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Joe Biden: Hillary Clinton Will Not Affect My Decision To Run For President

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Vice President Joe Biden discussed his rumored 2016 run for the White House on ABC’s "The View” on Tuesday, denying the notion that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s decision to run would negate his own.

“The only reason to run for the President of the United States is if you truly believe you’re in a better position to do what you think is most needed in the country,” Biden told "The View" co-host Barbara Walters. "Whether she [Hillary Clinton] runs or not will not affect my decision.”

"I have absolutely not said no. I'm as likely to run as to not run," Biden added, after promising Walters that she would be the first to hear his public announcement, if she "sticks around."

Biden, who has indicated that he will make a decision by summer 2015, has dropped several presidential hints in the last month, most recently during a CNN “New Day” interview on Feb. 7.

"There may be reasons I don't run, but there's no obvious reason for me why I think I should not run," Biden told CNN. "There's so much just within our grasp. Doesn't mean I'm the only guy that can do it, but if no one else, I think, can, and I think I can, then I'd run. If I don't, I won't."

Biden was making his fourth appearance on "The View" to encourage viewers to sign up for health insurance under President Barack Obama's new health care law. Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.

Kathleen Sebelius: GOP Governors Are 'Playing Politics With People's Lives' On Medicaid

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Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius lashed out at GOP governors on Tuesday for "playing politics" on Medicaid expansion.

In an interview with HuffPost Live, Sebelius lamented the struggle of residents in several states -- namely North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Florida -- where Medicaid expansion has not been taken up as part of the Affordable Care Act.

"Unfortunately, what I think we have in a large case is governors playing politics with people's lives and people's health," Sebelius said. "There's no reason that this return on investment isn't a very positive thing because there's a cost of doing nothing in those states."

Sebelius singled out Texas as a "great example," noting that 23 percent of residents in that state have no health insurance. Gov. Rick Perry (R) has been a firm opponent of Medicaid expansion, going so far as to liken the policy to April Fool's Day.

"Seems to me April Fool's Day is the perfect day to discuss something as foolish as Medicaid expansion, and to remind everyone that Texas will not be held hostage by the Obama administration's attempt to force us into the fool's errand of adding more than a million Texans to a broken system," Perry told reporters in April 2013.

"It's really about his own ideological battle with the president of the United States," Sebelius said Tuesday in response to Perry's opposition. "Unfortunately, in this case, people's health is at stake." Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.

Health premiums projected to rise for many small firms under Obamacare

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A new federal report estimates that 65% of small firms will pay more for employee health insurance as a result of the federal healthcare law while the remaining 35% will see premiums drop. Reported by ChicagoTribune 2 hours ago.

Judge orders Obamacare insurers in Louisiana to accept HIV funds

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. district court judge in Louisiana has temporarily barred Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and two smaller insurers from rejecting payments from a federal program intended to help low-income HIV patients buy health insurance. Reported by Reuters 2 hours ago.

Health Insurance Stocks Gain As Humana Says Government Cuts Won't Be As Bad As Feared

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UnitedHealth Group's stock gained 3% on Monday after peer Humana announced that the government's cuts to the Medicare program would not have as severe an effect as earlier estimated. Humana's stock surged 11% following the announcement while Aetna gained 2%. Reported by Forbes.com 2 hours ago.

More than Winter Chill Gripping Housing, Broader Economy

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More than Winter Chill Gripping Housing, Broader Economy President Obama and many of the nation’s top economists entered 2014 predicting a breakout year for the economic recovery. However, troubles in the housing sector indicate more difficulties and several more years of mediocre growth lie ahead.

Residential construction only directly accounts for 3 percent of GDP; however, the vitality of the new and existing home markets importantly influences the economy in other, indirect ways. Home prices significantly impact on consumer confidence and household balance sheets and, in turn, determine American inclinations to spend at the malls, visit new car showrooms, and power broader growth.

For sure, an exceptionally cold winter has discouraged prospective homebuyers—traffic in new home showrooms, housing starts, and new and existing home sales are all way down—but subzero temperatures and snow can hardly account for all the chill gripping the market these past several months.

For many good reasons, housing sales and prices may never fully recover to pre-crisis levels, and the U.S. housing market and the broader economy are now permanently downsized.

Since 2001, the economy has created only 30,000 jobs a month, whereas at least four times as many are needed to keep up with population growth. A historically staggering one out of six men between the ages of 25 and 54 are without jobs and many are without any prospects of gaining meaningful employment.

Many young graduates are stuck in low wage, dead end positions and many only in part-time employment. Wages are stagnant or falling, and too many young people are saddled with huge student loans that will take a decade or more to pay off. Like the rest of us, many are burdened by government-mandated higher health insurance costs and rising taxes.

Consequently, although homes remain reasonably affordable as measured by household income, the disposable income young people have to enter the housing market has dramatically diminished.

So far the housing recovery has been helped considerably by speculators scarfing up foreclosed homes, foreign investors looking for safe havens for capital, and the small percentage of Americans who have done well—and often who put up considerable amounts of cash.

Further exacerbating these problems, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms have needlessly made mortgage lending by small and medium sized regional banks more difficult and costly.

Mirroring the fact that the recovery is not creating enough jobs for new graduates and wage gains for older middle class Americans, the housing market is not seeing really broad based gains.

According to the widely watched Case-Shiller Index, home prices are still 20 percent off their 2006 peak, and it may be the end of the decade before that lost growth is regained.

Those downward pressures on prices are replicated across the economy. For example, many manufacturers, restaurants, and other service businesses can’t raise prices much.

The only industries where prices and salaries are rising strongly seem to be those with generous government subsidies and government sanctioned monopoly power—for example, health care, higher education, cable TV, and Wall Street banking.

The economy is not likely going to tank, but economic growth is not likely to match the president’s optimistic aspirations until policies are embraced other than compulsory health insurance, ever larger education loans, higher taxes, indulging politically-connected monopolists, and excessive government regulation.

Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland School, and a widely published columnist. He tweets @pmorici1.

 
 
 
  Reported by Breitbart 1 hour ago.

Obamacare report finds 11 MILLION employees will have to pay more for health insurance

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11 million small business employees could pay more, 6 million pay lessIt won't affect people until next year, businesses renewed at end of 2013Disparity due Reported by CapitalBay 1 hour ago.

Obamacare will raise premiums for 65% of small firms

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A majority of small businesses that offer health insurance could see premiums rise, according to a new government report. Reported by CNNMoney 2 hours ago.

AP Exclusive: Health law cybersecurity challenges

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WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Obama administration raced to meet its self-imposed deadline for online health insurance markets, security experts working for the government worried that state computer... Reported by I4U News 1 hour ago.

Obamacare May Raise Premiums for Small Business Employees

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The GOP has come out swinging against Obamacare after a report was released Friday from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stating that 11 million small business employees may soon see their premiums climb. 

The report states that Obamacare’s requirement that premiums can no longer be based on a person's age will gouge younger workers. Fox News reports 65 percent of small businesses will see their insurance premiums rise, citing The Wall Street Journal.

The report, which was actually due in 2011, was requested by House Speaker John Boehner, who said:

This is another punch in the gut for Americans already struggling in the president’s economy. It's clear why the administration sought to delay and deemphasize the release of this report. It undermines the central promise of the president’s health care law: affordable coverage. These 11 million people who will see their premiums spike are 11 million more reasons to repeal this law and start over with common sense reform that will make care more affordable, not more costly.

House Small Business Committee Chairman Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) released a statement that said, "The fact that two-thirds of Americans who work at small businesses will see premium increases because of the health law is devastating news." He continued, "This is one more in a long line of broken promises from President Obama and Washington Democrats."

The report had no estimate of the premiums’ changes as a result of Obamacare, and it did not take into account factors such as tax credits that would encourage employers to offer health insurance coverage. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stated that the report only covers three specific provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but there will be other factors.

Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, protested, "Since the Affordable Care Act became law, health-care costs have been slowing and premium growth has slowed to the lowest rate in years. The law is making it easier for businesses to offer coverage."

 
 
 
  Reported by Breitbart 36 minutes ago.

Anyone Who Fact Checks This Obamacare Attack Ad Hates Cancer Patients, Apparently

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Big news from the war on fact checking today, folks. About a week ago, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) launched an attack ad against Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who has declared himself a candidate for the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Carl Levin (D-Mich.). In that ad, Peters is assailed by Julie Boonstra, whose insurance plan was canceled because of Obamacare. Boonstra, a cancer patient, says in the ad that as a result of her plan's cancellation, her "out-of-pocket costs are so high, it’s unaffordable." She continues, like so:

I believed the president. I believed I could keep my health insurance plan. I feel lied to. It’s heartbreaking for me. Congressman Peters, your decision to vote for Obamacare jeopardized my health.
Scoop, if true. Enter The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler (and HuffPost's Ashley Woods), who did the fact-checking spadework and discovered that the ad's claims didn't add up. Peters, as you might expect, cried foul and complained to the television stations airing the ad. Further documentation was provided by AFP, but, as it turns out, that documentation "doesn’t actually back up the ad’s key claim."

And that's all in a day's work on the fact-checking beat, with the good news for AFP being that the information conveyed by the fact-checkers will inevitably fail to be as widely broadcast as the original ad itself. But the Washington Examiner, for some reason, believes that fact-checking the ad was out of bounds: "Their first priority should be fact-checking politicians, not private citizens exercising their First Amendment rights."

By the Examiner's reckoning, it took way too long for fact-checkers to lambaste President Barack Obama for his "If you like your plan, you can keep it." As the Examiner editorial notes, "The Washington Post's 'Fact Checker' blog, for example, didn't award four Pinocchios to Obama's claim until Oct. 30[, 2013] -- more than three years after the law was signed, and only after people were getting cancellation letters." That's a fair point -- though it should be added that the veracity of Obama's claim was impugned well before 2013. Here, for example, is a September 2010 article by The Hill's Julian Pecquet, reporting that by the Department of Health and Human Services' own estimates, many plans were going to lose their "grandfathered" status between 2010 and 2013.

But what's the solution here? Wait three months to fact-check a political ad, for the sake of consistency? The Examiner notes that fact-checkers went to work on the "if you like your plan" claim "after people were getting cancellation letters." That's a clue as to how this fact-checking industry is going to work -- a precipitating event is going to drive their activity. In the case of the president's claims, it was cancellation letters, which laid bare the reality behind the White House's glib spin job. In the case of Boonstra's claims, it was when she showed up in an attack ad. And I'm afraid to say, the First Amendment doesn't protect people from having their speech scrutinized -- whether it comes in a campaign ad or not.

Not that the Examiner is anti-scrutiny! "No one is arguing in favor of misleading political ads," they write. "But what's important here are the facts no one disputes: Boonstra's health insurance was canceled due to federal regulations, she was forced to restructure her care while suffering from a deadly disease and Peters did vote for Obamacare."

It reminds one of an ad that ran in the 2012 campaign cycle, from Obama-supporting super PAC Priorities USA Action:
Here are some facts that no one disputes: Joe Soptic worked at a steel plant, Bain Capital invested in the company that ran this plant, the plant was closed, Soptic lost his job, his wife died of cancer. But the claim that Mitt Romney was somehow culpable in Soptic's wife's death was a grotesque lie. Glenn Kessler said of this ad, "On just every level, this ad stretches the bounds of common sense and decency." That is 100 percent correct. And at the time, the Washington Examiner could not agree more, never mind Soptic's First Amendment rights.

But there are new standards, according to AFP's director of public affairs and the group's ideological allies:


@ThePlumLineGS So emotionally invested in cheerleading for O-care, you're blind to the pain it's causing a cancer victim. #standwithjulie

— Levi Russell (@AskLevi) February 25, 2014




@ThePlumLineGS Hit 'em harder! Don't let those cancer patients get away with it!

— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 25, 2014
So, officially, AFP and the Washington Examiner now tacitly approve of Priorities USA Action's ad with Joe Soptic.

That's not what I'd recommend! Rather, my advice to Americans for Prosperity is that if they want to create an attack ad around an Obamacare victim, they should go out and find one whose claims actually authentically fit the bill. Look for people whose premiums have increased or the ones who actually had to break the continuity of their care by shopping around for a new doctor. Then they'll get themselves a "true" rating from the fact-checkers to celebrate.

By the way, if you're interested in what the American Cancer Society thinks about Obamacare, well, they are for it. And if you find the implications of the new law "confusing" or "overwhelming," they have "a staff of trained experts available to answer questions, free of charge," through a 24-hour hotline. They promise to keep it politics-free, which, for cancer patients, is probably a pretty good prescription.

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not?] Reported by Huffington Post 36 minutes ago.

Ky. health care system not at high security risk

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Kentucky is not among the more than two-thirds of states that were rated as "high risk" for security problems related to its computers tapping into the federal health insurance exchange system. Reported by KansasCity.com 2 minutes ago.

Arizonans without Health Coverage Get Help with Medicaid, Insurance Marketplace Enrollment

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Arizonans without Health Coverage Get Help with Medicaid, Insurance Marketplace Enrollment PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Cover Arizona Coalition will host enrollment events across the state on March 1 to help Arizona families find out if they qualify for Medicaid or the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace. Reported by Business Wire 7 minutes ago.

4 Million Uninsured People With Mental Illness Will Be Denied Health Insurance Because Their Home States Refuse to Participate in the ACA Medicaid Expansion Program

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4 Million Uninsured People With Mental Illness Will Be Denied Health Insurance Because Their Home States Refuse to Participate in the ACA Medicaid Expansion Program ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new groundbreaking study shows that nearly 4 million people with mental illnesses who are uninsured reside in the 25 states that have refused to participate in the Medicaid Expansion program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).... Reported by PR Newswire 10 hours ago.

Illinois miners file suit over health benefits

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A group of Illinois miners laid off from a Macoupin County mine have filed a lawsuit against Springfield Coal Co. and Tri-County Coal, alleging they were owed 12 months of health insurance benefits. The suit, filed this month in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Ill., alleges the miners were owed the benefits as part of a collective bargaining agreement, the State Journal-Register reports. The Crown III mine near Girard in Macoupin County shut down in December, and nearly 190 miners were… Reported by bizjournals 9 hours ago.

Zane Benefits Publishes New Information on Fully Insured and Self-Insured Health Plans

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Employers Can Save Money, but Assume More Risk, With a Self-Insured Health Plan

Park City, Utah (PRWEB) February 26, 2014

Today, Zane Benefits, the #1 Online Health Benefits Solution, published new information on fully-insured and self-insured health plans.

According to Zane Benefits’ website, employers setting up a health plan need to consider both the type of health plan to offer, and how the health plan will be structured. There are two common ways to structure a group health insurance plan: fully-insured and self-insured (or self-funded).

A fully-insured health plan is the more traditional way to structure an employer-sponsored health plan. With a fully-insured health plan the company pays a premium to the insurance carrier and the premium rates are fixed for a year, based on the number of employees enrolled in the plan each month.

According to Zane Benefits’ website, with a self-insured (self-funded) health plan, employers operate their own health plan as opposed to purchasing a fully-insured plan from an insurance carrier. Employers choose to self-insure because it allows them to save the profit margin that an insurance company adds to its premium for a fully-insured plan. However, self-insuring exposes the company to much larger risk in the event that more claims than expected must be paid.

Click here to read the full article.

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About Zane Benefits
Zane Benefits, the #1 Online Health Benefits Solution, was founded in 2006 to revolutionize the way employers provide employee health benefits in America. We empower employees to take control over their own healthcare, while helping employers recruit and retain the best talent. Our online solutions allow small and medium-sized businesses to successfully transition to a health benefits program that creates happier employees, reduces costs and frees up more time to serve their customers. For more information about ZaneHealth, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 8 hours ago.

Need to expand health insurance coverage among children living in immigrant families; nearly half are presently uninsured

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Need to expand health insurance coverage among children living in immigrant families; nearly half are presently uninsured Reported by ajc.com 8 hours ago.

Republican bill to revise Obamacare would kick one million off their policies, report shows

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WASHINGTON — After much bemoaning and more than 200 votes to dismantle President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, House Republicans say they’ve  come up with a solution: change the minimum threshold at which employers must provide health insurance coverage from 30 to 40 hours per week, so that companies can maintain workers’ part-time hours without being forced to insure them. Trouble is, the “fix” would cause one million employees to lose their current healthcare coverage, […] Reported by Raw Story 7 hours ago.

Affordable Health Care Is Right for America -- and a Worthy Tribute to Black History Month

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Fast-forwarding to the end of Barack Obama's presidency is becoming routine as eager political and media watchers jump the gun on how his two terms will be judged. Much of this future watching is discussion is focused on the Affordable Care Act. That revolutionary law, a.k.a. "Obamacare," is rightly considered his highest accomplishment and his administration's signature legislative effort thus far.

It is hard to argue against that view, especially since many previous presidents labored to no avail to overhaul America's faulty healthcare system. In the context of that history of failed attempts, getting the law through Congress must be seen as a major achievement.

We now know, however, that when President Obama signed the ACA into law on March 23, 2010, after a mighty in Congress, the battle in many ways had just begun. And on it goes. Conservative law makers were shocked when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts slammed efforts to undo the law in the courts. His surprise supporting vote to affirm the ACA in a five-to-four decision at the end of the Court's 2012 session was not enough to silence critics. His finding that it is indeed legal to require that most Americans obtain health insurance under congressional power to levy taxes still did not deter hardliners on the Right who fight on today.

And in Congress nearly 40 efforts to repeal or radically amend the ADA have been brought to a vote -- and failed. Meanwhile, the "party of 'NO'," as one GOP leader dubbed them, has done very little to pass legislation to help America's poor and hardworking middle-class citizen. Instead Congress continues to try and block what Americans need most -- affordable health care. I continue to read about the health care repeal bills, but seldom hear or read about what the critics would offer as an effective alternative.

It seems that those who have the best healthcare available, provided for them by taxpayers who elected them to represent the people are determined to deny that critical coverage for other Americans.

A survey conducted by the National Black Farmers Association and the National Women Farmers Association in 2009 found that 68 percent of their members had no healthcare insurance, though most did have car insurance and homeowner's insurance. In many states it is against the law to drive a motor vehicle without an auto policy or obtain a mortgage without a homeowner's policy. We never hear of any efforts to repeal those laws, which protect loss of things that can be replaced.

Why is it so difficult to gain wider support for insuring America's greatest asset, expanding the security of protecting one's health -- which cannot be replaced? Is it a resistance to putting the "little people" on a level with the more affluent in our society? Is the notion of equality so threatening to America's economic elites?

I heard President Obama state in a speech to the Congressional Black Caucus that under the ACA most Americans can obtain coverage for about a hundred bucks less than the cost of most cell phone bills. Conservatives have tried everything to delay progress on affordable health care, focusing for months now on the troubled website that slowed the initial rollout. Thus far their negativity has failed. People who are not computer-literate recognized that signing up was as simple as picking up the phone and calling the toll free number. It's that easy to just get it done, especially for African Americans and other long-excluded groups.

What better way to observe Black History Month than to recognize the fact that we have a disproportionate rate of serious health problems. Certain conditions affect our communities at a higher rate than others, including heart attack, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer. I often hear members of the National Black Farmers Association share their frustration at not being able to find coverage due to a pre-existing condition. The Affordable Care Law removes that barrier.

It is time to protect our future well-being, sign up for coverage and at the same time preserve President Obama's rightful legacy. Just sign on to healthcare.gov or call toll free: 1 800 318-2596.

Opponents have done their best to deny you this hard-won protection. Don't hand them a victory by neglecting to make good use of it, for yourself, your family, your president and your country. Maybe then Congress will respect this much-needed accomplishment and get busy working on other business, for the people. Reported by Huffington Post 7 hours ago.

Here's How Much People Are Actually Paying For Health Insurance

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Reported by BusinessWeek 4 hours ago.
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