In a new report released today, the government watchdog group Common Cause found that major health care interests have spent upwards of $1.4 million a day to lobby Capitol Hill so far this year. According to the report, entitled ‘legislating under the influence,’ political spending by the health industries has increased 73 percent since 2000. Health interests contributed $94 million to candidates in Congress during the 2008 election cycle, a $40 million jump from the 2000 election cycle figure. The top recipients of health industry campaign contributions from 2000 to 2008 are new Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., at $7.3 million and $6.3 million respectively. All of the campaign finance data used in the report came from the Center for Responsive Politics. With the health industry’s tremendous financial clout in Washington, Common Cause is concerned that chances for meaningful reform will be stymied. The report concludes that members of Congress face a disheartening conflict of interest: side with their large campaign donors or back reform measures that have support from the public, like the public plan option which would create a publicly-funded health insurance entity to compete with private insurers.
Two million Americans face increased cancer risks of greater than 100 in a million from exposure to toxic air pollution, according to a U.S. EPA report released today. EPA estimates that all 285 million U.S. residents have an increased cancer risk of greater than 10 in a million from exposure to air toxics. The average cancer risk, based on 2002 pollution levels, is 36 in a million. The agency has asserted that levels above a 100-in-a-million risk level are generally unacceptable. The data comes from a county-by-county analysis of toxic air pollution released today in a survey known as the National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA). The report covers 181 air toxics and diesel particulate matter and estimates risks from exposure to emissions from industrial sources and mobile sources such as cars and trucks. ‘The implication for me is we still have a long way to go to reduce toxic air pollution to protect the public,’ said John Walke, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ‘It still shows an unacceptable number of Americans being exposed to cancer risk solely attributed to air pollution on top of all the other risks from smoking and indoor […]
Congressional investigators have discovered that large health insurers in every region of the country are relying on faulty databases to underpay millions of valid insurance claims. In a report released Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee said insurance companies nationwide have failed to provide consumers with accurate or understandable information about how they calculate ‘reasonable or ‘customary charges for out-of-network care. Insurers also signed contracts prohibiting them from disclosing information about the databases to consumers or doctors, the report said. The flawed databases are owned by Ingenix Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc. UnitedHealth recently settled with the New York attorney general’s office to resolve charges that Ingenix drew up billing rates that underpaid hospitals and doctors for out-of-network care. Patients had to make up the difference. It is unclear how much they have overpaid over the years. An Ingenix spokeswoman said the company stands by the integrity of its databases. The two databases in question by the committee represent less than 2% of Ingenix’s overall business. Ingenix also said it doesn’t set actual rates for health procedures. Other insurers that purchased Ingenix data in New York-Aetna Inc., CIGNA Corp., and Wellpoint Inc. among […]
ADDIS ABABA and LOKICHOGGIO — The airstrip at Lokichoggio, in the scorched wastes of north Kenya, was once ground zero for food aid. During Sudan’s civil war, flights from here kept millions of people alive. The warehouses are quieter now, but NGOs keep a toehold, in case war restarts-and to deal with what pundits call the ‘permanent emergency of ‘environmentally induced migration. Take the local Turkana people. Their numbers have surged in recent decades, and will double again before 2040. But as the area gets hotter and drier, it has less water, grazing and firewood. The drought cycle in northern Kenya has gone from once every eight years to every three years and may contract further. That means no recovery time for the Turkana and their livestock; the result is an increasingly frantic drift from one dry place to another. A local crisis with local causes? Only partly. Scientists think it is part of a global phenomenon: people across the world on the move as a result of environmental degradation. Just how many are moving, or about to move, is maddeningly unclear. The International Organisation for Migration thinks there will be 200m climate-change migrants by 2050, when […]
NEW YORK — Matrixx Initiatives Inc. said Wednesday it started a previously announced recall of Zicam nasal cold remedies following last week’s Food and Drug Administration warning that the products were unsafe. Meanwhile, the company is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the FDA warning letter. The Scottsdale, Ariz., company said the recall was voluntary. Still, it occurred as the FDA warned consumers to not use the nasal cold remedies due to hundreds of reports of patients losing their sense of smell. Matrixx said it disagrees with the FDA’s safety warning, but ‘voluntarily’ recalled the product to cooperate with the regulatory agency. The FDA also alleges the products were unlawfully marketed. Matrixx also disagrees with that allegation. ‘The company is also in the process of preparing a submission to the FDA and, as previously reported, will soon ask to meet with the agency to present comprehensive scientific and medical data and analyses demonstrating that these products are safe,’ Matrixx said, in a statement. On June 16, the FDA issued the recall notice for Zicam products, which accounted for 40 percent of Matrixx’s sales last year. The regulatory agency said the products contain […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
