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Your March Financial To-Do List

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*Your March Financial To-Do List*

March is the perfect month to get your financial affairs in order. The reason: You are probably already organizing your documents to complete your taxes. While you sort through your tax documents closely, examine your W-2 and 1099 forms. They'll give you insight into how your income is growing and how successful you've been when it comes to saving and investing.By comparing your W-2s over the years, Christing Benz, director of personal finance at investment research firm Morningstar, says you can see if your salary is increasing at a pace that is acceptable to you. If so, you should also try to increase your savings rate.

Even if your salary isn't rising, you may still want to consider saving more, perhaps in your retirement accounts. Your 1099s will give you a glimpse into how much (or little) you've made from money deposited in savings accounts. While interest rates are still very low, it's worth realizing that you can often eke out a little more interest by putting your money into an online savings account, since those rates tend to be higher.Here are some other easy steps you can put on your financial to-do list this month.*Lower Your Tax Bill*

If you haven't filed yet, there are three easy ways to lower your tax bill. One is to lower your adjusted gross income by adding to your retirement savings through an IRA. You can contribute up to $5,500—$6,500 if you’re over age 50—and the deduction will apply to your 2015 taxes if you make the contribution before this year’s tax deadline of April 18 (April 19 for Massachusetts and Maine). See the IRS website for more details.

Another option, if you made money from self-employment last year, is to contribute to a Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Arrangement (SEP) IRA. The SEP IRA allows you to put aside up to $53,000 or 25 percent of your income—whichever is smaller—regardless of whether you’re covered by a retirement plan at your main job.

You can also create a Health Savings Account (HSA) in conjunction with high-deductible health insurance plans. An individual can allocate up to $3,350 for 2015; families can fund their account up to $6,650. You can draw on the account to pay for out-of-pocket health-care costs. You can make contributions to your HSA for 2015 until April 18.

*Consolidate Your Investments*

A great financial to-do this month is to find ways to save money on fees, and further reduce your paperwork and inbox clutter. You can do this by transferring stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds so that all your investments are at one brokerage firm or mutual fund company.

Before transferring funds, though, find out whether you'll be charged to move your investments. You should also calculate how much you can save on fees and commissions by consolidating, since you will now have a higher balance at one financial institution. There should be no unpleasant tax consequences; you're not liquidating the old accounts but merely moving them to a new custodian.

If a move makes sense and you make frequent trades, choose a brokerage firm that charges lower commissions than you currently pay. If your strategy is to buy and hold, commissions may not be a major consideration but you should still choose a company that waives account maintenance fees and offers funds with low expenses.

*Conquer Your Paper Piles*

Getting your financial papers in order helps lower stress in your life, says Peter Walsh, author of "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" (Simon & Schuster, 2008). But you have to know how long to keep your records.

You can divide nearly all of them into four categories: Papers that you need to keep for at least one calendar year, papers that can be destroyed because they cover items you no longer own, tax records, which you should save for at least three years, and documents that you need to keep indefinintely. Here are more details on each of these categories.

*Buy Products on Deep Discount*

Consumer Reports product research experts, who track prices all year long, have compiled a list of items that are typically at their lowest price in March. To get the best deals, look for sales on boxed chocolates, digital cameras, ellipticals, humidifiers, treadmills, and winter clothes this month.

If you think you can get an even better deal on products and services try haggling. In a Consumer Reports National Research Center survey of 2,000 American adults, 89 percent who said they haggled received a better price at least once.

*Consider Buying Flood Insurance*

Before April showers arrive, another financial to-do is to see if you need to buy national flood insurance. FloodSmart.gov, the Federal Emergency Management Agency website promoting national flood insurance, estimates that nearly 20 percent of flood claims originate in areas deemed "moderate" or "low" risk. So regardless of where you live, flood insurance may be worth buying. Keep in mind that you can't file a claim until 30 days after your coverage starts.You can purchase flood insurance from a private insurance company but not many private insurers offer their own flood insurance. Or you can get coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program, backed by the federal government. These policies are often sold through agents that sell homeowners insurance.*Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright © 2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S.*

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    Reported by Consumer Reports 1 day ago.

Supreme Court Rejects Obamacare Challenge Brought By Anti-Gay Crusader

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WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act brought by an anti-gay Houston physician who has warned that same-sex marriage will lead to sodomy among kindergarteners.

The court, in a single-line order Monday, rejected the case brought by Dr. Steven Hotze without explanation. Hotze's lawsuit alleged that Obamacare failed to comply with the Constitution's Origination Clause, which provides that all taxes must originate in the House of Representatives.

The court in January declined to hear a similar Origination Clause case brought by a Sacramento plaintiff. The challenges arise from the Supreme Court's ruling in 2012 that the Affordable Care Act imposed a tax on citizens without health insurance, thus making the law's origin in Congress subject to review by the courts.

"There is universal agreement among the judges who have heard these cases, both conservative and liberal judges, that the case is a loser," said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the liberal-leaning Constitutional Accountability Center during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in January.

Hotze's failed challenge stands out because it was backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The GOP presidential candidate signed onto an amicus brief in support of Hotze in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in July.

Hotze, despite his anti-gay views, has a long history of associating with politicians. Cruz spoke at an anti-gay marriage rally Hotze hosted in 2014. Hotze was a supporter of former Houston Mayor Louie Welch, who famously said, “Shoot the queers,” when asked how he would curb HIV in his unsuccessful 1985 comeback campaign.

Hotze said when he founded the political action committee Conservative Republicans of Texas in July that if marriage is redefined, “It will be mandated to be taught to the children in the schools, at an early age, starting in kindergarten. They will be encouraged by their teachers to participate in anal sex.” 

The Supreme Court later this month is scheduled to hear arguments in Zubik v. Burwell, a sort of sequel to the 2014 Hobby Lobby case testing whether religious affiliated organizations are exempt from providing employees with contraceptive coverage.

-- 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 1 day ago.

Appeals court ruling could revive challenge against D.C. Health Link tax

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A lawsuit brought against D.C. Health Link by a group of insurers may once again be allowed to proceed after an appeals court struck down an earlier ruling to throw out the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled to "vacate" a a previous dismissal of a lawsuit that the D.C.-based American Council of Life Insurers filed against the District in 2014 over the city's planned funding source for its state-run health insurance exchange, a 1 percent tax on all health-related insurers. The… Reported by bizjournals 1 day ago.

AIS Exclusive: New OER Director Discusses Need for Evidence-Based Funding

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In the March 2016 issue of Atlantic Information Services’ Report on Research Compliance, new Office of Extramural Research Director Michael Lauer teases changes coming to funding decisions.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) March 02, 2016

In an exclusive interview with Atlantic Information Services, Inc.’s (AIS) Report on Research Compliance (RRC), Michael Lauer, the new deputy director for extramural research and the director of the Office of Extramural Research (OER) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said the agency needs to move to a model of making funding decisions that is based more on “evidence.” The interview appears in RRC’s new March 2016 issue.

“It has been estimated that less than 1% of all federal government policies or programs are based on any reasonable degree of scientifically analyzed evidence. And we are working on changing that” at NIH, Lauer said. He also said NIH plans to address “unconscious bias” that can creep into its funding decisions and discussed the imperative for researchers to publish results of clinical trials.

“[F]or a university or a scientist to receive money, do work with that money and then never reveal to the world whatever happened with that and never say what they found or didn’t find is not an acceptable state of affairs,” Lauer said, adding that NIH will be adopting several new policies designed to bring research findings to light in a timely manner.

Lauer, the seventh OER director in NIH’s history but the first physician to hold the job, spoke to RRC in mid-February, four months after he was named to the post by NIH Director Francis Collins. OER oversees about $25 billion in extramural research and activities, as it consumes 83% of NIH’s total budget.

Visit https://aishealth.com/archive/nrrc0316-01 to read the article in its entirety, which also details Lauer’s statement confirming that NIH plans to require the use of a single institutional review board (IRB) of record in multisite human subject research it funds.

About Report on Research Compliance
Report on Research Compliance is the only news source on research compliance created and written especially for college and university research administrators, and provides the best information there is to help institutions avoid the negative publicity, financial setbacks and management problems that compliance requirements can create. With offices located in downtown Washington, D.C., RRC is well-placed to track news from NIH, NSF and other agencies, Capitol Hill, and elsewhere. It addresses the issues of greatest concern to research compliance administrators, in critical areas such as security and biosafety, financial compliance, human subjects and scientific misconduct.

Editor Theresa Defino is well-versed in the ethical and compliance issues facing researchers and institutions, having worked for an academic medical center affiliated with a major Midwestern university and having written hundreds of articles based on research studies. A veteran health care journalist and writer, Theresa has been based in Washington, D.C., since 1989.

About AIS
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) is a publishing and information company that has been serving the health care industry for nearly 30 years. It develops highly targeted news, data and strategic information for managers in hospitals and health systems, health insurance companies, medical group practices, purchasers of health insurance, pharmaceutical companies and other health care organizations. AIS products include print and electronic newsletters, databases, websites, looseleafs, strategic reports, directories, webinars and virtual conferences. Learn more at http://AISHealth.com. Reported by PRWeb 1 day ago.

School Administrators Can Now Utilize New ez1095 Software To Process ACA Forms

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ez1095 software is now available from Halfpricesoft.com for school administrators to mail or efile Affordable Care Act Forms 1095 C, 1094 C, 1095 B & 1094 B. Download trial at http://www.halfpricesoft.com.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) March 02, 2016

Even school administrators must now process forms 1095-C, 1094-C, 1095-B and 1094-B for employees. Halfpricesoft.com has recently released updates to accommodate schools with ez1095 ACA form printing software.

“New ez1095 software is now available for school administrators to file 1095-C & 1094-C or 1095-B & 1094-B. ” said Dr. Ge, the founder of Halfpricesoft.com.

New ez1095 ACA form software was enhanced to accommodate schools and the requirements by the government to file forms 1094 and 1095 starting in 2016. ez1095 software offers a quick start guide and form level help buttons to walk customers step-by-step through setting up company, adding employees, add forms and print forms. Customers can also click form level help links to get more details regarding the software.

ez1095 software is compatible Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP and other Windows systems. Potential customers can download and try this software at no obligation by visiting http://www.halfpricesoft.com/aca-1095/form-1095-software-free-download.asp

The main features included are:· Print unlimited number of 1095 and 1094 forms.
· Fast data import feature
· Print Form 1095 C: Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Insurance
· Print Form 1094 C: Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns
· Print Form 1095-B: Health Coverage
· Print Form 1094-B: Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Return
· Print ACA Form 1095-C, 1094-C, 1095-B and 1094-B on white paper for recipients and IRS with inkjet or laser printer.
· PDF print 1095-C and 1095-B recipient copies
· Efile version available at additional cost.
· Support unlimited companies.
· Support unlimited number of recipients.

Priced at just $195, ($295 for efile version) this ACA forms filing software saves employers time and money. To learn more about ez1095 ACA software, customers can visit http://www.halfpricesoft.com/aca-1095/aca-1095-software.asp

About halfpricesoft.com
Founded in 2003, Halfpricesoft.com has established itself as a leader in meeting the software needs of small businesses around the world with its payroll software, employee attendance tracking software, check printing software, W2 software, 1099 software and barcode generating software. It continues to grow with its philosophy that small business owners need affordable, user friendly, super simple, and totally risk-free software. Reported by PRWeb 1 day ago.

Fidelis works to fill 50 new IT jobs in Getzville

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Fidelis Care is working to fill another 50 open IT slots at its Getzville operations center, a facility that supports millions of health insurance members across the state. Last summer, the Queens-based company was up to 250 information technology workers at the CrossPoint Parkway facility. The workforce is now up to 300, with nearly 50 open positions in such areas as technical support, development and analytics. Salaries range from $30,000 for entry-level positions to senior management positions… Reported by bizjournals 23 hours ago.

Sports Authority Files For Bankruptcy, Will Close One Third Of Its Stores

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Following weeks of fertile speculation whether it will or won't file for bankruptcy, this morning Colorado-based Sports Authority, whose name graces the home stadium to the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, put all doubts to rest when it filed Chapter 11 in Delaware bankruptcy court (Case 16-10527) listing $0-$50,000 in assets and between $1 and 10 billion in liabilities in its bankruptcy filing, adding that it will close as many as 140 of its 463 locations. As part of its bankruptcy process, the bankrupt retailer reported that it has access to a $595 million in debtor in possession financing loan.

In its summary of the company's recent, troubled and overlevered history Bloomberg writes that Sports Authority has fallen far since a $1.3 billion buyout in 2006 piled it with debt. "In 2006, the chain was even with Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. in sales. Today, Dick’s has hundreds more locations and takes in almost twice as much per store, making it the U.S. leader in selling athletic gear, while Englewood, Colorado-based Sports Authority’s debt load has hampered its ability to expand or innovate."

"We are taking this action so that we can continue to adapt our business to meet the changing dynamics in the retail industry,” said Michael E. Foss, chief executive officer of Sports Authority. “We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to streamline and strengthen our business both operationally and financially so that we have the financial flexibility to continue to make necessary investments in our operations."

In many ways this outcome was inevitable: in 2015, sales at U.S. retailers were the weakest since 2009, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. But as big-box giants and online merchants encroached on clothing stores and consumer electronics chains, sports were one of the few healthy areas. And, as BLoomberg adds, while companies including Target Corp. and Gap Inc. shored up sales by expanding their fitness offerings, American Apparel Inc. and Quiksilver Inc. last year all sought creditor protection.

Sports Authority has about 200 fewer stores than Dick’s. The company said that in addition to the retail store closures, distribution centers in Denver and Chicago will be shut down or sold. This also means a big victory for Dick's which will be faced with far less local competition, unless of course shoppers head straight to Amazon. 

In any event, straddled with too much debt to manage after the buyout, Sports Authority hasn’t been able to make the kind of improvements seen at its larger rival.



One area where it’s lagged is presentation, according to Joe Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group. Dick’s excels in layouts and displays and has partnered with manufacturers including Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc., which operate in-store shops. Those improvements have helped Dick’s pull in about $10 million a year in sales from the average store, while Sports Authority collects about $5.75 million, according to Steven Ruggiero, a credit analyst at RW Pressprich & Co.



We anticipate the bankruptcy filing will further weaken those commercial real estate loans and CMBS issues for locations where SA was a tennant as its rent payments will now cease; we also expect many other retailers to follow suit as the troubled US consumer has far less discretionary cash to spend courtesy of soaring health insurance premiums and record asking rents, or as the Fed calls it, deflation.

The full bankruptcy filling is below. Reported by Zero Hedge 22 hours ago.

MNsure leaves users hanging on tax forms

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MNsure is more than a month behind on getting required tax forms to thousands of Minnesotans who bought coverage through the health exchange in 2015. The Star Tribune reports that the forms, needed for health-insurance tax credit calculations, were due from the state a month ago. But the work is still only half done; more than 21,000 Minnesotans are waiting for the documents, with less than six weeks to go before the IRS tax-filing deadline. “We will definitely have them out before then," a spokesman… Reported by bizjournals 22 hours ago.

Allied Anesthesia Announces Successful First Year & New Website, Says Today’s Doctors Must Be ‘Collaborative Futurists’

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Successful first year solidifies group’s belief that future-minded, collaborative members are key to success without corporate management or big-bank backing in rapidly changing market .

Orange, Calif. (PRWEB) March 02, 2016

Allied Anesthesia announced today that its first year as a consolidated medical group was a success. The group formed in Jan. last year by way of a merger with Fullerton Anesthesia Associates and Upland Anesthesia Medical Group, which effectively consolidated anesthesia services for three of the five Southern California St. Joseph Health System ministry hospitals—St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, St. Jude’s in Fullerton and St. Mary’s Hospital in Apple Valley. The merger also consolidated services to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), Hoag Orthopedic Institute, San Antonio Regional Hospital and numerous ambulatory surgery centers in Southern California.

The consolidation actualized a main goal of Allied Anesthesia’s most intensive strategic planning review to date. The independent group initiated the review process in 2013 to remain competitive in a market moving rapidly toward population health management, value-based payment models and the perioperative surgical home.

Allied Anesthesia Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer George Kanaly, PhD, said, “We recognized that to have peer standing with the various hospitals, health systems, and major insurance companies all merging and consolidating in their own right, we’d have to become a more substantive group by expanding in both size and physician affiliates but also geographically.”

Kanaly said that, according to observable trends, the group’s assessment of the market has proven accurate, and Allied attributes last year’s success to the forward-thinking approach they’ve taken to planning.

“In 2013 we conducted a very comprehensive assessment of the many changes occurring in health care in general and the anesthesia specialty, specifically,” Kanaly said. “Through this process, we realized that to stay out of the reactive mode, we’d need to operate as flexible futurists, constantly working to assess and refine the action plan that best suits the rapidly changing health care services environment.”

Kanaly also said the group identified and addressed a “fear mongering” he claims has grown pervasive in the industry in recent years. “Just like the consolidation in the multi-specialty arena in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, anesthesiologists are being told that, in order to succeed, they need to sell their practices to the large management companies that have emerged to consolidate the specialty.” He believes the investment banking community and large anesthesia management companies created this fear and have used it to successfully convince many anesthesia practice physician-owners they are not capable of surviving independently in the evolving health care marketplace.

Anesthesiologist and President/CEO of Allied Anesthesia Dr. Kaveh Matin said the group’s physicians do not subscribe to that line of thinking. “We believe that physicians practicing in the specialty absolutely know what’s best. And we believe we possess the necessary business acumen to create a service model that is responsive to the emerging requirements of population health management,” he said.

Last year’s merger, Matin said, was evidence of that business acumen. “The plan was that this merger would uniquely position the group for continued growth and operations with greatly enhanced capacity for service to our patients, surgeons, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Over the past year, I’m pleased to say we’ve been seeing that plan come to fruition in a significant way.”

Immediately following the merger, one of the health systems Allied Anesthesia works with asked the group to assume a leadership role in creating sustainable regional clinical and other initiatives to enhance patient care and identify the best clinical practices. “We’d already been engaged in this activity, because it was one of the core reasons for the merger in the first place,” Kanaly said. “Having our skill in this area recognized and relied upon by hospital executives is an extremely valuable outcome of our merger. It enhances the overall fund of clinical information and knowledge and creates a platform for dialogue and coordination among physicians and surgeons, which ultimately results in enhanced patient care, better coordination of resources and reduced costs of care.”

To mark its first year, Allied Anesthesia recently designed a new website. Kanaly also reported that, last year, the group solidified its existing health insurance plan contracts, gained several additional contracts and earned status as the anesthesiology group with the greatest number of pediatric board certified anesthesiologists in the nation.

“We’ve successfully completed our first year of operations during which the three formerly independent groups came together and began to integrate under jointly created agreements, policies and procedures, clinical care standards and best practices,” Kanaly said. “We’re now working to create a new organizational culture together.”

About Allied Anesthesia: With over 100 highly qualified physician anesthesiologists on staff, Allied Anesthesia provides adult and pediatric anesthesia services to St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, CHOC Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, St. Mary’s Hospital in Apple Valley and many other Southern California health care facilities. In 2014, Allied Anesthesia joined with Fullerton Anesthesia Associates and Upland Anesthesia Medical Group to consolidate best practices in more than six hospitals and more than a dozen ambulatory surgery centers. The expanded medical practice is dedicated to offering the highest comprehensive quality of care and the most cost-effective procedures in all facilities they serve. All Allied physician anesthesiologists are board certified in Anesthesiology and they staff and manage the most efficient operating rooms in Southern California. Allied is a member of the California Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Anesthesia Quality Institute.

For more information, visit: http://www.alliedanesthesia.com Reported by PRWeb 18 hours ago.

Facebook Employees Are Insanely Happy With Their Jobs

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The people who work at Facebook are ridiculously happy about it, new data shows. Ninety-six percent of employees at the social media giant report high job satisfaction, according to a survey of workers at 18 major tech companies from the jobs site Payscale. 

In the survey, released Wednesday, Facebook scored the highest satisfaction rating compared with its peers, a list that includes Google, Apple, Amazon and Tesla. Facebook workers also reported the lowest levels of stress -- 44 percent -- as compared to other tech companies.
Payscale’s data comes from its salary survey -- a list of about 25 questions about your job, company, skills and so on -- that some 54 million visitors to the site have taken. The data for this particular survey came from a total of 33,500 tech workers. Payscale says the margin of error on the data is 10 percent.

The jobs site Glassdoor recently published its own list of best places to work, on which Facebook placed fifth. The company is absent entirely from Fortune's most recent list of the best places to work, however.

Lots of money certainly helps keep people happy, but it’s not likely the full explanation here. Facebook workers’ average pay during the first five years of their tenure is $116,000, according to the Payscale data. Employees with more than 10 years' experience see their pay rise to $149,000, on average. Those numbers don’t include stock-based compensation. Facebook shares have been killing it lately, certainly beefing up employee coffers.Benefits at the social network rival Google’s legendary perks. Facebook workers get free lunch and snacks. There’s beer, a game room and an on-campus barbershop.

Facebook also offers the kinds of things that would certainly help to reduce stress: Men and women get four months' paid parental leave. Health insurance for single employees is free, according to Glassdoor, and costs are low for employees with dependents.

“With Facebook you literally do not have to worry about anything,” a February review on Glassdoor says. “Every benefit possible is available to you.”

Also, working at an extremely successful company helps keep the stress in check. You're not worrying about layoffs or obsolescence, as you might be at the more aging tech outlets.

It's good to be the king.

It should be said that an overwhelming majority of these super-happy workers are men -- young men. The average Facebook worker is 29 years old. Just 32 percent of Facebook workers are women, according to self-reported data. 

Tech is a young man’s game. Seven of the 18 companies on Payscale’s list have a median employee age of 30 or younger, and 10 have workforces of less than 30 percent women. The company has been outspoken about its efforts to recruit more women and underrepresented minorities.

-- 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.

CoverMyMeds Achieves Electronic Prior Authorization Milestone, 500 Integrated EHRs and 500,000 Providers

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New partners and record provider adoption fuel growth of nation’s largest prior authorization network

Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) March 02, 2016

CoverMyMeds, the leader in electronic prior authorization (ePA), today announced two company milestones that increase the size and connectivity of its system. As a result of new partnerships and record provider adoption, CoverMyMeds is now integrated with more than 500 electronic health records (EHR) systems and has reached 500,000 provider accounts.

These EHR systems and providers join a network of approximately 47,000 pharmacies and nearly all health plans to complete prior authorization (PA) requests electronically, rather than through paper form, fax and phone methods. On average, the technology saves providers 15 minutes per PA request, and in many cases, delivers a real-time determination from the health plan.

In the last month, CoverMyMeds secured partnerships with a number of new electronic health records (EHR) systems, including a recently announced partnership with Claimat, to reach a milestone of more than 500 integrated EHRs.

One reason EHR vendors select CoverMyMeds as their integrated ePA solution is because of provider adoption among their customer base, which increases daily. In January, CoverMyMeds added 25,000 providers to the network. The company continues to add an average of 800 to 1,000 new provider accounts each business day.

Universal compatibility and faster determinations are top benefits cited by providers when asked why they use CoverMyMeds.

Universal compatibility refers to functionality that enables providers to electronically submit requests to any health plan. This capability is unique to CoverMyMeds, and critical for provider satisfaction.

Faster determinations are vital for patient medication adherence, reducing administrative time and creating cost efficiencies for health plans. CoverMyMeds facilitates real-time determinations for 25 to 65 percent of all ePA requests, depending on the plan, and according to a case study, reduces plan PA reviews by 40 percent.

According to a nurse using the system, “CoverMyMeds is awesome! Compared to printing off and faxing forms or calling into the plan, ePA offers less hassle, less wait time and faster turn around time.”

“We created CoverMyMeds with the mission of getting patients the medication they need to live healthier lives,” said Matt Scantland, Co-Founder of CoverMyMeds. “With adoption in some markets exceeding 60 percent of overall PA volume, we’re thrilled to be making a positive impact on industry stakeholders and the more than 13 million patients we helped receive prescribed medication in 2015.”

Learn more about CoverMyMeds’ ePA solution by visiting booth #754 at the 2016 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition (Feb. 29 – March 4, 2016 in Las Vegas) or visit http://www.covermymeds.com.

About CoverMyMeds
CoverMyMeds is the leader in Electronic Prior Authorization (ePA) and one of the fastest growing health care technology companies in the U.S. We help physicians, pharmacists and their staff complete ePA requests for any drug and all health insurance plans. Our technology integrates with nearly 47,000 pharmacies, more than 500 EHR systems and payers representing nearly 75 percent of U.S. prescription volume to create the most efficient ePA strategy for all participants. With more than one million PA requests submitted each month, CoverMyMeds is the only vendor using the ePA NCPDP SCRIPT Standard at scale. For information, visit http://www.covermymeds.com. Reported by PRWeb 18 hours ago.

Stanford Law Professor Reveals The Most Pervasive Forms Of Tax Evasion And It's Not What You Would Think

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These questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

*Answers by Joe Bankman, Professor of Law and Business, Stanford Law School, on Quora.*

*Q: How could the federal government and state governments make it easier to fill out tax returns?*
*A:* Individuals who don't own businesses spend tens of billions of dollars each year (in fees and time) filing taxes.  Most of this is unnecessary.  The government already has most of the information it asks us to provide.  It knows what are wages are, how much interest we earn, and so on. It should provide the information it has on the right line of an electronic tax return it provides us or our accountant.  Think about VISA. VISA doesn't send you a blank piece of paper each month, and ask you to list all your purchases, add them up and then penalize you if you get the wrong number.  It sends you a statement with everything it knows on it.

We are one of the only countries in the world that makes filing so hard. Many companies send you a tentative tax return, which you can adjust. Others have withholding at the source, so the average citizen doesn't file anything.

California adopted a form of the above -- it was called ReadyReturn. 98%+ of those who tried it loved it. But the program was bitterly opposed by Intuit, makers of Turbo Tax. They went so far as to contribute $1 million to a PAC that made an independent expenditure for one candidate running for statewide office. The program was also opposed by Rush Limbaugh and Grover Norquist. The stated reason was that the government would cheat taxpayers. I believe the real reason is that they want tax filing to be painful, since they believe that acts as a constraint on government programs.
...

*Q: What are the most popular / pervasive forms of tax evasion?*
*A:* Most pervasive form of tax cheating is to sell goods or services for cash -- and not report the cash. Study after study shows that the effective tax rate on cash sector income is less than 50%.

During certain periods, such as the 1990's and early 2000's, corporations evaded tax through tax shelters. Here's a representative shelter that Wells Fargo used: they purported to "buy" subway cars and then lease the cars back to the subway system. The deal was structured to leave the transit system in the same place it always had been, but to give the bank tax depreciation on the cars.

At one point, most transit cars in the Bay Area were ostensibly "owned" by corporate taxpayers (e.g., CalTrain, Metro, AC Transit)...

That shelter was held not to work, but where there is a will there is a way and shelters will always be with us.
...

*Q: Would a simple flat tax make sense for the U.S.?*
*A:* What people call a flat tax consists of three separate elements. One is a leveling of rates, so that instead of, save 5 rate brackets we have only 1 (two if you count a zero tax bracket). Leveling rates would not simplify much and would worsen income inequality. One of the "inventors" of the flat tax, Stanford economist Robert Hall, actually favors keeping more than one rate bracket, as do I.

The second feature of a common flat tax is to eliminate deductions, credits and the like. Some provisions (like favorable treatment of employer provided health insurance) sound good but are ineffective and inefficient. On the other hand, I like some provisions, such as the charitable deduction. On the whole, I do think we ought to radically prune this part of our law. (But someone speaking at my class today, economist Jim Hines of Michigan, has an interesting paper arguing the opposite).

The final feature of a common flat tax is to tax consumption, rather than income. I like this feature of the flat tax, and feel a progressive consumption tax is more efficient than an equally progressive income tax.

So would a well-designed flat tax work here -- sure. But there are a lot of "well-designed" plans that could improve our tax system. I don't think we are close getting a flat tax, and so don't spend any time any more writing on that.
These questions originally appeared on Quora. - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:​

· Taxes in the United States of America: What are the best ideas for reforming the U.S. tax system?· Business Taxes: Why do we need corporate taxes when individuals pay taxes?· Education: Should we give tax incentives / deductions for spending on children's education?
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This Is What Older Voters Want The Presidential Candidates To Say

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While the GOP debates have become our new favorite reality TV show and most of our dinner-table talk starts with "where will we move if Trump wins," this election season has certainly captured the world's attention. But there are a few things that nobody is talking about, and we and our Huff/Post50 Facebook friends wish someone would. Here are six things we'd like someone running for president to say.

*1. "We need to put some teeth into our age discrimination laws."*

Older workers are among the first to lose their jobs in layoffs, stay out of work the longest, and have been saying for years how they are experiencing age discrimination in the hiring process. It all falls on deaf ears. 

Silicon Valley's tech companies may be the biggest offenders. Facebook may be the favorite social network for baby boomers and mid-lifers, but don't look for any gray hairs on the company's payroll; its workforce's average age is just 28.

But here's the craziest part: The laws that govern the EEOC don't empower the agency to protect us against age discrimination. Gender is a protected class in employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but age is covered by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. That means the EEOC has no legal authority to demand that companies track the age of their workforces. 

Raymond Peeler, Senior Attorney-Advisor in our Office of Legal Counsel at the EEOC, told The Huffington Post that all companies with at least 100 workers must file an annual report listing the race and sex of their employees, but nothing gets reported to the EEOC about the age of their workforce.

So until the EEOC is given a set of working dentures, older job applicants will continue to send their resumes into the black hole of the Internet, rarely getting interviews -- and then, in a bizarre twist of the knife, the company can trot out their interest as proof of its due consideration of older people.

 *2. "Here's my plan to help the middle class afford to send their kids to college."*

There is no place where the middle class feel more squeezed than when it comes to paying for college. There is need-based aid for low-income kids. High-income families presumably don't need help. And for everyone else there is a FAFSA form that basically craps all over the middle class. The middle class is told it earns too much money to be eligible for financial aid. Basically, if you quit your job, your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be lower and your student eligible for more aid. With private colleges carrying a price sticker of $60,000 and up, and public schools so impacted by budget cuts that it takes six years to graduate, increasingly, middle-class families are imploding.

Germany, Finland and other European nations have managed to offer free university educations to the world -- that's right, not just their own citizens but any country's citizens. As Huff/Post50's senior editor Shelley Emling reported, almost 50,000 U.S. students are pursuing degrees overseas, according to the most recent data from the Institute of International Education. The United Kingdom is the most popular destination, followed by Canada, France and Germany.

These nations offer American kids a free higher education for one reason: They hope our kids will immigrate and stay there. Yes, we are having our very own brain drain. So, is this how America is going to be great again?

 *3. "We need to seriously monitor the rising costs of prescription drugs."*Across the country, people are finding that the cost of their medicines has doubled, tripled and in some cases soared by 1,000 percent or more, reports AARP. The price spikes have been so steep and seemingly out-of-the-blue that the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging held a hearing to investigate. 

Nobody is sure why. Generic drugs, which are about 80 percent of all prescriptions, used to be the big pharmaceutical bargain. But even the generics, -- some which have been around for years and typically cost a penny a pill to make -- have suddenly spiked. AARP noted that the widely used antibiotic known as Doxycycline hyclate (100 milligrams) went from $20 for 500 capsules in October 2013 to a staggering $1,849 in April 2014. Pravastatin sodium (10 mg), a drug for cholesterol, surged from $27 to $196 for a one-year supply.

Sure, Martin Shkreli, the founder and chief executive of Turing, became the poster boy for evil Big Pharma when overnight he raised the price of Daraprim, a a drug used to treat a life-threatening parasitic disease, from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. But he and Turing aren't the only ones.

After Valeant Pharmaceuticals acquired two heart drugs, Isuprel and Nitropress, from Marathon Pharmaceuticals, they promptly raised their prices by 525 percent and 212 percent respectively. Marathon had acquired the drugs from another company in 2013 and had already quintupled their prices, reported the New York Times.

 
*4. "I know you paid into your Social Security your entire working life, and you don't have to worry about losing it."*

Talk about music to a middle-aged pair of ears. Many boomers just want their money. The hand-wringing is that Social Security will run out of money -- not necessarily for the current crop of retirees or about-to-be retirees, but their children and grandchildren could inherit an empty piggy bank unless something is done. The program is expected to be able to pay full benefits until 2033 and then just 75 percent of benefits after that -- assuming nothing changes. Politicians have offered at least a dozen different ways to keep Social Security on life support for future generations. People who are nearing retirement would like some reassurance that their money is there for them. Operative words: their money.

*5. "Medicare needs to pay for what you actually need."*

Medicare, the health insurance system for those 65 and older, is a giant labyrinth fraught with land mines. The problem, of course, is that you never know where a land mine is until you step on it. 

The same is true of your coverage. Medicare won't pay for hearing aids or glasses or dental care -- the big trifecta of health concerns for older people. Nor will it pay for foot care or an ambulance ride to the ER if it decides after the fact that you could have gotten yourself there by taxi instead. So chest pains that scare the bejesus out of you but turn out to be what you ate for lunch? You should have hailed a cab.

Medicare covers a lot of stuff -- although you need to know where the gaps in coverage will result in that old saying about how you are just one illness away from being broke. It doesn't cover long-term nursing home care and the only way it will pay for short-term nursing home care is if you are moved there directly after spending at least three nights in the hospital. No stopping at home to pick up your toothbrush or clean underwear.

Medicare also has a lot of "gotcha" moments. Why can't Medicare be made more straight-forward? Simplify it and cover the services those who are 65+ need most.

*6. "Older workers will be retrained, not put out to pasture to fend for themselves."*

The country is filled with people in their late-50s and 60s who want and need to work for pay. In many cases, they lost their jobs in the recession and haven't been able to recapture their footing in a job market that favors youth and technology. It's been largely left to community colleges and the private sector to retrain these workers and help get them back on their feet -- and those programs have reached just a mere fraction of those who need the help.

Filling potholes is not without its merits when a president is looking to create jobs to stimulate the economy. But what about starting programs that offer displaced workers retraining in fields where the jobs are: health care and technology?

-- 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 13 hours ago.

Armenia and the Syrian Refugee Crisis

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*Co-authored by Haykaram Nahapetyan*

The Syrian refugee crisis has been the subject of widespread debate around the world and in particular in Europe. While European countries agree on promoting European principles and values, the level of solidary action diverges drastically from country to country, and the subject is often transformed into cold questions of refugee quotas and political bargains.

In the meantime, unbeknownst to many, Armenia, a country of the size of the state of Maryland, with its 3 million inhabitants, has been welcoming refugees flying from war and persecution. In fact, according to the Economist, Armenia has welcomed the third largest number of Syrian refugees as a proportion of total population.

Since the start of the conflict, 17,000 Syrians have migrated to Armenia, according to UNHCR, translating to 6 Syrian refugees per 1000 inhabitants. The Syrian refugee exodus has reminded Armenians of their own tragic history which explains the moral and historic duty of the country to open its doors and offer a safe place to those fleeing war and persecution. The majority of these are descendants of Armenians who escaped the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks in 1915, and were given refuge in Syria. Other minorities such as the Yazidis and the Assyrians have also found refuge in Armenia. Anahit Khosroeva, Assyrian community activist, leading researcher at the Institute of History and former professor of Chicago University says in an electronic communication: "We were told by the migration service authorities that the Assyrians would be helped and protected in Armenia just like the Syrian-Armenian refugees."

As a result, the Armenian government is working to address the urgent humanitarian needs by offering a wide range of emergency assistance and integration projects. To name a few, the government offers free health insurance as well as scholarships, has put into place a simplified naturalization and accelerated asylum procedure and has facilitated residence permits. Moreover, through the "adopt-a-family" project, refugees are matched with Armenian host families who help them integrate into the social, legal and cultural life of Armenia. To further integrate migrants, the Armenian government established a micro-credit scheme in collaboration with UNHCR to help refugees create startups.

Nerses Sargisian, a relief effort coordinator from Aleppo who recently traveled to the United States for a series of lectures regarding the plight of the community explained that "healthcare for Syrian-Armenians is free in Armenia, the administration procedures have been simplified, fees removed, scholarships and educational funds allocated." Finally, the Strengthening Protection Capacity Project (SPCP) is also helping to build up the capacity of the government and civil society to protect refugees in the country, and accelerate durable solutions for refugees and naturalized refugees.

Armenia's efforts led UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to thank Armenia for the steps taken to provide refugees from northern Iraq and Syria with safe haven.

Yet, given the country's socio-economic situation and the lack of substantial foreign help, the wave of migration to Armenia represents a considerable challenge for the government. Armenia has a GDP per capita ten times smaller than the European Union average. With its 17% unemployment rate, the professional integration of the newly arrived labor force has been problematic. The existing programs do not appear sufficient to satisfy a large number of new arrivals and are simply not able to adequately meet the needs of the socially disadvantaged, making the integration process difficult for multiple newcomers, especially when it comes to labor.

Contrary to other neighbors such as Lebanon, Turkey or Jordan, Armenia has not been receiving the financial and operational assistance needed to pursue its humanitarian efforts. A report released by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) in 2015, compared the UNHCR's per capita allocation of Syrian refugee assistance to Armenia with the amounts provided to countries including Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. Taking into account differences in each country's GDP and the number of refugees accepted, Armenia's figures were among the lowest. "Armenia should be receiving a level of U.S. and international aid at the very least on par with the per capita aid that Jordan and Lebanon receive per refugee in order to help those most at-risk to become self-sufficient," explained ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian.

As a response, grassroots efforts have been undertaken to revive further assistance. For instance, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) recently kicked off its FY2017 appropriations campaign outlining its request to allocate "at least $10 million in emergency aid to help Armenia settle the nearly 20,000 thousand people who have fled to Armenia from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.""The Syrian Armenian Relief Fund, a coalition of Armenian American community organizations working together to address the humanitarian tragedy facing the Syrian Armenian community, recently raised over $1.2 million during a telethon televised in California and streamed worldwide."

The international community should provide Armenia the financial assistance necessary to continue to receive and integrate refugees. A condition that would be helpful for such global cooperation would also be Armenia's fight against corruption and transparency in the political and economic system.

-- 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 12 hours ago.

Insurers Probed on Hepatitis C Drug Coverage

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New York’s attorney general is investigating state health-insurance companies for allegedly restricting coverage of drugs that can cure hepatitis C. Reported by Wall Street Journal 10 hours ago.

If the Left Won't Support Hillary, Why Isn't That Hillary's Fault?

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I've gotten a lot of response on my last post explaining that I won't vote for Hillary Clinton because I don't vote for Republicans. Here's a basic rundown:

*You're ensuring a President Trump!*

Nope, far from it. If Hillary-> and Drumpf are the nominees, then on Election Day, Hillary-> will get +0 votes from me and Drumpf will get +0 votes from me. What will guarantee a President Drumpf is if he collects +1 more votes than Hillary-> in enough states to earn 270 Electoral College votes.

It's simple math, really. If I vote for neither of those candidates, neither of them collects the +1 they need to beat the other.

What this scare line is really telling me is that your candidate sucks so badly that you're afraid she can't beat a racist, homophobic, misogynist, xenophobic, Islamophobic real estate mogul / TV reality show star with zero political experience.

If you had any confidence in her abilities, you wouldn't need my vote. If she was any candidate other than Hillary->, this would be a landslide victory.

*The Supreme Court!*

What makes anybody think Hillary-> is going to nominate anybody less pro-corporate than John Roberts? Remember how terrible Bush's new Chief Justice was going to be... and yet, he upheld the Affordable Care Act.

Anybody Hillary-> nominates is going to be pro-business and socially moderate in order for her to get that person through the Senate. Yes, they'll be better on the social issues, but if we do nothing about the business stranglehold on politics, we'll have all the civil rights we want, with no affordable education, healthcare, or decent job market to enjoy them within.

*Even Bernie will support the nominee!*

Good for Bernie. But you can't assail me for following my cult leader Bernie and then demand that I follow my cult leader Bernie.

Bernie can vote however he wants to vote. Politicians often make such odious choices, like when Bernie supported the Crime Bill in order to keep the Violence Against Women Act parts of it. And Bernie's 74, he may not live to see the rebound from a President Drumpf.

On this, Bernie and I disagree. He believes that preventing a President Drumpf is absolutely paramount. I believe that Drumpf wouldn't be as harmful as Clintonistas want us to believe (there's a reason the GOP establishment hates his guts -- he's far more moderate than they would like).

I believe that a Drumpf Administration would be hampered by GOP obstructionism if he doesn't toe their line, which he won't. For his more odious proposals, maybe the Democrats in the Senate will engage in some obstructionism payback (this assumes some semblance of spine in the Democratic Party, so don't hold your breath).

And any moves made to restrict or rescind gay rights, women's rights, and marijuana rights is only going to further inflame the younger voters who will increasingly decide future elections. Severe restrictions would do more to swing the pendulum toward progressivism than would Hillary->'s constant capitulation to the Big Business right.

I see this as bigger than Hillary-> vs. Drumpf. I see this as oligarchy vs. democracy. Whether it is the allegedly-benevolent oligarchy of Hillary-> or the supposedly-malevolent oligarchy of Drumpf, we're going to still have oligarchy. The benevolent oligarchy is the slowly-warming pot -- Dems will let us gay marry and abort pregancies and smoke pot, yay!, so we give them a pass as they also slowly keep empowering their Wall Street connections, their Big Pharma & Insurance donors, and the military-industrial complex.

But the malevolent oligarchy is the boiling pot -- Republicans let terrorists hit us on 9/11, let people drown in New Orleans, and crashed the economy, boo! It was bad enough that people actually voted for an unknown black senator named "Hussein" who was talking about public option healthcare, transparent government, and prosecuting previous administration's torturers. The malevolent oligarchy messed up so bad that Candidate Obama was drawing then-record crowds and securing then-record individual small donations.

*The carnage will be on your hands, privileged straight white man!*

This is the corollary of the You're ensuring President Trump that attempts to shame and guilt me into voting for Hillary because I'm straight, white, and male, so no bad thing Drumpf will do could possibly affect me.

Never mind that I'm homeless, own no car, work on spec with no health care (sorry, Obamacare's too expensive, but I make too much for Medicaid) and no retirement. Never mind my father on Social Security disability, my 21-year-old niece, my lesbian friends, and my black family. I fully understand the arguments being made and yes, they'd even affect me, too.

Especially on the marijuana front. Legalization is my job. Drumpf could appoint an Attorney General Christie who'll send DEA in to shut down legal marijuana commerce in four states and medical marijuana commerce in 23. But after an Obama who said he'd leave medical alone and then presided over the most medical marijuana raids in history (far more than Dubya), why should I trust Hillary-> on the issue? Hell, her husband's administration tried to take down medical marijuana by going after doctors' free speech rights, and marijuana arrests more than doubled over his two terms.

But nothing that affects me or my family and friends is going to change significantly under the rigged system we have now. Even Hillary-> admits her goal is to merely hold off the GOP from undoing any of the good things that have been accomplished under Obama, because she knows the system is rigged.

Besides, if I have to be responsible for the carnage a President Drumpf might cause, Hillary-> supporters need to wash the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis off their hands first, then offer a few thousand apologies to soldiers' families for not finding any WMD. They can also apologize to my lesbian friends for having to delay their wedding when Hillary->'s husband passed DOMA and Hillary-> gave cover to every homophobe who wanted to deny their rights. Then apologies for blacks over-incarcerated due to the Crime Bill she championed as a way to deal with "superpredators", apologies to poor folks who lost their homes when the banks collapsed thanks to her husband's repeal of Glass-Steagall, apologies to the laborers who lost their jobs when NAFTA shipped them to Mexico... I could go on with real, actual Clinton harms if you want to name a few more imagined, future Drumpf harms.

*Hillary and Bernie agree on 90 percent of everything!*

Did you know we humans are 98 percent similar in DNA to chimpanzees? Amazing how that different 2% can make two wildly different species, huh?

Yes, Hillary-> and Bernie both agree that voting should be easier, gay people should get married (at least, since 2013), middle class wages should rise, minimum wage should be higher, Muslims aren't all terrorists, Mexicans aren't all rapists, and so forth.

Telling me Hillary-> agrees with some of the most basic things a Democrat should espouse isn't the issue. It's ignoring the fact she agrees with so much of the basic things a Republican would espouse that is the issue for me.

The disagreements are the issue. Cozying up for six-figure speaking fees with the big banks that wrecked the economy, even after telling them to "cut it out", makes me believe Hillary-> would behave more as a Republican would toward those big banks.

A "we came, we saw, he died" attitude toward Middle East regime change tells me she'd behave more as a neocon would in foreign policy.

Voting for the bankruptcy bill and requiring work for a "debt-free tuition" shows me she would stil treat poor people like her welfare-busting husband did in the 1990s to the delight of Republicans.

Taking public option healthcare off the table and vowing to further integrate the health insurance industry into for-profit health care backed by government fines for non-compliance was Mitt Romney's idea!

Ignoring the massive public opinion and the growing scientific evidence on medical marijuana by offering a "we need more research" stalling tactic is something Republicans do, if they recognize any medical utility at all.

*We have to support the lesser of two evils*

It's refreshing to know some will admit to their candidate being an evil. But, no, I don't have to do anything. This isn't Australia; I'm not required by law to vote.

Lesser of two evils thinking is what has gotten us to this place. At what point would it stop?

Suppose the race was a Republican vs. a Pro-Life Democrat. Now that Republican is likely to cut Social Security and Medicare, repeal the ACA, and invade Iran. The Democrat is against all those things, but vows to nominate justices who'll repeal Roe v. Wade.

Who's your lesser evil in that matchup? Are you, oh Hillary-> supporter, going to vote for the Pro-Life Democrat, knowing that it will likely mean 2 or 3 new Justices who'll overturn Roe?

Suppose I doubled down on that: it's a Pro-Choice Republican vs. a Pro-Life Democrat. Who's your choice... wait, never mind. There never would be a Pro-Choice Republican running, because that party requires its nominees to hold strong to some core principles.

*If you're really a Democrat, you'll support the nominee*

If she was really a Democrat, I would. But I refuse to keep rewarding the Democratic Party for moving to the right and sucking up to big business just because they're less evil than the Republicans. If the Democratic Party wants my vote, it needs to start representing me.

-- 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 9 hours ago.

Here's How Donald Trump Says He'd Replace Obamacare

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WASHINGTON -- Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who has vowed to scrap the Affordable Care Act and replace it with "something terrific," finally provided a rough idea of what he thinks terrific looks like.

The bullet points published on the billionaire businessman's website Wednesday night don't amount to a detailed plan to overhaul the health care system, but they're about as specific as is typical for a presidential campaign and in line with the vague proposals touted by rivals Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). It's certainly more than the Republican Congress has managed to produce in the six years since the ACA became law. And, yes, Trump calls it "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again."

It's notable that Trump unveiled his proposal the night after his Super Tuesday triumph over Cruz and Rubio and the night before another Republican debate. It also comes as he maneuvers toward a general election campaign against whoever wins the Democratic nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

So what does Trump want to do on health care? Of course, the first order of business is to entirely get rid of Obamacare and its individual mandate that nearly everyone get health coverage or face a fine (a subject that recently got Trump into some hot water). There's a bunch of stuff on his website complaining about Obamacare, which gives Trump something in common with the congressional Republican leaders he likes to insult.

Let's start with what's not in Trumpcare, apart from estimates of how much it would cost and how it would affect the health care system. He seems to have no notion about covering the uninsured -- there are no tax credits or new government programs to help the millions who, without the substantial financial assistance that Obamacare offers, could never afford decent coverage on their own.

As a result, Trump's plan would dramatically increase the number of people who would be uninsured by scrapping Obamacare and making cuts to Medicaid. That's despite Trump's repeated assurances that when he's president, nobody will "die in the streets" due to lack of health care. There's nothing about guaranteeing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, either, even though he has expressed vague support for these protections in the past.

The Affordable Care Act, for sure, has its share of worrisome problems. But rather than calling for fixing them or rolling out a plan to achieve its goals of expanded coverage, cost-containment and quality-improvement, Trump dismisses Obamacare as a failure. Undoing the law would create major disruption after years in which it has transformed the health care system, provided coverage to more than 17 million previously uninsured people and trimmed the uninsured rate to historically low levels.
With that in mind, let's take a look at what the Trump campaign says it wants to do. Mostly, Trumpcare is based on proposals Republicans have touted for years, but never put much effort into enacting, even as they continue to claim an Obamacare replacement is just around the corner.

The most consequential item on Trump's wish list is to allow anyone to deduct the full cost of their health insurance premiums for their income taxes.

Today, anyone who gets health insurance from an employer already doesn't pay taxes on the value of that fringe benefit. This proposal would level the playing field for people who buy health coverage directly from an insurer, although they already can deduct the cost now under limited circumstances.

That may be a great deal for people who make a lot of money, giving them a big new tax break. But anyone with a low income or middle income may still find health insurance unaffordable -- and that's especially true for those who earn so little that the cost of insurance is higher than what they owe in taxes. And this would be enormously expensive for the government, because it would deprive the treasury of a tremendous amount of revenue.

Naturally, another of Trump's big ideas is to increase the use of health savings accounts paired with high-deductible health insurance policies, a go-to GOP policy proposal. The theory behind these -- other than the accounts serving as tax shelters for people who can afford to sock away money in them -- is that health care consumers with more "skin in the game" will become smarter shoppers, demand lower prices for health care and products and drive down national health care spending.

The problem with that -- as the proliferation of high-deductible plans in the last decade or so is showing -- is that patients sometimes just go without health care and don't do a very good job differentiating between care they need and care they could do without. And, again, health savings accounts aren't much use to people who don't have the spare income to deposit money into them.

And then there's what heretofore had been the only tangible element to Trump's health care agenda: allowing health insurance companies to sell policies across state lines. This, too, is a very old conservative reform idea.

The trouble is, it probably wouldn't accomplish anything. Health insurance companies aren't clamoring for this freedom -- and some even oppose it. That's because one of the primary functions of a modern health insurer is to create local networks of doctors, hospitals and other providers their customers can go see. An insurer based in Alabama, for example, would have to expend a lot of time, effort and money to sell coverage to customers in, say, Pennsylvania.

The supposed upside to this approach is that insurers based in lightly regulated states could sell barebones policies to people elsewhere. And while that might enable some people to get a better deal, it would be disastrous for the health insurance markets. If people who need insurance the least can buy the cheap, skimpy plan that wouldn't serve the needs of sicker people, that would leave only the latter group in the insurance pool in the state where they live. This eventually would drive up premiums to an unsustainable degree.

There's also some smaller things in the Trump plan, like allowing prescription drugs to be "reimported" to the United States from countries like Canada, where their cost is lower, and requiring medical providers to disclose their prices. Curiously, there's no mention of Trump's ballyhooed (and quite exaggerated) proposal to permit Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices.

Now we get to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for low-income people, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and elderly nursing home patients. Borrowing from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and countless GOP leaders before him, Trump calls for "block granting" the program. That's another way of saying he wants to set a cap on how much the federal government will give states to run the programs in exchange for allowing states to modify it with less federal involvement. It's also another way of saying he wants to drastically shrink this program, which provides benefits to more than 70 million people.

So how does it all add up? Trumpcare would cover far fewer people than Obamacare, take away not only the consumer protections that law provides but undermine strong insurance regulations in states that have them, force an unknown number of people off Medicaid, and let wealthy people save money on health insurance and reduce their tax burdens.

It's hard to see how any of this would prevent anyone dying in the street.

Editor's note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

-- 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 5 hours ago.

Obama Will Cite Health Insurance Gains in Visit to Milwaukee

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President Obama is visiting Milwaukee as the sixth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act approaches Reported by ABCNews.com 1 hour ago.

State Farm Agent Celeste Middleton Launches Soles4Souls Shoe Drive

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Celeste Middleton, of State Farm, is proud to announce she is spearheading an Easter donation drive for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit global social enterprise committed to fighting poverty through the collection and distribution of shoes and clothing.

Murfreesboro, TN (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

Celeste Middleton’s State Farm office, located at 803 N. Thompson Lane, Suite 102 B, Murfreesboro, TN, is an official drop-off location for Soles4Souls where she is collecting new and gently worn shoes for people in need. “I want to encourage the public to help in the collection of shoes so that we can send them before Easter,” said Celeste. “Everyone deserves a good pair of shoes, as each day children around the world are prevented from attending school and adults are unable to work as walking becomes unbearable due to a lack of shoes.”

The vision of Soles4Souls is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2050. To achieve this goal, Soles4Souls monetizes used shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs, as well as fund direct relief efforts, which include distribution of new shoes and clothing throughout the world. To date, Soles4Souls has collected and distributed more than 26 million pairs of shoes to people in need in 127 countries around the world and all 50 states in the U.S.

“Every pair of donated shoes counts, and creates a sustainable way for people to lift themselves and their families out of poverty,” said Celeste. “I hope to inspire people to not only donate for Easter but to get involved by organizing their own Soles4Souls shoe drive and help wear out poverty.”

For more information about getting involved with Soles4Souls or to become an official drop-off location, visit https://soles4souls.org/get-involved/.

About Soles4Souls
Soles4Souls advances its anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those shoes and clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities. Based in Nashville, TN, Soles4Souls is committed to the highest standards of operating and governance.

About Celeste Middleton, State Farm
In addition to auto, home, life and long-term health insurance, Celeste Middleton, State Farm Agent, offers annuities and financial products. This agency focuses on customers who relocate and move to Tennessee from other states. Some people may believe insurance is boring and automated, but at Celeste Middleton’s agency, they create a positive and energetic atmosphere that will leave their clients with a smile. For more information, please call (615) 895-2700, or follow Celeste on Facebook.

About the NALA™
The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers in the digital age, while providing a single-agency source that helps them flourish in their local community. The NALA offers its clients an array of marketing tools from press release campaigns and social media management to a cause marketing program. The NALA’s mission is to make businesses relevant and newsworthy, both online and through traditional media, by providing increased exposure at reasonable costs. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Reported by PRWeb 2 hours ago.

Beam Dental Partners with Flock to Further Insurance Tech

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Beam Dental is partnering with Flock to bring their shared notion of a better product in dental insurance to innovative brokers.

Columbus, OH (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

One of the major themes in technology over the past decade has been the infusion of software into non-traditional industries; the evolution of 'technology' as an industry in its own right and captured perfectly by Marc Andresseen's proclamation that 'software is eating the world'. Thus, today if we are to learn anything about the direction in which the world is moving, it is fundamentally toward technology-based tools, products, and services that make virtually interactions better, faster, and smarter.

An area recently seeing innovation (and over $1B in investment) is in the world of insurance technology and employee benefits, where the traditional broker and HR staff now have a number of new tools to play with -- software to make shopping for, and managing, payroll, insurance, and employee documentation easier than ever. Beam partners with Renaissance Dental to play a central role in this revolution when it comes to employers offering the world's best and most cost effective dental benefits experience to their workers. The Beam benefit solution is unique in that it adds a wellness element to the purchase of dental insurance by packaging Beams smart toothbrushes, paste, and floss along with a variety of dental insurance plans administered by Renaissance Dental. This approach to dental care helps keep individuals engaged with daily hygiene while encouraging preventive visits to their dentist.    

One of Beam's favorite tools pointed at brokers in particular is Flock; a fantastic example of how the customer experience can be enhanced by pairing great technology with the broker’s expertise in client needs and the personal touch.

We are excited to announce that we are partnering with Flock to bring our shared notion of a better product in dental insurance to its platform of innovative brokers. Flock represents a cutting edge product that we believe can help deepen the quality of service that the modern broker can provide to their clients. And since Beamis interfacing with exactly this group of engaged and tech-oriented brokers, the partnership is a natural fit on both sides.

Beam is proud to join Flock's fast growing group of top employee benefits brokers and look forward to helping serve them the best product experience in the industry nationwide.

About Beam

Beam is a smarter dental insurance company. We work with employers, individuals and families to deliver fundamentally better care. We accomplish more by focusing on prevention. All Beam plans include our connected brush, alongside automatic shipments of toothpaste and floss. Our accompanying app helps measure progress and rewards users for improving their dental health. Beam also makes it easy to find and access dental services with the tap of a finger. We're Beam, and we're reimagining the dental industry from the ground up. Beam is based in Columbus, Ohio. To learn more about Beam, please visit http://www.beam.dental/.

About Flock

Flock is a software as a service company focused on the rapidly-changing online insurance and HR compliance market. Flock is designed and built for the small to mid-size businesses that benefit from an application that simplifies the employee lifecycle and easily integrates with existing broker relationships that can be overlooked by the larger cloud-based software companies that focus on health insurance coverage. For more information, visit http://www.helloflock.com.

About Renaissance Dental

Renaissance Dental is the flagship product of Renaissance Life and Health Insurance Company of America and Renaissance Health Insurance Company of New York. The Renaissance Family of Companies collectively provides dental coverage for more than 13.1 million people, paying out $3 billion for dental care annually. Renaissance has more than 55 years of claims processing experience, giving the company the ability to create innovative and flexible plans. The company’s goal is to provide exceptional customer service, manage costs and pass the savings on to clients. Renaissance has an “A” rating from A.M. Best and offers nationwide ancillary benefit solutions for employer groups and individuals. Reported by PRWeb 40 minutes ago.
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