Medicare

Jul 29 2011

Higher levels of obesity

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—On average, Americans live about a year-and-a-half less than Western Europeans—a disparity that stems from higher levels of obesity among United States residents, according to new study from University of Southern California, the Harvard School of Public Health and the RAND Corp.

The study—which appears in the July issue of Social Science & Medicine—also indicated Americans live less than the residents of most other developed nations.

Jul 19 2011

House Speaker John Boehner to administer oath

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Janice Hahn will be sworn in today as a member of the House of Representatives, one week after winning a special election to represent a district stretching from West Los Angeles to Torrance.

House Speaker John Boehner will administer the oath in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol.

In an email to supporters, Hahn said, “I am going to work hard every day to create more good jobs, get our economy back on track, bring our troops home from wars abroad and fight to protect Medicare and Social Security.”

May 24 2011

To be filled by an existing city employee

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The City Council voted 9-1 today to create an inspector general position to help fix the city’s poorly performing billing and collections processes, which cause the city to lose tens of millions of dollars per year in badly needed revenue.

The new position will be filled by an existing city employee—who will work inside the City Administrative Office—to get the effort under way as quickly as possible.

May 12 2011

Skin color plays a role in providing welfare

No one was home in the small, fenced encampment hidden in the trees on the south side of the approach to the Ben Franklin Bridge leading to Philadelphia.

The inhabitants may have been away because of the chill and the unceasing downpour that cut rivulets of rainwater in the mud and grass. Or they might have gone looking for food to bring back to their three tent-like hovels, which where patched together with clear plastic, mosquito mesh, blue and yellow blankets, rags and towels.

Mar 14 2011

Personal information about members and employees

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.—Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. announced today that several server drives containing personal information about members and employees are "unaccounted for'' from its data center in Sacramento County.

The company launched an investigation after being notified by IBM, the vendor responsible for managing Health Net's IT infrastructure, that it could not locate several server drives from the data center in Rancho Cordova.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.