Government Sponsored Plans
03/05/2007
The House has passed legislation to require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Action now moves to the Senate.
Quality health care is essential for the well-being of our nation's children and families. Children's access to quality health care can impact their ability to learn and succeed in school.
The number of uninsured Americans has grown significantly over the past three years, escalating from 41.2 million in 2001 to 46.6 million in 2005.
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03/05/2007
James Heskett is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School.
More Working Knowledge from James HeskettJames Heskett - Faculty Research Page
Healthcare will grab more and more headlines in the U.S. in the coming months. Any service that is on track to consume 40 percent of the gross national product of the world's largest economy by the year 2050 will be hard to ignore. Business management already feels the effects of healthcare costs more acutely than most consumers. Several recent studies and proposals shed light on the problem and possible solutions. They leave us with questions, too.
To put things in perspective, U.S.
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03/05/2007
THE Department of Health is under fire for going ahead with a R9billion plan that, it is believed, will leave the two million people in Mdantsane and other communities without hospitals with specialist services.
Mike Basopu, chairperson of the Health portfolio committee, and Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa (Denosa) shop steward Edward Maseti complained that they have not been consulted about the department's plans to implement the major changes.
The department has so far kept details of its plan - scheduled to be in place by the end of May - a secret.
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03/05/2007
There are many reasons to oppose Gov. Schwarzenegger';s flawed plan to ‘reform'; California';s health care system. Below are my top 5. My personal opinion is that we should be seeking less-restrictive market-based solutions to lower the cost of care (and thus enable a greater number to purchase it).
1. ";Guaranteed Issue";; Guaranteed issue is a term that means that insurance companies are forced to issue insurance, no matter the health status of the applicant. Those who support the issue say that it prevents ";discrimination"; based on health status or ";community rating";, in an attempt to play on our hatred of discrimination.
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03/05/2007
Main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou emerged from several weeks of inertia looking fine. Greeks who have been asking "Is the young man slipping?" had their worst fears banished on Saturday as he addressed his party's national council conference. It was a noteworthy speech unveilinghis wide-ranging policy platform and the sources of funding his party will tap to pay for its program if elected to government.
As if it indicated a good omen of sorts, the moon that evening turned shades of yellowish-brown and pink as it passed behind the Earth's shadow. It was the first total lunar eclipse in three years.
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03/05/2007
State Watch | Mass. Gov. Patrick Announces Monthly Premiums 'Significantly Lower' Than Previous Estimates for Individual Basic Coverage Under State Health Insurance Law
[Mar 05, 2007]
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Saturday announced that health insurers will offer basic coverage for as low as $175 per month for individuals under the state's health insurance law, the Boston Globe reports. Under state law, residents must obtain health insurance by July 1 or face penalties.
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03/05/2007
Thousands of health workers, patients and members of the public turned out to show their support for the NHS this weekend. From Cumbria to Cornwall and Bolton to Brighton more than 100 rallies, marches and events across England focused widespread attention on the NHS Together day of action. The turnout was a testament to the growing number of people worried about the future of our NHS.
There is no doubt in my mind that more NHS workers were galvanised into joining the protests as a reaction to last weeks' pitiful pay announcement for nurses and other health professionals. The government is short changing nurses by staging the 2.
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03/04/2007
President Bush's health insurance proposals for the tax code would increase tax revenues by $526 billion through 2017, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation that "is stunningly different from the administration's estimates as well as those from other independent analysts," the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The Joint Committee on Taxation's analysis found that the president's plans initially would reduce federal revenue if they went into effect in 2009 as Bush has proposed.
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03/04/2007
Rhode Island's Patrick J. Kennedy was one of two Congressmen to
embark on a national tour this winter to gather testimony for legislation
that would ensure health plans offer fair coverage for mental health
and addiction care.
Kennedy, a Democrat in the House of Representatives, and Jim Ramstad,
a Republican from Minnesota, held forums in major cities across
the country as part of the Campaign to Insure Mental Health and
Addiction Equity. They gathered testimony from citizens who lives
have been touched by mental illness and addiction.
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03/04/2007
BOSTON (AP) - The average uninsured Massachusetts residents could obtain health care coverage for as little as $175 a month under the state's insurance law, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Saturday as he released the results of negotiations with the state's health insurers.
The lowest monthly premium is far lower than an earlier estimate of $380 a month suggested by some insurers.
"This is a big improvement from the first round of bids and a big step forward for health care reform," Patrick said. "The health security that was the point of health care reform will be delivered at an affordable price.
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03/04/2007
There is no shortage of options. But some of these options would hit the pockets of federal employees if they were to see the light of day. The CBO has pulled together a list of options for increasing revenue and decreasing expenses. Keep in mind, these are only options. Some have been considered before and did not get very far. But, to keep up with events that could have an impact on your financial future, remember that what Congress gives, it can also take away. Here is a quick summary of some of the more significant proposals for federal employees.
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03/04/2007
JOHN MCLENDON has been Bayfront Medical Center's CIO and VP since 2002. He has an MBA and more than 20 years of IT experience, 10 of those in healthcare. Prior to Bayfront in St. Petersburg, McLendon was systems director for a 30-hospital system in Phoenix. He shares his thoughts on issues affecting healthcare technology. "For many reasons, hospitals are becoming paperless and filmless," he says. Among those reasons: patient safety and satisfaction, clinical and business efficiency and cost savings.
Paving the way, he says, are two technologies: Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Picture Archival and Communications System (PACS).
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03/04/2007
WASHINGTON -; President Bush';s health insurance proposals would cost taxpayers $526 billion through 2017, according to a preliminary estimate from Congress'; Joint Committee on Taxation.
One Democratic lawmaker jumped on the figure Tuesday to describe the proposal as a tax increase. The projection, which comes from the committee';s nonpartisan staff, is stunningly different from the administration';s estimates as well as those from other independent analysts.
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03/04/2007
WASHINGTON, March 2 — Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey was forced to resign Friday over the handling of revelations that wounded soldiers were receiving shabby and slow treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Even as the grim-faced defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, announced Mr. Harvey’s dismissal, the Army put a new general in charge of the hospital, the second change of command in two days, and a clear signal that Mr. Gates wanted a clean break from the status quo.
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03/03/2007
The Yugoslavia of 1991 bears little resemblance to the one established by the 1914 Constitution that set up a Federal State comprising six republics (with two autonomous regions in the republic of Serbia) and a collective Federal Presidency as the supreme state organ. Effective civilian federal authority collapsed in 1991 as the republics and various independence movements decisively rejected that authority and escalating ethnic animosities propelled the country into a vicious armed conflict.
The Federal Government?
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03/03/2007
It
is a chilling experience that everyone has faced or heard about. Somebody was
wailing for urgent medical care and you were clueless on whose door to knock
seeking help. There was no easy-to-remember number that you could recall. Crucial
time was lost trying to hunt down the number of the family physician. Now, if
you were in London, all you had to do was dial 999 and within minutes medical
aid would have reached you.
Estimates say a sound EMS system reduces mortality rate of emergency cases to
one third. India, which witnesses 142 deaths for every 10,000 vehicles - the
highest in the world - stands as a paradox.
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03/03/2007
The national day of action was organised by NHS Together, a combination of unions and local NHS staff groups. The protests aim to highlight that services are under increasing threat from budget deficits and privatisation. NHS workers protesting in east London told libcom.org that their workplaces have already seen many cuts and that more were in the pipeline, while staff in Brighton said that on top of nearly 20% of the workforce already being cut, retiring and leaving staff are not being replaced putting pressure on remaining staff to take on extra workload to compensate.
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03/03/2007
Yellow pack, Harney's public health service
What is the mixed economy of welfare and why, despite Mary Harney's assurances in that, what she is doing is really in the interest of all the Irish people and not a back door method of promoting the privatisation of our health service in the interest of the doctors and consutant's who collectively and directly contribute to the demise of the same public heath service from within.
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03/03/2007
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND UNVEILS FICTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS CHILD HEALTH CRISIS
One Child Stands Up for the 9 Million Children in the U.S. Without Health Insurance
Washington, DC-;There are more than nine million children in the United States who are currently without health insurance, and the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) believes some of our elected officials are not doing enough to solve the problem. As a result, CDF today is announcing the launch of "Elect Susie," an integrated marketing campaign designed to build awareness for its legislative plan to provide all children in America with health insurance.
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03/03/2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- On Thursday, when Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey fired the general in charge at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, amid outcries over poor treatment of wounded soldiers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates applauded.
On Friday, when Gates learned who Harvey had chosen as the interim replacement -- another general under scrutiny for his role at Walter Reed -- Gates dumped Harvey, forcing him out without the embarrassment of a public firing.
That turnabout, unfolding at a speed rarely seen in the Pentagon, tells much about Gates. Less than three months in the job, after replacing Donald H.
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03/03/2007
Print is terminally ill. Ask the experts, and they'll say the industry has only so many years left before everything is created, recorded, transmitted, received and stored electronically. They point to the health care market in particular, where the call for electronic records has been gathering steam.
Distributors and manufacturers offer a second opinion. The health care industry is growing tremendously, and their companies are growing with it-through sales of printed products. By targeting private practices and hospitals, they've reinvigorated their business. The best part: Health care industry growth shows no sign of slowing down soon.
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03/03/2007
The House has met its first deadline of February 22, 2007, which was the last day that all Committees had to report Bills that will be going to a second Committee. It is very important that the Legislature set up and follow a calendar of deadlines in order to avoid in a huge jam at the end of the Session!
Thursday, April 12, 2007, will be another key date for the House and Senate deadlines as this is what is known as “Crossover Day.” All House Bills that have not been killed or retained must cross over to the Senate. The same is true for Senate Bills being crossed over to the House.
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03/03/2007
Though sexual violence affects millions around the world every year, deeply entrenched cultural taboos and a lack of political leadership have historically left the issue largely unrecognised in government boardrooms, health ministries, and scientific research. But that may change, as an emerging global initiative argues sexual violence is a legitimate public health and human rights issue that warrants its own research, prevention, and interventions.
The Pretoria-based Sexual Violence Research Initiative, or SVRI, was developed in 2000 by a cadre of researchers who saw sexual violence as an issue in urgent need of research and resources.
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03/03/2007
Army secretary ousted
By Robert Burns
Associated Press Military Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/02/2007 11:35:34 PM MST
Army Secretary Francis Harvey meets reporters at the Pentagon in this March 23, 2005 file photo. Harvey abruptly stepped down Friday, March 2, 2007, as the Bush administration struggled to cope with the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. (AP file / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Washington - Army Secretary Francis J.
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03/03/2007
WASHINGTON - Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey abruptly stepped down Friday as the Bush administration struggled to cope with the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Harvey's sudden departure was the most dramatic move yet in an escalating removal of commanders with responsibilities over one of the military's highest-profile and busiest medical facilities.
Hours earlier, President Bush ordered a comprehensive review of conditions at the nation's network of military and veteran hospitals in the wake of the Walter Reed disclosures.
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03/03/2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - It began with reports of mice and moldy plaster, but after two weeks of outrage, the scandal over poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has claimed several careers -; including the secretary of the Army's.
Secretary Francis J. Harvey's abrupt dismissal Friday came under withering criticism from Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who said the Army's response to the substandard conditions for the war-wounded was defensive, and not aggressive enough.
And it left the door open for more personnel changes, as investigations continue and Congress prepares for hearings next week.
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03/03/2007
Johnnie Nichols, a civilian Defense Department employee, contributes to a federal pension that will let him retire at age 56, after 32 years of service.
His wife, Kimberly, a math teacher at a private business college, has no pension after two decades of teaching and running a horse farm. Their marriage reflects the new world of retirement: government employees who have secure benefits and private workers who increasingly are on their own.
"If we were both in her shoes, we'd be in a world of hurt," says Nichols, 45, an information technology manager in Middletown, Ind. "We wouldn't be able to retire until age 67.
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03/03/2007
AMERICUS, Georgia (CNN) -- President Bush assured tornado victims Saturday that help is on the way as he toured towns in Alabama and Georgia that were among the hardest hit by Thursday's storms.
Bush called the devastation "hard to describe" as he visited with officials in Americus, Georgia, where the storms had claimed two lives and shut down Sumter Regional Hospital as doctors cared for victims.
Sumter is one of six Georgia counties that Gov. Sonny Perdue has declared in a state of emergency.
Earlier Saturday, Bush was in Enterprise, Alabama -- where nine people, including eight students in a high school, were killed. He told Gov.
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03/03/2007
It seems worth noting that on two major issues which Senator Whitehouse spoke on the Senate floor about, there was a great deal of media attention and some immediate action. The first issue is the firing of US Attorney Iglesias, which Whitehouse spoke about on Wednesday, and which got media coverage in The New York Times and elsewhere (including on this blog) on Thursday.
The second issue which Whitehouse has recently spoken forcefully about is the medical neglect of our Veterans, an issue which I also raised concerns about with Senator Jack Reed in an interview earlier this month.
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03/03/2007
Guyana to be Leprosy free by 2015 - Minister Ramsammy
Georgetown, GINA, January 29, 2007
Hansen's disease, commonly referred to as Leprosy, one of the many diseases identified by Minister of Health as neglected, will be eliminated in Guyana by the year 2015.
Minister Ramsammy gave this assurance while delivering his World Leprosy Day message on January 28, when Guyana joined the rest of the world to observe the anniversary under the theme “Give Hope.”
World Leprosy Day is celebrating 54 years in existence and Guyana is hosting a week of activities.
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03/03/2007
Hogwash! Thank you, Vice-President Cheney, for re-introducing an old-fashioned word that conveys, with no hint of obscenity, the worth of a belief. Like "baloney," "hogwash" connotes preposterousness:
only an idiot would believe it. Of course, I think your assertion that American troops are winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis is "hogwash;" but hogwash, like truth in this administration, may lie in the eyes of the speaker.
In the health care arena, this administration has given us a few pearls.
Hogwash #1: Tax deductions for health insurance will spur a major swathe of the uninsured to sign up. This is the president's promise.
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03/03/2007
"Governor Deval Patrick yesterday unveiled the broad
themes of a $26.7 billion spending plan for next year" (Boston Globe) .
. . "In addition to the operating budget, the state has set aside $2.789
billion for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, school
building assistance, and pension funding" (State House News Service).
According to my math, that totals about $29 billion taxpayers' dollars
proposed to be spent in the state's next fiscal year, even before we
reach the "supplemental budgets" as the fiscal year progresses.
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03/03/2007
Underscoring the need for healthcare reform, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich yesterday launched a new Web site, www.illinoiscovered.com. At this site, the public can learn about the healthcare crisis and its impact here in Illinois. Calling health insurance for all a "fundamental civil right," Blagojevich has made healthcare his top priority.
"The healthcare crisis in the United States is very real and very far-reaching. It's not just low-income families that have trouble getting or keeping health coverage; it's middle-class families, hard-working entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
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03/03/2007
Republican Caucus Media Releases
Business Owners Invited To Weigh In On Proposed Health Care Reform
Assemblyman Bob Huff posts online survey to collect information
2/28/2007For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Jennifer Vitela
(909) 860-5560
SACRAMENTO - In an attempt to develop feasible solutions to California's health care problems, Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, has created an online survey to solicit information from local businesses. Business owners are invited to discuss the difficulties of balancing affording health care for their employees while staying in business.
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03/03/2007
It';s times like this when I really wish I had access to the Crushkerry.com archives. Because then I could go back and point out how I (and pretty much every other thinking person) realized that one of the biggest betrayals of conservative principles, as well as the current and future taxpayers of this country was the Prescription Drug Bill that the GOP passed in 2003.
The saddest part for me was that in pointing this out I had to pillor Tom DeLay, who for years was one of the most courageous conservatives out there who refused to cower in fear of the usual Democrat ";you';re going to make seniors eat dog food"; attacks.
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03/03/2007
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thank you all. Okay, thank you, sit down, please. (Laughter.) That Kentucky whiskey still works. (Laughter.) How about being with the ultimate power couple? (Laughter.) A Secretary in my Cabinet, and a powerful United States Senator. This has got to be good for the state of Kentucky. (Applause.)
I heard Elaine talk about Alben Barkley. In other words, Mitch is the second party leader in the United States Senate since -- and the first was Alben Barkley. I don't know how good Alben Barkley was -- this guy is really good for the people of this state.
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03/03/2007
The following Bill was inadvertently omitted from the Second Reading Bills in the Journal of Thursday, February 22, 2007. The corrected entry should read as follows:
SECOND READING BILL
The following Bill, having been read the second time, was ordered placed on the Third Reading Calendar:
S.
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03/02/2007
By Edward D. Spurgeon, Board Member, National Senior Citizens Law Center; and Distinguished Visiting Professor and Holder of the Gordon D. Schaber Chair in Health Law and Policy, Pacific McGeorge School of law
Soaring health care costs and almost 47 million uninsured (6.5 million in California alone) are economic and moral imperatives for national health care reform. By any reasonable measures-access, cost and overall health status- the system is broken and must be fixed.
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03/02/2007
California Senator Reintroduces Single-Payer Health System Legislation
02 Mar 2007
California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D) on Tuesday for the third time introduced legislation (SB 840) that would eliminate health insurers and create a state-run, single-payer health insurance system, the Los Angeles Times reports. The system would be funded by payroll and income taxes. A 2004 study by the Lewin Group found that a single-payer system in California would expand insurance coverage to 6.5 million uninsured residents and reduce the state's health care spending by about $8 billion.
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03/02/2007
Reproductive health bills approved by Assembly committee
Printable Version
By ARIANA COHN
Legislative Gazette Staff Writer
Mon, Mar 5, 2007
A pair of reproductive health bills were passed by the Assembly Health Committee last week, moving forward proposals to enact comprehensive sexual education and promote the availability of emergency contraceptives.
The Healthy Teens Act, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, D-Manhattan, and Sen. George Winner, R,C-Elmira, was introduced in late January to establish funding for sex education program in New York State. The bill was passed unanimously in the committee last week.
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03/02/2007
THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2008 BUDGET & ITS EFFECT ON SENIORS
On February 5, 2007, President Bush submitted his Fiscal Year 2008 Budget to the Congress. In his budget, the President estimates the FY 2008 federal deficit will be $239 billion and that our accumulated publicly-held federal debt will reach a record high of $5.3 trillion. He projects that interest payments on our soaring federal debt will cost $261 billion in FY 2008 and will crowd out $1.4 trillion of other spending priorities over the next five years.
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03/02/2007
Californians have been helplessly watching as their health care system just crumbles around them. Families are being forced to assume rapidly escalating cost sharing, reduced benefits, exploding premiums, and for many middle class families, the loss of health care coverage altogether.
There's no question. California needs a system of truly universal health care now, more than ever. This is not the time to wait patiently for universal health care. It is time to move forward.
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03/02/2007
State Senator Sheila Kuehl formally reintroduced SB 840, her plan to provide medical treatment to all Californians in a crowded press conference n the Governor's press room. The bill has the same number as SB 840 passed last year by the legislature only to be vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. It is called "The California Universal Health Care Act."
Kuehl opened with a detailed statement on her bill which demonstrated her command of the intricate provisions of the 88 page bill and the subject area of health coverage honed from the six years of battle on this issue over three past sessions of the legislature.
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03/02/2007
That's the explanation he gave during an interview with PBS talk show host Charlie Rose that aired Wednesday night.
After talking about education, the National Guard and free trade, Rose said that if he were in politics, he'd rather be governor than hold any other office. Easley agreed.
"You can go out and grab a problem by the throat and wrestle it down and do something, and you don`t have to sit around and convince 99 other people or 59 other people to go along with you," Easley said.
Rose, a North Carolina native, asked if that meant Easley wasn't planning on running for the Senate in 2008 against incumbent Republican Sen.
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03/02/2007
Our weekly roundup gives you everything you need to know to navigate the cocktail parties this weekend.
Without further ado, here are the top eight developments you need to know about what's happening on both sides of the presidential campaign:
1) In a campaign cycle that has seen a series of untraditional announcements-John Edwards by cell phone, Barack Obama by video, Rudy Giuliani on Larry King Live-John McCain maybe topped them all this week: He announced on David Letterman's show. It's hardly a surprise, but the fact that McCain is officially in the race quiets some speculation that his health might have delayed his formal entrance.
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03/02/2007
After last year's bruising campaign season in which Maine's economy was described by partisans either as on the verge of ruin or on the verge of greatness, it's a relief to get an unbiased economic analysis to help guide our thinking about the state's future.
That analysis came out of the Maine Development Foundation this week, in a report that is prepared annually for the Maine Economic Growth Council, a bipartisan group of business, political and community leaders in the state.
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03/02/2007
Among numerous indicators of labor's new impact on the political scene since the November elections was a federal appellate court ruling Feb. 20 ordering the Bush administration to explain why it has stalled for eight years on rules that would require companies to provide protective equipment for their workers.
Also last week, the Democratic presidential candidates made strong pitches for labor support at a Nevada forum sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Former Sen. John Edwards declared, "The most important anti-poverty program is the organized labor movement.
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03/02/2007
GRAY, Georgia (STPNS) -- With the 2007 General Assembly session past midpoint, the senators representing Jones County already have success in hand with time remaining for more to come.
Senator Cecil Staton co-chaired a study committee working toward a trauma network in Georgia last year, and this year sponsored SB 60 establishing a Georgia Trauma Commission to make it happen.
Staton said Georgia has more than nine million people residing in the state but only four level-one trauma centers or hospitals that can treat any emergency.
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03/02/2007
Summary of Union Budget 2007-08
Reduction of duty on petrol and diesel, expanding the safety net for rural poor, additional one per cent cess to fund secondary and higher education and expansion of the service tax net are some of the highlights of the Union Budget 2007-08 presented by the Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram in Lok Sabha today.
On excise duty the Finance Minister has brought down the ad valorem component from 8% to 6% on petrol and diesel. The peak rate of customs duty for non-agricultural products has been slashed from 12.5% to 10%.
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03/02/2007
The concept was simple and not entirely new. Pool all of the school districts in the state together into one insurance pool, appoint experts and those knowledgeable in insurance rates to an Oregon Educators Benefit Board that would leverage the sheer size of the pool and get better rates on insurance plans. The concept would save money statewide and allow more money to stay with each individual school district that could be redirected back into the classrooms.
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03/02/2007
Free trade was, therefore, something of an abstract ideal to its father -- a philosophical asymptote that could be approached but never reached. And it remained so to all the world's major nations for over two centuries. It is interesting to speculate how much of the appeal of “free trade” as a philosophical absolute lay in the fact that it would never be given a chance to work as an absolute. The world's natural political tendency was to err on the side of too little freedom of trade.
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03/02/2007
As the President visits New Orleans to talk education, his Gulf Coordinator Office, headed by Donald Powell which Office is under Homeland Security has released a fact sheet to highlights the efforts by the administration.
After reading the “fact sheet” please comment upon whether you agree or disagree with the information or opinions in the statement by Powell's office.
Also, feel free to comment upon the efforts of Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and Mayor C. Ray Nagin:
President Bush continues to fulfill his promise to help rebuild the Gulf Coast-a region devastated by an unprecedented natural disaster
.
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03/02/2007
Using Health Saving Accounts to your advantage
Health care consumers may realize significant benefits from health savings accounts. Created under the 2003 Medicare Act, an HSA is a tax-favored savings plan offered by many banks, insurance companies, brokerages, and other financial institutions and that can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses. According to the Oregon Society of CPAs, Health Savings Accounts offer significant tax benefits to individuals who qualify.
Eligibility: To establish an HSA, you must have coverage under a high deductible health plan.
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03/02/2007
So much is going on in the Indiana General Assembly that it makes my head spin, which makes me dizzy and unfit for driving safely on the roads.
That, plus the recent heavy snows, has made me into a hermit. To reenter society, I called Dr. Werner von Fizzle, the only psychologist I know who provides at-home consultations.
As he sat down on my couch, Dr. von F asked, ";Do you have some tonic vater?"; I nodded and rose to fill his request. ";And,"; he called after me, ";maybe just a bissel, a bit of gin?";
I returned with his gin and tonic.
";Doctor,"; I said, ";I am confused by a world that seems confused, not just confusing.
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03/02/2007
Perhaps the most challenging task, especially with elderly parents or relatives, is initiating the discussion. Some may perceive it as the first step toward giving up control over their personal affairs. To assuage this concern, we may emphasize that estate planning is about providing the estate owner more control, not less. Legal documents such as wills and trusts are tools that allow us to control the management and distribution of our assets both during life and at death. There is perhaps no way to gain greater control over our assets than to implement time-proven, legal estate planning strategies such as personal trusts.
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03/02/2007
Bully for Bush. The president has achieved another milestone in his mission to bridge the philosophical gap between conservatism and left-liberalism. "The Decider" recently endorsed the socialist concept of a wealth gap and promised to do his level best to level the playing field through the familiar distribution schemes: "helping people afford health insurance and providing more money for education, including increased Pell grants for college," to quote the Wall Street Journal.
Some people are richer than others. Others don't like it. It's called envy.
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03/02/2007
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Wednesday issued a legal opinion to the New York State Housing Finance Agency and State of New York Mortgage Agency stating that these public authorities did not have the right to pay health insurance premiums for current or retired board members.
The Attorney General held that past contracts entered into by the agencies that required them to pay retired board members' health insurance premiums were illegal, null and void. The agencies had requested an opinion on the legality of those contracts.
HFA and SONYMA have been paying health insurance premiums of board members since 1998.
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03/02/2007
The Cost-Shift Disclosure Bill, SB 819, will have a hearing this Wednesday. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Alan Bates (D-Ashland) would require the state to report the name of any company with 25 or more employees, whose workers are applying for state-funded health care. The purpose of the bill is to find out which companies are shifting their health care costs onto the taxpayers by refusing to offer adequate and affordable coverage through the workplace.
This is particularly prevalent in the retail sector; where non-union employers pay wages low enough for people to qualify for public heath care.
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03/02/2007
Over the past few years, obesity has become a prominent issue, prompting increasing numbers of organizations, interest groups, and government officials to propose ways of dealing with the "epidemic."
Whenever governments plan changes to public policy, it is vital that (a) sound evidence showing government can actually improve the state of affairs relative to the private-market outcome supports the introduction of that policy; (b) the new policy will likely achieve its intended consequence at minimum direct and indirect costs; and (c) it is the best known policy choice available.
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03/02/2007
Man, the conservative columnists of the world are on a roll today. Former ABC News correspondent and avid libertarian, John Stossel, opines today about the problems of government controlled health care. At issue is the Democrats wanting to change Medicare part D so that the government, and not the pharmaseutical companies, negotiate the price of drugs for the program. This is strikenly similar to the program already in place at the VA. God help us all if the Democrats get their way.
One Response to ";Government Negotiated Drug Prices = Price Control";
Zach Shoup said (Feb.
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03/01/2007
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a splash in Washington this week by talking up ";post-partisanship"; and instructing the president to schmooze his political opponents over cigars.
But the happy world of political cooperation he urged is not the one he has created at home. If it is bipartisanship, then it is of a very different sort.
In California, Schwarzenegger is single-handedly striking deals with the Democratic majority, often leaving his own party on the sidelines and increasingly dejected.
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03/01/2007
SOUTHBURY " Sen. Louis C. DeLuca, R-Woodbury, said Wednesday a key problem facing the state legislature as it tries to reform health care is defining the term, "universal health care."
"If you have 10 people in a room, you get 15 different definitions," DeLuca said.
He was part of a panel of legislators and health care industry executives discussing the issue during a breakfast gathering hosted by the Waterbury Regional Chamber's Health Care Council at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event attracted about 70 people.
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03/01/2007
Tax credits can adversely impact employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). Some employers currently offering health insurance coverage to their workers may stop doing so if tax credits are available on the spurious assumption that institution of a tax credit will make such coverage in the individual market more affordable for their workers. In fact, individuals and families that are most likely to use tax credits to purchase insurance in the individual market are relatively younger and healthier. Because they typically utilize fewer health services than other groups, they cost less to insure on average.
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03/01/2007
SAMHSA Releases Solicitations for Jail Diversion Grants
After passing a spate of legislation promised by members during the 2006 campaign, the 110th Congress has settled down to consider budgetary issues, current and future. In current (FY 2007) funding, programs that help people with disabilities gained a little. But they would lose if Congress were to enact the budget President Bush proffered for next year. The Bazelon Center and other advocates will watch closely as Congress considers the President's proposals and will alert you when it's time for action.
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03/01/2007
The measure won approval on Tuesday from the House Health Committee, the first of several panels that must approve the bill before it heads to the full chamber. The next stop is the Insurance Committee.
A similar bill died last summer after being introduced late in the session.
Sponsored by Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, the bill would create a pool to allow people with high-risk health conditions to get health insurance at more affordable rates.
The pool would be funded through enrollee premiums and insurer assessments. A federal grant would get the program started and pay for operating costs.
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03/01/2007
Administration News | President Bush's Health Care Proposal Would Increase Tax Revenues by $526B Through 2017, According to Joint Committee on Taxation
[Mar 01, 2007]
President Bush's health insurance proposals for the tax code would increase tax revenues by $526 billion through 2017, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation that "is stunningly different from the administration's estimates as well as those from other independent analysts," the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
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03/01/2007
Politics and Policy | New York Counties File Lawsuit Against HHS To Prevent Funding Cuts Under Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization Bill
[Mar 01, 2007]
Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York state on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against HHS to prevent funding cuts for HIV/AIDS programs under the recently passed Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization Bill (HR 6143), the Long Island Newsday reports. Under previous CARE Act allocations, the counties received $6.1 million annually in funding for services for people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the Newsday.
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03/01/2007
State Politics & Policy | Actions Taken on HPV Vaccine Proposals in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia
[Mar 01, 2007]
The following highlights recent news of state actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals. Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.
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03/01/2007
A group of Connecticut lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a $900 million plan to achieve universal health care in the state, the Hartford Courant reports. The Democratic proposal, called the Connecticut Healthy Steps Program, would address specific areas of the health care system rather than overhaul the entire system, according to state House Deputy Majority Leader Michael Christ (D).
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03/01/2007
Making Health Care Affordable
Senator Stabenow is leading efforts to make health care affordable for Michigan families and businesses. The skyrocketing costs of health care are costing American jobs by making American manufacturers less competitive in a global marketplace where many of their competitors aren't responsible for health care. Rising health care costs also make health care and insurance more expensive for everyone and threaten to add to the growing number of uninsured Americans. Senator Stabenow is working to make health care more affordable.
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03/01/2007
NEW EEOC PUBLICATION ADDRESSES EMPLOYMENT OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Latest Q&A Fact Sheet Explains How Americans with Disabilities Act Applies to Employment in the Health Care Industry
WASHINGTON - Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the issuance of a new question-and-answer (Q&A) fact sheet on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to job applicants and employees in the health care industry.
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03/01/2007
Will New York Follow Other States' Leads with Health Insurance Changes?
While the United States spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care--$7,129 per capita--47 million Americans have no health care insurance. In the country's mostly employer-based benefit system, companies either don't offer health insurance or pass escalating premium costs on to employees. The lack of national progress toward dealing with health insurance issues has led several states, such as Massachusetts and California, to launch initiatives for their own residents.
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03/01/2007
GOVERNOR'S VETO LIKELY FOR 2ND TIME
SACRAMENTO - If legislative Democrats had their way, California might well be headed to a government-run health care system. Both houses of the Legislature passed a bill last year to create a so-called ``single-payer'' system, only to have Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger veto it.
Undeterred and surrounded by union supporters and fellow liberal lawmakers, the leader of the single-payer movement, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, announced Tuesday that she's trying again.
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03/01/2007
Universal Voter Registration: The Massachusetts Health Care Model
The overall goal of FairVote's 100% Registration Project is to create a voter registration system under which the government shares responsibility for registration with its citizens to ensure full and
accurate voter rolls. Massachusetts recently enacted bi-partisan health care reform legislation that requires residents to obtain health coverage, while providing expanded funding and assistance for coverage through the state.
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03/01/2007
It is great news, this idea of selling a House office building now that the Republicans are dissolving so many committees and firing their staffs. But I wouldn't be surprised if this is only the opening wedge for a campaign to privatize Congress. Yes, let the free market openly raise its magnificent head in the most sacred precincts of the Welfare State. The compelling reasons for privatizing Congress are perfectly evident. Everybody hates it, only slightly less than they hate the President. Everybody, that is, who talks on the radio, plus millions of the silent who only listen and hate in private.
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03/01/2007
by Joanne Wojcik
Posted on Feb. 28, 2007 1:21 PM CST
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SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Calling California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care reform proposal a giveaway to insurers, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has introduced single-payer health care legislation for the third time.
The measure, which passed both houses of the California Assembly last year and was vetoed by Gov.
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03/01/2007
We';ve heard the words ";health care crisis."; The health care system is broken – we';ve been told that before, too. We';ve even watched Salem legislators and lobbyists haggle over a new model for delivering health care. Everyone remembers the Oregon Health Plan, circa 1994.
The Oregon Health Plan seemed like a good idea at the time, with its emphasis on prioritizing medical interventions and its intent to deliver at least basic care to everybody. But here we are, looking at a number of new models for delivering health care to Oregonians, including the nearly 600,000 uninsured.
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03/01/2007
Just a few hours before presenting a giant prescription outside the Department of Health, the UK's largest union, has today published a new report (see below) showing that each of the 21 elected Cabinet Ministers in the Government faces severe health cuts in or affecting their own backyard.
To mark the news UNISON will present a giant 'Prescription for the NHS' (see Photo Opportunity below), with ideas to remedy the problems that have recently left the public with a perception of a health service in crisis. UNISON Head of Health Karen Jennings said:
"It's time to say 'if you value it, vote for it'.
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02/28/2007
In an appearance before a Washington, D. C., audience this week, the governor was decidedly fuzzy about exactly how he was going to achieve that goal. He said he wanted to get more money into the "risk pool" so that insurance could be offered to everyone.
There are seemingly only three ways to increase funds in the insurance pool. One is to force the uninsured to pay the necessary premiums. Another is to extract the extra money from those who are already insured. The third is to use tax dollars to make up any shortfall.
The first of these choices is probably unrealistic.
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