 to the Federal marketplace. OIG recommended that CMS include all relevant contract costs when it identifies total obligations and expenditures related to the design, development, and operation of the Federal marketplace and review all charges submitted by CGI Federal for the FFM contract and make a final determination on the appropriate amount to withhold for correcting defects by validating the $267,420 withheld for the fixed fee.
On September 22, 2015, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report entitled “Budgetary Effects of Legislation That Would Permanently Prohibit the Availability of Federal Funds to Planned Parenthood”. CBO has estimated the effect on direct spending of legislation that would permanently prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds. CBO estimates that implementing such a bill would increase direct spending by $130 million over the 2016-2025 period. The difference in the estimated costs reflects the different time periods over which use of federal funds would be prohibited.
On September 22, 2015, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report entitled “2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey”, which finds a modest rise in health premiums this year. According to the report, average annual premiums in 2015 are $6,251 for single coverage and $17,545 for family coverage. The average single and family premiums increased 4% in the last year. The average family premium has increased 61% since 2005 and 27% since 2010. The average family premium for workers in small firms (3-199 workers) ($16,625) is significantly lower than average family premiums for workers in larger firms (200 or more workers) ($17,938).
On September 22, 2015, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveiled her plan for lowering prescription drug costs. Some of the proposals outlined in her plan include: 1) require drug companies that benefit from taxpayer support to “invest in research, not marketing or profits”; 2) increase competition for prescription drugs, including specialty drugs; 3) prohibit “pay for delay” arrangements; ad 4) allow Medicare to negotiate drug and biologic prices. More information on the plan may be found here.
On September 22, the FDA announced it has awarded 18 new research grants totaling more than $19 million to boost the development of products for patients with rare diseases. These new grants were awarded to principal investigators in ten states, with research spanning clinical sites domestically and internationally. “The FDA is in a unique position to help those who suffer from rare diseases by offering important incentives to promote the development of products, one of which is our grants program,” said Gayatri R. Rao, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA’s Office of Orphan Product Development. “The grants awarded this year support much-needed research in 17 different rare diseases, many of which have little, or no, available treatment options.” The FDA awards the grants through the Orphan Products Grants Program to encourage clinical development of drugs, biologics, medical devices, or medical foods for use in rare diseases. The grants are intended for clinical studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of products that could either result in, or substantially contribute to, the FDA approval of products.
On September 25, 2015, the Board of Directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced that Stephen J. Ubl will be the next president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the association. Ubl joins PhRMA after more than ten years as the president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the world’s largest medical technology association. He succeeds John J. Castellani who announced earlier this year that he will be retiring at the end of the year.
A man who lived alone at the I'm A Celebrity castle has warned contestants of ghostly galloping horses.
Steve Weightman watched over Gwrych Castle in north Wales in the mid 1970s when he lived in a flat at the Grade I listed building.
And he witnessed some spooky goings-on including the sound of singing and an army of ghoulish galloping horses.
He also claimed that he found a bath seemingly running itself plus newspapers and wallpaper moving before his eyes.
Former jouster Steve, 68, said he was so plagued by odd happenings that he once ran from his home and didn’t return until the next morning.
He added: “I was clearing out in the side room, there were lots of old newspapers and bits of old wall-paper. When I got into bed, I could hear this rustling noise in my room.
“The papers had moved about a foot off the floor and were moving up the wall.
Mr Weightman told of another time when he heard the sound of “people laughing and joking” coming from the bar in the middle of the night – despite it being locked and closed to the public.
He also recalled the time his old pal Tom died at the same time as one of the jouster’s horses. Mr Weightman said: “He was one of the original butlers at the castle.
Meanwhile, a new drone image has shown the layout of the show’s campsite.Tells the story of London-based investigative journalist Robert Torres (Dougray Scott), who visits Spain to research a book about Josemaría Escrivá (Cox), the controversial founder of Opus Dei. But Robert hits a wall, both professionally and personally, when his most promising source-his own father, Manolo Torres (Bentley), turns out to be his least cooperative one. Robert begins to unearth his father's toxic secrets when he learns that Manolo was not only born in the same Spanish town as Josemaría, but that they were childhood friends and attended the same seminary. The two men take radically different paths in life, with Josemaría dedicating his life to his faith while Manolo is swept into the brutal and tumultuous Spanish Civil War. Manolo descends into a dangerous and jealous obsession when the beautiful Hungarian revolutionary Ildiko (Olga Kurylenko) doesn't return his affections and instead gives herself to the courageous military leader, Oriol (Rodrigo Santoro). As Robert continues to unearth the secrets of Josemaría's life and Manolo's mysterious anger, their overlapping journeys are revealed with the truths and sorrows of their past choices, which compels Manolo to confront his own secret with one last opportunity of forgiveness.
Columnists
More on corporal punishment bill
By Michael L. Rich
Thu Dec 13, 2007, 07:30 AM ESTArlington, Mass. -
My experience as an attorney who has represented parents and children in abuse and neglect cases for almost 30 years tells me that the “19,000 cases of abuse reported to DSS in the 3rd Quarter” almost certainly included “incidental or minor physical contact” that the bill exempts and its proponents say they are not concerned about.
The mandated reporting statute (General Laws chapter 119, section 51A) is interpreted by DSS to require reporting whenever there is any suspicion of abuse or neglect.
I have had two cases already this quarter and several more in my career in which DSS decided to “support for abuse” in cases where there was merely a “spanking” or “a swat.” Involvement of DSS and its erroneous findings of abuse occurred even though “abuse” is defined in DSS’s own regulations and the Supreme Judicial Court’s 1999 Cobble case as requiring more than brief, minor pain and a rapidly fading red mark.
The referral of 1,200 cases to the District Attorney (DA) level is cited as meaning that “there was compelling evidence of abuse and prosecution was warranted.” Not so. Under DSS regulations, referral to the DA merely means that a DSS “investigator” has determined that there was “reasonable cause to believe” that certain serious kinds of abuse had occurred. “Reasonable cause” does not require physical evidence or even medical confirmation.
If the cited statistic was even the number of cases referred by DSS on which DAs filed criminal cases, maybe it would be an indication that someone had determined there was “probable cause” to believe a crime had been committed. That is not what a DSS referral to the DA means. “Reasonable cause” in DSS-speak does not equal “probable cause.” Rarely are any of the 19,000 reported cases presented to a court or even to anyone outside of the intake unit for independent fact-finding determinations.
The constitutional burden of proof for criminal cases is “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Courts have ruled that family relationships can be permanently severed upon “clear and convincing evidence.” To temporarily remove a child from a family into foster care while the court determines if the child is at risk of harm requires only “a fair preponderance of the evidence.” But DSS referring a case to the DA is an even lower standard —“reasonable cause to believe” that abuse has occurred. The fact that only “1,200 of [the 19,000 reported cases] advanced to the DA’s level” means that 17,800 were either “unsupported” or were found not to have any evidence of serious abuse.
Yes, abuse is a serious problem and should be uncovered, prosecuted and prevented. Children should be protected from it. But, if this bill passes, DSS, an agency that already involves itself with 80,000 cases a year (many of which are not significant enough to refer for law enforcement investigation), will have an excuse to continue its micromanagement of parents who do not conform to its belief that all physical contact in discipline is harmful and warrants intervention.
I am certainly in favor of the legislative deliberations that Rep. Kaufman’s testimony suggests but I think focusing on corporal punishment and giving DSS additional incentive to investigate families that use it reasonably runs the risk of driving parents underground with their questions about how best to raise their children. If medical and other childcare professionals must