A well-funded New York-based health insurance startup that counts Fidelity Investments among its major investors posted a $92.4 million loss in its New York health insurance business in 2015. Oscar Health's loss was disclosed in a filing with New York regulators, according to a Bloomberg report. Last month, Oscar Health raised $400 million in investor funding with a valuation of $2.7 billion, led by Boston-based asset management firm Fidelity. Bloomberg said the company posted 2015 revenue of $118.2… Reported by bizjournals 23 hours ago.

Donald Trump is winning Republican presidential primaries at such a great rate that he seems likely to become the next Republican presidential nominee and perhaps the next president. Democrats have little understanding of why he is winning -- and winning handily; and even many Republicans don't see him as a Republican and are trying to stop him, but don't know how. There are various theories: People are angry and he speaks to their anger. People don't think much of Congress and want a non-politician. Both may be true. But why? What are the details? And why Trump?Many people are mystified. He seems to have come out of nowhere. His positions on issues don't fit a common mold.He likes Planned Parenthood, Social Security, and Medicare, which are not standard Republican positions. Republicans hate eminent domain (the taking of private property by the government) and love the Trans-Pacific Partnership (the TPP trade deal), but he has the opposite views on both. He is not religious and scorns religious practices, yet the Evangelicals (that is, the white Evangelicals) love him. He thinks health insurance and pharmaceutical companies, as well as military contractors, are making too much profit and wants to change that. He insults major voting groups, e.g., Latinos, when most Republicans are trying to court them. He wants to deport 11 million immigrants without papers and thinks he can. He wants to stop all Muslims from entering the country. What is going on?The answer requires a bit of background not discussed in the media to date.*Some Background*I work in the cognitive and brain sciences. In the 1990's, I undertook to answer a question in my field: How do the various policy positions of conservatives and progressives hang together? Take conservatism: What does being against abortion have to do with being for owning guns? What does owning guns have to do with denying the reality of global warming? How does being anti-government fit with wanting a stronger military? How can you be pro-life and for the death penalty? Progressives have the opposite views. How do their views hang together?The answer came from a realization that we tend to understand the nation metaphorically in family terms: We have founding fathers. We send our sons and daughters to war. We have homeland security. The conservative and progressive worldviews dividing our country can most readily be understood in terms of moral worldviews that are encapsulated in two very different common forms of family life: The Nurturant Parent family (progressive) and the Strict Father family (conservative).What do social issues and the politics have to do with the family? We are first governed in our families, and so we grow up understanding governing institutions in terms of the governing systems of families.In the strict father family, father knows best. He knows right from wrong and has the ultimate authority to make sure his children and his spouse do what he says, which is taken to be what is right. Many conservative spouses accept this worldview, uphold the father's authority, and are strict in those realms of family life that they are in charge of. When his children disobey, it is his moral duty to punish them painfully enough so that, to avoid punishment, they will obey him (do what is right) and not just do what feels good. Through physical discipline they are supposed to become disciplined, internally strong, and able to prosper in the external world. What if they don't prosper? That means they are not disciplined, and therefore cannot be moral, and so deserve their poverty. This reasoning shows up in conservative politics in which the poor are seen as lazy and undeserving, and the rich as deserving their wealth. Responsibility is thus taken to be personal responsibility not social responsibility. What you become is only up to you; society has nothing to do with it. You are responsible for yourself, not for others -- who are responsible for themselves.*Winning and Insulting*As the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, said,"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." In a world governed by personal responsibility and discipline, those who win deserve to win. Why does Donald Trump publicly insult other candidates and political leaders mercilessly? Quite simply, because he knows he can win an onstage TV insult game. In strict conservative eyes, that makes him a formidable winning candidate who deserves to be a winning candidate. Electoral competition is seen as a battle. Insults that stick are seen as victories -- deserved victories.Consider Trump's statement that John McCain is not a war hero. The reasoning: McCain got shot down. Heroes are winners. They defeat big bad guys. They don't get shot down. People who get shot down, beaten up, and stuck in a cage are losers, not winners.*The Moral Hierarchy*The strict father logic extends further. The basic idea is that authority is justified by morality (the strict father version), and that, in a well-ordered world, there should be (and traditionally has been) a moral hierarchy in which those who have traditionally dominated should dominate. The hierarchy is: God above Man, Man above Nature, The Disciplined (Strong) above the Undisciplined (Weak), The Rich above the Poor, Employers above Employees, Adults above Children, Western culture above other cultures, Our Country above other countries. The hierarchy extends to: Men above women, Whites above non-Whites, Christians above non-Christians, Straights above Gays.
We see these tendencies in most of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as in Trump, and on the whole, conservative policies flow from the strict father worldview and this hierarchyFamily-based moral worldviews run deep. Since people want to see themselves as doing right not wrong, moral worldviews tend to be part of self-definition -- who you most deeply are. And thus your moral worldview defines for you what the world should be like. When it isn't that way, one can become frustrated and angry.There is a certain amount of wiggle room in the strict father worldview and there are important variations. A major split is among (1) white Evangelical Christians, (2) laissez-fair free market conservatives, and (3) pragmatic conservatives who are not bound by evangelical beliefs.*White Evangelicals*Those whites who have a strict father personal worldview and who are religious tend toward Evangelical Christianity, since God, in Evangelical Christianity, is the Ultimate Strict Father: You follow His commandments and you go to heaven; you defy His commandments and you burn in hell for all eternity. If you are a sinner and want to go to heaven, you can be "born again" by declaring your fealty by choosing His son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior.Such a version of religion is natural for those with strict father morality. Evangelical Christians join the church because they are conservative; they are not conservative because they happen to be in an evangelical church, though they may grow up with both together.Evangelical Christianity is centered around family life. Hence, there are organizations like Focus on the Family and constant reference to "family values," which are to take to be evangelical strict father values. In strict father morality, it is the father who controls sexuality and reproduction. Where the church has political control, there are laws that require parental and spousal notification in the case of proposed abortions.Evangelicals are highly organized politically and exert control over a great many local political races. Thus Republican candidates mostly have to go along with the evangelicals if they want to be nominated and win local elections.*Pragmatic Conservatives*Pragmatic conservatives, on the other hand, may not have a religious orientation at all. Instead, they may care primarily about their own personal authority, not the authority of the church or Christ, or God. They want to be strict fathers in their own domains, with authority primarily over their own lives. Thus, a young, unmarried conservative -- male or female -- may want to have sex without worrying about marriage. They may need access to contraception, advice about sexually transmitted diseases, information about cervical cancer, and so on. And if a girl or woman becomes pregnant and there is no possibility or desire for marriage, abortion may be necessary.
Trump is a pragmatic conservative, par excellence. And he knows that there are a lot of Republican voters who are like him in their pragmatism. There is a reason that he likes Planned Parenthood. There are plenty of young, unmarried (or even married) pragmatic conservatives, who may need what Planned Parenthood has to offer -- cheaply and confidentially.Similarly, young or middle-aged pragmatic conservatives want to maximize their own wealth. They don't want to be saddled with the financial burden of caring for their parents. Social Security and Medicare relieve them of most of those responsibilities. That is why Trump wants to keep Social Security and Medicare.*Laissez-faire Free Marketeers*Establishment conservative policies have not only been shaped by the political power of white evangelical churches, but also by the political power of those who seek maximally laissez-faire free markets, where wealthy people and corporations set market rules in their favor with minimal government regulation and enforcement. They see taxation not as investment in publicly provided resources for all citizens, but as government taking their earnings (their private property) and giving the money through government programs to those who don't deserve it. This is the source of establishment Republicans' anti-tax and shrinking government views. This version of conservatism is quite happy with outsourcing to increase profits by sending manufacturing and many services abroad where labor is cheap, with the consequence that well-paying jobs leave America and wages are driven down here. Since they depend on cheap imports, they would not be in favor of imposing high tariffs.But Donald Trump is not in a business that makes products abroad to import here and mark up at a profit. As a developer, he builds hotels, casinos, office buildings, golf courses. He may build them abroad with cheap labor but he doesn't import them. Moreover, he recognizes that most small business owners in America are more like him -- American businesses like dry cleaners, pizzerias, diners, plumbers, hardware stores, gardeners, contractors, car washers, and professionals like architects, lawyers, doctors, and nurses. High tariffs don't look like a problem.Many business people are pragmatic conservatives. They like government power when it works for them. Take eminent domain. Establishment Republicans see it as an abuse by government -- government taking of private property. But conservative real estate developers like Trump depend on eminent domain so that homes and small businesses in areas they want to develop can be taken for the sake of their development plans. All they have to do is get local government officials to go along, with campaign contributions and the promise of an increase in local tax dollars helping to acquire eminent domain rights. Trump points to Atlantic City, where he build his casino using eminent domain to get the property.If businesses have to pay for their employees' health care benefits, Trump would want them to have to pay as little as possible to maximize profits for businesses in general. He would therefore want health insurance and pharmaceutical companies to charge as little as possible. To increase competition, he would want insurance companies to offer plans nationally, avoiding the state-run exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. The exchanges are there to maximize citizen health coverage, and help low-income people get coverage, rather than to increase business profits. Trump does however want to keep the mandatory feature of ACA, which establishment conservatives hate since they see it as government overreach, forcing people to buy a product. For Trump, however, the mandatory feature for individuals increases the insurance pool and brings down costs for businesses.*Direct vs. Systemic Causation*Direct causation is dealing with a problem via direct action. Systemic causation recognizes that many problems arise from the system they are in and must be dealt with via systemic causation. Systemic causation has four versions: A chain of direct causes. Interacting direct causes (or chains of direct causes). Feedback loops. And probabilistic causes. Systemic causation in global warming explains why global warming over the Pacific can produce huge snowstorms in Washington DC: masses of highly energized water molecules evaporate over the Pacific, blow to the Northeast and over the North Pole and come down in winter over the East coast and parts of the Midwest as masses of snow. Systemic causation has chains of direct causes, interacting causes, feedback loops, and probabilistic causes -- often combined.Direct causation is easy to understand, and appears to be represented in the grammars of all languages around the world. Systemic causation is more complex and is not represented in the grammar of any language. It just has to be learned.
Empirical research has shown that conservatives tend to reason with direct causation and that progressives have a much easier time reasoning with systemic causation. The reason is thought to be that, in the strict father model, the father expects the child or spouse to respond directly to an order and that refusal should be punished as swiftly and directly as possible.Many of Trump's policy proposals are framed in terms of direct causation.Immigrants are flooding in from Mexico -- build a wall to stop them. For all the immigrants who have entered illegally, just deport them -- even if there are 11 million of them working throughout the economy and living throughout the country. The cure for gun violence is to have a gun ready to directly shoot the shooter. To stop jobs from going to Asia where labor costs are lower and cheaper goods flood the market here, the solution is direct: put a huge tariff on those goods so they are more expensive than goods made here. To save money on pharmaceuticals, have the largest consumer -- the government -- take bids for the lowest prices. If ISIS is making money on Iraqi oil, send US troops to Iraq to take control of the oil. Threaten ISIS leaders by assassinating their family members (even if this is a war crime). To get information from terrorist suspects, use water-boarding, or even worse torture methods. If a few terrorists might be coming with Muslim refugees, just stop allowing all Muslims into the country. All this makes sense to direct causation thinkers, but not those who see the immense difficulties and dire consequences of such actions due to the complexities of systemic causation.*Political Correctness*There are at least tens of millions of conservatives in America who share strict father morality and its moral hierarchy. Many of them are poor or middle class and many are white men who see themselves as superior to immigrants, nonwhites, women, non-Christians, gays -- and people who rely on public assistance. In other words, they are what liberals would call "bigots." For many years, such bigotry has not been publicly acceptable, especially as more immigrants have arrived, as the country has become less white, as more women have become educated and moved into the workplace, and as gays have become more visible and gay marriage acceptable. As liberal anti-bigotry organizations have loudly pointed out and made a public issue of the un-American nature of such bigotry, those conservatives have felt more and more oppressed by what they call "political correctness" -- public pressure against their views and against what they see as "free speech." This has become exaggerated since 9/11, when anti-Muslim feelings became strong. The election of President Barack Hussein Obama created outrage among those conservatives, and they refused to see him as a legitimate American (as in the birther movement), much less as a legitimate authority, especially as his liberal views contradicted almost everything else they believe as conservatives.Donald Trump expresses out loud everything they feel -- with force, aggression, anger, and no shame. All they have to do is support and vote for Trump and they don't even have to express their "politically incorrect" views, since he does it for them and his victories make those views respectable. He is their champion. He gives them a sense of self-respect, authority, and the possibility of power.Whenever you hear the words "political correctness" remember this.*Biconceptuals*There is no middle in American politics. There are moderates, but there is no ideology of the moderate, no single ideology that all moderates agree on. A moderate conservative has some progressive positions on issues, though they vary from person to person. Similarly, a moderate progressive has some conservative positions on issues, again varying from person to person. In short, moderates have both political moral worldviews, but mostly use one of them. Those two moral worldviews in general contradict each other. How can they reside in the same brain at the same time?Both are characterized in the brain by neural circuitry. They are linked by a commonplace circuit: mutual inhibition. When one is turned on the other is turned off; when one is strengthened, the other is weakened. What turns them on or off? Language that fits that worldview activates that worldview, strengthening it, while turning off the other worldview and weakening it. The more Trump's views are discussed in the media, the more they are activated and the stronger they get, both in the minds of hardcore conservatives and in the minds of moderate progressives.This is true even if you are attacking Trump's views. The reason is that negating a frame activates that frame, as I pointed out in the book Don't Think of an Elephant! It doesn't matter if you are promoting Trump or attacking Trump, you are helping Trump.A good example of Trump winning with progressive biconceptuals includes certain unionized workers. Many union members are strict fathers at home or in their private life. They believe in "traditional family values" -- a conservative code word -- and they may identify with winners.*Why Has Trump been Winning in the Republican Primaries?*Look at all the conservatives groups he appeals to!The Democratic Party has not been taking seriously many of the reasons for Trump's support and the range of that support. And the media has not been discussing many of the reasons for Trump's support. That needs to change.*_________________*
George Lakoff is Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. His most recent book is The ALL NEW Don't Think of an Elephant! His previous books on politics and social issues are Moral Politics (1996, 2002), Don't Think of an Elephant! (2004), Whose Freedom? (2008), The Political Mind (2008), and The Little Blue Book, with Elisabeth Wehling (2012).

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*Online Tax Preparation for Free*

Many of us need to consult a tax preparer in order to complete our taxes. But there also many people who prefer to take on the task themselves, and save money on the preparation fee. If you fall into this category, there are some good online tax preparation programs you can access online that let you complete and file your taxes for free. Most of the options are for those with a 2015 household adjusted gross income of under $62,000. But there are also options for those with higher incomes.

If your household’s 2015 adjusted gross income was below $62,000, you can prepare and file your federal return for free using online, guided software through IRS Free File, a program offered by the Internal Revenue Service.

After you click on the link, follow these steps. Click on the blue "Start" button on the Web page to see a listing of 13 companies that let you file online for free. Since all have different eligibility rules, you'll have to sift through them to see which works best for you. You can also click on the "Help find me Free File software" tool option to winnow down the best programs for your needs. 

Before going to IRS Free File, though, check the online tax preparation website of the taxing authority in your state to see how to qualify for free preparation and filing of your state income tax return. You may have to start there first to prepare and then e-file everything for free. In New York State, for instance, eligible taxpayers must start at the state’s free filing Web page to be linked to the appropriate online tax preparation software, which then handles both state and federal returns for no cost. This year, just two companies are participating in the New York program: Online Taxes and MyFreeTaxes, sponsored by the United Way.

*Alternative Tax Preparation Programs*

If your state doesn't offer free e-file, you may find alternative online tax preparation services outside of the Free File program.

TaxAct's Online 2015 Free Edition, for example, covers IRS Forms 1040A and 1040EZ, as well as a number of common tax documents such as Form 1095-A and the Health Insurance Marketplace Statement. TaxAct says it offers free support via e-mail for tax questions.

While it may be challenging, smartphone savvy taxpayers can prepare and e-file both state and federal returns for free on their iPhones and Androids with TaxACT Express software. The service covers Form 1040A, 1040EZ, simple versions of Form 1040, and a few IRS schedules, such as Form 1099-INT and 1099-DIV, and Schedule EIC for the Earned Income Credit. (TaxACT warns that if you switch over to a browser or tablet app to finish and e-file your form, you're subject to TaxACT's online pricing.)

TurboTax's Federal Free Edition offers free, guided online tax preparation service and e-filing for both federal and state returns, regardless of your income. To qualify, though, you must use IRS Forms 1040EZ or 1040A. The free service will import your W-2 information from participating employers. Or, you can photograph your W-2 on your smartphone using the TurboTax app; the app will automatically populate your tax form with the proper figures. You can then continue to prepare the form, either on your phone or your computer. For other services, including transferring your data from a prior return prepared using TurboTax, you'll have to upgrade to one of the company's other software versions, for a price. (See our review of H&R Block and TurboTax Deluxe online editions.)

The H&R Block Free Edition doesn't offer free state filing, but it appears to have the best value proposition for federal forms. In addition to free preparation and filing of basic federal forms—1040A, 1040EZ, and simple 1040s—users get free, "live, personal tax advice with a tax professional" via chat and free "in-person audit support." The free edition supports a wide number of forms and schedules. Like TurboTax, the service will automatically import data from your W-2; it also will import Form 1095-A from your health insurance marketplace. But state tax preparation and filing will cost you $10. 

H&R Block is repeating its "bonus" offer from last year for all users. For every $100 of tax refund that Free or Basic edition users load onto a participating retailer's gift card, H&R Block will add 5 percent. (It adds 10 percent if you upgrade to another H&R Block product.) 

Something worth noting: TaxSlayer is offering its state and federal preparation and e-file services at half price for active military personnel. If you're not active-duty military, you can still prepare and e-file the simplest, Form 1040EZ for free with TaxSlayer. You can do the same with another program, e-Smart Tax. Both require extra for state tax preparation and e-filing. Unfortunately, the price to prepare and file a state form with e-Smart Tax's has risen this year to nearly $26, up from just under $10 last tax season.

*Free Options for Wealthier Filers*

If your household adjusted gross income is above $62,000 and you need to prepare and e-file a regular Form 1040 and accompanying schedules, you should also consider the software from TaxAct. It offers the widest array of IRS forms and schedules that can be prepared and filed for free. Preparing and e-filing state tax forms on a browser (as opposed to via smart phone) costs $10.

If you don't need help filling out your forms, the IRS also offers free, "fillable" electronic versions of Forms 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ to all taxpayers, regardless of income.

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With Super Bloated Tuesday 2016 relegated to the dustbin of history, the key questions for both parties' presidential campaigns are fewer and clearer.

Most immediately, Republican party leadership, if such a thing still exists, has to determine if it has any weaponry left with enough tonnage to stop Donald Trump.

If the firepower exists, then they must decide whether, how and when to unleash it with the hope of derailing the runaway Trump train. For Republicans seriously concerned about party preservation, the right answers to "whether,""how" and "when" are "yes,""with the kitchen sink" and "yesterday" or "last month" or maybe "Christmas 2015."

If the effort fails, Trump seems destined to become the Republican Party's nominee for president, which also will make him the uninformed formulator of its principles, the unintelligible articulator of its policies and the grotesque embodiment of its brand and image. That will leave the titular leaders scrambling between now and November 8 to contain the damage Trump is wreaking on a fractured party that was struggling with self-inflicted wounds well before the "short-fingered vulgarian" (props for the coinage to Graydon Carter, Spy Magazine, c. 25 years ago) wriggled up from the primordial ooze and into Republican politics.

Count South Carolina's Lindsey Graham among the seriously concerned. The third-term Republican senator -- and, before that, a four-term U.S. congressman -- competed for the Republican presidential nomination last year but never got any traction and dropped out just before Christmas.

Late last week, Graham told reporters at the Capitol that Trump becoming the Republican nominee would be disastrous for his party and, in his view, for the country. "I think he's going to lose and lose badly, and I think all the things we care about are going to be locked in place... You can't nominate a nut job and lose and expect it doesn't have consequences," he said.

That night, as a featured speaker at the annual congressional dinner of the Washington Press Club Foundation, Graham summed it up this way: "My party has gone batshit crazy."

A couple of days later, karma came back around on the Republicans with a vengeance. In a Sunday interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Trump thrice denied knowing anything about white supremacists, about the Ku Klux Klan or about the notorious David Duke. Duke, whose connections with the Klan and other racist, anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi groups date back 40 years, has been urging whoever pays attention to him to support Trump. Trump had disavowed Duke on Friday but failed to say anything to Tapper about it. After the CNN interview, Trump restated, via Twitter, the disavowal of Duke.

Trump's fumbling of Tapper's softball invitation to separate himself from racist principles, organizations and individuals seemed fitting for the front-running Republican who has stood out for his use of ugly slurs about women, the disabled, people of certain national origins and religious beliefs and others he perceives as useful scapegoats for the genuine frustrations and bitterness of a sizable chunk of his supporters.

That includes white supremacists, as Evan Osnos has documented for The New Yorker, and Trump previously has ducked chances to clearly denounce them or even a chance to denounce, more recently, World War II-era Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

But Trump's recent KKK/fascism moments also felt resonant with the last half-century of Republican evolutionary history, the party that elevated Richard Nixon to the presidency in 1968 on the strength of a new "southern strategy."

The approach -- clearly explained in a recorded 1981 interview by the ruthless, late Republican strategist Lee Atwater -- involved replacing the party's historical support for civil rights with policies, disguised behind coded language, that disadvantaged African-Americans disproportionately. This effectively extended aspects of the racist status quo and appealed to racist white southerners. The long-range scheme created a virtually solid Republican voting block across the American south.

Time, education, expanding social consciousness, racial and ethnic population shifts and new communications technologies have cracked that monolith. But the predominantly white, male, working class, aging and ideologically extreme Republican base seems to identify with Trump's swaggering and entertaining performance as Fed-Up Angry Guy. They also seem untroubled by the candidate's inconsistency, incoherence, intolerance and ignorance of issues.

Indeed, Trump's formidable acting chops are making powerful emotional connections that are still being underestimated, and not only by Republican leaders like Lindsey Graham.

Democrats finally are starting to take seriously Trump's potency as a candidate. But what they really need to do is finish picking their nominee and get on with the full-time task of designing and executing a detailed plan to beat Trump in November.The dominating primary showings of Hillary Clinton [AP PHOTO], including on Super Tuesday, and the primary schedule ahead point to her winning the nomination. At the same time, there's no denying the appealing directness of Bernie Sanders' positions on economic inequality, the outsized influence on politics of wealthy individuals and the financial services sector, the desirability of a single-payer health insurance system and more.

The respective supporters of Clinton and Sanders, of course, have no trouble coming up with defects in their opponent's personalities and record of achievements or lack therof. But as important and even crucial as these matters are, they all became essentially irrelevant on February 13. That was the day Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court died unexpectedly at a resort/ranch in southwest Texas.

Scalia's death changed everything. Instead of nominations of federal judges being just another presidential election year hypothetical, there is now a hard, cold reality: Someone will take Scalia's place on the Supreme Court, and that person will have a lifetime appointment.

By ruling out confirmation hearings or a floor vote for anyone nominated by President Obama, Senate Republicans have ensured that Scalia's replacement will be chosen by Obama's replacement. They are gambling, obviously, that a Republican will win the presidency in November and that the winner -- even if it's Trump -- would nominate a conservative to maintain the Court's long-standing tilt to the right on executive authority, environmental regulation, criminal and social justice, and corporate matters.

A new Democratic president, on the other hand, would nominate a liberal to replace the ultra-conservative Scalia, shifting the Court's balance to the left for the first time in decades. This raises the prospect of rulings on law and the Constitution that might be more attuned to the realities of 21st-century America and could improve the lives of people and families for generations to come.

With the stakes elevated to that level, all the issues of the Democrats' primary season have come down to just one: electability. Which Democrat is more likely to beat Trump in November: Clinton or Sanders?

It's not an easy call. The candidates' personalities aside, their respective positions on most issues differ less on substance than by degree. And even as president, either would have a tough time making headway with a progressive agenda if Republicans retained a majority in at least one house of Congress or if a new Democratic majority in the Senate fell short of filibuster-proof.

But a Democratic victory for the presidency would bring with it the nomination of a new justice to the Supreme Court and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change the Court's ideological balance. How much are liberal voters willing to risk losing that -- and all that it could mean for themselves, their children and grandchildren -- by casting even a principled, but ultimately losing, vote that could throw the Court's future into Trump's hands?

A version of this column originally was published online and in print by the St. Louis Jewish Light.

-- 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 21 hours ago.

Clarity PSO names critical reasons why a PSO is the preferred method for hospitals with more than 50 beds to meet the Healthcare Insurance Marketplace participation requirements as set forth in the Affordable Care Act Final Rule.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

On February 29, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) filed a Final Rule regarding Improvements for the 2017 Health Insurance Marketplace. In the notice, CMS finalized the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that starting January 1, 2017, a hospital with more than 50 beds that wants to participate in the Healthcare Insurance Marketplace must conduct work through a Patient Safety Evaluation System as defined in 42 CFR 3.20, which requires the use of a Patient Safety Organization (PSO).

There are reasonable exceptions to meeting the ACA mandate, but as identified by the CMS requirement and as referenced by many commenters, PSOs are the preferred method. It is a PSO’s mission to assist providers in identifying and reducing risks associated with delivery of care, such as readmission rates, safe patient discharge, and all cause preventable harm - the very goal of the Ruling.

Tom Piotrowski, Executive Director of Clarity PSO, states, “This is the time for PSOs to respond to the needs of healthcare providers under the ACA! Providers can enhance the quality and safety of the care they deliver from their affiliation with a PSO, and we are excited to partner with hospitals in expanding their patient safety efforts."

Tom identifies some of the critical reasons why a PSO is the preferred way to meet the mandate, which include:·     PSOs collect all types of information from all types of healthcare organizations. While a PSO can balance tailored safety solutions, the scope of patient safety activities are not limited to specific sectors, measures or specialties.
·     Under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, organizations that contract with a PSO receive strong federal privilege and confidentiality protections for any patient safety data reported to the PSO.
·     One of the ultimate goals of the PSO program is to create a national error reporting database, which does not exist anywhere else in healthcare. There are a few PSOs, including Clarity PSO, who have led the charge in kick starting the development of the database.
·     A PSO supports a culture of safety by offering organizations a “learning laboratory” to investigate, test, and repair care delivery processes before they can cause harm or repeat harm.

In our report, PSO Impact and Opportunity - A Seven-Year Report to Healthcare Providers, we outline our work as a PSO and highlight the impact we have had on our clients and the greater healthcare community. The report offers insight into the PSO program and provides more information as to why PSOs are a key proponent to making improvements in healthcare delivery and healthcare reform.

Since becoming one of the first PSOs listed in 2008, Clarity PSO has been a leader in the industry with patient safety activities that have yielded strong and positive results. Our clients are actively engaged in the program and have made many changes within their organizations based on what they have learned through the PSO. Clarity PSO looks forward to bringing more healthcare professionals together through the Final Ruling and advancing patient safety across the continuum of care.

About Clarity PSO
Clarity PSO is a federally listed Patient Safety Organization with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and stands as an independent division of Clarity Group, Inc. Clarity PSO offers healthcare providers a full range of solutions for increasing patient safety, including analytical benchmarking, risk-quality-safety resources, and systems development. Clarity's team of PSO consultants is dedicated to helping healthcare providers of all kinds mitigate risk while improving the quality of care. For more information on Clarity PSO, please visit http://www.claritypso.com.

About Clarity Group, Inc.
Clarity helps healthcare organizations understand and manage their risk and related costs through innovative and practical tools and services that focus on quality and safety outcomes. Core Clarity products and services include captive insurance company development and operations; risk-quality-safety consulting and educational services; and software that facilitates the reporting, tracking and management of safety and quality events. For more information on Clarity Group, Inc., please visit http://www.claritygrp.com. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.

From PDCM’s humble start in Herb Vaughan Sr.’s small office in Waterloo in 1916 to becoming a leader in the insurance industry today, PDCM has many accomplishments to celebrate on its 100-year anniversary and is well positioned to deliver smarter insurance solutions into the next century.

WATERLOO, Iowa (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

PDCM Insurance Inc., one of the top independent insurance agencies and consulting firms in the state of Iowa, today celebrated its 100-year anniversary and the opening of its new headquarters in Waterloo with an open house.

Open house festivities at the new headquarters, located at 3022 Airport Blvd., included a continental breakfast reception; a short program including a ribbon cutting, remarks and video presentation; and tours of the new building. During the program, PDCM President and CEO Chris Fereday reflected on the company’s history and shared his vision for the future.

“Over the last 100 years, one thing is certain, PDCM has never swayed from our core business principles of providing outstanding customer service, adapting to change, and simply doing what is right for our clients and communities,” said Fereday. “Whether it’s taking part in volunteer activities, championing the fight for certain causes, or serving on nonprofit or civic boards in a leadership capacity, we encourage all our employees to make a difference in the communities we serve.”

While customer service and community involvement has been at the forefront of PDCM’s strength, it has continually adapted to change brought on by natural disasters, world wars, government legislation and the digital age. The digital revolution has had an incredible impact on the insurance industry.    

“With big data have come big changes—from how we set more competitive rates and more conveniently handle claims, to developing new products and services to benefit our clients,” said Fereday. “With the evolving and increasing threat of cybercrime, PDCM was at the forefront, hiring data specialists and developing a Cyber Security Audit product.”

According to Fereday, there is also a big upside to technology in terms of mitigating risks and positively impacting personal and commercial rates. “Smart” home and “Smart” business systems provide the instruments to sense things like overheated wires, issue alerts and prevent fires, while connected cars and telematic devices provide the tools to offer new usage-based auto insurance.

“At PDCM, we are always looking to the future for our clients, monitoring problems from global warming to new OSHA compliance laws and health insurance reform changes to predict how this could impact our customers and their business now and into the future,” said Fereday. “With OSHA changes, came PDCM’s new risk management division and CompleteCare program; and with the Affordable Care Act, came PDCM’s acquisition of Group Benefits Design, arguably the best employee benefits agency in the region.”

By acquiring Group Benefits Design, PDCM strengthened its commercial insurance position as a one-stop shop for business insurance, risk management solutions, human resources consulting, employee benefits, and employee wellness plan development and implementation.

“It’s been three years since we brought our families of professionals together, and our cultural blending and the great benefits we’ve been able to offer our combined clients has exceeded both Chris’ and my expectations,” said John Monaghan, president of PDCM’s employee benefits division. “We’re excited to all be under one roof together in our new building to build upon the vision and success of PDCM’s great founders.”

Fereday echoed his admiration for PDCM founders and added, “From all of us at PDCM, we wholeheartedly wish to thank our customers for entrusting us as partners in their business and personal planning to protect all those things in life that matter most. We look forward to another 100 years of successfully building stronger businesses and communities together.”

About PDCM Insurance
PDCM Insurance Inc., a leading Iowa independent insurance agency and consulting firm, has managed the insurance needs of Iowa businesses and families for 100 years. PDCM is committed to keeping pace with the ever-changing insurance and employee benefits industries and continuing to meet its clients' challenges through responsive customer service and innovative, cost-effective programs and products. PDCM offers a SMARTER approach to insurance. For more information, visit http://www.PDCM.com.

# # # Reported by PRWeb 19 hours ago.

CMS’ silence on third-party payment issue allows insurers to put in place practices that jeopardize patients’ access to life-sustaining care

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue clear regulations that would require insurance companies to accept third-party premium payments from charitable nonprofit organizations like AKF whose programs fall within reasonable “guardrails.” Such regulations would ensure that low-income individuals with chronic illnesses including kidney failure are able to afford health insurance, and at the same time would protect insurance risk pools.

In the 2017 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP), issued earlier this week, CMS stated that it would address nonprofit third-party payments in future rulemaking.

“We have been urging CMS to clarify its regulations around nonprofit third-party payments for almost two years,” said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO. “CMS’ existing guidance is open to a wide range of interpretations—and insurance companies are taking advantage of these ambiguities to refuse charitable premium payments on behalf of their low-income policyholders. Some insurance companies are going so far as to threaten to terminate the coverage of anyone who receives such charitable help.”

A group of patient-advocates from eight states—including North Carolina, Illinois and Texas, where insurers are targeting patients with kidney failure—joined AKF on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a Congressional briefing and meetings with their Representatives and Senators on the issue. The advocates asked legislators to contact acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt to urge him to address this issue with a greater sense of urgency.

“We need CMS to recognize the seriousness of the third-party payment issue, and through rulemaking, protect the vulnerable patients who depend on assistance from the nation’s health nonprofits,” Burton added.

The existing CMS guidance requires insurance companies to accept third-party payments only from certain entities: government programs, Indian tribal organizations, and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program.

In Monday’s NBPP, CMS referred back to a 2014 FAQ document it issued, which states that third-party payments from private foundations are not prohibited, so long as the payer covers an individual for the full year and only takes into account an individual’s financial need, not their health status. Although AKF meets these criteria, insurance companies have cited the criteria as justification to refuse AKF’s payments.

“The existing FAQ is not sufficient,” said Burton. “It does not address the unique and longstanding role of our nation’s health nonprofits in providing assistance to patients.”

AKF’s Health Insurance Premium Program was established almost 20 years ago under favorable guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. AKF helps close to 80,000 U.S. kidney failure patients maintain their health coverage by paying health insurance premiums when patients cannot afford to pay. Of the patients AKF assists, 6,400 are enrolled in Marketplace plans; the rest are enrolled in Medicare Part B, Medigap, COBRA, employer group health and other commercial plans. AKF makes most payments directly to insurance carriers, a third-party payment process that ensures no patient will lose coverage due to late or non-payment. AKF assists patients for the full year and has no involvement in patients’ choice of insurance plans or healthcare providers; patients apply to AKF for help when they already have insurance they cannot afford.

Insurers in at least 34 states have begun to reject third-party payments from AKF and many other health nonprofits. Some carriers are requiring individuals to sign an attestation that a nonprofit is not helping them to pay for their coverage—and if they receive charitable assistance, refusing to issue them coverage or threatening to terminate their coverage.

“We have proposed to CMS a number of guardrails that would ensure nonprofit premium payments are made in a way that protects the integrity of the insurance marketplace,” Burton said. “We look forward to continued discussion with CMS on this topic to ensure a final rule emerges in a timely manner to protect the patients we serve.”

About the American Kidney Fund
As the nation’s leading nonprofit working on behalf of the 31 million Americans with kidney disease, the American Kidney Fund is dedicated to ensuring that every kidney patient has access to health care, and that every person at risk for kidney disease is empowered to prevent it. AKF fulfills its mission by providing a complete spectrum of programs and services: prevention outreach, top-rated health educational resources, and direct financial assistance enabling kidney patients to access lifesaving medical care, including dialysis and transplantation.

AKF helps 1 out of every 5 U.S. dialysis patients with treatment-related expenses. More than 93,000 patients in all 50 states received AKF grants last year. AKF invests in clinical research to improve outcomes for kidney patients, and fights tirelessly on Capitol Hill for legislation and policies supporting the issues that are important to kidney patients. To address the enormous public health threat of kidney disease, AKF provides public and professional health education materials and courses, the Kidney Action Day® community outreach program, a Kidney Health Educator program, and a toll-free health information HelpLine (866.300.2900). AKF’s new grassroots fundraising platform, KIDNEYNATION, unites Americans who are raising funds to support the organization’s mission.

AKF spends 97 cents of every donated dollar on programs and services. AKF holds the highest ratings from the nation’s charity watchdog groups, including Charity Navigator, which includes AKF on its “top 10” list of nonprofits with the longest track records of outstanding stewardship of the donated dollar.

For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Reported by PRWeb 17 hours ago.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — President Barack Obama will seek to highlight how his signature health insurance overhaul has helped millions of Americans gain coverage as he visits Wisconsin’s largest city to congratulate local leaders for winning a national enrollment contest. More than 38,000 Milwaukee-area residents signed up for health coverage. That’s out of about 51,000 uninsured […] Reported by Seattle Times 16 hours ago.

I just had a look at Trump's skinny-down health care plan. Here's my summary:

*1. Repeal Obamacare
2. Kick out undocumented immigrants
3. ???
4. Enjoy awesome health care!*

There's a bit more in there, some of which is good, some of which is terrible, and most of which is beside the point.

Block granting Medicaid -- turning it over to the states with a fixed funding amount -- is a great way to surgically remove its critical countercyclical function: its ability to expand to meet increased need in recessions. In fact, in the last downturn, the feds helped states a great deal by ramping up DC's share of their Medicaid bill.

There's some mysterious stuff in there about allowing "individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)." Um...they already can.

Similarly, his "idea" to allow you to deduct premium costs from your taxes is at most redundant and otherwise a regressive waste. Employers already deduct employer health costs -- it's the biggest tax expenditure in the system. The self-employed can already do the same. Low income people don't incur a federal tax liability against which to deduct anything. The people who will benefit from this surely already have or can afford coverage. It's therefore just a wasteful giveaway.

He goes after big Pharma a bit -- there's his populist instincts coming through -- by allowing importation of cheaper drugs from abroad. Assuming quality control -- the importation of known, established drugs or generics -- that's a good idea. The key, however, will be allowing Medicare and Medicaid to purchase them.

There are a couple of other standard issue R ideas -- selling health insurance across state lines; price transparency. The former won't have much impact on anything and while the latter is obviously a fine goal, it's complicated by unique aspects of health care. Comparison shopping unquestionably saves money when you're buying a sweater from Amazon; less so when it's a hip replacement. One place where such transparency matters is in choosing a health care plan, and the Obamacare exchanges have made real advances in clear pricing and standardization. In fact, cost control is of course a key goal of Obamacare, and there's evidence that it has been effective.

Whatever. This campaign ain't exactly about policy. But any first-year public policy student who submitted this as their health care plan would be kicked out of school, if not deported.
This post originally appeared at Jared Bernstein's On The Economy blog.

-- 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 15 hours ago.

Lisa L. Lockerman accomplishes what only a small percentage of wealth managers in the Orange County area have achieved.

Newport Beach, CA (PRWEB) March 03, 2016

Five Star Professional is pleased to announce Lisa L. Lockerman, Lockerman Financial Group, has been chosen as one of Orange County’s Five Star Wealth Managers for 2016.

Five Star Professional partnered with Orange Coast magazine to recognize a select group of Orange County-area wealth managers who provide quality services to their clients. Lisa is featured, along with other award winners, in a special section of the April issue.

Lisa is the founder and president of Lockerman Financial Group. She has proudly served as a trusted wealth manager since 1991. In addition to the Five Star Wealth Manager Award, she has received the Women’s Choice Award, 2014 – 2016.

“It is an honor to be included in this prestigious list of award-winning wealth managers for five consecutive years. This year, we will be celebrating 25 years of serving the community with great pride and the highest standards. We are grateful for our client family. Our mission is to make their lives, and the lives of future generations, better for having chosen our firm as their financial partner,” says Lisa.

She earned her degree, a Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS), from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance management and a minor in Spanish from California State University, Long Beach. She received the Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designation and a certificate in Estate Planning and Taxation from The American College. She received the Accredited Estate Planner® designation from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. She holds the FINRA series 24, 6, 7, 63 and 65 licenses and is licensed to offer life and health insurance in several states.

The Five Star Wealth Manager award program is the largest and most widely published wealth manager award program in the financial services industry. The award is based on a rigorous, multifaceted research methodology, which incorporates input from peers and firm leaders along with client retention rates, industry experience and a thorough regulatory history review.

“Based on our evaluation, the wealth managers we recognize are committed to pursuing professional excellence and have a deep knowledge of their industry. They strive to provide exemplary care to the people they serve,” stated Dan Zdon, CEO, Five Star Professional.

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Active as a credentialed professional in the financial services industry for a minimum of five years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process*); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients; 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or awarded. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional profile ad space or promotional products. The award methodology does not evaluate the quality of services provided and is not indicative of the winner’s future performance. 1,383 Orange County wealth managers were considered for the award; 312 (23 percent of candidates) were named 2016 Five Star Wealth Managers.

*To qualify as having a favorable regulatory and complaint history, the person cannot have: 1. been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a suspended or revoked license, or payment of a fine, 2. had more than three customer complaints filed against them (settled or pending) with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process, 3. individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint filed with a regulatory authority, 4. filed for bankruptcy, or 5. been convicted of a felony.

For research methodology information visit http://www.fivestarprofessional.com.

Lockerman Financial Group is an independent financial services firm. The advisors at the firm offer unbiased advice and access to a vast array of non-proprietary products and resources. Client relationships start with a personalized planning process to discover what is important to each client. Strategies are then designed to align the client’s goals with financial and estate planning. A collaborative team approach is used to coordinate all aspects of a client’s financial life.

http://www.LockermanFinancial.com
info@LockermanFinancial.com

Registered Principal, Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and Lockerman Financial Group are not affiliated. CA Insurance License 0G56777 and 0822719.

To receive the Women’s Choice Award, individuals must satisfy a series of evaluation criteria associated with providing quality service to women clients.

Financial Advisors may pay a basic program fee to cover the cost of comprehensive review and client survey. Third party rankings and recognitions are not indicative of past or future investment performance and should not be construed as an endorsement of the financial advisor. For more information, go to http://www.WIFE.org. Reported by PRWeb 15 hours ago.

President Barack Obama will seek to highlight how his signature health insurance overhaul has helped millions of Americans gain coverage as he visits Wisconsin's largest city Thursday to congratulate local leaders for... Reported by WTHR 15 hours ago.

The federal government is extending Medicaid health insurance to Flint residents up to age 21 and to pregnant women who were exposed to lead in the city's water supply Reported by ABCNews.com 14 hours ago.

"The Affordable Care Act -- aka Obamacare -- is saving lives and saving money," the president said Reported by CBS News 14 hours ago.

I finally did it.

After seven years of working in the same company, and nine years in the industry -- I officially left my job last week.

If you're contemplating quitting your job too -- here are some tips that will help you say goodbye with style.

I'm not saying I'm the most graceful person ever, but I've seen a lot of bad goodbyes. And if you've been somewhere for a long time, I'd hate to see you go out badly, after all that time you've put into work.

Now that you've finally decided to quit -- here's my take on how to quit. How do you make the absolute best of the situation?*1. Don't Resign -- Ask to be Laid Off *

There's a major difference between getting fired, resigning and getting made redundant.

Getting fired is for doing something really bad -- like pouring gasoline into your boss' coffee. You don't get anything when you get fired.

Resigning is how most people do it. You write a letter, serve your notice -- and walk out with your head held high.

But getting laid off is where it gets interesting. And this is because in current economic times -- *a lot* of companies have target numbers of employees to cut.

If you're already set on leaving, why not ask to be part of that number? It might just make your boss' job a little easier.

The benefits? Depending on which country you work in -- redundancy benefits could be miserly, or really good. But it's still better than nothing. In almost all states of the USA, companies aren't legally obliged to pay redundancy. But people still report an average between one to four weeks of pay for each year of service.

In a country with a more regulated labor environment (say the UK, Australia or Malaysia) -- the law has stricter guidelines on redundancy payments. That means you're guaranteed some money.

Money aside -- you could potentially get other benefits like health insurance too.

Maybe your employer will think you're crazy for directly asking. Maybe your company has rules that employees who ask to be made redundant *don't* get made redundant, and will be asked to resign.

I don't know. But if you're ready to go -- it wouldn't hurt to try.*2. Time Your Departure*

This feeds into point number 1 above. There are good and bad times to quit. There are good and bad times to quit, depending on the peaks and valleys of business activity.

If you try to quit when there's a lot of business, fully expect the company to try and make you stay. They might even tempt you with more money... But there's a humane way to look at this too -- you don't want to dump extra work on your poor colleagues by leaving suddenly.

The other thing I tell everyone nowadays is: *do not* quit before quarterly earnings are announced. The months of January (Q4 and annual results), April (Q1), July (Q2), and October (Q3) are when companies usually report their earnings to Wall Street. (You can check your company website for the next earnings call to be sure). During these calls, companies often *announce reductions* to the workforce. If you can rough it out awhile -- wait till these months to have "the talk."

I learned this the hard way. I resigned in the last week of December. A few weeks into January, the company announced its annual results and another round of layoffs.

But I wasn't getting any of that redundancy money, because I had already resigned.

*3. Announce Your Departure Early*

Sometimes I get emails from people saying: "this is my last day." And sometimes I don't read that email until a few days later. The person is gone, and I haven't even had the chance to say a simple goodbye.

So if you're gonna leave, plan and announce your departure early. As soon as possible once you're sure.

It allows everyone to prepare for your departure emotionally. It allows you to solidify your contacts within the company (remember to save everyone's number/email in your personal phone), and string up a series of free goodbye lunches. But it also allows the handover of work to go as smoothly as possible.

By the way, because your boss is likely too busy -- you should be in charge of making sure work gets handed over properly.

Your future might not be there anymore, but if you handover everything well -- you'll always be remembered for being the ultimate professional.

*4. Write/Get Your Letters of Love*

If you've done a barely decent (if you're reading this though, I'm sure you've done a good) job -- most bosses will be happy to write a recommendation letter for you.

But since they're busy, I recommend that you write the ultimate self-praise letter, put their names at the bottom -- then ask them to review and sign it. That's the most efficient way to get it done.

As to how you'll ever use those letters (attach them to your LinkedIn profile, or stick extracts on your website maybe?) -- that's a discussion for another day.

But more than asking for them -- I hope you'll write recommendation letters for the good people you supervise. Let your final written words about your staff be a gracious gift.

And maybe you'll find this to be true: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."--------
A lot of people hate their jobs; and I'm sure there are things you dislike about yours too. Even though I liked my previous job, I said "F**k this s**t" more times than I can remember.

It's natural to let any pent-up anger and frustrations come to surface -- now that you're leaving.

But ten years from now, I'll bet when we look back at our previous jobs -- we won't remember the anger, pain and frustrating things. Instead, we'll smile as we remember the fun times, the awesome achievements and the good people.

I hope you'll remember leaving in dignified style.
--------
*Read More:* When is it Time to Quit?

-- 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.

WASHINGTON -- Twenty million previously uninsured people have gained health coverage since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, President Barack Obama said during a speech in Milwaukee Thursday.

Obama's announcement was based on a report the Department of Health and Human Services published the same day, which found 17.7 million working-age adults became insured between the beginning of Obamacare's first enrollment period in 2013 and the close of this year's sign-up campaign last month. The department estimates 2.3 million adults under the age of 26 got covered through the law's provision allowing young adults to remain on their parents' policies.

These findings, based on several surveys, are merely the latest proof that, whatever its shortcomings, the Affordable Care Act has succeeded in its primary goal of reducing the number of Americans who lack health insurance. The share of adults aged 18-64 without health insurance was 11.5 percent as of February, down from 20.3 percent in October 2013, according to the report. Other polls that include children and people over 65 show an even lower uninsured rate.

"This is the lowest rate that we have seen since we started keeping these records," Obama said. "We're not going backwards. We're not going to go back to a time where people could be denied because of pre-existing conditions. That's not who we are. That's who we were."

Obama traveled to Milwaukee because the city bested other locations in a challenge to sign up the most people in the enrollment period that recently ended. Close to 13 million enrolled in private coverage via the Obamacare health insurance exchanges this year.As part of the promotional campaign for Obama's visit to Milwaukee, the White House shared a letter a former opponent sent the president about his experience with the Affordable Care Act.

"I did not vote for you. Either time. I have voted Republican for the entirety of my life. I proudly wore pins and planted banners displaying my Republican loyalty. I was very vocal in my opposition to you -- particularly the ACA," wrote Brent Nathan Brown of Mosinee, Wisconsin. "I would not be alive without access to care I received due to your law. So thank you from a dumb young man who thought he knew it all and who said things about you that he now regrets. Thank you for serving me even when I didn’t vote for you." Brown also introduced Obama at the event.

"When I read his letter, it made a powerful impact on me," Obama said. "Brent is why we fought so hard to fix a broken health care system in the first place."

The new figures HHS published Thursday show the uninsured rate improved across racial and ethnic groups.

An estimated 4 million Hispanics aged 18-64 gained coverage, and the share without insurance fell from 41.8 percent to 30.5 percent. Among working-age African-American adults, the uninsured rate declined from 22.4 percent to 10.6 percent as 3 million got covered. And the proportion of non-Hispanic whites without coverage went down from 14.3 percent to 7 percent as a result of 8.9 million adults between 18 and 64 becoming insured.

This trend gives Obama something to boast about when it comes to his signature domestic achievement, but the Affordable Care Act still faces considerable challenges in the next few years that could jeopardize these gains in coverage. Obama has floated policies to fix some, but not all, of the problems with the law.

Health insurance companies are struggling to make money on the exchanges, leading major players like UnitedHealth Group to openly contemplate abandoning them. Aetna and other firms, in contrast, say they're committed to making the marketplaces work even if they're not immediately profitable. And insurers losing money in the exchange market are eyeing premium increases for next year that could make coverage unaffordable for some portion of those already in the system.

Moreover, the progress in growing the exchanges and in covering the uninsured may be stalling. Total enrollment on the exchanges barely grew compared to last year, and those who remain uninsured are considered the most difficult to locate and persuade. That's especially true for households that earn too much to qualify for health insurance subsidies.

"We know that there are millions more who are eligible for coverage but haven't gotten it yet," Obama said.

And a political threat continues to loom over Obamacare, The Republican Congress is again vowing to develop a plan to "replace" the law, although they've made little noticeable progress since Obama signed the ACA six years ago this month.

And GOP presidential candidates like Donald Trump continue to call for Obamacare's repeal and replacement with other policies that wouldn't provide coverage to those who gained insurance because of the ACA, and could even result in larger numbers of uninsured than before Obama's reforms took effect.

-- 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.

For the first time, more than 9 in 10 Americans have health insurance.  Reported by Christian Science Monitor 10 hours ago.

Twenty major companies—including American Express, Macy’s and Verizon—are banding together to use their collective data and market power in a bid to hold down the cost of providing workers with health-care benefits. Reported by Wall Street Journal 3 hours ago.

Recent release “The Major Cause of Rising Health Care Cost with Decreasing Quality: A Scarcity of Primary Care Physicians” from Page Publishing author Fred W. Lafferty, MD. is an informative, enlightening work about the inequality and faults in the nation’s health care system. The book showcases the increase of healthcare costs and the decrease in quality of care.

(PRWEB) March 04, 2016

Fred W. Lafferty, MD., a retired medical doctor, published medical writer, previous clinical professor of medicine and author, has completed his newest work “The Major Cause of Rising Health Care Cost with Decreasing Quality: A Scarcity of Primary Care Physicians”: a gripping and educational work that depicts the politics of medicine.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Fred W. Lafferty’s prolific work delves into the ideas of a profit motivated health system and the monopolies of large hospital chains.

Since 2000, the author has observed the soaring costs of health care in the United States which has accompanied a decline in quality of care for the average citizen. This has been the result of the intrusions of Medicare since 1985, the profit motivated private health insurance companies, the development of large corporate hospital chains, and the irresponsible increased cost of medications by the pharmaceutical industry. In 1985, Medicare mandated what physicians could charge with a clumsy coding system, which essentially socialized medicine. This system heavily favored the procedure driven specialties to the detriment of the primary care doctor. During the past thirty years, the percentage of American Medical School graduates entering primary care has diminished from thirty-five to five percent resulting in a scarcity of family physicians. Despite America's outstanding medical schools, academic physicians, and technology, the United States ranks from fifteenth to thirty seventh among the industrialized nations of the world in quality of care and longevity of its population. Regardless of Obamacare's promise to provide healthcare to most US citizens, it will fail unless at least fifty percent of America's physicians enter primary care as in Europe. Our fault lies with allowing the Medicare bureaucrats unrestricted power since 1985.

Readers who wish to experience this profound work can purchase“The Major Cause of Rising Health Care Cost with Decreasing Quality: A Scarcity of Primary Care Physicians” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors’ books, including distribution in the world’s largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.

Nierman Practice Management, creators of DentalWriter dental software, today announced the launch of their new website, and a domain switch from http://www.DentalWriter.com to http://www.NiermanPM.com.

Jupiter, FL (PRWEB) March 04, 2016

Nierman Practice Management today announced the launch of their new, redesigned website, and a domain switch from http://www.DentalWriter.com to http://www.NiermanPM.com. Site enhancements include a clean design, increased functionality, and a more engaging user experience.

The domain switch is intended to differentiate Nierman Practice Management’s comprehensive company brand from their flagship product for dental-medical billing solutions, DentalWriter™ software.

Nierman Practice Management, founded in 1988 with the mission of helping dentists implement medical billing and cross-coding, is the industry leader for dental practices billing for services covered by health insurance, including sleep apnea treatment, oral surgeries and TMJ disorder treatment.

Their core product, DentalWriter™, is a medical billing and diagnostic report writing software that helps dental practices efficiently implement new services and generate the letters and narratives needed for medically necessary services.

“We are excited to launch the new website to provide an even more interactive and user-friendly web experience.” says founder and CEO Rose Nierman. “The new domain change reflects that Nierman Practice Management has a multitude of solutions for dental practices, including our core product DentalWriter Software, medical billing services, marketing programs and CE courses for dental sleep medicine, cross-coding, and TMJ treatment.

The new site’s refreshed look, enhanced content, and improved optimization for mobile allows dental practices to efficiently find the content, information and solutions they are searching for. The DentalWriter.com domain will still be used for DentalWriter clients to access their training and user resources, including webinars, study clubs, and exclusive medical-billing-in-dentistry forum. Reported by PRWeb 23 hours ago.

Reported by SeekingAlpha 18 hours ago.