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| Avoiding health insurance gaps takes persistence - Charlotte Observer Posted: 24 Dec 2013 11:03 PM PST CHICAGO The deadline has passed, and so too the surprise grace period, for signing up for health insurance as part of the nation's health care law. Now what? For those who were able to navigate the glitch-prone and often overwhelmed HealthCare.gov website, there's still work to be done to make sure success online leads to actual coverage come the new year. The first step experts recommend is to call your insurance company and double-check they received your payment. What if you missed the Christmas Eve deadline and still want insurance in 2014, as the health law requires of most Americans? You may be without health insurance for a month, but you can still sign up for coverage that will start in February. "Be patient, because they're trying to help you," said Tina Stewart, a 25-year-old graduate student in Salt Lake City who succeeded in enrolling in a health plan Tuesday morning. "It will take time." The historic changes made by the Affordable Care Act take full effect on Jan. 1. People with chronic health conditions can no longer be denied health insurance. Those who get sick and start piling up medical bills will no longer lose their coverage. Out-of-pocket limits arrive that are designed to protect patients from going bankrupt. But unless the 1 million Americans who have so far enrolled for coverage via the new marketplaces make sure their applications have arrived at their new insurance companies without errors, some may find they're still uninsured when they try to refill a prescription or make a doctor's appointment. "The enrollment files have been getting better and more accurate, but there is still work that needs to be done," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group that represents the private insurance industry. "The health plans are still having to go back and fix some of data errors coming through in these files." If everything went smoothly, consumers can expect to see a welcome packet arrive in the mail from their insurance company, Zirkelbach said. If not, a phone call to the insurer might clear things up. "If a consumer signed up yesterday, they shouldn't expect the health plan to have their enrollment application today," Zirkelbach said. "Allow a couple of days to receive and process those enrollments." Paying the first premium is crucial. Because of the changing deadlines for enrollment, most insurers have agreed to allow payments through Jan. 10 and will make coverage retroactive to Jan. 1, he said. Anyone who missed the Christmas Eve deadline to enroll for insurance to start in January can still apply at HealthCare.gov for coverage to begin later. The federal website serves 36 states, but also directs people elsewhere to the online insurance site serving their state. The site also offers directions to local agencies offering in-person help. After the disastrous rollout in October, the federal website received 2 million visits on Monday, and heavy — but not as heavy — traffic on Tuesday. White House spokeswoman Tara McGuinness said she had no immediate estimate of visitors Tuesday or how many succeeded in obtaining insurance before the midnight Christmas Eve deadline. The unexpected one-day grace period was just the latest in a string of delays and reversals. Unless you qualify for Medicaid, you'll pay a monthly "premium" fee to an insurance company for coverage. Before the company covers actual medical costs, you may have to pay a certain amount called a deductible, in addition to a possible set fee for a doctor visit (copay) or a percentage of the cost of a medical service (coinsurance). Federal tax credits are aimed at helping make premiums more affordable for households earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line. That's $11,490 to $45,960 for an individual, $23,550 to $94,200 for a family of four. Finally, note the next significant deadline isn't for a few more months. If you don't have coverage by March 31, you'll pay a tax penalty next year of $95 or 1 percent of your income, whichever is higher. Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group that has led efforts to get uninsured people signed up for coverage next year, said that's the deadline that matters most. "The real significant deadline is March 31," Pollack said. "The enrollment period extends for another three months." |
| American Held by Al Qaeda in Pakistan Asks Obama to Negotiate Release - New York Times Posted: 26 Dec 2013 08:45 AM PST By SALMAN MASOODPublished: December 26, 2013ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An American development consultant abducted by Al Qaeda in Pakistan more than two years ago has urged the Obama administration to help secure his freedom in an impassioned video message released by the group. The consultant, Warren Weinstein, 72, was abducted from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in August 2011 when a group of armed men broke into his house. Mr. Weinstein worked as the Pakistan director for J. E. Austin Associates, an international development consulting company based in Arlington, Va. The video by Al Sahab, the media wing of Al Qaeda, was first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday. In a 13-minute video message, Mr. Weinstein, bearded and wearing a light-colored jacket and a dark cap, appeared distraught and dejected when he spoke about his family, his ill health and his time in captivity. "I am not in good health," he said, looking at the camera. "The years have taken their toll." Mr. Weinstein said that he had served his country for 30 years, and that nine years ago he came to Pakistan to help the United States government. "I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here," he said. "And now, when I need my government, it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten." Mr. Weinstein said his captors had agreed to let him meet with his family if Qaeda members held by the United States were released. "Mr. Obama, you are a family man, and so you understand the deep mental anxiety and anguish that I have been experiencing for these past more than two years," he said. "I am therefore appealing to you on a humanitarian basis, if nothing else, and asking that you take the necessary actions to expedite my release and my return to my family and to my country, to our country." He also asked Secretary of State John Kerry for his help. A handwritten letter, purportedly drafted by Mr. Weinstein, was also distributed along with the video message to local news media outlets. It was dated Oct. 3, 2013. This was the second video statement by Mr. Weinstein. An earlier video in which he made a similar plea was released by Al Qaeda in 2012. Mr. Weinstein's kidnapping came at a time when relations between the United States and Pakistan were deeply strained after a security contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore. In an unrelated development on Thursday, at least four people suspected of being militants were killed by a drone strike on a possible militant compound in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani official said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drone strike had taken place near Qutab Khel village, about three miles south of Miranshah, in the North Waziristan tribal region, a haven for Taliban and Qaeda militants. The identity of those killed was not immediately known, but the Pakistani official said they may have been of Arab origin. The Pakistani government condemned the drone strike. The use of drones by the C.I.A. is deeply unpopular in Pakistan. "These strikes are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "There is an across-the-board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end." It added, "These drone strikes have a negative impact on the government's efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region."  |
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| KL shares open lower in lack of interest Posted: 25 Dec 2013 06:33 PM PST Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened lower this morning on the absence of participation by traders who were away for the
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,832.77, down 2.72 points, after opening 6.95 points lower at 1,828.54. However, HwangDBS Vickers Research was optimistic that the positive external backdrop could lift sentiment on Bursa Malaysia. It said key US bellwethers on Wall Street extended their record highs, up by between 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, on Christmas Eve. "On the chart, FBM KLCI may climb towards the immediate resistance level of 1,840 ahead," it said in a research note today. On the scoreboard, the Finance Index added 6.719 points to 16,844.19 but the Industrial Index lost 8.56 points to 3,117.53 and the Plantation Index dropped 22.01 points to 8,695.48. The FBM Emas Index fell 15.45 points to 12,643.8, the FBMT100 Index decreased 14.42 points to 12,382.41, the FBM Ace eased 1.71 points to 5,593.51 and the FBM 70 slipped 0.47 of a point to 14,042.99. Gainers led losers 112 to 89 while 125 counters were unchanged, 1,233 untraded, and 16 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 64.15 million shares worth RM35.88 million. Among actives, Tiger Synergy lost one sen to 14.5 sen and Hibiscus dropped 30 sen to RM1.54. Daya Materials earned half-a-sen to 38.5 sen while Sumatec and MAS was unchanged at 27.5 sen and 30.5 sen, respectively. Of heavyweights, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.41, Tenaga lost two sen to RM11.06, Axiata fell erased three sen to RM6.72 while Maybank and CIMB were flat at RM9.95 and RM7.61, respectively.-- Bernama |
| KLCI futures mixed in early session Posted: 25 Dec 2013 06:35 PM PST The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives was traded mixed this morning. At 9.25am, spot month December 2013 and January 2014 remained pegged at Tuesday's 1,839.5 and 1,844, respectively while March 2014 added 1.5 points to 1,842.5 and June 2014 lost 1.5 points to 1,833. Turnover amounted to 4,316 lots while open interest stood at 46,337
The underlying FBM KLCI was 1.43 points lower at 1,834.06 after 25 minutes of trading.-- Bernama |
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| Atheists, work with us for peace, Pope says on Christmas - Reuters India Posted: 25 Dec 2013 07:42 AM PST VATICAN CITY VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christmas as Roman Catholic leader, on Wednesday called on atheists to unite with believers of all religions and work for "a homemade peace" that can spread across the world. Speaking to about 70,000 people from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the same spot where he emerged to the world as pope when he was elected on March 13, Francis also made another appeal for the environment to be saved from "human greed and rapacity". The leader of the 1.2 billion-member Church wove his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message around the theme of peace. "Peace is a daily commitment. It is a homemade peace," he said. He said that people of other religions were also praying for peace, and - departing from his prepared text - he urged atheists to join forces with believers. "I invite even non-believers to desire peace. (Join us) with your desire, a desire that widens the heart. Let us all unite, either with prayer or with desire, but everyone, for peace," he said, drawing sustained applause from the crowd. Francis's reaching out to atheists and people of other religions is a marked contrast to the attitude of former Pope Benedict, who sometimes left non-Catholics feeling that he saw them as second-class believers. He called for "social harmony in South Sudan, where current tensions have already caused numerous victims and are threatening peaceful coexistence in that young state". Thousands are believed to have died in violence divided along ethnic lines between the Nuer and Dinka tribes in the country, which seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war. The pontiff also called for dialogue to end the conflicts in Syria, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, and prayed for a "favourable outcome" to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. "Wars shatter and hurt so many lives!" he said, saying their most vulnerable victims were children, elderly, battered women and the sick. PERSONAL PEACEMAKERS The thread running through the message was that individuals had a role in promoting peace, either with their neighbour or between nations. The message of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was directed at "every man or woman who keeps watch through the night, who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty," he said. "God is peace: let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world," he said. Pilgrims came from all over the world for Christmas at the Vatican and some said it was because they felt Francis had brought a breath of fresh air to the Church. "(He) is bringing a new era into the Church, a Church that is focusing much more on the poor and that is more austere, more lively," said Dolores Di Benedetto, who came from the pope's homeland, Argentina, to attend Christmas Eve Mass. Giacchino Sabello, an Italian, said he wanted to get a first-hand look at the new pope: "I thought it would be very nice to hear the words of this pope close up and to see how the people are overwhelmed by him." In his speech, Francis asked God to "look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become soldiers". He also called for a "dignified life" for migrants, praying tragedies such as one in which hundreds died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa are never repeated, and made a particular appeal against human trafficking, which he called a "crime against humanity". (Editing by Pravin Char) |
| Power outages darken Christmas for thousands - USA TODAY Posted: 25 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST As repair crews worked around the clock to restore power, tens of thousands in central and northeastern USA woke up to a cold, dark Christmas. The fierce winter storm that brought a White Christmas to many Northerners also delivered a dark Christmas to those who lost power in Michigan, Maine, Vermont and New York state after a weekend ice and snowstorm rolled across the region. Crews in Maine restored power overnight to 35,000 people who had been without power since the weekend, the Associated Press reported. By 8 a.m., about 70,000 remained without power. In Michigan, where more winter weather was about to arrive, 151,000 customers remained without power after a Saturday storm that darkened more than twice that many homes, according to utilities. Consumers Energy's official Twitter account said "129k w/o power this morning as crews prepare to battle snow and wind." DTE Energy reported that 22,000 customers remained without power in its coverage area, which includes Detroit. Brad Hoving, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids, Mich., said most people were without power in some counties between Grand Rapids and Lansing, Mich. Some may not have electricity until sometime Wednesday or even Thursday, he said. "It's a big deal," Hoving said. "It's Christmas, and we've just had a major ice storm," with trees toppling over and ice-covered power lines. "This is our largest Christmas-week storm in our 126-year history, and it's our largest ice storm in the last 10 years," Consumers Energy spokeswoman Debra Dodd said. "We are working as hard as we can to get people back on. We recognize that this is a terrible time for this to happen." She said a total of 303,000 customers were affected at one point by the weekend storms, as ice-coated trees, roads and power lines. By Tuesday evening, that figure was down to 152,000, the Lansing State Journal reported. "Unfortunately, what's happening is, because the temperatures are remaining below freezing, the ice is not melting," Dodd said. "Things are continuing to fail." In Flint, the American Red Cross set up a warming shelter and a mobile food truck provided meals. "What we're recommending is, if they don't have a relative they can stay with, that they call 211," Dodd said. "That puts them in contact with their nearest United Way agency." The utility company said crews from as far away as Kansas and Washington, D.C., arrived Tuesday to help restore power, the Lansing State Journal said. In East Lansing, Terry Brock, from Richmond, Va., was visiting his parents when the ice storm struck. "I was basically up all night listening to transformers blow up and listening to branches fall all over the neighborhood," he said. "There's no one to be angry at so I'm not going to be," said Brock, whose car was damaged by a falling limb. In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo activated the state Emergency Operations Center and declared a winter ice storm emergency for western and northern areas, where about 25,000 people were without power Tuesday. In Maine, nearly 70,000 people lost power, including a medical clinic in Bangor that forced walk-in patients to go elsewhere, the Bangor Daily News reports. The newspaper said as many as 150,000 customers were affected, including those in entire towns such as Readfield, Islesboro, Frankofot and Penobscot. Sharon Kiley Mack, executive director of the Machias Bay Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a Facebook post that the ice has taken its toll on the town: "Stand outside for a minute and all you can hear are crashing trees, falling branches and sirens." Power was knocked out to downtown Ellsworth, Maine, which declared a state of emergency. "Travel conditions are becoming life-threatening with icy conditions paired with downed power lines and fallen trees," the town said in a statement. "Especially after sunset, it will become difficult to see the downed power lines and trees contributing to even more hazardous conditions." In Vermont, almost 10,000 people were still without power on Tuesday. Vermont Electric Co-op CEO David Hallquist said ice continued to threaten power lines across the region and that co-op members living in the most isolated areas risk facing the longest outages, Vermont Public Radio reports. "We think we're heading for a very dangerous situation, that we're going to have power outages probably through Christmas," said Hallquist. "And the temperatures are going to be dropping below zero." In Canada, carbon monoxide poisoning likely killed five people using generators or barbecues to stay warm after losing power and heat. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said the city received about 110 carbon monoxide calls Monday — six times more than on a normal day. Hospitals treated 11 people with signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. About 90,000 customers were still awaiting power Tuesday evening, and officials said some may not have it restored until after Christmas. Contributing: Tammy Stables Battaglia, Detroit Free Press; Steven R. Reed, Lansing State Journal; the Associated Press |
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| Mass grave fuels fears of ethnic bloodshed in South Sudan - Reuters Posted: 24 Dec 2013 08:07 AM PST  (Reuters) - A mass grave believed to contain the bodies of 75 ethnic Dinka soldiers has been found in South Sudan, the United Nations said on Tuesday, fuelling fears of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state. President Salva Kiir said on Tuesday government troops had retaken control of Jonglei state capital Bor, a key town which last week fell to rebels loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar, who was sacked by Kiir in July. U.N. human rights officers discovered the grave in the rebel-held city of Bentiu, capital of Unity state. "We have discovered a mass grave in Bentiu, in Unity State, and there are reportedly at least two other mass graves in Juba," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement in Geneva. The conflict in South Sudan erupted in the capital Juba on December 15 but has spread to oil-producing regions and beyond, rapidly dividing the two-year-old nation on ethnic lines. Much of the fighting has involved Dinka and Nuer factions of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, with militias and marauding youths also reported to be attacking opposing ethnic groups. Western powers and east African states, keen to prevent more chaos in a fragile region, have tried to mediate between Kiir, a Dinka, and rebel leader Machar, a Nuer. Both men say the conflict is political, not tribal, but 40,000 people have sought refuge in the bases of U.N. peacekeepers amid widespread fears of ethnic killings. "My cousin and nephew were both caught and executed. How can I leave this place?" asked Gatjang, a 29-year-old Nuer, at a U.N. compound in Juba crammed with about 12,000 fearful civilians. "Even here. What if they sneak inside and attack us?" Kiir on Tuesday said government troops were back in Bor after losing the town on Sunday. "Forces loyal to the government have taken Bor and (are) now clearing whatever forces that are remaining there," he told journalists at his office in Juba. While both men have said they are open to dialogue, Machar said on Monday he would only negotiate if his detained political allies are released, a demand the government swiftly rejected. "I am extremely concerned that South Sudan risks spiraling into a disaster for both its own people and the region," the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday. "Such a situation can, and must, be avoided." (Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Alistair Lyon and David Evans) |
| One-day enrollment extension up, deadline today Obama signs up for ... - Politico Posted: 24 Dec 2013 07:06 AM PST With help from Natalie Villacorta 24-HOUR-COUNTDOWN, FOR REAL THIS TIME — Merry Christmas Eve! Now, thanks to a last-minute announcement by the Obama administration, you can spend today enrolling in Obamacare for Jan. 1 coverage if you so desire. Admit it, you were already tired of eating fruitcake and rearranging the tree ornaments. The one-day extension applies to those in the 36 states with federally-run exchanges, while some of the state-run exchanges also gave shoppers an extra day. --New York and Massachusetts are extending their deadlines. California, Washington state and the District of Columbia are offering general flexibility for those who started but couldn't complete their applications by the original Monday night deadline. In contrast, the cutoff was still Monday night in Connecticut and Colorado. http://politico.pro/1gSRWLL INSURERS RESPOND — They were unhappy with the administration for originally pushing back the enrollment deadline from Dec. 15 to Dec. 23 — saying that would make it harder to process enrollments by New Year's — but they hinted yesterday that the one-day extension could add to the disruption. "Health plans will continue to do everything they can to help consumers through the enrollment process and mitigate potential confusion or disruption caused by all of these last-minute changes to the rules and deadlines," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans. http://politi.co/1fCCWxK Merry Christmas Eve and welcome to Tuesday PULSE, where we really, really hope your last-minute shopping doesn't include a health plan. But if it does — and if you're presently uncovered — you really should try to avoid holiday-related accidents like burning your turkey or stepping on broken ornaments. Unlike about 15,000 people who did things like that last year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://bit.ly/1e6AFK8 --In honor of the holidays (and also because hopefully there won't be any news to report), we'll suspend PULSE tomorrow, Thursday and New Year's Day. Kiss under the mistletoe, stuff yourself silly and we'll see you back here on Friday. "We won't go until we get PULSE, so bring some out here." HEAVY TRAFFIC MONDAY — Move over Amazon, everyone's shopping on HealthCare.gov. CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille said traffic yesterday was five times higher than traffic last Monday, forcing officials to deploy the website's virtual waiting room around 11 a.m. President Obama is being regularly briefed from Hawaii on how the website is handling the traffic and how the transition is going, according to a White House pool report. OBAMACARE: THE MOVIE — If the Affordable Care Act rollout was cinematized, we say it would probably be a serious drama or maybe even a horror film. You think everything's going to turn out well…and then the Obama administration announces another delay or concession. "For a law that's faced automatic Republican resistance from the start, the ball fumbling since Oct. 1 that President Barack Obama has repeatedly acknowledged hasn't helped," write POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere and David Nather. --"The president and his aides say every announcement has been the result of being responsive and flexible, trying to make the law work for everyone. But at this point, the administration appears to be demonstrating that it lacks either a full sense of what implementing health care entails, or a full sense of the kind of blowback that each shift in the rules, however small, will generate." http://politi.co/J9DiBA TECH PROBLEMS REACH FURTHER THAN HEALTHCARE.GOV — The federal government has many more tech problems than just a defective website, Pro Tech's Jessica Meyers reports. "The HealthCare.gov mishap illuminated a cracked federal procurement system that lacks adequate management and routinely misuses millions of taxpayer dollars. And it might stay that way, despite a mounting list of tech projects much larger and more nuanced than a broken insurance portal," she writes. http://politico.pro/1eAFpwl 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has spun the classic poem into an Obamacare-themed radio ad against his opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes. "Twas the night before Christmas, four years ago. Liberals wanted ObamaCare, but Kentucky said 'no,'" it goes. "'If you like your plan, you can keep it,' they said with a twinkle in their eye. Newspapers now say that was the year's biggest lie." http://bit.ly/19bow6T NEW PREMIUMS MAP – Check out the latest map of Obamacare premiums, compiled by PwC's Health Research Institute. The tool displays silver plan premiums for a young person and an older person in metropolitan areas around the country. Among the findings: a newly-insured 27-year-old will pay between $195 and $250 a month in slightly more than half the states, while a 50-year-old will pay between $340 and $415 for the same plan. The most expensive plans for each age category, respectively, are in Vermont and Alaska. The map: http://pwc.to/1cvXDeR 123 NEW ACO's – Doctors, hospitals and other health care providers will provide care to 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries through 123 new accountable care organizations, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced yesterday. Since the Affordable Care Act passed, more than 360 ACO's have been established through the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which rewards health care providers for working collaboratively to lower health care costs. A list of the new ACO's: http://go.cms.gov/1c33zYm ICYMI, OBAMA GETS COVERED — After long promising to do so, President Barack Obama signed up for an bronze plan through the D.C. exchange. Probably using an iPad from a Hawaii beach. It'll cost less than $400 a month, an official said. Of course, the move is symbolic because he already has medical care from the military. http://politi.co/18IxUAP NEW IRS CHIEF SWORN IN — John Koskinen was sworn in yesterday as new commission of the IRS, taking over the agency as it prepares for a massive new task of administering Obamacare's fines and tax credits. The former Freddie Mac executive was confirmed by the Senate last Friday. He'll start next year. SAFETY-NET PROVIDERS WEIGH IN ON ORPHAN DRUG LAWSUIT — Providers who serve the poor filed an amicus brief Monday supporting an HHS rule that drug makers are trying to block. The rule allows certain kinds of hospitals to purchase discounted orphan drugs (which treat rare medical conditions) under the 340B drug discount program. "Non-parties — hospitals and patients — would be harmed by losing important discounts," they wrote. "Hospital drug costs will increase, leading to reduced services and increased drug costs for patients." The brief was filed by Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access, America's Essential Hospitals and the National Rural Health Association. http://bit.ly/1l9UVwW WHAT WE'RE READING Time Magazine reports on three House races where Obamacare could help Republicans cruise to victory. http://ti.me/1fW0fn9 Drugs to help people break addictions are being tested, based on new research identifying the molecular reasons for why harmful habits are so hard to break, the Wall Street Journal reports. http://on.wsj.com/1a4Ph9T It's tough to get people to sign up for Obamacare — even in states like Colorado that have thrown lots of resources at the effort, Kaiser Health News writes. http://bit.ly/1fWM6Gj Wisconsin business leaders say some companies are delaying decisions to hire or expand because of uncertainties about Obamacare, the AP reports. http://bit.ly/1kBerVm The AP also writes about how Affordable Care Act fallout is tightening key Senate races. http://bo.st/1cOtFzn |
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| Still defiant, members of Russia's Pussy Riot band go free - Los Angeles Times Posted: 23 Dec 2013 07:48 AM PST MOSCOW — Two members of the feminist punk-rock band Pussy Riot were freed from prison Monday as part of an amnesty law that one of them immediately denounced as "a profanity." The two musicians were released after serving most of their two-year sentences for hooliganism, a charge that stemmed from the "punk prayer" they performed denouncing President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main Russian Orthodox cathedral in February 2012. Both women emerged with their defiance intact, vowing to work to promote human rights in Russia. Many observers viewed their release under the amnesty law as a damage-control measure by the Russian government before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Their discharge followed that of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil tycoon who was regarded as Russia's most prominent political prisoner. He was freed Friday after being granted clemency by Putin, and immediately was taken to Germany. Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, 25, left a corrective labor colony in the Nizhny Novgorod region of central Russia on Monday morning; her bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, left a prison hospital in the Kransoyarsk region in central Siberia later in the day. "My attitude towards the president hasn't changed," Alyokina said in an interview with TV Rain, a private, liberal-leaning television network, upon her release. "If I had the slightest possibility to reject this mercy, by all means I wouldn't have accepted it.... Nothing depended on me in this case." She called the amnesty "a profanity, because it sets free less than 10% of prisoners."Until the amnesty bill passed, both Alyokina and Tolokonnikova were due for release in March. Both women said they intend to focus on human-rights activities. "Primarily I will be protecting the interests of those people in confinement, people with whom I served my term in colonies," Tolokonnikova told the Itar-Tass news agency. During their confinement, Alyokhina once complained of being beaten by guards, and Tolokonnikova twice went on hunger strikes to protest harsh working conditions and mistreatment of prisoners in the labor camp. Earlier this year, she complained that her camp administrator threatened to kill her. Neither woman expressed gratitude to Putin or the government for freeing them. Their lawyer said the amnesty was not the final step in their case. "We are still appealing their verdict in higher courts and in this sense the act of amnesty doesn't change much, except that my clients are free, which is a great thing in itself," Irina Khrunova said in an interview. "We continue to consider the prosecution and the verdict unjustified and we will be struggling to the end to prove them completely innocent of the crime they were convicted of."In February 2012, the women were part of a group that performed the "punk prayer" at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Dressed in gowns and hoods and holding electric guitars, they asked Mother Mary to drive Putin away. The controversial act took place at the height of Putin's election campaign. The subsequent prosecution and conviction of the women was widely seen as an act of vengeance on his part. A third member of the group, Yekaterina Samutsevich, also faced two years of imprisonment, but after her appeal, that sentence was suspended because she didn't take a direct part in the performance. The Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed satisfaction with the amnesty and offered a gesture of conciliation."We are happy they were released and although we denounced their blasphemous act, we never insisted that they should have been put in prison to begin with, but it is the way the law is," Vladimir Vigilyansky, spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchy, said in an interview. "The doors of our church are always open for them, and should they make a step toward the church, we are ready to make 100 steps toward them." ALSO: Egyptian activists get 3-year prison terms Poll: Two thirds of Americans say Afghan war not worth fighting Obama warns against using military force to gain power in South Sudan |
| Obamacare: Yes, there's plenty in it for you - Philly.com Posted: 23 Dec 2013 08:29 AM PST The White House did not receive much holiday cheer about Obamacare last week from public opinion pollsters, even though millions of Americans already are benefiting from the law. The numbers show just how big the disconnect is between the reality of what's occurred in health care since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and the perception that people have of the law resulting from the relentless campaign of misinformation from the president's opponents. According to an Associated Press online survey, more people had unfavorable opinions of the law than favorable ones, with many people who have insurance through their employers blaming the law for the hike in premiums and deductibles they've been told to expect for next year. The one thing that was clear from the survey is that most Americans have not yet heard about how the law already is helping them. Many of the respondents also appear to have short-term memory problems. They seem to have forgotten that premiums and deductibles have been going up, often by double digits, every year for at least a couple of decades. The reality is that the rate of premium increases since Obama signed the Affordable Care Act has been lower than in many previous years. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported a couple of years ago, for example, that between 2001 and 2011, average premiums for family coverage increased 113 percent. Not only did premiums increase steadily in the years before the law was passed, but employers also shifted more of the cost of the premiums to their workers and increased deductibles every year. The average annual increase for employer-sponsored family coverage last year was just four percent, the foundation said, much lower than the average increase in the decade before ACA became law. "We are in a prolonged period of moderation in premiums, which should create some breathing room for the private sector to try to reduce costs without cutting back benefits for workers," Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman said in August when his organization released the most recent health insurance numbers. Chances are you missed that news. Here are some other numbers you might also have missed:
By the end of November, an estimated 1.2 million people had enrolled in new health plans. The numbers increased dramatically this month as the Dec. 23 deadline for signing up for coverage approached. In California, for example, 53,510 enrolled in coverage during the first three days of last week, including 20,000 in one day. And President Obama said Friday that another 1 million had signed up for coverage nationwide during the first three weeks of December. Many of the newly insured have not been able to purchase insurance at any price in the past because insurers refused to sell coverage to millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. Insurers can no longer do that, nor can they charge people more than others simply because of a current or previous illness. To learn more about how the reform law is affecting us, check out my new eBook, Obamacare: What's in It for Me? What Everyone Needs to Know About the Affordable Care Act. It's available now — just in time for the holidays — on Amazon.com. It will be available on iBooks and other places soon. Former CIGNA executive-turned-whistleblower Wendell Potter writes about the health care industry and the ongoing battle for health reform. |
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