Urging Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to #GetCovered

January 26, 2015, 1:32 pm

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The summer after he graduated from college, Kalwis Lo learned he had stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the lymphatic system. His private health insurance plan denied him coverage for treatment, claiming the cancer diagnosis was a "pre-existing condition." Every major private health plan turned him away. His family was forced to dip into their savings and ask friends and family for help to cover the cost of his testing and chemotherapy treatments. His family faced financial strain until Kalwis discovered that the Affordable Care Act created a temporary program for anyone denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. He enrolled in the program and that fall, Kalwis was able to get the treatment he needed and today is cancer-free.

Kalwis's story is one of the reasons why President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. No one should be denied health insurance coverage when they need it most.

Unfortunately, many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) still lack health insurance coverage and don't see a doctor on a regular basis. In fact, in 2010, nearly 24 percent of Asian Americans and over 37 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders reported that they had not seen a doctor in the past year. Through the Affordable Care Act, nearly 2 million uninsured AAPIs gained access to health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, and it is likely that eight in 10 will qualify for financial assistance!

So today, I encourage all Americans -- including AAPIs across the country -- who have not enrolled for health insurance to learn more, get engaged, and enroll in health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace by February 15.

To encourage AAPI families to get health coverage, throughout the week of January 26-30, the White House, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are partnering with community groups to hold enrollment events for AAPI families to learn about the Affordable Care Act and receive free, in-person, and in-language assistance to enroll in health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Partners also plan to be active on social media, using hashtag #AAPIhealth, to share information, resources, and stories of AAPIs who have benefitted from the Affordable Care Act.

For more information on the Affordable Care Act, visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. Translation services are available. The call is free. And remember to enroll before February 15, 2015! Reported by Huffington Post 13 hours ago.

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Republican lawmakers attempt to repeal state health insurance exchange

January 26, 2015, 1:53 pm

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A Republican bill proposing to repeal the state health insurance exchange is scheduled to be heard by the Democrat-led House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee Thursday at the Capitol. Reported by Denver Post 12 hours ago.

Wall Street's Threat to the American Middle Class

January 26, 2015, 3:37 pm

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Presidential aspirants in both parties are talking about saving the middle class. But the middle class can't be saved unless Wall Street is tamed.The Street's excesses pose a continuing danger to average Americans. And its ongoing use of confidential corporate information is defrauding millions of middle-class investors.Yet most presidential aspirants don't want to talk about taming the Street because Wall Street is one of their largest sources of campaign money.Do we really need reminding about what happened six years ago? The financial collapse crippled the middle class and poor -- consuming the savings of millions of average Americans, and causing 23 million to lose their jobs, 9.3 million to lose their health insurance, and some 1 million to lose their homes.A repeat performance is not unlikely. Wall Street's biggest banks are much larger now than they were then. Five of them hold about 45 percent of America's banking assets. In 2000, they held 25 percent.And money is cheaper than ever. The Fed continues to hold the prime interest rate near zero.This has fueled the Street's eagerness to borrow money at rock-bottom rates and use it to make risky bets that will pay off big if they succeed, but will cause big problems if they go bad.We learned last week that Goldman Sachs has been on a shopping binge, buying cheap real estate stretching from Utah to Spain, and a variety of companies.If not technically a violation of the new Dodd-Frank banking law, Goldman's binge surely violates its spirit.Meanwhile, the Street's lobbyists have gotten Congress to repeal a provision of Dodd-Frank curbing excessive speculation by the big banks.The language was drafted by Citigroup and personally pushed by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase.Not incidentally, Dimon recently complained of being "under assault" by bank regulators.Last year JPMorgan's board voted to boost Dimon's pay to $20 million, despite the bank paying out more than $20 billion to settle various legal problems going back to financial crisis.The American middle class needs stronger bank regulations, not weaker ones.Last summer, bank regulators told the big banks their plans for orderly bankruptcies were "unrealistic." In other words, if the banks collapsed, they'd bring the economy down with them.Dodd-Frank doesn't even cover bank bets on foreign exchanges. Yet recent turbulence in the foreign exchange market has caused huge losses at hedge funds and brokerages.This comes on top of revelations of widespread manipulation by the big banks of the foreign-exchange market.Wall Street is also awash in inside information unavailable to average investors.Just weeks ago a three- judge panel of the U.S. court of appeals that oversees Wall Street reversed an insider-trading conviction, saying guilt requires proof a trader knows the tip was leaked in exchange for some "personal benefit" that's "of some consequence."Meaning that if a CEO tells his Wall Street golfing buddy about a pending merger, the buddy and his friends can make a bundle -- to the detriment of small, typically middle-class, investors.That three-judge panel was composed entirely of appointees of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.But both parties have been drinking at the Wall Street trough.In the 2008 presidential campaign, the financial sector ranked fourth among all industry groups giving to then candidate Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee. In fact, Obama reaped far more in contributions from the Street than did his Republican opponent.Wall Street also supplies both administrations with key economic officials. The treasury secretaries under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson, respectfully, had both chaired Goldman Sachs before coming to Washington.And before becoming Obama's treasury secretary, Timothy Geitner had been handpicked by Rubin to become president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Geitner is now back on the Street as president of the private-equity firm Warburg Pincus.)It's nice that presidential aspirants are talking about rebuilding America's middle class.But to be credible, he (or she) has to take clear aim at the Street.That means proposing to limit the size of the biggest Wall Street banks; resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act (which used to separate investment from commercial banking); define insider trading the way most other countries do - using information any reasonable person would know is unavailable to most investors; and close the revolving door between the Street and the U.S. Treasury.It also means not depending on the Street to finance their campaigns. Reported by Huffington Post 11 hours ago.

Clinton Foundation To Help Make Anti-Overdose Drug Much More Affordable

January 26, 2015, 5:30 pm

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Naloxone, a medication known as the “overdose antidote,” can reverse the effects of an overdose from opioid drugs like heroin, Vicodin, OxyContin and morphine. Although Naloxone has saved tens of thousands of lives, and has been approved for use against drug overdose by the Food and Drug Administration since 1971, it's typically only administered by medical professionals.

That began to change last April, when the FDA fast-tracked the approval of a device called Evzio. The device administers Naloxone as an auto-injectible, similar to the way epinephrine can be injected with an EpiPen. And it’s going to be widely available to universities, colleges, community organizations and local police and emergency authorities at a cost comparable to the federal supply schedule pricing -- in other words, near the lowest possible cost that a federal institution, such as Medicare or the Department of Veterans Affairs, would pay for the device.

The rollout is a collaboration between Kaleo, the pharmaceutical company that invented the device, and the Clinton Foundation's Health Matters Initiative. It was announced at a panel session Monday, the second day of the Clinton Foundation Health Matters Summit. Speaking at the panel session, former President Bill Clinton described the initiative as "something which I think will save a lot of lives."

“In five years, the goal is to save 10,000 lives per year,” said Kaleo CEO Spencer Williamson in an interview with The Huffington Post prior to the announcement. More than 16,000 people died from opioid drug overdose in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During an opioid overdose, the drugs cause a person's breathing to slow down so much that respiration may cease entirely. The average time it takes for emergency medical services to arrive varies from region to region. Brain cells, however, begin to die within four minutes after someone stops breathing, Williamson told HuffPost.

"The goal is to improve access and ensure that Naloxone is in the hands of people when a life-threatening overdose occurs,” he said.

For people with health insurance, or coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the VA or TriCare (the armed forces' health plan), Evzio typically costs less than $30 out of pocket. But for people who lack health coverage and who don’t qualify for Kaleo’s assistance program (which extends to people without health coverage who earn up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line), prices climb as high as several hundred dollars. The average wholesale price for one unit of Evzio, which includes two Naloxone delivery devices and one training device, is $575, according to Williamson.

Williamson declined to put a specific number on the estimated discount or the anticipated new price of Evzio, saying that federal supply pricing is a “moving number” and constantly in flux.

Rain Henderson, CEO of the Clinton Foundation, described the federal supply pricing as the “the floor,” saying, “You can’t go any lower than the rates that the federal government gets." But supply is another crucial issue when it comes to Naloxone access, she said.

“The manufacturing landscape has been changing quite dramatically, and the pricing and the availability of Naloxone has been unpredictable,” Henderson told HuffPost at the summit. “That makes it very hard for community groups, organizations [and] policymakers to plan for how to purchase Evzio."

“For us, the point was to create a predictable and affordable supply," she went on, "so you could have more organizations purchasing Naloxone and using a device like the Evzio auto-injector to save people’s lives."

The makers of Evzio say it can be used by anyone, at any time, with little or no training. When activated, the handheld device begins “speaking" to the user, reciting instructions on how to administer the medication. According to Kaleo's research, 90 percent of people can use Evzio properly with no prior training, and 100 percent are successful if they have been trained.

Williamson told HuffPost that because Evzio is shelf-stable, caregivers who serve opioid addicts can stock the product for up to two years and deploy it as soon as it’s needed during an emergency, as opposed to waiting what could be several crucial minutes for emergency medical crews to arrive.

“We have seen physicians very much embrace the product, because they see it as a way to really empower patients and their families to manage their challenging medical conditions,” said Williamson. “The open-arm reception to the product and awareness of the problem has been really exciting for us, and more than what we anticipated."

Meghan Ralston, a harm reduction manager with the Drug Policy Alliance, applauded Monday's news in an interview with HuffPost.

“The rising cost of Naloxone is an important thing we should all be talking about,” said Ralston. "Kaleo, by doing anything to make Naloxone in any way more affordable to anyone -- good for them. Kudos to them."

At the moment, it's already possible for individuals to obtain and administer generic forms of Naloxone, either as an injection or a nasal spray. Laws vary by state about whether a prescription is needed to purchase the medication. Ralston pointed out that different formulations of Naloxone are beneficial to different types of people.

"Evzio is a completely distinct way of using Naloxone, because it talks,” she said. "Would an 8-year-old have an easier time using Naloxone via Evzio on their accidentally overdosing grandmother? Probably.”

“Anything that helps get Naloxone into an overdosing person is a good thing," she added. "One hundred percent."

Shoshanna Scholar, executive director of the LA Community Health Project in Los Angeles, expressed cautious optimism about the potential impact of an Evzio discount. Because Kaleo won’t disclose the discount or the new price of the product, Scholar said she can't yet tell whether the new initiative will be able to help organizations like hers, which specializes in community-based Naloxone distribution.

In 2014, the LA Community Health Project conducted 652 trainings in overdose prevention and Naloxone administration, and at least 77 lives have since been saved as a result, according to Scholar. The majority of those overdose reversals, she said, were cases either of drug users saving each other’s lives, or family caregivers saving the lives of someone they loved.

At Evzio’s current cost, Scholar can only afford to train community members with generic injectable Naloxone. But if the eventual discount proves significant, she might consider stocking up.

“If it were possible to lower the rates significantly today, tomorrow it would be in the hands of people who are most likely to be at the event of an opioid overdose,” Scholar wrote in an email to HuffPost. "We need to keep the volume of the Naloxone we distribute at the level it is at or higher to meet the increased demand." Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.

WEA Trust Chooses to Leverage Convey Compliance’s Technology Solution for Affordable Care Act Reporting

January 27, 2015, 12:03 am

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WEA Trust, a not-for-profit insurance company in Wisconsin, has chosen to leverage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting technology solution of Convey Compliance Systems, LLC.

Minnetonka, MN (PRWEB) January 27, 2015

WEA Trust, a not-for-profit insurance company in Wisconsin, has chosen to leverage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting technology solution of Convey Compliance Systems, LLC.

The ACA individual health insurance mandate is now in effect, requiring all individuals to have minimum essential health care coverage. Therefore, individuals filing for tax year 2014, who did maintain qualifying health care coverage, will complete a new line on Forms 1040 and 1040EZ. This new line was added to maintain alignment with the ACA and Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 6055 and 6056. The question of whether individuals obtained qualifying health care coverage must be documented to the IRS for tax year 2014. This may be a challenge for many taxpayers because, during this transition to the new ACA-compliant filing requirements, providing individual health insurance coverage documentation for tax year 2014 (new IRS Forms 1095-B and 1095-C) is voluntary for insurance providers and employers. For insurers and employers, proof of coverage will not be made mandatory and subject to penalty until 2016 for the tax year 2015 income tax returns. It is anticipated, therefore, that this lack of documentation may cause confusion and frustration, leading to an increase in member inquiries made to insurers like WEA Trust.

Michael Quist, WEA Trust’s Chief Financial Officer, stated, “The Trust’s ability to fulfill our members’ needs, often before they’re even aware of them, is a key reason we continue to be the fastest-growing health insurance option for state and public employees. When I learned about the gap between individual and provider ACA tax information reporting requirements, the impact on our members and employees was clear and the decision to provide members with the optional 1095 reporting for the 2014 tax year was an easy one. We completed a thorough build versus buy analysis and surveyed the market, which resulted in our decision to partner with Convey. With Convey, we are able to reduce the duplication of efforts by having a single system for 1099 and 1095 reporting.”

Ray Grove at Convey stated, “Proactive organizations that take advantage of the beta year will ensure positive member experience while filing for their 2014 income tax returns. In addition, participating in the beta year allows organizations to test their internal processes without risking penalties and resolve any unforeseen issues before ACA reporting requirements go into full affect for tax year 2015.”

About Convey
For nearly thirty years, Convey Compliance Systems, LLC has provided technology and services to improve compliance and reduce costs related to tax information reporting. Convey is at the forefront of the industry for providing third-party reporting technology and services to over 2,000 clients. In June of 2014, Convey merged with Taxware, a global provider of sales, use and value-added tax (VAT) software. Together, the two companies create a comprehensive portfolio of technology products and services designed to simplify tax compliance and mitigate risk. Reported by PRWeb 2 hours ago.

Marcel’s Culinary Experience, Glen Ellyn, Expands Its Teaching Staff with Local Chefs Heidi Kise, Cherise Slattery on First Quarter 2015 Schedule

January 27, 2015, 12:03 am

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Marcel’s Culinary Experience, a gourmet retail store and recreational cooking school in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (Chicago suburb), has welcomed local chefs Heidi Kise and Cherise Slattery to its teaching staff.

Glen Ellyn, IL (PRWEB) January 27, 2015

As a new year begins, Marcel’s Culinary Experience (http://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com), a gourmet retail store and recreational cooking school in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (Chicago suburb), has welcomed local chefs Heidi Kise and Cherise Slattery to its teaching staff.

“We’re thrilled to have Heidi and Cherise join our culinary team as demand for our classes and private events continues to grow. Each chef brings unique skills and experience that we look forward to sharing as we develop new class topics and event themes in the months ahead,” said Jill Foucré, owner of Marcel’s Culinary Experience.

Kise, a Wheaton resident, is a graduate of San Francisco’s renowned Tante Marie’s Cooking School and Illinois State University. A former restaurant chef and food stylist, she is also a caterer and member of the adjunct faculty at Kendall College, Chicago. Her upcoming classes at Marcel’s include sessions on sauce- and pasta-making as well as the basics of Thai and French bistro cuisine.

St. Charles resident Slattery is a certified pastry chef with degrees from Elgin Community College and Northern Illinois University. She sells her line of all-natural pastries at local farmers markets in the western suburbs. Her first quarter classes at Marcel’s will include several offerings for kids of different ages and a sweet dough workshop for adults.

Marcel’s has more than 60 classes scheduled during the first quarter of 2015, with both hands-on and demonstration classes during the day and evenings seven days a week for cooks of all ages and skill levels. Virtually all include a meal, plus beer and wine for adults attending hands on classes.

Marcel’s also creates food-oriented parties, private group classes and other special events for groups of 10 to 60 people. Options range from cocktail parties to demonstration and participatory cooking classes for all ages and skill levels.

For more information, visit http://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com, stop by the store, or phone (630) 790-8500.

About Marcel’s Culinary Experience
Marcel’s Culinary Experience is a combination retail store and recreational cooking school located at 490 N. Main in historic downtown Glen Ellyn, Ill., about 20 miles west of downtown Chicago. Marcel’s operates a full schedule of culinary classes for cooks of all ages and skill levels, and is available for private events of up to 16 people. The retail space is stocked with fine cookware and hardworking professional tools, exquisite tablewares, specialty foods and one-of-a-kind items. Marcel’s owner is Jill Foucré, a former health insurance executive, who named the space after her grandfather, a French chef and restaurateur. In 2014, Marcel’s was named U.S. Kitchenware Retailer of the Year by The Gourmet Retailer, an industry trade magazine. For more information, visit http://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com. Reported by PRWeb 2 hours ago.

EXCLUSIVE: Here's why eight of Cincinnati's biggest doctor groups are joining forces

January 27, 2015, 7:57 am

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Some of the largest physician groups in Greater Cincinnati have formed a collaborative to boost brand recognition and marketing to patients, insurance companies and large employers such as General Electric, Kroger and Macy's. One goal of the eight founding members of the Independent Physicians Collaborative is to persuade big employers in the region to make sure the doctor groups are among the medical providers in networks designated by health insurance plans. The doctor groups specialize in everything… Reported by bizjournals 19 hours ago.

CBO Report: Obamacare to Cost Government $50K Per Person

January 27, 2015, 9:45 am

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A bombshell report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals that it will cost the federal government $50,000 for every person who gets health insurance under Obamacare law. Reported by Newsmax 18 hours ago.

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Deficit Estimated To Shrink To Lowest Level Of Obama Presidency

January 27, 2015, 8:44 am

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Deficit Estimated To Shrink To Lowest Level Of Obama Presidency
Deficit Estimated To Shrink To Lowest Level Of Obama Presidency
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Politics
deficit, obama, economy, growth, congressional budget office, recession, federal budget
Has Been Optimized

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit will shrink to its lowest level since President Obama took office.

Recent economic growth is a contributing factor in the deficit decrease from last year’s $483 billion to $468 billion, the number it will shrink to by September when the budget year ends.

“In CBO's estimation, increases in consumer spending, business investment and residential investment will drive the economic expansion this year and over the next few years,” the CBO’s report, released Monday, read. The report also showed a 14 percent drop in the number of people without health insurance, largely due to President Obama’s healthcare policy.

According to an AP report, the good news came with a warning. After 2018, the CBO report said, the deficit will begin to rise again as baby boomers start to retire and utilize benefits like Social Security. By 2025, the deficit could potentially top $1 trillion, and Social Security would make up a quarter of the federal budget.

“Such large and growing federal debt would have serious negative consequences, including increasing federal spending for interest payments, restraining economic growth in the long term,” the CBO said, “giving policy makers less flexibility to respond to unexpected challenges and eventually heightening the risk of a fiscal crisis.”

“The underlying point is that we have a handful of very large federal programs that provide benefits to older Americans,” CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said. “And with the rising number of older Americans and a rising cost of health care, those programs get much more expensive."

The White House said Monday that despite the deficit decrease and economic improvements, Congress has work to do going forward to ensure continued growth.

“CBO's longer-term budget and economic projections confirm the need for Congress to act to strengthen our economy for the middle class while putting our debt and deficits on a sustainable trajectory, including by making the investments that will accelerate economic growth and generate good new jobs for our workers to fill,” Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said.

The CBO report also projected that the unemployment rate would fall to 5.3 percent by 2017.

Sources: AP, New York Times / Photo Credit: nytimes.com

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Everything Has Its Price

January 27, 2015, 9:16 am

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A visitor to New York City has access to a rich array of cultural resources. They come at a hefty price, though. That high cost can be intimidating for residents of the outer boroughs and for all those of limited means as well as for tourists. No -- I am not referring to theater or concert tickets which now are affordable only for the affluent elite. It is museums and civic monuments that I have in mind. The skyrocketing of entry fees is yet another sign of how American life in all its aspects is being monetarized.

When I was growing up in New York, museums were free. They along with libraries were considered public assets that existed to serve the population. Those institutions were of particular value to generations of immigrants who used them as stepping stones to assimilation and the fulfillment of aspirations. That no longer is the case. $25 is now the standard fee to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, $22-$27 at the Museum of Natural History. That doesn't cover special exhibitions. So a family of four who may wish to explore either has to come up with $100 -- not including local transportation of about $20 -- from Jamaica, from Crown Heights, from Hunt's Point, from Tottenville. For an adult wage-earner who is receiving the minimum wage of $8.35, that means that (s)he has to work a day and a half just to get into one of the city's cultural landmarks. Take into account withholdings from the paycheck and that means two full days of work. Outrageous, ridiculous, unfair, scandalous -- choose your adjective. Any of them is an apt depiction of contemporary America's distorted values and cavalier disregard for the well-being of its poorer citizens.

What of the 9/11 Museum on the site of the World Trade Center? $24! True, the memorial itself can be visited without charge -- but not the museum. If you can't afford the full act of devotion at this votive site, you can always turn on your TV to a football game and stand at attention when they troop the colors and play the Star Spangled Banner.

These exorbitant fees are justified by reference to the exigencies of the new "age of austerity." But the United States is today richer than it ever has been, according to official statistics. The endowments of cultural institutions climb to new heights -- even if public moneys do not. The simple if unpalatable truth is that their directors, their boards of trustees, city officials and the political class as a whole have a different set of priorities than they did half a century ago. It no longer is about serving the public. Nowadays, it's aggrandizing the organization, enhancing its prestige and visibility, creating greater career opportunities for those who run it, and, therefore, emphasizing the bottom line. Blockbuster international exhibitions memorialized in ostentatious catalogues and inaugurated at gala donor balls are dearest to the museum director's heart. These institutions' leaders act as if they possessed them rather than serving as custodians of a public trust. (Joe Daniels, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, earns $371,307).

The same phenomenon is visible across American society. Universities, foundations, charities -- not to speak of government agencies -- are used to advance personal power and prestige at least as much as to perform public functions. Traditionally in this democratic and avowedly egalitarian society, institutions were never viewed as belonging to those who lead them -- to be disposed of according to the will and inclination of managers or governors. Leaders were supposed to act in the collective interest of all those who have a stake in the institution's performance.

Consequently, it follows that office-holders, directors and managers are authorized to exercise their proper powers within a set of constraints. Empowerment comes with accompanying limitations that are designed to ensure that the functions of leadership are performed in a responsible manner. It is a fiduciary responsibility in a broad sense.

The virus of arbitrary leadership has spread as far as America's great universities. To anyone with direct experience of how matters of consequence are handled in today's citadels of academe, the shift away from some approximation of a consultative approach on major policy issues is striking. The phenomenon may not be universal, but it is widespread and growing. So, too, is the haughty attitude of senior administrators that the institution's well-being is their affair as proprietors who have the right to choose whether to deign to seek the advice or counsel (almost never approval) of those in whose name they administer. Faculty increasingly are viewed as staff, staff as hirelings and students as customers/product.

What aspects of university life are the targets of arbitrary action? Just about everything: tuition, faculty/student ratios, a shift to temporary/part-time faculty, responsiveness to allegations of rape and other offenses that could endanger the school's reputation and thereby revenues, the "privatization" of staff functions to cut expenditures to the bone, what levels of political activity on campus will be tolerated, etc. (Some adjunct professors have had their contracted teaching hours cut so as to disqualify them for institutional health insurance mandated by Obamacare). It is a rare institution where a serious effort is made to involve faculty in the process of deliberation and decision. Staff almost never.

There are very serious practical consequences to this mindset and pattern of behavior. University leaders preoccupied with their personal authority and emoluments are not inclined to become vocal plaintiffs before legislatures, governors, boards of trustees or the public -- leaders who strenuously protest the progressive abandonment of higher education. Today, in the University of California system students must cover a larger fraction of their educational costs than does the state, roughly $16,000. In the 1960s BR (before Reagan), that same education was free. This is a revolutionary change, matched across the country, that extracts a heavy toll on students -- especially those from families of modest means. They have limited choices: stick with cheaper state colleges or community colleges, incur heavy debt on onerous terms (and therefore think above all of future earnings when choosing a career), or work part-time. Many combine these options with an attendant decline in graduation rates. Yet, it is standard these days for university administrators and boards to exhort students to complete their degree sooner and to "cut down on the partying." Of course there is partying -- much of it associated with university promoted sports events. The "partying" for millions of other students amounts to working 20 or 30 hours a week.

I know of not a single university president who has spoken out loudly and clearly about this sorry state of affairs and its implications.

President Obama personally has taken the tighten-your-belt line. He has threatened universities with cuts in federal spending if they don't hold the line on tuition -- without mentioning that tuition is rising due to the drastic reduction in the level of public funding (while faculty and staff salaries stagnate). In addition, he has set as a criterion for evaluating universities the earnings of graduates. The implicit message: it's the money that counts -- not whether a career or job is fulfilling and contributes to the welfare of society. Go into finance or "consulting" and forget about government service or NGOs. Indeed, that makes a certain utilitarian sense if you want your kids to afford a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or to pay homage at the 9/11 Museum. Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Expands Medicaid Under Obamacare

January 27, 2015, 9:51 am

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday became the latest Republican governor to accept an expansion of Medicaid to cover more poor residents under the Affordable Care Act.

Like the expansions in other Republican-led states, Pence's plan doesn't merely broaden Medicaid, but rather uses the federal funding available to remake the program. Enrollment starts immediately, and coverage begins Feb. 1. The expansion eventually will reach 350,000 people, Pence said when announcing federal approval for the proposal at a news conference in Indianapolis.

Republican resistance to the Medicaid expansion at the state level has worn down since a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 made this part of Obamacare optional for states.

GOP governors and legislators in states like Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania have extracted concessions, including increasing the role of private health insurance plans in Medicaid, from President Barack Obama's administration, which is eager to provide Medicaid coverage to as many poor Americans as possible. Including Indiana, 28 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Pence's plan is the biggest departure from traditional, government-run Medicaid yet. The so-called Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, as Pence dubbed it, ties benefits to monthly payments by beneficiaries below the poverty line, a first for Medicaid, and includes other features Pence billed as conservative and market-based.

"We have worked hard to ensure that low-income Hoosiers have access to a health care plan that empowers them to take charge of their health and prepares them to move to private insurance as they improve their lives," Pence said in a press release.

The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, or HIP 2.0, differs greatly from traditional Medicaid, under which people with low incomes and people with disabilities are covered by a government program that pays for their medical care.

Pence's program builds on the state's 7-year-old Healthy Indiana Plan, which currently covers 60,000 people with high-deductible health insurance and health savings accounts. Adults without disabilities who are currently enrolled in traditional Medicaid will be moved to the Healthy Indiana Plan, also known as HIP.

The most novel aspect of the so-called HIP 2.0 is that enrollees will have to make contributions into "POWER accounts," modeled after private-sector health savings accounts. People with incomes above poverty, which is about $11,500 for a single person, must deposit between $3 and $25 into these accounts per month. People who fail to make these payments can get their benefits taken away for six months. These contributions are optional for people making below poverty wages, but if these beneficiaries don't contribute, they receive less generous health coverage. Individuals who use these POWER accounts and receive required preventive health services will pay less for their benefits.

In addition, Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 will provide financial assistance to qualified workers to buy into their employers' health insurance programs. The plan will also link Healthy Indiana Plan enrollees to voluntary job-training and referral services.

The Affordable Care Act provides full federal funding of Medicaid expansions through this year. Starting next year, states will be required to pay 10 percent of the cost. State cigarette taxes will fund a share of Indiana's future expenses, and members of the Indiana Hospital Association agreed to finance another share starting in 2017. The hospital financing also will cover the cost of increasing payments to doctors and other medical providers. Hospital associations in most states support expanding Medicaid because they currently lose money when they treat uninsured patients who can't afford the care they receive.

Republicans in states including Alaska, Tennessee and Utah also are debating expanding Medicaid in some form this year.

“I continue to be encouraged by interest from governors from all across the country who want to bring health care coverage to low-income people in their states by expanding Medicaid," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a press release. "The administration will continue to work with governors interested in expanding Medicaid to devise approaches that work for their states while keeping faith with the law’s goals and consumer protections." Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.

Conservative Think Tank: 10 Countries With Universal Health Care Have Freer Economies Than The U.S.

January 27, 2015, 12:03 pm

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Many American conservatives oppose universal health insurance because they see it as fundamentally antithetical to a free society. “If we persevere in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality we will sacrifice personal freedom as its price,” wrote a guest editorialist in the Wall Street Journal in 2009. But according to the Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative think tank, ten nations freer than the United States have achieved universal health coverage. It turns out that the right kind of health reform could cover more Americans while increasing economic freedom. Reported by Forbes.com 15 hours ago.

Affordable Health Care Information Offered in Conjunction With National Youth Enrollment Day

January 27, 2015, 11:05 am

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Allegany College of Maryland is hosting Door to HealthCare Western Maryland on Thursday, Jan. 29, as part of National Youth Enrollment Day to inform young adults about new, low-cost health insurance options under the federal Affordable Care Act

Cumberland, MD (PRWEB) January 27, 2015

Door to HealthCare Western Maryland, an effort to help Marylanders access affordable health coverage, is participating in National Youth Enrollment Day with a local event on Thursday, Jan. 29.

The information session, which is open to the community, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Allegany College of Maryland. It will take place in the Haines Student Lounge in the College Center.

This nationwide event will educate uninsured young adults about new, low-cost health insurance options under the federal Affordable Care Act. In Maryland, these are accessed through the state’s health insurance marketplace, Maryland Health Connection.

The second National Youth Enrollment Day, which is being observed by dozens of organizations across the country, is an effort to reach the one in five young adults who lack insurance before Feb. 15, the last day of open enrollment.

Young adults, who represent the most uninsured of all age groups, are more likely than any other to end up in a hospital emergency room, aside from the elderly.

They have the lowest rate of access to employer-based insurance -- the most common source of health insurance for working-age adults -- yet one in six has a chronic illness such as cancer, diabetes or asthma.

Nearly half of uninsured young adults report problems paying medical bills, according to Get Covered America, a national sponsor of the Jan. 29 event.

Rob Rephan, who represents Door to HealthCare Western Maryland in Allegany County, will visit ACM’s College Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day to inform students and other young adults about their health insurance options under the ACA.

Rephan, a Healthy Howard Inc. assister whose local office is at the Allegany County Health Department, will also visit the college campus the following day.

His Friday, Jan. 30 appearance, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., coincides with an event welcoming ACM students back to campus. Members of the community also may meet with him then.

Rephan may be contacted for more information at 301-759-5098 or rrephan@healthyhoward. The website, http://www.doortohealthcare.org, is another source of information. Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.

Government says 9.5 million people enroll for 2015 insurance, beating goal

January 27, 2015, 11:43 am

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(Reuters) - More than 9.5 million people have signed up for 2015 individual health insurance on the new exchanges created under the national healthcare reform law, the U.S. government said on Tuesday, beating its enrollment target weeks before the deadline. Reported by Reuters 16 hours ago.

Gov. Mike Pence Agrees on Obamacare Medicaid Expansion for Indiana

January 27, 2015, 1:41 pm

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has finally come to terms with the Obama administration on Medicaid expansion in his state, adding to a number of conservative Republicans who are embracing in part some measures of the Obamacare health insurance program, The Washington Post reported. Reported by Newsmax 14 hours ago.

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Obamacare Nears Major Goal With One Month To Go

January 27, 2015, 12:58 pm

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More than 9.5 million people have signed up for private health insurance coverage this year using the Obamacare exchanges, the Department of Health and Human Services disclosed Tuesday, putting the program within striking distance of meeting its enrollment targets.

The deadline to choose a health insurance plan on the Affordable Care Act's exchange marketplaces like HealthCare.gov and Covered California is Feb. 15. Federal officials projected at least 10.3 million would be enrolled by that date, and that at least 9 million would have this form of health coverage by the end of the year. The new figures do not reflect how many enrollees have paid for their insurance, which is the final step to securing coverage.

With the technical failings of HealthCare.gov and several state-run health insurance exchange websites behind them, the marketplaces mostly are managing this year's sign-up period smoothly. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 42 percent of enrollees through mid-January -- 3 million people -- are new to the exchanges, while most others are renewing coverage. Enrollment for 2015 insurance plans began Nov. 15.

"We still have a lot of work to do before Feb. 15, but are encouraged by the strong interest we've seen so far," Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a press release.

The federal government is handling enrollment in 37 states, while 13 states and the District of Columbia operate their own health insurance exchanges. More than 7.1 million of the sign-ups came from those federal exchanges, while more than 2.3 million were via state-run marketplaces. The vast majority of those signing up are eligible for financial assistance: 87 percent on the federal exchanges and 70 percent in the nine state exchanges that provided this information to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The enrollment figures from state-based health insurance exchanges undercount the total number of sign-ups. Hawaii, Maryland and Massachusetts did not report how many customers automatically re-enrolled into the policies they had in 2014. Idaho launched its own exchange for 2015, and also is not reporting what share of its residents who used a federally run exchange last time are signing up again.

The Congressional Budget Office projects greater enrollment in health insurance from the exchanges this year than the Department of Health and Human Services. According to a report issued Monday, the CBO expects an average of 12 million people to have this form of coverage over the course of 2015. The same report also estimates the Affordable Care Act will cost taxpayers about 20 percent less than projected in 2010, partly because of enrollment totals and health insurance premiums that are lower than expected. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.

Obamacare 2.0 sign ups hit 9.5 million

January 27, 2015, 1:25 pm

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Some 9.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance for 2015 on Obamacare exchanges, federal officials said Tuesday. Reported by CNNMoney 14 hours ago.

93% of Floridians who sign up for Obamacare use financial assistance

January 27, 2015, 1:30 pm

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Many Florida consumers who signed up for health insurance coverage through the marketplace are getting financial assistance to lower monthly premiums. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 93 percent of those who signed up selected a health insurance plan with financial assistance. "We're pleased that in Florida, 1,270,994 people are signed up for Marketplace coverage, and 93 percent are able to lower their costs even further by getting tax credits, making… Reported by bizjournals 14 hours ago.

Colorado Republicans pass bills to check health insurance exchange

January 27, 2015, 2:02 pm

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Republican lawmakers passed two bills out of the Senate Tuesday to beef up scrutiny of the state health insurance exchange by reviewing executives' bonuses and expanding its performance audit. Reported by Denver Post 13 hours ago.

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January 27, 2015, 2:02 pm

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Federal health officials say most Floridians who have signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act chose a plan that comes with financial assistance. Reported by WEAR ABC 3 13 hours ago.