ObamaCare patients with serious pre-existing diseases could face expensive drug costs
By Jim Angle
Published February 16, 2014
FoxNews.com
People with serious pre-existing diseases, precisely those the president aimed to help with ObamaCare, could find themselves paying for expensive drug treatments with no help from the health care exchanges.
Those with expensive diseases such as lupus or multiple sclerosis face something called a “closed drug formulary.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute explains,”if the medicine that you need isn’t on that list, it’s not covered at all. You have to pay completely out of pocket to get that medicine, and the money you spend doesn’t count against your deductible, and it doesn’t count against your out of pocket limits, so you’re basically on your own.”
The plan had claimed it would rescue those with serious pre-existing conditions.
“So it could be that a MS patient could be expected to pay $62,000 just for one medication,” says Dr. Daniel Kantor, who treats MS patients and others with neurological conditions near Jacksonville, Florida. “That’s a possiblity under the new ObamaCare going on right now.”
In fact, one conservative group, Americans for Prosperity, is running an ad on exactly this subject, featuring a woman with lupus, an auto-immune disease.
She starts by saying, “I voted for Barack Obama for president. I thought ObamaCare was going to be a good thing.”
But Emilie Lamb says she later got a letter saying her insurance was canceled because of ObamaCare, pushing her premiums from $52 to $373 a month.
Bitcoin finding its way from cyberspace to North Jersey shops
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2014, 11:56 PM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
A streetwear clothing store in Bergenfield will sell you a camouflage hoodie for about 0.10862 bitcoin. It’s received bitcoin for online orders, but so far no one has walked into the Jeffersons’ storefront and asked to pay with it.
At Helen’s Pizza in Jersey City, you can buy a slice for 0.00339 bitcoin by pointing your phone at a sign next to the cash register.
For 0.10560 bitcoin, at the current exchange rate, A Class Limousine will pick you up at Newark Airport and take you to New York City.
Those transactions, calculated at Friday’s exchange rate, are small change in the bitcoin universe, in which more than $60 million changed hands on an average day last week, but they are a sign that the 5-year-old virtual currency is inching its way out of cyberspace and onto the main streets of New Jersey.
Bitcoins are digital cash. The technology behind it — Bitcoin (singular with a capital B) — lets someone convert dollars into digital strings of encrypted numbers — bitcoins (small b) — that can be sent around the world as easily as email.
Bitcoins are created when computers solve complex mathematical problems. The problems become more difficult in order to limit total bitcoin supply. Bitcoins are blocks of data that can be transferred digitally from one owner. They exist only online.
How can I get some?
Bitcoins can be purchased for dollars, euros, yen or other national currencies on more than 40 trading exchanges. As of 5 p.m. Friday, one bitcoin was worth more than $600. That is how most people acquire them. They also can be earned in exchange for goods or services. Or you can become a bitcoin miner and be paid in bitcoin for running a program on your computer that processes bitcoin transactions.
Who invented bitcoins?
The science behind Bitcoin — with a capital B, the software protocol governing the creation of bitcoins — is credited to an anonymous programmer or group of programmers using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. He released the first bitcoins in 2009, and said he was angered by the global financial crisis and wanted to create a currency removed from manipulation by bankers and politicians. Nakamoto disappeared from online forums in 2010, and efforts by journalists to uncover his identity have been unsuccessful.
What gives them value?
The premise behind Bitcoin is that there is a fixed number of bitcoins. The total number of bitcoins is capped at 21 million. In effect, it creates a digital gold standard, just as there is a finite amount of gold on Earth.
What are the benefits of bitcoins?
For consumers, bitcoins can be exchanged like cash, with no personal information attached to it. For example, if you pay cash at a store, the merchant doesn’t need to know your name. But if you pay by credit card, your name, address and other information are attached electronically to the transaction, putting you at risk for identity theft. Bitcoins also are useful for international purchases, because they can be used around the world.
For merchants, bitcoin transactions save money because the typical processing fees are 1 percent of the purchase amount, compared with 3 percent to 4 percent for credit cards. Merchants also don’t have to worry about charge-back fees, which occur when a customer cancels a payment and the store must reimburse the credit card company.
What are the risks?
Bitcoins are highly volatile, with big swings in value. If a better form of digital currency surfaced, and demand for bitcoins plunged, the value could evaporate, because bitcoins are not backed by central banks or government reserves.
Where can I learn more?
Go to the bitcoin.org website, or watch any of the numerous “Bitcoin for Dummies” videos on YouTube.
Bergen Record Finally Realizes that in Fort Lee, traffic is an everyday challenge…gee wiz
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2014, 11:42 PM
THE RECORD
If a manufactured traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge had Fort Lee residents outraged last fall, imagine what feelings might boil up once several thousand residents — and all their cars — clog local streets as a half-dozen planned developments rise up in the borough and nearby towns.
And that’s on top of the other half-dozen apartment buildings that have already been built in Fort Lee and a neighboring community, adding more than 1,000 units in the last decade.
It’s a scenario that consistently frustrates inhabitants of the 2.5-square-mile borough. The mayor says traffic is the complaint he hears about most often from his constituents — besides taxes.
The crowd-funding site says hackers broke into its systems and made off with data. Apparently credit card numbers escaped the attack.
by CNET News staff
February 15, 2014 1:54 PM PST
Hackers hit crowd-funding site Kickstarter and made off with user information, the site said Saturday.
Though no credit card info was taken, the site said, attackers made off with usernames, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and encrypted passwords.
“Actual passwords were not revealed, however it is possible for a malicious person with enough computing power to guess and crack an encrypted password, particularly a weak or obvious one,” the site said in a blog post, adding that “as a precaution, we strongly recommend that you create a new password for your Kickstarter account, and other accounts where you use this password.”
A light dusting of powder gave Sarah Meacham a reason to buy $10 ski pants and gloves for her four children this winter. They played in their Columbia, S.C., yard, threw snowballs and took pictures.
The latest storms were overkill, though, as Ms. Meacham tried to cope with a houseful of restless children, layers of ice on the roads and makeup school days on the horizon.
“My friends have their wine and flashlights and candles,” she says. “I have my Xanax filled.”
This year’s brutal winter has united people North, South and Midwest in a geographically nonpartisan plea: Stop this slushy, icy, snowy nightmare.
A storm in early February affected 100 million Americans. The frigid weather left 87% of the Great Lakes frozen over, not far from the record of 95%, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Sixty-two inches of snow have fallen in Chicago this winter, 38 inches above normal. Temperatures have dropped below 0 degrees on 21 days, with wind chill occasionally dipping below -40 degrees. Kansas and other places are running out of salt.
Snow mounds create hazards for North Jersey motorists, pedestrians
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2014, 8:58 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Eboni Rodgers drove her blue BMW to the edge of a mountain of ice. She lowered her tinted window, and her mouth fell open. Somewhere behind the ice, cars were driving fast up Route 17.
Rodgers nosed out onto the highway as far as she dared. She stretched tall in her seat. Still, she could see only a pile of black-gray ice, and above that, sky.
“This is scary,” Rodgers, 38, saidas she tried to exit the Trader Joe’s parking lot in Paramus on Friday afternoon. “The snow is piled so high, you have to pull practically into the highway to see the cars coming. It’s ridiculous.”
In the wake of back-to-back snowstorms that buried the region, an army of government workers and private contractors worked for days on end this week to clear North Jersey’s streets, parking lots and sidewalks of snow. Now we fortunate citizens — the ones who didn’t spend double shifts behind the wheels of snowplows — must navigate what’s left behind: huge piles of frozen precipitation.
Reader Questions Status of Village Financial Reserves
So, Mr. Mayor——- how are those financial reserves doing with all the extra $$$$ that is being spent on snow removal? Using up all our financial reserves seemed like such a grand idea when you wanted to get that politically motivated ZERO PERCENT tax hike. People warned you that you should hold some money back for unexpected expenses, but NOOOOOOOOO, you wanted to be Mr. Santa Claus. Well, you will have to answer when our poorly planned budget runs out of cash flow.
Election Day : Reader calls for Village Wide Financial disclosure referendum and Valley PILOT referendum
In addition to the election, there should be a referendum on a PILOT program, whereby Valley would make a payment in lieu of taxes to the Village for municipal services provided, including police & fire. There should also be a referendum to change the Financial disclosure forms submitted by Village Council and Planning Board members, forcing them to disclose if the company they own or work for does any business with the Village of Ridgewood, Ridgewood Water, the NWBCD (Central Dispatch), etc. The forms currently only ask for sources of income, not if those sources have any conflict with Village contracts. This would help us to avoid conflicts of interest where officials think it is acceptable to conduct private business with VoR.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Numerous fender benders during late afternoon/evening snowstorm
February 15,2014
Boyd A. Loving
7:00 PM (11 hours ago)
Ridgewood NJ, A two-vehicle crash at the intersection of South Maple Avenue and Dayton Street in Ridgewood that sent both vehicles careening into snowbanks was just one of the numerous fender benders area police responded to during Saturday’s late afternoon/evening snowstorm. No injuries were reported in the 6:10 PM Ridgewood crash, but both vehicles had to be towed from the scene. No word from police on the scene if any summonses were issued.
$425,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404204
140 BELLAIR RD, Unit M, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, CONDO
Jennifer Wilkes, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/23
14
$498,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404165
258 E GLEN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Ghada Abbasi, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
24
$569,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1402188
701 HOWARD RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, S/L
Beth Freed, Broker Associate
Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty-Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
14
$569,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404297
61 WARREN PL, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Pam Christian, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
15
$579,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1337256
30 DANIEL CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, TWNHS
Frances Ekblom, Sales Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 2/16
15
$599,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1403482
494 E SADDLE RIVER RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, RANCH
Till Horkenbach, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
15
$629,500 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404244
169 JEFFER CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, S/L
Lisa Sammataro, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/2
25
$695,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404605
237 STEILEN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Douglas Trainor, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
25
$699,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404564
727 NEWCOMB RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, COL
Maryanne Elsaesser, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
17
$740,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1403314
175 MELROSE PL, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, C/C
Deborah Innocenti, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.oZE46suH.OVoKk6bi.dpuf
$748,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404534
458 STEVENS AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Carolyn Strittmatter, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/23
18
$775,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404330
336 BROOKMERE CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Lisa Sammataro, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/2
25
$881,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1332695
463 VAN EMBURGH AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Attilio Adamo, Broker Associate
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Rand Realty, Harrington Park
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
15
$1,088,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1403713
447 SHELBOURNE TER, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Beth Freed, Broker Associate
Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty-Ridgewoo
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
20
$1,095,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404714
538 VAN DYKE ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Rose Hueneke, Broker Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – Sun. 2/16
15
Open Houses for Sun 2/23
$425,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404204
140 BELLAIR RD, Unit M, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, CONDO
Jennifer Wilkes, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/23
14
$748,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404534
458 STEVENS AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Carolyn Strittmatter, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/23
18
Open Houses for Sun 3/2
$515,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1403679
426 VAN BUREN ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, COL
Pam Christian, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/2
10
$629,500 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404244
169 JEFFER CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, S/L
Lisa Sammataro, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/2
25
$775,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404330
336 BROOKMERE CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Lisa Sammataro, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/16
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/2
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.oZE46suH.OVoKk6bi.dpuf
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving One injured when SUV careens off Route 17 into snowbank
February 15,2013
Boyd A. Loving
10:28 PM
Ridgewood NJ , One person was injured and transported to The Valley Hospital following a 8:55 PM Saturday accident in which a Ford SUV traveling southbound on Route 17 in Ridgewood careened off the roadway and came to rest on top of a snowbank in front of 555 Route 17, South. The heavily damaged vehicle was freed from its perch by a flatbed tow truck, which removed it from the scene. The right lane of Route 17 was closed for approximately 60 minutes to facilitate accident investigation, vehicle removal, and debris clean up. Traffic moved freely through the area throughout the time. Ridgewood PD handled the accident investigation; Ridgewood EMS transported the victim by ambulance.
Face it, liberals: Obamacare will increase the federal deficit
David Hogberg • | FEBRUARY 14, 2014 AT 7:17 PM
Liberals have accepted that Obamacare will increase the federal deficit. They just don’t know it yet.
When the Congressional Budget Office released its Budget and Economic Outlook on Feb. 4, which was quite devastating for Obamacare, liberal commentators were desperate to find the pony in it. Many of them touted claims that the report shows that Obamacare will reduce the deficit.
What the report actually did was refer to a previous CBO report showing that, from 2013-2022, Obamacare reduces the deficit by a cumulative $109 billion. That’s true in the “balance sheet” method that CBO must use to evaluate Obamacare or any other piece of legislation. In other words, the CBO can only count the revenues Obamacare raises against the benefits it must pay out.
Yet Obamacare has impacts beyond those that appear on a balance sheet. If it influences the economy negatively, it can also affect the budget. And that is exactly what the CBO found.
Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and exchange subsidies will encourage some employees to work fewer hours. Because Medicaid and exchange subsidies are based on income and decline as one’s income rises, the CBO anticipates workers will reduce their hours in order to maintain their Obamacare benefits. By 2024, those reduced hours will reach the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs.
Ridgewood Police Warning – Potential Dangers of Playing in Giant Snow Piles
The accumulation of the past snow storms have formed giant piles of snow at the Graydon Pool parking lot and in other areas throughout the Village. These piles are potentially exciting places for children to play, not realizing the potential danger. As the temperatures change and at some point warm up, the snow can shift and the inner structure compacts to trap anyone climbing on the piles. We encourage parents and caregivers to discuss with their children the dangers of climbing on and playing in these snow piles, so that they remain safe in the winter weather
Under snow, roofs cave in across Bergen, Passaic counties
Friday, February 14, 2014 Last updated: Saturday February 15, 2014, 12:39 AM
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH AND SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
First came a pair of storms last week that dumped more than a foot of wet snow on the region. A week of subfreezing temperatures followed, creating a dense ice pack that began to stress roofs across North Jersey.
But it wasn’t until the nor’easter on Thursday pounded the region with 12 to 16 inches of snow, rain and ice that roofs began to be brought down under the weight of this winter’s unrelenting misery.
An elementary school in Wallington, a department store in Woodland Park and a sports complex in Waldwick were among at least a dozen buildings that partially collapsed on Friday. A ShopRite in New Milford was closed after the ceiling buckled. No major injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/hillsdale/Roof_collapsing_in_North_Jersey_under_weight_of_snow.html#sthash.VQrR78Ec.dpuf
Ridgewood Girl Scout achieves Gold Award
Friday, February 14, 2014
BY GLORIA GEANNETTE
MANAGING EDITOR
The Ridgewood News
Tayler Tai enjoyed every minute of the 80 hours she devoted to earning her Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive. Her leadership project was to raise awareness about organ donations by attending health fairs and other events where she could speak about the NJ Sharing Network, a cause that interests her on a very personal level.
“I was born with a hole in my heart,” she said. Surgery, when she was only 3 years old, repaired the hole and prevented further damage.
“If I hadn’t had the surgery, there was a possibility that the hole could have gotten bigger and caused bigger issues. It could have led to me needing a transplant,” she explained.
