The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted to run their own. Now they must act like true marketplaces and start paying for themselves.
Reported by MyNorthwest.com 7 hours ago.
Health exchanges finances face test in 2nd year
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Health exchanges' finances face test in 2nd year
The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted to run their own. Now they must act like true marketplaces and start paying for themselves.
Reported by WTOP 6 hours ago.
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Breitbart Texas Reporter in Rollover Accident While on Border Assignment
Breitbart Texas reporter Bob Price was in a rollover car accident Saturday evening while on assignment riding along with a Brooks County Sheriff's Department volunteer reserve deputy named Daniel Walden. Thankfully, neither Price nor Walden were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred on U.S. Highway 281 just north of the Hidalgo County line around 9:25 pm Central Time.Price spoke to this writer on the phone Sunday morning to share how the accident happened. When the accident occurred, Walden was responding to call about an 18 wheel truck that had overturned on Highway 281. They were driving southbound, with lights and sirens on, but below the speed limit due to the severe thunderstorms at the time. Walden's vehicle hit some standing water on the road and hydroplaned.
As Price describes it, "all of a sudden I just felt the back end of the vehicle slide out from under us," and the vehicle spun several times on the road before going off the right side of the road. The natural terrain in this region is a very soft sand, and when the vehicle hit this sand, it overturned two and a quarter times, coming to rest on the driver's side.
"We're both extremely lucky," said Price, calling the sand a "blessing," because although it triggered the rollover it was also a soft surface to cushion their vehicle's landing, thus reducing the force of the impact.
Traffic was backed up on the highway due to the bad weather, and within seconds, people arrived on the scene to assist Walden and Price. The windshield had smashed on impact, and the rescuers were able to break it away completely and help Walden and Price out of the vehicle through the front. Another bystander who stopped to help was a nurse, who examined the two men at the scene and made sure they were stabilized and safe while waiting for the emergency personnel to arrive.
Price says that very shortly after the accident, officers from the Brooks County Sheriff's Department, the Falfurrias Police Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and an ambulance all had responded to the scene. Walden, who was on the side of the vehicle where the impact was, suffered minor abrasions on his head and some scratches. Price did not suffer any immediately apparent injuries. As a precautionary measure, both were transported to an area hospital to be examined.
Walden, the Acting Police Chief with the Donna Independent School District (ISD), founded and leads an organization called the Border Brotherhood of Texas, a group of volunteer law enforcement officers who provide critically needed support to Brooks County. As Price has previously reported for Breitbart Texas, Brooks County is not on the border but the county has nontheless become "a choke point for the trafficking of illegal immigrants, narco-traffickers, and foreign gang members," and many illegal immigrants die while attempting to traverse the "rough, isolated terrain."
So many illegal immigrants have died in Brooks County that the autopsy and burial costs have totaled over $300,000, an overwhelming burden on this sparsely populated rural county. Brooks County was forced to cut pay and is unable to provide health insurance for its deputies, and the department has only six patrol deputies to cover almost 1,000 square miles, roughly the size of Rhode Island. The Border Brotherhood of Texas is a completely volunteer group of about twenty-five certified police officers who provide desperately needed manpower. Many of the volunteer deputies do not even live in Brooks County, some driving over a hundred miles to report for duty.
In addition to his work with the Donna ISD and as a volunteer deputy in Brooks County, Walden has also worked as a police academy driving instructor. He has been driving police cars and ambulances for over 20 years, no at fault accidents. Price described the rollover as a "freak accident" that "could have happened to anyone," and credited Walden's driving and the safety equipment in the vehicle as the reasons that the accident was not more severe than it was.
Price described the accident photos as "horrible," saying that it "looks like an accident that nobody should have walked away from," adding how grateful he was that they were actually both able to walk away from it.
"What this illustrates is the inherent dangers that the people who are volunteering to work as Brooks County deputies for free are facing," said Price, "So while I'm very grateful that I'm not seriously hurt, I'm also grateful that these people are willing to put their lives at risk to protect the rest of us."
Photo credit: Bob Price for Breitbart Texas.
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker Reported by Breitbart 5 hours ago.
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State health exchanges' finances face test in 2nd year
The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted...
Reported by Deseret News 4 hours ago.
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Health exchanges' finances face test in 2nd year
The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted to run their own. Now they must act like true marketplaces and start paying for themselves.
Reported by WTHR 21 hours ago.
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At Continental Clinical Solutions, CEO Saleh Stevens Focuses on Diversity in Clinical Trial Recruitment at Maryland Site
Stevens indicates lack of diversity in patient volunteer populations adversely impacts clinical research. Legislation and business work to advance science by including more minorities in studies.
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Continental Clinical Solutions, LLC (Continental) focuses on recruiting underrepresented patient populations into clinical trials at its mid-Atlantic late-phase research facility, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Continental was created with the idea of closing patient disparities in mind. Clinical trials play a fundamental role in medical advances," said Continental's CEO, Saleh Stevens. "From the Tuskegee syphilis experiment to the immortal cell line of Henrietta Lacks, dubious ethical practices and on-going safety concerns have plagued recruitment in the minority segment for clinical trials in the US and abroad." The exclusion of large patient populations from clinical trials adversely impacts scientific advances.
Almost 40% of registered clinical studies occur in the United States, equaling an approximate 66,700 clinical trials. The number of trials in the US increased by almost 16% since 2013, according to ClinicalTrials.gov, a website dedicated to information on clinical studies registered with the FDA. Despite the increase in studies, the percentage of the US population participating in studies has remained stagnant at 6%.
“When you further distill that 6%, you find minorities in late phase studies are terribly underrepresented. Underrepresentation means missed opportunities to address specific genomics and other criteria that will influence drug efficacy in the specific populations, sentencing future generations to inadequate medical remedies," Stevens added.
Though mistrust is a large obstacle in diversity in recruitment, insurance and cost of care continue to play a role in stymying minority recruitment into trials. Many unapproved treatments have been reserved solely for patients who can afford to pay out of pocket for travel and study-related healthcare needs. Those costs can vary from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, according to a report commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America. Previously, many insurers excluded healthcare related to certain phases of clinical trials under "experimental" and "investigational" exclusions in their policies. These exclusions, when triggered, not only denied reimbursement of trial-related healthcare costs, but sometimes resulted in policy cancellation—an untenable circumstance for patients already leery of joining studies.
Beginning January 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act set forth legislative changes impacting some of the cost issues patients face when considering clinical trials. The resulting federal laws ensured that new health insurance plans cover routine care costs for people taking part in clinical trials. Insurers are no longer permitted to drop coverage because of patient participation in a clinical trial. Maryland, among a few other states, has been ahead of the curve with covering significant costs associated with clinical trials, with legislation dating as far back as 1998.
"With the connectivity that social media platforms afford us, it is incumbent upon us to communicate the changing landscape to patient populations who are left either unaware or out of the study pipeline," Stevens concluded as he reiterated Continental’s commitment to reducing disparities in clinical trial patient populations at its Maryland site.
Continental Clinical Solutions, LLC is a multi-therapeutic dedicated research clinic providing turnkey clinical trial sites for community practitioners in all trial phases, bringing diverse patient populations and industry pharmaceutical companies together. Visit Continental Clinical Solutions at http://www.continentalclinical.com. Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Continental Clinical Solutions, LLC (Continental) focuses on recruiting underrepresented patient populations into clinical trials at its mid-Atlantic late-phase research facility, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Continental was created with the idea of closing patient disparities in mind. Clinical trials play a fundamental role in medical advances," said Continental's CEO, Saleh Stevens. "From the Tuskegee syphilis experiment to the immortal cell line of Henrietta Lacks, dubious ethical practices and on-going safety concerns have plagued recruitment in the minority segment for clinical trials in the US and abroad." The exclusion of large patient populations from clinical trials adversely impacts scientific advances.
Almost 40% of registered clinical studies occur in the United States, equaling an approximate 66,700 clinical trials. The number of trials in the US increased by almost 16% since 2013, according to ClinicalTrials.gov, a website dedicated to information on clinical studies registered with the FDA. Despite the increase in studies, the percentage of the US population participating in studies has remained stagnant at 6%.
“When you further distill that 6%, you find minorities in late phase studies are terribly underrepresented. Underrepresentation means missed opportunities to address specific genomics and other criteria that will influence drug efficacy in the specific populations, sentencing future generations to inadequate medical remedies," Stevens added.
Though mistrust is a large obstacle in diversity in recruitment, insurance and cost of care continue to play a role in stymying minority recruitment into trials. Many unapproved treatments have been reserved solely for patients who can afford to pay out of pocket for travel and study-related healthcare needs. Those costs can vary from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, according to a report commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America. Previously, many insurers excluded healthcare related to certain phases of clinical trials under "experimental" and "investigational" exclusions in their policies. These exclusions, when triggered, not only denied reimbursement of trial-related healthcare costs, but sometimes resulted in policy cancellation—an untenable circumstance for patients already leery of joining studies.
Beginning January 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act set forth legislative changes impacting some of the cost issues patients face when considering clinical trials. The resulting federal laws ensured that new health insurance plans cover routine care costs for people taking part in clinical trials. Insurers are no longer permitted to drop coverage because of patient participation in a clinical trial. Maryland, among a few other states, has been ahead of the curve with covering significant costs associated with clinical trials, with legislation dating as far back as 1998.
"With the connectivity that social media platforms afford us, it is incumbent upon us to communicate the changing landscape to patient populations who are left either unaware or out of the study pipeline," Stevens concluded as he reiterated Continental’s commitment to reducing disparities in clinical trial patient populations at its Maryland site.
Continental Clinical Solutions, LLC is a multi-therapeutic dedicated research clinic providing turnkey clinical trial sites for community practitioners in all trial phases, bringing diverse patient populations and industry pharmaceutical companies together. Visit Continental Clinical Solutions at http://www.continentalclinical.com. Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.
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Holiday Stresses Can Make Addictions and Mental Health Issues Worse; Washington Adventist University Community Counseling Center Offers Affordable Help to Those in Need
One of only two schools in Maryland that offer a master's degree program for drug abuse counseling, Washington Adventist University operates a Community Counseling Center with licensed alcohol and drug counselors who provide affordable care to individuals with alcohol, drug, and behavior addictions, as well as mental health issues.
Takoma Park, Md. (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and for individuals with addiction and mental health issues, it can be the start of an often stressful and difficult holiday season. Individuals in need of affordable counseling services are encouraged to consider the Washington Adventist University Community Counseling Center, located close to Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md.
The Community Counseling Center is staffed by licensed drug and alcohol counselors and graduate students in the Department of Psychology and Counseling who offer both private individual and group counseling sessions. The Center specializes in drug and alcohol addictions, behavioral addictions and mental health issues. Clients are charged on a sliding fee scale for the services they receive, based on what they can afford to pay. The Center also accepts all health insurance.
“Our counselors have considerable expertise in addiction issues, and we provide affordable services to a diverse community with a wide variety of needs, including individuals who have been charged with DUI (driving under the influence),” said Grant Leitma, Ph.D., and chair of the Washington Adventist University Department of Psychology. Washington Adventist University is one of only two schools in the state of Maryland that offers a master’s degree program for drug abuse counseling.
“During the holidays when there are more social gatherings, higher expectations, and greater stresses, our counselors can help individuals better manage their addictions and mental health issues so they can enjoy the season and live healthier, happier lives,” said Judith Upshaw, MEd, LCADC, and clinical director of the Community Counseling Center.
The Center -- which is open year round – operates Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Center is located on the Fourth Floor of Wilkinson Hall, 7600 Flower Ave., Takoma Park, Md. 20912. There is a bus stop and BikeShare station directly across the street, and the Takoma Metro station is 1.5 miles away. Free parking is available both behind Wilkinson Hall off Greenwood Ave. and in front of the building across Flower Ave.
For more information or to make an appointment, call 301-576-0131 or email jupshaw@wau.edu. Reported by PRWeb 15 hours ago.
Takoma Park, Md. (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and for individuals with addiction and mental health issues, it can be the start of an often stressful and difficult holiday season. Individuals in need of affordable counseling services are encouraged to consider the Washington Adventist University Community Counseling Center, located close to Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md.
The Community Counseling Center is staffed by licensed drug and alcohol counselors and graduate students in the Department of Psychology and Counseling who offer both private individual and group counseling sessions. The Center specializes in drug and alcohol addictions, behavioral addictions and mental health issues. Clients are charged on a sliding fee scale for the services they receive, based on what they can afford to pay. The Center also accepts all health insurance.
“Our counselors have considerable expertise in addiction issues, and we provide affordable services to a diverse community with a wide variety of needs, including individuals who have been charged with DUI (driving under the influence),” said Grant Leitma, Ph.D., and chair of the Washington Adventist University Department of Psychology. Washington Adventist University is one of only two schools in the state of Maryland that offers a master’s degree program for drug abuse counseling.
“During the holidays when there are more social gatherings, higher expectations, and greater stresses, our counselors can help individuals better manage their addictions and mental health issues so they can enjoy the season and live healthier, happier lives,” said Judith Upshaw, MEd, LCADC, and clinical director of the Community Counseling Center.
The Center -- which is open year round – operates Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Center is located on the Fourth Floor of Wilkinson Hall, 7600 Flower Ave., Takoma Park, Md. 20912. There is a bus stop and BikeShare station directly across the street, and the Takoma Metro station is 1.5 miles away. Free parking is available both behind Wilkinson Hall off Greenwood Ave. and in front of the building across Flower Ave.
For more information or to make an appointment, call 301-576-0131 or email jupshaw@wau.edu. Reported by PRWeb 15 hours ago.
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hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com Launches New 2015 HIPAA Security Rule Policy Toolkit for Instant Download for Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA)
Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) can now instantly access and download the industry leading HIPAA Compliance Toolkits from North America’s HIPAA experts at Flat Iron Technologies, LLC. Filled with hundreds of pages of high-quality, in-depth and easy-to-use policies, procedures, forms, and templates, the HIPAA Compliance Toolkits are essential for ensuring that both Covered Entities and Business Associates have all mandated policy documentation in place for HIPAA compliance.
Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
North American Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) can now obtain the industry leading HIPAA Compliance Toolkits from North America’s HIPAA experts at Flat Iron Technologies, LLC. Filled with hundreds of pages of high-quality, in-depth and easy-to-use policies, procedures, forms, and templates, the HIPAA Compliance Toolkits are essential for ensuring that both Covered Entities and Business Associates have all mandated policy documentation in place for HIPAA compliance. As for the HIPAA Compliance Toolkits themselves, they come complete with the following industry leading documentation:· HIPAA Information Security Policies and Procedures Manual
· HIPAA Information Systems Hardening Checklists
· HIPAA Disaster Recovery Plan
· HIPAA Handbook & Reference Manual
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training PowerPoint (PPT) Presentation
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training Manual & Employee Quiz
· HIPAA Security Rule & Privacy Rule Checklist & Readiness Assessment
· HIPAA Risk Assessment Template
· Essential HIPAA Forms
· Additional HIPAA Policies and Procedures
· And much more!
The HIPAA compliance toolkits are now available for instant access for both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA), so now’s the time to get serious about becoming compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. With large fines looming and growing federal audits on the rise, putting in place the necessary documentation is now more important than ever, so download today from hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com. Reported by PRWeb 13 hours ago.
Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
North American Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) can now obtain the industry leading HIPAA Compliance Toolkits from North America’s HIPAA experts at Flat Iron Technologies, LLC. Filled with hundreds of pages of high-quality, in-depth and easy-to-use policies, procedures, forms, and templates, the HIPAA Compliance Toolkits are essential for ensuring that both Covered Entities and Business Associates have all mandated policy documentation in place for HIPAA compliance. As for the HIPAA Compliance Toolkits themselves, they come complete with the following industry leading documentation:· HIPAA Information Security Policies and Procedures Manual
· HIPAA Information Systems Hardening Checklists
· HIPAA Disaster Recovery Plan
· HIPAA Handbook & Reference Manual
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training PowerPoint (PPT) Presentation
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training Manual & Employee Quiz
· HIPAA Security Rule & Privacy Rule Checklist & Readiness Assessment
· HIPAA Risk Assessment Template
· Essential HIPAA Forms
· Additional HIPAA Policies and Procedures
· And much more!
The HIPAA compliance toolkits are now available for instant access for both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA), so now’s the time to get serious about becoming compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. With large fines looming and growing federal audits on the rise, putting in place the necessary documentation is now more important than ever, so download today from hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com. Reported by PRWeb 13 hours ago.
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Obamacare's Three-Legged Stool of Deception Regarding Employer Health Plans
The first leg is that the Cadillac tax is paid by insurance companies, when in reality it is paid by employees. The second leg is that the Cadillac tax is aimed at "lavish" high cost plans, when in reality it is designed to eventually hit virtually every employer health plan (even those with lower-than-average costs). The third leg is that the Cadillac tax is functionally equivalent to a reform long championed by conservatives: a cap on the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance. For reasons explained below, that is the most pernicious deception of all. This carefully designed three-legged stool of deception was crafted to achieve the greatest deception of all: that Obamacare "would support and sustain the employer-based system, not erode it." In fact, Obamacare is designed to slowly but surely erode and eventually eradicate the employer-based health system .
Reported by Forbes.com 12 hours ago.
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Seven Reasons Why Obama's Executive Action on Immigration Is Great Policy and Great Politics
Ten years ago, following President George Bush's 2004 re-election victory, Progressives were back on their heels. Bush decided to press his advantage by launching a campaign to privatize Social Security, seeking to eliminate the crown jewel of the New Deal: guaranteed Social Security benefits.
Progressives rallied in an unprecedented campaign to defeat privatization that stopped Bush's offensive cold. The battle over Social Security privatization turned the political tide. It began a progressive counter offensive that ultimately led to the Democratic takeover of the House in 2006 and the presidency in 2008.
The campaign Republicans have launched to undo President Obama's executive order on immigration may have the same mid- and long-term effect on the prospects of the Republican Party. Here are seven reasons why:
*Reason #1:* Most importantly, President Obama's action is sound policy -- that resonates with ordinary Americans once they understand what it actually does.
If you just ask voters whether the president should take executive action to help fix the nation's broken immigration system, a plurality have reservations. But when they find out what it does, they are very supportive.
On Friday, Hart Research published a poll commissioned by Americans United for Change. Voters were read the following accurate description of the president's executive action:
The action would direct immigration enforcement officials to focus on threats to national security and public safety, and not on deporting otherwise law-abiding immigrants. Immigrants who are parents of children who are legal US residents could qualify to stay and work temporarily in the United States, without being deported, if they have lived in the United States for at least five years, pay taxes, and pass a criminal background check.
A memo by Hart Associates Geoff Garin and Guy Molyneaux summarizes the results.
Voters respond favorably by an overwhelming 39-point margin to executive action by President Obama that would focus immigration enforcement efforts on threats to national security and public safety while allowing some illegal immigrants to stay and work in the United States (67% favorable, 28% unfavorable).
Support is broad, incorporating a majority of voters in every region of the country, among both men and women, and in states won by both Barack Obama (67% favorable) and Mitt Romney (65% favorable). Younger voters under age 35 express particularly strong support (72%), but more than 60% feel favorable in every age cohort.
Executive action receives support from 91% of Democrats and 67% of political independents. While a narrow 51% majority of Republicans oppose executive action (41% favor), this is driven mainly by a 34-point margin of opposition among Tea Party Republicans (30% favor, 64% oppose). Among non-Tea Party Republicans opinion is more divided, with 47% in favor and 45% opposed.
Republicans have hitched their major attack on executive action to the notion that the action is illegal -- that the president has exceeded his constitutional authority. But the fact is that *11 presidents* have taken similar actions with respect to immigration policy -- using the prosecutorial discretion granted by the law -- *39 times over 60 years.*
Republican George H.W. Bush took a similar action affecting 1.5 million people -- without a peep from some of the same Republicans who today charge the President Obama has declared himself "emperor."
Bottom line: the more voters know about the president's executive action, the more they like it.
*Reason #2:* There is very little the Republicans can do to stop the president's executive action without resorting to extreme measures that will alienate massive numbers of voters.
Administration lawyers believe that -- given the long list of precedents for exactly this kind of executive action -- their position is legally air tight. The president's two criteria for action appear to have been first, to do as much as possible to fix the broken immigration system using the limited power that he possesses under the law and second, to assure that the action is legally unassailable.
Most of the provisions of these executive actions are funded by the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security that is entirely financed through fees. That means Republican appropriators can't cut off funding, though they could insert riders to legislative language seeking to ban the use of these fees to execute this policy. In this case the president would be forced to veto the legislation and -- if the Republicans persist as they did last year trying to insert similar language about the Affordable Health Care Act -- that would lead them into the box canyon of government shutdown-- the last place the GOP leadership wants to go, since it was a political disaster last time.
*Reason #3:* A battle to stop executive action will stain the Republican brand with Hispanic and Asian American voters for a generation.
By the next election in 2016, only two groups will feel strongly about the president's action on immigration -- Tea Party conservatives who represent a small minority of Americans and who all vote Republican no matter what -- and recent immigrants, especially Hispanics and Asians.
If the Republicans choose to go to war over these executive actions, Hispanics, Asians and other recent immigrants won't hear Republican claims about "executive overreach." The message they will hear is simple: Republican don't care about Hispanics, Asians and other recent immigrants. In fact, they will hear that many Republican fire-brands positively dislike Hispanics, Asians and other immigrant voters.
Republicans can talk until they are blue in the face about tax policy and "small government." None of that will matter if Hispanic and Asian voters feel that Republicans simply aren't on their side -- that they are disrespected, disliked and shutout by the GOP.
Immigration is not just another policy issue. It's a matter of identity -- it's a matter of respect and meaning. It's about whether or not the Republican Party believes that Hispanics and Asians matter as fellow Americans.
By going to war to stop the president's executive action on immigration, the GOP will set in concrete the kind of political realignment among Hispanic and Asian American voters that they experienced with African American voters as a result of their opposition to civil rights. Hispanics and Asians will be lost to the GOP for a generation.
The magnitude of this loss could be stunning, since Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population and Asian Americans are not far behind.
Republicans might be able to win some solid Red states without Hispanic and Asian American voters. But they can't win a presidential contest without a respectable share of the Hispanic and Asian American vote. And given the Senate seats that are up for grabs in the next cycle -- and presidential year turnouts -- it will be very difficult for them to maintain control of the Senate, and maybe even the House, without Hispanic and Asian American votes.
*Reason #4:* People fight much harder to prevent others from taking away what they have, than they do to achieve things to which they aspire.
Once voters have Social Security and Medicare coverage, once families have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, it's much harder to change those programs to take those benefits away. When people have an actual stake in something -- when you have to rip it from their hands -- they fight like crazy to protect it.
To rescind the president's executive action, Republicans must now propose taking away the deferred action he has granted. Immigrants -- and their relatives who vote -- will put up a hell of a fight.
*Reason #5*: The battle over the president's executive action will empower the most extreme, anti-immigrant Tea Party elements of the GOP. People like Senator Ted Cruz will use it to build his base and reputation as an uncompromising champion of far right-wing extremism -- pandering to the opposition among Tea Partiers that was reflected in the Hart Research poll numbers.
The Republican leadership didn't want to shut down the government any more in 2013 than it does this year, but their caucuses were highjacked by the Tea Party zealots who led them into a horribly unpopular, losing government shutdown in their crusade to stop the Affordable Care Act.
That could easily happen in 2014 -- or early in 2015.
And the impact on the Republican presidential field could also be significant. Anti-immigrant Representative Steve King has already demanded that all of the aspiring GOP presidential candidates attend his Iowa event in January to pledge that they would rescind the President's order. That will push the GOP field further and further to the right -- just as candidate pledges during the primaries to veto the Dream Act alienated a record number of Hispanic voters in 2012.
And it's not just Hispanics and Asians who are alienated by virulent anti-immigrant talk. Many independent women voters and young people simply don't understand and don't want to be associated with hateful statements like those of Steve King and Tim Huelskamp.
*Reason #6:* Immigration is a wedge issue in the Republican Party. The more the battle over executive action drives the party's agenda, the less unified the Republican Party will be.
The battle over the president's immigration action may at first appear to unite Republicans because they all have to stand up and salute the Tea Party's demand that it be stopped. But behind the scenes, it is deeply divisive within the Republican Party.
The corporate, big-business wing of the party supports comprehensive immigration reform of the sort that passed the Senate with 68 votes. They also understand the electoral math when it comes to Hispanic and Asian voters.
The Wall Street crowd doesn't think it bought control of the Senate so Republican power can be squandered appeasing a bunch of Tea Party activists who don't like Hispanics. They want tax breaks, and trade bills, and deregulation that will make them money.
*Reason #7:* Politically, the best thing the GOP could do in the next year is to demonstrate that it is capable of governing by passing legislation that could actually be signed into law.
The rift between business Republicans and the Tea Party made that hard to start with. But the reaction to the president's executive action in the Tea Party faction may make it impossible.
And the president's action will put enormous new pressure on House Speaker Boehner to take action on immigration itself. For over 500 days, Boehner has refused to allow an up or down vote on the bi-partisan Senate bill that passed with the support of over two-thirds -- including conservative stalwarts like John McCain and Marco Rubio.
Had he called the vote, it would have passed with the support of a small group of Republicans and virtually every Democrat. But that would have enraged the Tea Party wing of his caucus, which is about to grow as a result of this fall's election.
The GOP's failure to show that it can govern will be a huge problem for the GOP in 2016. When it comes to immigration the best thing they could do for their brand would be to allow a vote on the Senate bill during the lame duck session. The vote would succeed, the president would sign it, the executive action would no longer be relevant, they would get some credit with Hispanics, Asians and moderate women, and this massive political problem would be behind them.
But there are very low odds the GOP leadership in the House will take this common sense step, since it is not in "Speaker" Ted Cruz's interest to allow it to do so. Cruz has a major base among Tea Party House Members and when it comes to immigration, the Tea Party faction has called the shots.
While the Republicans are scrambling to figure out their next steps and keep their forces together, the president and Democrats are taking victory laps with cheering crowds of recent immigrants who are mobilizing to stand up and defend executive action.
Bad week for the GOP._______________
Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author of the book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com. He is a partner in Democracy Partners and a Senior Strategist for Americans United for Change. Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer. Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
Progressives rallied in an unprecedented campaign to defeat privatization that stopped Bush's offensive cold. The battle over Social Security privatization turned the political tide. It began a progressive counter offensive that ultimately led to the Democratic takeover of the House in 2006 and the presidency in 2008.
The campaign Republicans have launched to undo President Obama's executive order on immigration may have the same mid- and long-term effect on the prospects of the Republican Party. Here are seven reasons why:
*Reason #1:* Most importantly, President Obama's action is sound policy -- that resonates with ordinary Americans once they understand what it actually does.
If you just ask voters whether the president should take executive action to help fix the nation's broken immigration system, a plurality have reservations. But when they find out what it does, they are very supportive.
On Friday, Hart Research published a poll commissioned by Americans United for Change. Voters were read the following accurate description of the president's executive action:
The action would direct immigration enforcement officials to focus on threats to national security and public safety, and not on deporting otherwise law-abiding immigrants. Immigrants who are parents of children who are legal US residents could qualify to stay and work temporarily in the United States, without being deported, if they have lived in the United States for at least five years, pay taxes, and pass a criminal background check.
A memo by Hart Associates Geoff Garin and Guy Molyneaux summarizes the results.
Voters respond favorably by an overwhelming 39-point margin to executive action by President Obama that would focus immigration enforcement efforts on threats to national security and public safety while allowing some illegal immigrants to stay and work in the United States (67% favorable, 28% unfavorable).
Support is broad, incorporating a majority of voters in every region of the country, among both men and women, and in states won by both Barack Obama (67% favorable) and Mitt Romney (65% favorable). Younger voters under age 35 express particularly strong support (72%), but more than 60% feel favorable in every age cohort.
Executive action receives support from 91% of Democrats and 67% of political independents. While a narrow 51% majority of Republicans oppose executive action (41% favor), this is driven mainly by a 34-point margin of opposition among Tea Party Republicans (30% favor, 64% oppose). Among non-Tea Party Republicans opinion is more divided, with 47% in favor and 45% opposed.
Republicans have hitched their major attack on executive action to the notion that the action is illegal -- that the president has exceeded his constitutional authority. But the fact is that *11 presidents* have taken similar actions with respect to immigration policy -- using the prosecutorial discretion granted by the law -- *39 times over 60 years.*
Republican George H.W. Bush took a similar action affecting 1.5 million people -- without a peep from some of the same Republicans who today charge the President Obama has declared himself "emperor."
Bottom line: the more voters know about the president's executive action, the more they like it.
*Reason #2:* There is very little the Republicans can do to stop the president's executive action without resorting to extreme measures that will alienate massive numbers of voters.
Administration lawyers believe that -- given the long list of precedents for exactly this kind of executive action -- their position is legally air tight. The president's two criteria for action appear to have been first, to do as much as possible to fix the broken immigration system using the limited power that he possesses under the law and second, to assure that the action is legally unassailable.
Most of the provisions of these executive actions are funded by the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security that is entirely financed through fees. That means Republican appropriators can't cut off funding, though they could insert riders to legislative language seeking to ban the use of these fees to execute this policy. In this case the president would be forced to veto the legislation and -- if the Republicans persist as they did last year trying to insert similar language about the Affordable Health Care Act -- that would lead them into the box canyon of government shutdown-- the last place the GOP leadership wants to go, since it was a political disaster last time.
*Reason #3:* A battle to stop executive action will stain the Republican brand with Hispanic and Asian American voters for a generation.
By the next election in 2016, only two groups will feel strongly about the president's action on immigration -- Tea Party conservatives who represent a small minority of Americans and who all vote Republican no matter what -- and recent immigrants, especially Hispanics and Asians.
If the Republicans choose to go to war over these executive actions, Hispanics, Asians and other recent immigrants won't hear Republican claims about "executive overreach." The message they will hear is simple: Republican don't care about Hispanics, Asians and other recent immigrants. In fact, they will hear that many Republican fire-brands positively dislike Hispanics, Asians and other immigrant voters.
Republicans can talk until they are blue in the face about tax policy and "small government." None of that will matter if Hispanic and Asian voters feel that Republicans simply aren't on their side -- that they are disrespected, disliked and shutout by the GOP.
Immigration is not just another policy issue. It's a matter of identity -- it's a matter of respect and meaning. It's about whether or not the Republican Party believes that Hispanics and Asians matter as fellow Americans.
By going to war to stop the president's executive action on immigration, the GOP will set in concrete the kind of political realignment among Hispanic and Asian American voters that they experienced with African American voters as a result of their opposition to civil rights. Hispanics and Asians will be lost to the GOP for a generation.
The magnitude of this loss could be stunning, since Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population and Asian Americans are not far behind.
Republicans might be able to win some solid Red states without Hispanic and Asian American voters. But they can't win a presidential contest without a respectable share of the Hispanic and Asian American vote. And given the Senate seats that are up for grabs in the next cycle -- and presidential year turnouts -- it will be very difficult for them to maintain control of the Senate, and maybe even the House, without Hispanic and Asian American votes.
*Reason #4:* People fight much harder to prevent others from taking away what they have, than they do to achieve things to which they aspire.
Once voters have Social Security and Medicare coverage, once families have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, it's much harder to change those programs to take those benefits away. When people have an actual stake in something -- when you have to rip it from their hands -- they fight like crazy to protect it.
To rescind the president's executive action, Republicans must now propose taking away the deferred action he has granted. Immigrants -- and their relatives who vote -- will put up a hell of a fight.
*Reason #5*: The battle over the president's executive action will empower the most extreme, anti-immigrant Tea Party elements of the GOP. People like Senator Ted Cruz will use it to build his base and reputation as an uncompromising champion of far right-wing extremism -- pandering to the opposition among Tea Partiers that was reflected in the Hart Research poll numbers.
The Republican leadership didn't want to shut down the government any more in 2013 than it does this year, but their caucuses were highjacked by the Tea Party zealots who led them into a horribly unpopular, losing government shutdown in their crusade to stop the Affordable Care Act.
That could easily happen in 2014 -- or early in 2015.
And the impact on the Republican presidential field could also be significant. Anti-immigrant Representative Steve King has already demanded that all of the aspiring GOP presidential candidates attend his Iowa event in January to pledge that they would rescind the President's order. That will push the GOP field further and further to the right -- just as candidate pledges during the primaries to veto the Dream Act alienated a record number of Hispanic voters in 2012.
And it's not just Hispanics and Asians who are alienated by virulent anti-immigrant talk. Many independent women voters and young people simply don't understand and don't want to be associated with hateful statements like those of Steve King and Tim Huelskamp.
*Reason #6:* Immigration is a wedge issue in the Republican Party. The more the battle over executive action drives the party's agenda, the less unified the Republican Party will be.
The battle over the president's immigration action may at first appear to unite Republicans because they all have to stand up and salute the Tea Party's demand that it be stopped. But behind the scenes, it is deeply divisive within the Republican Party.
The corporate, big-business wing of the party supports comprehensive immigration reform of the sort that passed the Senate with 68 votes. They also understand the electoral math when it comes to Hispanic and Asian voters.
The Wall Street crowd doesn't think it bought control of the Senate so Republican power can be squandered appeasing a bunch of Tea Party activists who don't like Hispanics. They want tax breaks, and trade bills, and deregulation that will make them money.
*Reason #7:* Politically, the best thing the GOP could do in the next year is to demonstrate that it is capable of governing by passing legislation that could actually be signed into law.
The rift between business Republicans and the Tea Party made that hard to start with. But the reaction to the president's executive action in the Tea Party faction may make it impossible.
And the president's action will put enormous new pressure on House Speaker Boehner to take action on immigration itself. For over 500 days, Boehner has refused to allow an up or down vote on the bi-partisan Senate bill that passed with the support of over two-thirds -- including conservative stalwarts like John McCain and Marco Rubio.
Had he called the vote, it would have passed with the support of a small group of Republicans and virtually every Democrat. But that would have enraged the Tea Party wing of his caucus, which is about to grow as a result of this fall's election.
The GOP's failure to show that it can govern will be a huge problem for the GOP in 2016. When it comes to immigration the best thing they could do for their brand would be to allow a vote on the Senate bill during the lame duck session. The vote would succeed, the president would sign it, the executive action would no longer be relevant, they would get some credit with Hispanics, Asians and moderate women, and this massive political problem would be behind them.
But there are very low odds the GOP leadership in the House will take this common sense step, since it is not in "Speaker" Ted Cruz's interest to allow it to do so. Cruz has a major base among Tea Party House Members and when it comes to immigration, the Tea Party faction has called the shots.
While the Republicans are scrambling to figure out their next steps and keep their forces together, the president and Democrats are taking victory laps with cheering crowds of recent immigrants who are mobilizing to stand up and defend executive action.
Bad week for the GOP._______________
Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author of the book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com. He is a partner in Democracy Partners and a Senior Strategist for Americans United for Change. Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer. Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
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Flat Iron Technologies, LLC Launches HIPAA Omnibus Security Policies and Procedures Templates for U.S. Healthcare Providers
The healthcare compliance experts at hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com announced the launch of their newly updated HIPAA security policies and procedures. Available for instant download, the documentation is essential for ensuring that both Covered Entities and Business Associates are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com has just announced the launch of its HIPAA Omnibus policies and procedures toolkits for North American Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA). The documentation has been extensively researched and developed by industry leading healthcare professionals with years of HIPAA expertise. Available for instant download, the HIPAA Security & Privacy Compliance Toolkit (HSPCT) includes the following high-quality, industry leading material:· HIPAA Information Security Policies and Procedures Manual
· HIPAA Information Systems Hardening Checklists
· HIPAA Disaster Recovery Plan
· HIPAA Handbook & Reference Manual
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training PowerPoint (PPT) Presentation
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training Manual & Employee Quiz
· HIPAA Security Rule & Privacy Rule Checklist & Readiness Assessment
· HIPAA Risk Assessment Template
· Essential HIPAA Forms
· Additional HIPAA Policies and Procedures
· And much more!
The HIPAA Omnibus policies and procedures toolkits are exactly what’s needed for helping both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) become compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). There’s simply no reason to spend thousands of dollars on healthcare consultants when all healthcare organizations need to do is instantly download the HIPAA Security & Privacy Compliance Toolkit (HSPCT) today from hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com. Reported by PRWeb 10 hours ago.
Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com has just announced the launch of its HIPAA Omnibus policies and procedures toolkits for North American Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA). The documentation has been extensively researched and developed by industry leading healthcare professionals with years of HIPAA expertise. Available for instant download, the HIPAA Security & Privacy Compliance Toolkit (HSPCT) includes the following high-quality, industry leading material:· HIPAA Information Security Policies and Procedures Manual
· HIPAA Information Systems Hardening Checklists
· HIPAA Disaster Recovery Plan
· HIPAA Handbook & Reference Manual
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training PowerPoint (PPT) Presentation
· HIPAA Security Awareness Training Manual & Employee Quiz
· HIPAA Security Rule & Privacy Rule Checklist & Readiness Assessment
· HIPAA Risk Assessment Template
· Essential HIPAA Forms
· Additional HIPAA Policies and Procedures
· And much more!
The HIPAA Omnibus policies and procedures toolkits are exactly what’s needed for helping both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) become compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). There’s simply no reason to spend thousands of dollars on healthcare consultants when all healthcare organizations need to do is instantly download the HIPAA Security & Privacy Compliance Toolkit (HSPCT) today from hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com. Reported by PRWeb 10 hours ago.
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Universal health coverage for US military veterans within reach, but many still lack coverage
Over a million US military veterans lacked healthcare coverage in 2012, according to new estimates published in The Lancet. While many people believe that all veterans are covered by the Veterans Affairs health care system, less than half (8.9 million) of the 22 million veterans in the US are covered by VA health benefits, and most veterans are covered by private health insurance. Uninsured veterans are more likely to be young, single, African American, and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Reported by Science Daily 3 hours ago.
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NFP Marketplace Expands Health Insurance Options
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, property & casualty, retirement, and individual insurance and wealth management solutions, today announced the expansion of NFP Marketplace, a private exchange designed to manage costs for employers and offer competitive benefit options for employees. Through new partnerships with GetInsured and HealthPlanOne, NFP Marketplace enables employers to offer affordable health insurance optio
Reported by Business Wire 10 hours ago.
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The ObamaCare Opportunities
The new Congress will be presented with two important opportunities to make significant progress toward free-market health reform. One will involve legislators’ response to next year’s Supreme Court decision on the legality or illegality of health insurance subsidies being distributed through federal exchanges. The other involves tweaking an existing provision in [...]
Reported by Forbes.com 8 hours ago.
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Priests for Life Will Appeal HHS Mandate Court Decision to Supreme Court
The national director of Priests for Life said that his organization rejects the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding its objection to the HHS contraception mandate and will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States.Father Frank Pavone objects to the decision on November 14, written by Obama-appointee Judge Cornelia Pillard, in which the court upheld the Obama administration’s most recent “accommodation” for religious employers who object to being forced by the government to provide free contraception, sterilization procedures, and abortion-inducing drugs to employees through health insurance plans.
In addition to Priests for Life, the court also ruled against The Catholic University of America, Thomas Aquinas College, and several other Catholic organizations that filed legal challenges to the new rules for the HHS mandate that is part of ObamaCare.
As explained by Catholic News Agency, the changes to the mandate permit religious employers, such as schools, hospitals, and other organizations, to notify the federal government of their objection to providing contraceptive coverage by filing a form. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is then to arrange for the coverage of the same employees with the insurance carriers.
The prior “accommodation” required the employer himself to authorize its insurance carrier to provide the free contraception and services.
In an op-ed at Aleteia on Saturday, Pavone asserted, “To ask a group of priests to cooperate in the government’s plan to expand access to birth control and abortion-inducing drugs is about as contrary to religious freedom as you can get.”
Pavone has argued since the filing of his organization’s legal challenge in 2012 that the administration’s “mechanism…for us to opt out is, in itself, objectionable to our religious and moral convictions.”
He writes:
If the government is sincere in wanting to enable us to opt out of something because it violates our moral conscience, it is reasonable for us to insist that we be given a way to opt out that does not itself violate our moral conscience. And whether it violates our conscience is for us to say, not the government.
Friday's decision mischaracterizes our objections. It says, "What Plaintiffs object to here are 'the government’s independent actions in mandating contraceptive coverage, not to any action that the government has required [Plaintiffs] themselves to take.'”
“That is not correct,” Pavone asserts. “What we object to are the actions the government is asking us to take…We refuse to take actions that are necessary to help the government ‘fill the gap’ to provide drugs that kill babies and harm women.”
The three appellate judges on the panel, who were all appointed by Democrat presidents, rejected the claim put forward by the plaintiffs. Judge Robert Wilkins is also an Obama appointee.
Stating that the Obama administration’s revised regulations “do not impose a substantial burden” on the plaintiffs, Pillard wrote:
Even if, as Plaintiffs aver, we must take as dispositive their conviction that the accommodation involves them in providing contraception in a manner that substantially burdens their religious exercise, we would sustain the challenged regulations. A confluence of compelling interests supports maintaining seamless application of contraceptive coverage to insured individuals even as Plaintiffs are excused from providing it. That coverage offers adults and children the benefits of planning for healthy births and avoiding unwanted pregnancy, and it promotes preventive care that is as responsive to women’s health needs as it is to men’s. The accommodation requires as little as it can from the objectors while still serving the government’s compelling interests.
Pavone dismisses the argument that accepting the accommodation to the mandate is not a “substantial burden.”
“When…the only options the government leaves a citizen are to violate his/her religion or violate the law, that is the same thing as making the practice of Catholicism illegal,” he states. “That’s a substantial burden.”
In December of 2013, the Democrat-led Senate voted to confirm Pillard to the D.C. Circuit. As Breitbart News reported in September of last year, Pillard is known for her flagrant pro-abortion ideology and open disdain for motherhood.
In November of 2013, Breitbart News wrote that Pillard has argued abstinence-only education in school is unconstitutional and condemned beliefs that sex should be reserved for marriage.
Additionally, Pillard wrote that those who oppose abortion are automatically anti-woman, and condemned the use of ultrasounds because they give women “deceptive images” that lead to them to believe their unborn child is a person.
Pillard is an avid supporter of the HHS mandate, having stated that all insurance companies should be required to provide contraception in order to save women from being treated as “presumptive breeders.” Reported by Breitbart 8 hours ago.
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How Retirement Benefits Will Change in 2015
Filed under: Retirement, Health Insurance, 401K, IRA, Social Security*Shutterstock*From larger benefits payments to a new account option, here's what retirement savers can expect in the new year.
By Emily Brandon
Social Security and Medicare will be making important changes to their programs next year. Individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s will also be tweaked in significant ways. Here's a look at the new features your retirement benefits will have next year.
*Social Security.* Social Security recipients will receive 1.7 percent bigger payments in 2015, due to the annual cost-of-living adjustment. Most workers will continue to pay 6.2 percent of their earnings into the Social Security system, but the maximum taxable earnings amount will increase next year from $117,000 in 2014 to $118,500 in 2015. The Social Security administration will also mail Social Security statements to workers turning ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 in 2015 who haven't created an online account.
*Medicare.* The standard Medicare Part B premium will remain $104.90 monthly in 2015, although high-income beneficiaries pay more, and the deductible is unchanged at $147 a year. The Medicare Part A hospital inpatient deductible will increase from $1,216 in 2014 to $1,260 in 2015. Medicare Part D premiums vary by plan and are expected to increase by 4 percent to an average $38.83 in 2015, assuming retirees stick with their current plan, according to an analysis of Part D plans by researchers at Georgetown University, the University of Chicago and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The maximum possible Part D deductible will be $320 in 2015, but some plans may charge smaller deductibles or no deductible. "Some plans, including many of the most popular plans, are increasing their premiums next year," says Juliette Cubanski, a policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "The open enrollment period is a good time to look to see whether the plan will continue to be offered next year and, if so, look to see how that plan might be changing in terms of the premiums you pay every month to be enrolled as well as the costs you pay for coverage, including the annual deductible and the costs that you pay for your prescription medications." Beneficiaries have an opportunity to switch Part D plans each year during open enrollment.
*401(k)s.* The 401(k) contribution limit will increase by $500 to $18,000 in 2015. The catch-up contribution limit for workers age 50 and older will also grow by $500 to $6,000 in 2015. "There's a considerable amount of tax deferral you can get on those savings," says Kevin Brosious, a certified financial planner and president of Wealth Management Inc. in Allentown, Pennsylvania. A worker under age 50 who is in the 25 percent tax bracket and contributes the maximum amount to a traditional 401(k) in 2015 will save $4,500 on his federal income tax bill, compared with a tax break of $4,375 for maxing out in 2014.
*IRAs.* The IRA contribution limit will remain $5,500 in 2015, and savers age 50 and older can contribute an additional $1,000 as a catch-up contribution. Workers who have a retirement account at work can claim a tax deduction for making a traditional IRA contribution until their modified adjusted gross income is between $61,000 and $71,000 for individuals and $98,000 to $118,000 for couples in 2015, up $1,000 and $2,000, respectively, from 2014.
Spouses without a workplace retirement plan who are married to someone with a 401(k) can claim the IRA contribution tax deduction until their income is between $183,000 and $193,000 in 2015. The Roth IRA income limits will also increase by $2,000 in 2015 to between $116,000 and $131,000 for individuals and $183,000 to $193,000 for married couples. However, investors who earn more than these limits may be able to convert traditional IRA assets to a Roth IRA. "High-income employees typically aren't eligible for Roth IRAs, but they can add after-tax dollars and then roll that directly into their Roth IRA," says Michael Hollars, a certified financial planner for Client First Finance in Sunnyvale, California.
*Saver's credit.* Workers who save in a 401(k) or IRA may be eligible for the saver's credit if their AGI is less than $30,500 for singles, $45,750 for heads of household and $61,000 for married couples in 2015. These limits are between $500 and $1,000 higher than in 2014. This valuable tax credit is worth 50 percent, 20 percent or 10 percent of your 401(k) or IRA contributions up to $2,000 ($4,000 for couples), with the biggest credit going to savers with the lowest incomes. The maximum possible saver's credit is worth $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for couples.
*New retirement account.* The Treasury is expected to offer a new type of retirement account, the myRA. These Roth accounts with be funded with after-tax dollars via payroll deduction, but they are not tied to your job and are guaranteed by the government to never lose value. The myRA will be available to workers with an annual income of less than $129,000 for individuals and $191,000 for couples, and they can use the account for up to 30 years or until their account balance hits $15,000, after which the balance will transfer to a private-sector retirement account.
Emily Brandon is the senior editor for Retirement at U.S. News. You can contact her on Twitter @aiming2retire, circle her on Google Plus or email her at ebrandon@usnews.com.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 8 hours ago.
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PhotoShelter Hailed as One of the 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech by Internet Week
PhotoShelter has been named one of the 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech by Internet Week and awarded a special recognition for having the “Happiest Employees in NYC Tech.”
New York, NY (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
PhotoShelter, the worldwide leader in image asset management and marketing solutions for photographers and businesses, announced today it has been named one of the 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech by Internet Week. PhotoShelter was also awarded a special recognition within this prestigious group with the designation of having the “Happiest Employees in NYC Tech.”
The Best Places to Work in NYC Tech represents the most sought after places to work in the region. PhotoShelter was selected based on criteria including hiring practices, benefits packages, salaries, office perks, workplace environment and design, and diversity policies, as well as surveys completed by over 2,000 employees at the finalist companies.
"We have a dynamic and fun company culture - but we also focus on empowering a team of people to step up and take on challenges together," said Andrew Fingerman, CEO of PhotoShelter. "We're especially honored to receive this recognition as we close out 2014, after our small 40-person team released three brand new products into the photo tech space this year. This extraordinary productivity would not have been possible without a culture and environment that takes care of our people and stimulates them to do great things."
PhotoShelter employees across the team share a spirit of togetherness that goes well beyond it's BBQs, bowling and t'ai chi. In fact, the company even comes together for monthly "Photos and Beer" events with beer brewed by employees in-house. PhotoShelter management loves to support unique opportunities like this, to bring the team closer. With these "Photos and Beer" gatherings, engineers, marketers, customer support, and even clients come together and interact over their passion (photography), and sure enough, the company finds it a productive way to get people discussing what we do best and how to do it better.
The nine-year old company attracts employees who want a challenge and a start-up feel. Privately-held and profitable, PhotoShelter is based in the heart of Union Square, NY. In addition to offering competitive salaries, stock options, a 401K with company match, commuter benefits and comprehensive health insurance, PhotoShelter offers employees direct exposure to some of the most amazingly talented professional photographers in the world.
"New York City has become one of the world’s top tech cities, where companies are investing in both smart ideas and great workplaces to draw outstanding talent and foster extraordinary performance," said Allison Arden, Managing Director of Internet Week. "Internet Week's Best Places to Work in NY Tech list recognizes the companies setting the standard for creating cultures that allow successful companies and outstanding talent to thrive in one of the most dynamic and exciting tech communities in the world.”
The 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech was presented on November 20th at the Best Places to Work in New York City Tech Luncheon on November 20th in the Great Room at The W Hotel in Union Square in partnership with CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. Submissions were evaluated by Internet Week research partner Buck Consultants LLC. To be eligible for the competition, companies were required to have a minimum of 20 employees working full-time in a New York office.
About PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter offers the most professional, reliable and innovative online tools to build and grow a successful photography business. Over 80,000 photographers use PhotoShelter’s websites, social and SEO tools to attract new clients; online image archives to stay organized; and image delivery and e-commerce tools to sell their work. To grow your business, manage it more efficiently, or find new ways to market yourself and delight your clients, try PhotoShelter free for 14 days when you visit http://www.photoshelter.com.
About Internet Week
Internet Week supports New York’s vibrant tech-based economy and celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and global impact of technology on business, entertainment and culture. The festival highlights the innovators building the new economy and creating opportunity, while educating and empowering attendees to succeed. Internet Week New York is every week, and the festival is part of an always-on movement in support of the tech community and the industries so important to global competitiveness. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
New York, NY (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
PhotoShelter, the worldwide leader in image asset management and marketing solutions for photographers and businesses, announced today it has been named one of the 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech by Internet Week. PhotoShelter was also awarded a special recognition within this prestigious group with the designation of having the “Happiest Employees in NYC Tech.”
The Best Places to Work in NYC Tech represents the most sought after places to work in the region. PhotoShelter was selected based on criteria including hiring practices, benefits packages, salaries, office perks, workplace environment and design, and diversity policies, as well as surveys completed by over 2,000 employees at the finalist companies.
"We have a dynamic and fun company culture - but we also focus on empowering a team of people to step up and take on challenges together," said Andrew Fingerman, CEO of PhotoShelter. "We're especially honored to receive this recognition as we close out 2014, after our small 40-person team released three brand new products into the photo tech space this year. This extraordinary productivity would not have been possible without a culture and environment that takes care of our people and stimulates them to do great things."
PhotoShelter employees across the team share a spirit of togetherness that goes well beyond it's BBQs, bowling and t'ai chi. In fact, the company even comes together for monthly "Photos and Beer" events with beer brewed by employees in-house. PhotoShelter management loves to support unique opportunities like this, to bring the team closer. With these "Photos and Beer" gatherings, engineers, marketers, customer support, and even clients come together and interact over their passion (photography), and sure enough, the company finds it a productive way to get people discussing what we do best and how to do it better.
The nine-year old company attracts employees who want a challenge and a start-up feel. Privately-held and profitable, PhotoShelter is based in the heart of Union Square, NY. In addition to offering competitive salaries, stock options, a 401K with company match, commuter benefits and comprehensive health insurance, PhotoShelter offers employees direct exposure to some of the most amazingly talented professional photographers in the world.
"New York City has become one of the world’s top tech cities, where companies are investing in both smart ideas and great workplaces to draw outstanding talent and foster extraordinary performance," said Allison Arden, Managing Director of Internet Week. "Internet Week's Best Places to Work in NY Tech list recognizes the companies setting the standard for creating cultures that allow successful companies and outstanding talent to thrive in one of the most dynamic and exciting tech communities in the world.”
The 30 Best Places to Work in New York City Tech was presented on November 20th at the Best Places to Work in New York City Tech Luncheon on November 20th in the Great Room at The W Hotel in Union Square in partnership with CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. Submissions were evaluated by Internet Week research partner Buck Consultants LLC. To be eligible for the competition, companies were required to have a minimum of 20 employees working full-time in a New York office.
About PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter offers the most professional, reliable and innovative online tools to build and grow a successful photography business. Over 80,000 photographers use PhotoShelter’s websites, social and SEO tools to attract new clients; online image archives to stay organized; and image delivery and e-commerce tools to sell their work. To grow your business, manage it more efficiently, or find new ways to market yourself and delight your clients, try PhotoShelter free for 14 days when you visit http://www.photoshelter.com.
About Internet Week
Internet Week supports New York’s vibrant tech-based economy and celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and global impact of technology on business, entertainment and culture. The festival highlights the innovators building the new economy and creating opportunity, while educating and empowering attendees to succeed. Internet Week New York is every week, and the festival is part of an always-on movement in support of the tech community and the industries so important to global competitiveness. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
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Website shines light on which health plans cover abortion
Washington D.C., Nov 24, 2014 / 10:47 am (CNA).- A new website informing Americans whether or not their health plans cover abortion is up and running, with advocates saying it provides the transparency in the health care law that the government failed to deliver.
The website ObamacareAbortion.com seeks to “inform Americans about abortion coverage in Obamacare plans and expose the great difficulty in obtaining this information,” the Family Research Council’s Arina Grossu stated at a Nov 20 Capitol Hill press conference.
Current U.S. laws such as the Hyde Amendment prevent the federal funding of abortion for many government programs. However, the amendment does not apply to the Affordable Care Act, which has its own sources of funding, rather than seeking funding through the annual appropriations bills.
Debates over abortion funding in the 2010 health care law threatened to prevent its passage, as a group of pro-life Democrats said they would only support the legislation if abortion funding were excluded.
In response, President Obama promised an executive order to ban this funding. At the time, numerous pro-life groups warned that the order was legally unenforceable and would have no actual impact on the legislation.
But a September report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office – an independent government watchdog – found that the executive order had not been followed, and federal subsidies were funding abortions in more than 1,000 health plans across the country.
The report found that in five separate states, all of the plans that were offered on the health care insurance exchanges covered abortion. In addition, the stipulation that abortion coverage be funded through a separate surcharge was not followed by many health issuers.
Genevieve Plaster of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said that of the 5.4 million who purchased health insurance on the exchanges in 2014, 87 percent used federal subsidies to pay for their coverage. Many of these health plans covered abortions, she added.
The website was created as a response to this problem, the joint project of the Family Research Council and the Charlotte Lozier Institute. It attempts to inform customers whether or not their health plan on the exchanges for 2015 covers abortion.
Some things have changed already for the 2015 year. Plaster noted that one insurance company has already “changed over all of its individual exchange plans to now cover elective abortion.”
“When it comes to public funding for abortion, the new 2015 Open Enrollment is at least as bad – and probably worse – than last year,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) stated at the press conference.
According to Grossu, for 2015 “most likely” all the health plans cover abortions in four separate states – Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Vermont – and in five others almost all of the plans will “most likely” cover abortions.
Information on abortion coverage on the health exchanges was very hard to come by, Plaster added.
“Most summaries of benefits and coverage,” she noted, “were completely silent on abortion coverage.”
“I was referred back and forth on phone calls within insurance departments and between companies and the exchanges themselves, sometimes to no avail,” she said. “The current administration and Department of Health and Human Services seem to have made no effort to enforce transparency in the exchanges and with health insurance carriers about abortions,” she concluded.”
Reported by CNA 5 hours ago.
The website ObamacareAbortion.com seeks to “inform Americans about abortion coverage in Obamacare plans and expose the great difficulty in obtaining this information,” the Family Research Council’s Arina Grossu stated at a Nov 20 Capitol Hill press conference.
Current U.S. laws such as the Hyde Amendment prevent the federal funding of abortion for many government programs. However, the amendment does not apply to the Affordable Care Act, which has its own sources of funding, rather than seeking funding through the annual appropriations bills.
Debates over abortion funding in the 2010 health care law threatened to prevent its passage, as a group of pro-life Democrats said they would only support the legislation if abortion funding were excluded.
In response, President Obama promised an executive order to ban this funding. At the time, numerous pro-life groups warned that the order was legally unenforceable and would have no actual impact on the legislation.
But a September report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office – an independent government watchdog – found that the executive order had not been followed, and federal subsidies were funding abortions in more than 1,000 health plans across the country.
The report found that in five separate states, all of the plans that were offered on the health care insurance exchanges covered abortion. In addition, the stipulation that abortion coverage be funded through a separate surcharge was not followed by many health issuers.
Genevieve Plaster of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said that of the 5.4 million who purchased health insurance on the exchanges in 2014, 87 percent used federal subsidies to pay for their coverage. Many of these health plans covered abortions, she added.
The website was created as a response to this problem, the joint project of the Family Research Council and the Charlotte Lozier Institute. It attempts to inform customers whether or not their health plan on the exchanges for 2015 covers abortion.
Some things have changed already for the 2015 year. Plaster noted that one insurance company has already “changed over all of its individual exchange plans to now cover elective abortion.”
“When it comes to public funding for abortion, the new 2015 Open Enrollment is at least as bad – and probably worse – than last year,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) stated at the press conference.
According to Grossu, for 2015 “most likely” all the health plans cover abortions in four separate states – Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Vermont – and in five others almost all of the plans will “most likely” cover abortions.
Information on abortion coverage on the health exchanges was very hard to come by, Plaster added.
“Most summaries of benefits and coverage,” she noted, “were completely silent on abortion coverage.”
“I was referred back and forth on phone calls within insurance departments and between companies and the exchanges themselves, sometimes to no avail,” she said. “The current administration and Department of Health and Human Services seem to have made no effort to enforce transparency in the exchanges and with health insurance carriers about abortions,” she concluded.”
Reported by CNA 5 hours ago.
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Coverys Hires Joseph Murphy as New Chief Operating Officer
Served as Commissioner of Insurance for Massachusetts
Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Coverys, a leading provider of medical professional liability insurance and related services, is pleased to announce the hire of Joseph Murphy as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will join the company effective January 5, 2015.
Murphy has served as Commissioner of Insurance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the past five years and was First Deputy Commissioner for the three years before that. He also served as the Chief of Staff for the Joint Committee on Financial Services and as Research Director for the Joint Committee on Insurance for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In addition to his work in Massachusetts, Murphy contributed his leadership skills to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) where he served as the chair of the Auto Insurance Study Group and Treasurer of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, along with serving on a number of committees and task force initiatives.
“Joe brings years of experience in the insurance field both at a state and national level,” said Gregg L. Hanson, CEO and president of Coverys. “He has a tremendous track record at promoting innovation in the industry such as his involvement with implementation of health insurance reform and introducing managed competition into the private passenger automobile insurance market. He is the ideal candidate to help Coverys continue to serve the insurance needs of physicians, hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the country.”
Murphy’s hire is the latest in an ongoing period of growth as Coverys continues to expand its geographic territory as well as diversifying its product and service offerings to the healthcare industry.
In his new role as COO at Coverys, Murphy will oversee underwriting, marketing and risk management, and will play a pivotal role in the execution of Coverys’ long-term strategic plan. Murphy replaces retiring COO Jack Donehue, who will remain at Coverys for the period of transition and serve in an advisory capacity to the company.
Murphy graduated from Suffolk University with degrees in History and Political Science. He currently lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
ABOUT COVERYS
Coverys is an innovative medical professional liability insurance provider dedicated to helping its policyholders and clients anticipate, identify and manage risk to reduce errors, eliminate inefficiency and improve outcomes. As one of the largest medical professional liability insurance providers in the country, Coverys is responsible for insuring over 32,000 physicians, dentists, and allied health care providers, as well as more than 500 hospitals, health centers and clinics from coast to coast. Coverys has consistently been included in the Ward’s 50 for the past five years. In addition to its insurance products and service delivery to the health care industry, it also has established the Coverys Community Healthcare Foundation to support endeavors that focus on the improvement of patient safety as well as healthcare programs to reduce childhood obesity. For more information, visit Coverys at http://www.coverys.com. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 24, 2014
Coverys, a leading provider of medical professional liability insurance and related services, is pleased to announce the hire of Joseph Murphy as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will join the company effective January 5, 2015.
Murphy has served as Commissioner of Insurance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the past five years and was First Deputy Commissioner for the three years before that. He also served as the Chief of Staff for the Joint Committee on Financial Services and as Research Director for the Joint Committee on Insurance for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In addition to his work in Massachusetts, Murphy contributed his leadership skills to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) where he served as the chair of the Auto Insurance Study Group and Treasurer of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, along with serving on a number of committees and task force initiatives.
“Joe brings years of experience in the insurance field both at a state and national level,” said Gregg L. Hanson, CEO and president of Coverys. “He has a tremendous track record at promoting innovation in the industry such as his involvement with implementation of health insurance reform and introducing managed competition into the private passenger automobile insurance market. He is the ideal candidate to help Coverys continue to serve the insurance needs of physicians, hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the country.”
Murphy’s hire is the latest in an ongoing period of growth as Coverys continues to expand its geographic territory as well as diversifying its product and service offerings to the healthcare industry.
In his new role as COO at Coverys, Murphy will oversee underwriting, marketing and risk management, and will play a pivotal role in the execution of Coverys’ long-term strategic plan. Murphy replaces retiring COO Jack Donehue, who will remain at Coverys for the period of transition and serve in an advisory capacity to the company.
Murphy graduated from Suffolk University with degrees in History and Political Science. He currently lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
ABOUT COVERYS
Coverys is an innovative medical professional liability insurance provider dedicated to helping its policyholders and clients anticipate, identify and manage risk to reduce errors, eliminate inefficiency and improve outcomes. As one of the largest medical professional liability insurance providers in the country, Coverys is responsible for insuring over 32,000 physicians, dentists, and allied health care providers, as well as more than 500 hospitals, health centers and clinics from coast to coast. Coverys has consistently been included in the Ward’s 50 for the past five years. In addition to its insurance products and service delivery to the health care industry, it also has established the Coverys Community Healthcare Foundation to support endeavors that focus on the improvement of patient safety as well as healthcare programs to reduce childhood obesity. For more information, visit Coverys at http://www.coverys.com. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
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EXCLUSIVE: Out-of-town investor pays $22M for insurer's local office
A Los Angeles-based real estate investment company purchased a Deerfield Township office building for more than $22 million. An affiliate of Griffin Capital Corp. purchased the 213,000-square-foot building from an affiliate of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for $22.5 million, or about $105 per square foot. Anthem is the only tenant in the building, located at 4361 Irwin Simpson Road. It made sense for Anthem to sell the building to Griffin Capital so the health insurance and health care plan…
Reported by bizjournals 5 hours ago.
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