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BGR: SB 242 Sets Wrong Priorities
5/16/2013
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Download and Read Attachment
Attachment:
 BGR-Now_Hotel_5-14-13.pdf
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Documents and Links: NOCVB
5/16/2013
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Letter to Justin Winch from NOCVB Attorneys
5/16/2013
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Hotel Tax Ends Up with SideShow Is New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau a public body?
Citizen groups and most recently the Bureau of Governmental Research have cried foul over an effort by tourism marketing groups to quickly but quietly pass a bill, SB 242, which would raise more than $12 million for tourism marketing campaigns without any public accountability. Related to this is a series of suits in Civil District Court between private citizens who want to examine NOCVB’s financial records and attorneys for Stephen Perry, Executive Director of the tourism body. Most interesting in all this legal maneuvering is an extensive filing by NOCVB where it firmly states it is not a public body, even though it receives public financing generated by state and local taxes. “The reason we should all care about this revelation is because the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as noted by BGR, is about to eat up the city’s ability to generate funds for crime or other important priorities by levying a
Attachment:
 20130507100308960.pdf
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More Documents: NOCVB
5/16/2013
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Repeal Louisiana's Sick Tax
5/3/2013
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LOUISIANA’S “SICK TAX” Prescription Drug Sales Tax Limits Access/Continuity of Patient Care Support SB 82 by Senator Mills/SB 102 by Senator Buffington LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION • SB 82 was filed by Senator Mills to create an exemption for local sales taxes for complex biologics by providing a two year phase out of the local sales taxes on drugs triggered by increases in state and parish revenues. • SB 102 by Senator Buffington is similar to SB 82; however its effective date is July 1, 2014.
THE ISSUE In 2002, Louisiana passed legislation exempting prescription drugs from the state sales tax. However, parish and municipal governments maintained the option of applying local sales taxes to lifesaving drugs ranging from 1% to 6% depending on the locality. • The “sick tax” burden has disproportionately impacted physicians who administer medications in their offices who, unlike retail pharmacists, are unable to recoup the cost of the tax from insurers or patients. Nephrologists, rheumatologists, internists, and gynecologists are most impacted. • As a result, some physicians have stopped administering drugs in their offices, are sending patients to hospitals, or are requesting patients bring drugs with them to the physician’s office to be administered. (The latter is referred to as “brown-bagging.”) • Medicare sets national rates and the “sick tax” is not taken into consideration in setting rates. Additionally, health insurance companies are not required to reimburse for the tax, therefore, this burden is placed squarely on physicians. • Louisiana’s allowance of local sales taxes on prescription drugs is highly unusual. Only three states have been identified as allowing for a prescription “sick tax,” and one of those states passed legislation in 2012 repealing the tax due to access of care issues. • The “sick tax” has resulted in a limitation to medications and compromised patient continuity of care. • Medicaid and state employee/retiree health insurance costs may be significantly higher as many physicians are sending patients to hospitals for administration of these medicines as a result of the tax.
Attachment:
 Sick_Tax_White_Paper_May_1_2013.docx
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About Author Amy W. Yarsinske
4/15/2013
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An American in the Basement
4/15/2013
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By Amy Waters Yarsinke
To those who know Amy Waters Yarsinske, it’s no surprise that this Renaissance woman became a writer. She learned at an early age that self-expression had to be forceful, accurate and relevant. This drive to document and investigate history-shaping stories and people has already led to 56 nonfiction books, most of them spotlighting current affairs, the military, history and the environment. But it is Amy’s experience and expertise in the military, intelligence and with missing persons that has led to her being informally labeled “the P.O.W. Hunter.” In June 2002, she published No One Left Behind: the Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story, which documented known evidence, missteps, mistakes and cover ups in the Speicher case. Writing the book was the right thing to do. Telling the Speicher story was just the beginning of a new chapter in Amy’s life. “I have an obligation to the warfighter, to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who protect the cloak of freedom under which we live—some of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice for that freedom,” she said recently. “I want to be known as a great storyteller— their storyteller. And it is important to me that we get the Speicher case right. He is the seminal case in the most recent chapter of America’s prisoners of war and missing in action and if we don’t do right by him, we don’t do right by any of the men and women in our military.” Amy is currently working on a screenplay for a feature-length theatrical motion picture with co-writer Michael Stephen Myers, and has just been seen in the series debut of the Investigation Discovery Channel’s new series Fatal Vows “Dead Silence.” Outside her writing, Amy is an accomplished artist, gardener and sommelier. She lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and is currently working on her next book. You can find out more about Amy by visiting her Web site at www.amywatersyarsinske.com
Link :
www.trineday.com
Attachment:
 American_in_the_Basement-Print.pdf
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Action Alert: Eye Protection!
4/12/2013
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download document for instruction
Attachment:
 LA_grassroots_alert_3.pdf
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Residents Sue Mimi's in the Marigny
4/12/2013
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lawsuit attached
Attachment:
 130412_Plaintiffs
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2012 LA Women's Policy and Research Commission Report
4/4/2013
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Click to download the report
Attachment:
 Women
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Save Louisiana ADRCs/Senior Rx
3/7/2013
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This message urges action, especially if you care for a loved one who has a disability or a loved one who is an older American.
Governor Bobby Jindal has eliminated funding for the Louisiana Aging and Disability Resource Centers (known as LouisianaAnswers.com) and the Louisiana Senior Rx program. As of July 1, 2013, these programs will not longer serve as a one-stop shop or "case manager" for adults with disabilities or aging issues. These programs, which are a free service through Area Agencies on Aging and/or Councils on Aging, help adults find solutions to issues which threaten their independence or ability to live at home. This program is also responsible for enrolling seniors and adults with disabilities in prescription assistance programs, including Medicare Part D. Help us save these programs today. Let's start by calling Kristy Nichols, the Louisiana Commissioner of Administration, and asking her to RESTORE FUNDING TO THE ADRC/SENIOR RX PROGRAM in the 2013-2014 budget for the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs. Call Ms. Nichols at 800-354-9548. Even have your family members call! She could restore these funds as early as March 12!! Let's get the job done.
Link :
www.louisianaanswers.com
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Read More
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PhRMA: New Biologics Promise Help for Diseases
3/11/2013
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Please download the attached report
The report includes biologics in human clinical trials or under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration such as: 338 cancer therapeutics that target several different types of solid tumors, leukemia and lymphoma; 134 vaccines for infectious diseases; 71 medicines for autoimmune diseases including lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis; 58 treatments for cardiovascular disease.
Attachment:
 Biologics_2013.pdf
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Louisiana Respite: Getting Help
2/28/2013
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More than one-third of all adults provide family care-giving to a loved one, even though they are not likely to express it or ask for help.
Changing this scenario by providing services that lend a hand is the goal of the Louisiana Lifespan Respite Summit, a volunteer network dedicated to building supports, such as day care or other resources, for those who assist adults and children with disabilities, illness or the impact of aging.
Three out of four caregivers do not get help from a family member. Caregivers often feel isolated and will fulfill this role for five years or more before they realize they need help. To make a difference, the first step is helping caregivers realize their own needs.
Download the info flyer. For info: Tammy LeBlanc, tammy.leblanc@gov.la
Attachment:
 respite_flyer1.pdf
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BP Update from Stuart Smith: Feb. 20, 2013
2/22/2013
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsSCtLufA9c&feature=youtu.be
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Details on League of Women Voters Feb. 28 meet
2/20/2013
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Join letter to oppose IPAB
2/18/2013
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Hundreds of organizations and individuals signed a letter to oppose IPABs in 2012. We need your signature on the 2013 letter!
If you want to join this letter, contact: cbrylski@aol.com 504.897.6110
Attachment:
 IPAB_Group_Letter_2013.pdf
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The latest attack on Medicare Part D: IPAB
2/18/2013
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Reducing the deficit is the right thing to do for our country. However, deficit reduction should not be achieved by compromising our democratic principles by giving an unelected, unaccountable board the right to make new laws and even change laws without Congress approval.
One of the most troubling provisions of the new health reform law creates an Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) with these powers over Medicare. The Board was created to reduce spending in Medicare. While it’s clear something needs to be done to control Medicare spending, IPAB is the wrong approach.
What is IPAB? IPAB is an independent board that will consist of 15 members, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for six-year terms. If Medicare’s actuaries project that the per person growth rate under Medicare will exceed a target for that year as set in the health reform law, IPAB will be required to submit its plan to reduce the projected growth rate. Its plan would go into effect without Congressional action. This process of comparing spending projections to targets and cutting spending continues annually in perpetuity.
The IPAB fundamentally changes how Medicare policy is decided. The health care law effectively puts control of Medicare in the hands of unelected, unaccountable “experts” and, because it’s very difficult for Congress to override IPAB decisions, takes it out of the hands of elected officials. In practice, the law makes it very difficult for Congress to reject or modify IPAB’s decisions, even if those decisions override existing laws and protections that Congress passed. This new system is set up so IPAB, rather than Congress and HHS acting under Congress’s authority, make the policy choices about Medicare.
IPAB is effectively unstoppable. In sum, IPAB’s plan—no matter how far-reaching its policies—would become law without any congressional action, or even with majority opposition in Congress. The health reform law further removes IPAB from even congressional oversight by giving IPAB automatic funding authorizations and appropriations in perpetuity.
IPAB may decide that certain treatments or medications will not be covered by Medicare. Treatments and medications that are new, expensive or rare may be particularly likely to face restrictions.
IPAB gives seniors and providers no recourse. That's why medical, patient and other advocacy groups are opposed.
Attachment:
 bill to ppose ipab.pdf
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Louisiana Congressmen:Protect Part D
2/14/2013
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President infers price controls, as he has before, and we disagree
I loved the 2013 State of the Union address...except for one small hint that the President intends to again propose government price controls on the successful Medicare Part D prescription drug program. The facts about Part D are simple and do not support this proposal: Part D succeeds for seniors and taxpayers because it’s built on effective competition and the savings negotiated by large powerful private plans—the same plans used by private employers and insurers—on behalf of seniors and taxpayers. The proof is in Part D’s performance. Part D is now 45% below the cost originally expected, and last week, while reducing Part D’s 10-year projected cost by over $100 billion for the third consecutive year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office pointed out that Part D is the single biggest factor responsible for lower Medicare spending projections. Seniors’ Part D premiums have been flat at about $30 per month —less than half the level originally projected—for the last three years. Moreover, CBO has now found that more use of medicines saves money on other health care services; Harvard researchers estimate Part D reduced Medicare spending on hospital care by $13 billion just in its first full year of implementation, savings not even factored into the cost estimate showing that Part D has been remarkably successful in holding down costs. The President’s proposal to tamper with a program that works well would not yield any benefit for seniors. Instead, analysts have projected that the President’s scheme would harm Part D’s competitive dynamics, yielding higher premiums, more restrictive access to medicines, and diminished research on the next generation of medicines. We have long worked to make access to meds easier and affordable for seniors, because we believe medicines keep seniors independent longer. Therefore, Louisiana Congressmen: Work with us to protect Part D. Attached is a chart with the numbers of seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D and C programs.
Attachment:
 Untitled.jpg
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Medicare Part D Bible
2/14/2013
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Know the facts so you can fight back against efforts to raise Medicare Part D premiums
Attachment:
 the bible.pdf
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Bedside Confessions
2/6/2013
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When the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy announced before a live audience recently that his father did not believe in the lone gunman theory regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, nor respect the Warren Commission report on the subsequent investigation, renewed consumer interest was directed to a a book by the son of E. Howard Hunt.
Trineday’s Bond of Secrecy, wherein the son of CIA Spy and Watergate Conspirator E. Howard Hunt details his father’s deathbed confession about the plot to kill JFK. Hunt reveals that key figures in the CIA were involved in the plot to assassinate JFK in Dallas, and that Hunt himself was approached by the plotters, who included the CIA’s David Atlee Phillips, Cord Meyer, Jr., and William Harvey, as well as future Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis. The death-bed confession was a “bond of secrecy between my father and me that would last 35 years,” writes Saint John.
Attachment:
 bond pr.jpg
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BGR: SB 242 Sets Wrong Priorities
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