the Washington Post is guilty of age discrimination. In an ad seeking a social media manager, the paper said it was looking for someone with the "ability to explain to those twice your age what Reddit or Snapchat or Whisper or Fark is." I can explain those things to you and I'm 64. And then there was the Seattle Star, which ran an ad saying it was seeking someone "young." The publisher was unapologetic when it was suggested that this was discrimination against older people. "So sue me. Sheesh," he said. Can you imagine the outrage if he had written "white" for "young?"

*Older unemployed workers have gone underground, and in doing so, have become invisible.*
Older workers are the infrastructure of the so-called gig economy. They jump from one freelance and/or part-time job to the next. They work under contracts that don't pay them when they get sick or offer them health insurance. Vacations? They are on their own.

Having been part of this group for two years, I salute these people. They are a creative lot who have figured out how to stay afloat, if only barely. They get their teeth using Groupon coupons, they shop at thrift stores for their kids' back-to-school clothes, and they make quilts to sell on Etsy to keep the lights turned on. Some have taken in rent-paying roommates to help cover the mortgage. They barter and exchange services; some times in a pinch, they ask for money. But somehow, each month, they find a way.

What's truly unfortunate is that we've stopped counting them as unemployed. If they don't collect unemployment benefits, they don't exist -- even though we all know dozens of people in this situation. This is why "unemployment" stats for older workers are lower than the national numbers.

Just don't kid yourself: There will come a day when each and every one of these workers will no longer be able to exist on this tightrope. They are already calling it the silver tsunami and it's headed toward taxpayers.

*"Get retrained" is easier said than done.*
No one is arguing that today's jobs require a different skills set than jobs of old. But have you seen a lot of retraining programs underway in your city? Me neither. Community colleges have borne the brunt of older workers trying to learn new tricks.

My standard advice to every out-of-work mid-lifer is this: Go into healthcare. With the population aging and the need for health services growing, it would seem like a natural place to be.

The question no one has a good answer for is: What do you live on while you are busy getting retrained? It's not like we can push the pause button on our living expenses while we figure things out. And forget government help. The government has offered very little in the way of retraining programs, let alone figured out how to help people stay afloat while they are being retrained.

Which leaves the old turning our hobbies into businesses. While many midlifers try their hand at entrepreneurial ventures, the wash-out rate is high. Entrepreneur magazine reports that first-time entrepreneurs have only an 18 percent chance of succeeding in taking their companies public. Bottom line: Just because you like to cook, it doesn't mean you should open a restaurant.

*Experience is worth less, if not altogether worthless.*
I remember when I was looking for my first job and every place I applied wanted someone with experience. We've come a full 180 on this. Experience -- probably because it comes with a higher price tag -- is less desirable a qualification. Experience won't get you far in today's jobs market.

The big news this year is that Google, AT&T, and MetLife and about 250 other employers signed a pledge to "recognize the value of experienced workers." I'm still left stammering that these major employers needed a pledge to actually do this.

*Older workers tend to bomb interviews.*
This, of course, assumes you even get an interview. But ask anyone over 50 who has had one what it's like and the stories all start to sound the same. "The guy asked me a question and then just kept texting away while I was answering.""I wore a great 'interview' outfit and he wore jeans; it was awkward.""It was like we were speaking different languages."

Times have changed in the personnel office. Not only aren't they sending anyone flowers in the hospital, they are also checking out your digital footprint -- googling you, reading your LinkedIn profile, checking what you posted on social media sites. The guy may be texting while you are speaking, but just remember that older workers aren't the only ones who have taken a beating in the past decade: Manners may have too.
Earlier on Huff/Post50: Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.

Jeremy Bradford and a friend were walking through downtown Seattle one summer night in 2011, looking for a place where they could share the contents of the baggie in Bradford’s pocket, when they ran into a man who told them about a spot under the freeway. A narrow trail led through a thicket of blackberry brambles to a small clearing. Eight or nine people were sitting around on salvaged chairs and mattresses, smoking cigarettes and talking.

Bradford didn’t feel like he belonged there. “You have two types of people in the crack world -- crackheads and smokers,” he said. He still thought of himself as a smoker, someone with too much self-respect to live in the weeds under a highway. But there he was. He took a seat on a mattress, held a flame to the end of a thin glass tube and inhaled.

In another life, Bradford supervised 13 soldiers as a corporal in the Marines, and later sold good suits in the men’s section of a department store. He was “a preppy black guy in Armani,” he said, a man who took pride in his appearance. But in the decade after he turned 29, he lost 30 pounds and often went days without a shower. He lived on friends’ couches, in cheap motel rooms, and sometimes on cardboard mats on the sidewalk. There were months when he managed to avoid smoking crack, but then he’d run into someone he knew from the streets. Along the way, he’d fathered a child with a woman who lived in the house where he bought his drugs, and he’d watched the state and then his parents take custody of his daughter.

A few months after that night under the freeway, the cops found their way to the hidden spot. By then, Bradford had claimed one of the mattresses as his own. He had been sleeping there every night, hoping to avoid what now seemed unavoidable: another trip to the county jail, where he’d already been locked up more than 20 times. Sometimes the police had booked him for a night or two, sometimes longer. But this time, instead of putting him in jail, they invited him to participate in a radical experiment.
For Bradford, it represented another chance. For the cops, it was part of a difficult process that forced them to break habits of their own.Jeremy Bradford, a former suit salesman who was arrested for drugs more than 20 times in half as many years, stands for a portrait in downtown Seattle on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Mike Kane for The Huffington PostIn 1971, Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “America’s public enemy number one.” Over the next three decades, the federal government and most states toughened their drug laws and began spending ever more to put offenders in prison and keep them there. Today, there are neighborhoods where nearly everyone knows people who have been behind bars, and the enforcement of the drug laws across racial lines is so uneven that the United States locks up a higher percentage of black men than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. Drugs are purer and cheaper than they were in the '90s, and the demand for them is overwhelming authorities’ ability to combat the problem. Prison wardens are filling gyms and television rooms with bunk beds. Officials in both parties and at every level of the government complain about the cost of keeping so many people locked up.
In recent years, some states have saved money on prisons by investing more heavily in “drug courts” where judges can order defendants to enroll in treatment programs. Every state in the country has at least a few drug courts; Washington alone has dozens. In the simplest sense, these courts offer people an opportunity to avoid prison, provided they agree to stop using all illegal drugs and go into a treatment program ordered by a judge. Studies suggest that they can help addicted people break their habits. But people with the toughest addictions often drop out or fail to qualify in the first place, and even those who manage to get "clean" still have to live with the permanent stain of a criminal record.

In Seattle’s West Precinct, where Bradford lives, the approach is different. People who get arrested for the sale and possession of crack, heroin and other illegal drugs are no longer automatically thrown in jail and prosecuted. Instead, officers with the Seattle Police Department now have the option of giving these offenders a choice: leave the precinct the old-fashioned way, in handcuffs, or meet with a counselor at a social-service agency and avoid the court system altogether.

Those who choose the second path are no longer offenders, but “clients.” Depending on their needs, they may receive free apartments, clean clothes, college tuition, books for school or even yoga classes. Counselors lead them through a bureaucratic maze, helping them apply for jobs, food stamps, health insurance and other essentials. Private foundations shoulder most of the costs, though the city has begun to chip in, too. All the clients have to do to get into the program is agree to see a counselor at least twice in the first month of signing up. They don’t have to promise to stop using drugs. No one hands them a cup and points them to the bathroom.

The underlying philosophy is known as “harm reduction.” Proponents believe in trying to rein in the secondary effects of drug addiction -- social ills like poverty and homelessness and physical diseases like HIV -- by supporting people who are either unwilling or unable to stop using drugs. The idea has always been controversial, particularly in the United States, with critics arguing that the best way to address addiction is to insist on total abstinence from drugs at every stage of the recovery process. Nevertheless, government-backed programs that practice the principles of harm reduction are spreading throughout the country and the world, in part because the unimpeded growth of the drug trade has made it increasingly difficult for governments to justify the traditional ways of dealing with addiction.

In Canada, Australia, and many European cities, addicts can now get their fixes in legally sanctioned injection rooms under the supervision of nurses who have been trained to protect against overdoses. Syringe exchanges, where people can trade dirty needles for clean ones, have sprung up in most American states and in more than 70 countries. Since 2001, the government of Portugal has treated the possession of a personal supply of drugs as a minor offense on par with a parking violation. When the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, looked into the effects of this policy in 2009, it found that fewer kids were using drugs in their teens and that the HIV infection rate among drug users had dropped substantially.

In the United States, police departments in some cities have taken small steps toward reconciling the old-school approach with one that prioritizes the health and safety of drug users. In Washington, D.C., for example, the police chief has ordered officers to comply with a new law that bars them from arresting people who call 911 to report an overdose.

Yet Seattle may be the only city in America where the police have departed so sharply from the status quo. Judith Greene, the director of Justice Strategies, a nonprofit research group that studies criminal justice reform, said she couldn’t think of another example of police arresting people for the purpose of “giving them a pathway to a new life.”
Although it's still too soon to tell whether Seattle's strategy will pay off in the long run, the program, called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, is already attracting interest from police departments and prosecutors’ offices around the country. San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta and Houston have all sent representatives to Seattle to take notes, according to the program’s administrators. Santa Fe recently adopted the model for people arrested for heroin and prescription opiates, and Albany, New York, is expected to launch a similar program this year. In Seattle, the effort has already helped dozens of people like Bradford get access to services that can temper the effects of addiction. In a society that still insists on treating drug addicts as criminals, the city is trying to use that criminalization to direct addicted people to services that might actually help them.

Occidental Park in downtown Seattle, part of LEAD's 150-block coverage area.The overgrown lot where the police picked up Bradford lies on the edge of the experiment’s laboratory, a 150-block zone that includes Seattle’s downtown shopping scene and a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood called Belltown. Pike Place Market, an arcade of stalls selling artisanal cheeses and smoked salmon, forms the western border, along the waterfront. To the east, where the out-of-town buses stop, dealers mill around on crowded sidewalks, mumbling the trade words for goods of a different kind -- “black” for heroin and “cream” or “butter” for crack. The discount shops on the southern end may appear legitimate to most people, but on a recent walk down the strip, a shoplifter pointed out a restaurant whose proprietors, she said, operate a sideline fencing goods that addicts have pilfered from neighboring businesses.
Seattle’s downtown drug trade took off after the city’s decline as a manufacturing center in the late 1960s. Between 1968 and the end of 1971, with the nation’s economy in a slump, the Boeing Company laid off thousands of workers. The local unemployment rate hit nearly 15 percent, more than twice the national average. It was around this time that the abandoned shops and warehouses around Pike Place became the hub of a “wide open drug and sex market,” said Kris Nyrop, a program director for LEAD. As the years went by, the police kept arresting many of the same people again and again, but that didn’t make the problem go away. In fact, it may have only made things worse. “I saw too many people get convicted for crack or heroin,” said Nyrop, who ran a syringe exchange in downtown Seattle in the ‘90s. “At that point their life is fucked. They can’t get employment, they can’t get housing. The only world they can live in is the illegal world after that.”

In the last decade, software engineers and designers have staked a claim to this post-industrial turf, paying a premium for the soaring loft ceilings and sparkling views of the sound. But despite the rising rents, the local street dealers have not gone out of business. Scattered among the restaurants and galleries, government-funded housing projects and treatment centers still draw the poor and the addicted. In one cafe, a crowbar hangs from the wall like a battle trophy, a tribute to the barista who supposedly used the tool to fend off a drug-crazed vagrant.

From 2006 to 2010, the commander of the roughly 150 police officers responsible for these streets was a department lifer named Steve Brown. One recent afternoon, Brown sat down for an interview at the office of a public defender, a longtime nemesis of the department who still arouses so much contempt among some of its members that another cop recently went so far as to describe her as “the devil.”

As Brown spoke, he shot some hand sanitizer into his palms, rubbed them together, and then used a folded tissue to wipe up a drop that had landed on the table. This meticulous official did not seem like the sort of person who would choose to become a revolutionary. And yet, through his unlikely alliance with “the devil,” he’d arguably become one.

Former Seattle Police Department Commander Steve Brown stands for a portrait near his home in Edmonds, Wash., on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. Mike Kane for The Huffington Post
Brown’s tenure as a police officer began in 1980, just as the growth of the American prison population was beginning to accelerate. Over the years, as his rank rose, so did the department’s arrest rate. In the lawyer’s office, he recounted his rise without flair, responding to several questions with a gentle “my goodness.” But when he spoke of his stint as an undercover narcotics agent during the crack boom of the 1980s, a hint of the proud warrior crept into his voice. “We closed down crack houses, we put people in jail and we cleaned up neighborhoods,” he said. “And that was a pretty good feeling.”

In 2001, Brown became captain of the department’s narcotics unit. This personal milestone marked the beginning of a difficult time for the force. Lisa Daugaard, now the deputy director of the county’s public defense department, was then the head of a special unit of attorneys and researchers at the Public Defender Association, a nonprofit firm that represented indigent defendants. In Brown’s first year as captain, Daugaard filed the first of two motions accusing the police of targeting black people in drug arrests. In Seattle, a city where less than a tenth of the population is black, African-Americans made up nearly two-thirds of the suspects who were arrested for drug crimes that year, despite evidence from Daugaard's organization and the American Civil Liberties Union showing that they were no more likely to use or sell drugs than anyone else. Under pressure from a judge, the cops submitted to hours of questioning by Daugaard and her colleagues. Brown took the probing “very personally,” he said, sitting across the table from his longtime adversary. “I don’t go to work thinking I’m going to violate somebody’s civil rights. That is insanity.”

Now retired at the early age of 57, Brown, an avid fisherman, looks lean and fit from his battles with the salmon of Puget Sound. But his department headshot, taken at the time of his battles with Daugaard, shows a much heavier man. The fight sapped his energy and caused him to neglect his health, he said. It also compelled him to question his “whole philosophy” of drug enforcement -- a philosophy he’d practiced faithfully over the course of his career. “There’s a huge cost to putting people in jail,” he said, “and what do you get at the end?” The more he thought about how to defend his approach, the less sure he felt it was worth defending. When his two young boys told him they wanted to grow up to be cops, he encouraged them to join the fire department instead.

By 2005, the police were tired -- tired of dealing with Daugaard and her team, and tired of spending a fortune on lawyers. Begrudgingly, Brown and several other law enforcement heads agreed to meet with Daugaard outside of the courtroom. As Daugaard recalls it, Brown told her at that meeting that the police did not see themselves as racist and would never respect anyone who implied that they were. He claimed that if his officers were arresting more black people for drug dealing, that was because more black people were dealing drugs on their streets. Still, he let Daugaard know that if she had a better idea for how to handle the drug problem, he was ready to listen.
Daugaard remembers feeling taken aback. Until that moment, she and her staff had never thought about what it would actually take to solve the issue they had spent years decrying in court. “We were against something,” she said. “But we were not for anything.” Like many of her clients, Daugaard had been arrested dozens of times -- not for drugs, but for acts of civil disobedience. She had grown up in the sort of progressive white household in Seattle where Malcolm X was quoted at the dinner table, and she’d organized protests against South African apartheid as a Cornell student in the ‘80s. She considered herself a supporter of the movement to end the prohibition of drugs, but as she thought over Brown’s challenge, she decided it wouldn’t do any good to hold out hope for something so ambitious, even in a state that would legalize marijuana less than a decade later. She had long believed that her job as an activist lawyer was to “fight everyone in a uniform,” she said. Now she was beginning to realize that if she wanted to make a difference in the lives of the people she represented, she would have to find a way to get the cops on her side.
Lisa Daugaard, a public defender who pushed the Seattle Police Department to reform its drug policies, stands for a portrait in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. Mike Kane for The Huffington Post

Bradford, who is 45, first tried cocaine at 29 and quickly became the type of guy who was always slipping into the men’s rooms at nightclubs. He missed the soldier’s life, he said -- the wild parties in Thailand and the Philippines, the gun battles off the coast of Kuwait, the comfort of knowing that your friends always had your back.
One night, he took a hit of cocaine residue from a pot pipe that his drug dealer had used to smoke crack. “We call that the ‘caviar,’” he said. “It’s the most potent form of the drug. And that’s when the demise pretty much started.”

Crack is much cheaper than powder cocaine. Bradford could afford to stay high all weekend and share the supply with his friends. The party lasted about six months before things began to unravel. First, his boss at the department store caught him napping in a back room and let him go; then Bradford stopped paying rent and lost his apartment. He began selling crack here and there to support his habit, and connected shoplifters with buyers, using the sales tricks and conversational skills he’d cultivated on the floor of the menswear department. In 2007, he discovered that one of his friends from the drug world was pregnant with his child. Less than a year after his daughter was born, he said, a fire broke out in the hotel room where the mother and child were staying. The state briefly took custody of the infant girl, and then Bradford’s mother and stepfather adopted her. Bradford would visit now and then, but it was his stepfather who brought the girl to her first gymnastics lessons, who taught her how to ride a bike. The girl still calls Bradford’s stepfather “Dad.”

“It hurts every time I hear it,” Bradford said.

A desire to be a better father played a part in Bradford’s decision to give the LEAD program a try. One morning in September of 2011, he and his friends were getting high in that spot beneath the freeway when they heard footsteps coming down the trail. They looked up to see a pair of cops step out into the clearing. Bradford quickly tossed a packet of crack into the bushes, but the cops weren’t there to search anyone. Victor Maes, an officer with flecks of grey in his mustache and almost three decades of policing under his belt, began telling the group about an unusual experiment designed to help them.

Bradford had been in rehab programs before. By now, he’d given up hope that any program would ever cure him of his dependence on drugs. Still, he couldn’t deny the appeal of clean clothes and a free apartment. All he had to do was give the cops a reason to arrest him one more time. Back then, in the early days of the experiment, the administrators were so overwhelmed by the logistical demands of the program that they only allowed the caseworkers to accept clients who were facing jail or prison. And so, as Maes spoke, Bradford did something he could never have imagined doing before: He showed the cop his pipe, held out his wrists, and asked to be arrested. (Three years later, the cops can refer people into the program without snapping a pair of handcuffs on them first.)

The police say they thought of Bradford as a "frequent flier," one of several hundred people who had logged some serious miles on their trips from the streets of downtown Seattle to the King County Jail. But on that morning in the fall of 2011, Bradford’s journey into the criminal justice system ended at the police station. Sitting in a private room with a social worker, Tim Candela, Bradford said he wanted to help raise his daughter, then 3. He also wanted an apartment and a job, but he had no intention of giving up drugs. Candela didn’t argue. Bradford left the station, took out his phone and called his dealer.
Over the next few months, Candela got Bradford into a homeless shelter, and then helped him restore his driver’s license, which the state had suspended after a few friends borrowed his car and abandoned it in the street. After a few meetings, Bradford said he wanted help with his addiction after all. Candela wasn’t surprised. “Everyone has goals,” said Candela, who serves 30 clients currently enrolled in the LEAD program. “I guarantee once you work toward those goals and a couple things come to fruition, you’ll come back and say ‘I want to deal with my addiction.’ And it’s a lot more meaningful than if I say, ‘You need assistance.’”

LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) caseworker Tim Candela, right, attends a LEAD meeting at the SPD West Precinct in Seattle on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. Mike Kane for The Huffington PostAfter Brown challenged Daugaard to come up with a better strategy for handling the drug problem, Daugaard and her colleagues began talking with civil rights advocates and leaders in the city's black community. Within weeks, Daugaard and her team had settled on the basic concept of replacing jail time with human services. But the idea didn't catch on with the cops right away. It took three more years, another round of court battles, and a series of tense meetings at a coffee shop across the street from Daugaard’s office before Daugaard convinced Brown to take a chance on her proposal.
“There was a certain amount of risk involved,” Brown said. He didn’t look forward to telling his sergeants that he’d come to terms with the woman who had slammed them in court, and he worried about letting suspected felons walk free without even a charge. Daugaard, sensing his nervousness, advised him at one of their coffee sessions to avoid watching HBO’s “The Wire.” She couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Brown and Howard “Bunny” Colvin, a police commander who decriminalizes drugs in a Baltimore neighborhood and ends up leaving the force to work at a hotel.

Meanwhile, the need for a solution was growing. About a month after Brown and Daugaard began their talks, more than 100 people -- mostly from gentrifying Belltown -- confronted Brown and the county prosecutor at a town hall meeting over what some residents were calling “the drug bazaar.” Dealers were doing business in broad daylight, they said. Addicts were roaming the streets at all hours, stealing from stores and breaking into cars. Why weren't the cops doing anything about it?

Brown insisted the department was doing all it could. Then Daugaard walked up to the podium and, as she remembers it, took a deep breath. Seeing an opportunity to press her case to the affluent crowd, she outlined the plan she’d been pitching to Brown. Several people in the audience spoke up in support. Afterwards, residents lined up to ask questions. Brown quietly took note.

By the end of the next year, Daugaard had secured $1 million in financing from philanthropic groups that support criminal justice reform, including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the smaller RiverStyx Foundation and Vital Projects Fund. The city’s liberal mayor, the county’s Republican prosecutor, and a variety of other local leaders had all signed off on the project.
Brown ended up agreeing to all of Daugaard’s suggestions, meaning the cops would offer the program to people arrested not only for possession, but also for street-level dealing and prostitution. After years of dreading his encounters with Daugaard, Brown was beginning to respect her. “Attorneys sue,” he said. “That’s what they do. But she went from attacking us to saying, ‘I want to work with you.’ It was legitimate, sincere, and I thought, ‘We can do this. We can try it.’”The first participants signed up in the fall of 2011. Over the next 2 1/2 years, the police recruited a total of 179 people, according to data provided by the program. Of those 179, about 150 people were homeless when they started. But as of the beginning of this year, at least 120 of those 150 had moved into an apartment, motel or some other type of shelter. More than half of the 179 initial enrollees have received help applying for public benefits, and nearly as many have sought treatment for their addictions. According to the data, almost everyone who was offered the opportunity to enroll in the program accepted it.
A more detailed evaluation of the program’s efficacy won’t be completed until April 2015 at the earliest. But Jim Pugel, a former Seattle Police Department chief who helped start the program as an assistant, said he knew “right off the bat” that the experiment would save taxpayers money on jail fees and prosecution costs. People who are charged with drug crimes in Seattle spend three weeks in jail on average, according to an analysis by the county government. That costs the county around $3,000 at the cheapest -- or about 50 percent more than a month’s rent at a newly renovated one-bedroom apartment just down the road.

Local residents say they’ve seen less drug activity on the streets in the last few years, and while it’s hard to know whether LEAD deserves the credit, Liz Campbell, the head of the Belltown Community Council, said the experiment has won over many in the neighborhood. Residents now feel more of “a sense of control” over the drug problem, she said, and they take pride in the apparent signs of progress.

As popular as the program may be in Belltown, it’s impossible not to wonder whether the experiment can succeed in less progressive places. Maybe it can. The country as a whole has never been more sympathetic to the idea of treating drug users as people who require support, not punishment: Polls show that Americans across the political spectrum favor treatment over prosecution as a response to drug use, and liberals and conservatives have come together in a Congress defined by partisan gridlock to draft legislation that would lighten the penalties for drug crimes. In an unprecedented rhetorical move for a president in the drug war era, Barack Obama has begun to talk about addiction as a public health issue, not a crime.

Still, the White House continues to spend billions on drug control, with more than a third of that money going to traditional policing, and the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement groups have bridled at the talk of reform. In April, after Obama defended the administration’s decision to accept the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, Michele Leonhart, the head of the DEA, declared that her agents would not back down from the war on drugs. "Actually, it makes us fight harder," she said.

Back in 2010, the cops in Seattle’s West Precinct were generally skeptical when they learned about the department’s new rules of engagement, according to the officers and commanders interviewed for this article. Some still are. And since they aren’t required to offer the program to every person they arrest, offenders aren’t always presented with an alternative to jail. “It’s up to the cops in that moment,” said Felix Reyes, an officer who works in Belltown. “We’ll offer it if we’re moved to, and we won’t if we’re not.”

Reyes, who came to Seattle in 1992 by way of New York City’s East Harlem, said he thinks the program is too soft on dealers. As a young man, he watched drugs rip apart his family, he said. One of his sisters was addicted to crack, and Reyes ended up raising her children. Reyes said another sister was murdered by her boyfriend, a cocaine dealer and addict who then committed suicide, and the third died after contracting HIV from a man who was hooked on heroin. As Reyes sees it, people who profit from drugs deserve incarceration, not counseling. “I think drug enforcement should be black and white,” he said.

Maes, the veteran officer who brought in Bradford, offered another perspective. “I see change in some people, and I see some struggling,” he said. He first started thinking the program might actually work after he realized he’d stopped seeing two particular routine offenders around the neighborhood. “These two guys were out constantly every day, smoking cocaine, wheeling, dealing, facilitating deals, assisting others to get the dope, shoplifting, scamming people for money, pickpocketing,” he said. “Every time we’d go out at 3, 4 in the morning, there they were, and when we were getting off a shift at 6, 7:00, there they were.”

And then they weren’t. The pair joined the LEAD program and checked into treatment centers in early 2012. A few months later, one of the men came by the precinct to show Maes his wallet. “He says, ‘I got $100 in here, and I haven’t bought rock.’” Then the man showed Maes a picture of his family.
The reality is that the program is working for some people, but life in the West Precinct isn’t all “unicorns and rainbows,” as one caseworker put it. If a week in May was any indication, the cops still spend most of their time arresting people and putting them in jail. Some arrests take place just outside the program’s geographic borders, and some involve former LEAD clients who have stopped meeting with their caseworkers. At the precinct this spring, a hysterical man asked the cops for a pair of gloves, saying worms were crawling out of his fingers. The cops had caught him selling painkillers in a park that morning. He’d enrolled in LEAD almost two years earlier, but it had been a long time since he’d sat down with his psychiatrist or Candela, his caseworker.In August 2010, a Seattle cop shot and killed a homeless Native American woodcarver who was crossing the street against the light while holding a pocket knife and a piece of wood. The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into the Seattle Police Department's use of force and allegations of racially biased policing.
Daugaard provided the feds with the data she and her colleagues had unearthed during their own investigations, but she also told them about the progressive shift that had already begun to take place in the West Precinct under Brown. She hoped to convince them to at least acknowledge the changes that Brown and others in the department had made.

This time, the lawyer's powers of persuasion fell short. In December 2011, the DOJ investigators announced that they'd identified a pattern of excessive force among Seattle’s officers, and suggested that racial bias may have indeed played a role in how that force was meted out. Yet they made no mention of the department’s unusual reform effort.

Brown retired soon after, saying he was frustrated by the federal government’s “heavy-handed” management of its relationship with the department. At the coffee shop where he and Daugaard had met to work out the details of the LEAD experiment, Daugaard gave him a box set of “The Wire” as a parting gift.

In January, a new mayor, Ed Murray, arrived at Seattle City Hall and overhauled the police command. Although Murray describes himself as a progressive, the shakeup led some in the department to wonder whether LEAD would survive under the new regime. So far it has. In May, Murray's administration approved a plan to expand the program to another part of Seattle, an $800,000, city-funded undertaking. That same month, Murray picked former Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole to take over the force. At her confirmation hearing, O’Toole lauded the LEAD program’s “national reputation” and said she’d look into how to “add to those efforts.”

Bradford, the former Marine who had nearly given up hope of winning the hardest battle of his life, has survived, too. One afternoon this spring, he parked his bike outside a Starbucks a few blocks from the lot where he used to sleep. Sitting on a stool by the window, he took out a picture of a little girl in a pink dress, her bright eyes shining up at the camera. “I see her more now,” he said. “I never wanted to see her when I was high. I didn’t want her to see me that way.”

Since the start of this year, Bradford has been living in a shelter for recovering addicts where Candela helped him find a bed. In August, he said he’d been sober for eight months, his longest stretch without drugs in more than a decade. Mornings are spent in support groups and addiction classes, he said, and afternoons are dedicated to shopping and cooking for his housemates. He recently landed a part-time job as a line cook at the Hard Rock Cafe. And he calls or sees Candela every other day.

“I don’t have to,” he pointed out. “But I’ve made it a habit.” Reported by Huffington Post 13 hours ago.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Link to Fitch Ratings' Report: Health Insurance and Managed Care (U.S.) (Sector Credit Factors)http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=766788 Fitch Ratings has published an updated sector-specific special report describing the credit factors the agency uses to analyze U.S. health insurers. The report titled 'Health Insurance and Managed Care (U.S.) Sector Credit Factors,' replaces a previous version published Dec. 18, 2013. Changes from t Reported by Business Wire 13 hours ago.

The North American payer IT report defines and segments the concerned market in North America with analysis and forecast of revenue. http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market/north-america-healthcare-payer-it-5736955120.html

(PRWEB) August 28, 2014

The North American payer IT report defines and segments the concerned market in North America with analysis and forecast of revenue. The payer IT market in North America was valued at $7,355.48 million in 2013, and is estimated to grow to around $9,722.93 million by 2018, at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2013 to 2018.

Browse through the TOC of the North American payer IT market, to get an idea of the in-depth analysis provided. This also provides a glimpse of the segmentation of payer IT market in the same region, and is supported by various tables and figures.
http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market/north-america-healthcare-payer-it-5736955120.html

The North American payer IT market is expected to grow owing to the need of healthcare IT advancement, which will change the way payer IT functions. In North America, the payers spend 30% of their income in administrative costs because of manual processes. Healthcare payers are under tremendous pressure for customization of services, which is the main reason for the implementation of payer IT system in the U.S. and Canada. Consequently, to remain in the competitive market, payer healthcare IT is expected to improve its operational performance by bringing in new payer IT solutions. However, the U.S. Medicare is hampering the private plans as customers shift to government healthcare plans, ultimately reducing the opportunity for the private healthcare payer plans.

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.
http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/contact/5736955120-request_for_customization.html

In 2013, the U.S. dominated about 92% of the North American payer IT market. This market is segmented and forecast based on components and deployments of the payer IT market in North America. The components segment comprises hardware, software, and services, while the deployments segment includes on-premise, cloud-based, and web-based. The market is further segmented and forecast based on major countries, such as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The market is also segmented and analyzed further based on the end-users.

Get a copy of PDF Brochure at http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/contact/5736955120-download_pdf_brochure.html.

This report includes market share and value chain analyses, and market metrics such as drivers, restraints, and upcoming opportunities in the market. In addition, it presents a competitive landscape and company profiles of the key players in this market.

Related Reports:

Asian Healthcare Payer IT Market
Globally, Asia occupied a share of 12.5% in the healthcare payer IT market and was valued at $1.6 billion in 2013. It is poised to grow at a CAGR of 5.8%, from 2013 to 2018. The growth of this market is attributed to the government initiatives and the increasing penetration of health insurance in the Asian countries. HCIT solutions in this market also help in reducing errors and improve operational efficiency. However, in Asia, the out-of-pocket expenses in very high compared to other countries. It was close to 80% in India and China in 2011. Interoperability issues also restrain the growth of the Asian payer IT market to an extent. Growing medical tourism in the Asian countries provides significant opportunities for growth of this market.

Japan is the largest market for payer IT in Asia, and was valued at $550 million. India and China will be the two fastest-growing countries in this market.

In this report, the Asian healthcare payer IT market is segmented on the basis of deployment, component, product, types, and end-user. Web-based deployment mode is the most adopted technology, and was valued at $972.2 million in 2013. The services segment occupied a share of 35.8% in 2013, and was worth $559.4 million. Integrated solutions of CRM occupied a higher share compared to the standalone ones. Hospitals are the major end-users for payer IT solutions in Asia, and will also drive the market in the near future.
http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market/asia-healthcare-payer-it-6344144854.html

Europe Healthcare Payer IT Market
Companies of Healthcare Payer IT-Europe are Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Allscripts, Epic Systems and GE Healthcare.
http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market/europe-healthcare-payer-it-5725724312.html

About MicroMarket Monitor:

MicroMarket Monitor identifies and attends to various unmet needs of different industrial verticals, which include value chain impact analysis. The company publishes about 12000 Market Research Reports on various Micro Markets across the world. The graphical nature and multidimensional analysis of these reports provide advanced Business Intelligence Tools to the clients in that particular target market.

Contact:
Mr. Chandrasekhar K.
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Tel: +1-888-502-0539
Email: sales(at)micromarketmonitor(dot)com
Connect with us on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/micromarketmonitor. Reported by PRWeb 11 hours ago.

Edina location at Yorkdale Shoppes mall to open later this year

Eagan, Minn. (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) is making shopping for health insurance even more personalized by opening the state’s first retail store operated by a Minnesota-based health insurer.

The company has signed a multi-year lease to operate a 3,500 square-foot space in the Yorkdale Shoppes mall on York Ave. in Edina, Minn. The store will be the first-of-its-kind in Minnesota, offering both individual consumers and Medicare enrollees face-to-face sales and service support direct from Blue Cross employees. Remodeling of the Blue Cross location, formerly occupied by Christopher & Banks, will start in September. A modern and welcoming interior design will feature a reception check-in desk, private offices for personalized consultations, and a community gathering space for informational sessions and health and wellness activities. A grand opening date will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We are excited to be the first health plan to open a retail location that is specifically designed to provide a full spectrum of shopping options, personalized service and health engagement opportunities,” said Michael Guyette, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “The retail model has proven to be very popular with Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in other states. Through our association, we are able to utilize those best practices and bring them here to Minnesota. We see the Edina location as our flagship store, and we hope to apply our experience and learnings to other areas of the state in the years to follow.”

The store is slated to remain open year-round. Throughout the year, consumers will have in-person opportunities for learning more about how a Blue Cross plan can best meet their particular needs. Additionally, Blue Cross members will have the added option of making direct payments for their coverage or speaking with store staff to answer questions and provide guidance on various plan benefits, such as health assessments and screenings.

Walk-in hours will be Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointment scheduling also will be available.

Editor’s Note – artist renderings of exterior and interior of the store and interior animation of the store available here.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota’s first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.6 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. Go to bluecrossmn.com to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Reported by PRWeb 11 hours ago.

There are many variables affecting health insurance premiums under Obamacare; many are pushing premiums higher, some are pushing them down. But the sad fact is that Obamacare will force us all to pay more. Reported by Forbes.com 9 hours ago.

Another health insurance company plans to start hanging out at the mall. Reported by TwinCities.com 9 hours ago.

Today, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) announced a national partnership with American Medical Technologists (AMT) in an effort to increase awareness of chronic kidney disease, a common and often preventable condition affecting 31 million Americans.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 28, 2014

Today, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) announced a national partnership with American Medical Technologists (AMT) in an effort to increase awareness of chronic kidney disease, a common and often preventable condition affecting 31 million Americans.

AMT has partnered with AKF to foster and promote collaborative work focusing on the role of allied health professionals in the prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. Throughout the partnership, AMT will help raise awareness of kidney disease through professional and public education and communications. AMT will also raise funds to support the American Kidney Fund’s programs and services.

“We are pleased to join forces with American Medical Technologists, an outstanding organization of health professionals across the country, to raise awareness of kidney disease across the nation,” said LaVarne A. Burton, president and chief executive officer of the American Kidney Fund. “Strong partners like AMT really help to expand our reach into communities where people are at increased risk for kidney disease.”

The partnership announcement took place during AKF’s Chicago Kidney Action Day, the first joint effort between the organizations. Members of AMT’s Illinois State Society promoted the event to Chicago residents and also volunteered to assist AKF staff and other health professionals with health screenings and education. The partnership will include similar efforts in other Kidney Action Day locations in the future.

“AMT is excited to join the American Kidney Fund, the leader in education and outreach to Americans at risk for kidney disease, to fight this devastating condition,” said Christopher Damon, executive director of American Medical Technologists. “As an organization of health professionals on the front lines, we know the toll that kidney disease is taking on our nation and we are dedicated to the fight against kidney disease.”

# # #

About the American Kidney Fund
The American Kidney Fund fights kidney disease through direct financial support to patients in need, health education and prevention efforts. It leads the nation in charitable assistance to dialysis patients. Last year, more than 87,000 people—1 out of every 5 U.S. dialysis patients—received assistance from the American Kidney Fund for health insurance premiums and other treatment-related expenses. The American Kidney Fund reaches millions of people annually through its national campaign, Pair Up: Join the Fight to Prevent Kidney Disease; free kidney health screenings; health education materials and courses; online outreach, and a toll-free health information HelpLine (866-300-2900). For more information, visit http://www.kidneyfund.org.

About American Medical Technologists
American Medical Technologists is a nationally and internationally recognized certification agency for allied health professionals. In existence since 1939, AMT is also a membership association, providing continuing education and other services to over 60,000 members. AMT is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) for all its competency-based examinations. For more information, visit http://www.americanmedtech.org. Reported by PRWeb 6 hours ago.

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital BlueCross has long supported programs that increase access to health care and health coverage for our community.  This tradition of service continues through our work with the Children's Health Insurance Program and most... Reported by PR Newswire 6 hours ago.