Federal Health Care Law Argued In Court This Week
June 7, 2011
When U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola declared last year’s federal health overhaul unconstitutional, the ruling vindicated Florida Republicans and other critics of the law.
But Wednesday, three appellate judges in Atlanta — including two appointees of former Democratic President Bill Clinton — will get their shot at the case.
Despite the political cacophony surrounding the law, the case largely boils down to this question: Does the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allow the federal government to require that most people have health insurance starting in 2014?
Florida and other states spearheading the lawsuit also make another key argument: The federal government is improperly trying to “coerce” them with the law’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility.
Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide those issues. But with 26 states involved in the case, Wednesday’s arguments at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be closely watched.
The Obama administration will argue the law complies with the Commerce Clause, at least in part, because health care is part of a broad system of interstate commerce. That interstate commerce is affected by uninsured people who need health care but can’t afford to pay for it.
“Millions of people without health insurance have consumed health-care services for which they do not pay,” administration lawyers said in a brief filed in the appeals court. “They have thereby shifted the uncompensated costs of their care … to health-care providers regularly engaged in interstate commerce.”
But the states and other opponents argue that using the Commerce Clause to require Americans to buy insurance is unprecedented. Allowing it, they contend, would justify Congress making decisions about consumer spending on such products as food and housing.
“In the over 200 years that Congress has sat, it has never before attempted to exercise its Commerce Clause power in this manner,” the attorneys for the opponents wrote in a brief.
Vinson, a senior judge who was appointed to the federal bench by former Republican President Ronald Reagan, ruled in January against the Obama administration on the Commerce Clause issue. Vinson also went further, throwing out the entire federal law because he said the insurance requirement was a vitally interconnected part.
The requirement has always been the most-controversial part of the mammoth health law, which Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress approved in March 2010. People who remain uninsured in 2014 will face financial penalties.
Bill McCollum, then Florida’s Republican attorney general, immediately filed the lawsuit last year in Pensacola and made the insurance requirement a centerpiece. Officials in 25 other states also joined the case, as did the National Federation of Independent Business and two individual plaintiffs.
As an indication of how politically charged the insurance requirement has become, the two sides in the lawsuit even describe it differently in the briefs. Obama administration lawyers describe it as the “minimum coverage provision,” while opponents call it an “individual mandate.”
While Vinson agreed with Florida and the other states on the insurance requirement, he rejected their argument that the law would improperly expand Medicaid eligibility.
The expansion, which would raise income-eligibility levels to allow more people to qualify for Medicaid, would help meet the law’s goal of almost all Americans having health coverage. During the first few years, the federal government would cover all of the costs of the newly eligible people, though states would have to pay 10 percent of the costs by 2020.
States that refuse to expand eligibility would lose billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding. The law’s opponents contend that is unconstitutional, saying Congress may not “employ its spending power to coerce states into capitulating to federal demands.”
But Obama administration lawyers argue that state participation in Medicaid is voluntary and that Congress has the right to change the conditions of federal funding for the program.
Always shadowing the lawsuit has been the fierce partisan political fights about the health law. Those fights have played out in Washington and state capitals, such as Tallahassee, and also will be prominent during the 2012 presidential campaign.
That has also created scrutiny of the political backgrounds of the judges hearing the case. The judges Wednesday will include Clinton appointees Frank Hull and Stanley Marcus and Chief Judge Joel Dubina, who was appointed by former Republican President George H.W. Bush.
Dubina has received scrutiny in recent weeks because his daughter, U.S. Rep. Martha Dubina Roby, R-Ala., is an outspoken critic of the federal health law.
Gulf Power Offers Cash For Old Refrigerators Or Freezers
June 7, 2011
Gulf Power customers can claim a $35 reward and arrange for free pick up of an older refrigerator or freezer. The new recycling program is part of the utility’s new EarthCents energy-efficiency programs, which are designed to save customers money and energy.
After they are picked up, the older units are sent to a de-manufacturing plant where they are dismantled, returning approximately 95 percent of the materials to the manufacturing stream.
“Refrigerators and freezers made before 1990 use three times more electricity than newer models,” said Jeff Rogers, spokesperson for Gulf Power. “Getting rid of an inefficient refrigerator or freezer will put about $150 a year in savings in your pocket. This is a great way for our customers to save on their electricity bills while helping to protect the environment.”
Since 2001, federal standards require new refrigerators and freezers to consume less energy. Current models use about 450 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, compared to older units that use an average of 1,500 kWh per year.
To schedule the pickup of a refrigerator or freezer for recycling, Gulf Power’s electricity customers can call 1-855-559-2523 or visit www.gulfpower.com/earthcents. Customers will receive a check for $35 within four to six weeks after the collection of the appliance.
Both refrigerators and freezers are eligible for the recycling program. The program is limited to removal of two units per household. Appliances must be in working order with an inside measurement between 10 and 30 cubic feet.
Division Of Forestry; Children, Drought And Thunderstorms Increase Fire Danger
June 7, 2011
Officials with the Florida Division of Forestry’s Blackwater District currently are facing a combination of factors that could lead to potentially catastrophic wildfires through the summer months.
Children – the cause of 8.5% of the district’s wildfires in 2010 – are out of school for the summer and we are in the midst of an extreme drought; combined, these two factors can create havoc for wildland firefighters. Add in the typical summer thunderstorms and the accompanying lightening and there is significant cause for concern. Crews from responded to seven fires as a result of Sunday’s thunderstorms.
“Typically, we expect afternoon thunderstorms to relieve some of the late spring drought conditions,” said David Smith, Operations Administrator for Blackwater. “Without any significant rain in the past few months and no real chance in the foreseeable future, we are very concerned with the potential fire activity. In addition, fires caused by children are on the rise and we ask parents to be vigilant to help prevent this type of activity from occurring.”
Almost halfway through the calendar year, Blackwater crews have battled 163 fires that consumed more than 1,900 acres. By the same time last year, there had been only 98 fires totaling more than 1,000 acres.
The Florida Division of Forestry is reminding everyone that because of continued dryness, gusty winds, and daily temperatures in the nineties, we are seeing increased fire danger levels in all of northwest Florida, including Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. Everyone living in and visiting the area is urged to be extremely aware of the potential for wildfire.
The Division of Forestry does not recommend burning at this time, however burn bans are not in effect for Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.
Pictured: On South Highway 99 just south of Highway 97-A near Enon, downed power lines sparked a brush fire over several acres last Friday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Amber Alert Canceled, 3 Month Old Found Safe
June 7, 2011
An Alabama infant that was the subject of an Amber Alert yesterday has been found safe and sound, according to the Alabama Department of Public Safety. No further details were provided when the Amber Alert was canceled Tuesday morning.
Three month old Daniel Jackson Lowe was taken during a car jacking in Ariton, Alabama (southeast of Troy) on Sunday evening, June 5. Daniel and his two siblings Brian Dale Dacus III, and Charles Clinton Dacus were taken by unknown suspects in an alleged assault and carjacking.
Dale and Charles Dacus were discovered Monday in Black, Alabama — that’s on the Alabama/Florida line north of Bonifay. A woman told Walton County deputies that she found the children in the roadway near her home and drove them to a Walton County hospital.
Ina Lee Roach Conway
June 7, 2011
Mrs. Ina Lee Roach Conway, 89, passed away on Monday, June 6, 2011, in Pensacola.
Mrs. Conway was a native of McDavid and a resident of Century and McDavid for most of her life. She attended the Century First Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her husband Andrew J. Conway.
Survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Eva R. and Houston Conway of Pensacola; and a number of nieces and nephews.
Special thanks to Regency Hospice, Dr. John Boden, Kari, Jeanette, and Jo, Counseling on Aging, Josephine Cook, and special friends, Brenda Fowler and Marie Long.
Funeral services will be held Friday, June 10, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Earle Greene officiating.
Burial will follow at Godwin Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Friday, June 10, 2011, from 12:30 p.m. until funeral time at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home in Atmore.
Pallbearers will be Bernard Conway, James Nall, Tommy Conway, Jameson Kimbrel, Jim Kimbrel and Lavelle Steel.
Doctors File Suit Over Gun Ownership Question Bill
June 7, 2011
Pushing back against the National Rifle Association, a group of physicians on Monday filed suit in a Miami federal court to nullify a controversial measure prohibiting health practitioners from routinely asking their patients if they own guns and have them properly stored.
In a battle pitting the First Amendment against the Second Amendment, attorneys representing pediatricians and family doctors are asking U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke to throw out the recently approved measure (HB 155) they say steps illegally between a patient and their physician by limiting the types of questions practitioners can ask.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District of Florida, contends that prohibiting what physicians and their patients can talk about is unconstitutional.
“By severely restricting such speech and the ability of physicians to practice such preventative medicine, the Florida statute could result in grievous harm to children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly,” the complaint reads. “The First Amendment does not permit such a gross and content-based intrusion on speech and, accordingly, the court should declare the ‘Physician Gag Law’ unconstitutional and enjoin its enforcement.”
The bill easily passed both chambers along largely party line votes – 88-30 in the House and 27-10 in the Senate.
The legislation appears to have originated after an Ocala couple complained that their doctor had told them to find another physician after they refused to disclose whether they owned guns and how they were stored.
Physicians say questions about gun ownership is often part of routine screenings done in many doctor’s offices, included in a battery of questions including such safety questions as whether poisons are kept in the home or if medicines are safely stored.
Backers say ownership is a constitutionally protected right, making it different from other possible potential hazards doctors might ask about.
Florida NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer could not be reached for comment Monday.
“We pay doctors to be doctors and give us medical care,” Hammer said in an interview with the Capital News Service last week. “Instead, they are trying to be social workers and bring their gun-ban politics into the examining room.”
Lawmakers this year also passed a measure (HB 45) that prohibits cities and counties from passing gun ordinances that are tougher than state law. That bill passed along similar party-line votes in the House and Senate on votes of 85-33 and 30-8 respectively with a few Democrats crossing the aisle.
Originally opposed to the bill dealing with doctors’ questions, the Florida Medical Association withdrew its opposition after changes were made allowing physicians, nurses and other practitioners to ask questions about gun ownership if they feel the patient or a family member might be in danger.
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
Escambia Man Gets 25 Years For Attempted Murder, Robbery
June 7, 2011
An Escambia County man was sentenced to 25 years in state prison with a minimum mandatory of 20 years on attempted murder and robbery charges.
Sedecki Pierre Toler, 24, received the sentence from Judge Jan Shackelford after being convicted of attempted second degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm and carjacking with a firearm.
On June 26, 2010, Toler approached Michael Jerome Brown in his driveway, took him inside his house at gunpoint, and shot him in the head, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins. The bullet just grazed the back of Brown’s head. Toler then took Brown’s money and keys and fled the premises. DNA linked Toler to Brown’s vehicle and the scene of the crime.
State To Give RX Drug Help To Released Inmates
June 7, 2011
The Florida Department of Corrections announced Monday it will offer prescription drug discount cards to newly released inmates and those on probation through a partnership with a company that specializes in helping former offenders get medicine.
The cards, which will be provided by Recovery Health Network, will offer up to 75 percent discounts on prescription medications, certain tests and some imaging services.
The discount cards will be provided for free, and DOC said in its announcement Monday that they are recognizes by more than 54,000 pharmacies nationwide. The card has no expiration date or limits on numbers of prescriptions and DOC says it will work for “all physician-prescribed” medications.
“One of our reentry goals is to match inmates and offenders with needed resources,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Edwin Buss. “Putting these prescription cards in the hands of offenders on community supervision and inmates right when they are released will help with the costs of the medications they need.”
NHS Presents Senior Awards
June 6, 2011
The following awards were presented to Northview High School seniors recently:
Agriscience
Stephanie Solari – Outstanding Student
Art
Katelyn Garrison – HAA
Aaron Hammond – Exemplary
Business Technology
Business Education Direct Study – HAA
Dixie Carnley
Kelsey Plant
Business Education Directed Study Exemplary Award
Katie Wieborg
Digital Design 1 – HAA
Jocelyn Gould
Digital Design 2 – HAA
Jocelyn Gould
Digital Design 3 – HAA
Dixie Carnley
Exemplary Digital Design 3
Katelyn Garrison
Exemplary Award Web Design 1
Jessica Imholte
Web Digital Design 2 – HAA
Laneicia Gomez
Web Design 2 – Exemplary Award
LaDarian White
Web Design 3 – HAA
Joshua King
Industry Certification
Allyson Bullard
Dixie Carnley
Trestine Dean
Ashley Digmon
Katelyn Garrison
Laneicia Gomez
Jocelyn Gould
Jessica Imholte
Shaniqua Jones
Joshua King
David Lambert
Jessynia McCall
Jacob Morris
Kelsey Plant
Derrick Portis
Elliot Ross
LaDarion White
Katie Wieborg
Family & Consumer Science
Christina Sepulveda – HAA
Language Arts
Eng Honors – HAA
Christina Sepulveda
Exemplary
Hilary Byrd
Reg. English – HAA
Shawna Montgomery
Exemplary
Megan Flurnoy
English 1101-02
Sarah Killam
Exemplary
Emily Vickrey
Mathematics
Pre-Calculus
Brianna Roley – HAA
James Garrett – Exemplary Student Award
Liberal Arts Math
Erin Fremin – HAA
Stephan Jay – Exemplary
College Readiness Math
Mallory Bell – HAA
Sarah Schachle – Exemplary
Music
Colton Sims – Outstanding Performance in Music
Mallory Bell – Outstanding Performance in Music
Reading Exemplary
Tammie Brown
T’Kieya Amos
Science
Sarah Killam – HAA
James Garrett – Exemplary
Spanish
Dustin Gibson — HAA
Dustin Yuhasz — Exemplary
Social Studies
Mallory Bell — HAA Eco.
Sarah Killam — Exemplary
Shaniqua Jones –Exemplary Regular Eco.
Technology Education
Charles Rollin – HAA–Construction Tech
Derek Lewis – HAA — Drafting
James Garrett – Exemplary Drafting
Yearbook Editor
Christina Sepulveda – HAA
Caitlyn Brown – HAA
Brandi Boggan – Exemplary
Brooke Tullis — Exemplary
Frontier Customers Experience Phone, Internet Outage
June 6, 2011
An apparent equipment failure in Atmore left thousands of Frontier Communications customers without phone and internet for a period of time this morning. The outage included Frontier customers in Atmore, Walnut Hill, Bratt and Molino, as well as Monroeville and Camden, Ala.
The outage began at 10:37 a.m. and included voice and data services such as DSL. The outage originally caused “toll isolation”, according to Karen Miller, spokesperson for Frontier — with customers at one point able to only call within their own phone exchange.
It appears that DSL and data services returned for most customers after a short period of time, but many customers continued to experience difficulties with voice calls until just after noon.
Walnut and Molino customers reported that they were able to call the Frontier service area — including Walnut Hill, Bratt, Molino and Atmore — but they were unable to call Pensacola, which is ordinarily a local phone call. Some long distance services were also involved in the outage.
A test call from NorthEscambia.com to Escambia County (Fla.) 911 indicated that 911 emergency calls were operable just after 11 a.m.
The outage appeared to be related to an equipment failure in Atmore, according to Miller.
Some Verizon Wireless customers also reported data and voice problems during the first few minutes of the outage, apparently because some of Verizon’s local towers connect to the phone network through Frontier.