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Hospital emergency rooms demand debt payment before care

April 25, 2012 By 4 Comments
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April 24, 2012 Debt Collector Is Faulted for Tough Tactics in Hospitals By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG Article courtesy of New York Times- server error did cause copyright information to be missing. Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside. This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts, Accretive Health, were revealed on Tuesday by the Minnesota attorney general, raising concerns that such practices have become common at hospitals across the country. The tactics, like embedding debt collectors as employees in emergency rooms and demanding that patients pay before receiving treatment, were outlined in hundreds of company documents released by the attorney general. And they cast a spotlight on the increasingly desperate strategies among hospitals to recoup payments as their unpaid debts mount. To patients, the debt collectors … [Read more...]

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The Over-Marketization of Social Behavior

April 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Over-Marketization of Social Behavior Posted By Flexo On April 20, 2012 @ 11:00 am In Economics | 8 Comments Do you reward your children with money for performing well in school [1]? Do you use the promise of an allowance to ancourage appropriate behavior in the family [2]? These are big issues, because they take appropriate behavior and can turn the incentive to financial gain. Children growing up believing that financial gain is the reward for correct social behavior rather than seeing the intrinsic benefit. The idea that everything has a financial value seems to have become more prevalent over the last two decades, according to a new book. In What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets [3] by Michael J. Sandel, the author argues that our trend of attributing market thinking to an increasing array of behavior could be detrimental to society. The book has not yet been released as of the time of writing this article, so I haven’t read it yet. A review in Fortune … [Read more...]

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East Coast Storm is late but with a huge bang

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The DC metro has showers to the South and West with rain in the metro area over the next two hours. However, Central North Carolina is seeing heavy rains, booms of thunder, and flashes of lightning as a line of strong storms developed around 3 am along the I-95 corridor. The storms are moving North and West into Raleigh but storms are redeveloping over I-95 to replace the storms moving NW to Raleigh. This is in response to low pressure developing along the NC/SC coasts. This storm in January would have been a potent winter storm event for North Carolina north into the North East. Coastal Storms are the hurricane variable of winter in predictability. In the Spring of 1983, a mild winter was Dec-Feb period and I was a kid. We had one snow that changed to rain in Central North Carolina. It easier for snow to stick and cause issues in late November and early December because of the sun angle. Storm tracks make February and March register some of the biggest storms. After February 14, Snow … [Read more...]

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When I need a good dose of humanity look to my Jack Russells

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This is Cody

I had so many serious conversations this week between work, friends, writing, responsibilities, an unexpected death.etc. The next two weeks will be very intense before taking some time to travel and have some fun.....We make things difficult as humans...We hold grudges with families...We make it easier to point blame than to discuss.....We make it easier to forget what really matters.....We make it about me and not we.....Life has such a finality. I received a phone call this week about someone who played a very important role in my life as a teenager had died.....I know that this death brought a finality and reality of that life....Resolution was no more....I need simplification. I look at Sid and Cody. Why do we make life so difficult as humans? I have two soon to be 14 yo Jack Russell Terriers, and they are way past the prime of puppy life. However, old age for both and terminal condition of my oldest one does not stop their simple love of life. They live each to the maximum … [Read more...]

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Politics is personal finance for Election 2012

April 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The foundation for any discussion this Political Season is Personal Finance. The talking points in politics of creating  jobs, regulation redundancy in financial reform, education funding for our nation is worthless with an underclass of one in three Americans being out of using mainstream financial services in America.  First, small business and innovation is the  job creators in the US economy, and a young poor person with a marvelous business idea is less likely to find a sponsor or bank  to grant that opportunity as my father was granted thirty years ago. Second, consumer centric financial model in the area of financial services with some 1970's localism and 2012 technology to make the system around each consumer needs and tailored experience. Third, our education system does educate about safe sex before graduation of high school, but we fail to integrate our children in personal finance, credit, and how to save or start a small business. The financial health of the consumer … [Read more...]

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East Coast Storm will bring chill and heavy rain

April 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Temperatures near 90 in DC on Monday, and the warm March in Virginia are going to change with a late April Coastal Storm. Sunday into Monday, Heavy Rain is expected with highs only in 50's for DC on Sunday and Monday to upper 50's to near 60 around Raleigh, NC. ABC 7 in Washington, DC makes reference to the rainfall deficit being around 5" for the year to date, and this rain is needed in the Mid-Atlantic even if comes with a late spring chill. … [Read more...]

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Credit Union CEO David Maus in Denver $11M salary stuns industry

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Denver Post Gr8fulDude Dude wrote: Why does it feel like we are punishing this guy for his success. Used to be we pushed our kids to do good things. Now we scorn those who have successful long term careers. Sad to see in a way. How about this: If you are so outraged by what he has earned, then take your money and business elsewhere. And this post sounds more of the victim mentality that is prevalent within society, and with a majority of your posts. Here's your lesson, in order to be successful, the environment defines what it is to be successful, it is not an internal structure; it is purely an external construct laid on each and every one of us. The problem is, that the system here is developed internally (through the board and Maus), and approved by a small group of individuals (most likely Maus's buddies) defining what is successful. It is not outrage that Maus made so much, it is that they wrote the rules after the game was started. If you can't identify that this is the … [Read more...]

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Common Sense in an uncommon world

April 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Healthcare- Why allow emergency rooms to be cattle stalls for the uninsured ? All debt is written off for tax breaks by hospitals? The funds could be allocated to subsidize clean community health centers for all citizens. Pay per affordability. One subsidy will provide a healthier physical and fiscal community and lessen costs due to the proactive measures of health in the community Education - American children know safe sex at 18, but personal finance savings and credit is not. Which impacts life first sex or money? Financial System- The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke did use every tool to jump start the economy and the consumer banking system. The tools would work as the models predicted or calculations demonstrated, but the aggregate impact could not jump start the economy. The Federal Reserve cut benchmark rates to near zero and flooded the banks with cheap cash for the banks to lend out in the communities, but credit was tight and small business and credit worthy … [Read more...]

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Wall Street Wk Ahead: Stocks to track earnings with eye on Europe | Article | Business | Reuters.com

April 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSBRE83D00A20120415 Wall Street Wk Ahead: Stocks to track earnings with eye on Europe By Chuck Mikolajczak and Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - After suffering their worst two weeks of the year, stocks will look to quarterly earnings to determine whether the recent pullback has been exhausted or more losses are justified. Alcoa Inc (AA.N) opened the earnings season with a bang, reporting a first-quarter profit on Tuesday instead of the expected loss. That positive surprise foretold a trend. Of the 32 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, Thomson Reuters data showed that 75 percent - or two dozen - have beaten Wall Street's expectations. This week will start one of the busiest weeks of the quarterly earnings reporting period. About 86 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 are expected to post results, according to Thomson Reuters Director's Report. At Friday's close, both the Dow Jones … [Read more...]

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