U.S. Health Reform Starts to Take Hold - Yahoo! News

Seniors whose drug costs push them into Medicare's "donut hole" and parents whose children are uninsurable due to pre-existing health conditions are among the first Americans to see tangible effects of the nation's historic health reform law…..law, for example, requires individual and group insurers that cover dependents to extend that coverage to adult children until the age of 26.

Effective Sept. 23, insurers may no longer place lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits. The law also restricts annual limits on coverage.

consumer sentiment appears to be on the upswing. The percentage of Americans with a favorable view of the law jumped 7 percentage points to 48 percent in June, according to the latest polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Forty-one percent have an unfavorable outlook.

regulations issued Wednesday now require new private health plans to cover preventive services such as blood pressure tests and cancer screenings with no cost-sharing requirements for consumers

U.S. Health Reform Starts to Take Hold - Yahoo! News

Incarcerated women gave birth in shackles and handcuffs - chicagotribune.com

one of an estimated 50 women who give birth every year while in the custody of the Cook County Jail.
Shackling women during labor is illegal; Illinois became the first state to ban the practice in 1999, and nine other states have followed suit. But more than 20 former jail inmates, including Walton, have filed lawsuits since 2008 against the Cook County sheriff's office

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Gov. Quinn slices staff pay after flap over raises | Crain's Chicago Business

 

Quinn will require his staff, state managers and policymakers to take 24 unpaid days off this year, up from 12 days last year, he said. Quinn also plans to take the 24 unpaid days.

"It is something we must do and the governor must set the pace," he said in Chicago. "This budget year we're going to have constant review."

…days off will translate into a 9.2 percent salary….he's given 43 salary increases averaging 11.4 percent to 35 staffers in his office the past 15 months. Many of the increases went to people with new jobs or more duties, but about one-third were simply described as salary adjustments.

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