Day: July 27, 2014

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Healthcare ObamaCare Politics

Thanks to Obamacare, Millions Will Receive Refund Checks From Insurance Companies

Photo: CNN

This is making Republicans very very angry. Not only is Obamacare helping millions of Americans live healthier lives, thus reducing insurance costs, thus reducing the deficit, thus making the economy stronger, Obamacare is also giving refund checks to millions of people.

Millions of Americans can expect to get a refund from their insurance companies this year, at an average of about $80 dollars per family, thanks to a little-known Obamacare provision that’s helping people save money on their premiums. According to a new report released by the Health and Human Services Department on Thursday, Americans across the country have received a total of $1.9 billion dollars in rebates since this provision first took effect in 2011.
Obamacare’s medical loss ratio provision — which is also frequently referred to as the “80/20 rule” — requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of every American’s premium costs on their medical care, rather than on the company’s own profits or administrative overhead. If insurance companies don’t hit the right balance, they have to issue a refund check to their customers to make up for it.
According to HHS’s calculations, 6.8 million Americans will save $330 million in refunds this year because of the 80/20 rule. Insurance companies are required to provide those reimbursements by no later than the beginning of August. Not everyone will actually receive a physical check in the mail; insurers are allowed to apply the reimbursements to future premiums, so the savings could show up that way.

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Benjamin Netanyahu Israel News Politics

Benjamin Netanyahu: They’re Responsible For Us Killing Them

In an interview on Meet The Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast blame for the hundreds of deaths in Gaza squarely on the back of Hamas.

According to the prime minister, Hamas is using people to shield their missiles and when Israel attack these missiles, the people get killed instead.

“We use missiles to protect our people, they use people to protect their missiles,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu’s statement reminds me of something Stephen A. Smith said, when he implied that abused women should do all they can not to provoke the beatings they get from their significant other.

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Categories
Cancer Health News

This Chicago Teenager May One Day Cure Colon Cancer

A 19-year-old Chicago teen may one day hold the key to curing colon cancer.

If his previous successes are any indication, Keven Stonewall is well on his way to becoming the kind of scientist who leaves a lasting impact in the realm of cancer research.

In his senior year of high school, this young man from the city’s South Side was already working on a potential colon cancer vaccine at a Rush University lab, DNAInfo reports.

“My friends, family members have died from cancer,” Stonewall said in a VNM video. “A lot of people are impacted by cancer. So I felt it was my role to step up and do something about it.”

At first, his friends mocked his dedication to science. When they were out on vacation, he was holed up in his lab.

“I was one of the few kids who were engaged,” Stonewall said. “At first they were making fun of me, like ‘Come on man, why you want to be in the lab all day?’”

But after realizing that his lab time was producing real results, his buddies turned around. In fact, they confessed they were inspired by him.

“Now a lot of my friends are that much more motivated to do better,” Stonewall said. “I can make a difference in someone’s life without even knowing it.”
A 19-year-old Chicago teen may one day hold the key to curing colon cancer.

If his previous successes are any indication, Keven Stonewall is well on his way to becoming the kind of scientist who leaves a lasting impact in the realm of cancer research.

In his senior year of high school, this young man from the city’s South Side was already working on a potential colon cancer vaccine at a Rush University lab, DNAInfo reports.

“My friends, family members have died from cancer,” Stonewall said in a VNM video. “A lot of people are impacted by cancer. So I felt it was my role to step up and do something about it.”

At first, his friends mocked his dedication to science. When they were out on vacation, he was holed up in his lab.

“I was one of the few kids who were engaged,” Stonewall said. “At first they were making fun of me, like ‘Come on man, why you want to be in the lab all day?’”

For his experiment, Stonewall injected a special high concentration of cancer-treating drug mitoxantrone into younger and older mice. He then injected the mice with aggressive colon cancer cells. After three days, Stonewall noticed that his experimental vaccine was 100% effective on young mice — their tumors were gone and they showed immunity to colon cancer. But the older mice were still afflicted by the cancer cells.

His lab director at Rush University, Carl Ruby, said that Stonewall’s experiment helped scientists realize that they needed a special vaccine for older subjects.

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Food And Recipes recipes

The Easiest Way to Make Brownies

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Ray Rice Sports

Stephen A. Smith is in A Bowl of Hot Water over Domestic Abuse Comments – Video

I’m sure he would zip his lip if this opportunity presents itself again, but the damage is already done and Stephen A. Smith is in a bowl of hot water over comments he made about domestic abuse.

For those who haven’t heard, Smith’s conclusion on the matter was basically this: He is against domestic abuse, but he is not going to blame the man alone. He thinks the woman has some responsibility in preventing her own abuse.

Smith of ESPN Sports and his co-host Skip Bayless, were discussing the events surrounding the NFL’s 2 game suspension of Ray Rice. Rice was caught on camera knocking out his significant other, and so, Smith’s discussion of the matter began. But the part of Smith’s take that is causing waves nationwide is where he said, “it’s not about him, then. It’s about you,” referring to the woman being abused.

Here’s the full transcript of Smith’s reasoning;

It’s not about him, then. It’s about you, and here’s what I mean by that.

We keep talking about the guys. We know you have no business putting your hands on a woman. I don’t know how many times I got to reiterate that. But as a man who was raised by women, see I know what I’m going to do if somebody touches a female member of my family. I know what I’m going to do, I know what my boys are going to do. I know what, I’m going to have to remind myself that I work for the Worldwide Leader, I’m going to have to get law enforcement officials involved because of what I’m going to be tempted to do. But what I’ve tried to employ the female members of my family, some of who you all met and talked to and what have you, is that again, and this what, I’ve done this all my life, let’s make sure we don’t do anything to provoke wrong actions, because if I come, or somebody else come, whether it’s law enforcement officials, your brother or the fellas that you know, if we come after somebody has put their hands on you, it doesn’t negate the fact that they already put their hands on you. So let’s try to make sure that we can do our part in making sure that that doesn’t happen.

Now you got some dudes that are just horrible and they’re going to do it anyway, and there’s never an excuse to put your hands on a woman. But domestic violence or whatever the case may be, with men putting their hands on women, is obviously a very real, real issue in our society. And I think that just talking about what guys shouldn’t do, we got to also make sure that you can do your part to do whatever you can do to make, to try to make sure it doesn’t happen.

We know they’re wrong. We know they’re criminals. We know they probably deserve to be in jail. In Ray Rice’s case, he probably deserves more than a 2-game suspension which we both acknowledged. But at the same time, we also have to make sure that we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation. Not that there’s real provocation, but the elements of provocation, you got to make sure that you address them, because we’ve got to do is do what we can to try to prevent the situation from happening in any way. And I don’t think that’s broached enough, is all I’m saying. No point of blame.

After the backlash started, Smith went on twitter to try and clarify his words, even saying he was sorry for the misunderstanding. But the damage was already done. Trying to calm the storm, Smith said;

Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could have been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on earth someone could interpret that I somehow was saying women are to blame for domestic violence.

But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them? In no way was accusing a women of being wrong. I was simply saying that preventative measures always need to be addressed because there’s only but so much that can be done after the fact, once he damage is already done.

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