Reuters: U.S.: U.S. preterm births fall to 15-year low, still worst in developed world

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U.S. preterm births fall to 15-year low, still worst in developed world Nov 1st 2013, 04:10 Share this Email Print Reprints By Sharon Begley NEW YORK | Fri Nov 1, 2013 12:10am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rate of preterm births in the United States dropped to a 15-year low of 11.5 percent in 2012, according to a report released on Friday, but the country still came in dead last among industrialized nations on this measure of infant health. The rate reflects six straight years of declines, possibly due to factors such as a drop in smoking among women of childbearing age, said the March of Dimes, the nonprofit group that produced the report. The improvement comes during an acrimonious, partisan debate in Congress about health insurance centered on President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. The Affordable Care Act requires all insurance plans to cover maternity care, spreading the cost of healthy pregnancies across society. That provision led to a testy exchange on Wednesday when Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, testified before a congressional panel and defended the provision. Republican Representative Renee Ellmers retorted that the maternity requirement "is why healthcare premiums are increasing, because we are forcing (people) to buy things that they will never need." The requirement increases premiums for a typical policy about 3 percent, calculated James O'Connor of Milliman, an actuarial firm, in an April report for the health insurance industry. "We are the only high-income country in the world not to have everyone covered for maternity care," said Dr Edward McCabe, medical director of the March of Dimes. Before the ACA, "only 16 percent of plans in the individual market covered women for maternity care," McCabe said. "Requiring that coverage is a statement about our values as a society." $26 BILLION COST The rate of preterm births peaked in 2006 at 12.8 percent, as women gave birth at older ages and were more likely to carry twins, triplets and higher multiples. The reasons for the declines are unclear, but several factors likely played a role. The percentage of women of childbearing age who smoke, a risk factor for early labor, fell from 22.5 percent in 2011 to 20.8 percent last year, said McCabe. The percentage of women in that age group who are uninsured also dipped, from 21.9 percent to 21.3 percent, government data show. The decrease in preterm births should make a dent in healthcare spending: preemies cost the United States more than $26 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine, or $51,600 per preterm baby in 2005. In the first year of life, medical costs for a baby born before 37 weeks gestation are 12 times those of one born at 40 weeks, a full-term pregnancy. Those costs continue for years. Preemies can suffer developmental delays, vision loss and cerebral palsy, leading to higher educational costs and lost wages, said McCabe. The drop in preterm births in the United States since 2006 means that about 176,000 fewer babies were born too soon, calculates the March of Dimes, for an estimated $9 billion savings in health and societal costs. VERMONT FIRST, MISSISSIPPI LAST The variation in rates of preterm births among U.S. states is almost as great as that among countries. Vermont led the nation with just 8.7 percent of births coming before 37 weeks gestation. Alaska, California, Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon had rates of 9.6 percent or lower, the target recommended by the March of Dimes. At least 80 countries have rates of preterm births below 9.6 percent, according to a U.N. report, "Born Too Soon," released last year. They include China, Romania, Cuba and Latvia. And every developed country has a rate of preterm births lower than that of the United States, the U.N. report showed. "I think it's wonderful what the March of Dimes is doing with this report," said Dr Wanda Barfield, director of reproductive health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's taking us to school in terms of how the U.S. is doing on preterm births: we rank 130th out of 184 countries." The states with the highest rates of preterm birth are Mississippi (17.1 percent), Louisiana (15.3 percent) and Alabama (14.6 percent). If they were countries, they would be among the 14 worst of the 184 for which data are available, according to the U.N. report. The global average is 11.1 percent. Rates also varied by race. Among non-Hispanic blacks, 16.5 percent of births were preterm last year, down from 18.5 percent in 2006 and the lowest in more than 20 years. Among whites, the rate was 10.5 percent. The high U.S. rate for preterm births is often blamed on the nation's racial, ethnic and economic diversity, said McCabe, "but the California example refutes that." California, with half a million births each year, "has an incredibly diverse population, but it set up policies and procedures to make reducing preterm births a priority," he said. The full report is available at marchofdimes.com/reportcard (Reporting by Sharon Begley; Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Xavier Briand) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: U.S.-Mexico drug-smuggling tunnel closed in California

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U.S.-Mexico drug-smuggling tunnel closed in California Nov 1st 2013, 02:35 Share this Email Print Reprints 1 of 4. U.S. attorney Laura Duffy speaks during a news conference about a newly discovered drug smuggling tunnel in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California October 31, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Denis Poroy By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO | Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:35pm EDT SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have shut down a secret underground tunnel equipped with electricity, ventilation and a rail system for smuggling drugs between a San Diego industrial park and Tijuana, Mexico, officials said on Thursday. Border control and drug enforcement agents seized more than 17,000 pounds (7,700 kilograms) of marijuana and 325 pounds (147 kg) of cocaine from the tunnel, a rented warehouse where the passageway ended on the U.S. side and arrested three men arrested in a night raid on Wednesday. The bust marked the first time cocaine has been found in connection with more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels that have been uncovered since 2008 along the Southwest border between the United States and Mexico, officials said. Tunnels discovered earlier were used mainly for marijuana, which because of its bulk is harder to smuggle inside cars and trucks, said William Sherman, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge in San Diego. The tunnel, which was shut down on Wednesday, was built with one access point in a warehouse in the Otay Mesa industrial park of San Diego and another in Tijuana, Mexico, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy described the latest passageway as a "super tunnel," saying it was equipped with an electronic rail system, hydraulic doors and a ventilation system. The Sinaloa drug cartel is believed to have built and operated the tunnel, which ran 1,760 feet from Mexico to the United States. "The tunnels take hundreds of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to complete," Sherman said. U.S. prosecutors filed charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana against the three men arrested in connection with the tunnel. If convicted, each faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years to life in prison. Ironically, the entrance to the warehouse at the terminus of the tunnel is two doors down from the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce. Chamber officials declined to speak to the media about the warehouse. (Reporting by Marty Graham; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Christopher Wilson) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Analysis: In removing stop-and-frisk judge, U.S. court enters rare territory

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Analysis: In removing stop-and-frisk judge, U.S. court enters rare territory Nov 1st 2013, 01:47 Share this Email Print Reprints By Joseph Ax and Julia Edwards NEW YORK | Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:47pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a series of interviews in May, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said federal judges are too cautious in exercising their creativity and independence. On Thursday, her own efforts to avoid that pitfall landed her in trouble with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which removed her from a high-profile case involving the New York City Police Department's controversial stop-and-frisk program. Her actions had compromised the appearance of impartiality, the court said. Such a move is rarely seen from a federal appeals court and signaled that the three judges who wrote the decision were deeply troubled by her actions. But ethics experts said they did not expect Scheindlin to face any formal discipline. In August, Scheindlin ruled that the stop-and-frisk tactic, in which patrolling officers stop suspicious individuals and search them, had an unconstitutional and disproportionate impact on minorities. She ordered a federal monitor to supervise broad reforms of the department's practices. In a brief order, the panel found that Scheindlin had "run afoul" of the judicial code of conduct for giving media interviews. The code says judges should not comment on the merits of pending cases. The court also chastised Scheindlin for encouraging the plaintiffs in the stop-and-frisk case to file a lawsuit and mark it as "related" to another case before her, thus ensuring that she would preside over the case. Scheindlin's actions ensured that her objectivity could reasonably be questioned, the court concluded. In a statement, Scheindlin rejected the 2nd Circuit's reasoning, saying she simply instructed the plaintiffs in the case that bringing a "related lawsuit" was the appropriate procedural action. She also denied that she ever discussed the case in any interview. "All of the interviews identified by the Second Circuit were conducted under the express condition that I would not comment on the Floyd case," she said. "A careful reading of each interview will reveal that no such comments were made." Medical student David Floyd was one of the plantiffs in a lawsuit brought by four black and Hispanic men who claimed police improperly targeted them because of their races. DISCIPLINE IS RARE There have been a handful of other instances in which appellate courts have cited a judge's conduct in reassigning a case. Last year, for example, the 3rd Circuit removed U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark from a pair of criminal cases, including a murder case against former prosecutor Paul Bergrin. The decisions, which came on the same day but were written by different appeals court panels, found that Martini had wrongly limited the government's prosecution in the Bergrin case and had improperly accused the government of misconduct in a separate case. Ethics experts said it is extremely rare for judges to face discipline in such cases. "It is hard enough to discipline a state judge here in New York, but it is rarely used in a federal context," said Ronald Minkoff, a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz and an adjunct professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Under federal rules, the chief judge of the 2nd Circuit would initiate any investigation into an allegation that a judge had engaged in misconduct, whether a formal complaint has been filed or not. The chief judge then has the discretion to dismiss the claims, conclude that corrective actions have been taken, conclude that intervening events have made a review unnecessary or refer it to a special committee for recommendations, which are then sent to a panel of judges for final determination. Thursday's order by the 2nd Circuit gave no indication that any such inquiry was in the works. The 2nd Circuit has not admonished a judge since 2004, when Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi apologized for making comments comparing President George W. Bush's election to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The chief judge at the time, John Walker, accepted the mea culpa, and in light of the apology a review panel dismissed five complaints against Calabresi. Scheindlin has clashed with the 2nd Circuit on occasion in other high-profile cases. In 2003, the appeals court overturned her finding that the United States detention of a militant suspect, Osama Awadallah, was illegal. A jury eventually acquitted Awadallah in 2006. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Julia Edwards; Editing by Eddie Evans and Lisa Shumaker) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Court halts NYC stop-and-frisk ruling, removes judge

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Court halts NYC stop-and-frisk ruling, removes judge Nov 1st 2013, 01:29 Share this Email Print Reprints Demonstrators hold signs protesting the New York Police Department's ''stop and frisk'' crime-fighting tactic outside of Manhattan Federal Court in New York, March 18, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson By Joseph Ax NEW YORK | Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:29pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court froze court-ordered reforms to the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk program and removed the judge who found the police tactic unconstitutional, saying she "ran afoul" of the judicial code of conduct. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was at least a temporary victory for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYPD, who have argued that stopping, questioning and frisking suspicious people has led to a steep decline in crime rates. The three-judge panel's ruling had no implications for the merits of the case and instead was a rebuke of U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin. The judges faulted Scheindlin for failing to appear impartial in public statements and media interviews in which she answered critics of her ruling. Just two months ago, Scheindlin became a hero of civil rights and civil liberties groups when she struck down parts of stop-and-frisk, ruling that it amounted to "indirect racial profiling" that resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics. She also ordered a federal monitor to oversee changes to NYPD practices. New York police will be allowed to revert to previous stop-and-frisk tactics at least until March, when the same three-judge panel will hear the city's appeal of Scheindlin's ruling. The appeals court could still uphold Scheindlin's decision, but she would no longer have any role in the case. The court's removal of Scheindlin was an exceedingly rare action and an indication of how displeased the judges were with her. The city and the NYPD welcomed the decision, having previously said they failed to receive a fair hearing from Scheindlin. "We could not be more pleased with the court's findings," said Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, the city's chief attorney, who called Scheindlin's ruling "unjustified and deeply problematic." The case "will now receive a fresh and independent look both by the appeals court and then, if necessary, by a different trial court judge," Cardozo said. Scheindlin's ruling in August resulted from a pair of lawsuits brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, and it was widely celebrated by racial minorities who complained innocent people were being caught up in the police sweeps. It also played a role in the campaign for mayor of New York City in which candidate Bill de Blasio, who won the Democratic nomination and became the front-runner for next Tuesday's election, blasted stop-and-frisk as unfair. The New York Civil Liberties Union said it would appeal the ruling, and the Center for Constitutional Rights called the reassigning of the case "troubling and unprecedented." De Blasio has said stop-and-frisk was evidence of "two New Yorks" - one for the privileged elite and another for the poor and disadvantaged. He issued a statement saying he was "extremely disappointed in today's decision." The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said New York voters gave their judgment by supporting de Blasio, who won a hotly contested primary and holds a 40-point lead in public opinion polls over his Republican rival, Joe Lhota. The winner will replace Bloomberg on January 1. "Stop-and-frisk policing is nothing less than the largest racial profiling program in the country, and Judge Scheindlin was right to rule it unconstitutional," NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said in a statement. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he now expects a "fair and impartial review of this case" when the appeals court reviews Scheindlin's stop-and-frisk ruling, which he said was "based on scant evidence." "Our tactics and strategies have worked," the police commissioner told reporters. Lhota has said he would try to retain Kelly, while de Blasio has promised change. "Bravo!" Lhota said in a statement. "As I have said all along, Judge Scheindlin's biased conduct corrupted the case and her decision was not based on the facts." Besides the interviews, the appeals court also took issue with how Scheindlin interacted with lawyers in a December 2007 hearing while she presided over another stop-and-frisk lawsuit and challenged lawyers to file another lawsuit if they were unsatisfied with events in her courtroom. "What I am trying to say - I am sure I am going to get in trouble for saying it - for $65 you can bring that lawsuit," she said. Scheindlin issued a statement defending her actions in that instance as proper. She also said her comments to the media only pertained to one of the two stop-and-frisk cases, and that the appeals court failed to notice that distinction. (Additional reporting by Chris Francescani, Elizabeth Dilts and Nate Raymond; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Lisa Shumaker) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Santa Monica sues for control over historic California airport

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Santa Monica sues for control over historic California airport Nov 1st 2013, 02:05 Share this Email Print Reprints By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES | Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:05pm EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The city of Santa Monica filed a lawsuit on Thursday to wrest control of its municipal airport from the federal government, marking the latest chapter in a decades-long dispute over the future of the historic general aviation hub. Filed against the Federal Aviation Administration in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the suit comes weeks after the fiery crash-landing of a small business jet killed four people and reignited a debate over safety at the 86-year-old facility. Critics of the airport, where various Hollywood celebrities and show business executives keep their private planes, seized on the September 29 wreck as a wake-up call to hazards they say the facility poses to densely populated surrounding communities. The crash occurred about 150 feet from homes nearest the airport in the seaside town west of Los Angeles. The site's unusually close proximity to homes stems from a real estate boom that coincided with the airport's development during and after World War Two, when the property was leased to the U.S. government and Douglas Aircraft Co. expanded its airplane manufacturing there. The property was turned back to the city after the war, but the FAA has insisted that the city must keep the site open as an airport in perpetuity, under the terms of the 1948 transfer agreement. Santa Monica officials said they are challenging the FAA claims as unconstitutional and seeking a court declaration that the city holds clear title to the airport property, which some local groups have long sought to convert into a public park. FAA officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying they do not discuss pending litigation as a matter of policy. Homeowners and municipal officials have battled for decades to curb flight activity at Santa Monica Municipal Airport or to close it altogether, facing stiff opposition from the FAA, aircraft owners, pilots and businesses connected with the site. The contingent of well-heeled, celebrity aircraft owners said to have kept planes there include Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and John Travolta. In addition to neighborhood objections to noise and air pollution, city officials have complained the airport's single 5,000-foot (1,524-meter) runway is too short to safely accommodate some of the larger, faster jets allowed to take off and land there. The Santa Monica City Council adopted a resolution in 1981 seeking to close the airport when legally possible, triggering an FAA lawsuit. The parties later settled in a deal the Santa Monica officials say obligates the city to keep the airport open only through 2015. The FAA has taken the position that the city is required to keep operating the airport until at least 2023 under assurances it gave in exchange for federal airport improvement grants. The FAA also asserts that the city must keep the airport open indefinitely because it acquired the property cost-free from the government after World War Two under terms of the federal Surplus Property Act. (By Steve Gorman; Editing by Paul Simao) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Flight diverted to Phoenix after undisclosed threat

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Flight diverted to Phoenix after undisclosed threat Nov 1st 2013, 02:16 Share this Email Print Reprints Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:16pm EDT (Reuters) - A United Airlines commuter flight carrying 47 people from San Francisco to San Antonio was diverted to Phoenix on Thursday after an undisclosed threat was made against the plane, authorities said. After making the unscheduled landing at about 4:45 p.m. local time, the plane was sent to an isolated portion of the airport, where its passengers were evacuated while local police investigated, authorities said. The threat, which came on Halloween, was found on the plane, said Sergeant Steve Martos, a spokesman for the Phoenix police department. He did not release further details. An initial search of the aircraft by investigators and police dogs did not turn up any dangerous materials, Martos said. But he said further investigation by his department's bomb squad was still ongoing. The FBI will investigate the threat, Martos added. Julie Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, said that no flight delays or roadway restrictions were expected as a result of the unscheduled landing or the investigation. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Paul Simao) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Federal appeals court reinstates abortion restrictions in Texas

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Federal appeals court reinstates abortion restrictions in Texas Nov 1st 2013, 01:13 Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott speaks during an anti-abortion rally at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, July 8, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Mike Stone

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Reuters: U.S.: Northop's new Fire Scout unmanned helicopter takes flight

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Northop's new Fire Scout unmanned helicopter takes flight Nov 1st 2013, 00:41 Share this Email Print Reprints The U.S. Navy's newest variant of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter completes its first day of flying in this handout photo taken at Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu, California October 31, 2013. Credit: Reuters/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:41pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A larger and more powerful version of Northrop Grumman Corp's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter made its first two flights on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said as it plans to start using the new aircraft next year. The MQ-8C Fire Scout took off and flew for 7 minutes in its first flight at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, the Navy and Northrop said in news releases. It reached an altitude of 500 feet and flew 9 minutes during a second flight. Northrop said it had developed the new Fire Scout in just one year, much faster than normally seen in U.S. weapons programs. "It is a big accomplishment for the integrated government and industry team to fly this air vehicle for the first time," Captain Patrick Smith, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager, said in a release issued by the Navy. He said the Navy would need fewer of the new surveillance helicopters since they had a longer range and could stay airborne longer. He said that would help meet urgent needs spelled out by the U.S. Africa and Special Operation commands. Northrop said the new version of the Fire Scout was designed to fly twice as long and carry three times as many sensors and other equipment as the current MQ-8B variant, which is on its seventh at-sea deployment for the Navy, supporting antipiracy missions on board Navy frigates. The unmanned helicopter has also been used extensively in Afghanistan since early 2011 to provide surveillance data to ground commanders. Retired Admiral Gary Roughead, the former chief of naval operations who authorized operational use of the first Fire Scout two years earlier than planned, welcomed news about the larger aircraft's first flight. "Even though we got a lot out of the first Fire Scout, the bigger airplane with the increased attributes is going to be very important," Roughead said. He said the helicopter could operate from a large number of Navy ships with smaller flight decks, giving commanders greater range and awareness. Based on a larger commercial airframe with additional fuel tanks and an upgraded engine, the MQ-8C will be able to fly up to 12 hours or carry up to 2,600 pounds (1,180 kg), Northrop said. George Vardoulakis, Northrop Grumman's vice president for medium-range tactical systems, said Northrop developed a bigger version of the Fire Scout after Navy operators asked for a system that could fly longer and carry more sensors. "Changing out the airframe, installing control systems and avionics, and then conducting a first flight of the system in a year is truly remarkable," Vardoulakis said. (Editing by Stephen Coates) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Enrollment in Obamacare very small in first days: documents

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Enrollment in Obamacare very small in first days: documents Nov 1st 2013, 01:16 Share this Email Print Reprints Janet Perez (R) oversees specialists (top) as they help callers and potential customers find health insurance at a customer contact and call center for HealthSource RI, Rhode Island's health insurance exchange program for the Affordable Care Act or ''ObamaCare,'' in Providence, Rhode Island October 25, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder By Susan Cornwell and David Morgan WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:16pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enrollment in health insurance plans on the troubled Obamacare website was very small in the first couple of days of operation, with just 248 Americans signing up, according to documents released on Thursday by a U.S. House of Representatives committee. The Obama administration has said it cannot provide enrollment figures from HealthCare.gov because it doesn't have the numbers. The federal website, where residents of 36 states can buy new healthcare plans under President Barack Obama's law, was launched on October 1. "We do not have any reliable data around enrollment, which is why we haven't given it to date," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers on Wednesday. But the documents, which are labeled "war room" notes and appear to be summaries of issues with the problematic website beginning on October 2, indicate a mere six enrollments had occurred by that morning - the day after the website was launched and almost immediately crashed. "High capacity on the website, direct enrollment not working," the October 2 notes said. By later that day, "approximately 100" enrollments had taken place. "As of yesterday, there were 248 enrollments," said the notes from the morning of October 3. The documents were released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been demanding information from the administration about the website's problems. The committee is chaired by Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican opponent of Obamacare. The notes were from meetings at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the arm of the Health and Human Services Department that has been overseeing the website, an Issa spokeswoman said. The documents were first reported by CBS News. Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters said the department will release Obamacare enrollment statistics on a monthly basis after coordinating information from different sources. This will including call centers, paper applications for insurance, and data from insurers and states. The first release of enrollment data will likely be mid-November, she said. "These appear to be notes, they do not include official enrollment statistics," Peters said of the documents Issa's panel released. "As the secretary (Sebelius) said before Congress, we are focused on providing reliable and accurate information and we do not have that at this time ... We have always anticipated that the pace of enrollment will increase throughout the enrollment period." HealthCare.gov has been plagued with technology problems since its rollout. It was back up on Thursday after not being fully functional for much of Wednesday. Both the federal exchange and the exchanges built by 14 other states and Washington D.C. were set up to let residents enroll in new plans created under the Affordable Care Act, Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law commonly known as Obamacare. The government has said it expects about 7 million people to enroll for individual insurance in 2014, many of whom are expected to receive government subsidies. EXPERTS BROUGHT IN The Obama administration said it has brought in experts from top technology companies including Google Inc and Oracle Corp to fix the HealthCare.gov website, as Republicans press for details about the botched October 1 launch. Health and Human Services said it had added dozens of technology experts and engineers to its round-the-clock effort to fix the technical glitches on the site that is key to the implementation of Obama's healthcare restructuring law. Giving some of the first details of who might be leading the tech fix, HHS officials identified two experts by name: Michael Dickerson, a website reliability engineer on leave from Google, and Greg Gershman, a Baltimore-based innovation director with the firm Mobomo and who previously worked for the White House and the General Services Administration. "We are doing everything we can to assist those contractors to make HealthCare.gov a highly performant, highly reliable, highly secure system," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told shareholders at the company's annual meeting on Thursday in Redwood City, California. There was no comment from Google. The Obama administration says it is confident it will have the website running smoothly by November 30, giving people enough time to enroll in health plans to receive coverage beginning on January 1. Failure to do so would jeopardize its goal of signing up enough consumers, particularly young and healthy ones, to the new online insurance exchanges, and would provide more ammunition to Republican efforts to delay or kill the 2010 law. Issa said he had subpoenaed Sebelius for more information on the website's technical problems, including how it was tested, and enrollment data. The subpoena requires the documents to be produced by November 13. "The evidence is mounting that the website did not go through proper testing, including critical security testing, and that the administration ignored repeated warnings from contractors about ongoing problems," Issa said in a statement. The administration has launched what it calls a "tech surge" to fix the website's problems, largely centered on two existing contractors who were paid to build its underlying technology - CGI Federal and Quality Software Services Inc, a unit of UnitedHealth Group. The contractors already were using technology from Oracle in building the site. Experts from Red Hat Inc are also among the repair effort, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Individuals from Oracle and Red Hat have expertise in site reliability, stability and scalability, according to a blog post by Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for CMS. She said Dickerson, the expert on leave from Google, would be working for Quality Software Services Inc (QSSI), while Gershman would be working for CGI Federal, "so they are employees of those particular companies" during the work involved. Administration and company officials gave no further details on how much help was being provided. (Additional reporting by Noel Randewich and Jim Finkle; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Paul Simao and Christopher Wilson) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Pentagon chief criticizes states over ID cards for same-sex couples

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Pentagon chief criticizes states over ID cards for same-sex couples Nov 1st 2013, 00:10 Share this Email Print Reprints U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington October 17, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas By David Alexander WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:10pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel criticized nine U.S. states on Thursday for refusing to issue identity cards to same-sex spouses and said he expected the adjutants general for the state militias to comply with lawful directions and Pentagon policy. Hagel, in remarks prepared for delivery to a Jewish rights group in New York, also announced the United States has agreed to sell Israel six vertical liftoff V-22 Osprey aircraft - the first U.S. ally to receive the plane. Hagel said the Defense Department moved to begin issuing identity cards to the spouses in same-sex couples following a Supreme Court ruling this year that cleared the way for them to receive the same work-related benefits given to heterosexual couples. "Several states are refusing to issue these IDs to same-sex spouses at National Guard facilities," Hagel told the Anti-Defamation League. "Not only does this violate the states' obligations under federal law, their actions have created hardship and inequality." Refusal to issue the cards at state militia facilities means couples may have to travel long distances to federal bases to obtain the cards there, Hagel told the centennial dinner of the Anti-Defamation League. "This is wrong. It causes division among the ranks, and it furthers prejudice, which DoD (Defense Department) has fought to extinguish," Hagel told the group in remarks honoring his predecessor, Leon Panetta. During Panetta's tenure as defense secretary, the Pentagon abandoned its "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act on June 26, the department began issuing identity cards to ensure the spouses in same-sex couples would receive the benefits to which they were entitled. Before the first cards were issued in September, the state of Texas announced it would not issue the cards at National Guard facilities. Eight other states have taken similar stances in recent weeks, a senior defense official said: Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia. Across the nine states, 114 Army and Air National Guard sites are not providing cards, the official said. Hagel told the ADL he had directed General Frank Grass, the National Guard chief, to meet with adjutants general from the nine states to deal with the issue. "The adjutants general will be expected to comply with both lawful direction and DoD (Defense Department) policy, in line with the practices of 45 other states and jurisdictions," Hagel said. 'QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE' Hagel said the agreement to sell Israel six of the tilt-rotor V-22s, built by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, would "greatly enhance the range and effectiveness of the Israeli special forces." "I have directed the Marine Corps to make sure this order is expedited," he said. During his first visit to the Middle East as defense secretary earlier this year, Hagel announced $10 billion in arms sales to Middle East allies, including 25 F-16 Fighting Falcon weapons for the United Arab Emirates as well as other precision arms for the UAE and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, Hagel said the United States, which has a policy of maintaining Israel's "qualitative military edge," had decided to offer Israel the V-22 aircraft as well as the KC-135 refueling airplane. After its annual budget review earlier this week, Israel sent the Defense Department an official request for six V-22 Ospreys, a senior defense official said. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Ken Wills) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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