Hope for mortgage forgiveness tax relief, extenders

WASHINGTON — Here's some good news for 
homeowners worried that Congress will fail again to renew popular tax benefits for use in 2014 — especially those allowing for mortgage debt forgiveness, write-offs for energy-saving improvements and mortgage insurance premiums.

Though there has been no formal announcement, the Senate Finance Committee under new Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), expects to take up a so-called "extenders" package within weeks, sometime this spring. "This is high on 'Wyden's' priority list," according to a source with direct knowledge of the committee's plans. That's an important change from last December, when then-Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is now ambassador to China, let 50-plus corporate and individual tax benefits expire. The House also took no action to extend.

As a result, several key tax code housing provisions lapsed into a legislative coma. Without reauthorization retroactive to Jan. 1, they could disappear from the code and not be available for transactions this year. Both Baucus and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) focused on wholesale rewrites of the tax code last year rather than spending time on extending special-interest tax provisions.

But now there are signs that at least some of the expired housing benefits could be back on Congress' to-do list. What are these "extenders," as they are called on Capitol Hill?

Tops on the list is the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, a law that has saved large numbers of 
homeowners from hefty tax bills — close to an estimated 100,000 taxpayers in 2011, the latest year for which IRS estimates are available. First enacted in 2007 with menacing clouds of the housing bust on the horizon, the law carved out a special exception to the general rule in the tax code: When you are relieved of a debt burden by a creditor, the amount forgiven is treated as income subject to taxation at ordinary rates.

For qualified homeowners whose mortgage debt was reduced or written off by lenders in connection with loan modifications and short sales, the law said, the forgiven amounts would not be taxable. However, the 2007 carve-out for mortgages was temporary. Congress was required to extend it periodically — which it failed to do last Dec. 31. At least one state has a partial remedy for congressional inaction, however: California owners who sell homes through short sales are not subject to taxation on the amounts forgiven, a legal interpretation confirmed by the IRS.

Also part of the housing benefits that Congress failed to extend last December: A $2,000 tax credit for construction of energy-efficient new homes, deductions for home improvements that conserve energy, and write-offs for the mortgage insurance premiums that many borrowers pay in connection with low-downpayment loans.

Though Wyden is planning to take up an extenders bill soon, that does not guarantee that any specific tax law provision will be part of the bill the Finance Committee ultimately considers. Most tax analysts expect that a final bill will include some form of renewal.

The home energy conservation tax programs also are likely to be included in the Senate bill.

Meanwhile, in the House, Camp has not indicated when he plans to take up the extenders. He recently unveiled a comprehensive tax reform plan that would lower tax brackets, increase standard deductions and eliminate or sharply curtail most longtime housing tax benefits — including mortgage interest and property tax write-offs. Camp's bill did not mention reauthorization of the now-expired housing extender items, but he asked colleagues for their views on what might be retained in a large bill.

If, as expected, the Senate Finance Committee approves and the full Senate passes some form of extender package — including two or three of the housing provisions — election-year pressure on Camp to pass some version will be intense, despite his preference for comprehensive tax reform, which has no chance of passage in 2014.

Bottom line: Though there are hurdles ahead, the outlook for renewal of mortgage forgiveness debt relief — and possibly other housing benefits — looks more promising now than it has in months.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Health law birth control coverage before justices

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and its opponents are renewing the Supreme Court battle over President Barack Obama's health care law in a case that pits the religious rights of employers against the rights of women to the birth control of their choice.

Two years after the entire law survived the justices' review by a single vote, the court is hearing arguments Tuesday in a religion-based challenge from family-owned companies that object to covering certain contraceptives in their health plans as part of the law's preventive care requirement.

Health plans must offer a range of services at no extra charge, including all forms of birth control for women that have been approved by federal regulators.

Some of the nearly 50 businesses that have sued over covering contraceptives object to paying for all forms of birth control. But the companies involved in the high court case are willing to cover most methods of contraception, as long as they can exclude drugs or devices that the government says may work after an egg has been fertilized.

The largest company among them, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., and the Green family that owns it, say their "religious beliefs prohibit them from providing health coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices that end human life after conception."

Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby has more than 15,000 full-time employees in more than 600 crafts stores in 41 states. The Greens are evangelical Christians who also own Mardel, a Christian bookstore chain.

The other company is Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. of East Earl, Pa., owned by a Mennonite family and employing 950 people in making wood cabinets.

The administration says a victory for the companies would prevent women who work for them from making decisions about birth control based on what's best for their health, not whether they can afford it. The government's supporters point to research showing that nearly one-third of women would change their contraceptive if cost were not an issue; a very effective means of birth control, the intrauterine device, can cost up to $1,000.

"Women already have an income gap. If these companies prevail, they'll have a health insurance gap, too," said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center.

The contraceptives at issue before the court are the emergency contraceptives Plan B and ella, and two IUDs.

The government also argues that employers would be able to invoke religious objections under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act to opt out of other laws, including those governing immunizations, minimum wages and Social Security taxes. The Supreme Court previously has rejected some of these claims in cases decided before the law's enactment.

The issue is largely confined to family-controlled businesses with a small number of shareholders.

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 85 percent of large American employers already had offered such coverage before the health care law required it. There are separate lawsuits challenging the contraception provision from religiously affiliated hospitals, colleges and charities.

The federal appeals court in Denver ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby. Conestoga Wood lost its case at the federal appeals court in Philadelphia

In many respects, Hobby Lobby is the sort of company Obama would be pointing to as he advocates for corporate responsibility and a higher minimum wage.

Hobby Lobby's base pay for full-time employees is almost twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. They are offered health insurance, dental coverage and a retirement savings plan. Hobby Lobby stores close most nights at 8 p.m., which the company says is aimed at allowing employees to spend more time with their families.

The Greens say they have no desire to make health care decisions for their employees, but neither do they want to contribute to services to which they object.

One key issue before the justices is whether profit-making corporations may assert religious beliefs under the 1993 religious freedom law or the First Amendment provision guaranteeing Americans the right to believe and worship as they choose. The court could skirt that issue by finding that the individuals who own the businesses have the right to object.

The justices still would have to decide whether the birth control requirement really impinges on religious freedom, and if so, whether the government makes a persuasive case that the policy is important and is put in place in the least objectionable way possible.

Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood say the burden they face is clear in the $100-a-day fine for each employee they would have to pay for not complying with the contraception provision. By contrast, businesses that choose not to offer health insurance at all can pay a tax of $2,000 a year for each employee.

One potentially underemphasized aspect of the case is that there is no requirement that employers offer health insurance. They could pay the tax, which will be cheaper in many instances, according to Georgetown University's Martin Lederman, who has advanced the argument.

But Mark Rienzi, a Catholic University professor who is on the Hobby Lobby legal team, said Hobby Lobby would be at a competitive disadvantage with other employers who offer health insurance. "Their view is and has always been that they want to take really good care of their employees and their families," Rienzi said.

The companies say they believe life begins at conception, and they oppose only birth control methods that can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, but not other forms of contraception. There is dispute over whether any of these contraceptives works by preventing implantation, but the administration has not raised that issue in this case.

___

Follow Mark Sherman on Twitter @shermancourt

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

California DMV: No evidence of computer breach

The California Department of Motor Vehicles said Saturday there's no evidence of a computer breach, but it's launching an investigation "out of an abundance of caution."

DMV spokesman Armando Botello said the agency was alerted by law enforcement to a potential security breach within its online credit card processing systems.

"There is no evidence at this time of a direct breach of the DMV's computer system," Botello said in a statement.

But the agency has opened an investigation, and was cooperating with state and federal authorities.

As part of the probe, DMV will review its systems and seek information from the outside vendor that processes credit card transactions and from credit card companies.

KrebsOnSecurity.com was the first to report the possible breach, which it says involved online payments from Aug. 2, 2013, to Jan. 31, 2014.

A spokesman from MasterCard said it was investigating reports of a potential breach at the California DMV. Seth Eisen said MasterCard's own systems have not been breached.

Eisen said MasterCard has sent out alerts to member banks. He advised consumers to review their accounts and contact their card issuer for assistance.

The DMV said it has increased monitoring of its website. Any affected customers will be notified, the agency said.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Report: NSA targeted Chinese tech giant Huawei

BERLIN — U.S. intelligence agencies hacked into the email servers of Chinese tech giant Huawei five years ago, around the time concerns were growing in Washington that the telecommunications equipment manufacturer was a threat to U.S. national security, two newspapers reported Saturday.

The National Security Agency began targeting Huawei in early 2009 and quickly succeeded in gaining access to the company's client lists and email archive, German weekly Der Spiegel reported, citing secret U.S. intelligence documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The New York Times also published a report Saturday about the documents.

Huawei objects to activities that threaten network security, said William B. Plummer, the company's vice president of external affairs.

"Huawei has declared its willingness to work with governments, industry stakeholders and customers in an open and transparent manner, to jointly address the global challenges of network security and data integrity," Plummer said in an email. "The information presented in Der Spiegel and the New York Times article reaffirms the need for all companies to be vigilant at all times."

Among the people whose emails the NSA was able to read were Huawei president Ren Zhengfei, Der Spiegel said.

The operation, which Der Spiegel claims was coordinated with the CIA, FBI and White House officials, also netted source codes for Huawei products. One aim was to exploit the fact that Huawei equipment is widely used to route voice and data traffic around the world, according to the report. But the NSA was also concerned that the Chinese government itself might use Huawei's presence in foreign networks for espionage purposes, it said.

In response to the Der Spiegel report, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said the agency doesn't comment on specific alleged activities. She reiterated the NSA's position that its activities are aimed only at "valid foreign intelligence targets in response to intelligence requirements."

"In addition, we do not use foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line," Vines said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.

In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee recommended that Huawei be barred from doing business in the U.S., citing the threat that its equipment could enable Chinese intelligence services to tamper with American communications networks.

In January, the company rejected a previous Der Spiegel report claiming that its equipment was vulnerable to hacking. The magazine had reported that the NSA was able to install secret "back doors" in telecoms equipment made by Huawei and other companies.

Der Spiegel's latest report claims the NSA also targeted top Chinese officials, such as former President Hu Jintao, as well as ministries and banks.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters reach tentative deal

ST. LOUIS — Anheuser-Busch and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters say they have reached a tentative deal on a five-year contract for workers at the beverage-maker's 12 U.S. breweries.

The company and union say in a statement dated Friday and posted on the company's website that the deal is subject to ratification by the union members. They say their negotiators are focused on finalizing the contract language.

Anheuser-Busch is based in St. Louis and is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. It has U.S. breweries in Missouri, California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, New York and New Hampshire.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rescuing data from ransom

A cloud backup firm is flourishing thanks to a malicious software capable of wiping out all of a government agency's, business' or PC user's data in one fell swoop unless the victim pays a ransom.

Intronis this year plans to add 45 employees to the 80 it has in Chelmsford and is eyeing undisclosed competitors to acquire as CryptoLocker and copycat "ransomware" wreak havoc, infecting more than 12,000 computers in the space of a single week alone, according to security software maker Bitdefender Labs.

"It's a diabolical twist on an old scam," said Intronis CEO Rick Faulk. "All your files are frozen. If you pay the ransom, they tell you you'll get a key to unlock your files. If you don't pay, all your files are destroyed. You might as well take your computer and drop it off a bridge."

Intronis protects against such "gremlins," which often are unleashed when people click on a link or an attachment from someone they don't know, Faulk said.

"We copy all of your data to our servers, located off site, so you can get your data back," he said.

The 11-year-old company charges by the gigabyte, an amount that can total "between the low hundreds and low thousands of dollars per year" — "very inexpensive insurance for what you're getting," Faulk said.

Last November, Swansea police ponied up $750 online for an encryption key to unlock their files after CryptoLocker ransomware installed a timer on their computers, giving them 100 hours to pay.

"CryptoLocker is prolific; the FBI has come across numerous cases in the United States and around the world," Jennifer Shearer, an FBI spokeswoman, said in an email. "No one has been prosecuted to date."

Because each circumstance is different, Shearer declined to advise people whether they should pay the ransom.

"Ideally, everyone would back up his computer files; that's just good cyber hygiene," she said. "If a user will lose files of great personal or professional value and does not have any other way to recover that information, he should consider the time it would take to recreate those files and whether or not it's worth paying a ransom."

Even paying one, however, is no guarantee that people will get their files back, said Eric Kuznitz, vice president of Wizard Computer Services, a Canton company that provides Intronis' backup solution to its clients.

"We had a client pay a ransom before they called us, so they lost their money and their files," he said.

Besides never clicking on links or attachments from people you don't know, Kuznitz recommended making sure your computers and servers are updated regularly and your important data is backed up, ideally both on and off site, in case of a break-in or fire.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hub hosts fest on music tech

Artists, researchers and hackers are getting together in Cambridge this weekend to promote and advance music technology.

"The Music Tech Fest is a festival of music ideas," said Michaela Maga, one of the festival's organizers. "We gather the whole music technology ecosystem under one roof."

The festival draws a wide range of participants, from small startups to academics to corporate giants.

"What was exciting about this event was the ability to bring the hacking community and the artistic community and the scholarly community together," said Nancy Baym, a researcher at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Microsoft New England's NERD Center.

That combination is the point of music tech, said Peter Torpey, who works in the MIT Media Lab, in the Opera of the Future group. Torpey is focused on developing technology for the future of performance and composition, among other things. Torpey has worked on creating a symphony composed by an entire city.

"Music technology is just part of the tool set we use to create the works, to reach out to people and to tell stories," he said.

The festival will finish with a hackathon, teaming up artists and techies.

"A beatboxer will come to a hacker and say, 'I'd love for this to be able to do this precise thing to aid my performance'," Maga said. "We are very hands on and we allow people to show off their idea, demo it, perform it, invite other people to collaborate with them."

Last year, the winning hack was a teaching guitar with an iPad modified to work as a key and motion-based synthesizer.

The Music Tech Festival will be in seven cities around the world this year, but Boston is the only stop in the United States.

Maga said many cities, including New York and Los Angeles, are clamoring for the festival to come, but they chose Boston because of the combination of research institutions, entrepreneurs and arts.

Baym said the combination of music and entrepreneurship in Boston creates a unique environment.

"You've got this incredible array of music that happens here," she said. "There's both a really healthy music community and a really healthy technology community."

Earlier this month, streaming giant Spotify bought music intelligence company the Echo Nest, based in Somerville. 
Spotify has said it will keep the company in Somerville, and it will operate as 
Spotify's research and development office.

Key investors and Boston entrepreneurs have said the move will significantly increase the number and stature of Boston's music tech engineering talent.

"I imagine The Echo Nest will be expanding over time," said Paul 
Lamere, director of developer platform for the Echo Nest. "Lots of people who are passionate about music and technology will have a place in or near Davis Square."

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Driver wonders if antilock brakes all that effective

I have two cars with ABS — a 1999 Buick Regal and 2013 Toyota Corolla. I am wondering if ABS is really the best way for stopping on an icy road. This past week I had several occasions where I tried to stop as I approached a stop sign, but when applying and maintaining brake pressure the ABS engaged but did little to stop the car as I kept sliding. Then I did the old-fashioned pumping of the brakes with much better results! The ABS seemed to not work well on icy roads compared to the pumping technique. Is this only my experience or am I using ABS incorrectly?

Considering that antilock braking systems are capable of recognizing wheel lockup and modulating/releasing hydraulic pressure to restore rotation of the wheel many times per second — much, much faster than the human foot can accomplish — ABS should be more effective than pumping the brakes in slippery conditions.

But there may be mitigating factors. First, if the anxiety of not stopping as quickly as the situation warrants causes the driver to continue to press harder and harder on the brake pedal, the ABS tends to cycle more slowly because of the much larger releases of hydraulic pressure required to restore wheel rotation. These much deeper modulations will increase stopping distance measurably.

Recognize what provides the "best" stopping traction on ice — it's that moment just before and as the wheel/tire begins to lock up. At that instant the tread blocks on the tire surface are at the edge of their maximum traction, just before sliding. Since the ABS system can recognize and release hydraulic pressure at that precise moment much faster than the human foot, ABS should stop better on ice.

Is it possible the pumping action can be more effective? Not in my experience, but perhaps in a scenario where the locked wheel/tire is actually melting the ice under the tread. This is entirely speculative on my part — just trying to envision a scenario where pumping the brakes might be more effective.

But here's the bottom line. Neither ABS nor pumping the brakes can overcome the laws of physics. Experiencing either action is confirmation of going too fast and/or braking too late for existing conditions. On glare ice, I still want an ABS system to minimize the consequences of my mistake.

I have a 2014 Hyundai Sonata. Since I purchased it the catalytic converter makes a ticking noise when it gets hot. I had a previous 2012 Sonata that never had this issue — any thoughts?

The ticking sound from the exhaust as it cools down is completely normal. The sound is generated by the extraordinarily hot metal in the forward sections of the exhaust, including the converter and its heat shield, contracting as it cools. No worries. And I think you'll find that this ticking during cooldown will fade as you accumulate more miles on the vehicle.

How does really cold weather affect hybrid vehicles? I am thinking of buying one but not if they don't work well in really cold weather. Also, what if I go south in the winter — can my hybrid just sit in the garage for several weeks without any problem?

With a gas/electric vehicle, expect to see more "gas" operation in cold weather. More energy is needed to operate the vehicle and warm its interior. So the car likely will rely more heavily on its internal combustion engine and use more fuel. But even with the lower efficiency and reduced "hybrid benefits," the vehicle still will "work" reliably. And parking a hybrid for weeks, even months, won't be any more of an issue than with a conventional vehicle.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor, and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Leave a daytime phone number.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

Millions on the sidelines for big health care push

WASHINGTON — Alan Thacker wants health coverage, but he can't get help in his home state of Georgia. Mary Moscarello Gutierrez no longer can afford insurance in New Jersey. Justin Thompson of Utah refuses to be forced into the president's health law.

Millions of people in the United States will remain uninsured despite this week's final, frenzied push to sign them up under the health law. Their reasons are all over the map.

Across the country, many of the uninsured just don't know much about the health overhaul and its March 31 deadline for enrolling in plans that can yield big discounts, researchers say.

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that only one-fourth of the uninsured had tried to sign up through the state or federal insurance marketplaces, also known as exchanges, by late January. If they don't enroll in time, many will face a fine and be locked out of the subsidized plans until next year.

President Barack Obama and a phalanx of advocacy groups, insurance companies and volunteers are scrambling to spread the word about HealthCare.gov as the deadline dangles.

But the complexities of the Affordable Care Act can stymie even the well-informed.

New York tap dancer Jessica Wilt just missed being one of them.

She lost her health coverage last summer when she was laid off as education director of a small dance company. It wasn't easy being uninsured — when Wilt slashed her fingertip slicing lemons one night, she avoided an emergency room bill by sealing the cut herself with a super glue.

Wilt, 37, was eager to enroll in a marketplace plan but found the premiums too costly for a freelancer doing arts-related jobs. That would have been the end of it, if the accountant doing her income taxes last week hadn't prodded Wilt to try again. She went online, realized she had erred in projecting her 2014 earnings and qualified for a much bigger subsidy.

"I'm feeling a little embarrassed that I interpreted things the wrong way the first time," said Wilt, who signed up Friday for a midlevel "silver" plan for $150 per month, a price that reflects a $224 tax credit. "It just goes to show how confusing all this is."

There's a story for everyone who will remain on the sidelines of Obama's big enrollment push.

These are some of them:

___

THEY CAN'T GET IN

Richard Kelleher, long-term unemployed and uninsured, spent five months sorting through the confusion in Phoenix. He tried to sign up for a marketplace plan and then the state's newly expanded Medicaid program, getting shutdown online, at state offices and by phone. At the same time, he was piling up employment rejections.

Kelleher, 64, felt invisible.

On Friday he got a letter accepting him into Medicaid — and an entry-level job offer the same day.

That puts his insurance situation in limbo for now. He thinks his earnings will end his Medicaid eligibility. But Kelleher says he's grateful for "an opportunity to at least be somewhere every day."

In Thomaston, Ga., it took Alan Thacker two weeks to get his answer online. It wasn't the one he wanted.

"I don't know how many expletives I hurled at the computer — 'Why are they doing it this way? Morons!' and other choice words," he recalled.

Thacker, 43, works for $7.55 an hour at Burger King, not enough to qualify for a discount plan for himself and his wife through the federal marketplace. People who don't earn enough for the marketplaces plans were supposed to be eligible for expanded Medicaid.

But because Georgia declined to enlarge its Medicaid program, the Thackers can't get help there, either.

Thacker said he likes the law, only wishing it could reach everyone in need.

"It's a great law and it's doing good stuff for people," Thacker said. "It's not doing anything for me."

___

IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE

In theory, Rebecca Carlson has access to health insurance through her job. The marketplaces are mostly for people who don't.

A single mother in Asheville, N.C., she earns $11.50 an hour, around $23,000 a year, doing office work at a nonprofit agency that helps people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. She makes too much to qualify for the aid programs that support many of her agency's clients.

Covering Carlson and her 14-year-old son under her workplace plan would cost close to $5,000 per year. That's out of reach on her squeeze-every-nickel budget.

Depending on details of her workplace's offering, it's possible Carlson, 43, might qualify for an exception that would open the door to a marketplace subsidy. But she had so much trouble getting through online and by phone that she gave up trying; it seemed unlikely to help.

"They could offer me health care for $20 a month and I wouldn't be able to do it," Carlson said. "I have other responsibilities. I can't tell the power company that I can't pay the bill."

In New Jersey, Mary Moscarello Gutierrez, 44, could barely afford her catastrophic insurance plan before the Affordable Care Act.

Now she has no coverage.

She and her husband, Jorge, used to be insured through their small business: PatriaPet, a website that sells dog and cat collars decorated with world flags. They were falling behind on their $400 monthly payments and their insurance agent advised them not to bother catching up because their type of mom-and-pop business policy wouldn't be allowed under the new federal rules.

With her salary from various freelance writing jobs, the couple earns too much to qualify for a marketplace subsidy. She's priced bare bones policies at $900 to $1,200 per month, more than they can pay. Luckily, they can keep their 12-year-old daughter in an affordable state-run plan.

For now, the Gutierrezes are uninsured and facing a year-end penalty of about $800, or 1 percent of their earnings.

"If I need some kind of major surgery, if I get hit by a crosstown bus, my family is sunk," she said. "It's scary."

___

THEY DON'T WANT IT

"I love paying taxes," declares Justin Thompson of Provo, Utah. "I think it's the most patriotic thing I can do."

And he's pleased to help others through substantial gifts to his church and charities.

But buy insurance to prop up the law? No way.

"It is an injustice that our president can tell us to do something like this," Thompson said. "It's everything our Founding Fathers fought against."

Thompson thinks going uninsured is a reasonable risk for him. After all, he says, he's 28 years old, healthy and financially secure, making about $250,000 selling home automation and security systems last year.

Living on the central Florida coast, Jim Culberson, 63, has weathered heart attacks and cancer and says he barely scrapes by selling military histories and collectibles.

He would like health insurance if he could afford it, Culberson says. Just not through Obama's law.

He has no plans to look into the subsidies in Obama's law or its promise of coverage for pre-existing conditions.

"To me it looks like a load of hogwash," said Culberson, whose younger brother, John, is a Texas congressman pushing for repeal of the health care law. He adds: "I don't believe a whole lot the government says."

Culberson says he'll pay the uninsured penalty until he can enroll in Medicare in two years.

___

MAYBE NEXT YEAR

Need a 12-foot-long, flower-bedecked model plane for a wedding reception? Jose Espaillat will get it done.

He likes the challenge of setting up concerts, fashion shows and other flashy events in Miami, but it's part-time, seasonal work that doesn't come with a health plan. Espaillat, 26, hasn't seen a doctor in five years.

He found HealthCare.gov easy to use, but the $150 to $250 monthly premiums seemed too high. A cheaper option covering only major emergencies wasn't appealing. He decided to wait until next year.

"This year I'm just trying to get rid of as much debt as possible, student loans and stuff," Espaillat said.

Svetlana Pryjmak of Dade City, Fla., has been uninsured for about eight years, which she acknowledge "is really strange — because I'm a licensed insurance agent."

Companies that offer multiple insurance options hire Pryjmak to help workers understand their choices. She weighed her own options and decided to save the $70 or so a month she would pay for a heavily subsidized policy. The early troubles with the enrollment websites weren't encouraging, she said.

But Pryjmak, 47, expects to sign up someday.

"Next year I'll probably get in on one of the exchanges," she said, "if the problems are ironed out."

___

Follow Connie Cass on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ConnieCass

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More

China, Netherlands sign trade pacts

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — China and the Netherlands signed a trade pact Sunday pledging Dutch dairy expertise to help Chinese producers boost the quality and quantity of their milk.

The deal signed at a ceremony at Prime Minister Mark Rutte's official residence in The Hague is another step by China to rehabilitate the reputation of its dairy industry in the aftermath of tainted milk product scandals.

It was part of a raft of deals and memoranda of understanding inked on the second day of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is in the Netherlands with a large trade delegation.

In 2008, some Chinese milk brands were found to be tainted with the chemical melamine, which can cause kidney damage and other injuries. Some suppliers added it to fool protein tests on watered-down supplies.

Imported milk products like baby formula still have a reputation for safety in China and command far higher prices than local brands.

The Dutch government said in a statement that experts will help China increase its annual milk production to 40 billion kilograms (88 billion pounds) in coming years.

After his meeting with Rutte, Xi spoke to a business conference in the seaside resort town of Noordwijk before visiting the world famous Keukenhof flower garden, where his wife Peng Liyuan christened a new strain of tulip called the Cathay.

After his state visit ends Sunday, Xi is staying in the Netherlands to take part in the two-day Nuclear Security Summit starting Monday in The Hague before travelling to France, Germany and Belgium later in the week.

23.41 | 0 komentar | Read More