Juicing: Cleansing the body and the mind
Think of a bouncy little golden Labrador puppy, wet nose, bright eyes, wagging tale, shiny coat, a bundle of energy
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Laughter as medicine can relieve chronic pain
(Robin Williams plays a doctor in the movie Patch Adams makes a child laugh. Publicity photo) Laughter is an involuntary
Read moreProposed ban on e-cigarettes in public places draws opposition
Maryland became the latest in a series of states struggling with how to regulate electronic cigarettes this past week when a bill aiming to ban them in public places was heard in a House committee.
Read moreRascovar column: Maryland’s Obamacare fiasco continues
How high will it go? How much more will it cost the O’Malley-Brown administration to fix or totally replace the dysfunctional online health insurance system that it bragged about until the software crashed on Day One?
It already is the most costly debacle in state history.
Read moreHigher pay sought for caregivers of disabled
With the governor and legislators pushing for an increase in Maryland’s state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, advocates of people with disabilities want to make sure their paid caregivers get higher wages, since the state now only reimburses them at $9.82 an hour.
Read moreBill requires many employers to offer paid sick leave
Almost a majority of the House of Delegates is sponsoring legislation to mandate many Maryland businesses offer paid sick and safe leave policy for their employees, a move one research group estimates would cost employers $165 million.
Read moreAnalysis: Health exchange problems could be more serious and expensive than reported
The problems at the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange (MHBE) are likely more serious and more expensive to fix than has already been reported, according to an assessment of project documentation by MarylandReporter.com.
Cost overruns and higher costs in future years could easily run to over $100 million, and big decisions loom regarding who will pay and what will happen to the glitch-ridden website.
Read moreRascovar column: Getting to the bottom of Md.’s $250M health care fiasco
Accountability is sorely lacking when it comes to Maryland’s botched rollout of Obamacare. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is nowhere to be found when tough questions are asked. Gov. Martin O’Malley deflects “who’s at fault” inquiries, focusing instead on getting the deeply flawed software partly operable.
Read moreNo new taxes this year, O’Malley says, but Vinny DeMarco seeks one more
But along with the usual talk of “tough choices” and “moving forward,” Gov. Martin O’Malley’s State of the State Address is likely to tout that he balanced his proposed fiscal 2015 budget with “no new taxes or fees.” Thank God, most Marylanders would agree, but not Vinny DeMarco, persistent advocate of higher taxes on cigarettes and booze for the sake of public health as president of Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative.
Read moreRascovar column: Brown has a health care albatross
Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Anthony Brown, has a problem that won’t go away — his still unexplained leadership role in the state’s disastrous Obamacare rollout.
This is the biggest sticking point in Brown’s run for governor. It could become an insurmountable obstacle if public attention remains focused on those computer glitches and poor sign-up results.
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