Cypress Benefit Administrators & WEA Trust Partner to Provide Self-Funded Product for Public Employers

May 31, 2016, 2:01 am

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Cypress Benefit Administrators has announced a strategic partnership with WEA Trust to offer a self-funded product designed specifically for public employers. The Wisconsin-based companies plan to introduce this new solution to the market on September 1.

Appleton, WI (PRWEB) May 31, 2016

A third party administrator (TPA) specializing in self-funded plans for companies of all sizes, Cypress Benefit Administrators has partnered with WEA Trust to offer a custom product designed for public employer groups.

The Wisconsin-based organizations will leverage Cypress’s knowledge in building health benefit plans that integrate cost containment solutions with WEA Trust’s experience as the leading insurer of public employers across the state.

“We respect the work WEA Trust does on behalf of so many public employers in Wisconsin, and have seen the interest many of these groups are showing with regard to self-funding,” said Tom Doney, president and CEO of Cypress. “This partnership is a natural fit as it will combine the expertise of both companies and give public employers a smart new plan option to consider.”

The Cypress team has observed a rise in the number of public employers moving to self-funding in the last few years and says many groups are having success with the model. It considers WEA Trust to be an ideal business partner because of the organization’s 35+ years of working with schools, municipalities and other public employers, and the broad network of Wisconsin providers it brings to the table.

“Along with controlling benefit costs, one of Cypress’s main goals is to help employers customize health plans that are unique to their specific work population,” Doney said. “Together with WEA Trust, we will be able to achieve this for more public employer groups here in our home state.”

Jon Klett, WEA Trust’s vice president of sales, marketing and product development, added, “The demand is definitely there for this type of self-funding solution, and we are excited to partner with Cypress to add it to our existing offerings.”

Cypress and WEA Trust are planning to roll out the self-funding product to the market on September 1.

About Cypress Benefit Administrators
A privately held company headquartered in Appleton, Wis., Cypress Benefit Administrators has been pioneering the way toward cost containment in self-funded health benefits since 2000. The third party administrator (TPA) is the country’s first to bring claims administration, consumer driven health plans and proven cost control measures together into one package for companies ranging from 50 employees to thousands of employees. It serves employer-clients across the U.S. with additional locations in Portland and Salem, Ore., Omaha, Neb. and Denver, Col. For more information on Cypress and its customized employee benefits, visit http://www.cypressbenefit.com.

About WEA Trust
The WEA Trust provides group health insurance and administrative services to public employers throughout Wisconsin. The not-for-profit WEA Trust was created in 1970 to insure Wisconsin school district employees. Today, the WEA Trust offers its top-rated service and quality benefits to all state, county and municipal groups. For more information about WEA Trust, visit http://www.weatrust.com. Reported by PRWeb 21 hours ago.

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Sunshine, Tapas, And Great Healthcare In Southern Spain

May 31, 2016, 3:42 am

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By Gigi Griffis, InternationalLiving.com

Lying at the heart of sunny Andalucía, Seville is one of southern Spain's most beautiful cities. Waves of conquerors, from the Romans to the Moors, have left their stamp on its spectacular architecture. Thousands of tapas bars line the streets, and the warm Spanish sun nurtures parks full of palm trees. With such beauty all around, it's easy to see what drew Ohioans Karen and Rich McCann to Seville, where they now enjoy fine dining, a great social scene, and terrific, inexpensive healthcare.In 2004 Karen, now 63, and Rich, 71, embarked on a year-long adventure in southern Spain. The newly retired couple had always loved the idea of living overseas, so they decided to try it for a year, making a home for themselves in sunny Seville.

"I always wanted to live abroad," says Karen. "In fact, we talked about it on our first date. Rich was in the naval reserves, had traveled in Asia, and was talking about Singapore, and I thought, 'Okay, as long as it's abroad!'"

Eventually, the couple was asked to join friends for a vacation in southern Spain -- an offer they couldn't refuse. And they fell immediately in love with the place.

"We got here, and it was like, 'Oh my God, we really like this'," says Karen. "It's so much like California -- the weather, the Spanish speakers, the palm trees. We were comfortable with the whole atmosphere.

"We kept our place in Ohio and told people we were going for a year ... but six months in, we looked at each other and said, 'We don't want to go back'."

So the couple sold their large Ohio home, cleared out 20 years' worth of possessions, and planted themselves permanently on Spanish soil. They renewed their year-long visas for a second year, then a third, and eventually got permanent residence cards that they only have to renew every five years.Seville is the capital of the Andalusian region and the fourth-largest city in Spain. It's known for its mild winter weather (temperatures never drop to freezing, while summers rarely dip below the mid-80s F), large old town with three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and flamenco music. The architecture shows the accumulation of cultures that make up Andalusian Spain; palaces, towers, spires, columns, and intricate church facades abound, as do sprawling plazas and charming, maze-like alleys full of shops and restaurants.

When asked why she loves Seville, Karen raves about the vibrant and affordable social scene, as well as the great food.

"I think the first thing that struck me was the vibrancy of street life here.

"Everybody dines out. Tapas, drinks ... there are allegedly 3,000 little bars in the city. People here take their social lives as seriously as Americans take their business lives. They have a strong understanding that family, friends, and personal life are important and meant to be front and center.

"Seville has an amazing food scene. It has changed a lot just in the 10 years we've been living here. There's still a lot of classic fare, usually cooked by somebody's grandmother out back in the kitchen. But some trendier places have sprung up lately, along with food tours and cooking classes. The trendy new spots are serving traditional dishes with a twist, such as carriadas (stewed pig cheeks) with an added, fancy dollop of cream sauce and a sprig of parsley. They're creating Spanish fusion dishes, such as bull-meat burrito or grilled tuna steak with chocolate (mole) sauce. And foreign dishes such as pad Thai, spring rolls, and guacamole are appearing on menus. It's an exciting time to be eating in Seville."Costs vary widely, but typically we spend under $30 per person for a good meal with wine. A lot of the bars have super-cheap beer. The cheapest in town is just 40 céntimos (about 45 cents) and the average is about $2 for a beer and $2 for a tapa. You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy the street life; we had friends come visit us from San Francisco, and every time the bill came they burst out laughing. For six of us to eat out was the cost of two glasses of wine in San Francisco."

Beer and tapas aren't the only things that are affordable in southern Spain, according to Karen. Housing -- particularly for renters -- is a good deal. And the overall cost of living is comparable or less than their costs in the States.

"Overall," Karen says, "our cost of living is about the same as Cleveland. We spend more on travel and a lot less on food, going out, and entertainment. We don't have a car here, so we save on that, because in Seville we can walk everywhere ... And our rental is a fabulous deal. We pay far less than we'd pay in any city in the U.S.

"My Spanish friends pay about €500 or €600 ($530 to $636) a month for modest places on the outskirts. The normal cost is €800 to €1,000 a month ($848 to $1,006) in a more central location, but that depends on things like balconies and garages. This is for a one- or two-bedroom."

Another great deal, according to Karen, is private health insurance. And not only is it affordable, but the quality is good, especially for primary and secondary care.She says, "When I first moved, my doctor in the States told me my cholesterol was high. I wanted a second opinion, so I went to a private clinic here in Seville. It was only a five-minute wait. The doctor took my records himself ... And then told me my cholesterol is a little high, but we can make a few dietary changes ... basically, drink more red wine, eat more dark chocolate."

The couple's private insurance, through Sanitas, a subsidiary of the global provider Bupa, costs them just €500 (around $530 at time of writing) a quarter. They've selected outpatient coverage only, which includes house calls and private clinics. (Their coverage is a bit higher than average because of Rich's age.) Karen says that a couple in their 60s with both in- and outpatient coverage could expect to pay about €600 ($636) a quarter. If you plan to retire to Spain, she recommends that you apply for private insurance as soon as possible, as some insurance companies won't let you sign on after age 70. (Private health insurance valid in Spain is required of non-European Union citizens applying for a residence visa.)

Every interaction with the Spanish healthcare system in their 11 years in Seville has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I love that the doctors here make house calls," says Karen.

"One time I got bronchitis. I was in bed for days. They said, 'We'll have a doctor out to you in two hours.' And two hours (to the minute), the doorbell rang. He was great. He prescribed some meds, Rich ran to the pharmacy across the street to get them, and I was better in two days. To have someone come to you like that when you're ill is an enormous luxury."

The couple also loves Seville's relaxed pace of life. An average day includes time for writing, photography, morning yoga or Pilates classes, siestas, shopping, meeting friends for coffee, tapas in the plaza near their house, and exploring Seville's charming neighborhoods with notepad and camera in hand. Karen's love for southern Spain and living abroad runs so deep that she has continued blogging (enjoylivingabroad.com) and writing books on the subject even into retirement.

"Seville is a very old city," she says. "I pick a neighborhood, photograph it, pop into shops, meet people, chat with everyone ... it's an interesting way to spend my time. In the winter, I go in the afternoons; in the summer, the mornings."

Karen and her husband are also learning more Spanish. She says, "We started taking courses after that first vacation. And here's something I'd recommend: private lessons. Sitting with 20-year-olds who speak three languages and are at their peak ... well, my learning capacity is different. We stuck it out because we liked the social interaction."

Looking back, Karen says the move has changed her in a profound way, and worked wonders for the couple's retirement.

"Moving here has revitalized my life in a way I didn't expect. I thought it would be fun and interesting and stimulating ... but I didn't think it would transform me. Yet I feel like a new person. Moving abroad is the best way to reinvent yourself ... you get to become the 'you' you want to be at this stage of life."

This article comes to us courtesy of InternationalLiving.com, the world's leading authority on how to live, work, invest, travel, and retire better overseas.

*Related Articles*
Trading the Big Apple for This Affordable Spanish City
Bargain Seaside Living On Spain's Mediterranean Coast
Test-Drive A New Life In Spain This Year For $2,000 A Month

Earlier on Huff/Post50:-- 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 20 hours ago.

Striking Verizon workers to return Wednesday; deal inked

May 31, 2016, 5:59 am

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NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 40,000 striking Verizon employees will return to work Wednesday after reaching a tentative contract agreement that includes 1,300 new call center jobs and nearly 11 percent in raises over four years but also makes health care plan changes to save the company money, the company and unions said Monday. Union members will vote on the deal after returning to work. Besides the raises and new call center jobs, the tentative agreement includes $1,250 in signing bonuses and health care reimbursements for new workers, a 25 percent increase in the number of unionized crews maintaining Verizon's utility poles in New York state, and three 1 percent increases in pensions, which Verizon had proposed to freeze, the CWA said. The deal also entails changes that Verizon says will save significant money, such as adopting Medicare Advantage plans — private health insurance contracted with the government-sponsored Medicare program — rather than costlier insurance. Verizon said it had high health care costs for its unionized workers, a group that has shrunk as Verizon sold off large chunks of its wireline unit and focused on its mobile business, which was not unionized. Reported by SeattlePI.com 17 hours ago.

A New Problem Emerges For Hillary: Obamacare

May 31, 2016, 10:49 am

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With more Americans having an unfavorable view of Obamacare than favorable and Clinton continuing to take credit for the law on the campaign trail, establishment Democrats are beginning to realize another (non-email, non-charity, non-vote-fraud-related) crisis looms for Hillary - *the problem of dramatically higher Obamacare premium hikes in an election year*. With the *redistribution and disincentive to work* that we already detailed about to get considerably worse, Senate leader Mitch McConnell asked pointedly, *"maybe Democrats think the middle class should just get over double-digit premium increases..."*

As we detailed previously, *for all those currently enrolled in healthcare plans administered in the following states, this is how much, on average, your plans will go up by.*

 

Obamacare premiums are expected to rise more sharply than they have in previous years, and Republicans are seizing on the issue for electoral advantage; and as The Hill reports, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans discussed ObamaCare premium hikes at a private meeting this month and agreed they could help the GOP in the election.



Republican senators took turns heading to the Senate floor this month to denounce ObamaCare premium hikes.

 

*“Maybe Democrats think the middle class should just get over double-digit premium increases,”* said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). *“Maybe Democrats think it’s funny that millions of Americans lost their plans because of ObamaCare. Republicans think we should work toward better care instead.”*

 

*Clinton has acknowledged that high costs remain a problem under ObamaCare, while defending the health law and its benefits overall.*

 

*“I think that the Affordable Care Act is a big step forward for the vast majority of Americans, but we have to look at out of pocket costs, co-pays, deductibles, premiums,”* Clinton said at a roundtable discussion this month when a woman asked her about her premium increasing by $500.

 

When asked by another woman about premium hikes in March, Clinton noted at a CNN town hall that* ObamaCare “has done a lot of really good things, but it has become increasingly clear that we are going to have to get the costs down.”*

 

ObamaCare premiums likely won't be the most prominent issue in a campaign that's seen Trump often dominate the news cycle with brash statements about any manner of topics.

 

And* Trump has his own vulnerabilities on healthcare*. He has tacked between different positions on issues. An analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget also found that his plan would lead to 21 million people losing their health insurance because it would repeal the coverage gains from ObamaCare.



Still, as proposed ObamaCare premium increases roll in, they are gaining attention. 



*Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said the premium increases are “a real problem, because Americans, I think, expected there'd be some sort of leveling off in [the cost of] healthcare insurance.”*



A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in January found that* 44 percent of the public had an unfavorable view of the law, while 41 percent had a favorable view*.



More recently, though, the *unfavorables have ticked back up due to Democrats unhappy the law does not go further*, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.



Clinton is with those trying to improve the law, which could give her cover with voters.



*Many of her solutions tack to the left. Most prominently, she supports the “public option,” a government-run health insurance alternative to increase competition.*



*  *  *

Simply put, It's official: years of warnings that Obamacare will lead to dramatic increases in healthcare premiums are about to be validated... and the presidential candidate running as Obama 2.0 will be hard-pushed to sweep this under the middle-class-need-help, "well, I'm a woman" carpet of her normal talking points... as her solution is "more government" yet again. Reported by Zero Hedge 13 hours ago.

Supreme Court Declines Trump Resorts Case That Stripped Workers' Benefits

May 31, 2016, 10:27 am

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When Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy in 2014, it won a ruling from a federal bankruptcy judge stripping casino workers of their health insurance and payments to the pension fund. Reported by NPR 13 hours ago.

Beware of the Medicaid 'Big Con'

May 31, 2016, 10:56 am

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By Dr. Deane Waldman, MD MBA, May 28, 2016

Americans revel in tales of a "big con" like The Sting and Ocean's Eleven. Medicaid has an ongoing big con that is huge yet so well hidden that We the Sheep do not know we are being fleeced... by our own government.

*The Big Con*
Any good con has three parts: the mark -- the one who is conned; the take -- what the con man gets; and the fake, the illusion or purposeful distortion of reality. The bigger the take, the more marks conned, and the grander the fake, the bigger is the con. By those criteria, Medicaid's estate recovery program, also called its "claw-back," is a very, very big con.

*Estate recovery -- The take*
Medicaid rules allow the recovery of money from the estates of deceased Medicaid recipients. The children and heirs of people enrolled in Medicaid and eventually die must pay the government back. This is named the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program or MERP.

The size of your government bill varies from state to state but includes (1) an "administrative fee" of $611 per month from age 55 until Medicare enrollment, and (2) a percentage of the medical bills incurred. The heirs can get a bill $73,320 (admin fee) plus anywhere from a few more thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars for their parent's care, especially the terminal time, which is typically the most expensive.

If the deceased parent owned a home or there was still pension money left, Medicaid will try to grab it. This is the take of Medicaid's estate recovery program.

*Wide state-to-state variability*
The federal government provides the legal framework through the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993. Through Medicaid enrollment, the government feeds us into a meat grinder called estate recovery. While Medicaid is jointly funded by the States and by Washington, each state administers its own program independently, including whether they choose to impose estate recovery or not.

Some states such as New Mexico (NM) do not use MERP. NM state administration concurs with Paul Craig Roberts, Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, who called estate recovery "a pernicious death tax on those who have the least and are the most vulnerable."

Although Medicaid enrollees now compromise more than forty percent (815,000 individuals) of the NM population, and despite a $417 million budget shortfall, NM Medicaid chose to "claw back" a total of $9000, which represents 0.00000003 percent of its revenue ($9000/$3,000,000,000).

Other cash-strapped states, such as California, Illinois, and Connecticut, take a rather different approach. Nationally, Medicaid programs recovered $361,766,396 from the poorest segment of our society in 2004. There are no more recent reports. This is alarming because of the lack of transparency, in stark contrast to President Obama's promise of "the most transparent administration in history." Not knowing how much was clawed-back is even more worrisome because the Affordable Care Act dramatically increased the number of individuals subject to MERP but we don't know how many were affected or how much was taken from them.

*The Fake*
The illusion or fake is that Medicaid is "free." They say you get insurance coverage and "all the care Americans deserve," and you don't pay a thing. Strictly speaking, that's true. YOU don't pay. Your heirs do.

The second part of the fake is what they don't tell you: auto-enrollment and even the existence of the claw-back program. Some states include estate recovery in very fine print in the eleven-page Medicaid contract. Other states hide it entirely.

Auto-enrollment is more than just automatic renewal each year. The state can enroll you without your permission or even your knowledge. The federal government can refer you to your state if you access a federal program such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.)

In fairness, the Affordable Care Act did not create estate recovery. It was started in 1993 with OBRA. However, Obamacare is culpable for protecting the illusion that Medicaid is free and extending this very not-free -- expensive and unaffordable -- benefit to millions.

*The Mark*
The Obama administration takes great pride in the number of Americans who now have insurance because of Obamacare. They claim a reduction in the uninsured rate from 14.5 percent to 9.2 percent and a net gain of 16.9 million newly insured individuals. Between 84 and 97 percent of newly insured Americans are receiving "free" insurance through Medicaid. Should the government be proud that they turned seventeen million American citizens into seventeen million marks?

In the movie The Sting, the mark is the villain and the conman is the hero. In Medicaid estate recovery, there is no hero. There is only a greedy, sneaky government conman who has tricked the poorest and most vulnerable members of American society and turned them into "marks."

"Dr. Deane" Waldman MD MBA is the author of 2016 NIE Award winner The Cancer in the American Healthcare System; and Amazon Bestsellers Our Allies Have Become Our Enemies, and Washington's BARRC Is Its Bite. Dr. Deane is host of www.wecanfixhealthcare.info; Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology and Decision Science; and Adjunct Scholar (Healthcare) for the Rio Grande Foundation, a public policy think tank. Dr. Deane serves as "Consumer Advocate" Director on the Board of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. Opinions expressed here are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Board.

-- 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.

4 Ways Entrepreneurs Could be Affected With Donald Trump in Office

May 31, 2016, 10:46 am

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Credit

There are 20 to 30 million small businesses in America. In some estimates, up to 70 percent of small businesses are owned and operated by a single person (the entrepreneur). These small businesses employ 77 million Americans and account for 60 - 80 percent of all new jobs created.

In other words, small businesses are vital to America's economic health. That is why it is incredibly important that the nation's commander-in-chief understand how to foster their growth and make them competitive in the global marketplace.

No one knows as yet who will be elected later this year, but in an effort to better understand how one candidate's policy proposals might affect the small business sector, I spoke with New York native, commercial financier, Kris Roglieri about his thoughts on one of the most controversial candidates in U.S. history.

Roglieri is no stranger to politics or finance and is a wildly successful entrepreneur himself. "There are so many issues squeezing small businesses - taxes, healthcare, the economy - that I think it's important to evaluate how they each would affect our livelihood as business owners," says Roglieri, the owner of several finance companies and Commercial Training Group, a program that teaches and enables entrepreneurs to own and operate their own full service commercial finance companies.

I wanted to hear his take on how small businesses would be affected by a Donald Trump Presidency, so we discussed and tackled the salient issues.

*Taxes*
"One of the biggest factors in Trump's appeal to entrepreneurs is that he has experienced entrepreneurship and can empathize with challenges business owners face," says Roglieri. Trump opposes corporate tax inversions and outlines a simple tax plan with 15 percent corporate taxes.

"I find his tax plan extremely appealing considering the hundreds of entrepreneurs I work with annually will start their own businesses. From Fortune 500 companies to mom and pop shops to freelance jobs, they would no longer be liable for individual tax rates and that is extremely financially beneficial."

Most businesses are 1 to 3 employees and most entrepreneurs have their business income pass through on their schedule C to their personal tax returns.

However, he also goes on to state that those at the top of the income distribution triangle will benefit the most in absolute dollars and if every American received an equal percentage tax cut, the rich would still disproportionately benefit simply because they bring in more income.

*Healthcare*

Credit

Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare). He supports HSAs and a national marketplace that enables health insurance competition.

Trump has been quoted saying, "Obamacare is a heat-seeking missile that will destroy jobs and small businesses; it will explode healthcare costs; and it will lead to healthcare that is far less innovative than it is today. Every argument that you'd make against socialism you can make against socialized healthcare, and any candidate who isn't 100 percent committed to scrapping Obamacare is not someone America should elect president."

On March 2, Trump released a healthcare plan that for the first time rejected the concept of individual mandate requiring Americans to buy health insurance.

*Government Regulation*
Trump has stated previously that a minimum wage increase would make them too high and add to America's inability to compete globally. As minimum wage grows, entrepreneurs are struggling to get their businesses off the ground. "Increase in minimum wage can be detrimental because the cost of their goods increases dramatically, creating a snowball effect in the economy," says Roglieri. "However, we can't disregard that it will stimulate the economy and, in theory, propel further business growth."

*Trade*

Trump is against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and feels it will help China more than the U.S. He has used trade as a platform to bash China and its export subsidies, lax labor and environmental standards. Trump proposes a 25 percent tariff on Chinese imports and calls China a "currency manipulator", saying he would force China to uphold intellectual property laws. He proposes a 15 percent tax for outsourced jobs and 20 percent tax for imported goods.

Credit

The idea is to give small businesses that outsource their products new incentives to keep their workforce in the US, thus bolstering the economy. However, a new tariff -- and therefore, a higher import cost -- would also push U.S. companies to raise prices in order to keep turning a profit. That means the average shopper in the U.S. would be forced to pay more and that in turn could damage small businesses.

Still, others have agreed with Trump's claims about China's trade tactics. The U.S. and other governments have long accused China of artificially keeping the value of its currency low, making its exports cheap and attractive.

Ultimately, there are issues squeezing small-business owners from every angle -- the economy, taxes, healthcare and so on. Entrepreneurs are looking for a candidate who understands how their sector is being impacted.

-- 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.

Stop the Noise: There's Too Much at Stake This Election

May 31, 2016, 11:35 am

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As we wind down the last primaries, there are all kinds of suggestions and demands as to what Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders should do to unite the Party. There are calls for Sanders to withdraw, some saying he should not be on the ticket, and there are calls for Clinton to do more to energize the base. I hear the noise - there are some things I agree with and some that I do not. What we ought to do however is look at the larger goal and gauge our strategy on that as opposed to drawing lines of division amongst ourselves. At the end of the day, 10 years from now it will not matter who got more face time on cable news or who got more headlines in newspapers if we regress rather than progress. There is far too much at stake from Supreme Court nominees to protection of the Affordable Care Act, Affirmative Action, voting rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, criminal justice reform and more. This Presidential election is at a pivotal moment when we cannot allow divide and conquer to push us back further and lose many of our gains. If we don't wake up now, we will look back at this time period and realize that this is when we were effectively silenced.

It's easy to forget exactly where we were as a nation when President Obama was first elected into office in 2008. And it is just as easy to overlook the substantive changes he ushered in despite facing the toughest opposition in Congress and elsewhere that one could imagine. In addition to reviving our economy from the brink of catastrophe, President Obama was successful in bringing about historic health care reform, saving the auto industry, bringing many of our troops home, changing our image on the world stage, getting a historic nuclear deal signed with Iran, reviving relations with Cuba, enacting Wall Street reform, directing his Justice Department to investigate corrupt police departments, deliver a criminal justice bill (that is on the brink of passing) and much much more. What our first African American President also did was serve as a symbol that everything - even the highest office in the land - is attainable regardless of the obstacles placed before you.

It is that sense of hope and aspiration that we must hold on to as we begin to wind down his Presidency. We cannot become complacent or disillusioned into thinking that we can stop participating in the process. And we must never become so comfortable as to believe that our work is done - far from it. Our collective goal must be to continue the legacy of President Obama, to elect someone that will choose the next couple of Supreme Court Justices who best represent our interests. Whether it's preserving voting rights, keeping the Affordable Care Act in place so that millions of Americans continue to receive health insurance, protecting Affirmative Action (the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin) and more, the Supreme Court will make critical decisions that will directly impact all of us. Whoever the next President is will make key choices regarding who to nominate to the Court, so we must not take this election lightly.

It is perfectly normal to have disagreements within one's house. But when those small divisions tear from the greater objective, then we have lost focus from what truly faces us long-term. It doesn't matter how many people Sanders draws to a rally if they do not lead to these longer goals and victories. And it doesn't matter how many votes Clinton wins if the Party doesn't bring in everyone and stay focused on the main target. We sometimes confuse the preliminary for the main bout; the main event must be that we continue moving this nation in the direction that President Obama and others did when they steered the ship towards even more advancement.

When I was a young kid watching and listening to those leading the great civil rights movement, I remember many would sing a song with the lyrics: "hold on, hold on; keep your eye on the prize."

We must keep holding on today.

The prize is not noise, but rather using noise to change the melody of the mood of American social policy.

-- 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.

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Debt-to-Income Ratio Matters When You're Buying a House

May 31, 2016, 12:22 pm

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By Michael Burge

Your debt-to-income ratio plays a large role in whether you're ready and able to qualify for a mortgage. This figure, the percentage of your income that goes toward paying your monthly debts, helps lenders figure out how big a monthly mortgage payment you can handle. It's as important as your credit score and job stability, if not more so.

Lenders calculate your debt-to-income ratio by dividing your monthly debt obligations by your pretax, or gross, income. Most lenders look for a ratio of 36% or less, though there are exceptions, which we'll get into below.

This ratio, known in the mortgage industry as a DTI, helps you answer the question, "How much house can I afford?" and is a useful guide for mortgage lenders trying to figure out how much you can borrow. But your DTI is not the whole story -- it leaves out unavoidable monthly expenses such as food, utilities, transportation costs and health insurance, among others. It's important to keep those obligations in mind as you evaluate your ability to afford a home.

Here's how DTIs work.

*Two types of ratios*
There are two kinds of debt-to-income ratio:
· *The front-end ratio*, also known as a household ratio, is the dollar amount of your home-related expenses -- your proposed monthly mortgage, property tax, insurance and homeowners association fees -- divided by your monthly gross income.· *The back-end ratio* includes all the other debts you pay each month -- such as credit cards, student loans, personal loans and car loans -- in addition to proposed household expenses. Back-end ratios tend to be slightly higher, since they take into account all of your monthly debt obligations.
*Which one matters more?*
While mortgage lenders typically look at both types of DTI, the back-end ratio often holds more sway because it takes into account your entire debt load.

Lenders tend to focus on the back-end ratio for conventional mortgages, loans that are offered by banks or online mortgage lenders rather than a government program. If your front-end DTI is below 28%, that's great. If your back-end DTI is below 36%, that's even better.

When you're applying for a nonconventional mortgage, like an FHA loan, lenders will look at both ratios and will consider DTIs that are higher than those required for a conventional mortgage: up to 31% for the front end and 43% for the back end. Sometimes lenders will even allow the ratios to go slightly higher.

Ideally, though, you'll want DTIs that are as low as possible, regardless of the lender's limits. A lower DTI will help your credit score, which will in turn allow you to get a lower mortgage interest rate.

*Think beyond your DTIs*
Although DTIs are important in getting a mortgage, they're not enough when it comes to helping you figure out what you can afford, says Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

"You can have these general guidelines around debt-to-income ratio," he says, "but the bigger question is, will you, once you have that mortgage payment, have sufficient money to make ends meet?"

Since DTIs don't take into account expenses such as food, health insurance, utilities, gasoline and entertainment, you'll want to budget beyond what your DTI labels "affordable." Aiming below the 36% back-end target is ideal.

This is especially important since your DTIs count your income before taxes, not what you actually take home each month.

*How to lower your DTI*
The higher your DTI, the more likely you are to struggle to make your monthly mortgage payments. You'll want to lower your DTI not just to qualify for a mortgage and buy the home you want, but also to ensure you're able to pay all your debts and live comfortably at the same time.

There are several ways to lower your debt-to-income ratio:
· Avoid taking on more debt.· Don't make any big purchases on credit before you buy a home.· Try to pay off as much of your current debt as possible before you apply for a mortgage.
"The best thing homebuyers can do is pay down or pay off high-interest credit card and consumer debt," says Chris Hiestand, director of marketing at Lenda, an online lending company. "Doing this will improve the back-end ratio and will also boost their credit score. DTI ratios actually don't impact the mortgage interest rate, but credit scores have a big impact on interest rates."

While a pay raise at work is another way to lower your DTI, it's not safe to rely on something that might not happen. That's why it's better to avoid taking on more debt and work on whittling down the debt you have.

In most cases, lenders won't include installment debts like car or student loan payments as part of your DTI if you have just a few months left to pay them off.

*One last point*
If your debt-to-income ratio is exceptionally high -- say 50% or more -- you probably should wait on a home purchase.

"There's nothing wrong with saying, 'I need to wait another year before I buy a house,'" Rheingold says. He suggests getting your finances in order first so that you present yourself as someone with good credit and not a lot of overhanging debt.

Before you sit down with a lender, using a home loan calculator is one way to figure out how much house you can afford.

The lower your debt-to-income ratio, the safer you are to lenders -- and the better your finances will be.

Michael Burge is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: mburge@nerdwallet.com.

-- 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 11 hours ago.

Health insurer picks Phoenix area over Denver for 200-worker office

May 31, 2016, 1:09 pm

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A three-year-old New York-based health insurer has picked the Phoenix area over Denver and Salt Lake City for a new western "health care concierge center" and plans to hire 200. Oscar Insurance Corp. works with Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces for individual coverage. It is taking 95,000 square feet in suburban Tempe, Arizona. “The Phoenix area has a convergence of experienced customer service and health care workers,” said Mario Schlosser, CEO, in an exclusive conversation… Reported by bizjournals 10 hours ago.

Colorado groups want state scrutiny of Anthem-Cigna merger

May 31, 2016, 2:27 pm

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Colorado medical groups are calling for the state government to give heavy scrutiny to the proposed merger of health-insurance giants Anthem and Cigna, two of the largest plan providers in Colorado. And some want the deal rejected. Colorado Medical Society (CMS) leaders are heading the charge against Anthem’s (NYSE: ANTM) proposed $54.2 billion purchase of Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI), saying that it is likely to increase premium costs, reduce doctors’ access to patients and cut down on the quality… Reported by bizjournals 9 hours ago.

Feds: Woman repeatedly dislocated shoulder to get pain pills

May 31, 2016, 2:56 pm

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Federal prosecutors alleged last June that Richards defrauded Highmark Inc.'s Community Blue health insurance plan by traveling to more than 100 hospitals in 11 states to obtain prescriptions for shoulder dislocations she was causing herself. Defense attorney William McCabe said in a statement that his client began struggling with "an intractable opiate drug addiction" after taking prescribed pain medication after a "painful and unsuccessful" shoulder surgery in 2012. Reported by SeattlePI.com 8 hours ago.

Poll: Most Colorado voters not aware of health insurance mergers

May 31, 2016, 3:08 pm

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Most Colorado voters were unaware of pending mergers between health care giants, according to a poll commissioned by a group opposed to the moves. Reported by Denver Post 8 hours ago.

Insurer UnitedHealth plans to stop selling Obamacare coverage in California next year

May 31, 2016, 4:28 pm

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Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, which sat out California’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act until this year, will not sell health plans on the state’s insurance marketplace in 2017, state and company officials said Tuesday.

United’s move will have almost no effect on Covered... Reported by L.A. Times 7 hours ago.

Largest US Health Insurer Exits California, Illinois Obamacare Markets

May 31, 2016, 7:16 pm

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Just over a month ago, we reported that in addition to Georgie, Arkansas, Michigan and Oklahoma, the largest US health insurer UnitedHealthcare announced it would also depart the following "Affordable" Care Act state exchanges: Connecticut, North Carolina; Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Texas. That, however, was just a preview of what's to come, because on April 19, UnitedHealthcare made its divorce with Obamacare complete when it announced plans to exit most of the Affordable Care Act state exchanges where it currently operates by 2017. And earlier today, United continued executing on this warning, when it first announced that it would stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017 followed promptly by news UnitedHealthcare was abandoning California at the end of the year as well.

As PBS reports, while United announced in April it was dropping out of all but a handful of 34 health insurance marketplaces it participated in, the company had not discussed its plans in California. UnitedHealth’s pullout also affects individual policies sold outside the Covered California exchange, which will remain in effect until the end of December.



“United is pulling out of California’s individual market including Covered California in 2017,” said Amy Palmer, a spokeswoman for the state exchange.

 

It’s expected that UnitedHealth will continue offering coverage to employers in California and to government workers and their families through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.



Amy Palmer, a spokeswoman for the state exchange said UnitedHealthcare policyholders will know their options for 2017 coverage when health plans and rates for next year are announced in July. It is safe to say any "options" will not be cheap.

Concurrently, the company also announced it will stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017. According to the Tribune, the departure of the insurance company will reduce the number of coverage options for consumers in 27 counties. Like in California, Illinois members will have access to their benefits through the end of the year. The change does not affect the company's group insurance business or Medicare plans.

Furthermore, on Tuesday, UnitedHealthcare disclosed on a website dedicated to insurance brokers that it plans to offer on-exchange plans in only three states — Nevada, New York and Virginia. A company spokeswoman confirmed that it will withdraw from the Illinois exchange.

Critics of the Affordable Care Act have seized on the company’s exit, state by state, as further evidence the health-law insurance exchanges aren’t sustainable financially and that premiums will rise even higher for consumers.

The Obama administration has countered that the number of health plans offering exchange policies has increased since the 2014 launch, and that it expects the individual market will continue to stabilize as adjustments are made.

Unfortunately, as we showed recently, the critics so far have been spot on, and as the WSJ reported recently, health insurance premiums are set to skyrocket just in time for the election, creating a major hurdle for Hillary days ahead of the election.

  Reported by Zero Hedge 4 hours ago.

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Lice Troopers, the Miami-Based Head Lice Removal Company, Announces Launch of Home Cleaning Products

June 1, 2016, 12:04 am

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Following an infestation, head lice can lurk in the home. The company's new line of cleaning products ensures homes are bug free.

Miami, Florida (PRWEB) June 01, 2016

While Lice Troopers, the Miami-based head lice treatment service, is known for its professional removal services, the company is now releasing a line of products that help put the focus on the other places head lice lurk: the surfaces of the home.

While the company does offer professional home inspection and cleaning services, they’ve recently released a line of home cleaning products that are meeting customer demand for products they can keep on hand and use at home as needed.

While the louse is a parasitic creature that cannot survive long away from its human host, the bugs and nits can live up to a few days on the surfaces of the home. That means that even if the infested individual is declared lice free, coming back to a lice infested home can soon launch a relapse.

It’s for this reason that many parents find themselves frantically vacuuming curtains and washing and rewashing bedding in an attempt to get the bugs out of their home and prevent re-infestation. Lice Troopers’ home cleaning products urge a more moderate, yet effective, approach. The home line includes a Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner and a Leather Cleaner.

With each, the user simply needs to spray the surface and then vacuum or, in the case of leather, wipe thoroughly with a cloth. One cleaning is all that is required to get the home lice free. In addition to cleaning surfaces, Lice Troopers reminds parents that any bedding used during the lice infestation should be washed in hot water and dried in a hot dryer. Hairbrushes and combs should be soaked in boiling water, and anything that cannot be cleaned, should be isolated in a sealed plastic bag or discarded.

Said Lice Troopers owner and operator Arie Harel, “Parents have a lot of anxiety around lice and cleaning the home after an infestation—they’re afraid the bugs and eggs are lurking everywhere just waiting to get back in their hair. Our home inspection and cleaning services will always be available, but our new line of products helps parents take care of delousing their homes quickly and easily.”

The Lice Troopers line of home lice removal and cleaning products will be available in their four Miami salons and on their website mid-June.

Lice Troopers is the all-natural, guaranteed Head Lice Removal Service™ that manually removes the head louse parasite safely and discreetly in child-friendly salon settings, or other chosen location. Providing safe solutions for frantic families, the Lice Troopers team has successfully treated thousands of families nationwide, with services widely recommended by pediatricians and reimbursed by many major health insurance carriers, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. Reported by PRWeb 1 day ago.

Poll: People unsure about ability to pay for long-term care

June 1, 2016, 1:03 am

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The annual cost of long-term care expenses range from $17,680 for adult day care to more than $92,000 for a private room in a nursing home, according to Genworth Financial. Yet an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds that a third of Americans 40 and older have done no planning for their own-long term care needs, such as setting aside money to pay for a home aide or to help with daily activities or a room in a nursing home. Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor and people with disabilities, is the primary payer of long-term care, spending $146 billion in 2013. When he lost his job during the Great Recession, he borrowed money to continue making the monthly payments on his long-term care insurance policy. The more in control people feel about the world and their life, the greater the sense of confidence in their ability to plan for the future, said Kit Yarrow, a professor emerita at Golden Gate University in San Francisco who specializes in consumer psychology. EDITOR'S NOTE — Alejandra Cancino is studying health care and long-term care issues as part of a fellowship at the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which joins NORC's independent research and AP journalism. The fellowship is funded by The SCAN Foundation, an independent nonprofit that supports research and other initiatives on aging and health care. Reported by SeattlePI.com 23 hours ago.

Why I'm #StillSanders

June 1, 2016, 3:54 am

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Alone, each of us may be just one grain of sand. Together, we can be a landslide for Bernie.

Jerry and I have been Bernie's constituents in Vermont for 35 years. We've seen him in action. We've the seen his consistency, his passion, and his integrity in working for low and middle-income people--especially those who have been marginalized and discriminated against.

He is not a politician in the usual sense of the word. He is a fighter for justice. And that's why we've been campaigning for Bernie around the country for the past year.

Our country has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized democracy. Our current political system cheats, disenfranchises, and exploits low and middle-income Americans--especially if they are from communities of color.

Essentially, Bernie's message comes down to one question that he has been asking his entire political career: If America is the richest country in the world, and yet why are so many of our citizens unable to access employment, a fair living wage, a good education, and have equal pathways to realizing their dreams?

Bernie has made concrete proposals to do just that--at no additional expense to 99% of America.

Free College Tuition will be funded by the Financial Transactions Tax--less than 0.1% on Wall Street speculation. Universal Healthcare costs will be less than what people are currently paying for private health insurance premiums. A massive jobs program will help create millions of jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure and paid for by closing offshore tax loopholes.

Why don't we already have these benefits? Because today our representatives do not serve regular people. It serves at the pleasure of corporations and the ultra-wealthy who buy off our politicians through unlimited campaign "donations" in a process that Sen. John McCain calls "legalized bribery."
Bernie has led the fight to put an end to this corrupt system, while Hillary Clinton is a product of it. Her campaign is funded by the same corporations that benefit from the pay-to-play culture in Washington and hope to maintain the status-quo in the form of usurious interest rates, sweetheart government contracts, and obscene prices for healthcare and prescription drugs.

Bernie's campaign is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Never in my lifetime has a presidential candidate truly of the people, by the people, and for the people come so far. Even the fact that his campaign has been funded so mightily by small donations from regular Americans is simply unprecedented.

Despite being virtually unknown at the start of his campaign, despite the refusal of mainstream media to cover the historical victories of his campaigns, despite being undercut by the DNC-- Bernie is now polling neck-and-neck with Hillary. Additionally, in match up polls of Bernie versus Donald Trump, Bernie is the Democrat that has the best chance of winning.

Bernie's success so far has been nothing short of miraculous. The problem has been that in the early primary states, by the time people heard about Bernie and what he stands for, it was too late for them to register or their primaries were already over. But that's not the case in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota, and New Mexico, which have their primaries on June 7th. If Bernie can win those states in a landslide, he will clinch the Democratic nomination.

An interesting thing about miracles: they don't just come out of nowhere; people make miracles happen. Sure, we might get a little help from above, but when we all work together--when we all do our bit--PEOPLE. Make. Miracles. Happen.

Now you might ask: I'm just one person--I'm just one little grain of sand--what can I possibly do to get Bernie elected? Well, as near as I can figure, we're all just little grains of sand, but when we work together we create a landslide.

We have the power to create a landslide in this presidential race. The reality is that if everybody who believes in what Bernie stands for, gets out and votes on June 7, he will win.

So do your bit. Vote on June 7th. Get your friends to vote too. Get online and volunteer to phone bank and canvass for Bernie. Donate. We have come so far. There's less than 10 days to go. It's time to pour rocket fuel on the fire and #FeelTheBern.

-- 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 20 hours ago.

Obama's Favorite City To Spotlight Is Filled With People Who Distrust Him

June 1, 2016, 7:12 am

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WASHINGTON -- In the summer of 2008, Andrea and Andrew Hauser of Elkhart, Indiana, were confidently planning out their lives. They'd bought a home the year before, and in August, they found out they'd be having their first child.

Then it all started to unravel. By that fall, the recession sweeping across the country had struck Elkhart and almost flattened it. The city was a major hub for the RV industry, and as the U.S. economy fell in on itself, not many people were interested in buying luxury vehicles.

The Hausers, who worked in the industry, weren't spared. Andrea lost her job first. Three weeks later, while driving back from a trip to spend Thanksgiving with family in Georgia, Andrew got a call saying that his company was going out of business.

Plenty of others were in the same boat. Andrea's brother and father were soon jobless, and she estimates that eventually, 75 percent of their friends were without work too. They'd have parties where they'd eat, play cards and exchange bleak jokes about the economy. The Hausers got by on unemployment insurance. But half of it was going to the $800 a month Andrea had to pay for COBRA coverage, since her pregnancy meant that she couldn't afford to go without health insurance. They cut back elsewhere, shopping for cheaper groceries and never going out for dinner.

"It wasn't the end of the world," Andrea recalled. "But it was easy to feel like we were going to experience what our grandparents experienced during the Great Depression."

But gradually, things started to get better. In February 2009, President Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill. The benefits would take a while to trickle down to Elkhart, but one change came quickly to the Hausers: The government now covered two-thirds of Andrea's COBRA costs. "If that had not happened, we would not have been able to pay our mortgage," she said.

Soon after, Andrew got a job. So did Andrea's brother. The country's economy was improving, the RV industry was coming back and jobs were coming back with it.

On Wednesday, Obama will travel back Elkhart in a swing that certainly seems like a victory lap. He stopped by the town several times during the 2008 campaign, and Elkhart was the first city Obama visited as president, back when the local unemployment rate was hovering over 17 percent. Currently it is 3.8 percent, one of the lowest jobless rates in the nation.

But while Obama is expected to spend the day touting his economic successes and the resilience of Elkhart's residents, it won't be a mutual lovefest. Even many people there whose lives were tangibly improved by his administration aren't starry-eyed fans of the president.

Andrea, now 33, can't recall whether she voted for Obama in 2012. She's not planning to vote for his likely Democratic successor, Hillary Clinton, in 2016, saying she'd prefer a third-party candidate. Andrew, who said he believes Obama deserves more credit for the work he did in turning around the economy, nevertheless didn't vote for Obama or his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, four years ago. Like his wife, he isn't too pleased with his choices in 2016 either.

"It's hard. It's difficult. I would like to give him a little sense of encouragement," Andrew, also 33, said. "Personally, I can't say [that] everything about him, I'm all about. But I'm also not a type of person who thinks our president should get bashed every time for one reason or another."The Hausers are not a microcosm of Elkhart. They applaud the work done by Obama and plan to attend his event on Wednesday. But as Jackie Calmes of The New York Times recently reported, much of the rest of the city, which is reliably Republican, is far more skeptical of the president.  

Still, the Hausers' story underscores a larger problem that has vexed this president since his earliest days in office: how to reap tangible political benefits from his economic policies, or, failing that, how to succinctly explain the ins and outs of those policies at all.

According to data gathered by ProPublica, Elkhart received nearly $170 million in funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- about 2 percent of the $8.7 billion sent to the state of Indiana as a whole. But when asked for thoughts on how the stimulus had helped them, many recipients said they were unaware they'd even benefited from it.

"I did not receive a loan through the stimulus program, sir," said an official with Namacle LLC, a company that appears to manufacture gun parts. In fact, Namacle received two loans through the Small Business Administration, for a total of $350,000, via money made available by the Recovery Act, according to ProPublica's data.

The official confirmed the SBA loans but declined to say what he'd used the money for. "That's private information," he said.


I did not receive a loan through the stimulus program, sir.
A recipient of a Small Business Administration loan made possible through the stimulus.
Not all stimulus beneficiaries flat-out denied having gotten money through the program. But most seemed completely unaware that the loans they received or the grants they were awarded were made possible by that bill. A receptionist at Goshen Chiropractic Center PC, which got a $119,000 SBA loan, said she "certainly didn't recall" the company getting that money. A manager at McCarthy's on the Riverwalk, a restaurant that received a $213,000 SBA loan, said she hadn't been there long enough to know about the money McCarthy's received in 2009.

Leanne Brekke, who used to run Indiana Micro Metal Etching company, said she didn't know the SBA loans she received -- more than $500,000 in total -- were made possible through the Recovery Act. Brekke used that money to buy the company, she explained. But she sold it a few months ago out of concern that taxes and the possibility of a forced minimum wage hike would make her business unprofitable, if not completely untenable.

"I'm not a big President Obama fan," Brekke said. "I'm voting for Trump."

There are any number of reasons -- besides sheer confusion -- as to why Obama doesn't get more credit for his economic agenda in places like Elkhart. For one, the stimulus wasn't a universal success. PBS reported that even as jobs came back to town, "the average take-home pay in Elkhart-Goshen had dropped 22 percent -- down from nearly $74,000 in 1999 to almost $58,000 in 2014."

Three relatively high-profile electric car ventures fizzled in the town despite high expectations. And while unemployment has gone down, it's debatable how much of that is a result of the president's legislation. The Recovery Act didn't prop up the RV industry, after all. But it did spark an economic turnaround strong enough to breathe new life into the luxury vehicle market.

"The connection between what the government intervention did and the rebirth of the RV industry, the explosion of the RV industry, is not a direct connection," said Kyle Hannon, president and CEO of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce. "There probably is a line, but it is not a straight one."

"The types of stimulus projects you have here would be redoing a runway, which is a big project," Hannon went on. "But we don't have a commercial airport. Most citizens won't touch that airport. But I can't say it was a bad idea. We had five chamber members who got business from that project."

The White House doesn't dispute the idea that the president has fallen short in the selling of his agenda. Though Obama's approval on the economy has been consistently high in recent months, there is a reason he is traveling to Elkhart. He wants to convert the still unconverted. 

"Elkhart is not Obama country but he believes engaging in a constructive way with people who disagree with you is not only a vital part of democracy, but one that there is far too little focus on today," Obama's communications director, Jennifer Psaki, told The Huffington Post. The president, she added, wants to discuss "not only how far we have come, but where we go from here."Obama certainly has fewer fans in Indiana than when he first started showing up there. In the 2008 election, he squeaked past Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Hoosier State 49.8 percent to 48.8 percent. Four years later, he lost the state to Romney 54 percent to 44 percent. Few expect Clinton to best Donald Trump in Indiana come November.

"There are a bunch of Republicans here. Let's be honest, it's Indiana. It's a very Republican area and conservative in many ways, so it's going to be hard to sway their opinion," said Andrea Hauser. "There are certain social issues that I think people can't get passed."

And so while Obama would love nothing more than to turn a tale of a saved city into a springboard for Democratic votes, he'll likely make limited progress this week. People don't always vote with their pocketbooks, as Hauser pointed out. Sometimes, in fact, they don't vote at all.

Take Elijah Wiggins, who completed advanced technical study coursework using ConnectED-donated software at Elkhart Area Career Center while he was in high school. ConnectED is an Obama-led initiative to outfit schools with next-generation broadband technology. It allowed Wiggins to learn how to draft 3D models. The coursework led to an internship and then to a part-time job, which he still holds today in addition to studying at a local community college.

"Honestly," he said of Obama, "I don't think he gets a whole lot of credit for everything that he does. I know a lot of kids who didn't realize that our software was donated or that he was even working to help us out with it." 

This will be the first presidential election in which Wiggins, who turned 18 this year, is allowed to vote. But he won't be casting a ballot.

"I didn't end up registering," he explained.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 17 hours ago.

Supreme Court lets bankrupt former Trump casino cut pensions, benefits

June 1, 2016, 7:01 am

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The US Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that permitted Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal to terminate health insurance and pensions for more than 1,000 workers. Reported by Christian Science Monitor 17 hours ago.