|
|
| Issue No. 115 |
June 7, 2016
|
|
|
|
|
Quality health coverage gives peace of mind when planning quality time. The unofficial start of summer is upon us. Your quality of life is important to us as we move into a season of spending time with family and friends. The quality and affordability of health benefits for you and for your industry is our goal!
At Texas Ag Coop Trust, we are committed to providing our members with the benefits and coverages needed and generate additional revenues to offset cost increases - for YOUR INDUSTRY!
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.
|
|
HHS Finalizes Rule to Improve Health Equity Under ACA
Final rule prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability;
enhances language assistance for individuals with limited English proficiency; and protects
individuals with disabilities
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to advance health equity and reduce health care disparities. Under the rule, individuals are protected from discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability and sex, including discrimination based on pregnancy, gender identity and sex stereotyping. In addition to implementing Section 1557's prohibition on sex discrimination, the final rule also enhances language assistance for people with limited English proficiency and helps to ensure effective communication for individuals with disabilities. The protections in the final rule and Section 1557 regarding individuals' rights and the responsibilities of many health insurers, hospitals, and health plans administered by or receiving federal funds from HHS build on existing federal civil rights laws to advance protections for underserved, underinsured, and often excluded populations.
The Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities final rule implements Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which is the first federal civil rights law to broadly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded health programs. Previously, civil rights laws enforced by HHS's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) broadly barred discrimination based only on race, color, national origin, disability, or age.
"A central goal of the Affordable Care Act is to help all Americans access quality, affordable health care. Today's announcement is a key step toward realizing equity within our health care system and reaffirms this Administration's commitment to giving every American access to the health care they deserve," said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. The final rule helps consumers who are seeking to understand their rights and clarifies the responsibilities of health care providers and insurers that receive federal funds. The final rule also addresses the responsibilities of issuers that offer plans in the Health Insurance Marketplaces. Among other things, the final rule prohibits marketing practices or benefit designs that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. The final rule also prohibits discriminatory practices by health care providers, such as hospitals that accept Medicare or doctors who participate in the Medicaid program. The final rule prohibits sex discrimination in health care including by: - Requiring that women must be treated equally with men in the health care they receive. Other provisions of the ACA bar certain types of sex discrimination in insurance, for example by prohibiting women from being charged more than men for coverage. Under Section 1557, women are protected from discrimination not only in the health coverage they obtain but in the health services they seek from providers.
- Prohibiting denial of health care or health coverage based on an individual's sex, including discrimination based on pregnancy, gender identity, and sex stereotyping.
It also includes important protections for individuals with disabilities and enhances language assistance for people with limited English proficiency including by: - Requiring covered entities to make electronic information and newly constructed or altered facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities and to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services for individuals with disabilities.
- Requiring covered entities to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to individuals with limited English proficiency. Covered entities are also encouraged to develop language access plans.
While the final rule does not resolve whether discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation status alone is a form of sex discrimination under Section 1557, the rule makes clear that OCR will evaluate complaints that allege sex discrimination related to an individual's sexual orientation to determine if they involve the sorts of stereotyping that can be addressed under 1557. HHS supports prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination as a matter of policy and will continue to monitor legal developments on this issue. The final rule states that where application of any requirement of the rule would violate applicable Federal statutes protecting religious freedom and conscience, that application will not be required.
|
Pollinators Vital to Our Food Supply Under Threat?
Portions Courtesy -
Texas Butterfly Ranch and San Angelo Live
 Twenty years ago, over one billion Monarch butterflies migrated from the Northern United States down into Mexico.
The decline in the species - imagine a 50-75-foot-long rope to signify the amount. And if asked to guess how many Monarch butterflies are around now? The rope would be around 12 inches long. Why? Because we are destroying their habitat.
Pollinators, also including bees, are threatened by the decline of practices based on indigenous and local knowledge. These practices include traditional farming systems; maintenance of diverse landscapes and gardens; and kinship relationships that protect specific pollinators.
Steve Lewis of Native Ornamentals near San Angelo explains the importance of the various life cycles from the butterflies, birds and bees in pollination, food sources and how they affect our crops. "The average butterfly will fly one mile per hour and has a life span of only 6 weeks to 2 months, so it is important they keep reproducing," said Lewis. "One single butterfly cannot make the journey alone."
Numerous options exist to safeguard pollinators
"The good news is that a number of steps can be taken to reduce the risks to pollinators, including practices based on indigenous and local knowledge," said Lewis.
The safeguards include the promotion of sustainable agriculture, which helps to diversify the agricultural landscape and makes use of ecological processes as part of food production.
Specific options include: - Maintaining or creating greater diversity of pollinator habitats in agricultural and urban landscapes;
- Supporting traditional practices that manage habitat patchiness, crop rotation, and coproduction between science and indigenous local knowledge;
- Education and exchange of knowledge among farmers, scientists, industry, communities, and the general public;
- Decreasing exposure of pollinators to pesticides by reducing their usage, seeking alternative forms of pest control, and adopting a range of specific application practices, including technologies to reduce pesticide drift; and
- Improving managed bee/butterfly husbandry for pathogen control, coupled with better regulation of trade and use of commercial pollinators.
The Verdict:
The 2015-2016 Monarch butterfly population census is in and the news is good: the iconic migrating insect that has become a symbol for climate change and pollinator advocacy in three countries is on the rebound with a three-fold increase in its roosting population in the past year.
Last year the population occupied 2.8 acres of the Oyamel forest in the mountains of Michoacán that serve as the ancestral roosting site of the storied orange and black creatures. This year: 9.9 acres are occupied-more than triple last year's figure, according to the Mexican government and the World Wildlife Fund. Scientists calculate the population numbers by measuring the amount of forest occupied by the Monarchs.
According to Journey North, a citizen science organization that tracks the Monarchs' and other migrations, this year's population numbers 200 million monarchs compared to a long-term average of 300 million and a peak of 1 billion, attributed the increase to " favorable breeding conditions in summer 2015."
The butterflies, which migrate each fall to the Mexican mountains after a multi-generation trek through the heartland of the United State's to Mexico, have been in a perilous decline in recent years. The 2013-2014 season in particular was frightening: the entire Monarch population occupied only 1.65 acres and could have fit into a Walmart store with 30,000 square feet to spare.
The insects made a slight comeback last year, as government officials in all three countries committed to work together to save the unique natural phenomenon. Research and funding have been pouring into the cause, thanks, in part, to President Obama's National Pollinator Strategy issued in May of 2015.
"It certainly is reason for hope following year after year of depressing declines," wrote Richard Knowles on the DPLEX list, an old school listserv of about 800 butterfly aficionados run by citizen science organization Monarch Watch out of the University of Kansas at Lawrence. "It almost feels like everyone can give themselves a brief pat on the back before getting back to work."
Even Monsanto Corporation, often blamed for the butterflies decline, celebrated the news: "Good news! Monarch population numbers were up in 2015. With help, they'll keep increasing."
States Lewis, "Let's keep planting milkweed and nectar plants for all pollinators," noting, that the butterflies will lay their eggs, their caterpillars will feed on the milkweed, turn into the pupa/cocoon, and then, when they are born, get their nectar from the host plants. "The population is on the rise! Let's keep it headed in that direction!"
|
|
Healthy Tips to Help Your
Lazy Tendencies
Courtesy - The Body Exchange
Think that cup of coffee simply wakes you up and keeps you going? Did you know...
Drink a cup of black coffee before you work out, because it'll help you burn more fat.
FUN TIP. Caffeine in coffee will free up your fat cells for your body to use as energy, according to Tim Coyle, exercise physiologist at ComiteMD. And it'll also jazz you up a bit, which means you might even work out harder than you normally do. Read 17 things everyone should know about metabolism for some more facts and tips.
Want to read more? Have you checked out this week's Curve Appeal? Visit our Facebook Page to read the post in its entirety.
|
|
REFER US!
Click above to learn more or
to contact the TACT office.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Facebook Feature
Find us on Facebook and
access more detailed,
industry-related information.
Interact with us!
We're waiting to talk to you!
|
|
Contact Us
Texas Ag Coop Trust
915 Austin Street
Levelland, TX 79336
806-747-7894
|
|
Texas Ag Coop Trust
Officers, Board of Trustees
Kimberly Tullo-Holcomb
TACT Executive Director
Lubbock, TX
Jim Turner, Chairman
Dalhart Consumers Fuel Association
Dalhart, TX
Bret Brown, Secretary/Treasurer
Ag Producers Co-op
Sunray, TX
Craig Rohrbach
Parmer County Cotton Growers
Farwell, TX
Dean Sasser
Farmers Coop Elevator
Levelland, TX
Tony Williams
Texas Cotton Ginners' Association
Austin, TX
Paul Wilson
United Cotton Growers
Levelland, TX
|
|
Texas Ag Coop Trust
is endorsed by:
Texas Grain & Feed
Association
Texas Cotton Ginners Association
 Triangle Cooperative Service Company
Texas Corn Producers
Texas Agricultural
Cooperative Council
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our Focus Remains You
Obamacare, Medicare - Healthcare...With CARE being our operative term, TACT understands that options can be overwhelming and doing things they way you've always done them, may not be working anymore. Maybe you have questions - TACT understands. It isn't easy for consumers to know exactly what they are buying when it comes to healthcare coverage.
At Texas Ag Coop Trust, we are always looking for ways to reduce cost and improve benefits for our members.We are committed to providing our members with the benefits and coverages needed and generate additional revenues to offset cost increases - for YOUR INDUSTRY!
TACT aids in providing group benefits to members in the AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. TACT provides quality 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.
WE ARE:
- Positioned to offer coverage at steady/unchanging rates
- Coverage that serves an underserved industry.
- Concerened about YOUR company, YOUR business, YOUR needs
- Offering healthcare coverage along with vision and dental services
- Serving the underserved
MORE THAN JUST A HEALTH PLAN
TACT is in the best possible situation to thrive, provide outstanding benefits and help limit expense.
as a member of TACT
- You get more coverage
- You get a staff that works for you and with you - available to assist with no automation
- Ownership that comes with participation
With TACT, your need for healthcare is met! We are expanding and advancing and we want to hear from you! Do you have questions? Are you fielding concerns from employees and contractors? We have the answers you are looking for. We have the product to meet your need. And, best of all, we are Texas and we are personal. With TACT, you are our business!
TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals
you know and trust...like Family.
Next Issue: June 23, 2016
Newsletter Archives - click here
|
|
|
