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  • Over-The-Counter Pills Left Out of FDA Acetaminophen Limits

    by Jeff Gerth and T. Christian Miller
    ProPublica, Jan. 16, 2014Pills

    Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration urged health care providers to stop writing prescriptions for pain relievers containing more than 325 milligrams of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.

    The agency’s announcement was aimed primarily at popular prescription medicines that combine acetaminophen with a more powerful opioid such as hydrocodone. Agency officials said they had determined that “there are no available data” to show that the benefits of having more than 325 milligrams of acetaminophen in a single pill outweighed the risks from taking too much of the drug.

    The announcement followed up on a similar 2011 FDA admonition to drug makers and was the latest turn in a long-running deliberation over the regulation of acetaminophen.

    As documented in a ProPublica series last year, the FDA has delayed for decades enacting tougher rules on acetaminophen. While generally considered safe when taken as recommended, relatively small overdoses have been shown to cause liver damage and even death. Each year, the drug accounts for about 150 accidental deaths, half of all cases of acute liver failure cases and tens of thousands of emergency room and hospital visits, according to federal data and scientific studies.

    As far back as 1977, a panel of outside experts convened by the FDA recommended the agency set the standard dose of over-the-counter acetaminophen at 325 milligrams per pill, citing the possibility of liver damage. But the agency allowed 500 milligrams and even 650 milligrams single doses of the drug for sale. Today, the most commonly sold form of over-the-counter acetaminophen contains 500 milligrams in a single pill.

    A 2008 FDA review found that the agency’s approval for such a dose was based on “few and limited” studies submitted in the 1970s by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the Johnson and Johnson unit that makes Tylenol. Two studies showed that two 500-milligram pills were “marginally” more effective than two 325-milligram pills, while two other studies showed no difference.

    Ninfa Redmond, a toxicologist who helped carry out the 1977 panel’s exhaustive, three-year study, said she was surprised that such big doses continued to be sold 40 years later.

    “It never occurred to any of us that you make a product with that high a dose,” Redmond said. “I use the drug when I travel, but I use 325 milligrams,” she added.

    Tuesday’s recommendation only applies to prescription drugs, not the over-the-counter products that make up about 80 percent of the market, according to the FDA. That means that you will still be able to walk into a gas station or grocery store and buy pills with up to 650 milligrams of acetaminophen, while your pharmacist is now discouraged from dispensing any product with more than half that amount.

    One reason for this is that the FDA has more power to regulate prescription drugs than over-the-counter medicines. (more…)

  • Last Vermeer to Remain in Private Hands: A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal

     Seated at a Virginal

    If you haven’t been able to view The Girl With A Pearl Earring in San Francisco, Atlanta or New York City, take a trip to Philadelphia for another young woman Vermeer painted.

    A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, one of less than forty surviving paintings by the great Dutch master Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), is now on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As he did throughout his career, Vermeer took his inspiration for this intimately scaled oil painting from contemporary life. Focusing attention on a single, well-dressed woman at a virginal — a keyboard instrument akin to a harpsichord — Vermeer achieved crystalline perfection. He stripped the scene of almost all other details so that the viewer can focus on the unidentified woman, the light that pours into the interior, and the forms crafted from that light. Installed in gallery 264, the painting is on loan from a private collection, which is also lending the Museum major works by Frans Hals and Gerbrand van den Eeckhout.

    A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, 1670-72, Johannes Vermeer, Dutch (active Delft), 1632-1675, Oil on canvas, ©The Leiden Collection, New York

    Executed late in Vermeer’s life, A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal is the last work by the artist to remain in private hands, aside from a picture owned by Queen Elizabeth II of England. It is also the most recent to be firmly attributed to the master.* In addition to myriad investigations in the 1990s and after, recent analysis has found that it was painted on canvas cut from the same bolt of cloth that Vermeer used for The Lace Maker, which today hangs in the Louvre.

    In addition to A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, the Leiden Collection, New York, is lending Portrait of Samuel Ampzing by Hals (c. 1582-1666), which depicts in bravura brushstrokes a Haarlem minister and writer. It is included in the new installation Painting and Reading in the Dutch Golden Age (gallery 273), where it joins works drawn from the John G. Johnson Collection and the Museum’s collection of Dutch art, the largest in the United States. The Coat of Many Colors, a biblical scene attributed to van den Eeckhout (1621-1674), a pupil of Rembrandt in Amsterdam, is in gallery 258 in proximity to a work by the same artist in the Museum’s collection.Samuel Ampzing by Frans Hals

    Young Woman Seated at a Virginal will be on view at the Museum through March 2014, while the Hals portrait and The Coat of Many Colors will be on view until October 2014.

    Vermeer’s pictures have seldom have been exhibited in Philadelphia. The last time a Vermeer was on display in Philadelphia was in 2004, when Young Woman Seated at a Virginal was on view at the Museum.

    Portrait of Samuel Ampzing, 1630, Frans Hals, Dutch (active in Haarlem), c. 1582-1666, Oil on copper, ©The Leiden Collection, New York

    * “Through technical research, traces of tin were found in the yellow pigment. Lead-tin yellow was commonly used by artists from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, but was rarely — if ever — used after 1700. A different dating method was used to research the style of clothing and hair worn by the figure in the painting. It was determined that the hairstyle depicted was only fashionable for a few years around 1670, placing the painting in the last years of Vermeer’s career.

  • Which States Will Generate Jobs in 2014? “A Breakout Year”

    By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline Staff WriterSeattle construction worker

     

    After four years of a fragile and uneven recovery, the U.S. job machine is likely to kick into high gear in 2014. Even recession-battered states such as Arizona and Florida are expected to generate jobs at a healthier clip.

    Photograph, Seattle Municipal Archives

    Overall, the U.S. economy is projected to generate 2.6 million jobs in 2014 year, up from 2.2 million last year, largely on the strength of the country’s booming health care, energy and high-tech sectors.

    Nearly 572,000 of the new jobs will be added in just two states, Texas and California, according to Moody’s Analytics, a global economic forecasting company. Florida will add 176,000 jobs, while Arizona is expected to add 77,000, Moody’s estimates. 

    “No question about it, the economy and creating jobs will be priority number one for states across the country in 2014,” said Sujit M. CanagaRetna, senior fiscal analyst at the Council of State Governments.

    CanagaRetna said economic growth, particularly job creation, has been less robust than in other post-recessionary periods.  “There is enormous pressure on state policymakers — further complicated by the fact that 2014 is an election year — to create a suitable environment for sustained, solid job growth,” he said.

    As an example, in more than a dozen states, elected officials from both parties scrambled with incentives to attract the production facility for Boeing’s new 777X jet, which is expected to employ as many as 8,000 workers. The competition ended when workers at Boeing recently approved the labor contract, ensuring Boeing will keep those jobs in Washington.

    Even as the US economy gathers steam, state lawmakers may be under increasing pressure to do more to help the nearly 11 million Americans who are still unemployed.  Republicans likely will continue to press for tax cuts as a way to create jobs, while Democrats will try to boost job training and education programs and push for increases in the minimum wage.

    Explore the interactive.

    Outlook Best in West, South

    As 2013 ended, the country had regained about 85 percent of the 9 million jobs lost during the recession, creating around 200,000 new jobs a month. The national unemployment rate stood at its lowest rate in five years, at 7 percent, down from a 10 percent peak in October 2009.

    From its highest to lowest point, the US economy lost 8.74 million jobs during the recession. Since employment bottomed out in early 2010, jobs have risen by 7.45 million. Moody’s expects employment to return to its previous peak in mid-2014.

    The job outlook is particularly rosy for states in the West: Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho and Utah are five of the 10 states Moody’s expects to have the highest growth rates. Steady home construction, robust investment in high tech and the aerospace industry, and trade with Asia are the reasons why.  

  • A New Woman In the House, Women’s Health and Proposed HR 7’s Effect on It

    Editor’s Note: *Katherine Clark (D-MA), below, sworn in by Speaker John Boehner last December, following a special election to fill the seat held byRep. Ed Markey (D-MA). Markey was elected to the Senate in July, 2013. Source of photo: WBUR.org

    Caucus Leadership

    Co-ChairsKatherine Clark being sworn in as HR Rep
    Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)
    Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-MD)

    Vice Chairs
    Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD)
    Rep. Doris O. Matsui (D-CA)

    The Women’s Caucus on Capitol Hill for the 113th Congress’ Task Forces Committee:

    Women’s Health – Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Lois Capps
    Women and the Economy/Business – Reps. Cynthia Lummis and Gwen Moore
    International Women’s Issues – Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Jan Schakowsky
    Women in the Military/Veterans – Reps. Jackie Walorski and Loretta Sanchez
    Afghan Women – Reps. Kay Granger and Niki Tsongas
    Trafficking – Reps. Ann Wagner and Carolyn Maloney
    Education/STEM – Reps. Susan Brooks and Suzanne Bonamici

     House Subcommittee Examines Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Bill

    On January 9, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (H.R. 7).

    Speaking in support of H.R. 7, Helen Alvaré, professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law, argued that taxpayer support of abortions is unwarranted: “[I]t is no longer contestable that women embrace the pro-life label and positions as much or more than men, and that poor women are somewhat more pro-life than the wealthier. A terrific and quite detailed study issued by the Rand Corporation, in cooperation with the Packard, Hewlett, and Rockefeller Foundations — after calling abortion an ‘enduringly divisive issue’ in the American political landscape — reported stable attitudes on abortion over decades. According to their crosstabs, females survey a few percentage points more pro-life than men — a figure within the margin of error, but persistent over decades and therefore significant. Also the less educationally privileged are more pro-life than the privileged, sometimes by margins of 33 or even 45 percent. And the poor are more pro-life than the wealthy by 16 to 25 percent. These differences persist on the question of abortion funding. To wit: a majority of the public opposes government funding for abortion; women oppose funding by a few percentage points more than men, the more educationally privileged support funding more than the less privileged; and the well-off support abortion funding for the poor more than the poor favor it for themselves, this last a particularly unpleasant fact.”

    Dr. Susan Wood, associate professor of Health Policy and director, Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University, testified about the impact of the bill on the private insurance market. “Historically, the vast majority of insurance plans have typically covered abortion services … In our analysis of both the [former Rep. Bart] Stupak [(D-MI)] and [former Sen. Ben] Nelson [(D-NE)] amendments [to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (P.L. 111-148)], we raised the concern that Congress would create a chilling effect on plans by creating burdensome accounting requirements and would lead many more women to lose abortion coverage. Adding to the restrictions already in place in the ACA, further changing the tax credits for individuals and for small employers providing health care coverage could lead to significant changes in the health insurance coverage that women have had, potentially creating a ‘tipping point’ in the nature of health insurance whereby women lose abortion coverage entirely. It is the nature of health insurance that insurers may no longer provide plans that include coverage which would come with burdensome regulatory requirements such as proposed in H.R. 7. Since approximately 60 percent of women of reproductive age, or 37 million women, get their health coverage through private insurance, this legislation could have a profound effect.”

    Richard Doerflinger, associate director, secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, also testified.

    *On December 10, 2013 Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) was elected in a special election to fill the seat once held by then-Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who was elected to the Senate in July. Her swearing-in on December 12 increases the number of women serving in the House of Representatives to 82 (19 Republicans and 53 Democrats), including the three delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, and Virgin Islands. There are 20 women serving in the Senate; the total number of women serving in Congress is 102.

    Rep. Clark was elected to the Massachusetts House in 2008. She subsequently was elected to the Senate in 2010, where she served as chair of the Judiciary Committee. Prior to her tenure as an elected official, she served in the Massachusetts attorney general’s office and in the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services. She also served on the Advisory Council for the Department of Early Education and Care and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy Advisory Board at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

    A graduate of St. Lawrence University, Cornell University Law School, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Rep. Clark is expected to focus on pay equity, women’s access to health care, job creation, and college affordability while in Congress.

    Courtesy of Women’s Policy, Inc.

  • Beauty Balms and Color Correctors: Reducing Toxic Exposures Found in Moisturizers, Foundation and Sunscreens

    A new analysis by Environmental Working Group of 100 BB (beauty balm) and CC (color corrector or complexion corrector) creams concludes that they may expose users to fewer toxic chemicals than the moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen they are designed to replace.Beauty balms, color colorectors

    —

    Checking products against Skin Deep, EWG’s cosmetics safety database, the team of researchers found that the average number of ingredients recognized as hazardous dropped from 3 to 1 when the user shifted from a three-product regimen to a single BB or CC cream.  Note: Skin Deep is now available as an App for iPhone and Android devices. 

    “Consumers may wonder what BB and CC creams may mean for their health, as well as for their skin,” said Nneka Leiba, Deputy Research Director for EWG. “EWG found that, on average, you can reduce your exposure to cosmetic chemical ingredients by nearly half by using one of these products, instead of the usual trifecta of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen.  Still, consumers must do their homework before choosing a product because some BB and CC creams contain ingredients of concern.”

    Many BB and CC creams also claim to provide some sun protection. EWG researchers found that while some of these products do offer adequate short-term protection against the sun’s harmful rays, others have poor broad-spectrum protection. Some contain hazardous ingredients such as vitamin A and oxybenzone commonly found in sunscreen products. EWG has published a list of top picks and products to avoid.

    If the federal Food and Drug Administration adequately regulated cosmetics and sunscreen products, consumers would not have to worry about the ingredients in their BB and CC creams. But the FDA has no authority to require companies to test products for safety before they go to market.   Nor does the agency review or approve the vast majority of products or ingredients before they are sold.

    The failure of FDA to protect the consumer from toxic or untested chemical ingredients is the biggest hurdle consumers face when searching for cosmetics and personal care products. That is why, according to EWG scientists, it’s essential that those concerned about what they apply to their skin do their homework before spending money on products that could expose them to chemicals that can elevate health risks such as cancer, allergies and hormone disruption.

    ‘While some BB and CC creams may live up to their hype, others don’t,” Leiba said. “As with all cosmetics products on the market, you simply can’t trust the FDA to ensure that those products are truly safe and effective.”

    Editor’s Note: The Environmental Working Group maintains a Cosmetics Database called Skin Deep that we’ve highlighted and posted about previously.

  • Rose Madeline Mula: An Original: The Stranger in My House

     Alice

    Lewis Carroll’s novel, Through the Looking-Glass. Illustration by John Tenniel

    by Rose Madeline Mula

    A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly didn’t invite her.  All I know is that one day she wasn’t there, and the next day she was.

    She’s very clever. She manages to keep out of sight for the most part; but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her there; and when I look into a mirror directly to check on my appearance, suddenly she’s hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body. It’s very disconcerting. I’ve tried screaming at her to leave — but she just screams back, grimacing horribly. She’s really rather frightening.

    If she’s going to hang around, the least she could do is offer to pay rent. But no. Every once in a while I do find a couple of dollar bills on the kitchen counter, or some loose change on my bureau or on the floor, but that certainly isn’t enough. In fact, though I don’t like to jump to conclusions, I think she steals money from me quite regularly. I go to the ATM and withdraw a hundred dollars, and a few days later, it’s gone. I certainly don’t go through it that fast, so I can only conclude that the old lady pilfers it. You’d think she’d spend some of it on wrinkle cream. God knows she needs it.

    And money isn’t the only thing she’s taking. Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate. Especially the good stuff — ice cream, cookies, candy … I just can’t seem to keep them in the house. She really has a sweet tooth. She should watch it; she’s putting on the pounds. I think she realizes that, and to make herself feel better, I know she’s tampering with my scale so I’ll think that I’m gaining weight, too. For an old lady, she’s really quite childish. She also gets into my closets when I’m not home and alters all my clothes. They’re getting tighter every day.

    Another thing: I wish she’d stop messing with my files and the papers on my desk. I can’t find a thing any more. This is particularly hard to deal with because I’m extremely neat and organized; but she manages to jumble everything up so nothing is where it’s supposed to be. Furthermore, when I program my VCR to tape something important, she fiddles with it after I leave the rom so it records the wrong channel or shuts off completely.

    She finds innumerable, imaginative ways to irritate me. She gets to my newspapers, magazines and mail before me and blurs all the print; and she’s done something sinister with the volume controls on my TV, radio and phone. Now all I hear are mumbles and whispers. She’s also made my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier, all my knobs and faucets hard to turn, and my bed higher and a real challenge to climb into and out of. 

    Furthermore, she gets to my groceries as soon as I shelve them and applies glue to the tops of every jar and bottle so they’re just about impossible to open. Is this any way to repay my hospitality?

    I don’t even get any respite at night. More than once her snoring has awakened me. I don’t know why she can’t do something about that. It’s very unattractive.

    As if all this isn’t bad enough, she is no longer confining her malevolence to the house. She’s now found a way to sneak into my car with me and follow me wherever I go. I see her reflection in store windows as I pass, and she’s taken all the fun out of clothes shopping because her penchant for monopolizing mirrors has extended to dressing rooms.  When I try something on, she dons an identical outfit — which looks ridiculous on her — and then stands directly in front of me so I can’t see how great it looks on me.

     I thought she couldn’t get any meaner than that; but yesterday she proved me wrong. She had the nerve to come with me when I went to have some passport pictures taken, and she actually stepped in front of the camera just as the shutter clicked. Disaster! I have never seen such a terrible picture. How can I go abroad now? No customs official is ever going to believe that the crone scowling from my passport is me.

    She’s walking on very thin ice. If she keeps this up, I swear, I’ll put her in a home. On second thought, I shouldn’t be too hasty. First, I think I’ll check with the IRS and see if I can claim her as a dependent. 

    ©1999 Rose Mula for SeniorWomen.com. This piece first appeared on May 8, 1997 in the Andover, MA Townsman and has been reproduced in an Ann Landers column in October of 1999.

    Editor’s Note: Rose Mula’s most recent book, Grandmother Goose: Rhymes for a Second Childhood is now available as an e-book on Amazon.com for the Kindle and at BarnesandNoble.com for the Nook at $2.99; the paperback edition is still available for $9.95.  The Beautiful People and Other Aggravations, is also available at bookstores through Amazon.com and other online bookstores. It can also be ordered Pelican Publishing (800-843-1724), as is her previous book, If These Are Laugh Lines, I’m Having Way Too Much Fun.

    Editor’s Note:  Rose Mula’s most recent book is Confessions of a Domestically-Challenged Homemaker &  Other Tall Tales, available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers.  Grandmother Goose: Rhymes for a Second Childhood is available as an e-book on Amazon.com for the Kindle and at BarnesandNoble.com for the Nook at $2.99; the paperback edition is available for $9.95.   Her website is rosemadelinemula.com.  


  • A Polar Hurricane or Cyclone; The Vortex Explained By A Climate Thinker

    Polar Vortex, from the Glossary of Meteorology, American Meteorological Society :

    “(Also called polar cyclone, polar low, circumpolar whirl.) The planetary-scale cyclonic circulation, centered generally in the polar regions, extending from the middle troposphere to the stratosphere.”
     
    “The westerly airflow is largely a manifestation of the thermal wind above the polar frontal zone of middle and subpolar latitudes. The vortex is strongest in winter when the pole-to-equator temperature gradient is strongest. In the Northern Hemisphere, the vortex has two centers in the mean, one near Baffin Island and the other over northeast Siberia.”

    What’s a Polar Vortex?

    Want to know more about the frigid blast of air that’s been sweeping the country this week? Dr. John Holdren*, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has got answers for you.

    “The fact is no single weather episode can either prove or disprove global climate change. Climate is the pattern of weather that we observe geographically over the seasons,” said Dr. Holdren on January 8th, 2014.

    See the video above for a two-minute explanation.

    Congress established the Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead interagency efforts to develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets, and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end.

    OSTP’s Mission

    The mission of the Office of Science and Technology Policy is threefold; first, to provide the President and his senior staff with accurate, relevant, and timely scientific and technical advice on all matters of consequence; second, to ensure that the policies of the Executive Branch are informed by sound science; and third, to ensure that the scientific and technical work of the Executive Branch is properly coordinated so as to provide the greatest benefit to society.Dr. John Holdren

    Strategic Goals and Objectives

    • Ensure that Federal investments in science and technology are making the greatest possible contribution to economic prosperity, public health, environmental quality, and national security
    • Energize and nurture the processes by which government programs in science and technology are resourced, evaluated, and coordinated
    • Sustain the core professional and scientific relationships with government officials, academics, and industry representatives that are required to understand the depth and breadth of the Nation’s scientific and technical enterprise, evaluate scientific advances, and identify potential policy proposals
    • Generate a core workforce of world-class expertise capable of providing policy-relevant advice, analysis, and judgment for the President and his senior staff regarding the scientific and technical aspects of the major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal government

  • Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Ghost Cat and Brrr — It’s Cold Outside

     Brrr — It’s Cold OutsideWinter wear

    Wow, the temperature is going crazy lately. Two days ago it snowed where I live. Yesterday started out at 60 degrees, confusing winter with spring. It didn’t stay there, however; the thermometer reading dropped down precipitously throughout the day. By this morning it was 5 degrees, with a wind chill making it feel like minus in the teens. Going out took determination, not to mention a hat, gloves, scarf, sweater, and heavy winter coat.

    There is a natural material that is expert at warmth from which many of these products are made — wool. It wicks outside moisture that might chill us away from our body. It also soaks up sweat that we produce to cool us off, a benefit in the hot weather but not good in these kinds of temperatures, and traps it so that we don’t lose valuable body heat. It is also breathable, which makes it adapt to a variety of conditions.
     
    Where does wool come from? Animals. Sheep, alpacas, goats and rabbits are all good sources of wool. It keeps the animals warm in the harshest of weather and it works for us, too. And the good thing is that no animal need be harmed by harvesting the wool. There are grades of wool, too, from the finest to the thickest, each type good for its specific uses.
     
    So, when you are thinking of going outside in these single-digit days, think wool. And also consider layering, a simple technique that helps keep us warm. And enjoy these beautiful days, whatever the temperature.
     
     

    Ghost Cat

     Albino Cat
    I was looking out my back door, debating if I wanted to go out. There were lots of things to do at the end of the year, backyard-wise. I could cut back the dead hibiscus stalks. The dried hydrangea flowers rebuked me for not having taken advantage of their beauty when they were full and vibrant and I should pull them off. The withered tomato vines were still in the garden.  Yet, I stood there doing nothing. The day was cold and gloomy. Why bother going out when it was so much better inside?
     
    That’s when I saw it — the ghost cat. I had never seen such a fully white cat before. It was hustling through as if it was on a mission. I opened the door and called out, “Hey, cat!” It looked over at me for a nanosecond before continuing on its way. We grabbed a photo of it just before it disappeared into the neighbor’s yard.
     
    Was it an albino cat or just a white one? I wasn’t close enough to see. An albino lacks pigment so its eyes seem pink, reflecting the blood vessels inside, and its skin is pink, too. Where did this cat come from? I hadn’t seen it before. But it shook off my lethargy and reminded me of the year about to pass.
     
    This time of year brings up the ghosts of thoughts/actions/decisions past. Sometimes they are energizing, sometimes they are tinged with regret. Yet the seasons always shift, the days move on, and we are presented with new options. It is tempting to make resolutions for the new year, decisions that frequently disappear almost as soon as they are made, that become the ghosts of the future. They are too definitive, I think.
     
    This year I am making inclinations more than resolutions. I am inclined toward sending out more of my writing. I am leaning in the direction of renewing contact with people I like but have let slip away. I am tending toward being gentler in my approach to life, to laugh a lot more. Nothing momentous, just simple possibilities. 
     
    So now in the year 2014, I thank the ghost cat for waking me up. And I wish all of you the very best of the New Year.
     
    Folk singer Woody Guthrie made his list of resolutions in 1933, when he was 31. He called them Rulin’s and they were quite practical. Did he follow them? Here they are:  http://www.businessinsider.com/woody-guthries-new-years-resolutions-2013-12
     

     ©2014 Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com

  • Questions You Always Wanted to Ask: Reverse Mortgages

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released additional resources for consumers as part of its campaign to educate the public about the new protections provided by the Bureau’s mortgage rules. These new materials include sample letters that consumers can send to their mortgage servicers. The Bureau is publishing these educational materials in anticipation of the January 10, 2014 effective dates for its mortgage rules.

    Saitta House in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Wikimedia CommonsDyker Heights Brooklyn New York

    “Taking out a mortgage to buy a home is one of the biggest decisions a consumer can make,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We want to make sure that people are aware of their new protections so they have the knowledge to make sound decisions about their financial futures.”

    The CFPB’s mortgage rules protect consumers by requiring that mortgage lenders evaluate whether borrowers can afford to pay back the mortgage before signing them up. The rules also establish new, strong protections for struggling homeowners, including those facing foreclosure. Under the rules, mortgage borrowers will be protected from costly surprises and runarounds by their servicers.

    The Bureau is working with industry, housing counselors, and consumer groups to promote a smooth implementation of these rules. The Bureau has released many different educational materials to improve the public’s understanding of the new rules and their protections. These materials include:

    ·   Sample Letters: The Bureau is releasing sample letters that consumers can use to find solutions to various problems with their mortgage servicers. The sample letters address such topics as:

    o   Requesting that a servicer correct errors: Consumers should use this letter template if they think their servicer has made an error. The instructions for the template describe what information to include in a letter to a servicer, how to identify the error, and include other tips. The template also tells consumers what to expect from the servicer and provides a general idea of the timeline of events once the letter is sent.

    o   Requesting information from a servicer: Consumers should use this letter template if they need information from their mortgage servicer. The instructions for the template describe what information to include in a letter to a servicer, examples of information requests, and include other tips. The template also tells consumers what to expect from the servicer and provides a general idea of the timeline of events once the letter is sent.

    ·   Mortgage Tips: The CFPB is providing a number of different tips on new rights under the new rules for homebuyers and homeowners at every stage of the mortgage process — from taking out a loan to paying it back. The tips also include recommendations for troubled borrowers facing foreclosure.

    ·   Answers to Consumer Questions: The Bureau provides answers to mortgage-related questions through AskCFPB, an interactive online tool designed to answer consumers’ most frequently asked questions in plain language.

    ·  Consumer Tools: The Bureau’s website offers a tool to help consumers find local housing counseling agencies to answer their questions or address their concerns. Consumers that have an issue with consumer financial products or services, such as a mortgage, can also submit a complaint.

     ·  Factsheets on the Rules: The CFPB offers a factsheet with an overview of the new consumer protections in the Bureau’s mortgage rules. The CFPB also offers a summary of the new procedures to facilitate borrowers’ access to foreclosure avoidance options.

    The CFPB has also published a reference guide for housing counselors and others who interact with consumers who are struggling with paying their mortgage. The CFPB wants to ensure that housing counselors and others understand the new federal protections so that borrowers can pursue all possible options to avoid losing their home to foreclosure. The CFPB is also offering training on the rules for housing counselors.

  • Are There Enough Doctors for the Newly Insured; A Far Less Attractive Career Choice

    — By Michael Ollove, Staff Writer, Stateline

    Patient Waiting to see doctor

    Signing up for health insurance on the new state and federal exchanges was supposed to be the easy part of the Affordable Care Act. The really dicey part, lots of health policy experts have always feared, could come after the Jan.1 start date.

    Photograph: Woman waiting for appointment. National Institutes for Mental Health

    That is when Americans who have enrolled in health insurance for the first time under the ACA are likely to discover that having coverage doesn’t guarantee them easy access to a primary care doctor, dentist or mental health professional.

    Some changes in the works, such as the use of new technologies and allowing mid-level medical providers to perform some functions usually reserved for doctors and dentists, should improve health care access in the long run. “In the meantime,” said Linda Rosenberg, president of the National Council for Behavioral Health, “people are going to suffer.”

    According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, the federal agency charged with improving access to health care, nearly 20 percent of Americans live in areas with an insufficient number of primary care doctors. Sixteen percent live in areas with too few dentists and a whopping 30 percent are in areas that are short of mental health providers. Under federal guidelines, there should be no more than 3,500 people for each primary care provider; no more than 5,000 people for each dental provider; and no more than 30,000 people for each mental health provider.

    According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), unless something changes rapidly, there will be a shortage of 45,000 primary care doctors in the United States (as well as a shortfall of 46,000 specialists) by 2020. 

    In some ways, the shortage of providers is worse than the numbers indicate. Many primary care doctors and dentists do not accept Medicaid patients because of low reimbursement rates, and many of the newly insured will be covered through Medicaid. Many psychiatrists refuse to accept insurance at all. 

    Christiane Mitchell, director of federal affairs for the AAMC, predicted that many of the estimated 36 million Americans expected to gain coverage under Obamacare will endure long waits to see medical providers in their communities or have to travel far from home for appointments elsewhere. 

    During the debate over the ACA, Mitchell said the AAMC pushed for the federal government to fund additional slots for the training of doctors, but that provision was trimmed to keep the ACA from costing more than a trillion dollars over 10 years.