6/24/2015 Two reports released on Tuesday highlight the persistence of Medicare fraud, especially involving the Part D prescription drug program. The reports follow the largest Healthcare Fraud takedown in history last week, as officials charged 46 doctors and pharmacy owners, as well as nearly 200 others for Medicare fraud. This includes the arrest of 44
6/24/2015 Despite countless attempts to block the measure, including a dramatic standoff in the House of Representatives earlier in the month, President Obama will get his Fast Track Authority (FTA) in order to unilaterally negotiate the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on behalf of the U.S. government. The Senate approved FTA today following Tuesday’s
6/24/2015 For the first time in nearly 40 years, significant reforms to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) may finally take place as the House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday by a 398-1 vote on HR 2576, offering major changes to the law. The passage comes as a Senate panel advanced another
6/23/2015 The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee alternated flaying both Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata, and the U.S.’s top auto regulator, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) during a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The hearing accompanies two separate reports that highlight extreme failings by both the manufacturer and the agency. The hearing
6/23/2015 The Justice Department and New York City officials have reached a preliminary agreement to reform one of the most notorious prisons in the U.S., New York’s Rikers Island Correctional Facility. The agreement comes after the office of U.S. Attorney extraordinaire, Preet Bharara, joined a class-action lawsuit last December regarding police brutality and other abuses.
6/22/2015 In the wake of the latest hate-fueled mass shooting of a prominent African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina by 21 year-old racist, Dylan Roof, a major wave of momentum is fomenting towards a longstanding controversy, the public display of the Confederate flag in the state. The controversy over South Carolina’s reluctance to remove the
6/22/2015 Education reform will be a hot topic in Congress as early as this week as dual bills will likely be debated, continuing but offering modifications to the controversial Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The original Elementary and Secondary Education Act was signed into law by President Johnson as a “War on Poverty” measure
6/18/2015 The House of Representatives will vote Thursday to repeal two controversial provisions to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. Amidst a considerable degree of bipartisan support, Ways and Means Committee chairman, Paul Ryan (R-WI) successfully advanced measures to a vote earlier this month to cut the unpopular 2.3 percent tax on
6/17/2015 Bill Belichick might be quite upset to hear that a new sports franchise has allegedly taken cheating to the next level. The FBI is investigating baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into a rival team, the Houston Astros’ information database, stealing important information about players and others involved in the organization. Although sign-stealing
6/16/2015 It appears that the wave of high-level consolidations in the business world has now carried over to the nation’s top health insurers. United Healthcare, by far the industry leader, has approached Aetna, the U.S.’s third-largest health insurer, this week in early discussions of a merger. Anthem, the country’s second-leading health plan provider has also