Bill Foster

MedPAC’s estimate that Medicare Advantage insurers are overpaid by 22%, while shocking, is way too low.

The Buffalo Bills recently stated that a series of county legislative resolutions calling for updates on community inclusivity in the new stadium’s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) are “unnecessary.”

Herschel Walker is the latest Trump ally to get nominated for an administration job.

Nunes, chief executive of Trump-owned Truth Social, was announced as the president-elect's nominee for chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

As artificial intelligence technology makes it easier to scam people, create fake images and videos and even ruin reputations, one policy debate swirls around who should get penalized for such behavior — the technology's developer or the person who deployed...

A Republican state senator said a commutation for a woman who stole $54 million from a small town in Illinois was “a slap in the face” to residents.

Montgomery County inducts six new members into its Human Rights Hall of Fame, celebrating local contributions to civil rights.

Now that Montanans voted convincingly to enshrine abortion protections in the State Constitution, the 'pro-life' movement is considering its next steps. Abortion advocates, too, are gearing up for a fight.

Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor on Tuesday launched his bid to challenge Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s re-election.

A growing band of younger House Democrats is challenging senior members for powerful congressional posts.

Ocean City should address its development issues through the master plan process, not redevelopment, the president of the Friends of OCNJ History & Culture writes.

Since its inception in 2019, a U.S. development agency has created a portfolio of more than $50 billion worth of projects in 114 countries, including a trans-Africa railway corridor, a power plant in Sierra Leone, and solar panel manufacturing in India

President Joe Biden issued a “full and unconditional” pardon to his son Hunter Biden last Sunday night. In light of the controversial decision, The Onion looks back on the history of presidential pardons. 1868: Andrew Johnson grants amnesty to all Confederate war horses. 1933: FDR accidentally releases thousands of imprisoned criminals after falling asleep on [...]The post Timeline Of Presidential Pardons appeared first on The Onion.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signs tax reform bills, cutting personal and corporate income tax, but increasing sales tax.

The founding fathers were products of the Age of Enlightenment that fostered the fundamental belief in an individual’s sovereign rights, including matters of religion choice, says Charlie Cantrell of Tulsa.

New, multimedia plan educates Coloradans on the risks of high-concentration cannabis DENVER, Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), in partnership with their creative collaborator, Initium Health, today unveiled a first-of-its-kind public...

“It's inherently a racial justice fight and economic justice fight,” says organizer Silky Shah.

Santa Clara County deputies brag about beating incarcerated people “between floors” and other brutal behavior at the county’s embattled jail, according to screenshots obtained exclusively by San José Spotlight. In a private Facebook group that includes 270 former correctional officers and deputies, the members banter about the jail’s elevators stopping between floors — a reference...The post Santa Clara County ex-officers boast about jail beatings appeared first on San José Spotlight.

The modern conservative movement has long embraced a host of outlandish and nonsensical conspiracy theories. To its most diehard supporters, nothing is ever quite what it appears to be, but at the same time, the “explanations” defy common sense, logic, and sometimes even the laws of physics. And those outlandish beliefs have had a very real effect at the ballot box. Here are just five of the many, many, many, many conspiracy theories that far too many people on the right actually believe.

Between Medicaid and the state's Essential Plan, 8.5 million New Yorkers enjoy taxpayer-supported health coverage "for the poor" — but more than a third, 3 million, earn too much too qualify, reports the Empire Center.

Researchers and religious leaders have released findings from an intriguing two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland. An avatar of “Jesus” on a computer screen — tucked into a confessional — took questions by visitors on faith,...

The North Texas Republican caught many Capitol observers off guard when he emerged as the standard-bearer for a coalition that wants to depose Phelan.

A quartet of U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle have introduced new legislation aimed at helping healthcare organizations weather the onslaught of ransomware and other cyberattacks.WHY IT MATTERSThe new bill, The Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2024, was introduced by HELP Committee ranking member Dr. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, along with Sens. Mark Warner D-Virginia; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire."This bipartisan legislation ensures health institutions can safeguard Americans’ health data against increasing cyber threats," said Cassidy in a press statement.All of those senators are members of a healthcare cybersecurity working group that was formed on Capitol Hill a year ago, and the provisions of this legislation arise from their discussions there.Among other requirements, the Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act would offer grants to healthcare organizations to help them shore up their ability to prevent and respond to cyberattacks, in addition to funding training to help foster cybersecurity best practices. In particular, the grants would be targeted at underserved communities, to help rural health clinics and other providers improve basic cyber hygiene, boost resilience and improve coordination with federal agencies.The bill also calls for better coordination between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Homeland Security department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to better respond to healthcare's cybersecurity needs.On the policy front, the act would call for updates and modernization to existing regulations governing HIPAA covered entities – requiring them and their business associates to adhere to certain baseline standards and "use modern, up-to-date cybersecurity practices – and it would require the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to create and implement a cybersecurity incident response plan.THE LARGER TRENDCassidy, Warner, Cornyn and Hassan convened the Senate Health Care Cybersecurity Working Group in November 2023 in response to the "disturbing rise in cyberattacks" on healthcare organizations, as Cassidy said at the time, noting that a then record 89 million Americans had seen their health information breached in 2023 – twice as many as the year before.Those attacks cost $10 million per breach, on average. Worse, they can often disrupt care delivery for days or even weeks, posing significant risks to patient safety."Cyberattacks on our healthcare systems and organizations not only threaten personal and sensitive information, but can have life-and-death consequences with even the briefest period of interruption," said Warner. "I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation that strengthens our cybersecurity and better protects patients."Rural hospitals, under-resourced and understaffed, are particularly vulnerable. (The White House, along with Big Tech giants Google and Microsoft, have offered funding and expertise to help them.)As the ongoing scourge of healthcare cyberattacks reaches "epidemic proportions," federal leaders are advocating for increased public-private collaboration and layered defense approaches to help health systems strengthen and stabilize their security postures and improve their responsiveness.Meanwhile, other legislation has been proposed in response to the cybersecurity crisis. Earlier this fall, Warner, along with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, unveiled a separate Finance Committee bill, the Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act, which would also increase funding to rural and underserved hospitals to help them meet certain mandated cybersecurity protocols.ON THE RECORD "Cyberattacks in the healthcare sector can have a wide range of devastating consequences, from exposing private medical information to disrupting care in ERs – and it can be particularly difficult for medical providers in rural communities with fewer resources to prevent and respond to these attacks," said Hassan in a statement. "Our bipartisan working group came together to develop this legislation based on the most pressing needs for medical providers and patients, and I urge my colleagues to support it.""In an increasingly digital world, it is essential that Americans’ healthcare data is protected," added Cornyn. "This commonsense legislation would modernize our healthcare institutions’ cybersecurity practices, increase agency coordination, and provide tools for rural providers to prevent and respond to cyberattacks." Mike Miliard is executive editor of Healthcare IT NewsEmail the writer: [email protected] IT News is a HIMSS publication. Enterprise Taxonomy: Cybersecurity and PrivacySecurityLegislationComplianceHIPAAData and InformationPublic Policy

The University of Austin, focusing on free speech and debate, replaces DEI with merit-based values, aiming to counter modern campus culture issues.

Those who do not learn from history ...

by Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie SimonThis story was originally published by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.Private schools across the South that were established for white children during desegregation are now benefiting from tens of millions in taxpayer dollars flowing from rapidly expanding voucher-style programs, a ProPublica analysis found.In North Carolina alone, we identified 39 of these likely “segregation academies” that are still operating and that have received voucher money. Of these, 20 schools reported student bodies that were at least 85% white in a 2021-22 federal survey of private schools, the most recent data available.Those 20 academies, all founded in the 1960s and 1970s, brought in more than $20 million from the state in the past three years alone. None reflected the demographics of their communities. Few even came close.Northeast Academy, a small Christian school in rural Northampton County on the Virginia border, is among them. As of the 2021-22 survey, the school’s enrollment was 99% white in a county that runs about 40% white.Every year since North Carolina launched its state-funded private school voucher program in 2014, the academy has received more and more money. Last school year, it received about $438,500 from the program, almost half of its total reported tuition. Northeast is on track to beat that total this school year.Vouchers play a similar role at Lawrence Academy, an hour’s drive south. It has never reported Black enrollment higher than 3% in a county whose population hovers around 60% Black. A small school with less than 300 students, it received $518,240 in vouchers last school year to help pay for 86 of those students.Farther south, Pungo Christian Academy has received voucher money every year since 2015 and, as of the last survey, had become slightly more white than when the voucher program began. It last reported a student body that was 98% white in a county that was 65% white.Segregation academies that remain vastly white continue to play an integral role in perpetuating school segregation—and, as a result, racial separation in the surrounding communities. We found these academies benefiting from public money in Southern states beyond North Carolina. But because North Carolina collects and releases more complete data than many other states, it offers an especially telling window into what is happening across this once legally segregated region where legislatures are rapidly expanding and adopting controversial voucher-style programs.

SPRINGFIELD — In the days after former President Donald Trump was reelected, Illinois Democrats raised alarms about the ramifications of his second term and said they would consider whether the state needs to strengthen any of its progressive laws on...

Stephen Miller makes clear the subtext behind Trump’s call to ban DEI

Most Americans have a negative view of Congress and see it as stagnant, and that’s got some Democratic lawmakers wanting to change America’s winner-takes-all electoral system to one based on proportional representation.According to a report by NOTUS, Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden—each of whom recently won reelection in traditionally red districts—have proposed a task force to look at implementing nonpartisan open primaries, establishing independent redistricting commissions, introducing multimember districts that reflect a party’s share of the vote, and expanding the House of Representatives beyond its current 435 members.The task force aims to be equally bipartisan. It would meet for a year, hold public hearings, and provide final recommendations to Congress and the president.In the U.S.’s current system, the House candidate who receives the majority of the vote in a general election wins the entire district. This tends to favor two major opposing parties since smaller parties lack a geographical base and find it difficult to win seats.“My seat was drawn to be a red seat,” Gluesenkamp Perez told NOTUS in an interview, arguing that when members of Congress have guaranteed seats, they become complacent and out of touch.“We need that competition,” she said. “We need that urgency.”The system she and Golden are proposing to study would more closely resemble those in Italy, Germany, and New Zealand. And these lawmakers argue that proportional reform like this would allow Americans to be more accurately represented in Congress, reduce the influence of extremists, and create space for more than two political parties.

Last Sunday was the final event of Culpeper Baptist Church’s year-long 250th anniversary celebration.

Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee enacts Executive Order 108 to preserve the Duck River and promote water resource management.

East Bay Times Letters to the Editor for Nov. 20, 2024

Victories in mayoral races throughout Hampton Roads should open the door to more, and stronger, partnerships among our region's communities.

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce voiced its opposition to proposed legislation that would significantly change Colorado's 1943 Labor Peace Act, which has historically played a key role in balancing labor union negotiations and employer interests in the state.

The Senate should pass the EXPLORE Act, which expands access and recreation opportunities on public lands, including for veterans, U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans writes in a guest column.

The House draft Farm Bill undermines states’ rights and puts all Americans at risk. It’s a move to centralize decision-making in a way that benefits only the largest corporate players.

Visitors say they see pain, faith, bravery, beauty, and hope in the paintings.

The contracted work on mental health equity was supposed to be performed by the longtime partner — now wife — of a top aide to disgraced former county Supervisor Andrew Do. County officials cited LAist reporting in their demand for the money to be returned.

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will not consider a challenge to a misdemeanor charge used against scores of Jan. 6 rioters for unlawfully "parading” in the Capitol. Florida native John Nassif was convicted of four misdemeanor counts in connection with the Capitol riot and sentenced to seven months in prison, which he has [...]

The latest tally of the last 18,000 votes cast Tuesday on Election Day flipped the results of a contentious West Oahu seat and now has incumbent Republican Rep. Elijah Pierick winning instead of losing, but that could change again depending on a recount of the nearly 10,000 votes.

From left, Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY's List; Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan; Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All; and Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, talk with the media during an event to discuss threats to women’s reproductive rights in Rochester, Mich., on Oct. 27. Slotkin is running against former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

The New York State Assembly’s 130th District race features a matchup between incumbent Republican Brian Manktelow and Democratic challenger James Schuler. Manktelow is seeking his fourth two-year term in Albany. Here is what the candidates had to say in response...

More than a month before the election, Jim Justice declared victory in his U.S. Senate race in deep red West Virginia

State Rep. Mike Prax is running to represent Alaska House District 33, which includes the Badger Road area, North Pole and Moose Creek.

Both House Democrats and Republicans are out with new ads in Southeast Iowa's hotly contested 1st Congressional District.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Climate WeekTM wrapped up with a heightened sense of urgency in the battle against climate change, underscored by the recent devastation from storms impacting the state. Although Hurricane Milton made landfall during the event,...

Oregonians have the freedom to wander wherever they wish on the Oregon shore. The public is endowed with what is known as a “customary use right” to visit all 362 miles of our ocean beaches and rocky shores. Few citizens...

Barack Obama accused his successor of giving one answer for every issue: "blame the immigrants."

Carol Bush has continually demonstrated over her political career the willingness to promote community involvement in shaping our city's future, says Sandra and Steve Campbell of Tulsa

The recent firings of three internists in Laconia are not isolated incidents but are symptoms of a larger problem at Concord Hospital which needs to be rectified by the board of trustees. I am a recently retired physician and worked...