Graydon Pool Memberships Are Available to All Are Now on Sale
The Village Council and the Ridgewood Department of Parks and Recreation are excited to announce memberships are now on sale for the upcoming summer season and all are invited to join the Graydon Pool facility as season members for the 2014 summer season. Come enjoy fun in the sun so close to home! Opening day is Saturday, May 31st.
Pool features include a shaded playground, water play fountains, shade kites, Adirondack chairs, picnic area, sheltered pavilion, charcoal grills, and The Water’s Edge Café. Additional amenities include a lending library of reading books, volleyball, basketball, ping-pong tables, shuffleboard, four-squares and hop-scotch. Special programs include “Storytime Under a Tree” for the little ones and swim instruction for children and adults, as well as an adaptive swim class. The Graydon Swim Team welcomes youth members, ages 8 to 14.
Resident fees are $120 per adult, $110 per child (ages 2 through 15) and $30 for seniors. Non-resident adults will be charged $200 and children, ages 2 through 15, will be charged $175 for the13 week season.
Badges are now on sale and can be purchased from the comfort of home on Community Pass at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Visa and MasterCard are accepted). In person registration assistance will be available Saturdays, May 10 and May 17, 10:00 am to 12 noon, at the Graydon Pool Badge Office (onsite at the pool), 259 North Maple Avenue. Badges may be purchased daily throughout the operating season, May 31st through Septemer 1st.
Details are available at www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon or you may call the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with any questions or if special accommodations are needed.
As Obama Spotlights Gender Gap in Wages, His Own Payroll Draws Scrutiny
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and ANNIE LOWREYAPRIL 7, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday will call attention to what he has said is an “embarrassment” in America: the fact that women make, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns.
But critics of the administration are eager to turn the tables and note that Mr. Obama’s White House fares only slightly better. A study released in January showed that female White House staff members make on average 88 cents for every dollar a male staff member earns.
The dueling statistics reveal the political sensitivities around a set of gender-related issues that could be critical in the midterm elections this fall. Those include pay equity, family leave, preschool and child care.
Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies are trying to portray Republicans as insensitive to the concerns of women, in the hopes of capitalizing on the kind of lopsided female support that helped Mr. Obama win the White House in 2008 and 2012. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama is to sign an executive order barring federal contractors from penalizing employees who discuss their compensation.
Untold story of how activist once aided probes of NYC wiseguys
APRIL 7–When friends and family members gathered recently at the White House for a private celebration of Michelle Obama’s 50th birthday, one of the invited partygoers was a former paid FBI Mafia informant.
That same man attended February’s state dinner in honor of French President Francois Hollande. He was seated with his girlfriend at a table adjacent to President Barack Obama, who is likely unaware that, according to federal agents, his guest once interacted with members of four of New York City’s five organized crime families. He even secretly taped some of those wiseguys using a briefcase that FBI technicians outfitted with a recording device.
The high-profile Obama supporter was also on the dais atop the U.S. Capitol steps last year when the president was sworn in for a second term. He was seated in front of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two rows behind Beyonce and Jay Z, and about 20 feet from Eric Holder, the country’s top law enforcement officer. As head of the Department of Justice, Attorney General Holder leads an agency that once reported that Obama’s inauguration guest also had La Cosa Nostra contacts beyond Gotham, and engaged in “conversations with LCN members from other parts of the United States.
The president tries to put a good face on ObamaCare.
By
PEGGY NOONAN
Updated April 4, 2014 7:44 p.m. ET
Put aside the numbers for a moment, and the daily argument.
“Seven point one million people have signed up!”
“But six million people lost their coverage and were forced onto the exchanges! That’s no triumph, it’s a manipulation. And how many of the 7.1 million have paid?”
“We can’t say, but 7.1 million is a big number and redeems the program.”
“Is it a real number?”
“Your lack of trust betrays a dark and conspiratorial right-wing mindset.”
As I say, put aside the argument, step back and view the thing at a distance. Support it or not, you cannot look at ObamaCare and call it anything but a huge, historic mess. It is also utterly unique in the annals of American lawmaking and government administration.
Its biggest proponent in Congress, the Democratic speaker of the House, literally said—blithely, mindlessly, but in a way forthcomingly—that we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it. It is a cliché to note this. But really, Nancy Pelosi’s statement was a historic admission that she was fighting hard for something she herself didn’t understand, but she had every confidence regulators and bureaucratic interpreters would tell her in time what she’d done. This is how we make laws now.
Her comments alarmed congressional Republicans but inspired Democrats, who for the next three years would carry on like blithering idiots making believe they’d read the bill and understood its implications. They were later taken aback by complaints from their constituents. The White House, on the other hand, seems to have understood what the bill would do, and lied in a way so specific it showed they knew exactly what to spin and how. “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan, period.” “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, period.” That of course was the president, misrepresenting the facts of his signature legislative effort. That was historic, too. If you liked your doctor, your plan, your network, your coverage, your deductible you could not keep it. Your existing policy had to pass muster with the administration, which would fight to the death to ensure that 60-year-old women have pediatric dental coverage.
The leaders of our government have not felt, throughout the process, that they had any responsibility to be honest and forthcoming about the major aspects of the program, from its exact nature to its exact cost. We are not being told the cost of anything—all those ads, all the consultants and computer work, even the cost of the essential program itself.
What the bill declared it would do—insure tens of millions of uninsured Americans—it has not done. There are still tens of millions uninsured Americans. On the other hand, it has terrorized millions who did have insurance and lost it, or who still have insurance and may lose it.
Shown here (left to right): are Bryan Gaus, Senior General Manager, Westfield Garden State Plaza; Audrey Meyers, President and CEO The Valley Hospital and Valley Health System; and William Conroy, Deputy Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Health.
Valley Health System and Westfield Garden State Plaza Team Up in Yearlong Partnership to Promote a Healthy Lifestyle
April 1, 2014
Ridgewood NJ, Westfield Garden State Plaza and Valley Health System kick off a dynamic year-long partnership designed to promote community health and wellness through engaging events and thought-provoking messaging. Leveraging the center’s two million-plus square feet of premium retail space and Valley’s influence as a leading health provider, the partnership will “deliver a message to our community that lifestyle, diet and well-being are important to living a healthy life,” said Bryan Gaus, Senior General Manager, Westfield Garden State Plaza.
In conjunction with Westfield Garden State Plaza, Valley Health System will host two community-wide events at the Paramus-based center and utilize its large format signage, particularly the digital LED screen, to display compelling content throughout the year. “This is an exciting partnership and we are delighted to provide a platform to support community wellness through engaging events and experiences at Westfield Garden State Plaza,” continued Gaus.
“We are delighted to partner with Westfield Garden State Plaza on this important community health initiative,” said Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of The Valley Hospital and Valley Health System. “The mall is a gathering place for so many in our community that it seems like the perfect place to offer innovative health-related educational events and programs.”
The first event, “Recipe Makeover & A New Look For the Cook,” launches April 1, in partnership with Sur La Table and features an online enter-to-win sweepstakes. Customers are invited to submit the name of a favorite dish, at www.valleyrecipemakeover.com, for a nutritional makeover. On May 17, two winners, sporting their own new makeovers, will cook their healthier dishes in front of a live audience with celebrity chef Michael V. Proietti in the Lord & Taylor Court. Compliments of Westfield Garden State Plaza retailers, the winners’ “new looks” include a makeover and new apparel. A second event will be held in October and details will be released later this year.
“Sur La Table is excited to be working with Westfield Garden State Plaza on this upcoming cooking demonstration featuring Proietti, the resident chef of our Westchester store,” said Aysar Rida, District Manager of Sur La Table, retailer of exclusive and premium-quality goods for the kitchen and table. “With cooking classes in more than 50 locations, Sur La Table operates the largest avocational cooking school nationwide.”
About Westfield Garden State Plaza
Westfield Garden State Plaza is the ultimate destination for fashion, dining and entertainment in the NY/NJ metro area offering the best selection of brands in every retail category, and is renowned for delivering cutting edge, new retail concepts to market. Just minutes from Manhattan in Paramus, N.J., millions of shoppers each year enjoy an unparalleled shopping and dining experience, complete with personalized services and amenities. For more information, call 201-843-2121 or www.facebook.com/gardenstateplaza or www.westfield.com/gardenstateplaza.
The Westfield Group (ASX Code: WDC) is an internally managed, vertically integrated, shopping center group undertaking ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing and marketing activities and employing approximately 4,000 staff worldwide. The Westfield Group has interests in and operates one of the world’s largest shopping center portfolios with investment interests in 91 shopping centers across Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, encompassing over 20,500 retail outlets and total assets under management of A$65.8bn.
About Valley Health System
Valley Health System is a regional healthcare system that serves residents in northern New Jersey and southern New York. It includes The Valley Hospital, a 451-bed, not-for-profit, acute-care hospital; Valley Home Care, an award-winning home care and hospice agency; and Valley Medical Group, a multispecialty group practice of doctors and advanced practice professionals representing more than 30 medical and surgical specialties who practice at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, Valley’s Blumenthal Cancer Center in Paramus, eight urgent and primary care centers in New Jersey and New York, and community-based physician practices throughout the region.
For more information visit www.ValleyHealth.com or www.Facebook.com/ValleyHospital
Newark-based Star-Ledger newspaper cutting 167 jobs
The Star-Ledger’s announcement of 167 job cuts — among 306 layoffs made by owner Advance Publications Inc. Thursday — reflect long-running troubles at the state’s largest newspaper, which has felt the impact of a nationwide drop in newspaper readership and advertising revenue.
Thursday’s cuts are the latest in a series of layoffs and buyouts since 2008 at the Newark paper, a New Jersey institution that has won three Pulitzer Prizes but lost millions of dollars in recent years. The cuts include 40 jobs in the newsroom, which is not unionized, bringing it to a staff of about 116, down from a high of 350 before the first buyout in 2008.
In addition to the Star-Ledger cuts, 124 full and part-time jobs were eliminated at other daily and weekly papers owned by Advance Publications Inc., in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and 15 at the company’s web site, NJ.com.
The layoffs are part of a plan announced last week by Advance to create a new company, NJ Advance Media, based in Woodbridge, to provide advertising, marketing and news content to The Star-Ledger, the three other daily papers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and NJ.com. The company plans to focus on efforts to grow its digital operations.
Star-Ledger employees were called in Thursday for one-on-one meetings, where they were either told they were being let go or offered a job with the new company. The new jobs, in some cases, carried salaries more than 5 percent lower, along with reduced benefits, according to employees who asked not to be identified. According to the newspaper, the cuts included the entire full-time business staff and positions in sports, features, photos and news. (Lynn/The Record)
Acting Port Authority chair cautions against splitting up agency in ‘heat of the political moment’
The acting chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said a recommendation that the agency should be broken up is something that “should be considered,” but represents a challenge fraught with complexities that should not be taken likely.
“A wholesale splitting up seems challenging, but it’s something that should be considered, like everything should be considered,” said acting Port Authority Chairman Scott Rechler, who leads the agency’s board of commissioners following Friday’s resignation by David Samson. “But that’s a pretty meaningful, material change, and I would not take it likely.”
Rechler had been asked by The Star-Ledger to comment on remarks last Friday by Gov. Chris Christie, who said he was “intrigued” by a recommendation contained in a report on September’s George Washington Bridge lane closures that his office had commissioned from the law firm Gibson, Dunne & Crutcher. (Strunsky/Star-Ledger)
New Jersey towns scramble to limit police, firefighter pay raises now that cap has expired
APRIL 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014, 12:03 AM
BY MICHAEL PHILLIS
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD
In the four days before a statewide cap on police and firefighter raises expired, 71 applications were filed by local governments to take advantage of that limit.
That’s more than double the number of towns and counties that did so in all of last year, according to state records.
Local governments were seeking binding arbitration with police and firefighter unions while a 2 percent cap on raises was still in place. That cap, a measure that supporters say has kept property tax increases in check, expired Tuesday.
“We wanted to take advantage of a law as it was originally adopted,” said Richard Kunze, the borough administrator in Oakland.
Uncertainty about a bill in the Legislature to extend the cap caused Oakland to file for arbitration on Monday after failing to reach a contract with the town’s police union.
“Very clearly, it is all in response to the legislation,” Kunze said.
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities said the late rush by towns and counties to take advantage of the cap shows how much it is needed. The Senate has passed an extension, but the measure has stalled in the Assembly.
The cap on raises was one of the measures passed after Governor Christie signed a law that limits annual increases in property tax levies to 2 percent.
New Jersey’s property taxes are among the highest in the nation. In 2013, for example, Bergen County’s average bill was $10,645. Passaic County’s was $9,368.
State law restricts police and firefighters from striking during contract disputes. When governments and their unions can’t agree on contracts, a neutral third party makes a binding decision about the terms of a new deal.
The arbitration cap limits raises for police and fire officials, which often make up a substantial portion of municipal budgets. These restrictions, advocates of a cap say, prevent government services from being cut if high raises are given.
Before the cap was put in place, some unions were receiving raises around 4.5 percent. That has dropped to about 1.9 percent since the law took effect, according to a report by a task force that studied the law.
In a compromise with Governor Christie, the Democrats who control the Legislature agreed to extend the cap on raises but limited the extension to three years.
The Democrats’ version, which allowed for some exceptions to the 2 percent cap and limited the bill’s overall reach, passed both houses but was conditionally vetoed by Christie. The Senate then passed a bill backed by Christie, which would end the cap by 2018 but eliminate some of the union-friendly provisions in the Democrats’ plan. The Assembly has yet to act on Christie’s version.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-towns-scramble-to-limit-police-firefighter-pay-raises-now-that-cap-has-expired-1.842277#sthash.l9MqElsF.dpuf
Put education back into state, local hands
By Scott Garrett
Many pundits claim America’s K-12 education system is stagnant and doesn’t equip our nation’s youths with the skills necessary to remain globally competitive in the 21st century. In response, President Obama has recommended the adoption of Common Core standards, a uniform set of benchmarks that must be met by students at the end of each grade. The president has sold Common Core as an innovative set of national standards that will achieve academic excellence.
Unfortunately, we have heard all of this before.
More than a decade ago, President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind was signed into law. At the time, NCLB was advertised as dynamic, flexible and federally driven — education reform that would advance academic achievement through accountability. Today, NCLB is considered a failure. After spending billions and enacting rigid punishments for failing schools, no discernible academic improvement was achieved.
The centralization of education did not begin with NCLB. For half a century, Washington has pursued control of the classroom by attaching strings to federal education dollars sent to the states. Yet despite spending roughly $2 trillion and decades of increased federal regulation, reading scores remain flat, education costs have more than doubled, student-teacher ratios continue to decline, high school graduation rates remain unchanged since the 1970s and achievement gaps persist.
The tradition of federalized education has failed our students. And on this tradition the president proposes to double down.
Common Core is the predictable result of the Obama administration’s coercion of cash-strapped states. In return for a state’s adoption of Common Core, the administration promised the states a share of a $4.35 billion bounty.
Some officeholders don’t trust people outside Washington to come up with solutions. I disagree.
Some officeholders don’t trust people outside Washington to come up with solutions. I disagree. Rather than centralizing education, I believe that states and localities — those closest to the students — should set academic standards. The state and local governments are our laboratories of democracy. By promoting innovation at the state and local level, where parents and teachers have a louder voice, we provide ourselves with the opportunity to replicate our successes and learn from our mistakes.
But arrogant, top-down dictates, such as Common Core, rob us of this opportunity. We should allow federalism to work and defer to local experience.
That is why I’ve introduced the Local Education Authority Returns Now Act. The LEARN Act would allow states to opt out of federal education regulations and retain the dollars that would have been sent to Washington by reimbursing the taxpayers through a tax credit. The process is simple, straightforward, and empowers parents, teachers, school boards and local officials.
The LEARN Act works in three steps. First, a state decides that strings attached to federal money are hampering the ability of parents and teachers to educate their children as they see fit and enacts a law opting out of the federal program. Second, the Treasury Department determines how much money an opt-out state is entitled to. Finally, the taxpayers of the opt-out state receive a tax credit to reimburse them for the funds diverted to Washington. This method immediately cuts the authoritative and financial strings of the federal government, allowing states to set appropriate education standards.
The future of our nation depends on our ability to educate and train the generations that will carry on the legacy of freedom and prosperity. Today, states must focus on complying with federal mandates rather than cultivating an atmosphere that allows our educators to effectively educate our students.
We’ve experimented with centralized education before, and it failed. We cannot merely replace one set of federal dictates with another. The time has come to put our children first by returning control to those who know them best.
Rep. Scott Garrett is a Republican representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District
Ridgewood planner: Balancing act needed for decision on Valley Hospital
APRIL 3, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014, 3:30 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
With expert testimony winding down, the Ridgewood Planning Board will soon be charged with weighing the benefits of a proposed Valley Hospital expansion against any and all detriments that might arise from the project.
Hoping to guide the board before its deliberations, municipal planner Blais Brancheau on Monday offered his recommendations and a detailed comparison of the hospital zone standards established in 2010 with those currently proposed by the hospital. Valley is seeking a master plan amendment that would allow the health care facility to nearly double its hospital floor area to 900,000 square feet, largely through new construction.
Other key elements of Valley’s application include a maximum building height of 94 feet, inclusive of rooftop mechanical equipment; a limit of 1,700 on-site parking spaces; and an improvement coverage cap of 469,000 square feet.
This week, Brancheau said Valley’s proposal is “somewhat smaller” than the hospital’s 2010 plan, which was approved by the former Planning Board. He further stated that reductions seen in the new expansion plan were made partly in response to the Ridgewood Council’s 2011 resolution that explained why the governing body did not introduce the ordinance enacting the master plan changes.
The changes in the scaled-down plan, he said, should be considered when the board mulls over the entire application. Brancheau placed even heavier emphasis on the board’s analysis of the pros and cons of the potential development, but he cautioned that the criteria for evaluating the requested amendment do not contain a “hard and fast rule, in a sense that this is how you always do it.”
“It’s not a cookbook approach, and it’s not something that is precise,” he said. “It’s part heart and part science.”
“[The board’s] decision has to be reasonable, it can’t be arbitrary or capricious” and must be made upon sound information, the planner added.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/health-news/ridgewood-planner-balancing-act-needed-for-decision-on-valley-hospital-1.841243#sthash.RlqEZDxq.5a13lhRi.dpuf
Midland Park to contact Ridgewood about illegal parking by Ridgewood residents
APRIL 3, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LYNN BRUGGEMANN
CORRESPONDENT
MIDLAND PARK SUBURBAN NEWS
MIDLAND PARK – The Borough Council will be reaching out to Ridgewood officials to rectify unsafe parking conditions along Maltbie Avenue when parents pick up their children at nearby Ridge Elementary School.
Residents of Maltbie, many living north of Franklin Avenue, attended the March 27 council meeting to share their experiences and frustrations with blocked driveways, illegal parking near stop signs and unsafe road conditions that are occurring on a regular basis.
“I have lived here for 30 years and the last five years have been unbearable,” said Lorraine DeLuca. “I avoid West Ridgewood Avenue from 2:45 to 3: 15 p.m. It is dangerous.”
Maltbie begins at Godwin Avenue and continues north, crossing Franklin Avenue, which becomes West Ridgewood Avenue, before ending at Busteed Drive. Ridge Elementary School is at 325 W. Ridgewood Ave.
Resident Arthur “Skip” Marchetti first brought the matter to the attention of Mayor Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan during a monthly “Coffee With the Mayor.”
HONOR DIARIES FEATURES NINE COURAGEOUS WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVOCATES WITH CONNECTIONS TO MUSLIM-MAJORITY SOCIETIES WHO ARE ENGAGED IN A DIALOGUE ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY.
Honor Diaries is a unique film that follows the personal struggles of nine courageous women who are human rights advocates with personal roots in the Muslim world. The film follows each woman and her efforts to affect change in her community and beyond.
These women, who have witnessed firsthand the hardships women endure, are profiled in their efforts to affect change, both in their communities and beyond.
The film gives a platform to exclusively female voices and seeks to expose the paralyzing political correctness that prevents many from identifying, understanding and addressing this international human rights disaster. Freedom of movement, the right to education, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation are some of the systematic abuses explored in depth.
Spurred by the Arab Spring, women who were once silent are starting to speak out about gender inequality and are bringing visibility to a long history of oppression. This project draws together leading women’s rights activists and provides a platform where their voices can be heard and serves as inspiration to motivate others to speak out.
More than a movie, Honor Diaries is a movement meant to inspire viewers to learn more about issues facing women in Muslim-majority societies, and to act for change.
OK Missed the Deadline Where You Can Buy Health Insurance After Today
Amy Payne
March 31, 2014 at 6:30 am
UPDATE (April 2): We wrote on March 31 (below) that Americans would still be able to buy health insurance in the individual market—outside Obamacare’s exchanges—after the Obamacare deadline. The Associated Press reported the same thing on April 1:
Buyers can always go directly to an insurance company, but it may be expensive. Plans bought outside the marketplaces don’t come with government subsidies that hold down the cost for people with low or mid-level incomes. But they do include the law’s consumer protections. For example, insurers can’t turn down customers because of pre-existing medical conditions.
Even after the deadline, buying a plan that meets the law’s essential coverage standard reduces the penalty owed, which is based on the number of months without coverage.
When the law was passed, Obamacare indicated that insurance companies offering coverage in the individual market would have the leeway to determine their own enrollment periods, if desired. But now that the open enrollment period has closed for the Obamacare exchanges, it appears that in most states, so has enrollment in the individual market.
Our staff visited eHealthInsurance.com, where individual policies are usually available, testing one ZIP code for every state. For all but two states, we received this message: “Now that the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) has ended, you’ll need to experience a qualifying life event to enroll in a qualified health insurance plan.” (Qualifying life events include marriage, loss of a job, and the birth of a child, for example.)
In these early days of April, Oregon and Nevada were the two states where policies were still available for purchase. We know that the Oregon Obamacare exchange extended its signup deadline to April 30 because of its own website woes.
It makes sense for insurers to follow the same enrollment period as Obamacare, because one of the law’s mandates is that insurers must issue a policy to anyone at any time, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Observing a set enrollment period makes it more difficult for people to wait until they are sick to buy coverage.
Note: People who are eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) can apply for those programs year-round.
The original post follows.
Photo: AFP PHOTO/MANDEL NGAN/Newscom
Today is kinda-sorta the deadline to sign up for Obamacare, though if you want to say you’re “in line” for coverage, the administration is okay with that. (If your state is running its own Obamacare exchange, it may be keeping its deadline firm, so check with your state.)
When we wrote about the Obamacare deadline and penalty recently, a reader brought up a great question: Can you still buy health insurance after March 31?
She asked, “If I chose to go uninsured, but end up with a massive medical issue,” could she “just buy insurance and be covered, you know, since they must cover pre-existing conditions”?
The answer is yes. If you don’t have Obamacare-compliant health insurance by today, you could pay the penalty for this year—depending on the amount of flexibility the administration decides to offer in its latest delay—or you could still purchase a policy anytime in the individual market outside the Obamacare exchanges. The amount of time you go without coverage determines your penalty—or as the IRS calls it, your “shared responsibility payment.”
Under Obamacare, the new pre-existing conditions rule means that you can wait until you develop a health problem to get your policy. This isn’t great for the system, because healthy people’s premiums are needed to pay for the sick people. So if fewer healthy people buy health insurance, the system has a problem.
That’s why the Obamacare system has a mandate forcing everyone to buy insurance, a (somewhat) set enrollment period, and a financial penalty to back it up.
If you don’t already have employer-sponsored insurance or coverage through a government health program, your options are the Obamacare exchange or the individual marketplace. Policies in both have to comply with all of Obamacare’s rules and benefit mandates, so the big difference is the taxpayer-funded subsidies.
The subsidies are supposed to be the big draw of the Obamacare exchanges—but it turns out they aren’t as simple as they seem. And holding onto a subsidy can encourage people to stay stagnant in a job—or worse, not seek employment. As Heritage experts have explained and the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed, “The law gives millions of Americans new incentives not to work—or not to raise their income levels—because they may lose federal insurance subsidies.”
Today’s deadline marks the end of the open enrollment period to buy subsidized coverage in the exchange. Enrollment for subsidized coverage doesn’t officially start again until November 15 of this year.
As we’ve noted, however, there are now quite a few ways you can qualify for an exemption from the individual mandate, in addition to the new box you can supposedly check on HealthCare.gov to indicate that you need more time to sign up.
Whether it’s your state or the federal government running your nearest Obamacare exchange,the goal remains the same. Heritage experts Robert Moffit and Ed Haislmaier described the transition from the old individual market to “private coverage in name only”:
The primary goal of the Obamacare exchanges is to establish federal control over state health insurance markets by enforcing new federal insurance rules and requiring federal standardization of health benefits.
And policies in the remaining individual market must, by law, look exactly the same. You can buy them anytime, but the benefit design isn’t likely to be much different. (Just watch how long you go without coverage, or the penalty for being uninsured will kick in.) Obamacare doesn’t improve on the old health insurance market—which is why we need patient-centered reformsthat give people more choice.
Obama May Want to Put the Cork Back In The Champagne Bottle After He Sees These ObamaCare Numbers
Now that Obama has taken a victory lap and popped the champagne cork over hitting the ObamaCare enrollment goal, it looks as if it might be time to put the cork back in the bottle.
Results of a RAND Corporation study suggest that barely 858,000previously uninsured Americans – nowhere near 7.1 million, as claimed by Obama – had paid for new policies and joined the ranks of the insured by the Monday night deadline. The study also indicates that only one-third of exchange sign-ups were previously uninsured.
Yes, millions of enrollees were previously insured, including those who lost coverage when their existing policies were cancelled because they didn’t meet ObamaCare’s minimum requirements.
Still, Obama claimed that “millions of people who have health insurance would not have it”‘ without ObamaCare. The numbers simply do not support that claim.
Moreover, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a shot at Republicans “who have based their entire political agenda on repealing it.” Obama also thanked Democrats, who passed the “Affordable” Care Act without a single Republican vote.
N.J. study warns of continuing struggle for black, Latino children
APRIL 1, 2014
BY MONSY ALVARADO
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
White, Asian, African-American and Latino children in New Jersey scored higher than the national average across racial and ethnic backgrounds in several key indicators that measure a child’s chance at success in school and in life.
But the data in a report, for release today by a national advocacy organization, reveal deep disparities within the state’s racial and ethnic groups in areas including fourth-grade reading proficiency, eighth-grade math skills, high school and college graduation rates, and poverty levels. White and Asian children in the Garden State continue to score better than their Latino and black counterparts in several of these areas.
“To me this report provides data that confirms what we have suspected for a long time, that there is a significant gap in the well-being of children based on race and ethnicity,” said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan child research and action organization that jointly released the information with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The statistics found in The Kids Count policy report, “Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children” by the Baltimore-based Casey Foundation, is intended to better inform policymakers when making decisions about programs that can benefit children, foundation officials said.
“This first-time index shows that many in our next generation, especially kids of color, are off track in many issue areas and in nearly every region of the country,” said Patrick McCarthy, president and CEO of the Casey Foundation in a press release. “Race for Results is a call to action that requires serious and sustained attention from the private, non-profit, philanthropic and government sectors to create equitable opportunities for children of color, who will play an increasingly large role in our nation’s well-being and prosperity.”
