Managing over $1 billion comes with its advantages

March 16, 2015, 2:04 pm

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*FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.*

*Advisors with more than $1 billion in assets are outperforming their peers (InvestmentNews)*

"Twenty percent of registered investment advisers participating in InvestmentNews' annual benchmarking study of financial advisory firms managed $1 billion or more in assets last year. That number was 2.5% a decade ago." Advisers with more than $1 billion in assets outperformed their peers since the financial crisis. They have seen their revenues jump by more than 23% annually with their average client investing $2.74 million. This compares to advisors with less than $1 billion in assets who have seen revenue growth of just 15% and an average investment of close to one-third the size.  Having a $1 billion in assets under management has other benefits, including reduced rates on technology and more competitive pricing from vendors. “If you're at a billion, the goal should be how to get to $5 billion in assets and $25 million in revenue,” added Joe Duran, chief executive of United Capital, based in Newport Beach, California.

*A financial adviser is suing a celebrity client he defrauded (Richmond Biz Sense)*

Getty Andrew Rothenberg is suing Dave Matthews Band member Boyd Tinsley, a client he defrauded, for $10 million. Mr. Rothenberg claims Tinsley sabotaged his business, causing him to lose out on several high profile clients, and the potential of earning millions of dollars. Rothenberg pleaded guilty to one count of felony wire fraud and was forced to pay $1.25 million in restitution after stealing millions of dollars from Tinsley while serving as his advisor. Rothenberg served nine months in prison and remains under house arrest, but has filed suit against Tinsley, saying, "I want to be financially compensated for the business he cost me."  * *  

*5 tax deductions for the self-employed (Think Advisor)*

The April 15 tax deadline is rapidly approaching. With that in mind Think Advisor decided to share five tax deductions every self-employed worker should make sure they include when filing. Home office expenses, health insurance premiums, self-employment tax, retirement tax shelters, and depreciation of equipment deductions are vital for reducing the tax bill of those who are self-employed. 

*Men save more than women for retirement (Financial Advisor)*

BlackRock’s annual Global Investor Pulse Survey found only 53% of women are saving for retirement, well below the 65% of men. The late start by women means the average woman aged 55-64 has $81,300 in retirement savings while a man of that age has put away $118,400, on average. Financial Advisor notes, "This gap is particularly troubling given that women live longer than men—at birth, the life expectancy for U.S. women is about 79 compared to 72 for men, according to the report."

*When to invest in high-yield bond funds (Financial Planning)*

High yield bond funds have seen a tremendous amount of interest as a result of the Fed's low interest rate environment. The group is yielding almost 400 basis points above Treasuries while seeing a historically low default rate of 1%. While that rate is still expected to climb to 1.5% to 2% by the end of the year, it would still be well below the historical norm. Mark Hudoff, portfolio manager of Hotchkis & Wiley High Yield in Corona del Mar, California noted while he still likes the space, "High-yield bonds aren’t 100% immune from interest-rate risk,” and expects weakness as the Fed begins to move off the zero bound. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A lawyer in Florida has come up with an ingenious way for drivers to evade drunken-driving checkpoints Reported by Business Insider 7 hours ago.

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HUFFPOST HILL - Aaron Schock Under Investigation, Y'know, Like Mr. Bates

March 16, 2015, 1:53 pm

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Ted Cruz scared a young child, a throwback to his campaign slogan, "Cruz for Senate: Your Eyes Will Stay Crossed If You Keep Doing That." Darrell Issa made the rounds at SXSW, but failed to tout the sustainable, farm-to-table practices behind Issa Cream. And Aaron Schock purchased a custom replica of the official presidential lectern, supplanting his life-sized copy of Han Solo trapped in carbonite as his favorite conversation piece. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, March 16th, 2015:

*AARON SCHOCK IS HISTORY'S FANCIEST COSPLAYER* - In fairness to the Illinois congressman, we scribbled the words "OOH LA LA, I’M FANCY AND BRITISH” across our workspaces and sometimes pretend they're the Resolute desk. BuzzFeed: "*Rep. Aaron Schock owns what appears to be a fairly accurate replica of 'The Falcon' -- the internal White House nickname for one of President Obama’s official podiums* -- and based on photos, uses it at times when speaking in his Peoria, Illinois, district. USA Today reported last month that Schock spent $79,061 in federal money on furniture in 2009, and $5,123 of that went to Mulnix Industries, a firm that makes custom furniture for public speaking in a town 40 miles outside of Jefferson City, Missouri. Page 2563 of the 2010 Statement of Disbursements of the House of Representatives shows the outlay to Mulnix, but it doesn’t say exactly what the money purchased...multiple photos of Schock back home in his district... show him standing behind The Presidential, a discontinued Mulnix model still listed in the company’s online catalog of 'Standing Podiums.'...The model was pretty popular when Mulnix made it — the company sent four to the U.S. Consulate in Pretoria, South Africa — and Crane said it sold for 'somewhere around' $5,000 a piece." [BuzzFeed]

Reminder of the difference between a podium and a lecturn.

*Annnnnnnnnnnnd scene*: "Investigators from the Office of Congressional Ethics have begun reaching out to Rep. Aaron Schock’s political orbit, a possible first sign of an official investigation of the Illinois Republican. OCE is seeking to speak to people who have either worked for Schock or interacted with him." [Politico]

*HUFFPOST REPORTER TRIES TO LIVE LIKE LINDSEY GRAHAM, IMMEDIATELY HATES LIFE* - Jen Bendery: "It sounded like a fun experiment at first: Get through a day of work without using email. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) does it every day. He recently said he's never sent an email in his entire life. He also doesn't use Twitter or Facebook -- his staff maintains his official accounts. He will read a text message if you send him one, but if he decides that it's worthy of a response, he'll call you back. So if a U.S. senator can get by in 2015 with 1994 technology, surely a political reporter can do it for a day? I gave it a go on Friday. It was an exercise in futility." [HuffPost]

@HillaryClinton: Congressional trifecta against women today: 1) Blocking great nominee, 1st African American woman AG, for longer than any AG in 30 years…...2) Playing politics with trafficking victims… 3) Threatening women's health & rights.

*DAILY DELANEY DOWNER* - Because Republicans are buzzing about food stamp cuts, the Congressional Budget Office has put together an analysis of How Different Ways Cutting Food Stamps Would Make People Poorer. The key finding, oddly enough, is that broad food stamp cuts would impoverish the poorest people the most. Go fig. [CBO.gov]

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

*OBAMACARE WEAKENING 16-MILLION AMERICANS* - You know the saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to brew his own blood-pressure medicine in his basement and you'll keep him from becoming a teet-suckling babe of the state." Jeff Young: "*More than 16 million Americans gained health coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, mainly via the law's health insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion, according to an analysis published Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services*. The government estimate is consistent with numerous surveys taken over the past two years. The Health and Human Services report issued Monday is based in part on findings from the polling company Gallup, which found the uninsured rate has fallen from 20.3 percent in October 2013, when Obamacare sign-ups began, to 12.3 percent during the first quarter of this year. The latest figures stand as more evidence that Obamacare is achieving one of its core goals of reducing the number of uninsured Americans, even as the Affordable Care Act remains embattled in Congress and faces an uncertain future at the Supreme Court." [HuffPost]

*GOP DIVIDED OVER DEFENSE SPENDING* - They hate us for our deficits. NYT: "The congressional push this week to secure the first Republican budget plan in nearly a decade is revealing a chasm between fiscal hawks determined to maintain strict spending caps and defense hawks who are threatening to derail any budget that does not ensure an increase for the military...Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, and 69 other House Republicans signed a letter to Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, demanding that the budget at least match Mr. Obama’s defense request of $561 billion, $38 billion above the statutory caps. Caught in the middle are a new crop of freshman Republican senators who emphasized national security in their campaigns but are facing heavy pressure from their leaders to fall in line. 'It’s a disaster,' Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, one of those freshmen, said of the sequestration cap. 'Thematically, we all agree sequestration must go.' … But most conservative Republicans are not budging in the face of the sky-is-falling warnings." [NYT]

*Has he thought about suspending his campaign to focus on the economy?* "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau said Monday that if he were to be reelected, a Palestinian state would not be created, in a definite disavowal of his 2009 speech, in which he had voiced support for the principle of two states for two peoples. Netanyahu's remarks in an interview with the NRG website -- which is owned by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and tied with the settler newspaper Makor Rishon -- were a last-minute attempt to pull right-wing voters away from Habayit Hayehudi." [Haaretz]

*GAWKER DIVES HEADFIRST IN TO PHILIPPE REINES' SWEAR-LADEN DYSTOPIAN MIND-HELL* - Until now, we assumed that gaining access to Reines' thoughts involved descending into a miles-deep cave and staring into a flame stoked with the flesh of virgins. Jackson Connor: "*Gawker Media is suing the U.S. State Department under the Freedom of Information Act for access to emails between former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines and members of the press, the site's executive editor for investigations, John Cook, announced Friday*. Though Cook originally reported in 2013 that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been using a private email address to conduct government business, the story has boiled into a full-blown controversy in recent weeks after The New York Times reported Clinton may have violated federal regulations." [HuffPost]

Darrell Issa went to SXSW, donning his best SXSW outfit.

*FLORIDA MAN STUCK IN LOUSY REAL ESTATE DEAL* - Marc Caputo: "The brick-fronted tract house with a satellite dish and a yellow fire hydrant in front looks like many middle-class homes in Florida’s capital, except for the two names on the deed. Marco Rubio: U.S. senator and would-be presidential candidate. David Rivera: Scandal-plagued former congressman under investigation in a federal campaign-finance probe...While he and Rivera were state legislators, they paid way too much for it in 2005, only to see foreclosure proceedings embarrassingly initiated against them during Rubio's 2010 Senate race….*Now, the three-bedroom property stands as a stubborn symbol of both a politically problematic friendship and lingering questions about Rubio’s personal finances*, which dogged him on the campaign trail in 2010 and may do so again. The friendship has frayed in recent years, friends say, as the fortunes of Rubio, 43, and Rivera, 49, have diverged. Last week, they put the 1,228-square-foot house up for sale. The list price is $125,000 -- $10,000 less than what the two men paid for it a decade ago." [Politico]

*Politician has associations with fringe religious figure*: "Eleven years ago, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, now a rising star in the Democratic Party, was a little-known state representative from a West Oahu district. It was her then-Republican father, Mike, who was in the political limelight...a writer at Honolulu Magazine emailed him and asked about his family’s ties to a guru named Chris Butler, aka Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa, who leads an obscure offshoot of the Hare Krishna movement in Hawaii...During the past few weeks, speculation about her place in that world has intensified, thanks in no small part to two recent developments in her life, one personal and one professional: her upcoming marriage to Abraham Williams and the appointment of Kainoa Ramananda Penaroza as her top advisor. Both men grew up in the same offbeat religious world as Gabbard. Many of the people who still talk about and obsess over the Gabbard family’s ties to Butler try to also paint both Williams and Penaroza as devotees of the guru." [Honolulu Civil Beat]

*PETRAEUS PLEA DEAL TOTALLY BETRAYSUS* - Let's just call it "light treason." Yahoo: "The lawyer for a former State Department contractor imprisoned last year for leaking classified information is asking federal prosecutors for the 'immediate release' of his client in light of the relatively lenient treatment of former CIA Director David Petraeus for similar conduct. Abbe Lowell, the lawyer for former contractor Stephen Kim, acknowledged that he’s not expecting a positive response to a recent letter he wrote to Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and three other federal prosecutors who pursued his client. But Lowell wrote the letter, obtained by Yahoo News, to highlight what he described as a 'profound double standard' in the government’s prosecution of leak cases -- a subject of mounting debate that could weigh on the Justice Department's decision in at least one ongoing high-profile leak probe." [Yahoo News]

*BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR* - Here's a duckling falling asleep.

*TED CRUZ INCULCATES PYROPHOBIA IN YOUNG CHILD* - Sticking with the "Arrested Development" theme, might Cruz be a political pioneer and hire J. Walter Weatherman as his campaign manager? CNN: "U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was delivering his normal rhetoric during a New Hampshire speech on Sunday, hitting the current administration on the economy, Obamacare and national security. 'And the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind -- the whole world is on fire,' the senator from Texas declared. But *he was stopped by a 3-year-old girl sitting in the front row. 'The world is on fire?' she yelled out. Cruz took it and ran with it. 'The world is on fire -- yes!* Your world is on fire,' he exclaimed, seizing the moment as the crowd burst out into laughter. 'But you know what? Your mommy's here and everyone's here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better.'" [CNN]

Godammit, Ted.

*COMFORT FOOD*

- John Hodgman interviews John Cleese at the Brooklyn Academy.

- Shitty Side Salads is the new foodie craze.

- Cat delivers some just deserts.

*TWITTERAMA*

@Bro_Pair: Robert Durst Arrested Under New "5 Murders And You're Out" Statute

@pattonoswalt: The little girl who was just informed by Ted Cruz that her "world is on fire"? That's her supervillain origin story.

OlivaNuzzi: In Ted Cruz's defense, 3 is the appropriate age to begin to lose all hope.

*Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e* Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.

Colorado legislators pass expanded audit of health insurance exchange

March 16, 2015, 2:01 pm

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The Colorado House of Representatives voted 64-1 Monday to expand the state auditor's authority to conduct a performance review of the state health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado. Reported by Denver Post 7 hours ago.

Obama administration: 16.4 million have gained health insurance

March 16, 2015, 1:56 pm

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More than 16 million Americans have gained insurance coverage as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law, the... Reported by Deseret News 7 hours ago.

No Matter What Ted Cruz Says, Obamacare Shouldn't Be Repealed In 2017

March 16, 2015, 2:11 pm

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No Matter What Ted Cruz Says, Obamacare Shouldn't Be Repealed In 2017
No Matter What Ted Cruz Says, Obamacare Shouldn't Be Repealed In 2017
Has Been Optimized

March 23, 2015 marks the five year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The federal government released new numbers regarding the health insurance law today, claiming that 16.4 million Americans have gained coverage through the program since it began five years ago. Since 2012, the percentage of Americans without coverage has dropped from 20.3% to 13.2%. 

Despite all of the backlash the program has received throughout its rough early history, these numbers suggest that the program is working. It hasn’t been without its flaws — controversy surrounding the individual mandate, technical difficulties with HealthCare.gov and the occasional raised rate for healthy individuals all amount to an imperfect system. It would have been impossible, of course, to find an easy solution to health care reform in the United States. Flaws aside, the ACA is still the most important reform this country has had in decades. 

Senator and potential presidential candidate Ted Cruz believes those reforms could come to a halt as early as 2017. During a new Hampshire speaking engagement, Cruz claimed that the next president will work to undo the health reform that the Obama administration signed into law. “I believe in January of 2017 a new Republican is going to enter the White House and in 2017 is going to sign legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said. 

Cruz then framed his debate in the context of income inequality, arguing that Obamacare hurts small businesses and those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. He also, of course, supported the typical conservative argument that people in that position need to empower themselves rather than relying on handouts. It’s not quite a hypocritical argument, but it’s difficult to fully understand how Cruz can claim to be against big business and for the common people when he wants to strip them of a basic right like health care. 

The White House’s report of historic health care coverage numbers starkly contrasts with the position held by Cruz and his fellow Republicans in Congress. Cruz and others are vehemently anti-Obamacare, vowing to repeal the law at all costs. The Obama administration simply has numbers, and those numbers suggest that many are buying into the system and benefiting from it. It's amazing that members of Congress are still actively trying to fight against it. 

As hard as the GOP has tried, Obamacare is too big of a beast to stop before it’s truly given a chance to begin. The Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the individual mandate’s constitutionality. As the White House statistics show, the ACA is also too effective to be stopped. Even if there’s a Republican president and a GOP-controlled House and Senate in 2016, it will be difficult to revert back to the system we had in place before both parties worked towards a solution in order to better provide healthcare for the nation. It’s a rhetoric commonly used in campaigns — talk down the guy in office right now and make broad claims about how the next presidency will be different. It’s a tactic even Obama knew how to use, but it appears as if he’ll still be entangled in the wars Bush started by the time his 8-year tenure is up. Changing things is not as easy as most people expect. The GOP needs to realize that the ACA is here, working, and has already altered U.S. health care in an irrevocable manner. 

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Dayton says he wants task force to study MNsure's future

March 16, 2015, 2:26 pm

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Gov. Mark Dayton is asking lawmakers to hold off on making major changes to the state's health insurance exchange this year. Reported by TwinCities.com 7 hours ago.

Dayton seeks MNsure task force; abolishing agency an option

March 16, 2015, 3:06 pm

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Gov. Mark Dayton is open to abolishing MNsure, the embattled health insurance exchange he championed and has defended from Republican attacks, the governor announced Monday. Reported by TwinCities.com 6 hours ago.

House Speaker reflects on first session with pride, but says there is room for improvement

March 16, 2015, 4:59 pm

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Salt Lake City, Utah- (ABC 4 Utah) – Speaker Greg Hughes has finished his first session in the most powerful seat in the Utah House of Representatives.

He says going in the bar was set high.

"We had a goal to carry some heavy loads, and to do some big things, and some transformational things and I think we did that on many fronts," said Hughes, ( R ) Draper.

Hughes points to a gas tax compromise to fund future transportation projects that begins with a 5 cent increase at the pump.

"We gave additional resources or tools in the tool box for our counties that are struggling with transportation and congestion, cities, as well as mass transit," said Hughes.

A giant criminal justice reform bill that will shift the focus from incarceration to treatment for mental health and substance abuse.

"We put some important reforms in place that we think will lower the recidivism."

And historic antidiscrimination and religious freedom legislation.

"We resolved ourselves to just treat people with that respect and dignity we all deserve."

But time ran out on tens of thousands of Utahns who have no option for health insurance.

Hughes says they made progress on Medicaid expansion, but couldn't come together on a solution.

"It's a federal entitlement program, so you have to be very careful, because you are giving the federal government more say into what a state does when you enter into those agreements."

Local advocates are encouraged the house, senate and governor have resolved to continue talks and are calling on them to keep the promise.

"Now we are hoping they can come together on a united front with a plan that works for the people of Utah and brings our tax payer dollars back," said RyLee Curtis, with Utah Healthy Policy Project.

Speaker Hughes is part of a committee that will continue negotiations on Medicaid expansion.

The group has a hard deadline of July 31, 2015 to reach an agreement.

After that the governor will call a special session. Reported by abc4 4 hours ago.

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HHS on Obamacare: Largest Reduction of Uninsured 'in Four Decades'

March 16, 2015, 8:38 pm

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The Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that about 16.4 million uninsured Americans have gained health insurance since Obamacare was enacted five years ago, International Business Times reported. Reported by Newsmax 42 minutes ago.

HHS on Obamacare: Largest Reduction of Uninsured 'In Four Decades'

March 16, 2015, 5:29 pm

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Monday that about 16.4 million uninsured Americans have gained health insurance since Obamacare was enacted five years ago, International Business Times reported. Reported by Newsmax 4 hours ago.

Increase of 16.4 million insured under Obamacare

March 16, 2015, 8:03 pm

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As the Affordable Care Act faces its latest Supreme Court challenge, the federal government reported Monday that 16.4 million Americans have acquired health insurance under the 2010 reform act. “Obamacare,” the Affordable Care Act championed by President Obama, has seen 16.4 million Americans added to ranks of those with health insurance.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) A total of 14.1 million people have enrolled in health insurance plans since the Obamacare health insurance marketplace was unveiled — with multiple early glitches — in October of 2013. The result is the percentage of uninsured Americans has fallen from 20 percent in the first quarter to 13.2 percent a year later. An additional 2.3 [...] Reported by SeattlePI.com 1 hour ago.

Adobe Introduces Document Cloud

March 16, 2015, 9:03 pm

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SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Document Cloud, a modern way to manage critical documents at home, in the office and across devices. Adobe Document Cloud will address the waste and inefficiency associated with document processes. Whether its school permission slips, health insurance forms or complex enterprise document workflows, Adobe will transform how people and businesses get work done. From the inventor of the PDF document standard, Adobe’s Docu Reported by Business Wire 17 minutes ago.

Census Bureau: Small Area Health Insurance Estimates: 2013

March 17, 2015, 7:12 am

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WASHINGTON, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following tip sheet was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau: The estimates show the number of people with and without health insurance coverage for all states and each of the nation's roughly 3,140 counties. The statistics... Reported by PR Newswire 14 hours ago.

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March 17, 2015, 9:07 am

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Florida ranks No. 2 in the nation in the rate of residents without health insurance, but that figure has declined since 2010. Reported by WEAR ABC 3 12 hours ago.

Florida #2 For Number Of Uninsured In State

March 17, 2015, 9:21 am

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When it comes residents without health insurance, Florida is number two in the nation. But not in a good way. Reported by cbs4.com 12 hours ago.

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How to Get and Protect Your Genetic Data

March 17, 2015, 4:09 pm

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By Meredith Salisbury

Maybe it was the Jolie effect. Or you want to find out if you're carrying a silent genetic mutation that could be passed on to a child. Or perhaps you're just really hoping you can blame your DNA for how awful cilantro tastes. Whatever the reason, you're interested in finding out something about your genome. Now what?

Though consumer genetic testing and personal genome sequencing are still nascent fields, every indication suggests that the public will have a virtually insatiable appetite for genetic data. And as scientists get better at establishing links between DNA and diseases or specific traits, that demand will only increase.

But are we ready for this data? Sure, massive-scale scientific instruments can churn out DNA information at breakneck pace, but is the rest of the scientific, medical, and social infrastructure in place to analyze, interpret, and protect it? At the moment, the short answer is no. But this is a major focus for the biomedical community right now, and improved solutions are being developed almost daily.

At the moment, there are several ways to get your hands on your own genetic data. Services like 23andMe and Ancestry.com offer direct access to basic genealogical information that can be gleaned from your genome. By going through a physician or genetic counselor, you can get targeted clinical results -- such as your carrier status for a certain disease or whether you have a genetic variant that makes you more susceptible to cancer -- or even your whole genome sequence. (As we reported earlier this year, genetic counselors may be more likely to order a DNA test on your behalf than a physician. Here's a list of companies offering personal genomic tests.)

For the most part, providers of this information will attempt to offer a useful interpretation of your data. A hereditary cancer test or carrier screening test will come back indicating positive (increased risk) or negative (normal risk). Ancestry testing will show on a map where your ancestors came from, likely with percentages for how much different regions contributed to your DNA. Even if you get your whole genome sequenced, part of the service will include talking with a genetic counselor to go over any major findings. Given how early we are in the genomic era, there are relatively few major findings; most people who get their genome sequenced today won't learn anything truly life-changing.

It's worth noting that the interpretation you get may not be complete. For example, if you're clinically tested for a mutation linked to heart disease, the result you get back -- an interpretation of whether your genetic code places you at increased risk for heart disease -- may not mention it if one of the genes analyzed also happens to reveal your risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.

Most people who get genetic results today, especially if they go through a medical professional, stop the journey when they learn the answer to their specific question. But some people dig deeper, which is possible with low-cost services such as Promethease. You upload your genetic data, and these services churn through it to deliver more information. In our earlier heart disease example, these kinds of services might alert you to your Alzheimer's risk even though the clinical lab didn't. This kind of offering has great value, but comes with a significant caveat emptor: you may learn something you didn't want to know.

Perhaps the murkiest element of genetic testing today is how to protect your data. Results from a targeted clinical lab test are governed by the same laws that protect other medical information, but data from other sources is not. Generally speaking, if your genetic information was ordered by a physician or genetic counselor, it is likely to be protected as medical data. But if you got the information on your own, or if you send data from a medical test to a third-party analysis service, protecting the data is your responsibility.

A federal law prohibits health insurance companies and employers from discriminating against people based on genetic information, but it does not apply to companies providing disability, life, or long-term care insurance. While the genetic data landscape remains something of the Wild West when it comes to information security and privacy, many experts advise caution. Treat your genetic data as you would other highly confidential information. And if you choose to use third-party interpretation services, carefully check their policies on data protection, privacy, reuse, and ownership before you submit your information.

The convergence of technology and health care will be a central topic at our day-long Techonomy Bio event, March 25, in Mountain View, California. Click here to learn more.

This post was originally published at Techonomy.com. Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.

7 things I learned — and am still learning — from starting my own business

March 17, 2015, 12:43 pm

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Hannah Bonomo started designing stationery as a hobby.

"It allowed me to combine my love for illustration with my experience in graphic design, and my obsession for all things wedding related," shares the 27-year-old, who was married to an equity research analyst in 2012.  

After five years working for a digital media company in New York City, she knew it wasn't what she wanted to do long-term.

"So I figured if there's ever a time to take a risk, this is it," she explains. "I'm young and hungry for a challenge, I don't have children to support, and I'm covered by my husband's health insurance."

In 2014, with about $9,500 collected from exercising stock options at her previous employer, Bonomo established Bonomo Paper Co., the bespoke stationery studio she runs out of her Brooklyn apartment. 

"Before I started my own company I felt hopelessly stuck and uninspired," she shares. "I had been at the same job for so long, I could do it with my eyes closed (and that's saying something from a graphic designer). I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt that way – in fact, I know most of my friends have been there, or still are." Although she says she doesn't consider herself to be a natural risk-taker or entrepreneur, "the challenges have reignited my drive and I feel more motivated now knowing that it's up to me to make this work."

Bonomo has officially been in full-time business since January 2015, and in her first few months of full-time entrepreneurship, she's been learning fast. Here's what the transition from corporate life to running her own business has taught her, in her own words:

-1. Don't quit your day job until you're absolutely sure.-

I started designing stationery in my spare time for three years prior to making it into a business. My first project was an illustrated save the date for a former coworker. I had no idea what I was doing.

I had never designed for print before and knew nothing about paper types or how to set up a print-ready file (I was a graphic designer working in digital media).

Needless to say, I gave my first bride a pretty significant friends-and-family-discount as a 'thank you' for being my guinea pig.

I needed to build a solid portfolio and allow myself time to learn the craft before going out on my own. It would be impossible to earn a client's trust without enough experience to back it up.

Three years and a dozen printed pieces later, I finally felt I had the portfolio and skillset to launch my business.

-2. Be fair to yourself and affordable for your clients.-

I haven't mastered the art of pricing yet. In theory, it's some combination of my hourly rate plus the cost of printing (I work with third-party printers in the city).

However, I'm a perfectionist: If I billed the actual number of hours I spent on a design, I'd lose every job after the initial estimate. I'm still learning to find a balance between being fair to myself and affordable for my clients.

One challenge I run into a lot is that potential clients have already done some price research with the big online vendors, when they compare their prices to my estimate, they seem shocked. I have to remind them (and myself) that though we both sell stationery, we have very different business models. Bonomo Paper Co. is a bespoke stationery studio that offers premium, custom design services and our clients appreciate the quality and dedication that goes into each unique product.

-3. Find a lawyer.-

Frankly, I chose to file for a Limited Liability Company because my lawyer friend told me to. She put it to me this way: People have wild imaginations, and in the very unlikely case that a bride claims my stationery ruined her wedding and seeks retributions, my personal assets are protected. So that was more or less a no-brainer.

Setting up an LLC, however, is a pretty tedious, multi-step process, about which I was completely clueless. Everyone I spoke with told me to use Legal Zoom, that they make the whole process a breeze. It was partially true — they certainly got the ball rolling. However, there are many requisite steps even after receiving the nice, neat folder in the mail.

Did you know that in the state of New York, every LLC is required to have a notice published in two periodicals announcing their formation? For six consecutive weeks? Yeah, me neither. It was a pain, it was expensive, and it required a trip to my county clerk's office.

-4. It takes money to make money.-

Building a business isn't cheap. In addition to the $1,000-plus of filing fees and legal expenses, I also had to purchase a new computer (which, six months later, is now outdated), a new subscription for Adobe software, and my domain name and website.

I consider myself pretty lucky though — as a stationery business, my overhead is relatively low; I work out of my home and all of my products are made to order (for now), so I'm not paying for much up front. Even still, I'm on a much stricter personal budget now that I don't get a regular paycheck. I can't even imagine having to rent a space, pay for prototypes and production, or hiring employees before having any steady revenue stream.

Before quitting your day job, be sure to take into account the expenses you may incur just to get up and running and be sure you're saving that, plus a few months of living expenses before you take the plunge.

-5. Keep your accountant on speed dial.-

Taxes are a foreign language to me, so it's important that I keep an open dialogue with my accountant. Keep in mind I have a Bachelor's in Fine Arts and haven't taken a math class since high school. Terms like resale certificate, or EIN were never mentioned in Figure Drawing 101 or Color Theory. I'm learning the importance of filing receipts and keeping an organized folder of invoices.

-6. Just start working.-

I let my desire to be perfect right off the bat keep me from taking the first vital steps. I wasted too much time in the beginning trying to create the perfect logo or the perfect website (I'm a designer, those things matter to me!). I was focusing on the branding details before I even established a brand.

The reality is, I needed to get the product out into the world so I could start bringing in business. The branding and site details will evolve over time, and I've learned to accept that.

-7. People genuinely want to help you succeed.-

I didn't have a single client for the first two months. I was still working on filing my LLC, photographing my work, and building my site. It wasn't until I created an Instagram account and Facebook page for Bonomo Paper Co, and invited all of my friends to "like" it, that I immediately started getting inquiries.

What surprised me most though, was the influx of messages from people I had lost touch with, who offered advice and helped to spread the word. One long-lost college friend, an employee at Facebook, offered to run a test ad for BPC; a former coworker periodically sends me details for networking events and inspiring designers, another friend-of-a-friend reached out asking if she could feature Bonomo Paper Co. in her company's weekly newsletter — with a subscriber base of 10,000.

It was a wonderful reminder that there are some truly kind and generous people out there.

*SEE ALSO: 10 jobs that let you earn money from home*

Join the conversation about this story »

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The Affordable Care Act at Age Five: Quality of Care

March 17, 2015, 12:53 pm

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www.copernicus-healthcare.org • www.johngeymanmd.orgHaving looked in the last two posts at access and affordable costs of care five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we now examine its impact on quality of care, the third leg of the stool that defines the structure and performance of a health care system.

The ACA took several initiatives to improve quality of care, most importantly by expanding access to care through subsidizing insurance through the exchanges and expanding Medicaid in those states that participated. Other initiatives include providing preventive services without cost-sharing, pay-for-performance (P4P) changes, accountable care organizations, expanded use of electronic health records and establishing the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Let's look at what each has accomplished.

*Expanded Access to Care*
While expansion of insurance coverage helps many people, we saw in our recent post on access how many restrictions are placed on that coverage, including high deductibles, narrowed networks, high co-payments and excluded benefits. Expansion of Medicaid is generally good for those newly covered, but here again, that is no panacea. To be "covered" does not mean that you have access to care. Only 34 percent of health care providers are willing to accept new Medicaid patients, largely due to low reimbursement (61 percent of what Medicare pays for the same service, which in turn is 80 percent of what private insurers pay). (1). For-profit chains of urgent care centers are expanding rapidly, but most do not accept Medicaid patients. (2) A 2014 study found that an estimated 7,115 to 17, 104 people will die among 8 million left out of coverage in the states that opted out of Medicaid expansion. (3)

*Preventive Services*
There was a good rationale for providing such screening procedures as mammography and colonoscopy without cost-sharing, since many patients forego them because of costs. But this has encouraged expanded advertising by for-profit companies providing many inappropriate and unapproved procedures of asymptomatic people. Life Line Screenings, for example, has screened some 8 million people at churches, community centers, fitness centers, shopping malls and other locations, with 90 percent of screenings normal; the 10 percent that are "positive" typically lead to unnecessary, expensive and potentially harmful follow-up procedures in participating hospitals. (4)

*Changes in Payment Systems.*
It is well known that the present fee-for-service (FFS) payment system encourages provision of unnecessary and inappropriate services that bring added revenues to their providers. The ACA brought forward new "value-based" initiatives that theoretically could address this problem, such as P4P report cards for physicians, accountable care organizations (ACOs) (organizations of hospitals and physicians accepting care of at least 5,000 patients for a contracted amount) and bundling of payments (whereby providers agree to accept one overall payment for an episode of care, such as for a cardiac bypass procedure).

But these were untested and unproven ideas, and the five-year experience is hardly promising. Most physicians believe that quality measures currently in use are inaccurate. Risk adjustment measures are still rudimentary, and do not adjust for socio-economic factors, leaving physicians and hospitals caring for high-risk populations, such as in poor urban areas, at risk for lower quality scores. A recent study found that of the 220 ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), 115 did not accrue savings and in fact spent more than projected on ACO patients; only 53 earned shared savings. (5). A 2014 Rand report concluded that:

Although the past decade has witnessed a fair amount of experimentation with performance-based payment models, primarily P4P programs, we still know very little about how best to design and implement value-based payment programs to achieve stated goals and what constitutes a successful program. (6)

*Electronic Health Records (EHRs)*
In an effort to improve efficiency and coordination of care, the ACA has used financial incentives to move physicians and other providers away from paper records to EHRs. As a result, the health information technology (HIT) industry has boomed, putting out many competing systems that often do not talk to each other. Not only are these systems expensive, they have not been shown to reduce unnecessary diagnostic tests, add new efficiencies, improve quality of care or save money. A 2014 study found that almost one-half of physicians felt that patient care was worse after shifting over to EHRs. (7) They have also changed the dynamic of the physician-patient interaction, often reducing eye contact and communication as the physician focuses more on the computer screen than the patient. Another unfortunate outcome is the increase in cyber crime as hackers target the health care sector, as recently illustrated by a cyber attack on Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer, affecting 80 million insured. (8)

*The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)*
This was an excellent component of the ACA, intended to set guidelines for urgently needed comparative effectiveness research. There is a real need to bring more rigor to the evaluation of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of health care services. Up to one-third of all health care services provided in our market-based system are either inappropriate or unnecessary, with some potentially harmful. About 90 percent of all new drugs approved by the FDA over the last 30 years are little or no more effective than existing drugs (9), while the FDA approval process for medical devices is still too loose (recalls of defective medical devices nearly doubled from 2003 to 2012). (10) Unfortunately, however, PCORI was hobbled from the start by the ACA's specific bans on its authority to dictate coverage and reimbursement policies, or to set clinical guidelines for federal health programs.

To sum up, these supposed "fixes" to improve quality in our market-based system , quite predictably, fail to result in acceptable levels of quality. The U. S. continues to fare poorly in quality, access, efficiency, affordability and equity of care compared to other advanced countries around the world. The ACA was built on a flawed financing system, which will be unsustainable for patients, families and taxpayers. There is an alternative -- single payer national health insurance, improved Medicare for all, coupled with a private delivery system, the principles of which were laid out more than 20 years ago. (11)

To purchase this book in paperback, Click Here:

To Purchase a Kindle eBook: Click Here*References:*

1. Coleman, K. Medicaid acceptance by healthcare providers drops to 1-out-of-3. Health Pocket, February 26, 2015.
2. Creswell, J. Race is on to profit from rise in urgent care. New York Times, July 9, 2014.
3. Dickman, S, Himmelstein, DU, McCormick, D et al. Opting out of Medicaid expansion: the health and financial impacts. Health Affairs blog, January, 2014.
4. Gold, J. Prevention for profit: questions raised about some health screenings. Kaiser Health News, October 28, 2013.
5. Heiser, S, Colla, C, Fisher, E. Unpacking the Medicare Shared Savings proposed rule: geography and policy. Health Affairs blog, January 22, 2015.
6. Damberg, CL, Sorbero, ME, Lovejoy, SL et al. Measuring success in health care value-based purchasing programs. Rand Corporation, March 4, 2014.
7. Verdon, DR. Physician outcry on HER functionality, cost will shake the health information technology sector. Medical Economics, February 10, 2014.
8. Peterson, A. Why hackers are targeting the medical sector. Washington Post, February 5, 2015.
9. Light, DW. Risky drugs: why the FDA cannot be trusted. The Lab @ Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University Available at http://www.ethics.harvard.edu/lab/blog312-risky-drugs
10. Burton, TM. Recalls doubled of medical devices. Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2014: B4.
11. Schiff, GD, Bindman, AB, Brennan, TA et al. A better outcome alternative: single-payer national health system reform. JAMA 272: 803-808, 1994.

Adapted in part from my new book, How Obamacare Is Unsustainable: Why We Need a Single Payer Solution for All Americans. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.

NewsWatch: Say goodbye to employer-provided health insurance

March 17, 2015, 2:06 pm

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Reported by MarketWatch 8 hours ago.

FBI Probes Health Insurer Cyberattack That Could Affect 11 Million

March 17, 2015, 1:50 pm

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The FBI is investigating a massive cyberattack on the Premera health insurance company Premera that may have compromised the personal information. Reported by ABCNews.com 8 hours ago.