fortune 777 game slot online real money Replica enables Fortune 100 financial, business and healthcare institutions and Federal agencies such as the US Army and Defense Innovation Unit to securely engage in high risk cyber activities without compromising productivity. FALLS CHURCH, Va. , Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grey Market Labs (dba Replica Cyber ), a pioneering leader in cybersecurity solutions, proudly announces it has secured $8M in Series A funding led by Capri Ventures, with participation from Blu Ventures and AFG to accelerate adoption of its groundbreaking platform - Replica. This strategic investment will enable the company to advance its mission of delivering Secure Environments-as-a-Service, bringing unparalleled privacy and security in an increasingly vulnerable digital landscape. With this round, Andy Brown , CEO of SandHill East , former CTO of UBS, and current board member of ZScaler and PureStorage, will be joining the Board of Directors as will Dennis Shaya , Partner at Capri Ventures. In addition, Don Duet , Former Head of Technology at Goldman Sachs, and Tim Estes , founder of Angel Kids AI and former CEO at Digital Reasoning, will be joining the advisory board, complementing an already strong team including: Christopher Caine (CEO – Mercator XXI), Gary Cubbage (fmr. EVP – Booz Allen Hamilton ), Nick Donofrio (fmr. EVP Innovation – IBM), Todd Helfrich (VP Federal – Censys). The Replica platform offers Secure Environments-as-a-Service, revolutionizing how organizations protect and enable high risk activities. This includes targeting Russian misinformation campaigns in Ukraine , safe testing of new tech with proprietary data, disrupting financial scams and fraud aimed at seniors, and identifying and mitigating insider threats within organizations, among other scenarios. By integrating patented technology, intelligence tradecraft, and Zero Trust architecture, Replica quickly creates realistic IT environments that encompass hardware, operating systems, applications, networks, and data layers. This innovative solution not only protects user and organizational privacy but also delivers the data, tools and workflows needed for users to be productive in their most sensitive work. Kristopher Schroeder , CEO of Grey Market Labs, emphasized the significance of this funding round: "Replica is the culmination of over 20 years of experience in embedded tradecraft, intelligence operations, and cutting edge software. Our engineering team, with extensive backgrounds in offensive and defensive cyber warfare, has developed a product that is comprehensive with the protection and efficiency needed for today's enterprises and their users." Schroeder goes on to say, "This funding will allow Grey Marketing Labs to accelerate our vision to deliver even more impactful solutions for our customers." Capri Ventures, the lead investor in this funding round, expressed their excitement about partnering with Replica. "We are thrilled to support Grey Market Labs in their mission to redefine cybersecurity with the Replica platform," said Dennis Shaya , Partner with Capri Ventures. "Their innovative approach and deep expertise position them as a frontrunner in the industry, especially financial services, and we believe this partnership will drive significant advancements in digital privacy and security." Available as both a SaaS product and a hosted service, Replica enables secure work even in a global ecosystem, while reducing burden on the IT organization. The platform's flexible architecture supports rapid deployments (noted as some of the fastest in Financial Services), continuous updates, and seamless integration with existing enterprise services, including single-sign-on, proxies, and data governance. Additionally, Replica offers rich audit and reporting functionalities to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and provide the critical observability needed for leadership. Replica has solved critical problems for major Banks, Health Systems, Global Consulting, and Governments with use cases like: Protected Research (deep/dark web, social, automated collects, OSINT), Isolating Acquired (M&A) tech and activities, Advanced Sandboxing for Malware/ Unknown Files , Complex Training Environments, Enabling Fraud /Cyber Investigations, Secure DevOps with Data Controls, Intellectual Property Sharing and Protection, and more. With this new round of funding, Replica is poised to expand its value to customers, enhance its offerings, and further solidify its position as a leader redefining how to protect and enable high-risk activities. For more information about Replica, please visit ReplicaCyber.com . About Grey Market Labs Founded as Grey Market Labs® (dba Replica Cyber ), a Certified B-Corp with the mission to protect life online. Our work protecting the United States from foreign intelligence evolved to the creation of ReplicaTM, the world's first Secure Environments-as-a-Service platform. This patented SaaS platform simplifies creation of comprehensive hybrid-computing systems, delivering privacy and security while giving control to business users and reducing the burden on IT by 99.73%. We have solved critical problems for major Banks, Health Systems, Global Consulting, and Governments with use cases like: Protected Research (deep/dark web, social, automated collects, OSINT), Isolating Acquired (M&A) tech and activities, Advanced Sandboxing for Malware/ Unknown Files , Complex Training Environments, Enabling Fraud /Cyber Investigations, Secure DevOps with Data Controls, and more. For anyone that has tried to build complex, secure systems and platforms - Replica replaces this expensive work with the automation of secure environments. About Capri Ventures Capri Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm focused on Enterprise Technology. The team is composed of former software executives and leaders from Fortune 500 enterprises, bringing significant resources early in a company's lifecycle to help drive commercialization and market adoption. About AFG Partners AFG Partners < https://www.afgvc.com/ > is an Asian-based VC fund investing in B2B fintech and enabling tech startups addressing the critical needs of financial institutions and corporates globally, particularly in Asia . A core part of the strategy is to invest and help companies in Europe and the US who are interested in expanding across Asia via our network of LPs and ecosystem partners. Previous investments of the principals include N26, Unit, Blockdaemon, Airbnb, Transferwise, Gocardless and Wefox amongst others. About Blu Ventures Blu Ventures, a venture capital firmed based in Washington, DC , provides strategic funding and expert guidance in Seed to Series A companies in cybersecurity, healthtech, and B2B software startups. Blu leverages the deep domain expertise of its partners—all former operators with extensive industry experience—to empower visionary entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.bluventureinvestors.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grey-market-labs-announces-8m-series-a-funding-led-by-capri-ventures-to-accelerate-growth-of-its-replica-platform---first-of-its-kind-secure-environment-as-a-service-302313584.html SOURCE Grey Market Labs

Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks, an injury that pauses the Washington Capitals superstar captain’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record. The Capitals updated Ovechkin’s status Thursday after he was evaluated by team doctors upon returning from a three-game trip. The 39-year-old broke the leg in a shin-on-shin collision Monday night with Utah's Jack McBain, and some of his closest teammates knew it was not good news even before Ovechkin was listed as week to week and placed on injured reserve. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week

The state institutions involved in energy — setting policies, watching over utilities, advocating for ratepayers — are poised to face questions from lawmakers in the legislative session that begins next month. Chief among those questions, and disagreements: Who should be doing what in the state when it comes to energy? The Office of the Consumer Advocate, which works for the interests of residential ratepayers, has some thoughts. It supports legislation to clarify the authority of the Public Utilities Commission, a three-member body with jurisdiction over utilities, and the Department of Energy, a state agency established in 2021. But the OCA has also had to go on the defensive over its own role: Rep. Ross Berry, a Weare Republican, has proposed that the office be repealed and that its mantle instead be taken up by the DOE. Donald Kreis, the state’s consumer advocate, adamantly opposes the move. Meanwhile, PUC Chair Daniel C. Goldner and Commissioner Pradip K. Chattopadhyay have said they are “very concerned about the sweeping nature” of Kreis’ recommendations. Competing visions for the purpose of these offices will face off in a new Legislature with expanded Republican control, with a new Republican governor, Kelly Ayotte, holding the veto pen. Kreis said he expects to be at the Statehouse much more than in years past. While bills are still being drafted and have yet to be released to the public, here’s what’s teeing up for the Legislature when it convenes in the new year. PUC and DOE Kreis supported the creation of the DOE in 2021 but has since had “some buyer’s remorse.” A major issue, he said, is the muddling of which authorities belong to the DOE and which belong to the PUC. “It is expensive and complicated and ultimately bad for ratepayers if it isn’t clear to everybody what the job of the Public Utilities Commission is and what the job of the Department of Energy is,” Kreis said. “And so the bill that I have been working on getting introduced would just clarify everybody’s respective spheres.” Rep. Thomas Cormen, a Lebanon Democrat collaborating with Kreis, is the sponsor of a legislative service request “relative to redefining the role” of the PUC. (A legislative service request is the early stage of potential legislation, when the bill is still being written.) “If you look at many of the current statutes, they loop in the PUC as part of the enforcement mechanism, things that really the Department of Energy should be doing,” Cormen said. “And in fact, a lot of the statutes say the Department of Energy or the PUC can do these things, but really the PUC is an adjudicative board, and that’s all it should be.” Kreis pointed to a recent order from the PUC on net metering. In that decision, net metering was kept at its current rates and is left to expire in 2040. The commissioners “essentially ignored” a settlement agreement reached by parties including the OCA, clean energy advocates, utilities and others, Kreis said. Part of Cormen’s legislation, the lawmaker said, will say that “in the case where all the parties involved in a case before the PUC agree as to what the outcome should be, then the PUC should quickly come to that outcome.” On how explicit that legislation should be — whether it should simply urge the PUC to accept such settlement agreements or mandate it — Kreis said: “I personally think it would be OK to tell the PUC that in a scenario where there’s total unanimous agreement, that the PUC shouldn’t second guess that total unanimous agreement.” But, he added, “I think most people would not go as far as I’m willing to go.” A separate bill request Cormen has filed seeks to clarify the authority of the PUC chair. He said he also worked with Kreis on this idea. On current law, “You could construe it as saying that the chair of the Public Utilities Commission can make rulings and just do a lot of things on their own, rather than by a majority of the commissioners,” said Cormen, who sits on the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee. “So the whole point of this bill is to just say that any actions taken by the PUC must be approved by a majority of the commissioners.” Kreis raised his legislative ideas in an October memo to the Residential Ratepayers Advisory Board, which the OCA describes as its “official sounding board.” Not all of these ideas will be pursued in the next legislative session and were still in early form in the memo, Kreis indicated. PUC members, in a letter to the advisory board, pointed to suggestions they believed would be a “grave error” to adopt. Goldner and Chattopadhyay, who have since been joined by a third PUC member, said they intended to “advocate vigorously, before the Legislature and elsewhere, to maintain these authorities, and to give a fuller, more accurate, picture of our work to interested stakeholders.” “As the ultimate arbiter between the interests of customers, including residential customers, and the interests of the regulated utilities (RSA 363:17-a), and the adjudicative body responsible for ensuring just, reasonable, and lawful rates for regulated utilities under New Hampshire law,” the commissioners wrote, “we foresee that adoption of these OCA recommendations would result in a profound blow against the public interest.” The commissioners, through a staff attorney, declined to comment further on the matter when reached following the advisory board meeting in October. Christopher J. Ellms Jr., the deputy commissioner of the DOE, said in an email that it “would be premature to comment on the consumer advocate’s suggestions regarding possible legislation,” and that the department “will review bills as they become publicly available and provide any position or testimony during hearings held by the appropriate legislative committee.” Consumer advocate Berry framed his legislation to move the role of the OCA under the DOE as a response to the needs of voters. “They’re screaming for lower energy rates, and I think this is a way to expedite that process,” Berry said. “The idea is to take the mandate that is given to the Office of the Consumer Advocate, which is to obviously lower and prioritize the residential ratepayer and give it to the entire Department of Energy,” Berry said. “So, instead of having five lawyers working on this ... the entire Department of Energy would be tasked with prioritizing the residential ratepayer.” Berry said his idea has been “fairly well-received” in conversations with lawmakers. “I haven’t talked to OCA,” Berry said. “They haven’t deemed fit to reach out to me, and I haven’t really had any real conversations with the DOE other than, like, ‘Hey, I’m filing this.’” Kreis, on the other hand, said Berry “has not done me the courtesy of reaching out and letting me know what it is that he has in mind.” With a new Legislature, Kreis is not sure how much interest the bill will generate — but he said he welcomes “the opportunity to explain to the Legislature what it is that we do and why it’s valuable. ... I’m hopeful that it won’t gain any traction, but it’s hard to say at this stage.” Berry argued that the consumer advocate, like the DOE commissioner, is a political appointee who requires nomination by the governor and confirmation by the Executive Council. “This argument that the [OCA] makes that they’re unbiased is bunk, because they’re both going through a political process,” Berry said. “... Once you kind of accept that as the reality, which it is the reality ... you can it look at and go, ‘OK, well, why don’t we just have the entire Department of Energy prioritize the residential ratepayer, and then you can have the PUC ... be the quote, unquote, neutral arbiter.” (PUC members also go through the confirmation process.) But Kreis feels his role, which he said exists in the vast majority of states, provides advocacy for ratepayers that can’t be replicated by an agency. “If you took what I do, and you just folded it back into the Department of Energy, then ... it’s the equivalent of saying that whatever the executive branch, basically meaning the governor, thinks is the right public policy is automatically good for ratepayers,” Kreis said. “And I don’t think that that is appropriate, even in a state with a fabulous governor, pursuing excellent executive branch public policy, that isn’t the ratepayer voice. That’s the governor’s voice.”Recession-Proofing Your Portfolio With Gold

FIUGGI, Italy (AP) — Foreign ministers from the world’s leading industrialized nations expressed cautious optimism Monday about possible progress on a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The top diplomats met for the final time before a new U.S. administration takes office with wars raging in the Mideast and Ukraine. “Knock on wood,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said as he opened the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome. “We are perhaps close to a ceasefire in Lebanon," he said. "Let's hope it's true and that there's no backing down at the last-minute.” A ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon was foremost on the agenda of the G7 meeting in Fiuggi, outside Rome, that gathered ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, in the last G7 encounter of the Biden administration. For the first time, the G7 ministers were joined by their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the so-called “Arab Quintet,” as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League. “Everyone favors a ceasefire in both scenarios,” Tajani told reporters, adding that Italy had offered to take on an even greater peacekeeping role in Lebanon to oversee any ceasefire deal. As the ministers arrived in Italy, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Mike Herzog, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached “within days.” Several Arab ministers reiterated calls for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza during a G7-affiliated conference in Rome. “We need a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire. That will stop the killings and stop the destruction and restore a sense of normalcy to life,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the conference. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, for his part, reaffirmed that Cairo would host a minister-level conference next Monday on mobilizing international aid for Gaza. The so-called “Quintet” has been working with the U.S. to finalize a “day after” plan for Gaza. There is some urgency to make progress before the Trump administration takes over in January. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favors Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians. Tajani added another item to the G7 agenda last week after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief. Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Italy’s right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. The Italian government has taken a cautious line, reaffirming its support and respect for the court but expressing concern that the warrants were politically motivated. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has called the warrants “outrageous.” Tajani acknowledged consensus hadn't been reached among the G7 members but hoped for agreement to have a unified position. He noted that all sides need Netanyahu to make any deal. “We can also not agree with how his government has led the reaction after the massacre of Oct. 7, but now we have to deal with Netanyahu to arrive at peace in Lebanon, peace in Palestine,” Tajani said. Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs think tank, warned that inserting the ICC warrant into the G7 agenda was risky, since the U.S. is the lone member that is not a signatory to the court and yet tends to dictate the G7 line. “If Italy and the other (five G7) signatories of the ICC are unable to maintain the line on international law, they will not only erode it anyway but will be acting against our interests,” Tocci wrote in La Stampa daily this weekend, recalling Italy’s recourse to international law in demanding protection for Italian U.N. peacekeepers who have come under fire in southern Lebanon. The other major talking point of the G7 meeting is Ukraine , and tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the U.S. approach. Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. “It’s hugely important that this G7, that all colleagues across the G7 continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it lasts,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said as he arrived. He announced new sanctions on vessels of Russia's “shadow fleet” of ships that are evading sanctions to export Russian oil. “And we are confident that Ukraine can have the funds and the military equipment and kit to get through 2025,” Lammy said. The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, the second of the Italian presidency after ministers gathered in Capri in April , is being held in the medieval town of Fiuggi southeast of Rome, best known for its thermal spas. On Monday, which coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ministers were attending the inauguration of a red bench meant to symbolize Italy’s focus on fighting gender-based violence. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence , which in Italy so far this year has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.A CT athletic trainer was dismissed and the athletes in her care are trying to get her backPenticton vaccine discrimination complaint against B.C. Union dismissed

Harte Hanks director Bradley Radoff acquires $241,551 in stockNone

NEW YORK — The masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies outside a Manhattan hotel used ammunition emblazoned with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," two law enforcement officials said Thursday. The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. With the gunman still at large, police also released photos of a person they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company's annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in Midtown. The reason behind the killing remained unknown, but investigators believe it was a targeted attack. This image shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. The message left on the ammunition echoes the phrase "delay, deny, defend," which is commonly used by attorneys and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims. It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for complicating access to care. Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from a nearby Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's medical examiner was looking for fingerprints. The killing and the shooter's movements in the minutes before and after were captured on some of the multitudes of security cameras present in that part of the city. The shooter fled on a bike and was last seen riding into Central Park. Bullets lie on the sidewalk Wednesday outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York. The hunt for the shooter brought New York City police to at least two hostels on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Thursday morning, based on a tip that the suspected shooter might have stayed at one of the residences, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos police released Thursday of a man wanted for questioning were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel. "We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time," said Danielle Brumfitt, a spokesperson for the hostel. Police received a flood of tips from members of the public, many of them unfounded. On Wednesday evening, police searched a Long Island Rail Road train after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but found no sign of the gunman. "We're following up on every single tip that comes in," said Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson. "That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together." Investigators believe, judging from surveillance video and evidence collected from the scene, that the shooter had at least some prior firearms training and experience with guns and the weapon was equipped with a silencer, said one of the law enforcement officials who spoke with the AP. This still image from surveillance video shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, Wednesday outside a Manhattan hotel. Security camera video showed the killer approach Thompson from behind, level his pistol and fire several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the health executive tumbled to the pavement. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle. Police issued several surveillance images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face, which wouldn't have attracted attention on a frigid day. Authorities also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search, but the killer's whereabouts remained unknown. Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in suburban Minneapolis, was with UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. The insurer's Minnetonka, Minnesota-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting with investors in New York to update Wall Street on the company's direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson's death. UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs. In the U.S. healthcare system, even the simplest act, like booking an appointment with your primary care physician, may feel intimidating. As you wade through intake forms and insurance statements, and research out-of-network coverage , you might wonder, "When did U.S. health care get so confusing?" Short answer? It's complicated. The history of modern U.S. health care spans nearly a century, with social movements, legislation, and politics driving change. Take a trip back in time as Thatch highlights some of the most impactful legislation and policies that gave us the existing healthcare system, particularly how and when things got complicated. In the beginning, a common perception of American doctors was that they were kindly old men stepping right out of a Saturday Evening Post cover illustration to make house calls. If their patients couldn't afford their fee, they'd accept payment in chicken or goats. Health care was relatively affordable and accessible. Then it all fell apart during the Great Depression of the 1930s. That's when hospital administrators started looking for ways to guarantee payment. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, this is when the earliest form of health insurance was born. Interestingly, doctors would have none of it at first. The earliest health plans covered hospitalization only. A new set of challenges from the Second World War required a new set of responses. During the Depression, there were far too many people and too few jobs. The war economy had the opposite effect. Suddenly, all able-bodied men were in the military, but somebody still had to build the weapons and provision the troops. Even with women entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, there was simply too much to get done. The competition for skilled labor was brutal. A wage freeze starting in 1942 forced employers to find other means of recruiting and retaining workers. Building on the recently mandated workers' compensation plans, employers or their union counterparts started offering insurance to cover hospital and doctor visits. Of course, the wage freeze ended soon after the war. However, the tax code and the courts soon clarified that employer-sponsored health insurance was non-taxable. Medicare, a government-sponsored health plan for retirees 65 and older, debuted in 1965. Nowadays, Medicare is offered in Parts A, B, C, and D; each offering a different layer of coverage for older Americans. As of 2023, over a quarter of all U.S. adults are enrolled in Medicare. The structure of Medicare is not dissimilar to universal health care offered in other countries, although the policy covers everyone, not just people over a certain age. Medicaid was also signed into law with Medicare. Medicaid provides health care coverage for Americans with low incomes. Over 74 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid today. The Obama administration was neither the first nor the last to champion new ways to provide health care coverage to a wider swath of Americans. The first attempts to harmonize U.S. healthcare delivery systems with those of other developed economies came just five years after Medicare and Medicaid. Two separate bills were introduced in 1970 alone. Both bills aimed to widen affordable health benefits for Americans, either by making people Medicare-eligible or providing free health benefits for all Americans. As is the case with many bills, both these died, even though there was bipartisan support. But the chairman of the relevant Senate panel had his own bill in mind, which got through the committee. It effectively said that all Americans were entitled to the kind of health benefits enjoyed by the United Auto Workers Union or AFL-CIO—for free. But shortly after Sen. Edward Kennedy began hearings on his bill in early 1971 , a competing proposal came from an unexpected source: Richard Nixon's White House. President Nixon's approach , in retrospect, had some commonalities with what Obamacare turned out to be. There was the employer mandate, for example, and an expansion of Medicaid. It favored healthcare delivery via health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, which was a novel idea at the time. HMOs, which offer managed care within a tight network of health care providers, descended from the prepaid health plans that flourished briefly in the 1910s and 1920s. They were first conceived in their current form around 1970 by Dr. Paul M. Ellwood, Jr. In 1973, a law was passed to require large companies to give their employees an HMO option as well as a traditional health insurance option. But that was always intended to be ancillary to Nixon's more ambitious proposal, which got even closer to what exists now after it wallowed in the swamp for a while. When Nixon reintroduced the proposal in 1974, it featured state-run health insurance plans as a substitute for Medicaid—not a far cry from the tax credit-fueled state-run exchanges of today. Of course, Nixon had other things to worry about in 1974: inflation, recession, a nation just beginning to heal from its first lost war—and his looming impeachment. His successor, Gerald Ford, tried to keep the proposal moving forward, but to no avail. But this raises a good question: If the Republican president and the Democratic Senate majority both see the same problem and have competing but not irreconcilable proposals to address it, why wasn't there some kind of compromise? What major issue divided the two parties? It was a matter of funding. The Democrats wanted to pay for universal health coverage through the U.S. Treasury's general fund, acknowledging that Congress would have to raise taxes to pay for it. The Republicans wanted it to pay for itself by charging participants insurance premiums, which would be, in effect, a new tax. The next significant legislation came from President Reagan, who signed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, in 1985. COBRA enabled laid-off workers to hold onto their health insurance—providing that they pay 100% of the premium, which had been wholly or at least in part subsidized by their erstwhile employer. While COBRA offers continued coverage, its high expense doesn't offer much relief for the unemployed. A 2006 Commonwealth Fund survey found that only 9% of people eligible for COBRA coverage actually signed up for it. The COBRA law had a section, though, that was only tangentially related. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, which was incorporated into COBRA, required all emergency medical facilities that take Medicare—that is, all of them—to treat patients irrespective of their insurance status or ability to pay. As Forbes staff writer Avik Roy wrote during the Obamacare debate, EMTALA has come to overshadow the rest of the COBRA law in its influence on American health care policy. More on that soon. It wasn't until the 1990s that Washington saw another serious attempt at healthcare reform. Bill Clinton's first order of business as president was to establish a new health care plan. For the first time, the First Lady took on the role of heavy-lifting policy advisor to the president and became the White House point person on universal health care. Hillary Clinton's proposal mandated : The Clintons' plan centralized decision-making in Washington, with a "National Health Board" overseeing quality assurance, training physicians, guaranteeing abortion coverage, and running both long-term care facilities and rural health systems. The insurance lobbyists had a field day with that. The famous "Harry and Louise" ads portrayed a generic American couple having tense conversations in their breakfast nook about how the federal government would come between them and their doctor. By the 1994 midterms, any chance of universal health care in America had died. In this case, it wasn't funding but the debate between big and small governments that killed the Clinton reform. It would be another generation before the U.S. saw universal health care take the stage. Fast-forward to 2010. It was clear that employer-sponsored plans were vestiges of another time. They made sense when people stayed with the same company for their entire careers, but as job-hopping and layoffs became more prevalent, plans tied to the job became obsolete. Thus the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, was proposed by Barack Obama's White House and squeaked by Congress and the Supreme Court with the narrowest of margins. The ACA introduced an individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance regardless of job status. It set up an array of government-sponsored online exchanges where individuals could buy coverage . It also provided advance premium tax credits to defray the cost to consumers. But it didn't ignore hat most people were already getting health insurance through work, and a significant proportion didn't want to change . So the ACA also required employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to provide health coverage to at least 95% of them. The law, nicknamed Obamacare by supporters and detractors, set a minimum baseline of coverage and affordability. The penalty for an employer that offers inadequate or unaffordable coverage can never be greater than the penalty for not offering coverage at all. The model for Obamacare was the health care reform package that went into effect in Massachusetts in 2006. The initial proposal was made by then-Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican who now serves as a senator from Utah. Despite an onslaught of court challenges, Obamacare remains the law of the land. For a while, Republican congressional candidates ran on a "repeal-and-replace" platform plank, but even when they were in the majority, there was little legislative action to do either. Still, Obamacare is not the last word in American health care reform. Since then, there have been two important improvements to Health Reimbursement Arrangements, through which companies pay employees back for out-of-pocket medical-related expenses. HRAs had been evolving informally since at least the 1960s but were first addressed by the Internal Revenue Service in 2002. Not much more happened on that front until Obama's lame-duck period. In December 2016, he signed the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which was mainly a funding bill supporting the National Institutes of Health as it addressed the opioid crisis. But, just like the right to free emergency room treatment was nested in the larger COBRA law, the legal framework of Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements was tucked away in a corner of the Cures Act. QSEHRAs, offered only by companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees, allow firms to let their employees pick their insurance coverage off the Obamacare exchanges. The firms pay the employees back for some or all of the cost of those premiums. The employees then become ineligible for the premium tax credit provided by the ACA, but a well-constructed QSEHRA will meet or exceed the value of that subsidy. That brings this timeline to one last innovation, which expands QSEHRA-like treatment to companies with more than 50 employees or aspiring to have them. Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements , or ICHRAs, were established by a 2019 IRS rule . ICHRAs allow firms of any size to offer employees tax-free contributions to cover up to 100% of their individual health insurance premiums as well as other eligible medical expenses. Instead of offering insurance policies directly, companies advise employees to shop on a government-sponsored exchange and select the best plan that suits their needs. Employer reimbursement rather than an advance premium tax credit reduces premiums. And because these plans are already ACA-compliant, there's no risk to the employer that they won't meet coverage or affordability standards. The U.S. is never going back to the mid-20th century model of lifetime employment at one company. Now, with remote employees and gig workers characterizing the workforce, the portability of an ICHRA provides some consistency for those who expect to be independent contractors for their entire careers. Simultaneously, allows bootstrap-phase startups to offer the dignity of health coverage to their Day One associates. The U.S. health care system can feel clunky and confusing to navigate. It is also regressive and penalizes startups and small businesses. For a country founded by entrepreneurs, it's sad that corporations like Google pay less for health care per employee than a small coffee shop in Florida. In many ways, ICHRA democratizes procuring health care coverage. In the same way that large employers enjoy the benefits of better rates, ICHRA plan quality and prices improve as the ICHRA risk pool grows. Moving away from the traditional employer model will change the incentive structure of the healthcare industry. Insurers will be able to compete and differentiate on the merits of their product. They will be incentivized to build products for people, not one-size-fits-all solutions for employers. This story was produced by Thatch and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.None

Creative Diagnostics Announces Bacterial DNA Residue Assay Kits (qPCR) for Biological Research 11-25-2024 08:06 PM CET | Health & Medicine Press release from: ABNewswire Creative Diagnostics has announced the launch of its new Bacterial DNA Residue Assay Kits (qPCR) for researchers. Creative Diagnostics, a reagent supplier and developer focused on biologics quality control, has announced the launch of its new Bacterial DNA Residue Assay Kits [ https://qbd.creative-diagnostics.com/products/bacterial-dna-residue-assay-kits-qpcr-2792.html ] (qPCR) for researchers to detect and quantify trace amounts of bacterial DNA contamination in a wide range of biopharmaceutical products, ensuring the highest standards of safety and quality. Bacterial DNA residue assay kits (qPCR) are essential for maintaining the highest levels of product integrity and compliance in the biopharmaceutical industry. As an expert in bioprocess impurity analysis, Creative Diagnostics offers a range of Bacterial DNA Residue (qPCR) assay kits for the detection of trace levels of bacterial DNA contamination in biopharmaceutical products. By effectively monitoring for bacterial DNA contamination, these assay kits prevent potential adverse effects and ensure that the final product is safe for human use. These kits use advanced quantitative PCR (qPCR) technology with high sensitivity and specificity to reliably identify and quantify bacterial DNA residues. This is essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of biologics, vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. In addition, each kit comes with pre-optimized reagents and comprehensive instructions for seamless integration into existing laboratory protocols. The rapid and accurate results provided by these kits help manufacturers meet stringent regulatory standards and maintain strict quality control throughout the manufacturing process. For example, the E. coli DNA Residue Assay Kit (Cat. No. DDNA-021) uses PCR fluorescent probe technology to quantitatively detect residual E. coli DNA in samples. This kit provides rapid, highly specific and reliable detection with a minimum detection limit of fg levels. It contains a quantitative E. coli DNA reference standard and is used in conjunction with Creative Diagnostics Host Cell DNA Prep Kit to accurately determine the amount of residual E. coli DNA in biological samples. The routine testing method for mycobacteria, the culture method, is time-consuming and does not meet the testing requirements of short-life biological products. To address this limitation, the ResDetFast Trademark Mycobacterium DNA Assay Kit (Cat. No. DDNAF-002), a quantitative fluorescence PCR-based assay designed with primers and probes, targets conserved Mycobacterium sequences for rapid and qualitative detection of Mycobacterium DNA in various biological products, including intermediates, semi-finished and finished products. When used in conjunction with Creative Diagnostics Nucleic Acid Extraction or Purification Kit, this kit can detect Mycobacterium DNA at the 10 CFU level in as little as 1.5 hours. Creative Diagnostics is committed to providing innovative solutions that support the biopharmaceutical industry. By utilizing these advanced kits, biopharmaceutical manufacturers can proactively monitor and control bacterial contamination, safeguarding the integrity of their products and protecting public health. For more information on Bacterial DNA Residue Assay Kits (qPCR) or project-specific Host Cell DNA Assay Kit development services, please visit https://qbd.creative-diagnostics.com/products/bacterial-dna-residue-assay-kits-qpcr-2792.html . About Creative Diagnostics Creative Diagnostics is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of innovative tools and reagents for bioprocess impurity analysis. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to support researchers in the quality control of biologics and provides biopharmaceutical quality, purity and safety assays, analytical methods and applications for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. Media Contact Company Name: Creative Diagnostics Contact Person: Thomas Schmitt Email:Send Email [ https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=creative-diagnostics-announces-bacterial-dna-residue-assay-kits-qpcr-for-biological-research ] State: New York Country: United States Website: https://qbd.creative-diagnostics.com/ This release was published on openPR.

NoneYou can forget about checking that numbered triangular code as you gather plastic bottles, jugs and containers for recycling in North Platte. The city now is accepting all seven types of plastics at its seven dropoff sites across town, City Administrator Layne Groseth said Thursday. It’s one of the first fruits of the City Council’s Oct. 1 vote to send recyclable plastics, tin cans and paper products to Western Resources Group of Ogallala. The city had used ABC Recycling of North Platte exclusively since 2020. The dropoff sites continue to accept cardboard, tin and aluminum cans, newspapers and magazines and other paper products as well as plastics. ABC’s plastic markets accepted only sorted No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, Groseth said, forcing residents to throw other types of plastics into the regular trash. WRG handles all plastic types and doesn’t care if different types are mingled, he added. North Platte’s new blue dropoff bins, decorated with colorful photos of local attractions, haven’t yet been updated to indicate that all seven types of plastics now can be left there, Groseth said. “We’ll work with Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful in the next few months to do more public education on that,” he said. The city hopes to soon begin accepting recyclable glass, because WRC also has a marketer for those products, he said. Since the October switchover, the city’s Public Service Department has been taking cardboard from the dropoff sites to be mulched with wood, brush and other yard waste at North Platte’s transfer station near Lake Maloney. City workers are taking aluminum cans deposited at the dropoff sites to Alter Recycling of North Platte, Groseth said. The tin cans go to WRG in Ogallala with the plastics and paper. Since the ABC Recycling contract expired, he said, recyclables from the dropoff sites are being collected at one of the Public Service Department’s white-roofed, Quonset-shaped buildings. An application for a federal grant of just over $1 million, endorsed by the council Tuesday, aims to fund a permanent city sorting and transfer building. Groseth said the desired Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grant would pay for that structure, a new recycling truck and forklift, two rolloff recycling bins and five rolloff cardboard bins. That would let the city add a couple more recycling dropoff sites, he said. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress in 2022 sets aside $275 million nationally to better equip local recycling programs. City Hall hopes to learn by the end of July if it gets the $1 million-plus grant, Groseth said. A new sorting and transfer building likely would rise on the city’s sand and gravel lot across East 12th Street (U.S. Highway 30) from Garden Glove and The Coffee Bin. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Special projects reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

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