by Daphne Bishop

It may not be spring yet, but 1000 Radishes are about to sprout up, and with them potentially far-reaching ways to connect local growers with the people who crave their wares.

You may recall, we told you about 1000 Radishes last summer. It’s a high-tech way to find what’s in season, connect with the people who grow it, and cook it up in delicious recipes.  And it’s an offshoot of Will Work for Food, the project started by our energetic friend, Valerie Gates. She’s been offering barter and reduced rate services from her award-winning design firm to small New England farmers for about a year now. In return, they have been providing the bounty of field, pasture, henhouse and ocean to Valerie and her family.

1000 Radishes was the brainchild of MIT Professor Abel Sanchez, PHD who approached Valerie about ways to use technology to enhance her project, and Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of tastingtimes.com.

But what looked fairly straightforward last summer has grown more complex. Valerie and partners will now be offering more than the original phone app enabling consumers to locate the freshest in-season produce and foods.  And, there is going to be a formal “launch” in the Boston area on March 22^nd, just two days after the Spring Equinox.

As the team worked on the dimensions of the phone app during the fall of 2009, and with MIT “being a hotbed” for emerging technologies, they realized they could offer something more cutting edge.

“One of the challenges,” says Valerie “is that technology is growing by leaps and bounds in a short space of time. No sooner did we do one update, than new possibilities would emerge.”  While it is a longer development period than anticipated, the best part, Valerie believes,” is that it is going to really help farmers, and going to strengthen the connection between families and farms.” And it will take the “where hip meets crunchy” idea and “make it even cooler.”

Details of the expansion are being kept very quiet for now. “We’re working on a fun location for our debut,” says Valerie, adding that it would be especially nice to have the “launch” in one of the barns at a local farm.  There is also the possibility of a celebratory dinner featuring local foods. Wherever they decide, she notes that the 1000 Radishes creators want the occasion to acknowledge the consumer love and support that has given family farms a new lease on life. 

Valerie has also stayed busy during the fall and winter months with Will Work for Food and has fielded inquiries from as far away as Iowa and Washington, D.C.  She encourages more niche farmers to contact her, as she still has available slots for reduced fee services that would help with branding, marketing and design.

One organic meat rancher in the Midwest contacted Valerie after reading an article about her. Her work with the Bar 20 Ranch in Ames, Iowa includes branding the ranch and its food product line. But they are also exploring the farm “as a destination.” Located two hours from Chicago and St. Louis, Bar 20 could offer consumers something they are longing for: a close-up look at sustainable food production.  This could well be “the new entertainment for the green family!” Valerie says with enthusiasm.

The desire to connect with farmers and small scale food producers is something Valerie and her colleagues are hearing about from “a lot of people.”  In fact, she was amazed at how many calls she has received from college students who want to volunteer on farms during school breaks and summer vacations. There is a very real need “for a clearinghouse to connect kids with farmers.”

Since an integral part of the work is experiencing and relishing fresh, locally grown foods whenever possible, Valerie and friends also held a harvest dinner “in which everything was sourced from within a ten mile radius.” Chef Dimmick created a mouth watering menu that included ratatouille and grilled burgers with buns that used flour ground at a Sudbury grist mill, as well as pear desserts and wine. And, with a tongue in cheek nod to the ideal of eating “hyper local foods,” Valerie adds that the group savored “well water from 40 feet away.”  

Valerie has also kept her husband, Barry Friedman, and her two children very much involved with her work. In fact, the family spent Labor Day weekend building a stone wall where the family garden will again be this year. She admits it took a little bit of a bribe. “But I said, ‘look, we can hire someone to build the wall or we can do it the old-fashioned way.’” And in the end, the activity turned out to be as much fun as it was heavy work.

It’s worth remembering that Will Work for Food and 1000 Radishes, and the ripples both projects are continuing to create all began because Valerie read two books.  “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” by Michael Pollan and “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” by Barbara Kingsolver both explore the ways in which food is produced in this country - from industrial farms to backyard chicken coops. For Valerie, reading the books spawned a desire to find and feed her family the healthiest local foods, as well as to connect them with the people who produced them. The ways in which that seemingly simple goal developed has gone “far beyond what I could ever have imagined,” she says.

So, mark your calendar for March 22^nd and the rollout of the 1000 Radishes application. We’ll be sure to fill you in on all the details, and let you know when the food is ready.

Posted on February 9th, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Agriculture, Buy Local, Farms & Farmers, Food, Nutrition, Rural Life, Rural Urban Partnerships, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Posted with permission from PolicyinPractice.org and the law firm of Carpenter, Lipps & Leland LLP

Last week Ohio reported that between October 31 and December 31, 2009 over 20,000 jobs have been created or retained as a direct result of the stimulus funding.  This funding, provided at a critical time has made the difference to Ohio’s families.  Towns and villages across the state have seen the direct result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For many communities stimulus is not only creating and retaining jobs, but also solving problems that would otherwise remain undone due to a lack of funds.  The following are just two examples of how it’s working in Ohio.
 
The Village of Buckeye Lake has a little over 3000 residents and sits on a 3300-acre lake where Ohioans enjoy fishing, boating, and a variety of other water related recreation activities.  Despite this setting, t remains one of the largest villages in the state with out a public supply of drinking water.  Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will soon change.  $5 Million dollars of ARRA funding will establish a drinking water distribution center at a rate affordable to Buckeye Lake’s residents.  Once completed, this system will provide clean drinking water to 1,200 households, improving life not only for current residents, but also making the Village more attractive for prospective buyers. Clean water isn’t the only positive outcome.   The project which broke ground in June of 2009 is expected to create about 50 jobs. The distribution center is expected to be completed in July 2010.
 
Ohio forests and the communities in and around them are also directly befitting from the stimulus.  The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division received a $4.4 Million grant from the US Forestry Service to create the Ohio Woodland Conservation Job Corp.  Using these funds, the Ohio Woodland Conservation Job Corp will work to remove invasive species from state forests. Each year these invasive species result in a loss of quality hardwoods.  This loss causes a severe hardship for Ohio’s $15 billion wood industry.  A portion of the ARRA grant will fund 66 members of the Woodland Conservation Job Corp to work a total of 1000 hours each in state forests throughout the state.  A new class of Job Corp members will start work in April of 2010. 
 
In the next few months, Policy in Practice will be sharing additional stories of Ohio’s renewal.

Posted on February 8th, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Jobs, economy | No Comments »

President Obama reflects on the Massachusetts election results and his vision for creating a better America.

Posted on January 25th, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: 2010 Senate races, Obama, POTUS, Senate Races | No Comments »

By Al Cross

Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election Tuesday and dealt a serious blow to the Democratic health-care reform bill, but he didn’t win on the strength of the rural vote. Democrat Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, won the counties with both the most rural and urban populations, while Brown rode victories in the more suburban counties to victory, the Daily Yonder reports.

In the five counties with more than 20 percent of their population living in rural areas, (Nantucket, Hampshire, Berkshire, Franklin and Dukes), Coakley won 64 percent of the vote, and in the most rural county, Dukes, she won by more than 2 to 1, the Yonder reports. Brown did fare better in the five rural counties than Republican presidential candidate John McCain, getting 36 percent to McCain’s 25 percent. (Read more)

Voter turnout was surprisingly high for the special election that many first predicted to be a “sleepy election day,” David Abel and David Filipov of The Boston Globe report. More than 2.2 million of the 4.1 million eligible voters cast ballots in the three-way election. “A surge of angry voters looking to upset the status quo flocked to the polls yesterday” led to a strong Republican turnout the reporters write, but “Democrats, who, facing the loss of a seat their party had held for decades, also flocked to the polls.” (Read more)

Reprinted with permission from The Rural Blog.  Al Cross, former Courier-Journal political writer, is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and The Rural Blog. 

Posted on January 21st, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: 2010 Senate races | 1 Comment »

By Debra Kozikowski

Today’s meeting of the Paul Krugman Fan Club will please come to order. Read the latest and think. That’s all anyone can ask for — thoughtful consideration of the subject at hand. Do I have a motion to adjourn until the next column appears in the New York Times?

Posted on January 11th, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

By Daphne Bishop

As the old song says, “You must have been a beautiful baby.” But how does a baby stay beautiful and grow healthy and strong if all she eats are heavily processed commercial foods.

That was the challenge facing Shazi Visram, CEO and founder of HAPPYBABY, a company in Brooklyn, New York that creates healthy, organic foods for infants and toddlers. The inspiration came from a friend who was dismayed by the prospect of feeding her baby commercial baby food, was stressed between home life and job, and did not have the time to make fresh baby food from scratch. After lending a sympathetic ear, Shazi then began the research to see if there was a larger market for weaning babies onto whole, healthy foods.

HAPPYBABY made its debut a few years ago in five small stores in New York City. Now, it is sold in more than 5,000 stores with five lines of delicious, organic foods for babies and toddlers. Under the umbrella of HAPPYFAMILYBRANDS, the independent company is now the leading premium brand of baby and toddler meals.

“I started talking to as many other moms as I could to see if they would be excited by an alternative to the processed, jarred baby foods on the shelf,” recalls Shazi.  “I also had conversations with retailers to gage their interest level in carrying a new kind of baby food.  When it was clear to me that there was a market for the products, and that retailers were eager to offer the valuable new-mom shopper more innovative choices, I felt compelled to do more market research to move the venture forward. The more I learned about the importance of fresh, whole foods in the first years of baby’s life to create healthy eating habits, the more dedicated I became to making my idea a reality. “

The goal was also to source foods from farms committed to sustainable agriculture, thereby creating the kind of rural-urban partnership that would benefit multiple communities. But, Shazi also knew that the kinds of foods she could make available to the happy baby in America were a dream for infants dying of starvation, or sick and malnourished in many other parts of the world.

For that reason, HAPPYBABY partnered with Project Peanut Butter, a life saving endeavor in Malawi, Africa that was started by pediatrician Dr. Mark Manary.  He developed a rich, nutritious paste called PlumpyNut that does not require cooking and is resistant to bacterial contamination because it does not need water for processing. Also, peanuts are indigenous to Africa, and allergies to them there are rare. With each unit of HAPPYBABY sold, the company gives enough money to feed one starving child for one day. There is also the beauty of coming full circle in the partnership, according to Shazi, as her father was born in Tanzania. 

“I felt that prior to even starting the business, I wanted to align our brand with an organization, so that as we sold our product, part of our model would also allow for positive social impact,” she says.

Shazi is a graduate of Columbia University, from which she holds a BA in History and Visual Arts. She began to develop her business plan for HAPPYBABY in 2003. As a student at Columbia Business School, she “wrote the first version of it there in a class called Launching New Ventures. I had the idea over the summer in between the two years of the program while working for a Solar Energy non-profit, and was very inspired to use my second year at Columbia to further develop my venture.”

After graduating with an MBA in Management and Entrepreneurship, Shazi teamed up with company co-founder Jessica Rolphe, who worked in the national headquarters of Whole Foods Market. There, Jessica was the Account Manager for SPINS, the leading information provider on the natural products industry and its consumer dynamics. Recipes were developed with the input of pediatricians and nutritionists, always with an eye to giving babies the best possible foods for healthy growth.

HAPPYBABY offers “fresh frozen” organic baby meals in 15 flavors with a variety of meats, grains, veggies and fruits. The recipes are probiotic. That’s the name for the friendly bacteria which are found in mother’s milk and in foods such as yogurt, miso and kimchi. These bacteria live naturally in our intestines and help boost our immune systems and are especially important for growing babies. The company eventually expanded to offer toddler meals with hidden veggies, and a variety of healthful snacks under the banner of HAPPYFAMILYBRANDS. The goodies range from HAPPYBELLIES cereals to HAPPYMELTS yogurt snacks, and are all guaranteed to be free from pesticides and preservatives.

And while HAPPYBABY is headquartered in New York City, with manufacturing facilities spread around the country, according to Shazi, “Our sourcing is always as local as possible.” HAPPYBABY works “with small and large farms alike to source the highest quality organic produce available. “

“Supporting sustainable agriculture is very important to us,” she continues, “and we are committed to getting to visit and know as many of the farmers as we can.” Soon, information about those farmers will also be available to consumers on the HAPPYBABY website.

Shazi readily acknowledges that entrepreneurship “is definitely in my genes.” She credits her parents “who inspired me to go out on my own rather than take a pre-set corporate route, so that I could create my own opportunities and truly be the architect of my own life.” Born in Toronto, Canada, she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and fondly remembers “eating cauliflower after preschool with my mom.”  

She also ran a marketing and media buying consultancy geared to small businesses before the seeds of HAPPYBABY began to grow. Now, she and her husband, Joe, live in Jersey City, New Jersey, and she expecting her first HAPPYBABY this month.

What began with a sympathetic ear to a friend in need, now connects children here and abroad, and supports a dynamic model of sustainable agriculture promoting organic food production and high quality. Or as that same old song says, “Baby, take a look at you now!”

Posted on January 10th, 2010 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Buy Local, Food, Nutrition, Rural Urban Partnerships, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Posted on December 31st, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By Karen St. John

An evergreen wreath, decorated with a single red ribbon, is carefully placed upon the grave of the fallen serviceman or woman who lay buried in the national cemetery.  It is a simple gesture, unbounded in its respect for the memory of the service to our country, and profound in its reverence for the one who gave it. 

Multiply that one, simple gesture by 10,000 wreaths for Arlington National Cemetery, 2,500 wreaths to Togus National Cemetery in Maine, and thousands of additional wreaths to over 350 veterans’ cemeteries and monuments, enacted by 100,000 volunteers in all fifty states, Washington, D.C., and some areas outside the United States, and you have the “Wreaths Across America” project.

Began in 1992 as the “Arlington Project,” the “Wreaths Across America” project of 2009 accomplished the laying of 161,000 wreaths, in 405 participating sites located across all fifty states, at several locations in Iraq, and at all U.S. national cemeteries on foreign soil.   The majority of wreaths were sponsored by individuals, businesses, and groups from communities nationwide.  It is estimated that over 7,500 people were in attendance at Arlington National Cemetery and 15,000 at Houston National Cemetery.  This year for the first time, the leadership team of the American Gold Star Mothers, mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service to our country (http://www.goldstarmoms.com/), traveled with the wreaths on the 750-mile journey from Maine to Arlington.  One father joined the mothers. 

Over 3,000 wreaths were placed at Battery Park in New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the memory of the victims of 9/11. 

The project extended across the border into Canada, too.  A wreath-laying ceremony was held at Ferry Point Bridge to honor our Canadian allies, and especially, the Canadian citizens who served in our U. S. Armed Services.   

How did this project start?

It All Began with a Twelve-Year-Old Newspaper Delivery Boy 

Twelve-year old Morrill Worcester, a newspaper boy for Maine’s Bangor Daily News, knew it was the chance of a lifetime when he won a trip to Washington, DC.  Among all the historic sites he visited, it was Arlington National Cemetery that moved him the most.  Even at such a young age, the newspaper boy could sense the valor, honor and sacrifices those veterans made in service to our country.  

Worcester grew up and became a successful businessman with his own wreath company.  But the reaction he had as a young boy visiting Arlington Cemetery never left him.   It would not be until 1992, however, that he would share those deep feelings with other people who would eventually play key roles in establishing a national wreath project.

Can’t Keep a Good Idea Down 

The 1992 holiday season had come to an end and Worcester found himself with an excess of unsold wreaths.  Maybe it was because Christmas always brings out the kid in all of us; or, maybe it was the U.S, flag blowing in the breeze.  Recalling our nation’s fallen servicemen and women at Arlington National Cemetery, Worcester suddenly knew exactly what he would do with his unsold wreaths.  He contacted his senator, Olympia Snowe, and asked for her help in getting his stack of wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery.  Senator Snowe came through and arranged for the wreaths to be placed in a special section at Arlington: one of the older sections of the cemetery that was receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.

As plans were made and word began to spread about the wreaths for Arlington, others wanted to get involved.  Among the first was the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts, which gathered with members of the community to decorate each wreath with red, hand-tied bows.  James Prout, owner of the trucking and warehouse businesses of Blue Bird Ranch, Inc., generously provided transportation to carry the wreaths from Maine to Virginia.  Members of the Maine State Society of Washington, DC and John Metzler, Jr, Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, volunteered their time to help organize the wreath laying, which would incorporate a special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

Over 5,000 wreaths were laid upon the oldest graves of our nation’s heroes.

And So It Began 

Whatever caused Worcester to think back to Arlington Cemetery that day gave no hint of what was to come.  For it would be that moment and on that day, that what would eventually become known as the “Wreaths Across America” project, was born.   

Worcester continued to donate wreaths, and the groups continued to volunteer their time for the wreath-laying ceremony.  In 2004, members of the Maine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) joined in at Arlington National Cemetery, in what would become an annual event for the cadets.     

Although the efforts of Worcester and his gracious volunteers had remained little known outside Arlington Cemetery since its start in 1992, the advances in technology would soon prove powerful enough to make the wreath-laying project almost a household word.  

By 2005, the Internet had become a major part of most Americans lives. When a random photo of the red-ribboned wreaths adorned on the headstones amid snow-covered grounds at Arlington Cemetery was placed on the Internet, it instantly became a national hit.  Directors of national cemeteries across the nation spotted the photo and requested wreaths for the graves of their state’s heroes.   

Unable to donate such a large quantity of wreaths but still wanting to contribute, Worcester did the next best thing:  he filled every request with seven wreaths, symbolizing the number of military branches and POW/MIA.  He called his extended efforts the “Wreaths Across America” project.  To Worcester, it was a perfect way to promote his goals of “Remember, Honor, Teach.” 

Community and business groups across the nation soon learned of the project and volunteered to help lay wreaths at their national cemeteries.   

A key group offering their services was the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR).  The PGR is a diverse group of motorcycle riders who have unwavering respect for those who risk their lives in service to our country.  PGR volunteered to provide an escort for the wreaths that were destined for the Virginia cemetery. 

The United Parcel Service (UPS) generously donated all shipping expenses to each of the 150 state and national cemeteries and monuments across the country that were participating in the wreath-laying ceremony.  

Requests for the wreaths continued to grow with each passing year and in 2007, Worcester established the “Wreaths Across America” project as a not-for profit 501c3 organization.  Only a year later, over 300 locations held wreath laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and the twenty-four cemeteries located overseas.   The wreaths placed on veterans’ graves were lovingly brought to each cemetery, escorted and laid by over 60,000 volunteers who were participating in the project.

In November of 2008, Maine Senator Susan Collins introduced the resolution (S RES 717) that officially designated December 13 as “Wreaths Across America Day.”  The resolution was co-sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe.   It passed unanimously.  The wreath laying is now held annually on the second Saturday of December.  

The Project Today

The current list of volunteers for the “Wreath Across America” project is impressive.  Almost a dozen trucking companies donate its trucks to the project.  The Maine State Society of Washington D.C. continues its involvement in the project, as does the American Legion and VFW members, and UPS.  Fed Ex has joined the project as well as Annin & Company, the largest manufacturer of flags in the United States.  Annin has donated both American and service specific flags for each wreath ceremony held over 230 State and National cemeteries and monuments across the country.  

School children from the Margaret Chase Smith School in Skowhegan, Maine, were so impressed with their first visit to Arlington Cemetery that the school has made it an annual event.  Dubbed the “Red Hat Entourage,” because all the students and their chaperones wear red winter hats, the students raise money throughout the school year for the trip to honor our fallen heroes. 

The PGR, now with over 179,000 members nationally, remain in charge of escorting the tractor-trailer loads with donated wreaths from Maine to Arlington.   Other patriotic motorcycle and motor vehicle groups join them along the way.  Depending on the weather, the escorts currently number from fifty to 300.  

CAP proudly states that its cadets still “volunteer muscle and helping hands in dispensing the wreaths to the many volunteers and supporters who gather each year to participate.”   

Multiple volunteers who are not connected to the above groups, also join in the wreath laying.   

The Man and the His Company

Worcester Wreath Company continues to be a major supporter of the project.  Honoring each fallen serviceman and servicewoman has been and remains the most important priority of all the “Wreaths Across America” ceremonies.   The project’s web site (http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/), now carries a personal message from Morrill Worcester himself:   

“…the many phone calls, email, and letters of thanks…(provide) the inspiration for all of us to renew our commitment to honor the men and women of the armed forces who have served, and those who are currently serving our country. To each, and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we owe unwavering support and a profound debt of gratitude for preserving the way of life we all enjoy here in the United States of America.”

Additionally, there is a passage from the project’s latest newsletter that thanks the veterans again.  In so doing, it offers our servicemen and women a most poignant reminder: 

“If you’ve ever had any doubt about whether people will remember your service and sacrifice - just google Wreaths Across America and you will see thousands of photos, videos, and blogs about what you mean to us. Thank you all and God Bless.” 

We all know of someone who is currently serving in the military.  Most of us feel concern and grief over the human loss from the current wars.   Some of us have lost loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.  Many of us want to do something we can see, feel or touch, that will signal to all our troops that whether they are near us or far away, they are always in our hearts, our prayers and our hopes for peace. 

If you are one of the many, the “Wreaths Across America” project may be what you are looking for.   Wreath sponsorships are available online.   A complete list of participating locations is available on the web site at www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org. 

It seems fitting to end any article upon the “Wreaths Across America” project with a few words from the American Poet, Thomas Bailey Aldrich: 

“With the tears a Land hath shed

Their graves should ever be green.”

Posted on December 25th, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Veterans | 1 Comment »

The U.S. House chamber may be quiet this year, but in the Senate the creatures will be stirring. The final vote on the health care bill is set for Christmas Eve. This update just in from the Democratic National Committee:

Senate Democrats Break Republican Filibuster, Final Vote on Health Reform Legislation Set for Christmas Eve.  

All 60 members of the Democratic caucus voted for cloture early Monday morning, overcoming a Republican filibuster and clearing a critical procedural hurdle to getting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to the floor for a full vote before the end of the year.  Democrats won another cloture vote on Tuesday morning, so with one more procedural vote to go before a vote on final passage - which is currently scheduled for 7:00pm on Christmas Eve - fundamental reforms to our health care system are finally within reach.

Last weekend’s Senate debate is one history-lovers will read about for years to come:  the Senate worked through the weekend, despite a blizzard that dumped 20 inches of snow and brought Washington to a stand-still; the Senate’s oldest and longest-serving member, 92 year-old Robert Byrd of West Virginia, was greeted with cheers upon his arrival to the Senate chambers;  and Vicki Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy’s widow, watched from the gallery in the wee hours of Monday morning as Senators voted from their desks, a rarely used practice implemented only for historic votes.  

There were passionate voices calling for reform outside the Senate chambers this weekend, too. Mrs. Kennedy and Vice President Joe Biden had powerful pieces the Washington Post and New York Times. Kennedy argued passionately that this is the moment her husband would not want to lose, writing: “So I humbly ask his colleagues to finish the work of his life, the work of generations, to allow the vote to go forward and to pass health-care reform now.” Vice President Biden cautioned against letting the perfect be the enemy of the good: “While it does not contain every measure President Obama and I wanted, I would vote yes for this bill certain that it includes the fundamental, essential change that opponents of reform have resisted for generations… Most recently, in 1993, Democrats had a chance to forge a compromise with Senator John Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, on a health care reform bill. Congress’s failure to pass health care reform that year led to 16 years of inaction — and 16 years of exploding health care costs and rising numbers of uninsured Americans. We can’t let that happen again. While it is not perfect, the bill pending in the Senate today is not just good enough — it is very good.”

With all the back and forth, it can be hard to keep track of what is and isn’t in the Senate bill. Here’s quick rundown of the immediate and short term benefits included in the Senate bill:

 

IMMEDIATELY:

Children will be allowed to stay on their parent’s insurance policy until age 26 Insurance companies will be prohibited from kicking people off their coverage, known as “rescissions”

The deficit will begin to be reduced, by over $100 billion in the first ten years alone Insurers will be required to cover prevention and wellness benefits and exempt those benefits from deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements

Insurers must spend up to 85% of premiums on patient care, instead of administration costs or you’ll receive a rebate

Patients will be able to appeal denials of health care coverage, with states ensuring the availability of an external, independent process that holds insurance companies accountable

Tax credits will be available for small business so they can get help to cover their workers

A ban on refusing coverage due to pre-existing conditions for children will go into effect 

The prescription drug “donut hole” in Medicare Part D will begin to be close

Beginning the path to saving Medicare for future generations by lowering costs

 

WITHIN 4 YEARS:

A ban on refusing coverage due to pre-existing conditions for adults with high-risk pools available until exchange is up and running

Health Insurance Exchanges—market-based, competitive health insurance marketplaces, where people can one-stop-shop for the plan that best fits their needs among an array of competing health care plans—will be created

National private plans, including one that must be non-profit, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, the same entity that oversees health care plans for members of Congress

Subsidies (or Affordability Credits) will be offered to help lower and middle income families afford coverage

A ban on lifetime and annual health care caps will be enacted beginning in 2014 but with restrictions until then  

Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Congress, Healthcare Reform, US Senate | No Comments »

The headine reads: “Franken Shuts Down Lieberman on Senate Floor.”  Even if only a temporary reprieve from listening to the CT Republicrat waffle, weave and threaten to kill heath care reform, it’s about time someone said it out loud.

Go Al!

Posted on December 18th, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Healthcare Reform, Lieber-watch, US Senate | 2 Comments »