Download and Read Attachment

Attachment:   BGR-Now_Hotel_5-14-13.pdf

Link :   http://humidcity.com/2013/05/15/nocvb-petition-prrs/

Attachment:   Winch_v_NOCVB_exception,_memo,_and_rule.pdf

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

Attachment:   20130506155408575.pdf

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

Attachment:   Title_Author_Info_14_MAY_2012.pdf

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

download document for instruction

Attachment:   LA_grassroots_alert_3.pdf

lawsuit attached

Attachment:   130412_Plaintiffs

Click to download the report

Attachment:   Women

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

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

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsSCtLufA9c&feature=youtu.be

click the attachment

Attachment:   LWVST_Legislative_Preview_Meeting_-_February_28.pdf

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

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

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

Know the facts so you can fight back
against efforts to raise Medicare Part D premiums

Attachment:   the bible.pdf

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