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Sep 9
Health Care Reform Explained
The New Health Care Law and ‘Grandfathered’ or Exempt Plans
by: Susan Jaffe | from: AARP Bulletin | September 4, 2010
Need help understanding the new health care reforms? You’re not alone. E-mail Health Care Reform Explained at HCRquestions@aarp.org. (We regret that due to the volume of e-mails received we are unable to respond to all inquiries.)
Q. What does it mean if my health plan is “grandfathered” under the new health care reform law?
A. During the debate on health care reform, President Obama often promised Americans: “If you like the health care plan you have now, you can keep it.” Therefore, the legislation exempts plans that were already in existence on March 23, 2010—the date it was signed into law—from certain requirements that apply to all new plans. Exempt plans are known as “grandfathered” plans.
If your employer provides a grandfathered plan, you should receive a written notice to this effect. If you buy your own insurance, contact the insurer to find out.
Readers seem to have two main concerns about these plans. They want to know whether grandfathered plans must stay exactly the same as they were on March 23—same benefits, same premiums, same copayments — in order to continue to be exempt in future years. And they also ask whether these plans will give them fewer consumer protections and benefits than will be required of new plans.
Administration officials say that the rules for grandfathered plans try to strike a balance between these two concerns—requiring certain new protections to be added to these policies but also allowing the plans a certain amount of flexibility so that they will not lose their grandfathered status if they only make routine changes from year to year.
Some new consumer protections apply to all plans, whether they’re grandfathered or not:
* A plan cannot exclude coverage for your children if they have preexisting medical conditions.
* A plan can no longer cancel your coverage if you become sick and had made an unintentional mistake on your application for insurance.
* A plan cannot impose lifetime limits on coverage.
* A plan must extend coverage to your adult children up to age 26.
Some new consumer protections and benefits are not required under grandfathered plans:
* They need not offer screenings and other preventive measures for free.
* They need not provide guaranteed access to ob-gyns and pediatricians.
* Individual grandfathered plans are not required to abolish annual coverage limits.
Grandfathered plans can lose their exempt status only if they do one of the following:
* Significantly cut benefits, such as eliminating all or nearly all benefits to treat a specific condition such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis or HIV/AIDS.
* Raise charges that are based on a percentage of costs—for example, increasing your share of a hospital bill from 20 to 25 percent.
* Significantly raise copays—for example, from $30 to $50 for a doctor visit over the next two years.
* Significantly raise deductibles—for example, increasing from $1,000 to $1,500 over the next two years.
* Reduce the employer’s share of the premium by more than 5 percent—for example, so that the employee’s share rises from 15 to 21 percent.
* Reduce existing annual benefit limits or add limits.
* Reduce existing lifetime limits on coverage.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a detailed chart available online that describes the differences between grandfathered and new plans, and what rules each must follow.
Susan Jaffe of Washington, D.C., covers health and aging issues and writes the Bulletin’s weekly column, Health Care Reform Explained: Your Questions Answered
VIA AARP BULLETIN
Sep 8
REMEMBER SEPT 11TH…..AND FLY OUR FLAG WITH PRIDE………..
…………..Stand up for our FREEDOM and vote in November
Sep 8
Sep 8
More taking Social Security benefits early because of economic hardships
from: The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) | September 8, 2010
James Haggerty
Sep. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) — After more than three years without full-time work, George G. Stoll filed for Social Security benefits this spring before reaching full retirement age.
“I felt I had no choice,” said Mr. Stoll, of Forest City, who turned 62 in April. “I’m still looking for a job. There’s absolutely nothing out there.”
Mr. Stoll joins the growing ranks of Americans who are forced to seek early Social Security benefits because of high unemployment and the weak economy.
“It is emblematic of the dislocation we’ve seen because of the recession,” said Gus Faucher, Ph.D., an economist at Moody’s Economy.com, a West Chester economic consulting and forecasting firm. “It’s a very difficult job market out there.”
More than 72 percent of the 2.74 million people who filed for Social Security benefits in 2009 opted in before reaching full retirement age, according to the Social Security Administration. The jump in new filers occurred as the full Social Security retirement age increased last year from 65 to 66.
Mr. Stoll was laid off from his job as a materials handler in February 2007, and he had exhausted his unemployment benefits before turning to Social Security.
He collects $829 a month in benefits, which is $229 less than he would have been eligible for if he waited until age 66 to apply. Social Security benefits permanently run about 25 percent less for people who file early.
“It’s not worth it waiting until 66,” Mr. Stoll said. “I probably filled out close to 1,000 (job) applications in places up and down the valley.”
Long-term unemployment reduces displaced workers’ options, taking some of the sting out of a reduction in Social Security payments for early filers, said Dr. Faucher, who follows labor trends.
“You are going to have a lot of people close to retirement age where it might make more sense to take the hit and get the benefits,” he said.
People in Mr. Stoll’s age range have a harder time finding work after a layoff than the overall population, according to AARP, an advocacy group for senior citizens.
About 53 percent of jobless people age 55 and older have been unemployed for more than six months, compared to about 45 percent off all workers, AARP reported.
With regional unemployment at 10.4 percent in July — the highest since September 1992 — older people have much more difficulty finding replacement work, financial adviser Lynn Evans said.
“The probability of your finding a job is significantly diminished in this market,” said Ms. Evans, president of Northeastern Financial Consultants Inc., in Clarks Summit. “A lot of people are looking at that and saying, ‘It’s my only saving grace now.’
“This seems to be the remedy of choice.”
Early Social Security beneficiaries can work within income limits, Ms. Evans said, and they may have fewer financial worries than their unemployed contemporaries who continue to struggle while seeking jobs.
“Is it better to be semiretired than unemployed?” she said. “When you are on Social Security, you are kind of in a safe zone.”
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com
ARTICLE VIA AARP Bulletin.
Sep 4
By SANDY SHORE
via AARP
Aug. 31, 2010 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) — Wary investors turned to gold Tuesday, sending the price to its highest level in two months, despite slightly more optimistic economic news.
Gold for December delivery rose $11.10 to settle at $1,250.30 an ounce as it headed toward its record high settlement of $1,258.30 an ounce, which was set earlier this year.
Silver also gained as concerns lingered about the economy even after new reports showed improving consumer confidence and home sales. The December contract settled up 35.8 cents at $19.432 an ounce.
“Ultimately, the economy is still in somewhat of a fragile area and I think the market is very sensitive to news,” Lind-Waldock senior market strategist Rich Ilczyszyn said. “Right now, we’re seeing a trade into gold based on a little bit of fear.”
Most analysts believe commodities traders, like stock investors, are awaiting Friday’s monthly employment report to gain perspective about where the markets may be headed after Labor Day.
The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index was 53.5 in August. The August number indicates consumer confidence hasn’t improved from a year ago.
The index measures how Americans feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.
Separately, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 1 percent in June from May and 4.2 percent from a year ago. A third report said the Midwest’s manufacturing activity declined, similar to decreases reported by other regional manufacturing indexes.
The housing and manufacturing reports contributed to a drop in copper prices, which settled down 5.95 cents to $3.3700 a pound.
Dave Meger, vice president of metals trading at Vision Financial Markets, said he also believes some traders were taking profits after copper prices jumped recently.
In other metals contracts, September palladium rose $2.50 to settle at $500.40 an ounce while October platinum lost $9.60 to $1,523.50 an ounce.
Energy prices also felt the impact of the economic uncertainty ahead of Labor Day weekend.
Benchmark crude for October delivery lost $2.78 to settle at $71.92 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil slipped 3.08 cents to settle at $1.9944 a gallon and gasoline fell 4.47 cents to settle at $1.8894 a gallon. October natural gas rose 0.4 cent to settle at $3.816 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In grains trading, December corn dropped 2.25 cents to settle at $4.3925 a bushel after hitting $4.45 earlier in the day; December wheat retreated 18.75 cents to at $6.8575 a bushel while November soybeans fell 12.5 cents to $10.10 a bushel.
Sep 3
Sheriff: Mexican Cartels Control Parts of Arizona
01 Sep 2010, Washington Post.
By: Jerry Seper and Matthew Cella
The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.
The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.
They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.
“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.
“This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”
He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer condemned what she called the federal government’s “continued failure to secure our international border,” saying the lack of security has resulted in important natural recreational areas in her state being declared too dangerous to visit.
In a recent campaign video posted to YouTube, Mrs. Brewer – standing in front of one of the BLM signs – attacked the administration over the signs, calling them “an outrage” and telling President Obama to “Do your job. Secure our borders.”
BLM spokesman Dennis Godfrey in Arizona said agency officials were surprised by the reaction the signs generated when they were put up this summer.
“We were perhaps naive in setting the signs up,” he said. “The intention of the signs was to make the public aware that there is potential illegal activity here. But it was interpreted in a different light, and that was not the intent at all.”
He said there should be “no sense that we have ceded the land,” adding that no BLM ………………………read more
Sep 3
On
Friday, September 11th, 2010, an
American
flag should be displayed outside
every home,
apartment, office, and store in
the United States . Every
individual should make it their
duty to display an American
flag on this eighth anniversary
of one of our country’s
worst tragedies. We do this to
honor those who lost their
lives on 9/11, their families,
friends and loved ones who
continue to endure the pain, and
those who today are
fighting at home and abroad to
preserve our cherished
freedoms.
In the days, weeks and months
following 9/11, our country was
bathed in American flags as
citizens mourned the incredible
losses and stood
shoulder-to-shoulder against
terrorism. Sadly, those flags
have all but disappeared. Our
patriotism pulled us through
some tough times and it shouldn’t
take another attack to
galvanize us in solidarity. Our
American flag is the fabric
of our country and together we
can prevail over terrorism of
all kinds.
Sep 2
AP: Democrats Running Scared From Obama and Pelosi
Thursday, 02 Sep 2010 12:48 PM
Article Font Size
Rep. Chet Edwards, an imperiled Democrat deep in the heart of Republican territory, finds exiting American Legion Post No. 273 slow going. Supporters and well-wishers keep stopping him.
The wife of a World War II veteran hugs him. Several men line up to shake his hand. Another woman talks to him for about 10 minutes, thanking him for his work on military issues, bringing jobs to this farm and ranching town of about 4,700 and, in her words, thinking for himself.
“You’ve done a good job,” said Donna Smith, 50, an office manager and a Republican who says she will vote for Edwards again this year. Later, she said Edwards “has proven himself and shown that he can get things done.”
“I hope people will look at him and his record,” Smith said, “and not just believe what’s being said about him.”
Edwards is in the fight of his 20-year congressional career, struggling to hold onto one of the nation’s most conservative districts represented by a Democrat. Stretching for 170 miles, the central Texas district includes former President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford; Baylor, the world’s largest Baptist university, now headed by Clinton special prosecutor Kenneth Starr; and the city of Waco.
“I’m used to being a target,” Edwards told The Associated Press. “This year there’s clearly an anti-Washington environment, and I share those frustrations. I’m sickened by the hyperpartisanship. But I’m working hard at the grass-roots level, letting my independent voting record speak for itself. That’s who I am, and that’s who I always will be.”
Edwards consistently makes the list of the most vulnerable Democrats; he hails from a district that gave Republican John McCain a whopping 67 percent of the presidential vote in 2008. Republicans again have set their sights on capturing the seat, counting on voter anger and frustration with a slow-moving economic recovery and slumping approval numbers for President Barack Obama to lift GOP candidates.
Edwards is among dozens of Democrats who have bucked their party on some elements of Obama’s agenda — the stimulus package, health care overhaul and a climate change bill. Edwards’ lengthy tenure — he was elected in 1990 — and his work as chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on military construction and veterans affairs has translated into federal money for his district. But in a year of voter discontent with soaring deficits, the effort is more of a liability than a strength.
As the campaign becomes increasingly toxic for Democrats, none of it may matter………..
read more http://newsmax.com
Aug 30
Rob Stein
AARP Bulletin/News
Even as supporters of human embryonic stem cell research are reeling from last week’s sudden cutoff of federal funding, another portentous landmark is quietly approaching: the world’s first attempt to carefully test the cells in people.
Scientists are poised to inject cells created from embryonic stem cells into some patients with a progressive form of blindness and others with devastating spinal cord injuries. That’s a welcome step for researchers eager to move from the laboratory to the clinic and for patients hoping for cures. But beyond being loathsome to those with moral objections to any research using cells from human embryos, the tests are worrying many proponents: Some argue that the experiments are premature, others question whether they are ethical, and many fear that the trials risk disaster for the field if anything goes awry.
“We desperately need to know how these cells are going to perform in the human setting,” said John Gearhart, a stem cell pioneer at the University of Pennsylvania. “But are we transplanting cells that are going to cause tumors? Will they will stay where you put them and do what you want them to do?”
Supporters of these privately funded, government-sanctioned tests, including patients’ advocates, bioethicists and officials at the companies sponsoring them, are confident the research has been exhaustively vetted. The Food and Drug Administration has demanded extensive experiments in the laboratory and on animals to provide evidence that the cells are safe enough to test in people and hold great promise.
“We’re very optimistic,” said Thomas B. Okarma, president and chief executive of Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif., which after years of delay received a green light in July from the FDA to study patients partially paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. “If we’re right, we’ll revolutionize the treatment of many chronic diseases.”
But some researchers fear that the stakes jumped even higher with the federal judge’s decision blocking federal funding. If patients are hurt by the cells – or even if there’s no hint the cells help – that could be a devastating blow just as scientists are scrambling for funding from private foundations and benefactors. They cite the case of Jesse Gelsinger, whose 1999 death from a gene therapy experiment set that once highly touted field back years.
“There’s a lot of angst around these trials,” said Evan Y. Snyder, director of the stem cell program at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in San Diego. “There’s going to be this perception that if the cells do not perform well, the entire field will be illegitimate.”
Aug 30
HuffPost’s QuickRead…
Arizona Gun Law: Concealed Weapons Allowed Without Permit Under New Law »
PAUL DAVENPORT and JONATHAN J. COOPER (April 16, 2010) PHOENIX — Favoring the constitutional right to bear arms over others’ concerns about gun safety, Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without requiring a permit.
The measure takes effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, which likely puts the effective date in July or August.
read more The Huffington Post…..Arizona
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