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Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group Names Samuel Mitchell Chief Executive Officer

October 12, 2016, 4:07 am
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Demonstrates Commitment to Clients and Growth with Promotion of Executive to CEO Role

Wakefield, MA (PRWEB) October 12, 2016

Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group (“Sentinel”), a provider of retirement planning and employee benefit solutions, has announced the appointment of Samuel Mitchell as its Chief Executive Officer. Mitchell began his career at Sentinel over 16 years ago, holding varied roles within the organization and most recently serving as President of Sentinel Benefits Group, LLC the largest of Sentinel’s business units. In his new role as CEO, Mitchell will be responsible for the leadership of Sentinel’s four separate business units, with a strong focus on its short and long-term growth initiatives. Mitchell will also continue to serve as President of Sentinel Benefits Group, LLC.

“We are thankful for Sam’s steady hand and disciplined approach. We look forward to his leadership as we continue to meet our clients’ needs through our extensive resources and capabilities,” said Jim Carnevale, President of Sentinel Pension Advisors, Inc. “My brother John Carnevale, our former CEO, provided us with a vision for the future of retirement planning and employee benefits and how legislation and technology will impact our business. We believe Sam shares many of these same visions and this further validates him as the right choice.”

“When I joined Sentinel 16 years ago, I was excited by the opportunities and the capabilities of Sentinel. The firm has grown tremendously and today I am even more enthusiastic about the opportunities which lie ahead of us, and look forward to continuing to develop Sentinel into one of the leading solutions providers to the retirement planning and employee benefits industry,” said Mitchell.

ABOUT SENTINEL:

Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group was founded around the Carnevale family dinner table in 1987. Since then, we’ve become a trusted benefit and financial advisor to more than 3,000 businesses and individuals throughout the United States. From comprehensive retirement plans to group health insurance to reimbursement accounts to financial planning — we've got you covered. We are a single, expert resource who helps companies and individuals create holistic and meaningful strategies that are in line with their organizational and financial goals. At Sentinel Benefits, we care about how we can help. Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.
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Here's how we figured out how 'average' each state is

October 12, 2016, 4:13 am
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Here's how we figured out how 'average' each state is We recently ranked all 50 US states and Washington, DC based on how average each state was. Here's how we did it.

We took 38 social, economic, and demographic measures, mostly from the 2015 American Community Survey one-year estimates recently released by the Census Bureau, accessed via the American FactFinder tool. The full list of measures is at the bottom of this post.

For each measure, we took the average value of the measure across all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Then, we found how far away from that average each state was along a normalized scale. (Formally, we found the absolute value of the z-score for each state on each measure.) Finally, to get an overall sense of how far from average a state was, we added together those distances for each state, and ranked them on that combined index.

Here are the measures we used in the ranking. Unless otherwise noted, the data for each came from the above mentioned 2015 American Community Survey:

-Basic demographics-

· Population
· Sex (Percent male)
· Median age

-Race and ethnicity-

The Census Bureau has for the last several years defined Hispanic or Latino as an ethnicity, rather than a separate racial grouping. This is reflected in the categories below:

· Percent non-Hispanic white alone
· Percent non-Hispanic black or African American alone
· Percent non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native alone
· Percent non-Hispanic Asian alone
· Percent non-Hispanic Hawaiian/Pacific Islander alone
· Percent non-Hispanic, some other race alone
· Percent non-Hispanic, two or more races
· Percent Hispanic, any race

-Marriage and children-

· Percent of households made up of families with their own children under 18
· Average household size
· Percent of males over the age of 15 who are currently married and not separated
· Percent of females over the age of 15 who are currently married and not separated
· Number of births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 50

-Education and military experience-

· Percent with at least a high school diploma
· Percent with at least a bachelor's degree
· Percent of population who are civilian veterans

-Health-

· Percent with at least one disability
· Percent with health insurance

-Mobility and transportation-

· Percent who moved homes in the last year
· Mean work commute time
· Percent with access to at least one car

-Nativity and language-

· Percent born outside the US
· Percent speaking a language other than English at home

-Access to technology-

· Percent with a computer at home
· Percent with a broadband internet connection at home

-Income and economy-

· Median household income
· Poverty rate
· August 2016 unemployment rate (from Bureau of Labor Statistics)
· Q1 2016 Gross Domestic Product per capita (from Bureau of Economic Analysis)

-Housing-

· Housing unit vacancy rate
· Percent of housing units that are single family detached houses
· Percent of housing units built since 2000
· Median home value
· Median monthly cost for a homeowner with a mortgage
· Median gross monthly apartment rent

*SEE ALSO: 22 maps that explain America*

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: STIGLITZ: It makes me crazy that everyone gets this wrong about the economy Reported by Business Insider 12 hours ago.
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Beazley Adds Midwest Regional Sales Manager to US Accident & Health Division

October 12, 2016, 6:37 am
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN--(Marketwired - October 12, 2016) - Beazley has announced that Mark Rhodes will join its US accident & health insurance (A&H) division as regional sales manager. Reported by Marketwired 10 hours ago.
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Healthways, a subsidiary of Sharecare, is, as a partner of French main health plan, releasing an innovative mobile application for tobacco cessation.

October 12, 2016, 7:20 am
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*After winning a challenging RFQ in early 2016, Healthways has been awarded a 4-year contract (2016 - 2020) to develop a brand new e-coaching program for tobacco cessation that now replaces the former mobile application as part of the "Tabac Info Service" program.*

NEUILLY SUR SEINE, France, Oct. 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aware of the major public health issue, as France has more than 16 million smokers, the CNAMTS, Public Health France and Healthways France teams, in collaboration with Santech, worked together since the beginning of the year to develop an innovative mobile application dedicated to support the French population in their quitting process.

Inspired by cutting edge science regarding behavior change and behavioral economics, this new application supports the user's engagement in his weaning process in order to increase the chances of a successful permanent stop.

Featuring a dynamic user interface that adapts to the motivation and preparation stage of each enrolled user, this application provides personalized support throughout the preparation and cessation process. The user experience is enhanced by multichannel interactions between the service and the user, allowing the application to send specific messages fitting to the user's specific situation (pregnancy, chronic diseases...) and to interact in a relevant way with the user.

It also offers audio and video multimedia content that allow the user to be better informed, be prepared to quit and then maintain his motivation. He'll also be able to track his progress and benefits from quitting while discovering the best tips and advice to manage, for example, his stress and his weight.

One real innovation of this application is in leveraging the member's social networks including friends and relatives who will be able to become his best "supporters" who can regularly show their support to help maintain motivation.

To boost the chances of successfully quitting, the application will be connected to the Tabac Info Service call center and will allow the enrolled member to ask questions directly to a tobacco specialist, from the application or by phone.

Available on the App stores, the mobile application is part of the "Moi[s] sans tabac" (One month without smoking) event, sponsored by The French Public Health agency (SPF) and CNAMTS.  A full web version of the service is currently under construction.

"The announcement of the launch of this Tobacco cessation e-coaching application is a new step in our collaboration with the CNAMTS. Since 2011, as we go on successfully enabling the Sophia program, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in chronic disease management. Now we've proved our ability to design and implement an innovative program focused on prevention in a context where tobacco cessation is a major challenge for public health," said Richard Dauphin, CEO Healthways France.

* *About Healthways* *

Healthways is one of the largest global providers of wellbeing improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier world, Healthways uses the science of behavior change to produce measurable improvements in health and wellbeing for its clients, including employers, health systems, hospitals, physicians, communities, and government entities.
In France, Healthways (Healthways SAS) is engaged with CNAMTS since 2011 and through 2020 for the Sophia program (chronic disease management for diabetics, asthmatics, and heart disease) as well as a new e-coaching program, "Quitting Smoking."
Healthways is a Sharecare company.
https://about.sharecare.com/press-releases/sharecare-acquires-healthways-population-health-business-secures-leadership-position-employer-health-plan-markets .

* *About CNAMTS* *

La Caisse Nationale de l'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés (CNAMTS), the national health insurance fund for salaried workers in France, is under the supervision of both the Health Ministry and Finance and Economy Ministry. CNAMTS is the primary health insurer for 56 million lives, almost 86% of the French population. It is also responsible for optimization of the healthcare system as well as implementing coordinated treatment pathways throughout the country, with the primary care doctor at the centre of this system. As the key player in the healthcare system for which it ensures medical control, CNAMTS ensures that expenditures are balanced with allocated public resources. For more information, please visit their website  www.ameli.fr

Contact (France):
Richard Dauphin
01 72 92 06 66
richard.dauphin@healthways.com
--------------------This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Sharecare via GlobeNewswire

HUG#2048569 Reported by GlobeNewswire 9 hours ago.
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These Health Insurance Mergers Aren't Alike

October 12, 2016, 8:31 am
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Two health insurance mergers under regulatory scrutiny seem to be taking different paths. Reported by Wall Street Journal 8 hours ago.
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Democratic governor: Health law ‘no longer affordable’

October 12, 2016, 9:59 am
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota’s Democratic governor says the federal health care overhaul “is no longer affordable.” Gov. Mark Dayton made the stinging critique of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday while addressing questions about Minnesota’s fragile health insurance market. Individual plans are facing double-digit increases after all insurers threatened to exit the market […] Reported by Seattle Times 7 hours ago.
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Democratic governor: Health law 'no longer affordable'

October 12, 2016, 10:05 am
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Gov. Mark Dayton made the stinging critique of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday while addressing questions about Minnesota's fragile health insurance market. Dayton now says Congress needs to fix the law to help bring down costs and stabilize the insurance market for shoppers who aren't covered by employers or public programs. Reported by SeattlePI.com 7 hours ago.
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Health Partners Plans Among Top 15 Medicaid MCOs in the Country

October 12, 2016, 10:10 am
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Health Partners Plans Among Top 15 Medicaid MCOs in the Country PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nationally recognized for its innovative approach to health care, Pennsylvania-based managed care organization Health Partners Plans (HPP) is one of the highest-rated Medicaid health plans in the state and one of the highest-rated health insurance plans in the nation, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2016–2017. HPP was one of only 15 Medicaid plans in the country to receive an overall rating Reported by Business Wire 6 hours ago.
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Fully understand the IoT with this report

October 12, 2016, 1:24 pm
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The Internet of Things (IoT) Revolution is picking up speed and it will change how we live, work, and entertain ourselves in a million ways big and small.

From agriculture to defense, retail to healthcare, everything is going to be impacted by the growing ability of businesses, governments, and consumers to connect to and control their environments:

· “Smart mirrors” will allow consumers to try on clothes digitally, enhancing their shopping experience and reducing returns for the retailer
· Assembly line sensors will detect tiny drops in efficiency that indicate critical equipment is wearing out and schedule down-time maintenance in response
· Agricultural equipment guided by GPS and IoT technology will soon plant, fertilize and harvest vast croplands like a giant Roomba while the “driver” reads a magazine
· Active people will share lifestyle data from their fitness trackers in order to help their doctor make better health care decisions (and capture discounts on health insurance premiums)

No wonder the Internet of Things has been called “the next Industrial Revolution.” It’s so big that it could mean new revenue streams for your company and new opportunities for you. The only question is: Are you fully up to speed on the IoT?

Research analysts John Greenough and Jonathan Camhi of BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, spent months of researching and reporting this exploding trend and have put together a report on the Internet of Things that explains its exciting present and the fascinating future.

It covers how IoT is being implemented today, where the new sources of opportunity will be tomorrow and how 17 separate sectors of the economy will be transformed over the next 20 years, including:

· Agriculture
· Connected Home
· Defense
· Financial services
· Food services
· Healthcare
· Hospitality
· Infrastructure
· Insurance

· Logistics
· Manufacturing
· Oil, gas, and mining
· Retail
· Smart buildings
· Transportation
· Connected Car
· Utilities

 

If you work in any of these sectors, it's important for you to understand how the IoT will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any of the industries that will build out the IoT infrastructure—networking, semiconductors, telecommunications, data storage, cybersecurity—this report is a must-have.

Among the big picture insights you’ll get from *The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World*:

· IoT devices connected to the Internet will more than triple by 2020, from 10 billion to 34 billion. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) will comprise 10 billion.
· Nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years.
· Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they will use IoT to 1) lower operating costs; 2) increase productivity; and 3) expand to new markets or develop new product offerings.
· Governments will be the second-largest adopters, while consumers will be the group least transformed by the IoT.

And when you dig deep into the report, you’ll get the whole story in a clear, no-nonsense presentation:

· The complex infrastructure of the Internet of Things distilled into a single ecosystem
· The most comprehensive breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks of mesh (e.g. ZigBee, Z- Wave, etc.), cellular (e.g. 3G/4G, Sigfox, etc.), and internet (e.g. Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.) networks
· The important role analytics systems, including edge analytics, cloud analytics, will play in making the most of IoT investments
· The sizable security challenges presented by the IoT and how they can be overcome
· The four powerful forces driving IoT innovation, plus the four difficult market barriers to IoT adoption
· Complete analysis of the likely future investment in the critical IoT infrastructure: connectivity, security, data storage, system integration, device hardware, and application development
· In-depth analysis of how the IoT ecosystem will change and disrupt 17 different industries

*The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World* is how you get the full story on the Internet of Things.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the IoT universe,access our BI Intelligence Ultimate IoT Reports Bundle and gain immediate access to this report PLUS over 30 other reports.  >> *ACCESS THE BUNDLE & SAVE 89% TODAY*

Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 3 hours ago.
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Jill Stein Would Be A Blessing For The Supreme Court, While Gary Johnson Would Be A Disaster

October 12, 2016, 1:18 pm
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[This column was originally published by Truthdig.com]

Antonin Scalia's death in February has put the Supreme Court's future up for grabs in the presidential election. The next occupant of the Oval Office will have the power to reshape the nation's highest judicial body, and with it the ability to redefine the meaning and application of the Constitution, not just for the next four or eight years, but for a generation or more.

In my last Truthdig column, I examined the impact a Trump or Clinton presidency could have on the court in light of the public positions each candidate has taken on major constitutional issues. I also provided some commentary on the kinds of people Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton might nominate to succeed Scalia and three other elderly justices--Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer--who are all at least 78 years old and nearing retirement.

To restate the gist of the column: Trump would be a catastrophe, seeking to set back the constitutional clock in a wide range of areas, from environmental protection and First Amendment freedoms to abortion rights. Clinton, for all her duplicities, coziness to Wall Street and foreign-policy hawkishness, is clearly the lesser evil of the pair.

Nothing said in Sunday's second presidential debate, which touched ever so briefly on the court, has changed my perspective. Trump as chief executive would move the court sharply to the right, appointing justices "in the mold of Scalia." Clinton would guide it moderately to the center-left.

But Trump and Clinton aren't the only hopefuls in the race. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, and Jill Stein of the Green Party, are also campaigning. They have announced positions on the court, and their views merit our attention, even if neither has the slightest chance of winning in November.

Here, then, is my take on what the third-party standard-bearers have to offer, with my conclusion first and analysis afterward:

1. Gary Johnson is--and I say this with a deep breath and only after careful reflection--almost as ignorant about the work of the court and constitutional law as Trump. He would be an embarrassment to the country as well as a danger overall to progressive values were he ever to wield the judicial appointment authority of the presidency under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.

2. Jill Stein, by contrast, has articulated a consistently progressive stance on the court and the questions and cases that will likely come before it in the next decade. Her positions are more expansive than those embraced by Bernie Sanders. She suffers, however, from even more diminutive poll numbers than Johnson, registering a scant 2 percent to 3 percent of voter support in recent national surveys.

Now for the analysis, starting with Johnson.

To the extent that the former Republican governor of New Mexico has talked about the Supreme Court and whom he would elevate in the wake of Scalia's demise, his ideas have been vague, erratic and at times vacuous. Equally important, what he's said on the subject has conflicted with the views expressed by his Libertarian running mate, former Republican Massachusetts Gov. William Weld.

Johnson and Weld appeared together for an interview on ReasonTV this past July, during which they were asked by reporter Nick Gillespie about the kind of jurist who should succeed Scalia.

Weld answered that "Stephen Breyer has been a good justice. He was appointed by Democrats." Weld also opined that President Obama's current nominee--Merrick Garland, the presiding judge of the federal District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals--"was a good pick."

Johnson fumbled his response, saying that he would impose no "litmus test" for his Supreme Court choices, but that any of his nominees would have to adhere to Scalia's philosophy of "original intent" for interpreting the meaning of the Constitution.

Perusing the July interview, or for that matter the recorded Q&A conducted a month later by Townhall's Guy Benson, it's unclear that Johnson has the foggiest idea what "original intent" means as a judicial methodology.

Not that it takes a rocket scientist to grasp the doctrine's fundamentals. In its initial iteration--as popularized by such legal luminaries as the now-deceased federal appellate judge Robert Bork--the theory held that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the actual intentions of the framers. Bork, who was nominated by President Reagan in 1987, never made it to the high bench. His appointment was rejected after a raucous Judiciary Committee hearing by the full Senate on a vote of 58-42.

In its current, more refined version, originalism urges judges to interpret the Constitution, not so much in line with the framers' intent (which some proponents acknowledge is unknowable), but according to the "original meaning" of the terms contained in the document's text--that is, according to the general definitions of the words used in the Constitution at the time of its ratification. This is the technique Scalia was said to have employed when he penned his majority decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, holding for the first time in 2008 that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own and bear firearms apart from service in state militia.

Proponents of the "original meaning" school like Scalia argue that such an approach to judicial decision-making guards against both subjectivism and activism.

In truth, of course, originalism is a sham, promoting its own strain of subjective judicial judgments and partisan outcomes. Consider, for example, in addition to Heller, the sweeping breadth of such recent sea-changing Supreme Court rulings as Bush v. Gore on the 2000 presidential election, Citizens United v. FEC on campaign finance, and Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted the Voting Rights Act.

When it comes to constitutional theory, originalist or otherwise, Gary Johnson hasn't a clue. Indeed, in his Townhall interview, he spoke strongly against the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in a 2005 eminent domain case (Kelo v. City of New London) as illustrative of the kind of court opinions he doesn't like. But he didn't appear to know how the then-members of the court had voted on the case.

Similarly, in the Townhall interview, Johnson took conflicting positions on abortion rights, ultimately saying that abortion curbs should be left to the states. He also seemed confused on the hot-button question of "religious liberty" and discrimination by business owners against the LGBT community, and he was unable to explain how Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which he condemned, differed from the New Mexico RFRA, which he had signed into law in 2000.

Whether Johnson's poor performance in the Reason and Townhall sessions were "Aleppo" moments of memory failure under the klieg lights, he has espoused a number of other well-considered positions on the big legal issues of our times.

On the plus side, he favors legalization of marijuana, and, most recently, called for pardoning NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden. He also recently declared his opposition to the death penalty, although as governor in 2001 he permitted New Mexico's only execution since 1976 to proceed. The state abolished capital punishment in 2009, after Johnson had left office.

However, Johnson's negatives vastly outweigh his positives. As noted by Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum in a Sept. 17 post, Johnson supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership and fracking. He wants to abolish student loans and thinks Citizens United "is great."

He opposes net neutrality, affirmative action and gun control, and any type of paid maternity or medical leave. He's against all forms of national health insurance, wants to raise the Social Security retirement age to 75, abolish the EPA and repeal the federal income tax.

He is also against any increase in the minimum wage in keeping with strict anti-New Deal libertarian canon. Truly faithful libertarians call for a return to the early 20th-century era of "freedom of contract," during which the Supreme Court issued such infamous anti-labor decisions as Lochner v. New York and Adkins v. Children's Hospital, striking down maximum-hour and minimum-wage legislation.

Jill Stein offers a mirror image of all that is regressive in Johnson's legal outlook. Among other positions, as cataloged by the website OnTheIssues.org, she has condemned the current religious freedom movement as a "surrogate for patriarchal domination," and has called for strict workplace and housing equality without regard to gender identification.

Stein supports abortion rights, pay equity, the Black Lives Matter movement and ending mass incarceration.

Like Johnson, she has called for the decriminalization of drug use, abolition of the death penalty and a pardon for Edward Snowden.

Unlike Johnson, however, she wants to overturn Citizens United, declaring that "corporations are not people and should not be allowed to finance political campaigns." In further contrast to Johnson, she opposes raising the retirement age for Social Security and supports affirmative action and gun control.

To combat economic inequality, Stein wants to go beyond minimum wage legislation, calling on Congress to enact "living wage" mandates. In fact, she wants guaranteed jobs for all who want to work, and full conversion to green energy by 2030 to counteract climate change (which, unlike Johnson, she believes is real and man-made).

When it comes to the Supreme Court, although she thinks Merrick Garland should get a Senate hearing, she would appoint justices committed to reversing Citizens United. She was, moreover, sharply critical of the court for deadlocking 4-4 last term on a crucial appeal (United States v. Texas) dealing with President Obama's delayed deportation programs.

Of all the presidential candidates, Stein would do the most to influence the court to move in a consistently progressive direction. But of all the candidates, she has the least prospect of doing so. And therein lies a sobering but undeniable reality about the state of American law and politics in the second decade of the 21st century.

-- 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 3 hours ago.
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Should You Get Health Benefits With Car Insurance?

October 12, 2016, 2:27 pm
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Injuries are an unfortunate outcome for many motor accidents, and as such, car insurance comes with ways to make sure you can pay for medical costs. The three parts of car insurance concerned with health are bodily injury liability (BI), medical payments and personal injury protection (PIP). The former is mandatory while the latter two are optional (in most states). This article will be most concerned with those two.

PIP and MedPay are meant to cover any injury you or your passengers sustain in an accident. If you have an actual health insurance policy, you may question why you would need them in the first place. While that may seem like an obvious question, there are actually several advantages to adding one or both of those coverages, even if you have health insurance.

*They Are Safety Nets If Your Health Insurance Company Denies You*

Depending on your company, there is always a possibility they will deny your claim because it happened in a car crash. You are not expected to scour every detail of your policy, so there may very well be certain provisions that prohibit you for filing a claim due to an accident. The good thing about PIP or MedPay is that you just have to file a claim through your car insurer to be quickly reimbursed and able to start paying medical bills right away. PIP and MedPay don't require you to prove that the other driver was at-fault for the accident; regardless, you will see compensation for your injuries. Without the coverage, you would be forced to pay out of pocket if your health insurer denies your claim.

*They Cover Your Passengers' Injuries*

If you are driving with passengers, and they get injured, your health insurance won't cover them (unless they are on your plan). In an accident in which you were the driver with many passengers and lots of damage, passengers may be looking toward you to pay their bills. If you have low insurance limits, you probably won't be able to satisfy them all. With PIP or MedPay however, that coverage extends to your passengers, giving you several extra thousand dollars to help take care of their injuries. If you frequently find yourself in the car with passengers, it may be well worth to add one of these coverages to your policy.

*PIP Pays for Lost Wages Due to Injury*

If you suffer a debilitating injury due to a car crash, then you will most likely have to miss some time from work. Any work absence can be a financial strain; luckily PIP (not MedPay) has a work loss addition, which will help pay for lost wages, up to a certain amount per your policy. Work loss is usually not a part of a health insurance plan, and would need to be purchased in a separate Disability Insurance plan.

*They Also Pay for Any Funeral Costs*

A tough thought, but a sometimes-necessary one. Funerals costs anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000. If a loved one dies in a car accident, PIP or MedPay would pay for the funeral costs. An ordinary health insurance plan will not do the same. Without those two insurances, you would be forced to pay for the funeral out of pocket.

*Bottom Line *

Even though most states do not make PIP or MedPay mandatory, you should strongly consider adding it to your car insurance policy. For only about $100 to $200 per year, you can add thousands of dollars worth of valuable medical coverage. If you can afford them, it may be well worth the comfort of knowing you have that much extra protection.

-- 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 2 hours ago.
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This exclusive report reveals the ABCs of the IoT

October 12, 2016, 10:42 pm
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The Internet of Things (IoT) Revolution is picking up speed and it will change how we live, work, and entertain ourselves in a million ways big and small.

From agriculture to defense, retail to healthcare, everything is going to be impacted by the growing ability of businesses, governments, and consumers to connect to and control their environments:

· “Smart mirrors” will allow consumers to try on clothes digitally, enhancing their shopping experience and reducing returns for the retailer
· Assembly line sensors will detect tiny drops in efficiency that indicate critical equipment is wearing out and schedule down-time maintenance in response
· Agricultural equipment guided by GPS and IoT technology will soon plant, fertilize and harvest vast croplands like a giant Roomba while the “driver” reads a magazine
· Active people will share lifestyle data from their fitness trackers in order to help their doctor make better health care decisions (and capture discounts on health insurance premiums)

No wonder the Internet of Things has been called “the next Industrial Revolution.” It’s so big that it could mean new revenue streams for your company and new opportunities for you. The only question is: Are you fully up to speed on the IoT?

After months of researching and reporting this exploding trend, John Greenough and Jonathan Camhi of Business Insider Intelligence have put together an essential briefing that explains the exciting present and the fascinating future of the Internet of Things. It covers how IoT is being implemented today, where the new sources of opportunity will be tomorrow and how 17 separate sectors of the economy will be transformed over the next 20 years, including:

· Agriculture
· Connected Home
· Defense
· Financial services
· Food services
· Healthcare
· Hospitality
· Infrastructure
· Insurance

· Logistics
· Manufacturing
· Oil, gas, and mining
· Retail
· Smart buildings
· Transportation
· Connected Car
· Utilities

 

If you work in any of these sectors, it's important for you to understand how the IoT will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any of the industries that will build out the IoT infrastructure—networking, semiconductors, telecommunications, data storage, cybersecurity—this report is a must-have.

Among the big picture insights you’ll get from *The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World*:

· IoT devices connected to the Internet will more than triple by 2020, from 10 billion to 34 billion. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) will comprise 10 billion.
· Nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years.
· Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they will use IoT to 1) lower operating costs; 2) increase productivity; and 3) expand to new markets or develop new product offerings.
· Governments will be the second-largest adopters, while consumers will be the group least transformed by the IoT.

And when you dig deep into the report, you’ll get the whole story in a clear, no-nonsense presentation:

· The complex infrastructure of the Internet of Things distilled into a single ecosystem
· The most comprehensive breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks of mesh (e.g. ZigBee, Z- Wave, etc.), cellular (e.g. 3G/4G, Sigfox, etc.), and internet (e.g. Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.) networks
· The important role analytics systems, including edge analytics, cloud analytics, will play in making the most of IoT investments
· The sizable security challenges presented by the IoT and how they can be overcome
· The four powerful forces driving IoT innovation, plus the four difficult market barriers to IoT adoption
· Complete analysis of the likely future investment in the critical IoT infrastructure: connectivity, security, data storage, system integration, device hardware, and application development
· In-depth analysis of how the IoT ecosystem will change and disrupt 17 different industries

*The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World* is how you get the full story on the Internet of Things.

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Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 19 hours ago.
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AMC Health and Geisinger Health Plan Launch Kiosk Solution for Employers

October 13, 2016, 5:06 am
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Ease of use, increased efficiency and maximized data accuracy

New York, NY and Danville, PA (PRWEB) October 13, 2016

AMC Health, the leading provider of real-time virtual care solutions, and Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) announced today that it launched a portable Kiosk solution for employers, providing a more effective and efficient HIPAA-compliant method of collecting health information.

Supplementing the traditional method of deploying teams of health professionals to various worksites to collect data manually, AMC Health’s Kiosks support a convenient way for the employee to participate in wellness programs, self-manage their health, and provide real-time updates to their care manager. Employees can use these cost-effective and portable Bluetooth-enabled tabletop devices to take biometric measurements at their convenience and receive focused health information in an interactive manner to support their journey to better health.

The Kiosks transmit the data collection into GHP’s system. This is the most significant benefit as GHP is able to leverage technology to assure data accuracy and minimize the personnel needed to manage the process.

“Leveraging this technology allows GHP health and wellness professionals to have access to instantaneous data, enabling more meaningful interventions. It also allows employees to have multiple screenings at their convenience to help them manage their health. During these interactions, focus is on specific health and wellness goals to support improved health outcomes,” said Allison Hess, Director of Health and Wellness at GHP.

“GHP is one of our pioneer collaborators and we continue to co-develop groundbreaking solutions for the populations they serve. We are committed to their expansion into virtual care by leveraging AMC Health’s real-time virtual care platform,” said Nesim Bildirici, Founder and CEO of AMC Health. “Our clinically proven solutions, FDA-cleared platform and end-to-end services enable healthcare organizations to extend delivery of services virtually through a single connection with AMC Health.”

AMC Health has demonstrated, in peer-reviewed clinical studies, that its virtual care solutions have reduced utilization by 23% for patients with heart failure, generating 3.3:1 ROI; helped patients with diabetes significantly reduce their HbA1c levels by as much as 3.3 points within six months; assisted patients with hypertension substantially control and reduce their blood pressure by 21/9 mmHg within six months; and decreased the risk of 30-day readmissions by 44%, generating 6:1 ROI. These results have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Managed Care Medicine, Medical Care and Population Health Management.

Click to Tweet: @AMCHealth and @GeisingerHealth launch #kiosk solution for #employers that supports data accuracy and efficiency and #virtualcare.

About AMC Health
AMC Health is the leading provider of real-time virtual care solutions. For 14 years, AMC Health has led healthcare transformation by enabling healthcare organizations to extend their care virtually. Our clinically proven solutions and FDA-cleared platform connecting to more than 200 devices, apps, and integrations via a single connection combined with our end-to-end services provide healthcare organizations cost-effective population health management. Our published studies demonstrate reduced utilization by 23% for patients with heart failure, generating 3.3: 1 ROI; reduced HbA1c levels for patients with diabetes by as much as 3.3 points within six months; reduced blood pressure by 21/9 mmHg for patients with hypertension within six months; and decreased risk of 30-day readmission by 44%, generating 6:1 ROI. AMC Health’s proven solutions have earned the exclusive endorsement of the American Hospital Association. For more information, visit http://www.amchealth.com.

About Geisinger Health Plan
Geisinger Health Plan, begun in 1985, is headquartered in Danville, Pennsylvania. Geisinger Health Plan’s HMO, PPO and Geisinger Gold’s HMO are among the highest-rated private and Medicare health plans in the nation.* The plan serves approximately 540,000 members in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maine. Coverage is available for businesses of all sizes, individuals and families, Medicare beneficiaries, Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medical Assistance recipients. For more information, please visit TheHealthPlan.com.

*NCQA’s Private and Medicare Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2015-2016. Geisinger Health Plan’s PPO is listed in NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings under Geisinger Quality Options. Geisinger Gold HMO is listed in NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings under Geisinger Health Plan. Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.
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MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: 'The Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable' (AET, UNH, HUM)

October 13, 2016, 5:45 am
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MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: 'The Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable' (AET, UNH, HUM) Democratic Governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton on Wednesday made an admission that the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is getting too expensive for people in his state.

"Ultimately I’m not trying to pass the buck here but the reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable," said Dayton according to CBS Minnesota.

The law's public exchanges, where people without employer-based coverage can go to buy a plan, have lost a large number of insurers in the past year and premium costs have soared.

Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said on October 3 the exchanges were "on the verge of collapse" after some premiums were hiked by 67% for 2017.

Dayton echoed those same sentiments on Wednesday night.

"The Affordable Care Act has many good features to it, it has achieved great success in terms of insuring more people, 20 million people across the country and providing access for people who have pre-existing conditions alike, but it’s got some serious blemishes right now and serious deficiencies," said Dayton, according to CBS.

The exchanges in Minnesota are relatively small, only 250,000 people in the state receive their health insurance through Obamacare, but the struggles of the state underscore some national trends.

Insurers have been pulling back from the ACA exchanges as the pool of people signing up has been older and sicker than expected. With a smaller percentage of younger people signing up to offset that cost, insurers have lost money and either shrank their coverage through the exchanges or had to raise premiums.

Insurers large and small have had to pull some of their Obamacare coverage from giants like Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare to start-ups like Oscar and Harken Health.

The Obama administration hopes to offset these losses through a push to sign up more millennials and young adults during this year's open enrollment season, which runs from November 1 through the end of January 2017.

The law has become an issue now on the campaign trail, with both presidential candidates suggesting changes to one of President Obama's signature legislative achievements.

Whether or not those changes can save the exchanges in Minnesota remains to be seen.

*SEE ALSO: Minnesota's Obamacare exchanges are in an 'emergency situation'*

*DON'T MISS: Obamacare can succeed, but it needs a huge amount of work*

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: LIZ ANN SONDERS: The most unsettling outcome for the markets would be a surprise Trump win Reported by Business Insider 11 hours ago.
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Six Things I Wish Clinton Had Said To Trump

October 13, 2016, 6:10 am
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This post originally appeared on The American Prospect.

According to post-debate instant polls and based on the continuing defection of other leading Republicans, Hillary Clinton evidently did well enough in Sunday night's debate. But had she been a little more alert and less scripted, she might have demolished Donald Trump, once and for all.

Trump came into the debate on the verge of a total meltdown, with Republican elected officials deserting his candidacy by the dozen, his own running mate distancing himself from the candidate, and the nation in a state of disgust over Trump's bragging over his gross sexual exploits.

Yet when the debate was over, the consensus that Trump has done well enough to survive, even to halt the slide. What might Hillary have said? Here are six examples:

*COOPER:* Just for the record, though, are you saying that what you said on that bus 11 years ago that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope women without consent?
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TRUMP:* I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.

*COOPER: *So, for the record, you're saying you never did that?

*TRUMP*: I've said things that, frankly, you hear these things I said. And I was embarrassed by it. But I have tremendous respect for women.

*COOPER*: Have you ever done those things?

*TRUMP:* And women have respect for me. And I will tell you: No, I have not. And I will tell you that I'm going to make our country safe. We're going to have borders in our country, which we don't have now.
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CLINTON (should have said):* Donald, who do you think you are kidding? The record is full of disgusting sexual boasts of how you hit on women, how you degrade women. Either you were lying in your boasts, or you are lying now. Either way, the claim that you have tremendous respect for women is the biggest lie of all.

*TRUMP (from the transcript):* They always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia.

*CLINTON (should have said):* Donald, that might be the one true thing you've said tonight. You didn't know that Russia had invaded Crimea. You believe that Putin is bombing Aleppo in Syria to get rid of ISIS, when in fact he is bombing Aleppo to prop up his puppet, Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths--and is one of the leading causes of the rise of ISIS. You think Vladimir Putin is a role model. You say you and he can get along--you think alike--that's evident from the way you would trash our democracy. But on Russia, on Syria, like on so much else, you just don't know what you're talking about. You spout nonsense, you make it up as you go along.

*TRUMP (from the transcript, on his plan to increase competition in health insurance by allowing competition across state lines):* You're going to have plans that are so good, because we're going to have so much competition in the insurance industry. Once we break out--once we break out the [state] lines and allow the competition to come.

*CLINTON (should have said):* Once again, Donald is displaying his complete ignorance of how it actually works. Competition across state lines doesn't result in better or cheaper insurance. Do you know how insurance companies actually compete? They compete by recruiting healthy people and avoiding sick people. That's why we need to regulate them to protect people from being denied insurance or having their rates jacked up because of pre-existing conditions. Donald lives in a parallel universe of his own imagination.
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TRUMP (from the transcript):* She complains that Donald Trump took advantage of the tax code. Well, why didn't she change it? Why didn't you change it when you were a senator?
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CLINTON (should have said):* Donald, possibly you know that there are 100 members of the Senate, and I was just one? For most of the years that I served in the Senate, the Republicans were in the majority. Whenever we tried to make the tax code more just, so that working families could get a break and billionaires like you would pay their fair share, the Republicans kept cutting taxes on the very rich. If I am elected, I will fight to change that.

*TRUMP (from the transcript):* Hillary Clinton wants to put all the miners out of business. There is a thing called clean coal. Coal will last for 1,000 years in this country.

*CLINTON (should have said):* We owe the coal miners a better life, and we need a program of redevelopment and good jobs for the coal country. But Donald is blowing smoke when he tells the miners and their communities that he has a magic plan to bring back coal and coal mining jobs. For one thing, so much of the mining is being done by machines, and that will only increase. There are only 83,000 coal mining jobs left in America. For another thing, coal is just no longer price competitive with other forms of energy such as natural gas. Even solar is cheaper than coal. But we owe the miners, their communities, and their families a better life. We can't throw them away like the coal companies threw away their mountains and rivers. And when I am president, these communities will have new opportunities in new, clean industries.
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TRUMP (from the transcript)*: If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.

*CLINTON (should have said): *Donald, you may have missed this in civics class, but one of the things that makes America a democracy is that the winners of elections don't try to put their opponents in jail. Your pal Putin does that, but Americans don't.

OK, Clinton didn't say any of this. And she let Trump tell a number of outright lies.

Her handlers have concluded that it's best for her to hang back and be presidential, and let Trump come across as a crazy man. The strategy partly works. But time and again, Trump has displayed an uncanny ability to come back from the dead, by breaking all the rules.

In the last debate, the moderator will be Chris Wallace from Fox. You can bet that he will be fair and balanced in the usual Fox fashion.

Clinton, to win by a decent margin, needs to maximize all the openings that Trump gives her. She needs to relax a little, and permit herself some ad-libs. Trump may have a glass jaw, but only if Hillary lands more punches.

-- 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.
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Pioneer Institute: Survey Finds Prescription Drug Prices Easy To Access, But Not Always Accurate

October 13, 2016, 8:35 am
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Wide variation found in price of generics, less for brand-name drugs; consumers must navigate difficult terrain to find lowest price

Boston, MA (PRWEB) October 13, 2016

It’s far easier to get prescription drug price information than to get similar numbers from hospitals or specialty physicians, but the information is not always reliable, according to a new survey published by Pioneer Institute.

Researchers called 44 independent and chain drugstores across Massachusetts and asked for a 30-day supply in a common dosage of five generic and three brand-name drugs. Callers said they were self-pay and pressed the stores for information about discounts. Massachusetts’ 2012 state law mandating price transparency does not cover retail pharmaceutical sales.

“There were virtually no transfers or dropped calls, no lengthy hold or wait times, and most of our callers were treated with courtesy,” said Barbara Anthony, primary author of “Transparency in Retail Drug Prices: Easy to Obtain but Accuracy May Be Doubtful.” “However some workers weren’t well informed about the pharmacy’s discount programs and those working in chain stores didn’t refer the callers to drug discount program information on their websites.”

Although most Massachusetts residents have health insurance, between 3 and 4 percent are uninsured at any given time. Combine that with the rise of high-deductible insurance plans and those who are underinsured, and the result is that many consumers are paying out-of-pocket for all or part of their prescription drugs.

There was significant variation among drugstores in the price of generic drugs, which account for 87 percent of prescriptions filled in the U.S. and typically cost one-third to one-tenth the price of brand-name drugs.
Atorvastatin, a popular generic used to control cholesterol, cost $4 at a pharmacy in Lunenburg and just under $199 at one in Boston.

There was a much narrower range for the three brand-name drugs about which researchers inquired.

Manufacturers’ coupons and those from companies like GoodRx and OneRx were found to reduce prices significantly for some generic drugs like Atorvastatin and Montelukast, a substitute for the antihistamine Singulair. But the coupon price was sometimes higher than the price using store discounts for other drugs.

“Finding the lowest price, even among generic drugs, is tough terrain for consumers to navigate,” Anthony said. “Consumers need to consult coupon websites, call stores, shop, compare and try to find the best price at a time they are already in a vulnerable position,” she added.

The value of coupons was also mixed for brand-name drugs. Using GoodRx reduced the price of Patanol, a popular eye-drop medication, from $335 to $268 at Walgreens, but provided little savings on other drugs.

It was often difficult to get accurate price information over the phone. Sometimes drugstores couldn’t verify the price of a drug using a discount coupon until the transaction was run through the store’s computer system. Some major chains will only disclose a “phantom” or average wholesale price for a drug because their computer systems are not able to provide the true price unless the prescription is actually processed.

“Consumers can’t be expected to physically go from pharmacy to pharmacy to get an accurate price,” said Pioneer’s Executive Director Jim Stergios.

The authors make several recommendations:·     Pharmacy workers should receive better training about communicating prescription drug discount programs and they should refer customers to store websites, where applicable, for more information.
·     Retail drug stores should do more to inform consumers that they accept discount coupons.
·     Store computer systems need to be more consumer friendly and generate accurate prices to consumers who are shopping by phone; the inability to give an accurate price without filling the script impedes transparency and hurts consumers.
·     Consumers should not automatically assume that chain store prices are lower than independent drug store prices, and should know that many independent stores are willing to negotiate to match price. Shopping around can save money even on generic drugs.
·     Consumers should search the internet for discount drug coupons but they should not automatically assume that all coupon prices represent the best possible deal.
·     Prescription drug payers should adopt the level of transparency used by the Medicare program. There, beneficiaries receive an easy-to-read monthly report showing the amount Medicare paid to the pharmacy for each drug, the amount paid by the beneficiary and pharmacy payments from any other payers.

About the Authors    
Barbara Anthony, a lawyer, is a senior fellow in healthcare at Pioneer Institute focusing on healthcare price and quality transparency. She is also an associate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Business and Government. She served as Massachusetts Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation from 2009 to 2015.

Scott Haller graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He started working at Pioneer Institute through the Northeastern’s Co-op Program and continues now as the Lovett C. Peters Fellow in Healthcare. He previously worked at the Office of the Inspector General.

About Pioneer
Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government. Reported by PRWeb 9 hours ago.
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U.S. Health Care System: American Taxpayers Paying A Lot, Getting Little In Return--A German-American Perspective

October 13, 2016, 9:09 am
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U.S. public officials often argue that the U.S.A. has the best health care system in the world and therefore are resisting change in view of President Obama's health care reform efforts. The American health care system certainly has many advantages, particularly for the more fortunate citizens. Shorter wait times, sound facilities, clearly identified processes, uniform procedures, and easy access to medicine illustrate the strength of the system. However, besides other serious flaws such as being heavily symptom- instead of cause-oriented, Americans are paying exorbitant amounts for their health care and getting relatively little in return. Even individuals with health insurances in the U.S.A. are not protected from incurring financially debilitating bills due to the high deductibles that they may be required to pay.

Among the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) nations, the U.S.A. is one of the highest spenders on health care, in private, as well as public spending. U.S. private spending on health care is the highest among all OECD nations. Public spending is also very high. However, in spite of the money spent, the U.S.A. has one of the fewest acute care hospital beds per 1,000 populations: 2.5; Japan has 7.9, and Germany 5.3. The money that Americans are spending is not translating into a healthier population, either. In mortality from cancer, the U.S.A. ranks 25 out of 34, more than one-third (36.5 percent) of adults are obese. The USA also lags behind other developed nations in infant mortality, and well above the OECD average (6.9) in prevalence of diabetes (9.6), and the list goes on.

The U.S. health care system is a highly profit-oriented business. American companies are able to do in the United States what they often cannot do in other countries, not only morally, but also legally. For example, they can charge U.S. consumers more than customers abroad, even for drugs that were developed with U.S. tax money, of which the EpiPen is only one example among many. Care generally addresses the symptoms, instead of the underlying causes: Physicians are extremely prone to prescribing pills for which they receive kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. Extensive reliance on pills keeps patients coming back for more of the same, and additional pills, to counteract the side-effects of the pills that they are already taking.

This explains why natural approaches to health are detached from the mainstream approach as much as it is the case in the U.S.A. A health system that does not see a holistic approach as a foundation of care, not consider using the body's own healing powers in the healing process, and not include natural healing methods, does not have the best interest of patients in mind. In comparison, in Germany, for example, alternative medicine is a lot more integrated into the mainstream health care system. Main stream physicians in Germany are very well-versed on natural medicines and can officially recommend ("prescribe") them, in which case, some insurances even cover the cost. Retreating to spas that health insurance pays for is also a given component of their health care system. Such retreats include massages, natural baths, and dancing. Americans pay a lot, but don't come nearly close to receiving the same services.

However, the status-quo of the U.S. health care system should not come as a surprise. In 2013 the highest average profit margin achieved by a U.S. company was by the Pfizer corporation (42 percent), substantially more than banks (29 percent) and oil and gas companies (24 percent). Excessive profits and money also means power and control. Pharmaceutical companies exert those in various ways. For example, medical schools in the U.S.A. receive funds by the pharmaceutical and other health-industry sources. Subsequently, the companies can control the curriculum. Moreover, they can influence research, and also outcomes. Universities are hired to conduct crucial research for the companies, as they have the necessary credentials and enjoy the public's trust as a place of intellectual integrity.

For the cost of health care, some like to conveniently blame the "Mexicans" and other minorities, or undocumented individuals, for exploiting the social services systems. Some people, of course, may "exploit" the system. However, that is a given in any system that involves humans. But the exploitation of the system by patients is not the cause of why Americans are spending a lot and are receiving relatively little in return, neither is the size of the country--an argument that is often used when comparing U.S. public services performance with other developed nations. The disconnection is caused by the lack of legal and moral limitations, such as on how much American patients can be charged and an undifferentiated "business over public services" ideology that turns even the most basic services into a money-making machine--a highly exploitative health care system, in this case.

We could go on and on about health care in the U.S.A. However, in a nutshell, the American health care system has serious moral and practical flaws that need to be fixed. At the same time, suspicion toward the current health care reform is well-granted. Given the predominantly undifferentiated mindset toward business over public services and the indifference regarding excessive profits in this country, any system, regardless how perfect, will turn into an exploitative system that does little but extort money from citizens. Until the indifference toward exploitative business practices changes, there is little use to change the health care, or any other system in the United States, because without ethics and limitations to profit-making, most every system we create is going to fail our country's ordinary citizens in the long-run.

Ms. Dudek is a German-American researcher, analyst, and writer. She regularly contributes to U.S. and German sources such Migazin and the Hill.

-- 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 8 hours ago.
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Here's What Hillary Could Say About Trump's Plan To Jail Her

October 13, 2016, 11:38 am
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Why stop at jail, Donald?

Why not have me shot by firing squad, as the co-chair of your national veterans' coalition--Al Baldasaro--has already proposed? On talk radio last summer, he said that I should be shot for lying about what happened in Benghazi. Just think, Donald, you could make that happen!

You see, Donald, when you become president, our whole system of government will be trumped by Trump. As President Trump, you won't have to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate me. You won't have to worry about pesky little politically correct things like Constitutional rights, due process, the presumption of innocence, or any of the checks and balances that have kept this country going for 227 years. As president, you can do anything you want with an executive order--a stroke of the pen. You'll be omnipotent! And you can use the great powers of the presidency--the huuuuge powers of the presidency--to take revenge on every one your political enemies. Not just me, but traitors within your own party, men like Paul Ryan and John McCain, who have viciously betrayed you by objecting to your lewd comments on that bus. You can line them all up in front of a firing squad. And you can do the same with anyone who has ever criticized you, ridiculed you, or annoyed you in any way, especially by gaining too much weight. You can have every one of them shot.

And just think: you'll never have to worry about laws, facts, or evidence. If eleven hours of interrogation by a Congressional committee couldn't turn up one shred of evidence that I was to blame for Benghazi, what difference does it make? If the FBI concluded after exhaustive study that I should not be prosecuted for the mistakes I made in handling my emails, what does that matter? So long as you believe I was guilty, you can have me shot. That's the beauty of being president. You don't have to prove a single thing because you're the believer in chief. If you believe the worst of me, it must be true--just as it must be true that Barack Obama's eight-year occupation of the White House has been totally illegal because you just know-- in your heart of hearts-- that he was born in Kenya.

So when you get to the White House, you can wipe out all the evidence that he ever lived there, repeal every law he ever signed, and rescind every order he ever issued. For a start, you can rip up the Affordable Care Act. Even though the ACA has brought health insurance to twenty million people who couldn't afford it before, you can tear it up and leave them all to the mercy of insurance companies who will go right back to denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. Likewise, you can rip up the Iran nuclear deal so that Iran can go right back to developing nuclear weapons with absolutely no international monitoring or inspection of its nuclear facilities.

So now, Donald, we know exactly what you mean when you promise to make America great again. Whenever the ruler of any country takes revenge on his political rivals by throwing them in jail, he tells us that his country is a dictatorship. Its government is unchecked by laws, rules of evidence, independent courts, or freely elected legislatures. Its people live at the mercy of one man's whims, whether he wants to throw someone in jail, have someone shot, or grab someone's pussy.

That's the kind of government you want to give us. To make America great again, you want to tear up not just all the laws signed by President Obama but the Constitution itself. You want to shred 227 years of checks, balances, and individual rights so that you can launch a dictatorship driven by hatred and revenge and seasoned by unbridled lust.

Fortunately, however, a majority of American voters now see clearly what you aim to do if elected president. And that is why they will never send you to the White House.

-- 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 6 hours ago.
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America's Costly Addiction to Billion-Dollar Bailouts

October 13, 2016, 12:54 pm
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This month, the Obama Administration decided to refrain from bailing out the health insurance industry. In doing so, the U.S. Department of Justice dismissed multimillion-dollar lawsuits from two big healthcare insurers, a move that would've circumvented Congress and was roiling Republicans who were threatening obstructionism and deriding Obama bailouts.

The irony of the party politicking isn't lost on anyone. No doubt Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, one of the bigger bailout examples going tax-free after losing nearly one billion dollars of investor money, will keep quiet on Obama's near-bailout of the health insurance industry.

But bailouts, like the one recently considered by the Obama Administration, aren't the purview of one political party. Both parties do it freely and frequently, at federal and state levels. The US government is bailing out businesses all the time.

In fact, America is not even close to a "free market" because we're picking winners and losers every day, either through direct bailouts, subsidies and tax loopholes, or through an indirect picking up of the pollution or health tab. Energy subsidies, for example, are well over $5.3 trillion globally given that governments are constantly cleaning up after fossil fuel companies.

American taxpayers, then, are left bailing out the bad decisions of businesses everywhere. The worst example, of course, is the wholesale bailout of Wall Street, with no criminal repercussions for the CEOs, and their executive leadership, who were complicit in decimating middle America's wealth and derailing our economy. And since the financial industry bailout didn't come with corrective and punitive action, the likelihood of another crash is high since the risky derivatives trading and cashing in on sub-prime loans is back in full swing. How difficult it is to fully enact the big-bank-regulating Dodd-Frank Act, then, thanks to heavy lobbing in our nation's capital by one of the top industries financing Congressional campaigns and preventing stricter safeguards.

Wells Fargo's latest fraudulent activity, creating millions of false bank and credit card accounts, is merely the latest example of what little lessons Wall Street learned from its bailout. But other bailouts are equally egregious. Our auto industry has been mismanaging its growth for decades, not remotely keeping pace with greener more efficient auto industries elsewhere. And yet both parties agreed to prop it back up with little parameters for better environmental performance. This is not a sustainable government practice by any economic or environmental measure.

The latest industry to get bailed out is the nuclear industry and it's been happening for a few years already. Nuclear is struggling because of cheaper natural gas prices, and even bottom of the barrel oil prices, thanks to rampant fracturing across America and the absence of a carbon tax that would put a more accurate cost on heavy emitting gas, oil and coal. In undermining the nuclear industry, America's fracked gas boom has also decimated drinking water supplies and geological integrity all across the country. From a carbon footprint perspective, this is deeply disconcerting because natural gas is a heavy emitter and shouldn't be considered a bridge fuel for our economy. Just look at the methane leaks across America, the impact is much worse than previously thought.

The nuclear bailout, however, is now falling into the same trap that riddled financial industry and auto industry bailout schemes. There's little corrective action that's encouraged, or regulated, and, as a result, the industry is allowed to continue making the same mistakes - all at a significant cost to our economy. Nothing could be more inefficient. The most common nuclear industry bailout typically props up companies operating old plants, which are in desperate need of repair, emitting radioactive waste, leaking toxic material often and containing cooling systems that kill massive amounts of marine life. And it's done with no conditions, using America taxpayer dollars to "save" companies - such as the Fortune 100 Company Exelon with $34 billion in annual revenues - that aren't in need of extra revenue.

New York State's nuclear bailout this month is merely the latest example of business getting off scot-free while taxpayers pick up multi-billion-dollar tabs. The state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, is planning to bail out the aging and money-losing Ginna, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point nuclear plants, some of America's oldest nuclear plants and owned by Exelon and Entergy, with nearly $8 billion of New Yorkers' hard-earned money (and another $2.8 billion if energy prices fall). New York State's decision was made after Exelon alone spent $430,000 lobbying Albany, the capital, over the past two years. In the same amount of time, Entergy spent $1.7 million lobbying the state. Money talks.

These examples are particularly egregious because the taxpayer is not only picking up a nuclear tab but a utilities tab, too, the latter of which is a product of the state's new Clean Energy Standard. The new standard, while meritoriously aiming for an electricity goal of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, is requiring utilities to obtain renewable energy credits, a cost that's also going to be passed on to the taxpayers. And it's not like these utilities are struggling. New York utilities giant, Con Edison, for example, has $13 billion in annual revenues and $47 billion in assets. They're going to be fine.

Neither the nuclear industry nor the utilities industry should be passing on these costs to taxpayers, nor should federal and state governments be picking up the corporate tab, especially when our country's median wages are still stagnating and the income inequality gap is still gaping. These are costs that companies should cover, not citizens.

It's time to end the bailouts of big business. For nuclear, if we really want to save it, then state governments, in Albany and elsewhere, should put a price on carbon so that gas, coal and oil show their true cost on society. Until then, no amount of bailing out will stem the flow of cheaper fossil fuels. If this is about jobs, then these billions could be better spent on more reliable renewable industries. If this is about a clean energy future, then figure out next generation nuclear ASAP. But that is not happening with these bailouts. They are a boon for big business while taxpayers are ponying up.

Michael Shank, PhD, teaches sustainable development at NYU's Center for Global Affairs.

-- 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 4 hours ago.
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Democratic Minnesota Gov. Blasts Obamacare: "Affordable Care Act Is No Longer Affordable"

October 13, 2016, 3:34 pm
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Democratic Minnesota Gov. Blasts Obamacare: Affordable Care Act Is No Longer Affordable Soaring Obamacare premiums and declining insurer participation rates in exchanges across the country have been a frequent topic of conversation for us (see "Obamacare On "Verge Of Collapse" As Premiums Set To Soar Again In 2017" and "Stunning Maps Depict Collapse Of Obamacare "Coverage" In 2017").  Now, *even early proponents of the "Affordable Care Act" are starting to distance themselves from a policy initiative which is, at this point, a complete and obvious failure*.  According to CBS, Democratic Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton, recently called for changes to the healthcare exchanges in his state saying that *"the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable."  *



“*Ultimately I’m not trying to pass the buck here but the reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable*,” Dayton said.

 

Dayton says changes to the program are critical, as he stepped away from one of his signature political platforms.

 

“The Affordable Care Act has many good features to it, it has achieved great success in terms of insuring more people, 20 million people across the country and providing access for people who have pre-existing conditions alike, *but it’s got some serious blemishes right now and serious deficiencies,*” Dayton said.

 

Premiums for 250,000 Minnesotans, or 5 percent of the population, insured under MNsure will skyrocket by 50 percent or more on some health plans.

 

“I think it’s a good step that the governor is now admitting that most Minnesotans can’t afford this and I think that’s a good first step to us now being able to work together to take some action to fix this so that we can find a solution that will get Minnesotans the health coverage they need at a cost they can afford,” Daudt said.



Of course, these comments come just 1 week after Minnesota Commerce Commissioner, Mike Rothman, posted a letter to the state's website saying that the state succeeded in preserving the exchanges for one more year by agreeing to massive rate hikes but warned *they are on the "verge of collapse."*  The letter goes on to describe Minnesota's healthcare rate environment as *"unsustainable and unfair"* and notes that *"middle-class Minnesotans" are being "crushed by the heavy burden of these costs."*



”Last year at this time when rates were announced, I said there was a serious need for reform in Minnesota’s individual market,” said Rothman. “*This year the need for reform is now without any doubt even more serious and urgent.”*

 

He highlighted Governor Mark Dayton’s recent decision to reconvene his Task Force on Health Care Financing to make recommendations to ensure that Minnesota consumers have access to affordable, high-quality health insurance options in the individual market.

 

“While federal tax credits will help make monthly premiums more affordable for many Minnesotans, *these rising insurance rates are both unsustainable and unfair,” *said Rothman. *“Middle-class Minnesotans in particular are being crushed by the heavy burden of these costs.* There is a clear and urgent need for reform to protect Minnesota consumers who purchase their own health insurance.”

 

Rothman said the reconvened *Task Force on Health Care Financing should consider any and all feasible reforms.* Above all, he said, it should offer recommendations that can be implemented in the next year to improve market stability and rates for 2018.

 

“We received over 50 public comments from Minnesotans as part of our rate review,” said Rothman. “I personally read each one. They told heartbreaking stories about how *hard-working families are struggling with very tough, painful choices because of these skyrocketing costs.* They say that health insurance is unaffordable, and they’re right. This calls for immediate reforms as everyone's top priority.”



Rate increases for 2017 range from 50% - 67% across Minnesota.

But rates aren't the only issue.  Most of the *insurers participating in Minnesota’s individual market also plan to limit enrollment*, to avoid taking on too many customers from other insurers that have pulled out of the exchanges all together. 



However, Minnesota’s individual market also faces unique challenges because of a* disproportionate concentration of individuals with serious medical conditions whose high claims costs must be absorbed by a relatively small risk pool, pushing up rates for everyone in the individual market.*

 

Citing ongoing financial losses, *Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota announced in late June that it is leaving the individual market*, except for its Blue Plus HMO affiliate. The *company’s decision affects approximately 103,000 Minnesotans, or about 40 percent of the state’s total individual market.*

 

Rothman said that, following Blue Cross’s announcement, *Minnesota’s individual market for 2017 was on the verge of collapse* as all of the other insurers indicated that they were also prepared to exit this market.

 

“The Commerce Department *pursued every option within its power to avert a collapse this year*,” said Rothman. “We succeeded in saving the market for 2017, with only Blue Cross leaving. But the rates insurers are charging will increase significantly to address their expected costs and the loss of federal reinsurance support. In addition, *each insurer except for Blue Plus will limit its total 2017 enrollment to manage its financial or provider network capacity to absorb the many current Blue Cross consumers who will be shopping for new plans."*



 

 

Of course, as Politico points out, *Dayton clearly got some "negative feedback" from democrats on his moment of honesty* as his staffers quickly took to various media outlets to blame republicans for Obamacare's failures.



*"The governor wants to make it clear that the Republicans in Congress are to blame for their unwillingness to make improvements necessary to make the Affordable Care Act more successful,"* Dayton spokesman Sam Fettig said in an email to POLITICO.



Meanwhile, this video really says it all: Reported by Zero Hedge 2 hours ago.
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