*Introduction*Everyone favors eliminating wasteful health care spending. Virtually everyone, polls show, also believes that children should receive the health care they need.We propose to achieve both goals with a proposal that eliminates unnecessary non-benefit costs spent establishing eligibility of children for Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program). and would make all children eligible for the health care coverage that Americans overwhelmingly believe children should have. IIt would benefit struggling middle class families, as well as poor families, where 13 percent of low-income children were without insurance in 2012 (most recent data we found.).Scrapping complicated, costly, time-consuming eligibility tests would save billions. Substituting a program assuring all children their needed health care with no other eligibility condition than being a kid (that is, below a specified age) would accomplish their coverage. Let's call it Medikids.With that one-two punch, we would spend more money on health care and less on shuffling paper. Facilitating timely care would avert further deterioration and complications, thereby reducing costs and, not least, improving health care outcomes. Healthier children would become a smaller source of infection for other kids and adults, further reducing costs for health care and absenteeism. Such a measure also would trim health care insurance costs for adults in both public and private programs. This arrangement would relieve states of Medicaid expenditures, their largest or second largest budget outlays. That would help them recall large numbers of laid-off state employees, restore vital education and protective services, and fund other essential public services. Most importantly, adequate health care for the nation's children is an investment in all of our futures. Healthier children are likely to be healthier adults. Over the long haul, healthier children will become more productive, more employable and better paid adult workers - paying higher taxes and contributing to the nation in other important ways.*Wide Support for Assuring Health Care to Children* Despite tight federal, state, business and personal budgets, numerous polls show widespread support for assuring health care for children. Apparently, misgivings about financial help to adults lessen or disappear with regard to children. Moreover, it costs comparatively little to provide comprehensive health care to infants, children and young people.*Coverage for Children Has Grown Due to Federal-State Programs - But Not Enough*Between 2007 and 2010, the percentage of children without health insurance declined from 10.9 percent to 10 percent. This resulted from the 2009 expansion of CHIP, which provides coverage for children in families with income somewhat higher than those poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Recession-caused declines in income made more children eligible for those programs. Medicaid covers around 31 million children, while CHIP covers some 5.3 million children. We could cover even more children by eliminating needless costs.*The Key Strategy: Minimize Non-Benefit Costs* Proposals to reduce health care costs often focus on paring provider services but largely ignore avoidable expenditures, such as what we spend to restrict eligibility to those who meet prescribed income and asset limits. In addition to Medicaid and CHIP, other public programs - such as well-infant clinics and other publicly-funded health plans --often impose differing eligibility conditions and provider compensation rates. For example, in the recent past, despite their common purposes, Massachusetts's programs for poor mothers and children had eight different formulae for eligibility and/or benefits. The comparative political power of affected parties and who was dominant in state politics at the times of each program's enactment or extension determined the generosity or tight-fistedness of the eligibility and provider payment provisions selected. Applying such variations to millions of patient claims increases non-benefit costs substantially. Simplification or, better yet, elimination of those variations, or, best yet, elimination of the requirements altogether, would reduce program costs.*Savings Would Be Substantial* A study published in 2004 found that New York State spent an average of $282 to establish the initial eligibility of each applicant for its CHIP and Medicaid programs for children' In October, 2014 -- in the 44 states reporting their numbers - there were 28,425, 834 children enrolled in Medicaid and Chip. Multiplying that average cost of determining eligibility by the number of children found to be eligible in October, 2014, produces a cost of over $8. billion. And that is just for the enrollment of children partricipating at that particular moment in time! It does not factor in the cost invstigating those found not to be eligible. Moreover, CHIP and Medicaid for kids require other expensive administrative tasks, including, for example, periodic recertification, But a high percentage do not seek renewal. As a result, many who seek the benefits anew require reprocessing, many of them from scratch. And, the estimate is likely low because inflation and other factors have likely increased processing costs since 2004. (The study looked at the programs New York, where costs, at least in New York City, are generally higher than elsewhere in the country.) Bottom line: Though we are unaware of any study of the cost of determining the eligibility of allchildren to participate in Medicaid and Chip, it unquestionably involves billions and billions of dollars - monies that could be devoted to providing actual care'*Like Universal Free Public Education, Society-wide Benefits Justify Health Care For All Children Without Eligibility Barriers* *and Costs* Some will argue that it is more efficient to focus resources on those with demonstrable financial need and leave it to those with adequate resources to bear the responsibility and burden for their own children. This was the critical dispute over free public education two centuries ago. All states embraced the notion that the full development of children goes beyond the children and families immediately affected but benefits all of society and thereby justifies public expenditures.Further, financial capability can change radically and rapidly when it collides with a serious illness or accident. It is desirable to address the need for medical care when it arises without delay. That makes for better treatment, better outcomes, and lower costs.Social Security and Medicare - two virtually universal programs for working families - illustrate the greater efficiency of universal programs. Social Security's non-benefit costs - less than a penny of every dollar collected and spent -- are dramatically lower than those of their private sector counterparts. Similarly, private sector health insurance non-benefit costs are significantly higher than Medicare's even though Medicare covers a higher cost population - the aged and people with disabilities. The reason for the greater efficiency is not hard to understand. These programs - like our proposed Medikids - are insurance, which is most efficient when the risk pool is as broad as possible - in the case of Social Security and Medicare, workers; in the case of Medikids, all children -- and when adverse selection -- those purchasing insurance only when personal risk factors increase - is impossible. Only the federal government has the ability to determine that all children participate, creating the broadest risk pool possible, with no ability to select adversely. And, in the real world, targeting is likely to be unsuccessful in many cases, in any event. Income tests in the area of health care often are no real constraints because when medical need arises, ability to pay frequently declines.And the savings would go beyond dispensing with verifying eligibility. Such an extensive program could undertake preventative measures like nationwide mass vaccination of all children. Once established, such programs might readily be extended to mothers and babies, very young children and adults, even those without kids. Single dads, too. Convenience and low - or no - out-of-pocket cost would encourage adult participation for preventative measures like flu vaccinations. Medicare has been funding mass flu and pneumonia vaccinations. That experience probably can facilitate the initiatives suggested here.We're sure that our grandchildren are typical for being always adorable and frequently infectious. School is where they pick up colds, flu, a variety of communicable ailments - and bring them home. Reducing that vector of illness would promote better health for the adults who teach and take care of them, other children with whom they play, their parents, grandparents with whom they visit or sometimes live, strangers on buses, subways, trains and planes - and so on. We are describing what epidemiologists call the "herd" factor.*Medicare Should Handle Medikids; It Uses Experienced Private Insurers At Low Non-Benefit Cost, Varies Payment Scales By Locale * For half a century, the Medicare program has been a giant nationwide system that takes account of regional and local variations in cost. It knows the game . Not least, it has proven to be an efficiency champion with non-benefit costs regularly registering in the 2 to 3% range.*Private Insurers Administer Medicare- A Plus for Many* Further, the fact that Medicare uses private insurers to administer its policies should make it more acceptable to those who advocate a substantial role for private enterprise, while avoiding the sometimes costly conflicts of interests that private insurers have vis-à-vis patients.*One Plan for All Children Reduces Costs of Adult Coverage* Shifting all children into one plan also reduces private plan and state and local employee tabs for both care and administration attributable to covering those youngsters. Further, all public and private programs are on the prowl to fasten liability on some other plan - for example, workers compensation or the insurers of parties to an accident. Where both parents are employed, insurers of one parent sometimes seek to charge the other parent's plan. Those efforts, whether successful or not, add to non-benefit costs without enlarging the pool of resources. With only one plan for kids, those games - and their costs - disappear.
*Children: Society's Main Concern, Society's Future* Our society cherishes children as individuals and for their contributions to society; let's set about maximizing their health - for the good that will do all of us. As this essay demonstrates, the nation's per capita health care costs can be reduced without eliminating desirable services,. Medikids is unquestionably a win not just for children, but for everyone. Reported by Huffington Post 15 hours ago.

*"This is going to hurt, no question,"* fears a landowner in Santa Barbara with a dozen oil wells. *Layoffs are "kind of like a death in the family,"* exclaims a geophysicist in the Permian Basin. Houstonians were hoping for a hiccup, says one restauranteir, but now *"they're getting more cautious."* As WSJ reports, rumor is becoming reality across America as "unambiguously good" news of low oil prices turns from a trickle to a deluge of job losses and insecurity. *Cutbacks aren’t yet reflected in broad data on employment, home sales or tax collections.* But fallout is beginning to affect people, starting with the legions working as suppliers to the energy industry.

 

The pain is just starting...

 

As The Wall Street Journal reports,



*Trouble has been looming over the oil patch* since crude prices began falling last summer, from over $100 a barrel to under $50 today. But only now are the long-feared effects of a* bust starting to ripple through the complex energy ecosystem, affecting Houston executives, California landowners and oil old-timers in Oklahoma.*



Chevron is not alone in mass layoffs...

*Eric Herschap is chief operations officer at Exclusive Energy Services LLC, a private company in Orange Grove, Texas, that offers services, including equipment rentals, to exploration companies.*



His customers are demanding price cuts of 15% to 25%, and Exclusive offers additional discounts beyond that, he says.

 

*So the company laid off 10 of its 45 employees and is cutting bonuses for those who remain.*

 

Mr. Herschap says his brightest engineers are now fielding phone calls from customers with technical questions.

 

Nonenergy companies that rely on roughnecks are also pulling in their horns.



*Laredo, the company that closed its Dallas office, said it was laying off 75 employees, about 20% of the workforce at the company, which has a stock-market value of about $1.3 billion.*



“While it is a necessary step due to the substantial drop in commodity prices and the resultant reduction in the company’s drilling activities, we do not take such actions lightly,” it said.

 

Mr. Silver, the geophysicist, says that after living through oil busts, he has saved for the bad times and could retire—though he doesn’t want to.

 

*“Probably the scariest thing out there is all of a sudden being without health insurance,” Mr. Silver says. “Just being thrown in the marketplace, that’s tough.”*



*Danny and Kim Gallo moved from Connecticut to tiny Runge, Texas, last February to open Boom Town Food Trucks to serve the Eagle Ford Shale.*



But the company operates just one truck and a kitchen in a trailer at the moment, and the Gallos, who have backgrounds in the hospitality industry, have decided against adding another truck for a while.

 

*“You’re sitting there and saying, ‘Wow, did we miss the party?’” says Mr. Gallo, whose most expensive item is an $11 double chorizo burger.*

 

Fancier establishments that cater to energy executives are taking action, too. Steve Zimmerman has owned a restaurant and boutique hotel in Houston for decades and remembers the oil crash of 1986. Back then, he began offering an “Oil Barrel Special,” a multicourse meal with a price pegged to the (falling) cost of crude.

 

This month, he resurrected the special in an effort to attract customers while showing that he feels their pain.

 

Menus like escargot, salmon and bread pudding are on offer for about $50, depending on the closing price of West Texas Intermediate.

 

As oil prices started to fall, Houstonians were hoping for a hiccup, he says. *Now, “they’re getting more cautious.”*



*  *  *

*Not 'unambiguously good' at all!!* Reported by Zero Hedge 12 hours ago.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Alma Ramos, a soft-spoken prep cook at a Tex-Mex restaurant, was eager to sign up for health insurance through the new HealthCare.gov marketplace last year. But Ramos, a single mother of three, quickly hit a baffling hurdle. Reported by TwinCities.com 10 hours ago.

The Disneyland measles outbreak is continuing to spread in Arizona at a time when thousands of Super Bowl and Phoenix Open fans have been in town. Clarissa Bradstock, CEO of Atlanta-based Any Lab Test Now Inc., said the Phoenix area has five labs open offering a $50 lab test that can help determine if they are immune to measles. Customers can be in and out of the facility within 15 minutes, she said. The test isn't covered by health insurance but consumers can use their Health Savings Accounts… Reported by bizjournals 9 hours ago.

Atlanta based Ironwood Insurance Services is an insurance brokerage firm specializing in serving the middle market in the areas of risk management, property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting. Since its founding in 2007, Ironwood and it’s employee benefits practice, added in 2011, has experienced significant growth and expects to continue to grow at a rapid pace.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 02, 2015

Furthering its commitment to offer nationally competitive resources with a strong local service team, Ironwood Insurance Services announced they have added another experienced and quality industry professional, John Arminio, to its Atlanta team. John will join the employee benefits practice as its newest Benefits Consultant. He will lead a consulting team and assist in expanding the reach of Ironwood’s practice.

“John is a natural fit for the firm and a welcome addition. He is an expert in medical plan consulting and will be effective in assisting our clients as they manage their ACA compliance and long term benefits strategy,” said Mark Conner, Managing Partner of Ironwood Benefits Advisory Services.

As a Benefits Consultant, John’s focus will be client development and support in all areas of the practice including group medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, life and voluntary benefits. He will provide consulting services to clients in the areas of plan pricing, funding and review, communication and enrollment technologies, plan and employee cost share benchmarking, data analytics, and employee wellness programs.

John began his career as an underwriter where he priced and designed employee benefits programs for customers at the insurance carrier level. This experience gives him a strong acumen for financial analysis, benefits strategy and alternative funding options. He later worked in the field serving large and middle market clients where he continued to develop market and industry expertise.

“In our business, people are the assets. We sell a promise, therefore we want the best people representing us,” said Will Underwood, Managing Partner. “John is a true asset for Ironwood. Not only is he a talented individual, but he also brings expertise gained from nearly a decade of experience working with the largest health insurance carriers.”

About Ironwood Insurance Services: Ironwood Insurance Services is a privately held firm providing insurance brokerage, surety services, risk management, employee benefits consulting and human resources outsourcing services. Our firm was founded on the principles of teamwork, integrity and service to others. We recognize that our people are our most valuable asset and believe that great people deliver excellent customer service. Our success is measured by the amount of positive impact we have in the lives of our clients, employees, shareholders and community. To learn more about Ironwood Insurance Services, please visit http://www.ironwoodins.com. Reported by PRWeb 6 hours ago.

The people of Greece rebelled last week against the perverse notion that they should continue to endure biting austerity in a vain attempt to cure a condition that they are not solely responsible for creating.

Sounds familiar, right? It’s like American workers forced to suffer through a recession that they didn’t cause, a recession that was, in fact, a result of banks’ reckless risk-taking.

When bets by big banks worldwide failed spectacularly in 2008, markets imploded and economies collapsed. Bailed-out banks, the wealthiest 1 percent and export-based economies like China and Germany quickly recovered. But workers struggled long-term. Austerity imposed on them was a big part of the reason. Workers were the victims of austerity’s slashed public services, wages and jobs. Those demanding austerity – the 1 percent ­– and those imposing it ­– conservative politicians ­– escaped its bitter effects with shields of cash. Austerity was not for them. It was for those without big bankrolls. That would be bad enough if austerity worked. But, as Greece illustrates horribly, it does not. 
Photo of young Greek man by Mehran Khalili on Flickr.

Greece was no shining economic model before the worldwide recession hit. Its wealthiest citizens and business oligarchs shirked their duty to pay taxes, contributing to a large national debt. But Greece wasn’t in crisis until the banks busted every country’s economy.

After the crash, the troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission gave Greece loans to pay its creditors and prevent a Eurozone country from going bankrupt. The loans came with austerity as a condition.

The troika demanded Greece lower its debt by viciously gouging public services, cutting pensions and the minimum wage, firing public servants, raising taxes and selling and privatizing government-owned assets.

Greek officials did as they were told, and the country’s workers and families paid the price. Unemployment skyrocketed to a horrifying 28 percent – 64 percent for young Greeks. Suicides and homelessness climbed to shocking rates. Greeks denied public health services contracted malaria for the first time in 40 years. HIV infection rose 10-fold. Stillbirths increased 21 percent and infant mortality 43 percent.

Greeks pointed to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany as their tormentor. She is the austerity maven, demanding cruel cuts in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and every country that experienced severe economic crisis after the banks wrecked the world economy. She insisted on the suffering elsewhere as Germany, the beneficiary of grants, loans and loan forgiveness after World War II, chugged along on waves of exports.

That is austerity for the other guy.

Its echoes can be heard in the harangues of American Republicans. They threw a hissy fit when in the first year of the Obama Presidency, he persuaded a Democratic-majority Congress to approve stimulus spending.

Stimulus is the opposite of austerity. It injects money into the economy, often through the job-creating construction of public facilities such as roads, bridges and sewers. And it works. Many economists believe President Obama’s stimulus spared Americans from the longer, deeper recession that shattered lives in Merkel’s austerity-riddled Europe.

Once Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and doubly so now that they’ve got the Senate as well, they set about condemning Americans to the austerity that failed in Europe. They cut funds for public services and food stamps. They refused to extend unemployment insurance. They tried repeatedly to rescind the health insurance that 10 million Americans received through the Affordable Care Act. They voted to cut Social Security for the disabled by 20 percent.

They’re intent on making middle class and working poor Americans suffer. Republican politicians won’t feel the pain. They’ve got their political jobs and their government-paid health insurance and pensions. Their campaign benefactors, the wealthy 1 percent, insulate themselves with millions stashed in tax-evading offshore bank accounts and with other assets. For example, a former hedge fund director told congregants at the World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting earlier this month that his billionaire crony private jet owners are buying security for themselves with airstrips and farms in secluded places like New Zealand.

It’s austerity for the other guy.

The thing is, though, austerity doesn’t work. It damages economies. It doesn’t fix them like stimulus does. Austerity shrank the Greek economy by 25 percent. So even though the government cut spending and raised taxes, it received less revenue from the higher levies in its shriveled economy, making the loan payments more difficult.

The vast majority of the money Greece borrowed through the troika repaid international creditors and bailed out Greek banks. Although the international lending institutions probably made bad bets when they lent money to Greece in the first place, taxpayers – in this case Greek taxpayers – were forced to ensure the banks didn’t experience the losses that should occur naturally as a result of risky business decisions.

This is very similar to Americans forced to bail out their banks. Lenders reaped the profits when risk-taking worked; suckers also known as taxpayers got stuck with the bills when risk-taking failed.

After six years of austerity and deep recession, the people of Greece balked. Last week, they elected as their Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leader of the Syriza party, who promised to abandon austerity, which he calls fiscal waterboarding.

He promised to demand the creditors write down the loans by half and to use the savings to increase government spending, which will stimulate the Greek economy and employment. That would raise revenues from taxes, thus easing loan repayment and providing funds for additional stimulus. 

Tsipras has support from political upstarts in other austerity-shattered countries. At one of his last campaign rallies, he was joined by Pablo Iglesias, whose far-left political movement in Spain called the Podemos party also rejects austerity. Podemos victories last year denied traditional Spanish parties majority votes in May’s European parliamentary elections for the first time in 40 years. And polls show the one-year-old party already has 20 percent support and is gaining.

Similarly, the left-wing leaders in Italy and France have demanded easing of austerity.

Beyond being a failed policy, austerity doesn’t sell well. The majority, which suffers from it, doesn’t want it. They’re unwilling to lose their jobs, their health insurance, their homes, their pensions, their savings, their children’s futures – their  everything – to bail out banks, Wall Street, the rich, all those who never feel a pinch – or even a twinge of sympathy. Let alone guilt.

When the majority gets an actual chance to vote on austerity, it goes down. As it did in Greece. Democracy cures austerity.  Reported by Huffington Post 43 minutes ago.

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG), a leading provider of managed care services for government-sponsored health care programs, is partnering with the New York City Public Advocate’s office to offer a free Educational Public Health Awareness Summit for New York City residents.

TAMPA, Fla. and NEW YORK (PRWEB) February 02, 2015

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG), a leading provider of managed care services for government-sponsored health care programs, is partnering with the New York City Public Advocate’s office to offer a free Educational Public Health Awareness Summit for New York City residents. The summit, which celebrates Black History Month, will offer health screenings, flu and influenza vaccinations, entertainment and informational sessions about diseases that are prevalent among African Americans.

Special guest, Ms. New York United States 2014, Patrice Hamilton, will share what it’s like to live with sickle cell anemia. Although she was diagnosed with the disease at birth, it wasn’t until Hamilton was 16 years old that she learned that the years of pain she endured were related to the disease. She tells her story of thriving despite the disease. She will also share how she dedicates her time and efforts to raising awareness about it.

“Our Educational Public Health Awareness Summit is a great way to help the people of New York improve their health by providing preventive services like screenings and immunizations,” said New York City Public Advocate, Letitia James. “I am grateful to companies like WellCare that invest in the long-term health of our community.”

“WellCare’s mission is to improve the health and quality of life for seniors, low-income children and families,” said John Burke, president, WellCare of New York. “We encourage everyone to tell their family and friends about the screenings and information that will be available at the summit. These preventive measures have the potential to save lives.”

In addition to WellCare of New York and the New York City Public Advocate’s office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Region II Office of Minority Health, the Lupus Foundation of America, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Queens Sickle Cell Advocacy Network, Delete Blood Cancer and Walgreens will be on-site to answer questions about their services.

The summit will take place Tuesday, Feb. 3 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street, New York, N.Y. A ticket is required to attend the event. Please contact the Public Advocate’s office at 212-669-4127 or afelton(at)pubadvocate(dot)nyc(dot)gov to receive tickets.

As of Sept. 30, 2014, WellCare serves approximately 105,000 Medicaid plan members, 52,000 Medicare Advantage plan members, 58,000 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan members and 7,000 Managed Long Term Care members in New York.

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides managed care services targeted to government-sponsored health care programs, including Medicaid, Medicare, Prescription Drug Plans and the Health Insurance Marketplace. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare offers a variety of health plans for families, children, and the aged, blind and disabled. The company serves approximately 4 million members nationwide as of Sept. 30, 2014. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at http://www.wellcare.com or view the company’s videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.

About the NYC Public Advocate
On January 1, 2014, Letitia James was sworn in as the Public Advocate for the City of New York, the first woman of color to hold a citywide position in our city’s history. In her first months in office, she successfully pushed forth proposals to bring Universal School Lunch and police body-worn cameras to New York City. This fall, the office re-launched the city’s Worst Landlords Watchlist, expanding the list and adding significant technological upgrades. The Public Advocate’s office serves as an ombudsman, or "watchdog," for New Yorkers by providing oversight for city agencies, investigating citizens' complaints about city services, and making recommendations to improve those services. Reported by PRWeb 44 minutes ago.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new budget includes a nearly $69 million tax on health-insurance policies to pay for the administrative costs of continuing New York’s ObamaCare health exchange, The Post has... Reported by NY Post 21 hours ago.

Slut and ho are remarkably confusing insults. As I researched the ways these labels inflict harm on girls and women for I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet, I quickly realized that there is no unanimity over their definitions. Their meanings are fluid and sometimes ambiguous.

When used with the intent to injure, slut means one who is disgusting, shameful, and out of control. But slut and ho may be understood in a positive sense -- as a girl or woman who is sexy and confident. Yet it's not always evident what the intent of the name-caller is -- though even when the intent is benign, the word nearly always comes to be interpreted as a pejorative slur. For this reason, I urge girls and women to cease calling each other "sluts" or "hos," even in a light-hearted manner.

The first usage of slut is from 1386 in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer used the adjective "sluttish" to refer to a man who is dressed in dirty and untidy clothes. In 1402, the English poet Thomas Hoccleve used "slut" as a noun in much the same way but with regard to a woman -- a slovenly woman who didn't keep her home clean. "Slut" continued to be used as a synonym for a woman who's dirty or untidy and who is poor or from the working class. At around the same time, "slut" also became a synonym for a woman of low or loose character -- someone who was inappropriately sexually forward. Being sloppy in matters of cleanliness became associated with being untidy in matters of sexuality.

"Slut" was used exclusively to refer to white women. "Slut" had meaning as a derogatory word only because it was the opposite of the white feminine ideal. For centuries, white people regarded black women as inherently slutty; therefore, black sluttiness did not necessarily trigger a judgmental reaction against whites. Therefore, I found no historical examples of black women labeled "sluts." The synonym "ho," an alteration of "whore," crept into African-American vernacular much later, in the 1960s.

There have been several high-profile challenges to "slut" as a derogatory term over the last 25 years. In the 1990s, Kathleen Hanna of the band Bikini Kill scrawled SLUT in lipstick on her stomach as a snarky retort to guys in the audience who might have been thinking exactly that. In 2002, the literary blog Bookslut was founded; the cheeky title implies that reading promiscuously is good. In 2011, activists in the feminist movement called SlutWalk reclaimed the word "slut" to raise awareness that wearing revealing clothing or behaving in a sexualized manner is never an invitation for sexual assault.

Despite these efforts, "slut" has not been rehabilitated. "Pimps and Hos" parties -- in which guys dress like pimps and women dress as, you know -- are ubiquitous on many college campuses. In 2012, Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke, then a Georgetown Law student, a "slut" after she testified at a Congressional hearing that birth control without a copay should be covered by health insurance. In 2013, when two teenage football players were convicted of raping a girl in Steubenville, Ohio, who was so drunk she had passed out, the girl was widely and publicly blamed for being raped on the grounds that she was a drunken slut. In middle schools and high schools around the country, girls are harassed so brutally -- verbally, online, and sometimes physically -- for being "sluts" that some have even taken their own lives to stop the terror.

After speaking with girls and women around the country about their experiences with these terms, I found one common theme: the female who is labeled is presumed guilty of having done something actively to provoke her reputation through her attire, behavior, or attitude. She may be following the unspoken rule of female heterosexuality that she's expected to attract guys and be sexy -- but she doesn't understand, or disregards, that she's not supposed to call attention to her efforts. She is regarded as too... obvious.

This element of agency gives ammunition to people who shame and police. They say, "Well, she deserves to be called a slut because she chose to do something wrong, and she earned her slutty reputation."

Therefore, I believe it is too risky to embrace the terms "slut" and "ho." Until we get closer to sexual and racial equality, calling ourselves "sluts" and "hos" could open up new opportunities for sexual harassment and assault of all women. I fervently hope for the day when we can use "slut" and "ho" as a feminist punch line and a badge of honor, but we aren't there yet. Only when we can be certain that most people agree that women have the right to sexual equality can all women be free to take back these words and make them ours.

Leora Tanenbaum is the author of I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet. Reported by Huffington Post 23 hours ago.

I recently wrote about my experiences using both the UK's NHS in London and the US system in New York. I concluded, after 20 years using both, that I preferred the NHS — it's free, quick and the care is the basically the same. Americans need not fear socialised medicine!

Since then, I've had a huge number of emails from readers. (I've read them all, and tried to respond to as many as possible.) But the most interesting email came from Ross Binkley, who sent me a link to a US Centers for Disease Control study of waiting times in US emergency rooms. The CDC is America's big public health research agency and its data is generally extremely reliable.

It turns out that ERs in America are faster at treating patients than the NHS:

· In the UK, 84% of patients are seen within four hours. The NHS target is supposed to be 95% of patients in four hours.
· In the US, 95% of patients are seen within three hours, according to the CDC.

In fact, the median and average wait times for accident and emergency room treatment in America are 33 minutes and 58 minutes, as this chart shows:

The study contains this note: "Because wait time is highly skewed, that is, a small percentage (5%) of visits have very long wait times (greater than 3 hours), median wait time is less affected by the skewed distribution and provides an alternative way of describing ED wait time." That 5% stat would imply that 95% of Americans are getting to an ER doctor within three hours.

If you've ever been inside an American hospital, this will come as a surprise. About 41 million Americans lack health insurance and either go without care or pay cash. Frequently, uninsured Americans delay going to see a doctor until they become very ill, and they turn up at the emergency room as their first resort. Hospitals tend not to turn away patients, and treat them as charity cases. That cost that is then passed on to insurance premium payers.

It's inefficient because it means that millions of people don't get cheap, preventative care, and end up in ERs where treatment is its most expensive. That bill is then eaten by the people who do have health insurance — which is why Americans are always furious about the cost of their insurance premiums.

So the fact that American doctors are treating these extra patients faster than their British counterparts suggests they're a step ahead.

In the UK, the NHS is paid for via general taxation, usually income tax. (Interestingly, Americans are convinced that tax rates in the UK are much higher than they are in the US. In fact, they're similar. Most British people pay 20% - 40% income tax, depending on your income. You can compare the two nation's tax schedules here and here. Americans are paying their insurance premiums in addition to their tax, too.)

On balance, I still prefer the NHS to US care. The fact that it's "free" (and the tax hit is the same) is a trade off I'm willing to accept. But it does look as if the NHS might want to visit some American hospitals and figure out what they're doing that we are not.

Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 23 hours ago.

Health insurers plan to fight Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan for a new state tax on health insurance premiums in New York, saying the proposal seeks to collect at least $69 million annually and threatens to increase costs for businesses and individuals. The battles over the new tax – which costs about $25 per person in most cases -- begins today during public hearings on Cuomo's 2015-16 budget proposal. Perhaps most troubling, some of the biggest insurers in New York contend the state tax is only going… Reported by bizjournals 23 hours ago.

Dear Reader,

The collection of short, insightful comments Jeff Clark has assembled for you below needs no introduction, so instead, I’ll draw your attention to Greece’s new determination to become the next Venezuela in pursuit of the economics of wishful thinking. Hard to see any outcome other than the beginning of the disintegration of the EU.

This matters because, despite rising consumer sentiment and other rosy-seeming numbers from the US, Dr. Copper and other industrial metals are telling us that the global economy is in serious trouble.

So is gold, which keeps refusing to die the death most Wall Street analysis keep predicting for it.

It has taken far longer for the other economic shoe to drop than we imagined it could, but an unflinching look at reality tells us that’s still what’s ahead… and perhaps sooner than many weary metals investors imagine.

Sincerely,

Louis James
Senior Metals Investment Strategist
Casey Research

Rock & Stock Stats Last
One Month Ago
One Year Ago
Gold 1,283.70 1,200.33 1,243.49
Gold (SGE) 1,259.79 1,190.20 1,264.41
Silver 17.26 16.27 19.15
Copper 2.49 2.85 3.23
Oil 48.24 54.12 98.23
Gold Producers (GDX) 22.29 18.45 23.49
Gold Junior Stocks (GDXJ) 27.74 24.12 35.45
Silver Stocks (SIL) 10.21 9.15 12.13
TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) 14,673.48 14,640.04 13,735.28
TSX Venture 676.81 687.12 952.88

*2015 Outlook: What You Really Need to Know*

Jeff Clark, Senior Precious Metals Analyst

In the January issue of BIG GOLD, I interviewed 17 analysts, economists, and authors on what they expect for gold in 2015. Some of those included what we affectionately call our Casey Brain Trust—Doug Casey, Olivier Garret, Bud Conrad, David Galland, Marin Katusa, Louis James, and Terry Coxon. The issue was so popular that we decided to reprint this portion.

I think you’ll find some very insightful and useful reading here (click on a link to read his bio)…

-Doug Casey, Chairman-

Jeff: The Fed and other central banks have kept the economy and markets propped up longer than you thought they could. Has the Fed succeeded in staving off crisis?

Doug: I’m genuinely surprised things have held together over the last year. The trillions of currency units created since 2007 have mostly inflated financial assets, creating bubbles everywhere. There’s an excellent chance that the bubble will burst this year. I don’t know whether it will result in a catastrophic deflation, extreme inflation, or both in sequence. I’m only sure it will result in chaos and extreme unpleasantness.

Jeff: Are we still going to get rich from gold stocks? Or should we face reality and start exiting?

Doug: The fact so many people are discouraged with gold and mining stocks is just another indicator that we’re at the bottom. Gold and silver are now, once more, superb speculations. And I think we’ll see some 10-to-1 shots in gold stocks—if not this year, then 2016. I can afford to wait with those kinds of returns in prospect.

-Olivier Garret, CEO-

Jeff: The crash in the general markets we warned about didn’t materialize. Have those risks dissipated, or should we still expect to see a major correction?

Olivier: Last October the risk of a very severe market correction was indeed very serious; hence our call to subscribers to batten down the hatches, tighten their portfolios, and have cash and gold on hand. We warned of further downturn across all commodities, including oil. We also highlighted the dollar would be strong and that an excellent short-term speculation was to be long 10- to 30-year Treasuries, as they would be considered a safe haven.

Let’s look at where we are today. Clearly, the S&P did not extend its correction after its initial dip in mid-October. In light of the possibility of a perfect storm coming, the Fed announced that it may not end QE in early 2015 as anticipated if the economy failed to continue to pick up. Then the Bank of Japan announced its version of QE infinity, followed by the largest Japanese pension fund’s decision to invest in equities worldwide.

The bulls were reassured and came back with a vengeance; the crash was averted. That said, fundamentals are still very weak, and market growth is concentrated within the largest-cap stocks. Mid- and small-caps are hurting, and many economic indicators are still concerning.

Jeff: What about lower energy prices—aren’t these good for the economy?

Olivier: In theory, yes. In practice, there is another crisis brewing. Most of the development of new shale resources in the US has been financed by debt based on oil prices of $80 and above. This easy debt was immediately securitized, just like home mortgages were in 2003-2006, and we have a monstrous bubble about to pop with oil around $55. The potential risk of another derivative crisis is as high or higher than in 2007.

Jeff: Does that mean the inevitable is imminent?

Maybe, maybe not. We know central bankers will do whatever it takes to provide liquidity to the markets. That said, I do not believe central bankers are wizards endowed with supernatural powers that enable them to stem all crises. Bernanke told us in 2007 and 2008 that there was no real estate crisis and that he had everything under control—will Janet Yellen be better?

My view is that our subscribers should be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Sacrifice a bit of performance for safety, and use money you can afford to lose to speculate on opportunities that could bring outsized upside. I believe subscribers should continue to hold cash (in dollars), gold (the ultimate hedge against crisis), and stocks in best-of-breed companies that are unlikely to collapse during a financial meltdown.

For speculations, I still believe that we should be invested in the best gold producers, in well-managed explorers with good management and first-class resources, in long-term Treasuries, and top-quality tech companies.

Jeff: As a former turnaround professional, what would signal to you that the gold market is about to turn around?

Olivier: Two things: market capitulation, and valuations for the best companies not seen in decades. The cure for low prices is low prices.

Cyclical markets do turn around, and I would rather buy low and hold on until the market turns around than buy in the later stage of a bull market. At this point, the gold market presents amazing value for the patient investor. In my opinion, that is all that matters. The gold market may take longer than I want to turn around, but I know I am near an all-time low.

-Bud Conrad, Chief Economist-

Jeff: What role do big banks and government currently play in gold’s behavior? Is this role here to stay?

Bud: I’ve looked at the huge demand for gold from China, Russia, India, and private investors and been surprised the price has eroded over the last three years. My explanation is that the “paper gold futures market” sets the price of gold, with very little physical gold being traded. There are two parts of futures market trading: one is the minute-by-minute trading of only paper contracts that dominate 99% of the trading, in which every long position is matched by a short position. That is why the futures market is called “paper gold.” Almost all trades are unwound and rolled over to another contract. Only a few thousand contracts are held into the second process, called the “delivery process.” Just a handful of big banks dominate that delivery process, so they are in a position to affect the market. There is surprisingly little physical gold used in the delivery process compared to the 200,000 ongoing paper trading of the contracts not yet in delivery every day, where no physical gold is used.

Big players can place huge orders to move the “paper price” for a short term, but eventually 99% of these paper positions are unwound before delivery, so their effect in the longer term is canceled. The delivery process is the only time where physical gold is actually sold (delivered) or purchased (stopped). The gold price can be influenced in one direction in this process by bringing gold to the market from their own account (or the reverse).

Big banks gain a big benefit from the Fed driving their borrowing rate to zero with the QE policy. Banks lend that money at higher rates and have become very profitable. If gold were soaring, then the Fed would be less inclined to keep rates low, as it would be concerned that the dollar is purchasing less and inflation is returning. So banks are happy to have the gold price contained so the Fed is more likely to keep rates low.

The above chart shows that in the delivery process for the December 2014 contract, only three banks—JP Morgan, Bank of Nova Scotia, and HSBC—handled most of the transactions. Big banks can act as either traders for other customers or as trading for the banks themselves in their in-house account. In the December contract, 90% of the gold was purchased by HSBC and JP Morgan for themselves, and Bank of Nova Scotia provided over half of the gold from its in-house account. With so few players, the delivery market is prone to being dominated and price being set.

Jeff: So if the big players influence the market, why should we own gold?

Bud: I see the regulators issuing big fines to banks who have been caught manipulating foreign exchange, LIBOR, and even the London Gold Fix (which is being changed) as evidence that the methods used to influence the futures market will be curtailed by the regulators. So gold will become the recognized alternative to paper money issued in excessive amounts to fix whatever problems the governments want.

I also see the collapse of the petrodollar as leaving all currencies in limbo, which will lead to big swings in the currency wars, where ultimately gold will be the winner. Governments themselves are recognizing the value of gold, as I’m sure Russia does after the ruble collapsed in half since last summer.

-David Galland, Partner-

Jeff: What personal benefits have you achieved from living in Argentina?

David: Most important, my stress levels have fallen significantly. Even though I wouldn’t consider myself a high-stress type, I used to be on meds for moderately high blood pressure and for acid reflux… both of which I take as signs of stress. After a few months back in Cafayate, I am med-free.

Second, living in the Argentine outback provides perspective on what actually matters in life. Life in Cafayate is very laid back, with time for siestas, leisurely meals, and any number of enjoyable activities with agreeable company. There is none of the ceaseless dosing of bad news that permeates Western cultures. After a week of unplugging, you realize that most of what passes as important or urgent back in the US is really just a charade.

Finally, my personal sense of freedom soars, as life in rural Argentina is very much live and let live.

In sharp contrast, returning to the USA for even a short visit reveals the national moniker “land of the free” as blatant hypocrisy. There are laws against pretty much everything, and worse, a no-strikes willingness to enforce them. That a person can get mugged by a group of police over selling loose cigarettes tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

Jeff: Gold and gold stocks have been hammered. What would you say to those precious metals investors sitting on losses?

David: I doubt anything anyone can say will prove a panacea for the pain some have suffered, but I do have some thoughts. Like many of our readers, I have taken big losses as well, but because I have long believed in moderation in most things, especially the juniors, I have taken those losses only on smallish positions.

Specifically, about 20% of our family portfolio is in resource investments, with about half in the stocks and the rest held as an insurance position in the physical metals, diversified internationally. So a 70% loss on 10% of our portfolio, while painful, is not the end of the world.

I guess my primary message would be to continue to view the sector for what it is: physical metals for insurance, and moderate positions in the stocks—big and small—as speculative investments.

I remain convinced the massive government manipulations that extend into all the major markets must eventually begin to fail, at which time investors will come back into the resource sector in droves. When the worm begins to turn, I anticipate the physical metals will recover first—and $1,200 gold is starting to look like a fairly solid foundation. The BIG GOLD companies, which I’m starting to personally get interested in, will rally soon thereafter.

When the producers decisively break through resistance levels on the upside, it will be time to refocus on the best juniors.

But regardless, per my first comment, while these stocks can offer life-changing returns, being highly selective and moderate in the size of your positions is the right approach. Then you can sit tight and wait for the market to prove you right.

-Marin Katusa, Chief Energy Investment Strategist-

Jeff: I loved your book The Colder War. And I liked your concluding recommendation to buy gold. Are events playing out as you expected? And does the fall in the oil price change the game at all?

Marin: First off, thank you. A lot of personal time was spent completing the book. And yes, most of the events are playing out as expected in the book. I expect this trend to continue over the next decade, as the Colder War will take many years to play out.

As I stated to all our energy subscribers and to attendees at the last Casey Conference in San Antonio, we expected a significant drop in oil prices, but it has happened a lot faster than I expected. I think we will continue to see volatility in oil; we’ll probably get a rally to the mid-$60s for WTI, but I think it will hit $45 before January 1, 2016.

This definitely makes Putin’s strategy harder to implement—but we are in the Colder War, not the Colder Battle, and wars are made of many battles. Putin’s strategy is still being implemented, and it will play out over many years.

Jeff: You’re calling for the end of the petrodollar system. This is very bullish for gold, but won’t that process take many years? Or should investors buy gold now?

Marin: The process is well underway, and yes, as I point out in the book, the demise of the petrodollar will take many years—but it will happen.

Each investor must evaluate his position and situation, but I don’t believe anyone knows when the bottom in gold will happen, and I see gold as insurance. You never know exactly when you need health insurance, but speaking from personal experience, it’s good to have, and good to have as much as you can afford, because when you need it, trust me, you won’t regret it.

Resources are in the “valley of darkness” right now—but this is part of the cycle. The key is portfolio survival. If you can get to the other side, the riches will be much greater than you can fathom. I’m speaking from personal experience. I’ve been through this before, and while it was stressful, what happened on the other side blew away my own expectations. We are in a cyclical business, and this bottom trend has been nasty—longer and lower than most have expected—but I am excited, because this is what I have been waiting for and what will take my net worth to a new level.

I see no difference in the outcome for yourself, Louis James, and all of those who follow you and survive to the other side. I believe there will be significant upside in gold stocks, especially certain junior gold explorers and developers. Subscribers are in good hands with you and Louis in that regard, and I always read my BIG GOLD andInternational Speculator when I get the email, regardless of where I am—the most recent being in an airport in Mexico. Keep up the great work, Jeff; even though it’s a difficult market, you’re doing the right things. It will pay off—maybe not on our desired schedules, but it will pay off.

-Louis James, Chief Metals & Mining Investment Strategist-

Jeff: The junior resource sector tends to progress in cycles. Is the current down cycle about over, or should investors expect the recovery to drag out for several more years?

L: That’s essentially a market-timing question—literally the million-dollar question we all wish we could answer definitively. That’s not an option, and I’m sure your readers know better than to listen to anyone who claims to be able to time the market with any precision or reliability.

That said, I don’t want to dodge the question; for what it’s worth, Doug Casey and I both feel that gold has likely bottomed. Yes, it’s true that I felt that December 2013 was the bottom—but it’s also true that most of our stocks are up since then. So, gold may have put in a double bottom, but our stocks outperformed the metal and the market.

Either way, if we’re right, the next big move should be upward, and that’s as good for BIG GOLD readers as it is forInternational Speculator readers.

I should also add that precious metals are not just “resources”—gold is money, not a regular commodity like pork bellies or corn. It’s the world’s most tested and trusted means of preserving wealth. So even though resource commodities tend to move as a group in cycles, gold and silver can be expected to act differently during times of crisis.

And 2015 looks fraught with crises to me… I am cautiously quite bullish for this year.

Jeff: Where will gold speculators get the biggest bang for their buck in 2015?

L: If you mean when, statistically the first and fourth quarters of the year tend to be the strongest for gold, making now a good time to buy.

As to what to buy, it depends on whether you want to maximize potential gains or minimize risk. The most conservative move is to stick with bullion, which is not a speculation at all, but a sort of forex deal in search of safety. For more leverage with the least amount of added risk, there’s the best of the larger, more stable producers that you recommend in BIG GOLD. For greater wealth-creation potential, as opposed to wealth preservation, there are the junior stocks I follow in the International Speculator.

As to where in the world to invest, I’d say it’s easier to get in on the ground floor investing in an exploration or development company working in less well-known countries—you always pay more of a premium for North American projects where the rule of law is well established. That’s obviously riskier too, but that doesn’t mean you have to go to a kleptocratic regime with a history of nationalization. There are stable places off most investors’ radars, like Ireland and Scandinavia. Africa plays may be oversold in the wake of the Ebola outbreak, but that story isn’t done yet, so even I am waiting before going long there again.

-Terry Coxon, Senior Economist-

Jeff: In spite of profligate money printing over the past six years, there’s been minimal inflation. Should we give up on this notion that money printing causes inflation?

Terry: No, you shouldn’t. As Milton Friedman put it, the lags between changes in the money supply and changes in prices are “long and variable.” I’m surprised we haven’t yet seen the inflationary effects of a better than 60% increase in the M1 money supply. But the Federal Reserve has essentially guaranteed that those effects are coming, since they are committed to keep printing until price inflation shows up. And when it does appear, the delayed effects of all the money creation that has occurred to date will start to take hold. There won’t be “just a little” inflation.

Jeff: What do you watch to tell you the next gold bull market is about to get underway?

Terry: Beats me. I won’t know it is happening until it’s already started. But because high inflation rates are already baked in the cake, so is another strong period for gold. That’s a reason to own gold now, and the reason is compelling if you believe, as I do, that there’s little downside. At this point, given the metal’s weak performance since 2011, virtually everyone who lacks a clear understanding of the reason for owning it has already sold. So it’s safe to buy.

 10 other analysts were also interviewed, plus Jeff recommended a new stock pick. Tomorrow’s BIG GOLD issue has another new stock recommendation—an exciting company that has the biggest high-grade deposit in the world. Now is the time to buy, before gold enters the next bull market! Check it out here. Reported by Proactive Investors 22 hours ago.

How Can I Get My Health Insurance to Pay for Mental Health Treatment? Reported by ajc.com 21 hours ago.

David S. Cade to lead 13,000 member organization

WASHINGTON, DC (PRWEB) February 02, 2015

Today the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), the nation’s largest nonpartisan organization devoted to legal issues in the health care field, announced David S. Cade as CEO, effective March 1, 2015. The appointment is a result of a nationwide search by the AHLA Executive Committee.

Cade’s broad leadership experience includes a 14-year role as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he supported program policy and developed legal positions to expand health insurance and coverage options for Medicare beneficiaries, as well as established creative solutions to support Medicaid program expansions. He was also the Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Family and Children’s Health Programs Group and Acting Deputy Director of the Medicaid Bureau.

Currently, Cade advises large hospitals, health systems, associations, corporations, and community providers as a Shareholder in the Health Care and Public Policy Practices at the national law firm Polsinelli, P.C. in Washington, DC. He has been a member of AHLA since 1997 and has served on the Board for the past six years, where his work included efforts to increase the diversity of the Association’s members and leaders as well as to broaden participation among public sector lawyers, non-lawyer health care practitioners, health care liability experts, and academicians.

Cade is a tireless advocate for diversity and inclusion in his field and for health care delivery systems and has advocated for greater focus around the issue during his time in both the public and private sectors. Throughout his career he has created a collaborative environment where public and private sector parties can come together to discuss the most challenging legal and policy issues impacting the health care system including financing, reimbursement, compliance, quality and patient centered care, fraud and abuse, corporate governance, emergency preparedness, and numerous coverage and eligibility policy issues.

“David comes to us at a time where the health care and health law communities are in a period of significant growth, fueled by the Affordable Care Act and a growing number of factors that impact health care delivery,” said AHLA President, Peter Pavarini. “David’s record of exceptional governance and deep commitment to the field of health law will add immense value to AHLA’s members and the clients and communities they serve,” he added.
AHLA membership has grown steadily in recent years and includes health care lawyers, compliance officers, risk managers and health care consultants. These individuals are entrusted with navigating the increasingly complex regulations used by the government to control costs, provide competent and licensed care to the needy and guard against fraud and abuse.

“It has been a privilege to serve on AHLA’s Board and I am honored to have been chosen to lead this outstanding organization as CEO,” said Cade. “The work of the present and future members of AHLA will only continue to grow in importance as the nation focuses on finding cost-effective ways to deliver the best possible health care. I believe that, as a convener for practitioners across the health spectrum, AHLA will play an evolving role in not just navigating, but shaping the American health care system.”

Cade will be responsible for crafting the strategic direction of the Association and supporting organizational goals such as recruiting non-lawyer members and growing the Dispute Resolution Service.

“As health law practitioners have to be smarter and more nimble than ever before, AHLA is an essential resource for our firm and the health law community,” said Polsinelli Health Care Chair, Matt Murer. “David’s contributions at Polsinelli have demonstrated his expertise and deep understanding of the complex relationships that make up the vast landscape of health policy and regulation. Polsinelli is an active member of AHLA and though we are sad to see David go, we are proud that this inspiring member of our team will lead AHLA at this transformational time.”
Cade earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and his B.A. from The College of William and Mary. He is a member of several bar associations including the District of Columbia Bar, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bar, The U.S. Supreme Court Bar, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and several other Circuit courts.

AHLA’s previous CEO, Peter M. Leibold, served the Association in that role for 15 years before taking the position of Chief Advocacy Officer for Ascension Health in November 2014.

About the American Health Lawyers Association
The American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan educational organization devoted to legal issues in the health care field. The Association’s 13,000 members practice in a variety of settings in the health care community. For information about our resources, publications, and educational offerings, visit http://www.healthlawyers.org or @healthlawyers on Twitter. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.

Florida has the highest number of citizens enrolled in private Obamacare healthcare plans, even though it is strongly opposed by the Republican officials in the Sunshine State. Reported by Newsmax 16 hours ago.

In today's app economy, part-time work just isn't what it used to be.

Once upon a time, a part-time job at a supermarket would have meant spending hours behind a cash register. These days, a part-time grocery job could mean spending hours in your car waiting for an order to come in -- and not necessarily getting paid for that time.

As Instacart, a grocery delivery app that pairs customers with personal shoppers, continues to increase in popularity, some employees at the much-hyped startup are speaking out about what it's really like to do their jobs. Their experiences raise a number of questions about what the future holds for increasingly popular apps that offer on-demand services, from car rides to vacation rentals to home cleaning.

Instacart employs 4,000 personal shoppers, who work in 15 cities around the country. Shoppers receive a digital shopping list from customers and then pick out those items at a local grocery store, before showing up at the customer's door with the goods. In return, the shoppers are "compensated based on a formula that factors in the number of orders per shift and the number of items per order," according to a company spokeswoman. "During busy shifts, shoppers can earn $20 or more an hour depending on tips.” The company's website says shoppers "make up to $25 an hour."

When shifts aren't busy, several employees said their minimum hourly base pay was $10, and that their typical hourly pay usually hovered around that figure. Instacart declined to confirm whether it offers base pay, and some Instacart workers told HuffPost they are not offered an hourly guaranteed wage.

“It’s a really strange job, and there are many weeks where you’re just sitting in the car waiting for orders and hoping something comes in, not being paid to be there,” one of Instacart’s personal shoppers, a 24-year-old college dropout based in Chicago, told The Huffington Post in an interview. “But it’s keeping gas in my car. I’m working a job that requires gas that is essentially just paying for my car. It feels like selling my hair to buy a hairbrush.”

The employee, who did not wish to be identified for fear of losing his job with the company, said that during his first week with Instacart, he made about $350 working just three days. At the end of the week, however, he made a mistake on an order and received a negative customer rating, which led to fewer and smaller orders to fill. Because he’d only been working for a few shifts, it took some time for his "shopper score" -- and his pay -- to bounce back. Meanwhile, his better-rated colleagues were getting more lucrative opportunities.

He would have quit months ago, he said, but he needs the money to keep his car, which he uses to get to his other two part-time jobs.

“It feels like I’m playing a video game, except in real life for real money," he said.

Another shopper who worked with the company in Philadelphia for six months last year said the amount of driving required by the gig sometimes meant spending more money on gas than she earned over a five-hour shift making deliveries to neighborhoods and suburbs located more than a half-hour’s drive from her home near Center City. The 31-year-old entrepreneur is no longer with the company.

“For a part-time gig to earn some extra cash, sure, [the pay was fair],” the former shopper, who also did not want to be identified by name, told HuffPost. “Not really for a main source of income because it's minimum wage and very physically and mentally taxing.”

Not all Instacart workers are disenchanted, of course. Another employee in Chicago, a 27-year-old film student and musician who started shopping for Instacart two months ago, told HuffPost he is “overall pretty grateful” for the work. He praised the experience as “kind of fun” -- like being a contestant on the defunct game show “Supermarket Sweep.” He plans to stick around.

“There are days when I’m on point and can see the order, and it’ll be like ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and I can just map out the whole store in my head and know where everything will be,” he said. “Other days, I’m just staring [down an aisle] like, ‘Where is the molasses?’ Those moments to me are the worst because in my mind I feel the clock moving.”

Lace, a 28-year-old performance artist who started working as an Instacart shopper in Houston last year but has since transferred to Los Angeles, also said she "loves" working for the company.

"It's really easy work that pays well," Lace told HuffPost.

The worst part, she said, is dealing with "pushy and demanding" customers who don't tip, even after she lugs heavy items -- like cases of bottled water -- into their homes. When Instacart shoppers order multiples of the same heavy item, like cases of water or bags of cat litter, the company formula still counts those as "one" item, shoppers explained. As a result, getting the order to the customer's house doesn't always come with a bulk-order bonus.

"Some complain about the price of produce, then you get to their place and they live in a giant mansion in the hills," Lace added. "Catering to every whim of the upper crust, when you're just trying to hustle through your shift, can be aggravating, but we do our best."

Sunil Raman, a general manager at Instacart, told HuffPost that the company's data on the continued activity of its shopper fleet indicates that most shoppers are happy with the gig.

"There are bound to be bumps in the road, but we’re really working hard to help our shoppers along the way," Raman said.

Scrolling through dozens of Instacart worker reviews on Glassdoor.com, a site that lets people post anonymous reviews and salary information about companies, some common themes emerge: People posting on the site described being happy with the flexible scheduling, a high level of autonomy and a relatively relaxed work environment. Other posters complained about sometimes-unpredictable pay and the isolation of spending most of a work shift alone, as well as the financial stress of paying for a vehicle, gas, tolls and smartphone -- the engine that powers it all.

Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University who has been dubbed the “go-to expert” on the so-called sharing economy, said the conditions are ripe for a company like Instacart to expand rapidly, as on-demand apps continue to grow in popularity. (The sharing economy, for the uninitiated, describes an emerging business category catering to individuals who rent or borrow goods, such as cars or apartments, instead of buying them.) Instacart also sees greater odds for success thanks to the availability of apps and smartphones that use GPS, technologies that weren't in people's pockets when dot-com flameouts like Kozmo and Webvan attempted grocery delivery and failed.

“It’s very easy for someone to get a GPS-enabled smartphone, so your labor pool is potentially huge, and the technology in the stores has also become far more amenable to this,” Sundararajan said. “The click-and-collect model of how we buy stuff has become increasingly possible because of all of this.”

Still, the success of a company like Instacart ultimately depends on the quality of service offered by its workers, the vast majority of whom are independent contractors who do not earn health insurance, vacation days or paid sick leave. Instacart's full-time employees -- developers, managers and sales reps, for example -- do enjoy such benefits, but there are only about 100 of these positions at the company.

Sundararajan argued that this business model is risky for Instacart and other firms like it because it hands over so much control to workers who don't feel particularly invested in the company's overall health. Workers have detailed similar experiences at other rapidly growing apps, Uber and HomeJoy among them.

Sundararajan suggested that a company like Instacart consider, at minimum, pairing newbie shoppers with expert mentors when they are starting out.

“Eventually these companies’ brand comes from consistent high quality, and that rests almost entirely in the hands of freelance workers,” Sundararajan said. “It’s simply smart capitalism to have a healthy workforce of people motivated to work for you.”

Raman, the Instacart manager, told HuffPost the company does "try to incorporate feedback [from shoppers] into all the improvements we make in the business.”

He said the company formed a "shopper happiness" team late last year, which provides support to workers through a shopper hotline that's available 18 hours a day. The team is also responsible for shopper roundtables to inform how the company's software is designed, as well as shopper parties and other get-togethers.

Hunter Stuart contributed to this story from New York. Reported by Huffington Post 17 hours ago.

Opponents of Proposition 45, a health insurance rate regulation initiative that was overwhelmingly defeated by California voters, spent big in the run-up to the November election. Reported by L.A. Times 12 hours ago.

IPA Seeks Health Insurance Sales Representatives.

Tampa, FL (PRWEB) February 03, 2015

Due to record-breaking growth, IPA Family, LLC (IPA), an American Independence Corp. company and member of The IHC Group, is pleased to announce new business opportunities in Texas. The company seeks sales representatives to help fulfill increasing demand. Additionally, leadership roles are now available at IPA’s Dallas Center of Excellence Offices serving locations in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and surrounding areas. IPA’s offices in Texas expand across the great state.

Qualified candidates will possess the following attributes: an ability to make decisions and solve problems, active listening skills, critical thinking skills, sales experience, strong time-management skills and, most importantly, a proclivity to operate with the highest ethical standards. Selected candidates will be provided with a complete and comprehensive program that promotes their personal and professional success. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
➢    Compensation programs
➢    Residual income and monthly bonus
➢    Lifetime vesting schedules
➢    Wealth accumulation plan
➢    Free qualified sales leads and lead-management systems
➢    Ongoing training and business education using state-of-the art technologies
➢    Many other performance-based programs and incentives

To be considered for one of the select positions and participate in a professional and confidential interview process, you may submit direct inquiries with resume to IPA Family, LLC through their website contact page. Due to a culture of continuous growth and market expansions, IPA is currently accepting inquiries for existing and new markets. For more information about IPA Family and the companies it represents, visit http://www.ipafamily.com or call 800-772-8667 and indicate you saw our press release.

About IPA Family, LLC (IPA)
IPA Family, LLC is a national marketing organization that distributes major medical insurance plans and other health insurance plans and consumer benefit association membership programs across the nation. IPA’s trained professional sales associates, referred to as the “IPA Family,” provides information and a product portfolio that can meet the needs of most small business owners and self-employed individuals and families. Headquartered in Tampa, Fl., IPA is accredited and has an excellent reputation with the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) and is a member company of The IHC Group.

About American Independence Corp.
AMIC, through Independence American Insurance Company and its other subsidiaries, offers pet insurance, non-subscriber occupational accident, international coverages, small-group major medical and short-term medical. AMIC provides to the individual and self-employed markets health insurance and related products, which are distributed through its subsidiaries IPA Family, LLC, healthinsurance.org, LLC, IPA Direct, Inc. and IHC Specialty Benefits, Inc. AMIC markets medical stop-loss through its marketing and administrative company IHC Risk Solutions, LLC.

About The IHC Group
The IHC Group is an organization of insurance carriers and marketing and administrative affiliates that has been providing life, health, disability, medical stop-loss and specialty insurance solutions to groups and individuals for over 30 years. Members of The IHC Group include Independence Holding Company, American Independence Corp, Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Madison National Life Insurance Company, Inc. and Independence American Insurance Company. Each insurance carrier in The IHC Group has a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) from A.M. Best Company, Inc., a widely recognized rating agency that rates insurance companies on their relative financial strength and ability to meet policyholder obligations. (An A++ rating from A.M. Best is its highest rating.) Collectively, the companies in The IHC Group provide insurance coverage to more than one million individuals and groups. For more information about The IHC Group, visit http://www.ihcgroup.com. Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.

SYLMAR, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:EYES) ("Second Sight" or "the Company"), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable visual prosthetics to provide functional vision to blind patients, today announced that InEK1, the German national system which provides health insurance to 90% of the country’s population, has renewed Status 1 for the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System under the NUB2 innovation program. The key objective of the NUB program Reported by Business Wire 2 hours ago.

Health Care Industry Veteran Brings Experience and Expertise to the HealthPlans.com Team

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) February 03, 2015

HealthPlans.com, one of the most visited independent consumer health insurance sites, according to comScore, today announced the appointment of Rebecca Pearce to its health care advisory board. The appointment strongly aligns with the mission of HealthPlans.com, which is to help consumers get connected with the insurance plan that is the best fit for them.

Pearce served as the Executive Director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange from 2011 to 2013, where she was responsible for building the state-based exchange from scratch to be operational for the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period. Maryland enrolled over 600,000 members during that open enrollment period.

Prior to her appointment, she held several roles at Kaiser Permanente, including serving as the National Product Director for Government Programs across the national Kaiser Permanente footprint. Here, she created short and long-term Medicare product strategy to maintain market share and grow membership across the program. She then served as the Director of Benefits Administration at Kaiser Permanente where she helped to develop the organization’s national preventive package as required by the Affordable Care Act.

"We're really thrilled to have Rebecca onboard as part of our team," Sarah Tann, Editor of HealthPlans.com. "There is no doubt that her expertise and industry experience will enhance our mission to provide health insurance shoppers with the information they need to make the right decision about choosing a health insurance plan."

Pearce joins Martin M. Quigley, M.D. on the HealthPlans.com advisory board. In addition to his 20 years of practice as a clinical physician, Dr. Quigley also served as a medical director for Humana and Universal Healthcare.

About HealthPlans.com

HealthPlans.com is one of the most visited independent consumer health insurance sites, according to comScore. With relevant news, expert advice, and interactive tools, HealthPlans.com helps consumers make sense of all things health insurance - from complicated health acronyms to the newest industry policies. Above all, Healthplans.com matches consumers to a health insurance plan that meets their needs and budget by using a fast, free, and consumer-friendly platform. Reported by PRWeb 9 minutes ago.