Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Republican state Rep. Kent Sorenson of Indianola garnered headlines last week when he penned an open letter publicly criticizing the recent policy positions of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Now, the freshman lawmaker has turned his attention to one of the issues troubling him about Grassley — health care reform legislation. But instead of critiquing the legislation, Sorenson has relied on urban legend and debunked conspiracy theories being spread around the Internet through a widely discredited chain e-mail.
State Rep. Kent Sorenson, R-Indianola
Sorenson posted a note on his Twitter account Sunday night claiming the legislation in question contains language giving power of choice over health care decisions to a “Health Care Commissioner.”
“Page 42 healthcare bill ‘Health Choices Commissioner’ will decide health benefits for you. You will have NO choice,” he tweeted.
His post is a nearly verbatim quote from a page-by-page analysis of the House health care bill contained in a chain e-mail currently circulating. PoltiFact, the Pulitzer Prize winning winning site run by the staff of the St. Petersburg Times, has investigated each of the e-mail’s claims, including the health commissioner theory, and found most of them to be what they classify as “pants on fire” lies.
• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. Pants on Fire!: Section 142 outlines the duties of the Health Choices commissioner, who is charged with regulating insurers. The commissioner should seek insurers to offer different types of insurance, including basic, enhanced and premium. Individuals will be able to choose among competing insurers who are regulated via the exchange.
In an in-depth analysis of the health commissioner claim, PolitiFact points out the Health Choices Commissioner’s job is to regulate insurers so they can’t refuse people for pre-existing conditions and offer basic levels of service. Anyone currently insured through an employer is already subject to this kind of regulation.
Employer-provided insurance has to meet certain requirements to win its tax-exempt status.That’s why, if you get insurance through work, you’re not asked about pre-existing conditions, and you pay the same rate as all of your co-workers.
Jennifer Tolbert, an independent health care analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, tells PolitiFact that this is designed to ensure people are “actually getting coverage and not a junk policy.”
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