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AMONG THE MANY CASUALTIES IF THE LAW IS OVERTURNED

Consumers and businesses are expected to receive an estimated $1.3 billion by this August in rebates from health insurers who spent more on administrative expenses and profits than allowed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), finds a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation of the latest estimates provided by insurers to state insurance commissioners.

The rebates include $541 million in the large employer market, $377 million in the small business market, and $426 million for those buying insurance on their own. Rebates in the group market will generally be provided to employers, and in some cases be passed on to employees as well.

Rebates are expected to go to almost one-third (31%) of consumers in the individual market. Among employers, about one-quarter (28%) of the small group market and 19% of the large group market is projected to receive rebates. The share of consumers in the individual insurance market expected to receive rebates ranges from near zero in several states to as high as 86% in Oklahoma and 92% in Texas.

“This study shows that asking insurance companies to put more of their premium dollar towards patient care rather than administration and profits is not only popular but also effective,” said Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman. “There are tangible benefits for consumers and employers.”

The largest rebates overall are projected to go to consumers and businesses in Texas (total $186 million) and Florida ($149 million); Hawaii is the only state where no insurer is expected to issue a rebate. Consumers receiving rebates in the individual market are projected to receive $127 on average, with amounts varying significantly by insurer and state. The average rebates for individual purchasers expected to receive them range from just a few dollars in some states to as much as an average of $305 in Alaska, $294 in Maryland, $243 in Pennsylvania, $241 in Idaho, and $236 in Mississippi.

Beginning in 2011, the ACA requires insurance plans to pay out a minimum percentage of premium dollars towards health care expenses and quality improvement activities, limiting the amount spent on administrative and marketing costs and profit. Under the law, large group plans are required to spend at least 85 percent of premium dollars on health care and quality improvement, while small group plans must spend at least 80 percent. These ratios are known as the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR). If an insurer fails to meet the MLR within a market segment in a state, they must issue a refund to consumers and employers.

The analysis includes a data table with state-by-state information on the total dollar amount of projected rebates, the number of people enrolled in plans expected to provide rebates, the number of plans paying rebates, the average rebate across the entire market, and the average rebate amount for those receiving them. The data are available for the individual, small group and large group markets.

The data for the insurance rebates are based on estimates provided by insurers in filings to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in the 2011 Supplemental Health Care Exhibit. The source of the data was the Health Coverage Portal, a market database maintained by Mark Farrah Associates, which includes information from the NAIC. Actual rebates will be based on reports insurers submit to the federal government later this year. Learn more about the MLR, how it is calculated, and how consumer rebates will be issued in a fact sheet from the Foundation.

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A little longer than usual, but well worth it:

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Consumption Of Resistant Starch May Protect Against Bowel Cancer

Health News Report

Western diets are typically low in fibre and have been linked with a higher incidence of bowel cancer. Even though Australians eat more dietary fibre than many other western countries, bowel cancer is still the second most commonly reported cancer in Australia with 30 new cases diagnosed every day. Dr David Topping, from CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship, said this is referred to as ‘the Australian paradox’. “We have been trying to find out why Australians aren’t showing a reduction in bowel cancer rates and we think the answer is that we don’t eat enough resistant starch, which is… more »

Maintain your brain: The secrets to aging success

Health News Report – 1 day ago

Aging may seem unavoidable, but that’s not necessarily so when it comes to the brain. So say researchers in the April 27th issue of the Cell Press journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences explaining that it is what you do in old age that matters more when it comes to maintaining a youthful brain not what you did earlier in life. “Although some memory functions do tend to decline as we get older, several elderly show well preserved functioning and this is related to a well-preserved, youth-like brain,” says Lars Nyberg of Umeå University in Sweden. Education won’t save your brain –… more »

Automated Essay Scoring Systems as Effective as Human Graders

Education Research Report – 1 day ago

A direct comparison between human graders and software designed to score student essays achieved virtually identical levels of accuracy, with the software in some cases proving to be more reliable, a groundbreaking studyhas found. “The demonstration showed conclusively that automated essay scoring systems are fast, accurate, and cost effective,” said Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Open Education Solutions, which provides consulting serves related to digital learning, and co-director of the study. That’s important because writing essays are one important way for students to learn critical … more »

Beware Of Dietary Supplements For Cancer Prevention

Health News Report – 1 day ago

Government regulators and the scientific community should work to ensure that they give clear guidance to the public about dietary supplements and cancer risk, according to a commentary published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Evidence from animal, in vitro and observational studies has suggested that taking dietary supplements may lower cancer risk. However, the small number of randomized controlled studies, the gold standard in evidence-based medicine, has not confirmed this – and some studies have actually shown that supplements may increase cancer risk. Stil… more »

How California evaluates teachers and principals

Education Research Report – 1 day ago

How California’s local education agencies evaluate teachers and principals,summarizes the results of a statewide survey of teacher and principal evaluation practices across school districts and direct-funded charter schools in California. Key findings include: * Sixty-one percent of responding local education agencies indicated that their teacher evaluation systems are based on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. * For teacher evaluation, 57 percent of respondents reported using student achievement outcomes or growth data as partial or primary evidence. For princ… more »

Building muscle without heavy weights

Health News Report – 1 day ago

Weight training at a lower intensity but with more repetitions may be as effective for building muscle as lifting heavy weights says a new opinion piece in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. “The perspective provided in this review highlights that other resistance protocols, beyond the often discussed high-intensity training, can be effective in stimulating a muscle building response that may translate into bigger muscles after resistance training,” says lead author Nicholas Burd. “These findings have important implications from a public health standpoint because skel… more »

Guidelines say diet, exercise, weight control improve odds after cancer diagnosis

Health News Report – 1 day ago

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society say for many cancers, maintaining a healthy weight, getting adequate physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can reduce the chance of recurrence and increase the likelihood of disease-free survival after a diagnosis. The recommendations are included in newly released Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, published early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Increasing evidence shows that for many cancers, excess weight, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition increase the risk of cancer recurren… more »

Berries keep your brain sharp

Health News Report – 2 days ago

*A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that certain berries may delay memory decline in older women* Berries are good for you, that’s no secret. But can strawberries and blueberries actually keep your brain sharp in old age? A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) finds that a high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5 years. This study is published by Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, … more »

Lasting Impacts of Effective Teachers

Education Research Report – 2 days ago

*Teachers who raise test scores have long-term effects on students’ college enrollment and earnings as adults* A study showing the large impacts that highly skilled teachers have on students’ academic achievement and lifetime earnings is available on the Education Next website, www.educationnext.org. Researchers Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University analyzed school-district data from grades 3–8 for 2.5 million children, and linked those data to information on student outcomes as young adults. Their study has received wid… more »

Number Line Is Learned, Not Innate Human Intuition

Education Research Report – 2 days ago

Tape measures. Rulers. Graphs. The gas gauge in your car, and the icon on your favorite digital device showing battery power. The number line and its cousins — notations that map numbers onto space and often represent magnitude — are everywhere. Most adults in industrialized societies are so fluent at using the concept, we hardly think about it. We don’t stop to wonder: Is it “natural”? Is it cultural? Now, challenging a mainstream scholarly position that the number-line concept is innate, a study suggests it is learned. The study, published in PLoS ONE April 25, is based on e… more »

Women: Mental Stress=Greater Risk For Heart Disease

Health News Report – 2 days ago

Coronary artery disease continues to be a major cause of death in the U.S., killing hundreds of thousands of people per year. However, this disease burden isn’t evenly divided between the sexes; significantly more men than women are diagnosed with coronary artery disease each year. The reasons behind this difference aren’t well defined. Though some studies have shown that men’s hearts become more constricted than women’s during exercise, letting less blood flow through, women are more likely than men to have symptoms of heart trouble after emotional upsets. Searching for the reas… more »

Splenda Causes Cancer Concern

Health News Report – 2 days ago

Following the discovery in a new study that mice have a higher risk of developing cancer after eating the popular British-made low-calorie artificial sweetener sucralose (Splenda), a leading cancer scientist calls for urgent research. Dr. Morando Soffritti, director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy will present the findings of the study for the first time at the Childhood Cancer 2012 conference in London. Hundreds of millions of people all around the world consume artificial sweeteners, which can be found in a large variety of foods and drinks, including soft drinks… more »

Colon Cancer Survival Improves With Aspirin

Health News Report – 3 days ago

Colon cancer patients who take aspirin regularly shortly after diagnosis tend to live longer, researchers from Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands, reported in the British Journal of Cancer. The authors explain that NSAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) have been known to have a preventive role with regards to colorectal cancer, and in particular, aspirin. Recently, some studies and experts have suggested that regular aspirin may have a therapeutic role too. However, studies so far have not been conclusive. Dr Gerrit-Jan Liefers and team set out to determine… more »

Strong daylight prevents heart attacks

Health News Report – 3 days ago

“A new study suggests that strong light, or even just daylight, might ease the risk of having a heart attack or suffering damage from one,” says Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, cardiology, and cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “For patients, this could mean that daylight exposure inside of the hospital could reduce the damage that is caused by a heart attack.” What’s the connection between light and a myocardial infarction, known commonly as a heart attack? The answer lies, perhaps surprisingly, in … more »

Samaritan’s Temple: History and New Findings
Archaeology News Report – 3 days ago

The original article from which these excerpts are drawn is quite anti-Semitic. But the story is quite interesting nonetheless: The archaeologist Yitzhak Magen has been digging on the windswept summit of Mount Gerizim. His findings, which have only been partially published, are a virtual sensation: As early as 2,500 years ago, the mountain was already crowned with a huge, dazzling shrine, surrounded by a 96 by 98-meter (315 by 321-foot) enclosure. The wall had six-chamber gates with colossal wooden doors. At the time, the Temple of Jerusalem was, at most, but a simple structur… more »

Ancient Egyptian scarab found within the City of David

Archaeology News Report – 3 days ago

Excavations have recovered an ancient Egyptian scarab dated to the 13th century B.C.E. (the Late Bronze Age). Found within the City of David National Park, which is situated within the most ancient part of Jerusalem, the scarab is attributed to Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, a period of Egyptian hegemony over the city that was actually a Jebusite settlement at the time. The Jebusites were a tribe of Canaanites that built and developed Je… more »

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A mixed media documentary on the life of PT Barnum has received five regional Emmy nominations from the New England Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The documentary mixes live drama with animation and was produced by American View/Borres Productions of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The documentary aired on Connecticut Public Television is expected to air again CPTV.

The nominations include:

Outstanding Historical/Cultural Documentary – Frank Borres – Producer
Outstanding Post-Production Direction – Frank Borres
Outstanding Writing – Frank Borres
Outstanding Program Editor – Theodore Waldron, Jr. and Brian Katsis
Outstanding Graphic Arts – Theodore Waldron, Jr. and Brian Katsis
These make 36 lifetime Emmy Nominations for Producer/Director Frank Borres.

Barnum Lives is a half-hour documentary about America’s greatest showman, Phineas Taylor Barnum. As the 200th Birthday of P.T. Barnum neared, the producers decided that Barnum’s story hadn’t been told in a way that reflected his unique brand of entertainment. American View/Borres Productions, in association with Amazin’ Productions (Dan Makara, Executive Producer), challenged themselves to produce a program that would answer Barnum’s critics who called him a huckster and a charlatan.

Barnum Lives tells the story of the documentary crew from Borres Productions was taping a segment for TV about Pa-Ib, the 4,000 year old Egyptian mummy on display at The Barnum Museum, when the museum’s Curator made an amazing discovery – P.T. Barnum’s Last Reel and Testament. Barnum’s story is unlocked and the ringmaster makes his own case with the support of friends Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and Queen Victoria. This stylized autobiography takes the viewer for a trip through the life of P.T. Barnum .

American View/Borres Productions set out to make a unique Barnum-like documentary in his image, using his own words, straight from books he authored and his quotations. Barnum Lives is a first-hand account in an effort to set the record straight.

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Connecticut Assembly Votes to Raise State Minimum Wage to $8.75

New Poll Finds Overwhelming Support for Raising CT’s Minimum Wage

Today the Connecticut Assembly voted to raise the state’s minimum wage. If passed by the full legislature, the measure would raise Connecticut’s minimum wage to $8.50 in 2013 and $8.75 in 2014. The vote follows a new Quinnipiac University poll that shows Connecticut residents overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage.

The bill approved today includes a smaller increase in the minimum wage than the $9.25 previously proposed, and it eliminates the annual adjustment to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

“We applaud the Assembly for taking a step in the right direction, but also recognize that this reduced increase and lack of indexing dampens the boost Connecticut’s economy and families need,” said Paul Sonn, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project. “Working families are being squeezed more than ever, between rising gas and living costs and flat paychecks. A strong minimum wage is crucial for increasing consumer spending and creating jobs.”

“A low minimum wage is good for the executives at Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, but poverty wages are bad for Connecticut. It’s time to raise the minimum wage. Today’s proposal is an important step in the right direction, because putting more wages in workers’ pockets is good for their families and our economy,” said Lindsay Farrell, Director of the Connecticut Working Families Party.

In the new Quinnipiac poll, 70% of all Connecticut voters stated support for raising the minimum wage. Support included 88% of Democrats, 69% of Independent voters, and 48% of Republicans. Additionally, 59 percent of voters with household incomes above $100,000 and 78 percent of those with incomes of less than $50,000 favor increasing the minimum wage. Seventy-four percent of women and 65 percent of men support an increase.
The minimum wage bill, H.B. 5291, is championed by Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan, and Joint Labor Committee co-chairs Representative Bruce “Zeke” Zalaski and Senator Edith Prague, and committee vice chairs Rep. Ezequiel Santiago and Senator Edwin Gomes.

In recent weeks, the New Jersey Assembly also passed legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage. The New York Assembly is expected to do the same in April. Minimum wage proposals are pending in Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri and California, as well as San Jose and Albuquerque.

The minimum wage is becoming more and more important for the Connecticut and national economies, with job growth strongest in low-wage industries. Indexing the minimum wage to inflation would also mean more predictability for businesses – after indexing, the minimum wage would rise at the same rate as other business costs.

Given that Connecticut has one of the highest costs of living in the country, even workers earning above the minimum wage still struggle to afford basic necessities: According to a recent study, a single worker in the state needs to earn no less than $17.61 per hour just to maintain basic economic security. The state’s minimum wage would be $10.34 today and $10.78 by 2014 if it had been updated each year based on the Consumer Price Index since 1968. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011.

The most rigorous research over the past 15 years, including studies comparing job growth trends in neighboring counties across state lines with different minimum wages, have found that higher minimum wages do not result in job losses. Importantly, this research shows that these trends are the same for minimum wage increases implemented even during weak economic periods, such as the 2009 federal minimum wage increase.

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Advocates, parents, health care professionals and concerned citizens across the state are working around the clock to get word to Connecticut lawmakers that action needs to be taken to protect children from toxic chemical exposure. Armed with numerous peer-based scientific studies, they argue that a strong link has been demonstrated between exposure to toxic chemicals – such as Bisphenol-A and others – and serious health risks, particularly in children and infants whose bodies are still developing and therefore more vulnerable to the toxins.

Their opponents, the Toy Industry Association, are working just as hard to kill Senate Bill 274 – An Act Concerning Chemicals of Concern to Children as it would according to Anne Hulick RN, MS, JD, who is Coordinator for the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut, “Be a step forward to putting into place a process for identifying the most egregious chemicals used in children’s products.”

Mark A. Mitchell, MD, MPH, disputed claims by Industry Toy and Chemical Lobbyists that the bill will have no public health benefit. Dr. Mitchell is Founder and Senior Policy Advisor for Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice and works actively on the Federal level on behalf of the National Medical Association representing 40,000 African-American physicians and their patients, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Campaign, a coalition of more than 300 organizations representing 11 million people.

“As the previous Director of the Hartford Health Department, I became interested in environmental health because so many of the diseases that are increasing – especially those that contribute to health disparities in low-income people and people of color, are associated with environmental exposures – the very exposures that this bill aims to reduce,” said Dr. Mitchell.

He went on to specifically address Toy Industry lobbyist claims that a law passed in 2010 that created a Chemical Innovations Institute already protects Connecticut citizens. “The Chemical Innovations Institute (CII) was never supposed to be involved in policymaking, in fact the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, which was instrumental in creating the CII, was adamant that the Institute be specifically a resource for businesses seeking information on how to switch to safer chemicals.”

“There is absolutely no language in PA-164 (which created the Chemical Innovations Institute) that creates a process to study policies put in place in other states to reduce the public’s exposure to toxic chemicals, and more importantly to report it’s findings back to the Legislature,” said Dr. Mitchell. “We are hopeful that once the Institute becomes funded it will become a valuable resource for businesses choosing to transition to safer chemicals.”

But Dr. Mitchell added that it would be both unrealistic and imprudent to expect that all Connecticut businesses will voluntarily seek out guidance from the Institute. Senate Bill 274 fills a necessary gap by examining what other states are doing successful with chemicals of concern to children, setting up a process for reducing exposure to the most harmful chemicals and working collaboratively with the CII to find safer alternatives.”

“As soon as we become parents, our first and foremost responsibility is to protect our children,” said Hacah Boros RN, MSN. “We certainly wouldn’t allow our kids to play in a pile of asbestos – this is absolutely no different. There are chemicals used in the manufacturing of popular toys that are associated with serious health risks like cancer, asthma, and autism and we’re up against an organization with annual budget of $16 million. In my opinion, investing that amount into making toys safer for our kids would be a much more responsible use of funds.”

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Marco Polo in the first printed edition (Source: Hie hebt sich an das puch des edeln Ritters vnd landtfarers Marcho Polo, in dem er schreibt die grossen wunderlichen ding dieser welt, Nuremberg: Friedrich Creussner, 1477

A thorough new study of Chinese sources by University of Tübingen Sinologist Hans Ulrich Vogel dispels claims that Venice’s most famous traveler never truly went as far as China.

It has been said that Marco Polo did not really go to China; that he merely cobbled together his information about it from journeys to the Black Sea, Constantinople and Persia and from talking to merchants and reading now-lost Persian books. But in Marco Polo was in China: New Evidence from Currencies, Salts and Revenues, (Brill Verlag) Hans Ulrich Vogel, Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Tübingen, puts paid to such rumors. He begins with a comprehensive review of the arguments for and against, and follows it up with evidence from relevant Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, German and Spanish literature. The result is compelling: despite a few, well-known problems with Marco Polo’s writings, they are supported by an overwhelming number of verified accounts about China containing unique information given over centuries.

Doubts have been raised since the mid-eighteenth century about Marco Polo’s presence in China. Skeptics have pointed out that Marco Polo did not mention the Great Wall. Yet research in the East and the West have shown that the Great Wall as we know it is a product of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and that earlier earth walls had long since disintegrated and had lost the military role they played in the Mongol Empire. Another argument often used is that Marco, his father and his uncle are not mentioned in any Chinese document. However, this argument overestimates the frequency of documentation and the intentions of Chinese historiographers. Even Giovanni de Marignolli (1290-1357), an important papal envoy at the court of the Yuan rulers, is not mentioned in any Chinese sources – nor his 32-man retinue, nor the name of the pope. Only the “heavenly horse” sent as tribute from the “Kingdom of Franks” in 1342 gets a mention.

Professor Vogel also examines an area so complex and which requires such a high level of historical expertise that it has largely been neglected – Marco Polo’s descriptions of currency, salt production and revenues from the salt monopoly.

Yuan-era banknote. (Source: Neimeng guqianbi yanjiuhui 内蒙古钱币研究会 (Inner Mongolian Numismatic Research Institute) and “Zhong guoqianbi” bianjibu《中国钱币》编辑部 (“China Numismatics” Editorial Department) (eds.), Cai Mingxin 蔡明信 (transl.), Zhong guogu chao tuji 中国古钞图辑 (A Compilation of Pictures of Chinese Ancient Paper Money)) Beijing: Zhong guo jinrong chubanshe, 1992, p. 57.

Vogel concludes that no other Western, Arab, or Persian observer reported in such accurate and unique detail about the currency situation in Mongol China. The Venetian traveler is the only one to describe precisely how paper for money was made from the bark of the mulberry tree (morusalba l.) He not only details the shape and size of the paper, he also describes the use of seals and the various denominations of paper money. He reports on the monopolizing of gold, silver, pearls and gems by the state – which enforced a compulsory exchange for paper money – and the punishment for counterfeiters, as well as the 3% exchange fee for worn-out notes and the widespread use of paper money in official and private transactions.

Marco Polo is also the only one among his contemporaries to explain that paper money was not in circulation in all parts of China. It was used primarily in the north and in the regions along the Yangtze, but not in Fujian and certainly not in Yunnan, where according to Polo, cowries, salt, gold and silver were the main currencies. This information is confirmed by Chinese sources and by archaeological evidence. Most of these sources were collated or translated long after Marco Polo’s time – so he could not have drawn on them. He could not read Chinese.

Yuan-era representation of salt production. (Source: Yoshida Tora (author) and Hans Ulrich Vogel (transl.), Salt Production Techniques in Ancient China: The Aobotu, Leiden: Brill (SinicaLeidensia 27), 1993, p. 246.)

Marco Polo’s description of salt production is also accurate and unique. He lists the most important salt production centers known to him: Changlu, Lianghuai, Liangzhe, and Yunnan, as well as the authorities administering them. His report of the methods used to make salt in Changlu checks out with Chinese documents of the Yuan era. Salt in the Venetian monopoly was produced in a different way. This and other information, the accuracy of which has not yet been fully appreciated, all indicate that Marco Polo really did serve the Great Khan. Chinese sources show that he was not the only young man to be taken under the wing of Kublai Khan (1215-1294) and entrusted with important tasks. Marco Polo’s claims of the value of salt production – for instance, that the revenues from Kinsay brought in 5.8 million saggi of gold annually – can be checked against the exchange rate for paper money, bringing Professor Vogel to the conclusion that Polo knew what he was talking about. This book, based on work carried out in the DFG Research Training Group 596 “Monies, Markets and Finance in China and East Asia, 1500-1900” provides ample evidence that Marco Polo did go to China.