Patch Middletown, RI -- Michael Cassandro, of Middletown, was sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the scheme.
Reported by Patch 15 hours ago.
Middletown Man Sentenced in Health Insurance Fraud Scheme
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The Fantasy that ObamaCare "Is Working"
is working…We haven’t had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them have come to pass. You got 16 million people who’ve gotten health insurance. It hasn’t had an adverse effect on people who already had health insurance. The overwhelming majority of them are satisfied [...]
Reported by Forbes.com 9 hours ago.
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Ahead of Supreme Court Decision on the Future of Healthcare Subsidies, Prescription Hope Prepared to Help
Able to obtain over 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications, Prescription Hope braces for Supreme Court Healthcare Subsidy decision
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
As a result of the Supreme Court Healthcare Subsidy decision in King v. Burwell (Supreme Court Docket No. 14-114), the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates in a February 6 report as many as six million Americans could lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, including prescription medication coverage. Prescription Hope, America's leading prescription medication advocate, is bracing to help those individuals directly affected by the King v. Burwell decision.
"One of the biggest issues Americans' face in managing their health is affordable prescription medications," said Douglas K. Pierce, President and CEO of Prescription Hope. "As a result of the anticipated Supreme Court decision, we are preparing to help more Americans obtain more than 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications at a price they can afford."
Introduced to the highest court through appeal, King v. Burwell revolves around the 34 states that rely on the federal health insurance exchange as their primary insurance marketplaces. According to an analysis by Cornell University School of Law, the opinion of the Supreme Court will decide if qualifying individuals may be able to receive tax credits for insurance obtained through federal health insurance exchanges.
As a national advocacy group, Prescription Hope is prepared to work for those affected to obtain their prescription medications for the set price of $25 per month per medication. Prescription Hope is not an insurance plan or a discount card. Instead, Prescription Hope's advocates order, manage, track and refill medications on time, maintain up-to-date records, and renews medications with over 180 pharmaceutical manufacturers that allow us access to their specialized pharmacy. For the set price, Prescription Hope can help with access to over 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications.
"With a decade of experience serving individuals across the United States, we understand just how vital prescription medication affordability is," said Pierce. "Individuals and families earning less than $100,000 per year trust Prescription Hope to obtain their FDA-approved prescription medications, saving them millions of dollars on the cost of their medications."
For more information about Prescription Hope's national advocacy program, please visit http://www.prescriptionhope.com.
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About Prescription Hope: Prescription Hope, Inc. is a national advocacy program serving thousands of Americans by obtaining over 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications for the set price of $25 per month per medication. Prescription Hope is not a mail order pharmacy or discount drug card. Instead, Prescription Hope advocates order, manage, track and refill medications on time, maintain up-to-date records, and renew medications with over 180 pharmaceutical manufacturers that allow us access to their specialized pharmacy. There are no other costs, fees, or charges associated with the medication or our services. For more information, please visit http://www.prescriptionhope.com. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
As a result of the Supreme Court Healthcare Subsidy decision in King v. Burwell (Supreme Court Docket No. 14-114), the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates in a February 6 report as many as six million Americans could lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, including prescription medication coverage. Prescription Hope, America's leading prescription medication advocate, is bracing to help those individuals directly affected by the King v. Burwell decision.
"One of the biggest issues Americans' face in managing their health is affordable prescription medications," said Douglas K. Pierce, President and CEO of Prescription Hope. "As a result of the anticipated Supreme Court decision, we are preparing to help more Americans obtain more than 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications at a price they can afford."
Introduced to the highest court through appeal, King v. Burwell revolves around the 34 states that rely on the federal health insurance exchange as their primary insurance marketplaces. According to an analysis by Cornell University School of Law, the opinion of the Supreme Court will decide if qualifying individuals may be able to receive tax credits for insurance obtained through federal health insurance exchanges.
As a national advocacy group, Prescription Hope is prepared to work for those affected to obtain their prescription medications for the set price of $25 per month per medication. Prescription Hope is not an insurance plan or a discount card. Instead, Prescription Hope's advocates order, manage, track and refill medications on time, maintain up-to-date records, and renews medications with over 180 pharmaceutical manufacturers that allow us access to their specialized pharmacy. For the set price, Prescription Hope can help with access to over 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications.
"With a decade of experience serving individuals across the United States, we understand just how vital prescription medication affordability is," said Pierce. "Individuals and families earning less than $100,000 per year trust Prescription Hope to obtain their FDA-approved prescription medications, saving them millions of dollars on the cost of their medications."
For more information about Prescription Hope's national advocacy program, please visit http://www.prescriptionhope.com.
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About Prescription Hope: Prescription Hope, Inc. is a national advocacy program serving thousands of Americans by obtaining over 1,500 FDA-approved prescription medications for the set price of $25 per month per medication. Prescription Hope is not a mail order pharmacy or discount drug card. Instead, Prescription Hope advocates order, manage, track and refill medications on time, maintain up-to-date records, and renew medications with over 180 pharmaceutical manufacturers that allow us access to their specialized pharmacy. There are no other costs, fees, or charges associated with the medication or our services. For more information, please visit http://www.prescriptionhope.com. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.
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Health Insurance Premiums Will Go Up In 2016, But By How Much?
Most people buying Obamacare plans next year are likely to face a small increase in the price of monthly premiums, early numbers suggest. A few plans are asking for steep price hikes, but that's rare.
Reported by NPR 6 hours ago.
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Union says all federal workers fell victim to hackers
WASHINGTON (AP) — A major federal union says the cyber theft of employee information is more damaging than it first appeared, asserting that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for every federal employee. The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4 million current and former employees are affected by the December cyber breach of Office of Personnel Management data, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken. [...] J. David Cox, president of the American Federal of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, "we believe that the Central Personnel Data File was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to 1 million former federal employees." The union believes the hackers stole military records and veterans' status information, address, birth date, job and pay history, health insurance, life insurance, and pension information; and age, gender and race data, he said. The Office of Personnel Management is also a repository for extremely sensitive information assembled through background investigations of employees and contractors who hold security clearances. Democrats had warned of the dangers of cyberspying after the theft of government personnel files, but Democrats voted against moving ahead on the legislation, frustrated with the GOP-led effort to tie the two bills together.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 6 hours ago.
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Utah-based Zane Benefits Raises $1.5M with Participation from Kickstart Seed Fund
Zane Benefits receives $1.5 million equity financing to accelerate Zane's rapid revenue growth and the completion of the Company's next-generation software platform.
Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
Zane Benefits announced that the company has closed a $1.5 million equity financing from existing investors, with participation from Kickstart Seed Fund and Royal Street Investment and Innovation Center. The equity round will provide funding to accelerate Zane's rapid revenue growth and the completion of the Company's next-generation software platform, which provides enhanced flexibility, ease of use and new features to Zane's customers.
"Zane Benefits is transforming the way small businesses offer health insurance by giving employees choice, flexibility and convenience," said Dalton Wright, Partner at Kickstart Seed Fund. “Zane is growing fast and we are excited to share in its mission to reinvent employee benefits for small businesses.”
Through Zane Benefits proprietary software, companies offer a health benefit program that reimburses employees for individual health insurance plans bought in the consumer marketplace. Small business owners save time and money while employee shop for the health plan that best fits their families’ needs.
"Since 2007, Zane Benefits has helped thousands of small businesses reinvent their employee health benefit programs. Our clients love our simple solution because it saves them time and money, while also helping employees afford health insurance", stated Rick Lindquist recently. "This investment represents an endorsement of our business and gives us an opportunity to broaden our product offering.”
Zane Benefits, which currently employs over 50 people in its headquarters in Salt Lake City, is hiring. For more information, go to: http://www.zanebenefits.com/jobs.
EDITORS NOTE: Rick Lindquist is available for questions from the media through Zane Benefits. Contact Vanessa Isaacson at (801) 203-0764 or media(at)zanebenefits(dot)com.
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About Zane Benefits:
Zane Benefits is the leader in individual health insurance reimbursement for small businesses. Since 2006, Zane Benefits has been on a mission to bring the benefits of individual health insurance to business owners and their employees.
Zane Benefits' software helps businesses reimburse employees for individual health insurance plans for annual savings of 20 to 60 percent compared with traditional employer-provided health insurance. Today, over 20,000 customers use Zane Benefits' software, services, and support to reimburse individual health insurance plans purchased independent of employment. For more information, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
Zane Benefits announced that the company has closed a $1.5 million equity financing from existing investors, with participation from Kickstart Seed Fund and Royal Street Investment and Innovation Center. The equity round will provide funding to accelerate Zane's rapid revenue growth and the completion of the Company's next-generation software platform, which provides enhanced flexibility, ease of use and new features to Zane's customers.
"Zane Benefits is transforming the way small businesses offer health insurance by giving employees choice, flexibility and convenience," said Dalton Wright, Partner at Kickstart Seed Fund. “Zane is growing fast and we are excited to share in its mission to reinvent employee benefits for small businesses.”
Through Zane Benefits proprietary software, companies offer a health benefit program that reimburses employees for individual health insurance plans bought in the consumer marketplace. Small business owners save time and money while employee shop for the health plan that best fits their families’ needs.
"Since 2007, Zane Benefits has helped thousands of small businesses reinvent their employee health benefit programs. Our clients love our simple solution because it saves them time and money, while also helping employees afford health insurance", stated Rick Lindquist recently. "This investment represents an endorsement of our business and gives us an opportunity to broaden our product offering.”
Zane Benefits, which currently employs over 50 people in its headquarters in Salt Lake City, is hiring. For more information, go to: http://www.zanebenefits.com/jobs.
EDITORS NOTE: Rick Lindquist is available for questions from the media through Zane Benefits. Contact Vanessa Isaacson at (801) 203-0764 or media(at)zanebenefits(dot)com.
###
About Zane Benefits:
Zane Benefits is the leader in individual health insurance reimbursement for small businesses. Since 2006, Zane Benefits has been on a mission to bring the benefits of individual health insurance to business owners and their employees.
Zane Benefits' software helps businesses reimburse employees for individual health insurance plans for annual savings of 20 to 60 percent compared with traditional employer-provided health insurance. Today, over 20,000 customers use Zane Benefits' software, services, and support to reimburse individual health insurance plans purchased independent of employment. For more information, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.
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HealthMarkets Raises $50,000 to Benefit Wounded Warrior Project
HealthMarkets Insurance Agency recently donated $50,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project as the beneficiary of the company’s “Take the Plunge” Challenge.
North Richland Hills, Texas (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
HealthMarkets Insurance Agency recently donated $50,000 to Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) as the beneficiary of the company’s “Take the Plunge” Challenge.
HealthMarkets challenged its independent insurance agents, employees, family and friends to submit videos of themselves getting soaked, with the goal of submitting 1,000 videos over the course of one month. Participants nationwide jumped into pools, lakes, rivers, fountains and the ocean, and many took advantage of a dunk tank set up at HealthMarkets headquarters; one brave participant was hosed down by a fire truck. Those who took the plunge challenged others to follow suit in order to reach 1,000 videos and the $50,000 company donation.
“HealthMarkets is proud to support Wounded Warrior Project in its efforts to serve injured veterans, their families and caregivers,” said Ken Fasola, president and CEO of HealthMarkets, Inc., the holding company for HealthMarkets Insurance Agency. “We were able to raise money for a deserving cause through our outstanding company culture, and we look forward to partnering with WWP again in the future.”
WWP serves veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound coincident to their military service, and their families and caregivers. With advancements in battlefield medicine and body armor, an unprecedented percentage of service members are surviving severe wounds or injuries. It is estimated as many as 400,000 service members live with the invisible wounds of war including combat-related stress, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another 320,000 are believed to have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) while on deployment.
WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and service to meet their needs. WWP takes a holistic approach to helping injured veterans by assisting in physical rehabilitation, aiding in their mental and emotional recovery, assisting them to achieve their educational and employment goals, and helping them maintain their independence and stay connected with their families, their communities, and each other – all free of charge. WWP encourages wounded service members as they adjust to their new normal and achieve new triumphs. Offering a variety of programs and services, WWP is equipped to serve those with visible and invisible wounds of war, and their families and caregivers.
For more information, please visit woundedwarriorproject.org and healthmarkets.com.
About HealthMarkets Insurance Agency
HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of HealthMarkets, Inc., is the d/b/a or assumed name of Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc. Licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and representing more than 170 branded insurance companies, HealthMarkets offers consumers a “one-stop” shopping experience for health insurance, combining around-the-clock phone and online assistance with the personal approach of more than 2,800 licensed, local agents nationwide. It is a leading private health insurance marketplace offering multi-channel flexibility for individuals, families and small businesses. For more information, please visit HealthMarkets.com.
About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
Cautionary Statement Related to Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc., d/b/a HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, and its affiliates. These forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipate,""believe,""estimate,""expect,""intend,""objective,""plan,""possible,""potential" and similar expressions. These statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions, and actual results may vary materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made by us. Reported by PRWeb 4 hours ago.
North Richland Hills, Texas (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
HealthMarkets Insurance Agency recently donated $50,000 to Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) as the beneficiary of the company’s “Take the Plunge” Challenge.
HealthMarkets challenged its independent insurance agents, employees, family and friends to submit videos of themselves getting soaked, with the goal of submitting 1,000 videos over the course of one month. Participants nationwide jumped into pools, lakes, rivers, fountains and the ocean, and many took advantage of a dunk tank set up at HealthMarkets headquarters; one brave participant was hosed down by a fire truck. Those who took the plunge challenged others to follow suit in order to reach 1,000 videos and the $50,000 company donation.
“HealthMarkets is proud to support Wounded Warrior Project in its efforts to serve injured veterans, their families and caregivers,” said Ken Fasola, president and CEO of HealthMarkets, Inc., the holding company for HealthMarkets Insurance Agency. “We were able to raise money for a deserving cause through our outstanding company culture, and we look forward to partnering with WWP again in the future.”
WWP serves veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound coincident to their military service, and their families and caregivers. With advancements in battlefield medicine and body armor, an unprecedented percentage of service members are surviving severe wounds or injuries. It is estimated as many as 400,000 service members live with the invisible wounds of war including combat-related stress, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another 320,000 are believed to have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) while on deployment.
WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and service to meet their needs. WWP takes a holistic approach to helping injured veterans by assisting in physical rehabilitation, aiding in their mental and emotional recovery, assisting them to achieve their educational and employment goals, and helping them maintain their independence and stay connected with their families, their communities, and each other – all free of charge. WWP encourages wounded service members as they adjust to their new normal and achieve new triumphs. Offering a variety of programs and services, WWP is equipped to serve those with visible and invisible wounds of war, and their families and caregivers.
For more information, please visit woundedwarriorproject.org and healthmarkets.com.
About HealthMarkets Insurance Agency
HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of HealthMarkets, Inc., is the d/b/a or assumed name of Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc. Licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and representing more than 170 branded insurance companies, HealthMarkets offers consumers a “one-stop” shopping experience for health insurance, combining around-the-clock phone and online assistance with the personal approach of more than 2,800 licensed, local agents nationwide. It is a leading private health insurance marketplace offering multi-channel flexibility for individuals, families and small businesses. For more information, please visit HealthMarkets.com.
About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
Cautionary Statement Related to Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc., d/b/a HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, and its affiliates. These forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipate,""believe,""estimate,""expect,""intend,""objective,""plan,""possible,""potential" and similar expressions. These statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions, and actual results may vary materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made by us. Reported by PRWeb 4 hours ago.
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King v. Burwell: How Important is Obamacare's Individual Mandate?
Any legislative response to the King v. Burwell lawsuit will surely include eliminating the individual mandate, the most unpopular feature of the law. However, the most popular provision of the law is the prohibition against health insurers taking pre-existing conditions into account when setting premiums or scheduling benefits Obamacare supporters insist that if not coupled with a penalty (or fine or tax) for not having health insurance, people would simply wait until they get sick or injured and then buy health insurance. This leads to a so-called death spiral as health insurers increase their premiums in response to individuals’ behavior. It is an impeccable theory, but it does not hold up in a system run by politicians. In fact, it is government handouts, not penalties, which drive Obamacare enrollment
Reported by Forbes.com 2 hours ago.
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Taylor Swift Favorited Story About Fireman Saving His Family Before Doing Something Incredible
Taylor Swift Favorited Story About Fireman Saving His Family Before Doing Something IncredibleTaylor Swift Favorited Story About Fireman Saving His Family Before Doing Something Incredible
Local
Has Been Optimized
Taylor Swift is known for her altruistic actions, particularly when it comes to her fans. But her latest reported act of kindness and generosity involves a fireman and his family after the nation — and the singer — learned he rescued his wife and son from a horrible car crash.
Aaron Van Riper, a firefighter from Texas, reportedly responded to a head-on collision in Huntsville on Saturday afternoon — only to discover the victims included his wife, Amber, and 7-year-old son, Jonathan, reports CBS News.
Van Riper's family was airlifted the hospital where Amber underwent surgery to repair a broken pelvis and Jonathan was treated for several fractures. Both mother and son are expected to have to use wheelchairs for a few months. Van Riper lacks health insurance and The Blaze reports the family is having trouble covering their medical bill — which is where Swift comes in.
The star reportedly "favorited" their story on Twitter:
Just a few hours later, a donation of $15,000 was received on the family's GoFundMe page — and it was signed "Taylor Swift."
Swift's publicist reportedly wouldn't confirm whether the singer was responsible for the donation. Regardless, Robin Davis, a family friend who set up the fundraising page, posted the following message of gratitude on her Facebook page: "I awoke this morning to see this ... THE TAYLOR SWIFT contributed $15,000 to my dear friends Amber Keeler VanRiper, John Bear and Aaron VanRiper! Truly amazing that a celebrity saw their story and decided to act upon it. Thank you God for moving her heart to do so."
Sources: CBS News, The Blaze/Photo Credit: taylorswift/Instagram
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OV in Depth: Reported by Opposing Views 1 hour ago.
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Zynex Provides Updated Guidance for the Second Quarter 2015
Electrotherapy revenue stable while compound pharmacy revenue falls short
LONE TREE, Colo. (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
Zynex, Inc. (OTCQB: ZYXI), an innovative medical technology company specializing in the manufacture and sale of non-invasive medical devices for pain management, stroke rehabilitation, neurological diagnostics, and compound pharmacy, announced today it currently expects revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2015 to be higher than revenue reported in the first quarter of 2015 and be in the range of $3.2 million to $3.5 million. The lower estimate is primarily the result of notification from TRICARE, the health care program for uniformed service members, that it would no longer accept claims related to compound transdermal pain creams.
Thomas Sandgaard, Zynex CEO stated: “We are disappointed with the decision by TRICARE to no longer cover compound transdermal pain creams. TRICARE has been a significant source of reimbursement for our Pharmazy business. We have recently begun offering patients an alternative pain relief product that we expect will adjudicate well with third party payors. While the lower revenue will delay the Company’s return to positive income from operations, we expect to report a smaller loss in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.”
Sandgaard went on to say: “While growth in the Pharmazy business has been hampered by the TRICARE issue, our core electrotherapy business remains stable and we continue to see positive momentum in demand for our NexWave product.”
About Zynex
Zynex, founded in 1996, markets and sells its own design of electrotherapy medical devices used for pain management and rehabilitation; and the company's proprietary NeuroMove device designed to help recovery of stroke and spinal cord injury patients. Zynex’s product lines are fully developed, FDA-cleared and commercially sold world-wide. Zynex also operates a non-sterile compound pharmacy providing topical and transdermal pain creams. Zynex is also developing a new blood volume monitor for use in hospitals and surgery centers.
For additional information, please visit: http://www.zynex.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking" and as such are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary significantly from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the need to obtain additional capital or augment our liquidity in order to continue our business, the success of our compound pharmacy and international expansion efforts, our ability to engage additional sales representatives, the success of such additional sales representatives, the need to obtain FDA clearance and CE marking of new products, the acceptance of new products as well as existing products by doctors and hospitals, larger competitors with greater financial resources, the need to keep pace with technological changes, our dependence on the reimbursement from insurance companies for products sold or rented to our customers, acceptance of our products by health insurance providers, our dependence on third party manufacturers to produce our goods on time and to our specifications, implementation of our sales strategy including a strong direct sales force, the uncertain outcome of pending material litigation and other risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Reported by PRWeb 59 minutes ago.
LONE TREE, Colo. (PRWEB) June 12, 2015
Zynex, Inc. (OTCQB: ZYXI), an innovative medical technology company specializing in the manufacture and sale of non-invasive medical devices for pain management, stroke rehabilitation, neurological diagnostics, and compound pharmacy, announced today it currently expects revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2015 to be higher than revenue reported in the first quarter of 2015 and be in the range of $3.2 million to $3.5 million. The lower estimate is primarily the result of notification from TRICARE, the health care program for uniformed service members, that it would no longer accept claims related to compound transdermal pain creams.
Thomas Sandgaard, Zynex CEO stated: “We are disappointed with the decision by TRICARE to no longer cover compound transdermal pain creams. TRICARE has been a significant source of reimbursement for our Pharmazy business. We have recently begun offering patients an alternative pain relief product that we expect will adjudicate well with third party payors. While the lower revenue will delay the Company’s return to positive income from operations, we expect to report a smaller loss in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.”
Sandgaard went on to say: “While growth in the Pharmazy business has been hampered by the TRICARE issue, our core electrotherapy business remains stable and we continue to see positive momentum in demand for our NexWave product.”
About Zynex
Zynex, founded in 1996, markets and sells its own design of electrotherapy medical devices used for pain management and rehabilitation; and the company's proprietary NeuroMove device designed to help recovery of stroke and spinal cord injury patients. Zynex’s product lines are fully developed, FDA-cleared and commercially sold world-wide. Zynex also operates a non-sterile compound pharmacy providing topical and transdermal pain creams. Zynex is also developing a new blood volume monitor for use in hospitals and surgery centers.
For additional information, please visit: http://www.zynex.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking" and as such are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary significantly from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the need to obtain additional capital or augment our liquidity in order to continue our business, the success of our compound pharmacy and international expansion efforts, our ability to engage additional sales representatives, the success of such additional sales representatives, the need to obtain FDA clearance and CE marking of new products, the acceptance of new products as well as existing products by doctors and hospitals, larger competitors with greater financial resources, the need to keep pace with technological changes, our dependence on the reimbursement from insurance companies for products sold or rented to our customers, acceptance of our products by health insurance providers, our dependence on third party manufacturers to produce our goods on time and to our specifications, implementation of our sales strategy including a strong direct sales force, the uncertain outcome of pending material litigation and other risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Reported by PRWeb 59 minutes ago.
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Take Care, Mr. Elson
Coming Sunday from Times Documentaries: “Take Care, Mr. Elson,” the story of one man’s hard path to health insurance in the age of the Affordable Care Act.
Reported by NYTimes.com 20 hours ago.
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Obamacare 'sticker shock'? Still hasn't happened.
The depiction of the Affordable Care Act as a driver of huge increases in health insurance rates refuses to die, even though the record thus far shows that premium rate increases have shrunk since open enrollment for individual plans began in 2014.
Reported by L.A. Times 20 hours ago.
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No Title
Thousands of state workers including Gov. Rick Scott would continue to pay low health insurance premiums under a bill passed by the Florida House.
Reported by WEAR ABC 3 20 hours ago.
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23,000 US government emails were dumped on the Dark Web and no one knows where they came from
Last week the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) owned up to being breached by hackers. No concrete facts have surfaced since, and the extent of the hack’s damage remains unclear.We just know it's worse than anyone is willing to say.
Now, databases containing private federal employee data are being dumped on the Dark Web. One such database includes over 23,000 government emails addresses, reports Motherboard.
*So what’s going on here?*
The hacker behind the 23,000 .gov emails dump goes by the name of Ebolabad. He has taken credit for the huge OPM breach, posting in broken English "Is not China. Is me I am sell [sic] for highest bid."
Motherboard asked experts to analyze the data Ebolabad posted on the Dark Web forum, and believed the names and addresses to be real.
Another cybersecurity expert, however, told Business Insider that he does not believe Ebolabad’s data trove to be from the OPM.
"To me, it would not make sense that this is from the same database," said Dave Aitel the CEO of cybersecurity company Immunity. "In particular, the database that the OPM had was a list of all the background information of the federal employees." What was just posted for sale online, explained Aitel, included passwords. It doesn't appear that the OPM had access to passwords.
"That would," Aitel went on, "indicate it’s from a forum or some other source."
*What, then, should we think about the OPM breach?*
Even so, for the last week many have characterized the OPM hack as one of the biggest government data breaches to date.
On Thursday, the American Federation of Government Employees sent out a letter blasting the OPM for its poor security posture. The letter wrote:
Based on the sketchy information OPM has provided, we believe that the Central Personnel Data File was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to one million former federal employees. We believe that hackers have every affected person’s Social Security number(s), military records and veterans’ status information, address, birth date, job and pay history, health insurance, life insurance, and pension information; age, gender, race, union status, and more. Worst, we believe that Social Security numbers were not encrypted, a cybersecurity failure that is absolutely indefensible and outrageous.
That sounds bad.
*In short, nothing is safe.*
This, explained Aitel, is because there are hundreds of government databases that aren’t considered classified. And, when it comes down to it "any business data is accessible to a hacker."
OPM is currently in the hot seat for not properly securing its data. Yet this problem transcends just one inept federal agency and involves how the federal government treats this sort of information. The data wasn’t secured not because OPM is lazy but because "in some cases it’s not feasible to encrypt everything," said Aitel.
The only way to make it feasible to treat this sort of personal data with such care is to create a sea change in security posturing.
So perhaps OPM will turn itself around and institute an overhauled security protocol. But then, what’s going to stop Ebolabad from breaching the hundreds of other government databases?
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about Reported by Business Insider 19 hours ago.
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Taylor Swift Quietly Donated $15,000 To Volunteer Firefighter After Tragedy Struck His Family: Reports
Without any fanfare, Taylor Swift has reportedly made a big donation to help a family in need.Texas volunteer firefighter Aaron VanRiper responded to a call this past Saturday about a head-on collision, only to find his wife Amber and 7-year-old son Jonathan seriously injured in the car wreck, KTRK reported.
Mandy Kibby, a family friend, set-up a GoFundMe page to help cover the family's medical expenses, as the VanRipers do not have health insurance. On Thursday, a donation of $15,000 came in from a certain "Taylor Swift." It has since been confirmed by Buzzfeed News and Billboard that the star was in fact responsible for the donation.
[CITE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204386250482927&set=a.1372635762515.2047422.1430407281&type=1]Posted by Aaron VanRiper on Monday, June 8, 2015
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Kibby told Buzzfeed News after seeing the generous star's donation. "This woman is amazing.”
Amber and Jonathan were injured after the mother's car had collided with an oncoming pickup truck, according to KTRK. In about four days, people across the internet, including Swift, answered the call to help the two and donated more than $101,500 out of the fundraiser's $125,000 goal. Jonathan was released from the hospital on Tuesday, but his mother still remains hospitalized, according to BuzzFeed.
While the pair is still recovering and both are expected to temporarily be in wheelchairs, the cause of the crash has not been announced.
Jonathan, after the crash.
Swift has been known to give back. Earlier this year, Rebekah Bortniker, one of the singer's fans, made a mashup of Swift with her fans. To celebrate Bortniker's positive attitude, the star sent her fan $1989 along with some other gifts and note saying, ""Rebekah, now you're $1989 closer to paying off those student loans."
In another generous gesture, the star donated $50,000 in proceeds from her single, "Welcome To New York," to New York City's public schools back in February.
To help the VanRipers or donate, visit the GoFundMe here.Like Us On Facebook
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-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by PopEater 18 hours ago.
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Florida House Votes To Keep Low Health Insurance Premiums
A bill passed by the Florida House means thousands of state workers will continue to pay low health insurance premiums.
Reported by cbs4.com 18 hours ago.
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Democrats Just Shot The Hostage In Obama's Trade Deal Negotiations
Wanda Perdue of Rocky Mount, Virginia, said she signed up for a federal program that helps workers whose jobs are shipped overseas when her job was, in 2010. With Uncle Sam paying the tab, Perdue, who had worked for furniture manufacturer Stanley Furniture, enrolled in an 18-month office administrator certificate program at Patrick Henry Community College.
"It was beneficial to me because I learned things that I didn't know -- how to really do office work, how to use Windows on the computer," Perdue, 61, said in an interview, adding that she relished using her mind and got good grades, too.
It wasn't beneficial in the way the program is supposed to be, however, because Perdue didn't get an office job.
"I had several interviews but evidently someone else was more qualified to do the work," Perdue said.
Uncertainty over the effectiveness of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program -- the 41-year-old program meant to help people like Perdue get better jobs -- partly explains why Democrats were willing to vote against it Friday. President Obama and Republican leaders had hoped they could force Democrats to support Obama's free-trade agenda by pairing it with help for workers, but it turned out Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and rank-and-file Democrats, for whom beating Obama's trade agenda was the top priority Friday, were willing to shoot the hostage.
Obama had asked Democrats to "play it straight" and not vote against a policy they support just to prevent the passage of Trade Promotion Authority -- also known as fast track authority -- which would make it easier for the president to strike a trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Several House Democrats lamented Obama's strategy on Friday.
"I don't fault him for trying to get what he wants, but I do reserve the right to disagree with him when he says 'play it straight,'" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told The Huffington Post. "He doesn't really care about -- he cares about trade adjustment assistance, but he is using adjustment assistance as a bargaining chip to get what he really wants, which is TPA. Is that playing it straight?"
The Obama administration made trade assistance an important part of its lobbying effort for the broader trade deal. In a letter asking House members to approve the TAA bill on Thursday, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez appealed to Democrats’ historic support for the policy and encouraged them not to let their opposition to trade fast-track authority affect their vote on help for workers.
“While I appreciate that there are differing views on Trade Promotion Authority, the TAA program has always received strong support because it provides a critical lifeline to workers who need assistance and training to transition to new careers,” Perez said.
Perez also specifically addressed the claims of several labor unions that the current trade assistance bill is inadequate because it would not apply to public sector workers. Perez noted that the only time the program included public sector workers was in 2009, but since the Department of Labor did not receive any petitions from workers in a public agency during the following two years, their eligibility was discontinued in the 2011 reauthorization bill. That bill, Perez added, garnered support from all 189 House Democrats at the time, of whom 125 remain in office.
According to the White House, 2.2 million workers have undergone job training through the TAA program since 1974 -- less than half of the 4.8 million who have been eligible in that time. More than three-quarters of workers that participated in TAA-funded programs received jobs within six months of completing their programs in 2013 and 90 percent of them were still employed a year out.
Other data suggest that TAA doesn't necessarily enable workers to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed in the jobs they previously held. In other words, even if the program helps them find a new job, they might wind up taking a significant pay cut. Looking at manufacturing workers displaced between 2011 and 2013 who have since found new jobs and reported their earnings, 57 percent are earning less than they were before losing their jobs, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Although not all of those displaced manufacturing workers lost their jobs due to trade, Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, said they are a reliable proxy for trade-induced job losses. The vast majority of workers who lose their jobs due to trade are in manufacturing, Bivens said; research shows that people displaced from jobs by trade fare slightly worse in the labor market than other displaced workers.
A 2001 study of TAA recipients by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that while 65 percent of manufacturing workers who lost their jobs because of increased trade found a new job within three years of becoming unemployed, on average, they suffered a 12 percent cut in earnings.
That may be difficult to avoid. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has noted that the same features of trade deals that often eliminate the jobs of manufacturing workers make it harder for those same workers to maintain their earning potential in a new job -- whether they have access to job training or not.
It is a matter of supply and demand. In effect, trade deals that make imported goods cheaper eliminate manufacturing jobs, and in so doing, dramatically increase the supply of workers available to do other jobs that don't require a college degree. In a more crowded labor pool, the demand for all workers without a college degree declines, reducing their leverage over employers. As a result, wages for non-college-educated workers go down across the board -- for displaced workers and those who keep their jobs alike.
What's more, those workers who do not lose their jobs due to trade, but still earn lower wages, are not eligible for trade assistance benefits at all.
The TAA program works like this: when a plant closes or a mass layoff occurs, workers can file a petition for assistance with the U.S. Department of Labor. If the department certifies that foreign trade is an important cause of the layoffs, the group of workers becomes eligible for training. The department certified nearly 80 percent of 1,480 petitions filed in 2013, making 104,158 workers eligible for help.
Back in 2010, Wanda Perdue took a part-time job at Walmart while she studied to become an office administrator, but that temporary gig has become her new career. She now works from 29 to 36 hours a week as a cashier. She likes the work but earns about $10.50 per hour, after receiving several raises -- essentially the same wage she had with the furniture company, she said. Her old job came with health insurance, she said, unlike her current one.
HuffPost asked Perdue if she had any reaction to news that there's a chance trade assistance could die at the end of the year if Congress doesn't reauthorize it.
"Well," she said. "I don't."
Ryan Grim contributed to this article.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.
"It was beneficial to me because I learned things that I didn't know -- how to really do office work, how to use Windows on the computer," Perdue, 61, said in an interview, adding that she relished using her mind and got good grades, too.
It wasn't beneficial in the way the program is supposed to be, however, because Perdue didn't get an office job.
"I had several interviews but evidently someone else was more qualified to do the work," Perdue said.
Uncertainty over the effectiveness of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program -- the 41-year-old program meant to help people like Perdue get better jobs -- partly explains why Democrats were willing to vote against it Friday. President Obama and Republican leaders had hoped they could force Democrats to support Obama's free-trade agenda by pairing it with help for workers, but it turned out Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and rank-and-file Democrats, for whom beating Obama's trade agenda was the top priority Friday, were willing to shoot the hostage.
Obama had asked Democrats to "play it straight" and not vote against a policy they support just to prevent the passage of Trade Promotion Authority -- also known as fast track authority -- which would make it easier for the president to strike a trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Several House Democrats lamented Obama's strategy on Friday.
"I don't fault him for trying to get what he wants, but I do reserve the right to disagree with him when he says 'play it straight,'" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told The Huffington Post. "He doesn't really care about -- he cares about trade adjustment assistance, but he is using adjustment assistance as a bargaining chip to get what he really wants, which is TPA. Is that playing it straight?"
The Obama administration made trade assistance an important part of its lobbying effort for the broader trade deal. In a letter asking House members to approve the TAA bill on Thursday, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez appealed to Democrats’ historic support for the policy and encouraged them not to let their opposition to trade fast-track authority affect their vote on help for workers.
“While I appreciate that there are differing views on Trade Promotion Authority, the TAA program has always received strong support because it provides a critical lifeline to workers who need assistance and training to transition to new careers,” Perez said.
Perez also specifically addressed the claims of several labor unions that the current trade assistance bill is inadequate because it would not apply to public sector workers. Perez noted that the only time the program included public sector workers was in 2009, but since the Department of Labor did not receive any petitions from workers in a public agency during the following two years, their eligibility was discontinued in the 2011 reauthorization bill. That bill, Perez added, garnered support from all 189 House Democrats at the time, of whom 125 remain in office.
According to the White House, 2.2 million workers have undergone job training through the TAA program since 1974 -- less than half of the 4.8 million who have been eligible in that time. More than three-quarters of workers that participated in TAA-funded programs received jobs within six months of completing their programs in 2013 and 90 percent of them were still employed a year out.
Other data suggest that TAA doesn't necessarily enable workers to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed in the jobs they previously held. In other words, even if the program helps them find a new job, they might wind up taking a significant pay cut. Looking at manufacturing workers displaced between 2011 and 2013 who have since found new jobs and reported their earnings, 57 percent are earning less than they were before losing their jobs, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Although not all of those displaced manufacturing workers lost their jobs due to trade, Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, said they are a reliable proxy for trade-induced job losses. The vast majority of workers who lose their jobs due to trade are in manufacturing, Bivens said; research shows that people displaced from jobs by trade fare slightly worse in the labor market than other displaced workers.
A 2001 study of TAA recipients by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that while 65 percent of manufacturing workers who lost their jobs because of increased trade found a new job within three years of becoming unemployed, on average, they suffered a 12 percent cut in earnings.
That may be difficult to avoid. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has noted that the same features of trade deals that often eliminate the jobs of manufacturing workers make it harder for those same workers to maintain their earning potential in a new job -- whether they have access to job training or not.
It is a matter of supply and demand. In effect, trade deals that make imported goods cheaper eliminate manufacturing jobs, and in so doing, dramatically increase the supply of workers available to do other jobs that don't require a college degree. In a more crowded labor pool, the demand for all workers without a college degree declines, reducing their leverage over employers. As a result, wages for non-college-educated workers go down across the board -- for displaced workers and those who keep their jobs alike.
What's more, those workers who do not lose their jobs due to trade, but still earn lower wages, are not eligible for trade assistance benefits at all.
The TAA program works like this: when a plant closes or a mass layoff occurs, workers can file a petition for assistance with the U.S. Department of Labor. If the department certifies that foreign trade is an important cause of the layoffs, the group of workers becomes eligible for training. The department certified nearly 80 percent of 1,480 petitions filed in 2013, making 104,158 workers eligible for help.
Back in 2010, Wanda Perdue took a part-time job at Walmart while she studied to become an office administrator, but that temporary gig has become her new career. She now works from 29 to 36 hours a week as a cashier. She likes the work but earns about $10.50 per hour, after receiving several raises -- essentially the same wage she had with the furniture company, she said. Her old job came with health insurance, she said, unlike her current one.
HuffPost asked Perdue if she had any reaction to news that there's a chance trade assistance could die at the end of the year if Congress doesn't reauthorize it.
"Well," she said. "I don't."
Ryan Grim contributed to this article.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 18 hours ago.
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Hackers Likely Gained Access To Sensitive Data About Military, Intelligence Personnel
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers linked to China appear to have gained access to the sensitive background information submitted by intelligence and military personnel for security clearances, several U.S. officials said Friday, describing a second cyberbreach of federal records that could dramatically compound the potential damage.
The forms authorities believed to have been accessed, known as Standard Form 86, require applicants to fill out deeply personal information about mental illnesses, drug and alcohol use, past arrests and bankruptcies. They also require the listing of contacts and relatives, potentially exposing any foreign relatives of U.S. intelligence employees to coercion. Both the applicant's Social Security number and that of his or her cohabitant is required.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the security clearance material is classified.
The security-clearance records provide "a very complete overview of a person," said Evan Lesser, managing director of ClearanceJobs.com, a website that matches security-clearance holders to available slots. "You don't need these records to blackmail or exploit someone, but it would sure make the job easier."
The Office of Personnel Management, which was the target of the hack, has not officially notified military or intelligence personnel whose security clearance data was breached, but news of the second hack was starting to circulate in both the Pentagon and the CIA.
The officials said they believe the hack into the security clearance database was separate from the breach of federal personnel data announced last week — a breach that is itself appearing far worse than first believed. It could not be learned whether the security database breach happened when an OPM contractor was hacked in 2013, an attack that was discovered last year. Members of Congress received classified briefings about that breach in September, but there was no mention of security clearance information being exposed.
The OPM had no immediate comment Friday.
Nearly all of the millions of security clearance holders, including CIA, National Security Agency and military special operations personnel, are potentially exposed in the security clearance breach, the officials said. More than 2.9 million people had been investigated for a security clearance as of October 2014, according to government records.
In the hack of standard personnel records announced last week, two people briefed on the investigation disclosed Friday that as many as 14 million current and former civilian U.S. government employees have had their information exposed to hackers, a far higher figure than the 4 million the Obama administration initially disclosed.
American officials have said that cybertheft originated in China and that they suspect espionage by the Chinese government, which has denied any involvement.
The newer estimate puts the number of compromised records between 9 million and 14 million going back to the 1980s, said one congressional official and one former U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because information disclosed in the confidential briefings includes classified details of the investigation.
There are about 2.6 million executive branch civilians, so the majority of the records exposed relate to former employees. Contractor information also has been stolen, officials said. The data in the hack revealed last week include the records of most federal civilian employees, though not members of Congress and their staffs, members of the military or staff of the intelligence agencies.
On Thursday, a major union said it believes the hackers stole Social Security numbers, military records and veterans' status information, addresses, birth dates, job and pay histories; health insurance, life insurance and pension information; and age, gender and race data.
The personnel records would provide a foreign government an extraordinary roadmap to blackmail, impersonate or otherwise exploit federal employees in an effort to gain access to U.S. secrets —or entry into government computer networks.
Outside experts were pointing to the breaches as a blistering indictment of the U.S. government's ability to secure its own data two years after a National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, was able to steal tens of thousands of the agency's most sensitive documents.
After the Snowden revelations about government surveillance, it became more difficult for the federal government to hire talented younger people into sensitive jobs, particularly at intelligence agencies, Lesser said.
"Now, if you get a job with the government, your own personal information may not be secure," he said. "This is going to multiply the government's hiring problems many times."
The Social Security numbers were not encrypted, the American Federation of Government Employees said, calling that "an abysmal failure on the part of the agency to guard data that has been entrusted to it by the federal workforce."
Samuel Schumach, an OPM spokesman, would not address how the data was protected or specifics of the information that might have been compromised, but said, "Today's adversaries are sophisticated enough that encryption alone does not guarantee protection." OPM is nonetheless increasing its use of encryption, he said.
The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4.2 million current and former employees whose information resides in the Office of Personnel Management server are affected by the December cyberbreach, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken.
J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, "the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree and up to 1 million former federal employees."
Another federal union, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said Friday that "at this point, we believe AFGE's assessment of the breach is overstated." It called on the OPM to provide more information.
Rep. Mike Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said last week that he believes China will use the recently stolen information for "the mother of all spear-phishing attacks."
Spear-phishing is a technique under which hackers send emails designed to appear legitimate so that users open them and load spyware onto their networks.
___
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this story.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 17 hours ago.
The forms authorities believed to have been accessed, known as Standard Form 86, require applicants to fill out deeply personal information about mental illnesses, drug and alcohol use, past arrests and bankruptcies. They also require the listing of contacts and relatives, potentially exposing any foreign relatives of U.S. intelligence employees to coercion. Both the applicant's Social Security number and that of his or her cohabitant is required.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the security clearance material is classified.
The security-clearance records provide "a very complete overview of a person," said Evan Lesser, managing director of ClearanceJobs.com, a website that matches security-clearance holders to available slots. "You don't need these records to blackmail or exploit someone, but it would sure make the job easier."
The Office of Personnel Management, which was the target of the hack, has not officially notified military or intelligence personnel whose security clearance data was breached, but news of the second hack was starting to circulate in both the Pentagon and the CIA.
The officials said they believe the hack into the security clearance database was separate from the breach of federal personnel data announced last week — a breach that is itself appearing far worse than first believed. It could not be learned whether the security database breach happened when an OPM contractor was hacked in 2013, an attack that was discovered last year. Members of Congress received classified briefings about that breach in September, but there was no mention of security clearance information being exposed.
The OPM had no immediate comment Friday.
Nearly all of the millions of security clearance holders, including CIA, National Security Agency and military special operations personnel, are potentially exposed in the security clearance breach, the officials said. More than 2.9 million people had been investigated for a security clearance as of October 2014, according to government records.
In the hack of standard personnel records announced last week, two people briefed on the investigation disclosed Friday that as many as 14 million current and former civilian U.S. government employees have had their information exposed to hackers, a far higher figure than the 4 million the Obama administration initially disclosed.
American officials have said that cybertheft originated in China and that they suspect espionage by the Chinese government, which has denied any involvement.
The newer estimate puts the number of compromised records between 9 million and 14 million going back to the 1980s, said one congressional official and one former U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because information disclosed in the confidential briefings includes classified details of the investigation.
There are about 2.6 million executive branch civilians, so the majority of the records exposed relate to former employees. Contractor information also has been stolen, officials said. The data in the hack revealed last week include the records of most federal civilian employees, though not members of Congress and their staffs, members of the military or staff of the intelligence agencies.
On Thursday, a major union said it believes the hackers stole Social Security numbers, military records and veterans' status information, addresses, birth dates, job and pay histories; health insurance, life insurance and pension information; and age, gender and race data.
The personnel records would provide a foreign government an extraordinary roadmap to blackmail, impersonate or otherwise exploit federal employees in an effort to gain access to U.S. secrets —or entry into government computer networks.
Outside experts were pointing to the breaches as a blistering indictment of the U.S. government's ability to secure its own data two years after a National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, was able to steal tens of thousands of the agency's most sensitive documents.
After the Snowden revelations about government surveillance, it became more difficult for the federal government to hire talented younger people into sensitive jobs, particularly at intelligence agencies, Lesser said.
"Now, if you get a job with the government, your own personal information may not be secure," he said. "This is going to multiply the government's hiring problems many times."
The Social Security numbers were not encrypted, the American Federation of Government Employees said, calling that "an abysmal failure on the part of the agency to guard data that has been entrusted to it by the federal workforce."
Samuel Schumach, an OPM spokesman, would not address how the data was protected or specifics of the information that might have been compromised, but said, "Today's adversaries are sophisticated enough that encryption alone does not guarantee protection." OPM is nonetheless increasing its use of encryption, he said.
The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4.2 million current and former employees whose information resides in the Office of Personnel Management server are affected by the December cyberbreach, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken.
J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, "the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree and up to 1 million former federal employees."
Another federal union, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said Friday that "at this point, we believe AFGE's assessment of the breach is overstated." It called on the OPM to provide more information.
Rep. Mike Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said last week that he believes China will use the recently stolen information for "the mother of all spear-phishing attacks."
Spear-phishing is a technique under which hackers send emails designed to appear legitimate so that users open them and load spyware onto their networks.
___
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this story.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 17 hours ago.
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Steps to take when disputing a denied health insurance claim
Example serves as notice to retirees caught in loop
Reported by San Jose Mercury News 13 hours ago.
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4 Employees and 2 Investors Sentenced in Health Insurance Fraid Scheme
Patch Framingham, MA -- Feds say Framingham resident and others destroyed and altered documents in order to conceal evidence of the illegal scheme.
Reported by Patch 12 hours ago.
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