House budget plan to include repeal of Affordable Care Act
A House
Republican budget proposal will include language to allow a repeal of
the Affordable Care Act by a simple majority vote in the Senate. Future
Medicare beneficiaries would receive support to buy private insurance,
and Medicaid spending would be reduced and delivered as block grants to
the states. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
(3/16)
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Which Vegetables You Should Buy Organic and Which Ones You Can Skip
There are many reasons you should purchase organic products at the
grocery store. Foods with a USDA Organic label are not grown with
chemical pesticides, genetically modified or treated with sewage or
petroleum-based pesticides.
We have the best intentions at the grocery store, but ultimately it comes down to a question of cost. Many families cannot afford to purchase all organic produce. However, you can make good choices that will help you avoid putting pesticides in your body while saving money.
Just about anything with a hard shell or skin will be relatively safe to buy non-organic. The foods you need to look out for when trying to avoid pesticides are those with high water content, such as berries, melons, just about all leafy greens and celery.
Examples of Safe Foods
Onions
You're not the only one crying over onions. Onions are naturally resistant to pests, so big-agriculture companies have no reason to dump excess pesticides on onion crops. There is no evidence that organic onions have more health benefits than traditionally grown onions.
Avocados
These fatty, delicious fruits are great on salads, but they are not on the menu of many insects. The avocado's thick skin helps shield them from bugs, so this crop does not require a lot of pesticides. That skin also prevents any chemicals that are used from getting to the green center we all love to eat.
Coconuts
Coconut oil and water seem like they are at the top of every healthy conscious person's list these days. The good news is this fruit's thick outer shell is virtually impenetrable by pesticides. Several studies have shown that hardly any pesticide residue is found in the majority of coconut products. So, whether you eat the raw fruit, or put coconut oil in your hair, there will likely be no nasty chemicals to deal with!
Go Organic or Go Home
Apples
These fruits are one of the most commonly contaminated non-organic items on grocery store shelves. The reason apples are so heavy with pesticides is that they are so difficult to grow without them. Fungus and pests love them as much as you do because they are soft and rot easily. If you must purchase non-organic apples, you can avoid some of the pesticide residue by removing the peel, but you will also be throwing away valuable nutrients and fiber.
Celery
Celery has one of the highest water contents of all vegetables. It is easy to see why it would contain many pesticides. As the plant grows, it soaks up huge amounts of water. Chemicals are suspended in the water and then end up on your plate.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are another salad ingredient with high water content and a fragile skin which pesticides have no trouble penetrating. The good news is they are incredibly easy to grow. If you can't find suitable organic tomatoes in your area, all you need is some quality organic seeds and you'll be eating harvesting your own organic bounty in no time.
All Leafy Vegetables
Again as a result of the high water content, just about all leafy vegetables are likely to contain relatively high levels of pesticides. And since lettuces and spinach are the staple of most healthy salads, best to budget to go organic with these greens.
Don't get me wrong. If you can go organic with all your produce choices, then do it. These tips apply to availability and budget. The good news is as more and more people switch to organic foods, the prices are going down and the selection is increasing.
We have the best intentions at the grocery store, but ultimately it comes down to a question of cost. Many families cannot afford to purchase all organic produce. However, you can make good choices that will help you avoid putting pesticides in your body while saving money.
Just about anything with a hard shell or skin will be relatively safe to buy non-organic. The foods you need to look out for when trying to avoid pesticides are those with high water content, such as berries, melons, just about all leafy greens and celery.
Examples of Safe Foods
Onions
You're not the only one crying over onions. Onions are naturally resistant to pests, so big-agriculture companies have no reason to dump excess pesticides on onion crops. There is no evidence that organic onions have more health benefits than traditionally grown onions.
Avocados
These fatty, delicious fruits are great on salads, but they are not on the menu of many insects. The avocado's thick skin helps shield them from bugs, so this crop does not require a lot of pesticides. That skin also prevents any chemicals that are used from getting to the green center we all love to eat.
Coconuts
Coconut oil and water seem like they are at the top of every healthy conscious person's list these days. The good news is this fruit's thick outer shell is virtually impenetrable by pesticides. Several studies have shown that hardly any pesticide residue is found in the majority of coconut products. So, whether you eat the raw fruit, or put coconut oil in your hair, there will likely be no nasty chemicals to deal with!
Go Organic or Go Home
Apples
These fruits are one of the most commonly contaminated non-organic items on grocery store shelves. The reason apples are so heavy with pesticides is that they are so difficult to grow without them. Fungus and pests love them as much as you do because they are soft and rot easily. If you must purchase non-organic apples, you can avoid some of the pesticide residue by removing the peel, but you will also be throwing away valuable nutrients and fiber.
Celery
Celery has one of the highest water contents of all vegetables. It is easy to see why it would contain many pesticides. As the plant grows, it soaks up huge amounts of water. Chemicals are suspended in the water and then end up on your plate.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are another salad ingredient with high water content and a fragile skin which pesticides have no trouble penetrating. The good news is they are incredibly easy to grow. If you can't find suitable organic tomatoes in your area, all you need is some quality organic seeds and you'll be eating harvesting your own organic bounty in no time.
All Leafy Vegetables
Again as a result of the high water content, just about all leafy vegetables are likely to contain relatively high levels of pesticides. And since lettuces and spinach are the staple of most healthy salads, best to budget to go organic with these greens.
Don't get me wrong. If you can go organic with all your produce choices, then do it. These tips apply to availability and budget. The good news is as more and more people switch to organic foods, the prices are going down and the selection is increasing.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
6.4 million total enrolled for HealthCare.gov in 2015
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102290183
There's going to be a lot of new Obamacare plans underneath Christmas trees on Thursday.
As of last Friday, about 6.4 million people had signed up for 2015 health insurance plans sold on HealthCare.gov, the federal Obamacare exchange that serves 37 states, officials announced Tuesday.
That big number included about 1.9 million new customers, existing Obamacare customers who actively re-enrolled since sign-ups began Nov. 15, and people who were automatically re-enrolled in their current health coverage in the past week, according to the Health and Human Services Department.
The tally reflects a surge in sign-ups that occurred in advance of HealthCare.gov's Dec. 15 deadline for enrolling in plans that take effect Jan. 1. It also reflects the policy of automatic re-enrollment for most current customers, which began Dec. 16 and was completed by last Thursday.
When the 6.4 million HealthCare.gov total is added to confirmed sign-ups from the 13 Obamacare exchanges run by states and the District of Columbia, total enrollment for 2015 plans in this open-enrollment season is about 7.44 million, according to data compiled by the Obamacare tracking site ACASignups.net.
"I expected a surge in enrollment as the year wound down, but this was a bigger surge than I expected," said Larry Levitt, a Kaiser Family Foundation expert on Obamacare.
Levitt also said "it seems pretty clear at this point that the Obama administration will exceed their target" of having 9.1 million people enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance plans sold through government-run exchanges by the end of 2015. To be considered officially enrolled, a customer must make a premium payment.
He said he expects another big surge in sign-ups in advance of the Feb. 15 close of open enrollment. "If you don't sign up by February 15, you can't get insurance for the rest of 2015," Levitt noted.
He said it will be tougher this year to sign up new, currently uninsured customers for Obamacare plans than it was during the first open-enrollment season, which ended in mid-April.
There's going to be a lot of new Obamacare plans underneath Christmas trees on Thursday.
As of last Friday, about 6.4 million people had signed up for 2015 health insurance plans sold on HealthCare.gov, the federal Obamacare exchange that serves 37 states, officials announced Tuesday.
That big number included about 1.9 million new customers, existing Obamacare customers who actively re-enrolled since sign-ups began Nov. 15, and people who were automatically re-enrolled in their current health coverage in the past week, according to the Health and Human Services Department.
The tally reflects a surge in sign-ups that occurred in advance of HealthCare.gov's Dec. 15 deadline for enrolling in plans that take effect Jan. 1. It also reflects the policy of automatic re-enrollment for most current customers, which began Dec. 16 and was completed by last Thursday.
When the 6.4 million HealthCare.gov total is added to confirmed sign-ups from the 13 Obamacare exchanges run by states and the District of Columbia, total enrollment for 2015 plans in this open-enrollment season is about 7.44 million, according to data compiled by the Obamacare tracking site ACASignups.net.
"I expected a surge in enrollment as the year wound down, but this was a bigger surge than I expected," said Larry Levitt, a Kaiser Family Foundation expert on Obamacare.
Levitt also said "it seems pretty clear at this point that the Obama administration will exceed their target" of having 9.1 million people enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance plans sold through government-run exchanges by the end of 2015. To be considered officially enrolled, a customer must make a premium payment.
He said he expects another big surge in sign-ups in advance of the Feb. 15 close of open enrollment. "If you don't sign up by February 15, you can't get insurance for the rest of 2015," Levitt noted.
He said it will be tougher this year to sign up new, currently uninsured customers for Obamacare plans than it was during the first open-enrollment season, which ended in mid-April.
Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell.
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said, "We still have a lot of
work to do before the February 15 enrollment deadline, but this is an
encouraging start. People shopped for coverage and signed up—finding
more choices and greater competition."
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, so far nearly 6.4 million consumers, including about 1.9 million new consumers, have access to quality, affordable health coverage for 2015 through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.This law is working, and families are better off as a result."
Tuesday's enrollment report comes as most states' deadline for enrolling in coverage that takes effect Jan. 1 has passed.
Tuesday is the deadline for Massachusetts and Washington state residents to choose plans effective by the New Year. Exchanges in four other states—Vermont, Minnesota, Hawaii and Rhode Island—have given residents until Dec. 31 to select plans that take effect the next day.
However, the open-enrollment season in Obamacare plans ends Feb. 15. People will have until then to choose a plan effective in 2015 and can change a plan they had already selected.
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, so far nearly 6.4 million consumers, including about 1.9 million new consumers, have access to quality, affordable health coverage for 2015 through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.This law is working, and families are better off as a result."
Tuesday's enrollment report comes as most states' deadline for enrolling in coverage that takes effect Jan. 1 has passed.
Tuesday is the deadline for Massachusetts and Washington state residents to choose plans effective by the New Year. Exchanges in four other states—Vermont, Minnesota, Hawaii and Rhode Island—have given residents until Dec. 31 to select plans that take effect the next day.
However, the open-enrollment season in Obamacare plans ends Feb. 15. People will have until then to choose a plan effective in 2015 and can change a plan they had already selected.
Under the ACA, nearly all Americans must have some form of
health insurance—such as Obamacare plans, employer-provided coverage,
Medicare or Medicaid—or pay a tax penalty.
People who lacked health coverage in 2014 are subject to a potential fine of up to 1 percent of their taxable income. In 2015, that rises to up to 2 percent.
Before open enrollment began Nov. 15, about 6.7 million people nationally were enrolled as paying customers in Obamacare health plans sold on the government-run exchanges.
About 85 percent of those people received federal government subsidies to help pay for their monthly premiums. Such tax credits are available to people who earn between one and four times the federal poverty level, or $11,670 to $46,680 for a single adult, or $23,850 to $95,400 for a family of four.
In a report issued in early December, HHS said an analysis of plans available for 2015 shows that almost 8 in 10 customers on HealthCare.gov would be able to buy coverage for $100 or less per month after the application of those tax credits.
People who lacked health coverage in 2014 are subject to a potential fine of up to 1 percent of their taxable income. In 2015, that rises to up to 2 percent.
Before open enrollment began Nov. 15, about 6.7 million people nationally were enrolled as paying customers in Obamacare health plans sold on the government-run exchanges.
About 85 percent of those people received federal government subsidies to help pay for their monthly premiums. Such tax credits are available to people who earn between one and four times the federal poverty level, or $11,670 to $46,680 for a single adult, or $23,850 to $95,400 for a family of four.
In a report issued in early December, HHS said an analysis of plans available for 2015 shows that almost 8 in 10 customers on HealthCare.gov would be able to buy coverage for $100 or less per month after the application of those tax credits.
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