In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, August 13th, 2017 was:
VICKIE GIPSON
Salyersville, KY
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
8/7/17
Carole Jacobs
Amanda Rosario
Isis Sample
Alicia Smith
Diane Hamric
Tina Mimick
Carol Yemola
Melissa D’Ornellas Curtis
Brandy Williams
Christy Hawkes
Valerie Kuehn
Carla M. Williams
Michelle Rayeske-Jeske
Kristina Rosson
Brittany Michelle
Mary Storer
Jennifer Anthony
Timothy Simpson
Emily Rice Bowersock
Sheila Carvell
Kendra Lynne Ramsey
Crystal Young
Sheila Vives
Nikki Wooton
8/8/17
Shelley LaClear
Vickie Gipson
Anna Nichols
Judy Custer
Samantha Brwn
Misty Shallcross
Eleazar Ruiz
Karen Brunet Moore
Crystal Young
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Brittany Marie Thompson
Michelle Hughes
Jakara Jackson
Ashley Agner
Carole Jacobs
Mya Murphy
Wendi Black
Chrissy Kim
Traci Anderson
Sheila Carvell
8/9/17
Angela Hendricks
Kelly Jo Francisco
Eleazar Ruiz
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Laurie Griffith
Heather Marocco
Joanie Waterman
Kendra George
Amanda Peters
Debbie Smith
Karen Bondehagen
Karen Goodwin Delaney
Brandi K Chaney
Shelley Ann Peoples
Alisa Jones
Amanda Saltsman
Tiffany Banks
Trish Marks
Teena Sierson
Cheryl Hall
8/10/17
Deborah Farris
Tiffany Banks
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Sheila Vives
Kristina Rosson
Anna Nichols
Kendra Lynne Ramsey
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Diane Hamric
Valerie Kuehn
Samantha Brwn
Susan Clarke Jette
Sheri Boydston
Amanda Rosario
Jade Good
Shelley LaClear
Jennifer Leffler
Poonam Gosain
Laurie Griffith
Kendra George
Krissy Brislin
Eva Biggs
Kellina Fernell Murphy
8/11/17
Mikey Mellor
Lori Capobianco
Amanda Peters
Sheila Carvell
Juanita Williams-Jones
Kelly Jo Francisco
Jan Lehman
Dean Bruss
Kristina Harris
Kendra George
Anggie Marie
Fouad El Shreif
Deborah Farris
Angela Hendricks
Teena Sierson
Jodi Stevens
Kacie Rogers
Brittany Marie Thompson
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Michelle R. Carlino
Barbie Sundy
Kendra George
Cassandra Berholtz
Marilyn Wall
Laura Myers
8/12/17
Jodi Stevens
Brittany Marie Thompson
Sarah Harrison
Jill Nauyokas
Jennifer Lang
Mya Murphy
Dustin N Angela Turner
Emily Rice Bowersock
Geri Rus
Abby Cox
Michelle Hughes
Chris Blythe
Chris Maxwell
Judy Custer
Katt Keane
Brooke Scott
Isis Sample
Kim Floyd
Nancy Pfirrman Schools
Dale Fish
Melissa D’Ornellas Curtis
Krissy Brislin
8/13/17
Chrissy Kim
Amy Conyers
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Jennifer Lang
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Sherri Kidwell
Anne Delos Reyes-Villafuerte
Dawn Raasch
Mike Adamski
Heather Victoria Graves
Kayla Hernandez
Heather Victoria Graves
Cheryl Hall
Brandi K Chaney
Tina Marie
Leslie Wagner Hobson
Joanie Waterman
Morgan Alexandra
Sheila Carvell
Jonnalyn Gates
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on…. 
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX & HI4Eshop Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
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Six Burundi teenagers have been reported missing after taking part in an international robotics competition in Washington DC. A police spokesperson said authorities “do not have any indication of foul play” as the investigation continues into what happened after the group attended the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition with students from 157 nations.
Teams of high school students from more than 150 countries took part in the competition organized by FIRST Global, a U.S.-based non-profit that organized the competition which was designed to encourage careers in math and technology.
Police reports indicated that the four boys and two girls were last seen in the early evening of July 18th in northwest DC after which their adult mentor was unable to locate them. FIRST Global informed the police later that day. All six members of the robotics team Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, Nice Munezero, 17, Don Charu Ingabire, 16, Kevin Sabumukiza, 17, Richard Irakoze, 18, and Aristide Irambona, 18 reportedly have one-year US visas.
The DC police have said that Ms Mwamikazi and Mr Ingabire are in Canada because they were spotted crossing the border but no details have been released about how they got there or why. Canada’s Border Services Agency said it could neither confirm nor deny that the pair entered Canada. DC police also said the other four teenagers seem to be in a safe place, but police are not reporting any further details.
The Republic of Burundi,has a population of 11.2 million people and is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa. It is bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has been plagued by instability for decades with bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped and its population as one of the world’s poorest.
Burundi continues to experience civil unrest after a failed coup in 2015. The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning in late June about the African nation, advising Americans of “political tensions, political and criminal violence, and the potential for civil unrest.” The warning also stated that rebel forces, ex-combatants and youth gangs from the Democratic Republic of Congo reportedly crossed into Burundi and attacked and kidnapped civilians; armed criminals have ambushed vehicles.
There have also been reports of human rights abuses as well. According to the UN, over 300,000 people fled the country since 2014 due to violent gangs from Congo and disappearances and killings allegedly committed by Burundian security forces.
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, July 30th, 2017 was:
VALERIE KUEHN
Yaphank, NY
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
7/24/17
Sheila Carvell
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Anna Nichols
Stephanie Beckwith
Amanda Rosario
Dale Fish
Samantha Brwn
Michelle R. Carlino
Valerie Kuehn
Melissa Barnes Walker
Kathi Taylor
Dustin N Angela Turner
Brittany Marie Thompson
Kayla Clemons
Kimberly Snyder
Teena Sierson
Christina Domingue
Geri Rus
Nai Merri
Mike Adamski
Aaron Chambers
Khadijah Carter
Terri Llexxes
7/25/17
Kelly Jo Francisco
Karen Bondehagen
Sheri Boydston
Heather Marocco
Leslie Wagner Hobson
Joanie Waterman
Kathleen Hickman
Sheila Carvell
Jennifer Kinner
Kimberly Snyder
Sean Stover
Kayla Hernandez
Jennifer Kinner
Allison Frederick
Cheryl Hall
Deborah Farris
Nelle Bailey
Amanda Peters
Carla M. Williams
Maria Bouchard
7/26/17
Valerie Kuehn
Kelly Jo Francisco
Tonya Velazquez
Shelley LaClear
Paula Rousseau
Krissy Brislin
Deborah Farris
Judy Custer
Destiny Landsaw Davis
Steve Hardy
Emily Rice Bowersock
Dawna McKnight
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Dena Baji
Kim Floyd
Kelsey Mcknight
Kathleen Hickman
Ashley Agner
Kayte CookWatts
Jodi Stevens
John McKnignt
Eleazar Ruiz
Darlene Whyte
Kimberly Necolie Garrasi
Michelle Webb
7/27/17
Jessica Davis
Amanda Rosario
Misty Shallcross
Alexis Maureen
Nelle Bailey
Priscilla Shimp
Heather Victoria Graves
Jennifer Downing
Destiny Landsaw Davis
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Joanie Waterman
Nitasha Shank
Cassandra Berholtz
Jennifer Mason
Jakara Jackson
Brooke Scott
Kimberly Snyder
Lori Capobianco
Holly Cajigas
Darbie Brown
7/27/17
Jessica Davis
Amanda Rosario
Misty Shallcross
Alexis Maureen
Nelle Bailey
Priscilla Shimp
Heather Victoria Graves
Jennifer Downing
Destiny Landsaw Davis
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Joanie Waterman
Nitasha Shank
Cassandra Berholtz
Jennifer Mason
Jakara Jackson
Brooke Scott
Kimberly Snyder
Lori Capobianco
Holly Cajigas
Darbie Brown
7/28/17
Christy Hawkes
Jade Good
Bethany Henry
Phylicia Phillips
Pamela White Brearley
Lisa Pucket
Isis Sample
Crystal Young
Michelle Abbott
Kizzy Alvarez DeSantis
Dena Daji
Sheila Carvell
Mikey Mellor
Jennifer Lang
Diane Hamric
Dustin N Angela Turner
Nancy Scharnhorst
Melissa Turner Baker
Dean Bruss
Sara Heller
Amanda Rosario
Tina Mimick
7/29/17
Kimberly Necolie Garrasi
Jennifer Lang
Anggie Marie
Pam Johnson Rowland
Mary Achio
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Geri Rus
Kimberly Snyder
Dean Bruss
Mary Mcmenamy
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Jenny Meyers
Annette Boxton
Kayla Clemons
Deborah Farris
Alysia Jackson
Abby Cox
Cassandra Berholtz
Valerie Kuehn
Jane Peterson
Brandy Williams
Kelly Jo Francisco
7/30/17
Ashley Agner
Jodi Stevens
Jennifer Ramlet
Crystal Young
Deborah Farris
Jennifer Lang
Traci Anderson
Sara Biason
Isis Sample
Jade Good
Michelle R. Carlino
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Laura Moreland
Nitasha Shank
Amanda Rosario
Brittany Marie Thompson
Amanda Peters
Terri Llexxes
Jane Peterson
Alysia Jackson
Dustin N Angela Turner
Pamela Welsh-Sherk
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on…. 
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX & HI4Eshop Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended the state of emergency for another three months. The extension followed weekend ceremonies to commemorate the first anniversary of the failed military coup in which around 250 people, mostly unarmed civilians, were killed. Anniversary celebrations came a week after the leader of the main opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, ended a nearly 280-mile “March for Justice” from Ankara to Istanbul by holding a rally attended by more than a million people calling for an end to emergency rule and injustice.
President Erdogan vowed to continue the brutal crackdown against activists, journalists, teachers and opposition lawmakers. He also called for the reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey. Since emergency rule was imposed on July 20 last year, more than 50,000 people have been arrested and 150,000 people have been suspended in a crackdown which Erdogan’s opponents say has pushed Turkey on a path to greater authoritarianism.
Speaking at parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said the emergency rule had helped created the necessary legal environment to cleanse the state of Gulen’s network. The Turkish government says it is necessary to root out supporters of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who is believed to be behind the coup attempt. Gulen has denied any involvement.
Since the failed coup where Turkish military forces tried to overthrow the government, the Turkish government has taken what some say are controversial steps to strengthen its power. In March, the Jurist Report was published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report describes a plethora of human rights violations committed by the Turkish government between July 2015 and December 2016.
The same month the report was published, around 330 individuals were put on trial for alleged involvement in an attempted coup. In November Turkey significantly restricted the activities of NGOs like human rights organizations and children’s groups and arrested opposition party leaders alleging they were connected to terror organizations. Earlier this month the Turkish Parliament elected seven new members to the country’s 13-member Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) in an overnight vote.
Ten human rights activists, including Amnesty International Turkey director Idil Eser, were in court to face terrorism related charges. The targeting of human rights defenders and similar earlier crackdowns on lawyers and associations raises the question of who will be left to defend the tens of thousands of people caught up in the post-coup purge.
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The bodies of four young Pennsylvania men who went missing last week have been found. Hours after finding a fourth body buried in a farm here, authorities charged two men with multiple counts of homicide in what authorities said were marijuana deals that turned murderous. Cosmo Dinardo and his cousin Sean Kratz, both 20, were denied bail in preliminary arraignments. Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub announced that the bodies of the young men who went missing last week had been found buried on a farm owned by Dinardo’s parents in Solebury Township.
The victims were identified as 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, Mark Sturgis, 22, Tom Meo, 21, who disappeared together and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19. The defense attorney for Cosmo NiNardo, 20, said his client admitted to killing the four in three separate shootings, and told authorities the location of the bodies. DiNardo is ready to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in order to take the death penalty off the table.
Jimi Patrick was the first to go missing and days later- the three other men disappeared. Investigators had focused their search on a property a few miles from the Delaware River, a farm owned by the parents of Cosmo Dinardo, the man who has been identified as a “person of interest” in the case.
Dinardo was initially charged with trying to sell Meo’s car, a 1996 Nissan Maxima and was being held in jail on $5 million cash bail after being deemed a flight risk. Dinardo confessed his involvement in the disappearances, implicated Kratz, and gave information about the location of the fourth victim, police say. Dinardo has a history of unspecified mental illness, and he was previously involuntarily committed to a mental health institution after firing a shotgun, authorities said.
In the arrest affidavit Dinardo told police that on July 5 he agreed to sell four pounds of marijuana for $8,000 to Jimi Patrick. Dinardo picked Patrick up at his home and drove him to the farm but Patrick only had $800, the affidavit states. Dinardo then offered to sell Patrick a shotgun for that amount. Dinardo took Patrick to a remote part of the property and gave him a shotgun. Dinardo then shot and killed Patrick with a .22 caliber rifle and buried his body six feet deep using a backhoe.
Two days later, Dinardo said he and Kratz, decided to rob Dean Finocchiaro during a drug deal. Dinardo told police he gave Kratz his mother’s Smith and Wesson .357 handgun for the robbery. They met at Finocchiaro’s home and went to the farm. Dinardo told police, Kratz shot Finocchiaro near a barn and the put his remains in a metal tank. Kratz’s account of the killing describes Dinardo as the shooter.
Dinardo had a deal in place that same night to sell marijuana to Thomas Meo. Dinardo met Meo and his friend Mark Sturgis and the two followed him to his farm where Kratz was waiting. Dinardo and Kratz described Dinardo shooting Meo in the back and shooting at Sturgis as he tried to flee. According to the police affidavit, Dinardo said after he ran out of ammunition, he drove a backhoe over Meo’s body. Afterwards, they put the bodies in the metal tank, poured gasoline inside and set it on fire. They returned the next day to bury the tank 12 feet deep using a backhoe.
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A senior cardinal and top adviser to Pope Francis will return to Australia to face charges of sexual assault. Cardinal George Pell is the third-highest-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church. Pell was charged in his native Australia with multiple counts of sexual assault from years ago.
The charges against Pell were announced in Melbourne by Victoria State Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton. Pell was ordered to appear in court July 26 to face multiple counts of “historical sexual assault offenses”. Patton said there are multiple complainants against Pell, but he gave no other details.
It is unclear what the criminal charges against Pell involve, but two men, now in their 40s, have said that Pell touched them inappropriately at a swimming pool in the late 1970s, when Pell was a senior priest in Melbourne.
In 2014, the Vatican admitted nearly 850 priests have been dismissed and more than 2,500 have been disciplined in a sprawling sexual abuse scandal dating back decades. Cardinal Pell said Pope Francis granted him a leave of absence to return to Australia to defend himself. The 76-year-old Pell — the highest-ranking Vatican official ever implicated in the scandal and has forcefully denied the accusations.
In a statement read to the press, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the Vatican respected Australia’s justice system but recalled that the cardinal had “openly and repeatedly condemned as immoral and intolerable” acts of sexual abuse against minors. He noted Pell’s cooperation with Australia’s Royal Commission investigation of sex abuse and that as a bishop in Australia, he worked to protect children and compensate victims.
Pell’s actions as archbishop came under scrutiny in recent years by a government-authorized investigation into how the Catholic Church and other institutions have responded to the sexual abuse of children. The Royal Commission revealed that 7 percent of priests were accused of sexually abusing children in the past several decades.
Last year, Pell testified to the commission that the church had made “enormous mistakes” in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests. He conceded that he, too, had erred by often believing the priests over victims who alleged abuse. He vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued church abuse victims in his hometown of Ballarat.
It was unclear if Pell would face a church trial stemming from the accusations. The Vatican has clear guidelines about initiating a canonical investigation if there is a semblance of truth to sex abuse accusations against a cleric. In the case of a cardinal, it would fall to Francis himself to judge. Penalties for a guilty verdict in a church trial include defrocking.
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The city of St. Anthony, Minnesota will pay nearly $3 million to the family of Philando Castile to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, less than two weeks after officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted on manslaughter charges for killing Castile during a 2016 traffic stop. Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, was shot five times by Yanez during a traffic stop after Castile told the officer he was armed.
The settlement is to be paid to Castile’s mother Valerie Castile, who is the family’s trustee. The $2.995 million settlement will be paid by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, which holds the insurance policy for the city of St. Anthony. The plan for distribution of funds requires approval by a state court.
Attorney Robert Bennett, who is representing Valerie Castile, said a decision was made to move expeditiously rather than have the case drawn out in federal court, a process that would “exacerbate and reopen terrible wounds.” The settlement will also allow the family, the city and community to work toward healing, Bennett said.
The settlement will help benefit the Philando Castile Relief Foundation. Bennett said the foundation’s mission is to provide financial support, grief counseling, scholarships and other help to individuals and families affected by gun violence and police violence.
The Philando Castile Relief Foundation hopes to continue to award an annual $5000 scholarship. Through donations and part of the settlement, organizers hope to establish a permanent endowment to fund the annual $5,000 scholarship. In May, 18-year-old Marques Watson was announced as the first recipient.
Watson intends to study mechanical engineering. He’ll take advantage of a tuition-free offer at St. Paul College this fall and hopes to complete his four-year degree at a historically black college or university. Watson has participated in AVID, a school-based program that prepares underrepresented students for college, since seventh grade. He said he’ll be the first in his extended family to attend college.
Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, who witnessed the shooting and posted video seconds after, is not part of the settlement. Reynolds has also hired an attorney, but it’s not clear if she is still planning a lawsuit or has any standing for a federal claim.
A claims manager with the League of Minnesota Cities, said St. Anthony’s insurance coverage is $3 million per occurrence. If Reynolds were to file and win a claim, the city’s remaining $5,000 in coverage would be paid to her and St. Anthony would have to cover any additional money awarded.
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The health of people who live in rural areas is being harshly neglected in current national health policy and in healthcare legislation under discussion in Congress, according to Jeff Smedsrud, CEO of Communicating for America (CA), a non-profit rural advocacy group.
“Our government is making a habit of adopting health care legislation that forgets about the health of rural residents,” Smedsrud said.
Smedsrud, a health insurance expert and entrepreneur, said that rural Americans face numerous health disparities compared to their urban counterparts.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, the 15 percent of the U.S. population classified as rural are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke than their urban counterparts,” Smedsrud said.
He called on Congress to adjust proposed legislation to reflect the fact that rural residents tend to be older and sicker than urban residents, and that insurance choices are dwindling, and often cost more. For example, he said, in 2018 no insurers plan to provide coverage in several mostly-rural counties in Missouri, Ohio, Nevada and Washington. The entire state of Nebraska has only a single insurer under the rules of the ‘Affordable’ Care Act.
“This sparsity of coverage is a condition that needs healing right now,” Smedsrud said.
He emphasized that fewer doctors, per capita, serve rural people and quality care is often out of range physically and financially.
Smedsrud outlined a list of ten recommendations for lawmakers and federal regulators to consider as solutions to remedy the health care gap in rural America:
1. Maintain reasonable Medicaid coverage that covers the disproportionate share of poor and elderly that reside in rural areas.
2. Approve virtual, “tele-medicine” services for rural people under federal insurance guidelines. Make it possible for people to see a doctor or mental health provider remotely – on-screen and/or on-line – without driving long distances.
3. Rescue rural hospitals by maintaining federal reimbursement regulations that help them stay financially viable and remain open.
4. Recognize that the horrid national opioid epidemic is most prominent on a per capita basis in rural America, requiring funding for prevention and treatment alternatives.
5. Ensure health insurance options and competition for rural people, so they are not trapped in a one-size-fits-all federally approved insurance plan.
6. Allow for associations comprised of self-employed small businesses to pool their insurance buying power across state lines and negotiate rates.
7. Enact Guaranteed Access Pools, or Unified High-Risk Pools as a safety net so all consumers with pre-existing conditions are given access to health insurance.
8. Strengthen the rural technology infrastructure, enabling tele-medicine technologies that will narrow the rural-urban healthcare divide. Specifically, undertake an urgent program to provide high-speed internet technology to rural areas.
9. Maintain a senior-level Rural Health Advocate in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with responsibility for assuring that all government healthcare decisions reflect the unique needs of rural residents.
10. Encourage doctors to serve in rural areas with loan forgiveness programs and expedited H-1B visa processing.
Smedsrud said, “Rural America grows our food, provides important jobs and houses millions of our fellow citizens. Our country’s leaders should have the vision and courage to provide equity of health care for this population.”
Smedsrud said CA’s Platform for Rural Economic Justice provides additional information about rural health and economic issues.
Fergus Falls, Minn., July 10, 2017 – Communicating for America (CA) advocates for the advancement of all Americans and the promotion of their general health, well-being and education . CA provides clear advice and clear answers concerning health care issues, taxes, and immigration.
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At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that was not available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on…. 
Twitter: Healthinsurane4
Click-On for LinkedIn: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips! HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blogs and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events! 
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Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft protection plans.
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A Tennessee man accused of planning to attack a Muslim community in New York has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Chattanooga’s U.S. District Court convicted Christian minister Robert Doggart, a 65-year-old former engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The FBI began investigating Doggart in February 2015, when agents became aware of a threatening Facebook post by Doggart in which he wrote that Islamberg needed to be “utterly destroyed.” After an investigation that included wiretaps Doggart was arrested on April 10 by federal marshals and charged with solicitation, intentionally defacing, damaging or destroying religious property and interstate communication of threats, court documents show.
FBI agents discovered Doggart was stockpiling weapons and plotting to travel to upstate New York to kill Muslims using explosives, an M-4 assault rifle and a machete. According to a federal investigation, Doggart saw himself as a religious “warrior” and wanted to kill Muslims to show his commitment to his Christian god.
The investigation showed that he spoke with numerous individuals across the country to plan an attack. Doggart also traveled to South Carolina, where he met with individuals from an unidentified militia group.
Prosecutors said Doggart made threats against Islamberg near Hancock, N.Y., in phone conversations with supporters in South Carolina and Texas. Jurors listened to many phone calls in which Doggart talked about burning down Islamberg’s mosque with explosives and shooting anyone who opposed his team with assault rifles.
Defense attorneys countered that Doggart exaggerated a number of facts, never had a consistent plan in place, was goaded by a confidential informant into carrying out the attack and only wanted to conduct peaceful recon on Islamberg. Defense attorney Jonathan Turner told jurors in his closing arguments that Doggart was convinced Islamberg’s residents wanted to carry out a terror attack on New York City, in part because of Fox News broadcasts.
Since his arrest in April 2015, Doggart has spent most of the time out on bond until his recent conviction. After that verdict, Doggart’s defense attorneys had asked Judge Collier to let him stay on house arrest before his May 31 sentencing hearing, citing medical problems. Collier denied the request saying Doggart appeared obsessed with the community of Islamberg and should stay in custody until sentencing.
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After five days of deliberations, a jury has acquitted the Minnesota police officer, Jeronimo Yanez, of all charges in shooting death of Philando Castile. Officer Yanez, an officer for the suburb of St. Anthony, had been charged with second-degree manslaughter and endangering safety by discharging a firearm in the shooting. Yanez and the 12 jurors were quickly led out of the courtroom after the verdict was announced.
In July 2016, Castile was pulled over for a broken tail light and was shot within 62 seconds of his encounter with Officer Yanez. Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, who was in the passenger seat, began Facebook livestreaming less than a minute after the shooting as her 4 year old daughter hid in the backseat and Castile slumped over dying.
Dash cam footage shows Officer Yanez approach the vehicle and exchange greetings with Castile and informing him of a brake light problem. He asks for Castile’s driver’s license and proof of insurance. Castile who had a concealed carry license hands the officer his insurance card and says “Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me.” Officer Yanez replies, “Okay” and places his right hand on the holster of his gun and says “Okay, don’t reach for it.” Castile responds “I’m not pulling it out,” as Officer Yanez continues to yell “Don’t pull it out.” Yanez pulled his gun and fired seven shots in the direction of Castile. Reynolds yelled, “You just killed my boyfriend!” Castile moaned and said, “I wasn’t reaching for it”, which were his last words.
Reynolds started live-streaming onto Facebook about 40 seconds after the last shot. In a shaky voice she explains that the officer has just killed her boyfriend and that he was licensed to carry. Yanez can be heard shouting “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand off of it.” Reynolds replies “He had, you told him to get his ID, sir, and his driver’s license. Oh my God. Please don’t tell me he’s dead.”
Officer Yanez’s recollection of the events was that Castile told him he had a gun at the same time he reached down between his right leg and the center console of the vehicle. Yanez stated “He put his hand around something,” and said Castile’s hand took a C-shape, “like putting my hand up to the butt of the gun.” Yanez said he then lost view of Castile’s hand. “I know he had an object and it was dark,” he said. “And he was pulling it out with his right hand. And as he was pulling it out, a million things started going through my head. And I thought I was gonna die.” Yanez said he thought Castile had the gun in his right hand and he had “no option” but to shoot.
Officials in St. Anthony, Minn., released a statement saying that Yanez will not return to the police department after the trial. They said they have decided “the public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city.” “The city intends to offer Officer Yanez a voluntary separation agreement to help him transition to another career other than being a St. Anthony officer.”
Shortly after the verdict was announced, several hundred protesters amassed around the steps of the state Capitol in St. Paul. Police said about 500 activists later moved to Interstate 94, one of the main highways in the Twin Cities area. A few dozen people briefly moved onto the road itself while facing police in riot gear, but most of the protesters soon dispersed.
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