Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul

Starting in 2014, President Barack Obama's health care law will expand coverage to some 30 million uninsured people. At the same time, insurers will no longer be allowed to turn away those in poor health and virtually every American will be required to have health insurance, through an employer, a government program, or by buying their own.

For the vast majority of people, the health care law won't mean sending more money to the IRS. But the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will take the biggest hit, starting next year.

And roughly 20 million people eventually will benefit from tax credits that start in 2014 to help them pay insurance premiums.

A look at some of the major taxes and fees, estimated to total nearly $700 billion over 10 years.

Upper-income households

Starting Jan. 1, individuals making more than $200,000 per year, and couples making more than $250,000 will face a 0.9 percent Medicare tax increase on wages above those threshold amounts.

They'll also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income. Together these are the biggest tax increase in the health care law.

Employer penalties

Starting in 2014, companies with 50 or more employees that do not offer coverage will face penalties if at least one of their employees receives government-subsidized coverage. The penalty is $2,000 per employee, but a company's first 30 workers don't count toward the total.

Health care industries

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Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul

A Healthy Incentive For Small Businesses

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Employees of small businesses across New Hampshire can now earn rewards for choosing more cost-effective health care providers, thanks to a consumer-centric program announced today by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire.

Anthems innovative Compass SmartShopper program, previously only available in the large group market, is being expanded to include small group business effective January 1, 2013.

Small businesses form the backbone of our local economy and this program helps give them access to more affordable health benefits for their employees, said Lisa M. Guertin, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire.

Heres how the program works: a member is referred by their physician for a medical service or diagnostic exam. The member then contacts Compass Health Care Advisers which provides information for area health care providers. If a member chooses to receive care from a more cost-effective provider for his or her health care service, they qualify for financial incentives ranging from $25.00 to $500.00 depending on the health care service.

Our state is fortunate to have a broad range of highly skilled physicians who provide high-quality health care services and are able to offer those services in a number of different physical locations, Ms. Guertin said. However, there can be a broad variation in cost for the same services based on where they are performed - as much as 250% - for some procedures. If employees choose to receive care in a lower-cost location, the employer benefits through lower claims costs and employees making informed health care decisions are rewarded for their engagement. Its a true win-win.

First introduced in 2010 to Anthems large group customers, the Compass SmartShopper program has generated well over two million dollars in claims savings to date for local companies and has paid more than four hundred thousand dollars in incentive rewards. Currently 45 New Hampshire businesses, including state employees, participate in the program.

Its important to note that all of Anthems small group members and their dependants are automatically enrolled in the program beginning January 1, 2013, and participation is completely voluntary and confidential, said Robert Benedetto, director of small group sales for Anthem. And the program is location-based, not doctor-based, which means employees are not being asked to change doctors.

Currently the program, which is exclusive to Anthem members, targets a growing list of over 40 high volume elective procedures and tests including: Carpal Tunnel Surgery, Colonoscopy, CT (Computerized Tomography) Scan, Ear/Nose/Throat Surgery, Hernia Repair, Knee Arthroscopy, Mammogram, MRI, Shoulder Arthroscopy, Sinus Surgery, and Upper GI diagnostic exams; additional services will be added over time. Compass SmartShopper has been tailored to fit seamlessly with our current products to offer maximum value to our small group members, Mr. Benedetto noted. Not only can this effort represent a real cost avoidance to an employer, it can also support healthier and more productive employees as the program covers a range of recommended screenings. It is an important first step in providing an avenue for employees to protect the health benefits they have against the rising cost of medical inflation.

Mr. Benedetto added that the program is designed to work seamlessly with Anthems Site of Service Benefit option, another popular transparency initiative designed to help lower member out of pocket costs.

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A Healthy Incentive For Small Businesses

IHI Issues Action Brief for Health Care Leaders in the Post-Election Era

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement:

WHAT:

A new report from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Out of the Blocks: An Action Brief for Health Care Leaders in the Post-Election Era, outlines key findings, predictions and insights from some of the nations foremost quality improvement and policy experts. The 14-page action brief recaps proceedings from an event held in Washington, DC, just two days after the presidential election, that brought together more than 100 health care leaders to discuss election results, what they signaled for health reform, and the strategic priorities of US health care organizations.

Co-chaired by IHI CEO Maureen Bisognano and IHIs Board Chairman Dr. Gary Kaplan (Chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center), and emceed by IHI Founder and former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Donald Berwick, the day also featured the insights of Former Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle.

Key findings:

Health care providers must determine innovative ways to address the challenge of impending reimbursement cuts and many are eager to reconfigure care in inventive ways to succeed within tighter budgets.

Providers must consider adjusting practice patterns, spanning solutions for both cutting costs and improving care including the use of telemedicine, group appointments, social media and community campaigns.

Providers are becoming more open to payment reform and data transparency in exchange for looser regulation and more room to innovate opening the door for a potential grand bargain between policy makers and provider organizations.

Revenue pressures are driving closer collaboration between physicians and managers, and between providers and payors creating a more innovative environment to affect improvement.

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IHI Issues Action Brief for Health Care Leaders in the Post-Election Era

World's First "Hearts and Minds" Clinic for Adults with Genetic Syndrome

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, opened The Dalglish Family Hearts & Minds Clinic - the world's first comprehensive, interdisciplinary clinic devoted to adults with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome(22q11.2DS) and their families. Joined by the Honourable Deborah Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the opening took place at University Health ...

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World's First "Hearts and Minds" Clinic for Adults with Genetic Syndrome

Innovation Presentation – Cancer Gene Therapy Project – Video


Innovation Presentation - Cancer Gene Therapy Project
NSW Health:bit.ly Media Release:bit.ly The Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner, hosted a community health forum in Parramatta on Wednesday 26 September 2012 to give Greater Western Sydney residents the chance to have their say on the future of health services in their community.From:NewSouthWalesHealthViews:0 0ratingsTime:06:48More inNonprofits Activism

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Innovation Presentation - Cancer Gene Therapy Project - Video

uniQure Initiates Phase I in Acute Intermittent Porphyria

AMSTERDAM, December 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

uniQure B.V., a leader in the field of human gene therapy, today announced the start of its Phase I clinical trial in acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) with the treatment of the first patient. The study is conducted under the aegis of the AIPGENE consortium, a pan-European collaboration funded in part by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Program with the aim to develop a gene therapy for the treatment of AIP, a rare and devastating disease caused by mutations in the porphobilinogen deaminase gene (PBGD). AIP can be life-threatening and the long-term effects include irreversible nerve damage, liver cancer and kidney failure. uniQure was granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of AIP in 2009 from the European Medicines Agency.

"The start of the AIP Phase I study marks the first of four programs that will enter clinical trials over the next 12 months," says Jrn Aldag, CEO of uniQure. "After AIP we expect clinical trials to be initiated in Parkinson's disease, hemophilia B, and Sanfilippo B. After many years of building and developing our capabilities and competencies, and the approval in November of Glybera for LPLD as the first gene therapy in the Western world, we are highly motivated to expedite the clinical development of our other advanced gene therapies."

About the AIP Phase I study

The Phase I will enroll eight patients with severe AIP at two centers: the Clinical University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, and the 12 de Octubre University Hospital,, Madrid, Spain. The study's primary objective is the assessment of safety and determination of the maximum tolerated dose. Secondary objectives include tolerability of treatment, pharmacokinetics, changes in the levels of surrogate markers of activity including porphobilinogen (PBG) and delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), and assessment of symptom control, neuro-psychological changes and quality of life. All patients will be followed for one year, and the interim results of the Phase I are expected in Q3 2013.

About acute intermittent porphyria

Acute Intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare genetic disease which is caused by mutations in the porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) gene; one of the enzymes of the heme biosynthesis pathway. Mutations in this gene cause insufficient activity of the protein resulting in partially disruption of heme synthesis. This in turn leads to accumulation of toxic intermediates (ALA and PBG) giving rise to a wide variety of problems including acute, severe abdominal pains, psychiatric and neurological disorders, and muscular weakness. Acute porphyric attacks can be life-threatening and the long-term consequences include irreversible nerve damage, liver cancer and kidney failure. Currently, the only curative therapy is liver transplantation and thus, new curative options are urgently needed. Severe AIP patients are suffering poor quality of life with palliative treatments for the different symptoms including glucose or heme infusions for metabolic replacement and inhibition of toxic metabolic production.

About AIPGENE

AIPGENE is a European Commission Framework Programme 7-funded consortium (Grant Agreement number 261506) which was put together with the aim to develop the orphan gene therapy drug AAV5-AAT-PBGD (AMT-021) for the treatment of Acute Intermittent porphyria (AIP). The consortium's objective is to contribute to alleviating the negative impact of this disease on the quality of life of the patients and their families. Overall coordinator of the project is the Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) at the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. Apart from uniQure, other members of the consortium are the Clinical University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; German Cancer Research Center (NCT-DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; DIGNA Biotech, Pamplona, Spain; Servicio Madrileno de Salud, Madrid, Spain.

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uniQure Initiates Phase I in Acute Intermittent Porphyria

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Funds Promising Leukemia Study – Patients in Remission More Than Two Years after Gene …

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), the nations only non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to funding cell and gene therapy research for cancer, is excited to play a major role in the recent leukemia study pioneered by scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. ACGT was the initial funding arm for the study using immune-mediated gene therapy for leukemia and lymphoma. This study illustrates the successful and sustained demonstration of how gene therapy uses the bodys own T-cells and turns them into weapons aimed directly at cancer.

Initial ACGT grants were awarded in 2004 to Dr. Carl June of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and to Dr. Michel Sadelain, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Gene Therapy & Gene Expression Laboratory in New York City. Preliminary results were issued by Dr. Carl June and the University of Pennsylvania in August 2011, with additional results released this week and presented by Dr. Carl June at the American Society of Hematologys Annual Meeting and Exposition being held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The clinical trial participants, all of whom had advanced cancers, included ten adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, were treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and two children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Two of the first three patients treated with the protocol at HUP whose cases were detailed in The New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine in August 2011 remain healthy and in full remission more than two years after their treatment, with the engineered cells still circulating in their bodies. Currently, nine out of 12 of the participants show their disease in remission.

The discovery of successful cancer gene therapy treatments are what my husband and I hoped for when we founded ACGT a decade ago, noted Barbara Netter, president and co-founder of the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. We knew it would be an uphill battle. ACGT was the only organization willing to take the risk when others were not. With federal funds decreasing, and the realization that pharmaceutical companies will not participate in the research phase until marketable and mass-produced treatments are created, we seized the chance to make a difference. My late husband Edward Netter (1932-2011), was a true visionary in the field of medical research. He would be so thrilled by the progress ACGT has made possible.

ACGT is currently funding 17 clinical trials in cancer cell and gene therapy targeting numerous types of cancers. Since its inception, ACGT has awarded more than $23 million in grants to 39 investigators to treat 11 different types of cancer. In 2012, ACGT also awarded a $500,000 grant to a clinical translational study on pancreatic cancer and has great expectations for its outcome. In ACGTs 2011 grant cycle, 87 scientists from throughout the U.S. responded with grant applications for ACGTs Young Investigator Grants, making 2011 one of the most sought-after funding year in ACGT history. The ACGT funded clinical studies are already showing promise, especially in the treatment of leukemia, lung, melanoma and prostate cancers.

It is so exciting that the pathfinder role ACGT played by provided the seed money for the University of Pennsylvania trial has led to these stunning successes for leukemia treatment, said Dr. Savio Woo, chairman of ACGTs Scientific Advisory Council, and founding Chair of the Department of Gene and Cell Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Woo noted that 100 percent of all funds donated to ACGT go directly toward funding innovative cancer gene therapy research grants. ACGTs Scientific Advisory Council, which comprises some of the best scientific minds and thought leaders with major U.S. medical institutions, oversee all phases of the ACGT grant process. Through this rigorous review, ACGT is able to identify and fund studies with the most potential for positive and innovative outcomes for treating cancer using cell and gene therapy.

The University of Pennsylvanias initial study was funded primarily by ACGT. The most recent clinical trial was also supported by ACGT, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Dr. June is the leader of one of the LLSs grants), and the National Institutes of Health. In addition, Novartis announced this summer that it would fund additional research at the University of Pennsylvania to further study the immunotherapies and has acquired exclusive rights to market the treatment.

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) is the nations only non-profit dedicated exclusively to cell and gene cancer therapy research. One hundred percent of all contributions to ACGT go directly to research and fund grants with leading scientists in the U.S., representing such institutions as Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, St. Judes Childrens Hospital, Duke University, The Salk Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Stanford University, Dana Farber Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Chicago. A rigorous grant review by Scientific Advisory Council ensures the most promising projects are rewarded. To learn more about the leukemia study at the University of Pennsylvania, and about the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), visit http://www.acgtfoundation.org or call 203.358.8000.

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Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Funds Promising Leukemia Study – Patients in Remission More Than Two Years after Gene ...

Futurist Ray Kurzweil w/ Glenn Beck, talk Technology


Futurist Ray Kurzweil w/ Glenn Beck, talk Technology his book "How to Create a Mind" Human Thought
Ray Kurzweil is the author of "How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed" for more about his book go to: http://www.bit.ly -- for more about this and other books go to: http://www.GlennBecksBookList.com The bold futurist and bestselling author explores the limitless potential of reverse-engineering the human brain Ray Kurzweil is arguably today #39;s most influential mdash;and often controversial mdash;futurist. In How to Create a Mind, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization mdash;reverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines. Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the world #39;s problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness and envisions the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating. Certain to be one of the most widely discussed and debated science books of the year, How to Create a Mind is sure to take its place alongside Kurzweil #39;s previous classics which include Fantastic Voyage Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Age of Spiritual Machines. (amazon.com)From:GlennBeckBookListViews:43 10ratingsTime:32:12More inNews Politics

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Futurist Ray Kurzweil w/ Glenn Beck, talk Technology

Future shock – main idea – Video


Future shock - main idea
Future Shock is a book written by the futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. In the book, Toffler defines the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. His shortest definition for the term is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time". Reference: en.wikipedia.org Created at http://www.b2bwhiteboard.comFrom:B2BwhiteboardViews:3 0ratingsTime:00:44More inEducation

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Future shock - main idea - Video

Diffrent : GiraffeCast 011 (Nov 2012) – Video


Diffrent : GiraffeCast 011 (Nov 2012)
For more mixes : http://www.dubstep-mixes.co.uk Wagz - Raregroove [Dub] Shaded - Awakening [Diffrent Dub] Dubtek - Weightless [Dub] Mtwn - Particles [Dub] Deadbeets - Slugger (Tension Dub) [Dub] Arkaik - Serated [Diffrent Dub] Subtension Minor Rain - No TIme [Dub] Lynx Kemo - Dive Deep [Warm Communications Dub] Bredren - Biosphere VIP [Proximity Dub] Fable Beezy - Afterparty [Dub] Cursa Futurist - Clart [Diffrent Dub] Fre4knc - Marching Cube [Absys Dub] Mauoq - Scriven Dub [Dub] Direct Motion - Those That Lead [Dub] Cranium Breach - Padded Cell (Resound Remix) [Skutta Dub] Hunchbak - 50 Hurts [Diffrent] Fracture - The Breaks [CIA Dub] Altitude - Creep [Dub] Dubtek - Ujayi [Dub] Fearful - Tongues [Diffrent Dub] Homemade Weapons - TenFour [Dub] Frederic Robinson - Untitled [Dub]From:DeeperJungleViews:1 1ratingsTime:01:01:01More inMusic

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Diffrent : GiraffeCast 011 (Nov 2012) - Video

VACEO Member Eric Sundberg. A Leader, Not a Follower – Video


VACEO Member Eric Sundberg. A Leader, Not a Follower
Eric Sundberg is a self-proclaimed futurist with an astute "fix it gene" and a fondness for travel. He is tall, thin, and is as equally intense about his work as he is about his love for his giant german shepherd, King, who lounges causally in his office. Today, we find out about his business vision, how he gives back to the community, and what one piece of advice he has for young entrepreneurs.From:VACEOsViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:58More inNonprofits Activism

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VACEO Member Eric Sundberg. A Leader, Not a Follower - Video