Dedicated Insurance Professionals you know and trust...like Family
Issue No. 63
June 10, 2014
In our effort to provide exceptional health benefits, customer service and affordable rates, you are in the midst of seeing our announced and implemented changes, including our relocation and positive service provision adjustments.
At Texas Ag Coop Trust, we are always looking for ways to reduce cost and improve benefits for our members. In today's uncertain financial environment, combined with the ever increasing cost of health care and health insurance, it is more crucial than ever that we are committed to providing our members with the benefits and coverages they need and generate additional revenues to offset cost increases.
TACT aids in providing group benefits to members in the agricultural industry. TACT provides quality life and health benefit plans and works to hold down future rate increases for participants.
We look forward to continuing our provision of great service, outstanding benefits and SAVINGS to you!
You are a partner in decision making and you are partnered with a thriving coverage provider. Keeping YOU the priority. Keeping YOUR NEEDS in perspective. With TACT, YOU are our business.
Now serving ALL of Texas Agriculture -
Contact us for more information
TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals
you know and trust...like Family.
News Affecting You
It is official! Texas Ag Benefit Administrators, Inc. is now the official third party administrator operating under Texas Ag Coop Trust.
Healthcare In The News
Tools, Flexibility Transforming Healthcare Announced
Courtesy - hhs.gov
New funding gives states and innovators tools and flexibility to implement delivery system reform
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced new delivery system reform efforts made possible by the Affordable Care Act that offer states and innovators tools and flexibility to transform health care.
HHS announced twelve prospective recipients receiving as much as $110 million in combined funding, ranging from an expected $2 million to $18 million over a three-year period, under the Health Innovation Awards program to test innovative models designed to deliver better care outcomes and lower costs. Examples include projects to provide better care for dementia patients, improve coordination between specialists and primary care physicians, and to improve cardiac care. Round two of the Health Care Innovation Awards program focuses on four priority areas: rapidly reducing costs for patients with Medicare and Medicaid; improving care for populations with specialized needs; testing improved financial and clinical models for specific types of providers, including specialists; and linking clinical care delivery to preventive and population health. The twelve prospective recipients will test models in all four categories and spanning 13 states. Additional prospective recipients will be announced in the coming months.
Also, HHS made up to $730 million available as part of the State Innovation Model initiative to help states design and test improvements to their public and private health care payment and delivery systems. Project goals are to improve health, improve care, and decrease costs for consumers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries.
"As a former governor, I understand the real sense of urgency states and local communities feel to improve the health of their populations while also reducing health care costs, and it's critical that the many elements of health care in each state - including Medicaid, public health, and workforce training - work together," Secretary Sebelius said. "To help, HHS will continue to encourage and assist them in their efforts to transform health care.
"These efforts will strengthen federal, state, and local partnerships, encourage broad stakeholder engagement, and capitalize on federal resources to ensure greater transformation of delivery of health care services," said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
The twelve innovative projects announced represent the first batch of prospective recipients for round two of Health Care Innovation Awards program funding. In 2012, 107 organizations located in urban and rural areas, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico received awards through round one of the initiative.
As part of the State Innovation Model initiative, states, territories and the District of Columbia can apply for either a Model Test award to assist in implementation or a Model Design award to develop or enhance a comprehensive State Health Care Innovation Plan. Up to 12 states will be chosen for state-sponsored Model Testing awards ($700 million available) and up to 15 states will be chosen for state-sponsored Model Design work ($30 million available).
Examples of ongoing state-led health care innovations include development of advanced primary care networks supported by statewide health information technology systems and models that coordinate care seamlessly across providers. The second round of the State Innovation Models will continue to support and advance this good work.
Path Cleared for Senate Vote on New Health Secretary
The Senate cleared the way for lawmakers to decide on Thursday whether to confirm Sylvia Mathews Burwell as secretary of health and human services. Senators voted 67 to 28 last Wednesday to approve a procedural measure limiting debate on the nomination to no more than 30 hours, allowing a final vote on Thursday. Senate approval is widely expected. Ms. Burwell would take over the administration of the health care law from Kathleen Sebelius, who oversaw the botched rollout of the law's website last fall. Ms. Burwell has been serving as President Obama's budget director.
IRS Bars Employers From Dumping Employees
into Health Exchanges
WASHINGTON - Many employers had thought they could shift health costs to the government by sending their employees to a health insurance exchange with a tax-free contribution of cash to help pay premiums, but the Obama administration has squelched the idea in a new ruling.
Such arrangements do not satisfy the health care law, the administration said, and employers may be subject to a tax penalty of $100 a day - or $36,500 a year - for each employee who goes into the individual marketplace.
The ruling this month, by the Internal Revenue Service, blocks any wholesale move by employers to dump employees into the exchanges.
Under a central provision of the health care law, larger employers are required to offer health coverage to full-time workers, or else the employers may be subject to penalties.
But the Obama administration raised objections, contained in an authoritative question-and-answer document released by the Internal Revenue Service, in consultation with other agencies.
The health law, known as the Affordable Care Act, builds on the current system of employer-based health insurance. The administration, like many in Congress, wants employers to continue to provide coverage to workers and their families.
(Reuters) California lawmakers rejected a bill that would require labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the second time in two years such legislation has failed to take hold in the state. Proponents of the bill had sought to make California the second state in the country after Vermont to require GMO labeling, but the measure failed to pass the state Senate by two votes.
Democratic Senator Noreen Evans, the bill's author, was planning to push a reconsideration vote before the end of the legislative session. The bill would require all distributors who sell food in California to label the product if any of the ingredients have been genetically engineered. The labeling law would exclude alcohol and food sold at farmers markets."This bill is a straightforward, common-sense approach to empowering consumers," said Evans. "If the product contains GMOs, label it. We shouldn't be hiding ingredients."In 2012, a similar labeling bill looked poised to pass but was narrowly defeated by California voters after a last minute, $46 million media blitz funded by opponents, including PepsiCo and Missouri-based Monsanto Co, a multinational chemical, agricultural and biotechnology corporation.
More than 60 countries around the world have adopted GMO labeling, with supporters saying genetically modified
organisms found in some food ingredients, like soy and corn, pose a threat to human health. Labeling advocates also argue that consumers have a right to know everything that goes into their food. Opponents say GMOs are not only safe but necessary to ensure the future of the world's food supply, allowing scientists to develop crops that are resistant to changing environmental conditions. The 2012 defeat of the GMO labeling bill known as Proposition 37 prompted calls in Washington for a national labeling law. A petition drafted by the Center for Food Safety, a national environmental advocacy non-profit, asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require distributors to label GMO ingredients in food products. Earlier this month, Vermont became the first U.S. state to pass a GMO labeling law, and two counties in Oregon voted last week to ban farmers from growing genetically modified crops within their local boundaries.
Further Reading:
A growing number of farmers are reporting health problems with farm animals fed genetically modified feed and saying that animal health improves when feed is switched to non-GMO. See more here
Injuries are a leading cause of disability for people of all ages - and they are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44. But many injuries can be prevented when people practice safe behaviors.
Make a difference: Spread the word about strategies for reducing the risk of injuries. Encourage communities, workplaces, families, and individuals to identify and report safety hazards.
How can National Safety Month make a difference?
We can all use this month to raise awareness about important safety issues like:
Prescription drug abuse
Slips, trips, and falls
Being aware of your surroundings
Distracted driving
Staying safe in the summer heat
Everyone can get involved in reducing the risk of injuries. Together, we can share information about steps people can take to protect themselves and others.
employers are required to offer health coverage to full-time workers, or else the employers may be subject to penalties.
GMO labeling, with supporters saying genetically modified
