Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Monday proposed repealing and replacing President Barack Obama’s healthcare law with one that would increase tax credits for individuals, allowing them to buy coverage protection against “high-cost medical events.” But the two-page proposal, which would give more power to states to regulate health insurance, contained no specific details on how…
What Thousands of New Insurance Codes Could Mean for Healthcare
Healthcare prepares for thousands of new health insurance codes that could possibly delay payments. The Wall Street Journal’s Melinda Beck shares other potential implications. READ MORE: Updated Medical Codes Help Track Quality of Care
Clinton and the ‘Cadillac Tax’
Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for the repeal of part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, the so-called “Cadillac tax” on health insurance that’s unpopular with large corporations and unions alike. Critics say the tax will raise costs for consumers, while supporters see it as a brake on wasteful health care spending. Clinton’s effort is…
FBI: Be Wary of Cyberattacks
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns in a public service announcement that the increasing reliance on web-based technologies is creating new opportunities for cyberattacks from hackers. These threats apply to a wide range of devices—essentially any component or system that “connects to the Internet to automatically send and/or receive data”—that constitute the Internet of Things…
Clinton: Embrace ObamaCare, Put Drug Prices in Check
Hillary Rodham Clinton is laying out a new plan to rein in the rising cost of prescription drugs, seeking to build upon President Barack Obama’s healthcare law. The Democratic presidential candidate’s proposal aims to cap monthly and annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs to help patients with chronic or serious health conditions. It would also deny…
Gender Surgery OKd by Judge, Despite Parental Concerns
A judge on Wednesday cleared the way for a 48-year-old transgender woman to undergo gender-reassignment surgery, rejecting her parents’ effort to block the operation because they say she’s mentally incompetent. Christine Kitzler, testifying at an emergency hearing, showed a clear understanding of the three-hour procedure and its risks, Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. said. He dismissed…
Medicare Pay for Performance: Fighting a War That’s Already Over
“In 1814, we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson, down the mighty Mississip….” Like any good student growing up in New Orleans, I learned about the magnificent victory of the U.S. forces over the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Of course, the Treaty of Ghent ended…
Drones Analyze Crop Losses
The government for the Indian state of Maharshtra has begun using UAVs to monitor crop loss caused by the drought stricken Osmanabad district. Information obtained by two drones will be used to determine how much reimbursement will be paid out to the area’s farmers. Up to 51 villages will be monitored by the two drones,…
BPA-Free Eastman Tritan Copolyester Confirmed BPS-Free
As conversation continues around the use of bisphenols in plastic, Eastman Chemical Company is helping its Eastman Tritan copolyester customers communicate with end users about the material. Tritan is not manufactured with bisphenols A (BPA) or S (BPS), and with new independent test results, Eastman customers can confidently assure consumers that their products are BPA-…
Today in Engineering History: Galileo Demonstrates Telescope to Venetian Senate
On this day in history, August 25, 1609, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to the Senate in Venice. Impressed with Galileo’s invention, the senators doubled the astronomer’s salary and made his university appointment a lifelong one. Although others had already tried to patent the telescope, Galileo brought the device to the mainstream,…
Synthesis of a New Nanomaterial Discovered
Faculty at Louisiana Tech University have discovered, for the first time, a new nanocomposite formed by the self-assembly of copper and a biological component that occurs under physiological conditions, which are similar to those found in the human body and could be used in targeted drug delivery for fighting diseases such as cancer. The team,…
Abortion Clinic Reopens After Being Forced to Close
An El Paso clinic shuttered by Texas’ tough abortion laws is set to become the first to reopen since the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked enforcement of key restrictions nearly two months ago. The reopening of the Reproductive Services facility would mean the country’s second most-populous state has 20 abortion clinics — down from 41 in…
Bishop-Wisecarver Acquires SMI4Motion
Bishop-Wisecarver Group (BWG), a WBENC-certified, woman-owned family of companies that offer guidance solutions, contract specialty manufacturing and mechatronic-based engineering services, has announced it has acquired Specialty Motions, Inc.’s (SMI) linear actuator product line. Complementing BWG’s existing line of high-end linear actuators, the addition of the SMI4Motion product offering will enable BWG to expand the markets…
Air Force Conducts Minuteman III Test Launch
The 91st Missile Wing completed an operational test launch of an unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Aug. 19, continuing its mission of providing strategic deterrence for the U.S. and their allies. The launch fell on the 45th anniversary of the day the 91st MW at Minot AFB,…
A Summer of Pain for NJ Commuters Who Rely on Rails to NYC
The Hudson River is 1,500 yards wide where it flows between Manhattan and Weehawken, New Jersey, but it can feel like 150 miles for the hordes of commuters who make the crossing via a pair of century-old rail tunnels that constitute one of the worst transportation bottlenecks in America. Read more: Cuomo, Washington Fight Over…
Proposed Law to Prevent Plane vs. Drones Crashes
Drones have caused problems near New York City airports as of late, and one politician wants to stop the issue mid-flight. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said Thursday that he would propose an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Bill which would require drones manufacturers to integrate technologies such as geo-fencing into all UAVs so…
Groups Respond to Proposed Changes to Medicare
Proposed changes to Medicare’s reimbursement for lower limb prosthetic care would create unreasonable and clinically unjustified hurdles to amputees receiving care that is now routinely provided, according to a warning issued today by the Amputees Coalition and the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA). The proposed changes in amputee care not only would have a…
Cuomo, Washington Fight Over Hudson Rail Tunnel Funding
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s dispute with the federal government over how to pay for a new Hudson River rail tunnel boiled over into a war of words Wednesday between him and President Barack Obama’s transportation secretary. Read more: Officials Promise to Work Together on Hudson River Tunnel A spokeswoman for Cuomo said Wednesday that Secretary…
RPAs Prove Vital in Fight Against ISIL
From August 2014 to August 2015, the 432nd Wing has directly supported Operation Inherent Resolve, a U.S. Central Command and partner nation’s campaign to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. “OIR has highlighted the strengths of…
How New Horizons Spacecraft Got Its Power
Feature by feature, they revealed themselves: the plains of Sputnik, the Norgay Montes and the vast and forbidding Cthulu Regio. When the New Horizons spacecraft finally buzzed Pluto at roughly 30,000 mph on July 14, it sent back snaps of an untamed land of craterless plains and jagged ice mountains beyond our imagining. Read more:…
Massive Deep Space Antenna Construction Delayed
A huge construction project at the Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia has been delayed by weather, but the NASA antenna dish is expected to be raised on Thursday. The dish will help talk to the fleet of spacecraft NASA expects to launch in the next 10 – 15 years. In other NASA news, a…
Study Reflects Impact of ObamaCare on Facilities
A new report examining newly-released data from the 2014 Uniform Data System (UDS), which collects patient and health care information from the nation’s community health centers, shows how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is changing insurance coverage and healthcare in the nation’s most medically underserved urban and rural communities. Examining data collected from nearly 1,300…
Officials Promise to Work Together on Hudson River Tunnel
Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey’s two U.S. senators and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx vowed Tuesday to work together to obtain federal money for a $14 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River — though New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s absence highlighted the challenge of bringing together the many parties involved in the complicated project. Christie,…
Google Subsidiary 3D Printing Legs for Humanoid Robot
Google subsidiary, Boston Dynamics is developing a humanoid named Atlas and it’s using 3D printing to create the robot’s streamlined legs. The new limbs, which haven’t been tested, “utilize a lattice like structure with many of the important components, such as the hydraulics, printed right into the actual structure,” according to 3DPrint.com. The legs will…
Phoenix Needs Engineers
Economic developers are trying to push technical engineering, especially computer science, in Arizona, but more students need to get the appropriate education in order for there to be enough. Phoenix is an appealing metro for tech companies, but not without the work force. In other news from academia, eight professors from Vanderbilt University were named…