State health officials happy with surge of late sign-ups
“The bottom line is that this modeling data suggests that levels of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds found in the Chinese manufactured drywall were sufficiently high to result in the health effects people have been reporting,” said Vikas Kapil, chief medical officer with the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The health research began in 2011 but was not finished until now because of the work necessary to create scientifically valid models that allowed researchers to estimate what the sulfur emissions from the drywall samples “might mean for people in a room in a house” containing that drywall, Kapil said. The report’s release had been promised in 2012. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson sent a letter to the CDC more than two months ago urging it be made public. “Thousands of Floridians continue to wait and wonder if they will ever see this critical taxpayer-funded research on the possible health impacts of problem drywall. This is unacceptable,” he wrote. Why some Chinese-made drywall contained high levels of sulfur compounds is unknown, said Kapil. Hydrogen sulfide is linked to respiratory problems when inhaled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Report backs Chinese drywall health complaints
Individuals who earn up to http://www.slideshare.net/alexsimring/alex-simring $15,521 a year, or $31,721 for a family of four, may qualify for Medicaid under the federal law’s expanded eligibility. Consumers who experience a qualifying life change, such as the birth of a child, marriage, divorce or job loss, also will be able to access the marketplace. Americans who didn’t secure health insurance must pay a penalty that starts at the greater of $95 or 1 percent of income for an individual and escalates to $695 or 2.5percent of income in 2016 and beyond. Several groups are exempt from this coverage mandate, including Native Americans, prisoners, religious objectors and those who don’t earn enough to file a federal tax return. To promote the health-care law, about 600 community groups joined together to launch a grassroots campaign called Cover Arizona because the state had little funding for outreach or marketing efforts. Kim VanPelt, director of state health policy and advocacy at St. Luke’s Health Initiatives and a Cover Arizona leader, said grass-roots groups will continue to reach out to Arizona residents who qualify for Medicaid or those whose life changes allow them to access the marketplace outside the normal enrollment period.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/01/arizona-obamacare-health-sign-ups-numbers-statistics/8568025/
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