BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian state news agency says a car bomb has exploded on the edge of the central city of Hama, causing casualties.
SANA said the explosion occurred early Sunday, but provided no further details. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion appeared to target a government checkpoint on a highway close to the city. The Observatory, which has a network of activists on the ground, said ambulances were racing to the scene.
Car bombs are most frequently used by hard-line al-Qaeda-linked militants fighting among the rebels.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A 17-year-old Iraqi boy had to identify the bodies of his parents and four sisters killed in an Ohio car accident involving a police officer responding to a call about a robbery, a social worker helping surviving relatives said Saturday.
Majeda Mohammad, a case worker for Community Refugee and Immigration Services in Columbus, has been with the family almost constantly since the early morning Friday crash killed 39-year-old Eid Badi Shahad, his wife, 31-year-old Entisar Hameed, and their four daughters, who ranged from 2 to 16 years old.
They leave behind four sons, who are 5, 6, 12 and 17 years old.
The family are refugees from Basra, Iraq, who moved to the U.S. about three years ago and loved their new life in America, Mohammad said.
She said the 17-year-old, Mushary Badi, is in unimaginable pain after learning of the loss and identifying his family members' bodies, but that he already has begun assuming a caretaker role for his grief-stricken grandmother and younger brothers.
"He came home from the hospital and called for his youngest brother, and he said, 'I need to give him a hug.' And he hugged his brother and cried," Mohammad said. "Then he called each of them one by one and hugged them and said that he would take care of them. Then he told his grandmother not to worry and that she needed to eat and take her medicine."
A funeral for the family was set for Saturday evening after regular prayers at the Noor Islamic Cultural Center just outside of Columbus, with hundreds expected to attend and family members traveling from Kuwait, Canada, Maine and Texas to be there. A candlelight vigil at the scene of the crash was expected to follow.
Shahad, who was driving, and his family are believed to have been killed almost instantly after a police cruiser responding to a robbery hit their car while it was stopped in the middle of an intersection around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
The police car had its lights flashing and siren blaring, and a dash-camera video shows the family's Toyota Corolla had a red light when it reached the intersection and came to a complete stop just before the crash.
Shahad may have realized he ran the red light and was going to back up or that he may have seen the cruiser coming and froze, Chief Robert Oppenheimer of Perry Township police said.
"We can only speculate, because we'll probably never know," he said.
Officer Shawn Paynter, 30, who was driving the car that hit the Shahad family, was released from the hospital after being treated for a serious head injury, said Officer Heather Galli, a spokeswoman for the Upper Arlington Police Department in suburban Columbus. He is dealing with the shock of the accident with his wife and parents, she said.
"It's just heartbreaking and tragic," Galli said. "Our goal as a police officer is to protect and serve, and this type of a situation, where it's truly an accident, it's tough and challenging."
Mohammad described Shahad as a dedicated and loving father and son, who made it a priority to care for his mother, who is in her 80s and had suffered a stroke. He also loved playing with his children, she said, taking the boys to a park for soccer and basketball on Saturdays and taking the girls on Sundays.
She said the Iraqi refugee community is coming together to support the surviving boys and their grandmother, and that one of Shahad's brothers will live with them indefinitely as they try to heal.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
PHOENIX — Immigration reform, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's second-term domestic agenda, lost momentum amid the partisan brinkmanship that led to the government shutdown. Some reform opponents believe the profound lack of trust between House Republicans and the White House all but ensures the issue won't proceed this year.
Obama, however, last week signaled that he is not surrendering on one of the issues he ran on when he was first elected president in 2008.
In an interview with Univision's Los Angeles affiliate, Obama indicated he will press forward on immigration reform immediately after the dust settles from the fiscal fight and demand that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other Republican leaders allow a vote on a Senate-passed comprehensive bill.
"And if I have to join with other advocates and continue to speak out on that, and keep pushing, I'm going to do so because I think it's really important for the country," Obama said. "And now is the time to do it."
Reform supporters have remained optimistic that the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will consider several immigration-related bills in November. Their hope is that the House will pass legislation that could lead to negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate. On June 27, the upper chamber passed a comprehensive bill that includes a massive investment in border security and a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who have settled in the United States. Most observers believe, as a practical matter, lawmakers have at most a few months to act on immigration reform before Congress is paralyzed by 2014 midterm election politics.
But many of the crucial pieces of immigration legislation in the House, such as a bill that could address the legal status of undocumented immigrants already settled in the United States, have yet to surface.
Recognizing time is running out,immigration activists and reform advocates are pressuring lawmakers in pursuit of a breakthrough before Thanksgiving or, at the latest, mid-December.
Reform supporters say if the House delays action on immigration reform until 2014, it's as good as dead because there will be little appetite to debate such a hot-button issue in a congressional midterm election year. If that happens, there likely won't be another serious legislative push until after the 2016 presidential race.
Despite the distractions of the recent Syria crisis and the bitter fiscal fight, reform proponents say they are heartened by the fact that influential House Republicans are still inclined to press ahead with legislation. Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia have been crafting a bill that would address the legal status of the young undocumented immigrants commonly called "dreamers" while Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 GOP vice-presidential nominee and a possible 2016 White House candidate, is said to be working on a proposal directed at the broader undocumented population.
The impact of the past several weeks of partisan bitterness on the immigration-reform dynamics remains unclear, with some House Republicans harboring hard feelings toward Obama and others seeing a positive post-shutdown opportunity to govern "and show the country that we can do our jobs," said Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a national coalition of business groups that backs immigration reform. Which House GOP faction wins out in the short term remains to be seen, although the bruised egos represent a fresh challenge for reform supporters.
"House Republicans will not do this if they see it as, 'The president just beat us and now he's going to shove this down our throats,'" Jacoby said. "That is just not a way to get it done."
'Could see floor action'
Boehner this year frustrated some immigration activists by declaring the Senate's comprehensive bill dead on arrival in the House and by signaling that any of the other smaller bills must be supported by a majority of his GOP conference. The piecemeal approach also likely would include bills focusing on border security, visas for foreign workers and immigration enforcement. Five measures already have cleared committees, so Boehner could easily set aside a week this fall to hold a series of immigration votes. He has said doing nothing on immigration is not an option.
"We're still committed to moving forward on step-by-step, common-sense reforms," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told The Arizona Republic in an email. "The Judiciary Committee has already passed several bills that could see floor action."
Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., said he believes House Republican leaders are sincere and sees a potential opening for immigration reform in the next several weeks. If five or so immigration bills are passed, the legislation could be bundled and provide the basis for a joint House-Senate conference committee that would hammer out a final version based on the legislation that each chamber passed.
"Paul Ryan has been meeting with various Democrats, and I think Paul Ryan is probably the biggest advocate for getting something done," said Pastor.
What, precisely, the House Republicans have in mind for the 11 million undocumented immigrants remains unclear. Obama and the Democrats have said a pathway to citizenship is a must, but many GOP members are wary of anything that conservative activists could portray as "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants.
An estimated 4.4 million unauthorized adults have U.S. citizen children who could eventually sponsor them, Jacoby said.
Some Democrats may even be inclined to go along with just a bill focused on the dreamers as long as they see it as a steppingstone to address the rest of the 11 million immigrants.
"If Republicans want to get credit for reform, they have to come forward with something serious, which includes legalization and a path to citizenship," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a national organization that champions comprehensive immigration reform. "If they do, I think the Democrats will work with them on it. But right now, the Republicans are off talking to themselves. Until they come forward with proposals, there's really nothing to react to."
Bleaker outlook
But given the narrowing window of opportunity and the complexity of the various immigration issues, other observers suggested the forecast for action on immigration reform this year may be bleaker than the die-hard supporters may suspect.
There are other dynamics to consider. Boehner could rely on Democrats and a minority of Republicans to pass immigration legislation, as some have urged him to do, but would risk a conservative revolt that could cost him his speaker's job.
The interests of national Republican leaders also remain at odds with many rank-and-file House GOP members when it comes to reaching out to Latino voters, who backed Obama in droves over 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Many GOP House members represent conservative congressional districts and are not convinced that immigration reform represents good policy or good politics.
"There's just not that much enthusiasm to deal with it up on the Hill," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that supports more immigration enforcement and overall reductions in immigration. "The Republicans don't have that much incentive to deal with it, there's a million other things to contend with it, and time constraints matter enormously. All of that makes it unlikely."
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida (AP) — Two convicted killers who were freed from prison by phony documents were captured together without incident Saturday night at a Florida motel, authorities said.
Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were not armed when they were taken into custody at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn in a touristy area of Panama City Beach, near putt-putt courses and go-kart tracks. Several hours earlier, their families had held a news conference urging them to surrender.
Jenkins and Walker were both serving life sentences at Florida's Franklin Correctional Facility before they were released within the last month. The bogus paperwork, complete with case numbers and a judge's forged signature, duped prison officials and reduced their sentences to 15 years.
Jenkins was released first on Sept. 27. His uncle and father figure, Henry Pearson, said when prison officials called him in Orlando he jumped in the car with fresh clothes for Jenkins and picked him up from prison.
He drove him to see his mother and grandmother. Jenkins hung around Pearson's home for a couple of days and registered as a felon Sept. 30 at an Orlando jail, as he was required by law. He filled out paperwork, had his photograph taken and his fingerprints were checked against a database to make sure he didn't have any outstanding warrants for his arrest.
The Orange County jail official who interacted with him had no idea he was supposed to be locked up, Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
Pearson planned a birthday party for Jenkins on Oct. 1, but he didn't show. Pearson thought little of it because Jenkins had friends in the area, and after all, he had been locked up since the 1998 killing and botched robbery of Roscoe Pugh, an Orlando man.
About a week later, on Oct. 8, Walker was let out of the same prison when similar legitimate-looking documents duped prison officials. His mother, Lillie Danzy, said the family thought their prayers had been answered when she got a call saying her son was being released. She called prison officials back to make sure it was actually happening.
There wasn't time to pick him up, so prison officials took him to a bus station, gave him a ticket — as they would any other ex-inmate — and sent him along.
Walker had been in prison since his conviction of second-degree murder in the 1999 Orange County slaying of 23-year-old Cedric Slater. Like Jenkins, he registered at the Orange County jail three days after his release without raising any alarms.
He knocked around town and went to church last Sunday, but at some point, he and Jenkins went underground.
On Tuesday, one of Pugh's relatives contacted the state attorney's office to let them know Jenkins had been let out. Pugh's family had been notified by mail, which is typical for families of violent crime victims.
Prosecutors reviewed Jenkins' case file and quickly discovered the forged paperwork. They soon discovered Walker's paperwork was also falsified, and a manhunt was launched for both men.
The falsified paperwork exposed gaps in Florida's judicial system. In light of the errors, the Corrections Department changed the way it verifies early releases and prison officials will now verify with judges — not just court clerks — before releasing prisoners early.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
MELBOURNE, Fla. — In scale models, the pieces fit together like Lego pieces.
Rockets snapped onto custom adapters that could be swapped in and out of a mobile launcher. An umbilical tower's lines and access platforms adjusted to fit each system.
Roll them out to a Kennedy Space Center launch complex, and virtually any commercial rocket could now blast off from a pad that for decades served only the space shuttle.
"We had a plan where essentially you could do any number of vehicles," said Dan Brandenstein, retired chief operating officer of United Space Alliance, which sketched out the concept before the shuttle's retirement. "They could just 'plug and play' the adapters they need and use the launch pad as often as they need it, and not have the overhead of owning it full time."
The company's pitch never gained traction, but the idea has won new prominence with a proposal by Blue Origin to manage KSC's launch pad 39A as a shared commercial pad, instead of NASA awarding an exclusive lease to SpaceX.
The competing proposals have billionaire CEOs (Elon Musk founded SpaceX; Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos is behind Blue Origin), industry rivals and members of Congress debating the best and most practical use for the mothballed former Apollo and shuttle pad. That has delayed at least for a few months a critical next step in Kennedy Space Center's transformation into a multi-user spaceport for government and commercial launches.
But beyond the corporate and political jockeying is a basic question: Could competitors share the pad? Would that work?
Supporters believe that would be the most fair and economical use of a special facility in which taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars. Commercial launchers would benefit by splitting the expense of operating a major piece of infrastructure, lowering launch costs.
Skeptics point out that such an arrangement has never been tried before by the larger, liquid-fueled rockets most likely to launch from pad 39A.
"This is a concept that has been proposed for decades and yet has never been implemented successfully by the government, much less the more cost-conscious and deeply competitive private sector," Frank DiBello, CEO of Space Florida, wrote this summer to NASA and federal lawmakers. Space Florida is a state agency that promotes the aerospace industry in Florida.
DiBello says he doesn't prefer one approach over another, but the best outcome and return on taxpayer investment would bring launches here sooner rather than later.
The pad's fate is in limbo as NASA awaits the outcome later this year of a bid protest Blue Origin filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
NASA says it would cost more than $1 million annually to maintain the mothballed pad, an expense it can't afford moving forward. If a satisfactory lease — which NASA had hoped to award by Oct. 1 — isn't secured, 39A could sit idle or rust away.
Backed by Amazon.com's Bezos, Blue Origin says it is willing to invest heavily in pad 39A so that anyone interested, including SpaceX, could start launching from there by 2015.
Blue Origin won't have its own orbital rocket until at least 2018 but would manage and maintain the pad as a commercial spaceport, helping to ensure "the fullest use of this unique national asset."
"Multiple launch companies believe a commercial multi-user facility is feasible and desirable," said company President Rob Meyerson. "It brings more launches, and with them more jobs."
United Launch Alliance, which dominates launches of government satellites and is competing with SpaceX to launch NASA astronauts, has backed Blue Origin's idea. The Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture has not committed to using pad 39A but says access to it could be helpful down the road.
A new launch pad in Virginia is also promoting itself as a multi-user facility, though it has only tenant now.
To implement the concept here, Blue Origin, which operates a private suborbital launch site in Texas, would need to tackle complex technical hurdles that United Space Alliance's "plug and play" models only began to address.
Each rocket has a different height, diameter and weight and may use different propellants. Access points vary for technicians and fuel, power, electrical and communications lines. Each liftoff exerts different forces on a pad, from the way engines spew flame to the rumble they produce.
Assuming those engineering challenges can be met, potentially more daunting operational questions quickly arise. To start with, who goes first?
If launches were frequent, conflicts could arise over which are given priority and for how long. Companies might balk at a competitor calling the shots.
Worse, what if a competitor's rocket blew up on the pad, grounding launches indefinitely?
In United Space Alliance's concept, a second mobile launcher could replace a damaged one. Brandenstein said the technical challenges were manageable and companies would evaluate the risk of an accident against potential cost-savings.
"The bottom line is in anything there's challenges and nothing in that line of work is totally risk-free," he said.
But it's a risk companies have not yet been willing to take.
"People in the launch business, the biggest thing they want to do is control their own destiny," said Adrian Laffitte, a former Atlas launch director for Lockheed Martin.
"As an engineer, everything is doable," Laffitte said of the multi-user concept. "But is it going to be economical, and is it going to be something that people will want to use?"
That appears to be the key question right now.
When NASA requested proposals to lease pad 39A earlier this year, only SpaceX and Blue Origin responded. Of the two, only SpaceX has an operational rocket with an immediate manifest of payloads to launch.
As a result, SpaceX CEO Musk recently dismissed Blue Origin's multi-user approach, and United Launch Alliance's backing of it, as a "phony blocking tactic" by companies worried about SpaceX's growth.
Musk said he would welcome Blue Origin to pad 39A after a minimum five-year lease is up if the company can develop an orbital rocket that quickly.
"Frankly, I think we are more likely to discover unicorns dancing in the flame duct," he told Space News.
If more demand to launch from Kennedy Space Center soon does develop, NASA has invited companies to use neighboring pad 39B, which the agency only expects to use for its exploration rocket every other year or so.
But Blue Origin has been cool to the idea of sharing a pad with the government.
Musk says SpaceX would use pad 39A to launch civil government missions like International Space Station cargo and crews or NASA science satellites, while concentrating military launches at its existing Cape Canaveral pad, should the company win all that business. He continues to pursue a commercial launch complex outside federal jurisdiction, and calls Texas the leading candidate.
Space Florida hopes to develop one or two pads at the north end of Kennedy Space Center.
Before DiBello's tenure began in 2009, the state agency was promoting shared use of a pad it owns at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, suitable for smaller rockets than would use 39A, but no launches materialized.
"There was clear interest on the part of a couple of people," DiBello said. "But when it came down to actually discussing the details, they were really interested for their program. They weren't as interested in a multi-user concept."
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
(Scroll down for video) Two elderly women were arrested and charged with assault after beating up a woman who asked for a little privacy at the checkout counter, according to police reports in south Carolina.
Deputies said two women are accused of attacking a customer at a Li'l Cricket store in Pacolet, South Carolina, when she asked them to give her some space, while checking out.
According to Spartanburg County deputies, it was because the victim asked the women to give her some space while she was entering the PIN code for her debit card at the checkout register. "All I wanted was a little privacy. I did not know I was going to take a beating for that," the victim, Amanda Parker, said.
On Monday afternoon Parker stopped at the Li'l Cricket located on Pine Street in Pacolet, unaware that she'd need to be taken to the hospital by the time she was done shopping. "The line was long. I stopped and waited for the two women who had been there the entire time," Parker said.
Deputies said the two women had bought lottery tickets and stood at the counter while other customers, including Parker, got helped before them. "I said, 'you give me some privacy. I'm getting ready to use my debit card,'" Parker said. "They were very hateful and said 'Well, we do not need your money.'"
Investigators identified the two women as 80-year-old, Mary Wannamaker and 63-year-old Myrtle Smith. "I tried to be respectful, they were older women," Parker said. "They continued with their mouthing and as I was walking out the door, one woman spit on me."
The sheriff's office said that's when the situation got worse. "At that time the victim turned around, with her open hand, struck one of the suspects in the face and then the assault escalated," Lt. Tony Ivey with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, said.
According to witnesses, the fight moved outside, where the two suspects began hitting the victim in the head with gallon jugs of windshield washer fluid.
"They were bigger than me. I had previous surgery so I could not defend myself," Parker said. Finally, two construction workers on the street saw the fight and intervened.
"The women could easily have killed this woman," Ivey said. "If those two construction workers had not intervened based on their statements, she could have been seriously injured."
But Parker said that seemed to be their intention. "They threatened to shoot me in the head if they had a gun," Parker said. Based on witness statements and camera store images, Wannamaker and Smith will be charged with second-degree assault and battery, deputies said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
So few insurers offer plans on some of the new government health insurance exchanges that consumers in those states may pay too much or face large rate increases later, insurance experts say.
An average of eight insurers compete for business in 36 states that had exchanges run or supported by the federal government last month, the Department of Health and Human Services says. (Idaho has since started its own exchange). But just because an insurer sells in a state, doesn't mean it sells in every area of a state so many residents have far fewer options.
Many state-run exchanges also have far fewer than HHS' average, which is weighted based on the number of uninsured residents in an area. Vermont has two, Kentucky has three and Nevada and Maryland each have four.
Some insurers pulled out of the exchanges required by the Affordable Care Act as the Oct. 1 launch approached. That leaves an uneven patchwork of providers — ranging from one insurer in New Hampshire and West Virginia to 16 in New York.
The difference also leads to a wide disparity in the numbers of plans, from just seven in Alabama to 106 in Arizona, according to HHS' analysis. But HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters says the situation is still much better than it was before the law took effect.
"In the past, consumers were too often denied or priced-out of quality health insurance options, but thanks to the Affordable Care Act consumers will be able to choose from a number of new coverage options at a price that is affordable," she said in an e-mail.
About a third of insurance companies opted out of participating in the exchanges in states where they were already doing business, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Co. About half of states — which include about a third of the non-elderly insured population — will see a "material decline" in competitors, says McKinsey, while the other half of states will have about the same or more insurance choices on the exchanges.
"When there are too few carriers, down the road there will be issues with rate increases that make plans unaffordable for average Americans even with rate subsidies," says Bryce Williams, managing director of Towers Watson Exchange Solutions, which operates private insurance exchanges for companies. "We need competitive insurance markets in all states (and) multiple carriers competing hard."
Williams notes that most counties have five to seven insurance companies competing on Medicare plans. Competition on their exchange has held down costs and kept annual rate increases to less than 2.8% per year, he says.
Provisions in the law, such as those that prohibit cost sharing or deductibles for preventive care, help level the playing field between states with and without a large number of insurers, some say.
"The quality will be comparable because they have to meet a minimum threshold (for) the basics of the plans," says Georgetown senior research fellow Sabrina Corlette. "It's really around the pricing that competition can play a role."
Mary Chalmers, 62, lives in rural California where she just has two plans to choose from even though California has 12 insurers participating on the exchange. The same "silver" plan costs $62 more a month in her hometown of San Luis Obispo than in Los Angeles. Thanks to a subsidy, however, the self employed investor's premium for an individual policy will drop from the $467 she pays now a month to about $100 a month.
States with just a few providers "definitely lose the competitive effect of carriers competing against each other to drive down those costs," agrees David Cusano, also a senior research fellow at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
Corlette says insurers' decision are motivated by profits.
"Serving the public is not part of their mission … They're crunching the numbers and looking at tightening profit margins," she says. "Part of that is a result of the Affordable Care Act, basically telling these insurance companies that your insurance model to attract healthy people and keep out sick people is no longer allowed."
Some insurers' approaches:
• Aetna. In May, Aetna acquired Coventry Health Care, which also had filed plans for some of the exchanges. Aetna dropped out of some states where Coventry filed plans and the reverse was true in other states.
On a combined basis, Aetna and Coventry plans will be available on a statewide basis in 10 state exchanges and in limited geographic areas in seven state exchanges.Spokesman Matthew Wigginsays the company "narrowed in on those states where we had the right cost structure and network arrangements to meet the specific demographic needs of exchange consumers." The result, he says, is the company's presence will deliver "long-term profitable growth.
• Cigna. The company is selling plans on five exchanges — those in half of the states in which it sells individual plans. Spokesman Joseph Moody notes that while Cigna is a "national leader in employee health plans," it only started selling plans to individuals in the last four to five years.
• HealthNet. Although it's one of the only major insurance providers that has been losing money in recent years, HealthNet is taking a different approach, offering the cheapest rates — sometimes by 25% — in Southern California, said company spokesman Brad Kieffer. HealthNet expects to see 19.4% growth in revenue in 2014, a huge jump from 2011, when growth shrank 16.2%.
In New Hampshire, the exchange has just Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which greatly reduces the number of hospital options, says State Sen. Andy Sanborn. Since more than 90% of doctors are affiliated with specific hospitals, the new plans will also exclude many doctors, he added.
Plans don't include the capital's Concord Hospital, and the next-closest hospital uses Concord doctors, Sanborn said. So, he said, people will have to drive to a third hospital an hour away. They'll even have to call an ambulance from a far-away hospital to pick them up, he said.
"There's an absolute outcry of people at this point," he said.
In West Virginia, where there is also only one provider, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield submitted its rates "long before" it knew the competition, spokesperson Kristin Ash wrote in an email. Prices were based on regulations and company experience, she wrote.
Some insurers said they dropped out of exchanges due to uncertainty. For Aetna, the new law could be "materially adverse," the company wrote in its second quarter SEC filing, mentioning the new Medicare requirements, individual coverage mandate, rating limits and new fees and assessments. In states that didn't expand Medicaid, enrollment could also drop, Aetna wrote.
Carriers are "really worried" about a sicker population purchasing plans and driving down profits, Cusano said.
West Virginia, with its single insurer, ranks 47 out of 50 in terms of health, according to the 2013 America's Health Rankings Senior Report.
Companies also may have left because of tougher regulations on pricing, quality, transparency and more, especially in state-run exchanges such as Maryland, Oregon and Rhode Island, Cusano said. Williams says New Jersey, which only have three insurers, has some of the toughest regulations in the country for insurers — and much higher rates than in nearby New York.
Companies doing well tended to be more conservative. Aetna and United Health Care, which have both pulled out of several exchanges, both enjoyed strong revenue growth last year. The companies expect to continue their growth through at least 2014, a trend Cusano said could be due to larger markets and enrollment increases because of Medicaid expansion.
As some larger insurers left certain marketplaces, companies that used to serve only the Medicaid market may move in – a trend already seen in states including Rhode Island and Oregon, Corlette said.
The number of companies participating in exchanges may also grow — or deplete — after insurers see what theirs and other companies' experiences have been.
"It is too early to speculate on 2015, but we will use our experience in 2014 to help inform our exchange strategy for 2015 and beyond," says Aetna's Wiggin.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ATLANTA (AP) — The first U.S. state to pass a law prohibiting the execution of mentally disabled death row inmates is revisiting a requirement for defendants to prove the disability beyond a reasonable doubt — the strictest burden of proof in the nation.
A state House committee is holding an out-of-session meeting Thursday to seek input from the public. Other states that impose the death penalty have a lower threshold for proving mental disability, and some don't set standards at all.
Just because lawmakers are holding a meeting does not mean changes to the law will be proposed, and the review absolutely is not a first step toward abolishing Georgia's death penalty, said State Rep. Rich Golick, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.
Georgia's law is the strictest in the U.S. even though the state was also the first, in 1988, to pass a law prohibiting the execution of mentally disabled death row inmates. The U.S. Supreme Court followed suit in 2002, ruling that the execution of mentally disabled offenders is unconstitutional.
The Georgia law's toughest-in-the-nation status compels lawmakers to review it, Golick said.
"When you're an outlier, you really ought not to stick your head in the sand," he said. "You need to go ahead and take a good, hard look at what you're doing, why you're doing it, weigh the pros and cons of a change and act accordingly or not."
Thursday's meeting comes against the backdrop of the case of Warren Lee Hill, who was sentenced to die for the 1990 beating death of fellow inmate Joseph Handspike, who was bludgeoned with a nail-studded board as he slept. At the time, Hill was already serving a life sentence for the 1986 slaying of his girlfriend, Myra Wright, who was shot 11 times.
Hill's lawyers have long maintained he is mentally disabled and therefore shouldn't be executed. The state has consistently argued that his lawyers have failed to prove his mental disability beyond a reasonable doubt.
Hill has come within hours of execution on several occasions, most recently in July. Each time, a court has stepped in at the last minute and granted a delay based on challenges raised by his lawyers. Only one of those challenges was related to his mental abilities, and it was later dismissed.
A coalition of groups that advocate for people with developmental disabilities pushed for the upcoming legislative committee meeting and has been working to get Georgia's standard of proof changed to a preponderance of the evidence rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Hill's case has drawn national attention and has shone a spotlight on Georgia's tough standard, they say.
A state court judge concluded that Hill was probably mentally disabled. In any other state, that would have spared him the death penalty, said his lawyer, Brian Kammer.
Additionally, three state experts who testified in 2000 that Hill was not mentally disabled submitted sworn statements in February saying they had been rushed in their evaluation at the time. After further review and based on scientific developments since then, they now believe Hill is mentally disabled, they said.
The state has dismissed the doctors' new testimony, saying it isn't credible.
Hill has a challenge on different grounds pending before the Georgia Supreme Court. But he has exhausted his challenges on the mental disability issue, Kammer said.
Even if changes are made to Georgia's law, they will likely not be retroactive and wouldn't apply to Hill, Keeley said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Obama's signature legislation.
However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. Without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projecting by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period.
Obama's advisers say the president has been frustrated by the flawed rollout. During one of his daily health care briefings last week, he told advisers assembled in the Oval Office that the administration had to own up to the fact that there were no excuses for not having the website ready to operate as promised.
The president is expected to address the problems on Monday during a health care event at the White House. Cabinet members and other top administration officials will also be traveling around the country in the coming weeks to encourage sign-ups in areas with the highest population of uninsured people.
The first three weeks of sign-ups have been marred by a cascade of computer problems, which the administration says it is working around the clock to correct. The rough rollout has been a glaring embarrassment for Obama, who invested significant time and political capital in getting the law passed during his first term.
The officials said technology experts from inside and outside the government are set to work on the glitches, though they did not say how many workers were being added.
Officials did say staffing has been increased at call centers by about 50 percent. As problems persist on the federally run website, the administration is encouraging more people to sign up for insurance over the phone.
The officials did not want to be cited by name and would not discuss the health insurance rollout with the Associated Press unless they were granted anonymity.
Despite the widespread problems, the Obama administration has yet to fully explain what went wrong with the online system consumers were supposed to use to sign up for coverage.
Initially, administration officials blamed a high volume of interest for the frozen screens that many people encountered. Since then, the administration has also acknowledged unspecified problems with software and some elements of the system's design.
Interest in the insurance markets appears to continue to be high. Officials said about 19 million people had visited HealthCare.gov as of Friday night.
Of the 476,000 applications that have been started, just over half have been from the 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead in running the markets. The rest of the applications have come from the 14 states running their own markets, along with Washington, D.C.
The White House says it plans to release the first enrollment totals from both the federal and state-run markets in mid-November.
An internal memo obtained by the AP showed that the administration projected nearly a half-million people would enroll for the insurance markets during the first month.
Officials say they expect enrollments to be heavier toward the end of the six-month sign-up window.
In an ironic twist, the problems with the rollout were overshadowed by Republican efforts to get changes to the health care law in exchange for funding the government. That effort failed and the government reopened last week with the "Obamacare" law intact.
Stung by that defeat, some Republicans are now calling for the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The White House says it has complete confidence in her.
House Republicans have scheduled a hearing next week to look into the rollout problems. White House allies say they're confident the problems are being addressed.
"There's no question the marketplace website needs some improvement," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., one of the architects of the law. "The administration needs to fix the computer bugs and I'm confident that they're working around the clock to fix the problems."
—
Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
There lies the missing mark No one is inexcusable No one is exempted Holy pretenders are we all In place of worship seated, wearing false smiles
Different looks they wear As their feet kiss the place of worship Holy walk, holy pleasantries Warm smiles, there come the wolves in sheep clothing Hearts of deceits, thoughts of men
In depth of thoughts seated in holy smiles Murders plan the more Embezzlers strategize to siphon the more Evil thoughts rule their hearts Hearts full of deceits, mislead with false smiles
Some assumed demi gods Some politic to shatter Some murder with words Tribes their usual songs to sing House of deceits, there lies the missing mark
The ancient marks are erased Places of worship turn social clubs Morales, ethics murdered in cold blood The pulpits preach to sweet The pews yell in accord
If the films of our hearts to play Stampede awaits the crowd to flee Surprises our guest to come Holy pretenders, house of deceits Hearts of men, thoughts of evils
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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