Kids Count State of the Child: Are Tennessee Children Prepared to Learn?
December 5, 2014
Nashville, TN – At the beginning of the school year, children wait for the school bus or in the drop-off lane for their first experience of school. Many of them arrive with the skills they need to learn. Many, however, arrive with gaps in the foundation for learning that must be filled so they can make the most of their experience.
Children do not enter school as blank slates, each equally impressionable to educators’ efforts. Children enter school with figurative backpacks. Some children come with an eagerness to learn, good health, emotional security and a sense of safety fostered by a supportive family and community. Others come without important tools for learning and already weighed down by the trauma of poverty, hunger, violence or abuse.
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Cautions Tennesseans about Insurance Availability Outside of Open Enrollment
March 21, 2014
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) is reminding Tennesseans that open enrollment for Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant plans ends on March 31st, 2014. After the March 31st deadline, TDCI cautions that it may be challenging to acquire ACA-compliant plans outside of special enrollment periods.
Additionally, Tennesseans enrolled in plans that are not fully ACA-compliant, including “grandfathered,” “grandmothered,” or “transitional” plans, may receive notices in 2014 of premium increases upon renewal. Should these notices be received after March 31st, consumers may be left with limited coverage options. [Read more]
Clarksville Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of October 28th, 2013
October 28, 2013
Clarksville, TN – The September Employment Report (delayed from October 6) was disappointing relative to expectations (although hardly “weak”). Nonfarm payrolls rose by 148,000 (median forecast: +180,000). The two previous months were revised a net 9,000 higher.
Note that seasonal adjustment is often tricky in September (due to the start of the school year). The unemployment rate edged down to 7.2%, while the labor force participation rate held steady. The employment/population rate held steady, but was down slightly from a year earlier.
Frazier Allen
Clarksville Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of October 22nd, 2013
October 22, 2013
Clarksville, TN – As was widely anticipated, lawmakers reached an 11th-hour agreement on the budget and debt ceiling. The “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014” funds the government through January 15th, suspends the debt ceiling to February 7th, and requests bipartisan House/Senate budget negotiations by December 13th.
Thus, while the deal dodges a near-term financial catastrophe, it does not remove uncertainty entirely. Lawmakers will have less than three months to agree on a new spending authorization.
Frazier Allen
Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of October 13th, 2013
October 13, 2013
The partial government shutdown and brinksmanship over the debt ceiling continued. However, financial market participants were encouraged by signs that the two sides were at least willing to talk to each other.
House Republicans appear to have abandoned demands for a repeal or delay of the Affordable Care Act, but it hasn’t been clear what they want instead. Note that a temporary (six-week or three-month) extension of the debt ceiling does not remove uncertainty completely, but it would sidestep a near-term financial catastrophe.
Frazier Allen
Consumer Reports Releases Annual Health Insurance Plan Rankings; Including 114 “Best Value” Plans
October 6, 2013
Analysis Found Expensive Care Doesn’t Mean Better Care
Yonkers, NY – For the fourth year in a row, Consumer Reports published rankings of hundreds of health insurance plans across the United States to help consumers determine which ones may be best for them.
This marks the first time the organization took additional steps to identify plans that both provide high-quality care and avoid costly care.
The rankings data and the “Best Value” designation come from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a respected non-profit health care quality measurement group. [Read more]
Stocks up despite U.S. Government Budget Impasse
October 2, 2013
The third quarter of the year proved quite eventful.
The Federal Reserve opted to wait a little longer before beginning to dial back its bond purchases, and a budgetary showdown in D.C. resulted in a partial government shutdown on the same day the private healthcare exchanges mandated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) opened.
Political tensions arose over whether to defund or delay major provisions of the ACA.
Frazier Allen
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance protects Consumers seeking Health Coverage on Federal Exchange
September 30, 2013
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) issued emergency rules this morning aimed at protecting Tennesseans seeking health insurance coverage through the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM), or “exchange.”
The emergency rules implement Public Chapter 377 by establishing registration requirements for navigators and certified application counselors designated under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the responsibility to assist consumers access the FFM. [Read more]
American Heart Association says costs to treat Heart Failure expected to more than double by 2030
May 5, 2013
Strategies to prevent and treat heart failure are needed to curb the rise in the incidence of heart failure
Dallas, TX – By 2030, you — and every U.S. taxpayer — could be paying $244 a year to care for heart failure patients, according to an American Heart Association policy statement.
The statement, published online in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure, predicts the number of people with heart failure could climb 46 percent from 5 million in 2012 to 8 million in 2030. Direct and indirect costs to treat heart failure could more than double from $31 billion in 2012 to $70 billion in 2030.
Governor Bill Haslam unveils “Tennessee Plan” for Health Care Reform
March 28, 2013
Leverages Federal dollars to purchase private health insurance for Tennesseans without access
Nashville, TN – Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam unveiled his plan to pursue real health care reform in the state.
Haslam announced that he will not expand TennCare rolls under the Affordable Care Act but instead is working to leverage the available federal dollars to purchase private health insurance for Tennesseans who would not otherwise have access to coverage.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.
