1 uhIhiHililiiiln 11 liillull 1 mlhnil diIiiiii
DAVIT 12/01/17 **CHILL
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017
VOLUME 96 - NUMBER 45
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Despite Trump, ACA Open
Enrollment Has Begun Here
By Cash Michaels
NCBPA
No, President Trump and the Republican Congress
haven't “repealed and replaced” Pres. Obama’s Affordable
Care Act (ACA), the federal health care law, yet. But yes,
as Open Enrollment began on Nov. 1 st this week, there are
significant changes than in previous years.
Here in North Carolina, the enrollment period, now
underway, ends on Dec. 15 th for coverage through the
2018 Federal Health Insurance Exchange to begin January
1, 2018. This is the shortest enrollment period (45 days)
in recent years, so those without health care coverage
elsewhere to act immediately.
And in order to qualify for federal tax subsidies to
offset the rising cost of health insurance premiums, those
seeking to apply should go online to www.healthcare,
gov. An estimated - 496,420 residents - 85% of those
insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
(BCBS) through the ACA are eligible for what are known
as Advanced Premium Tax Subsidies (APT).
The average ACA health insurance premium is
calculated at $662 per month, but after the APT subsidy
tax credit kicks in, comes down to just $129 per month,
and in some cases, as low as $87 a month.
BCBS is the only ACA health insurer in all 100 North
Carolina counties, insuring 502,000 residents. It has been
given the green light by the NC Dept, of Insurance to
raise ACA insurance rates by an average of 14.1 percent
for 2018 coverage (the insurer originally asked for 22.9
percent). Federal premium subsidies, however, would
also increase to cover.
Reportedly, 549,158 North Carolinians signed up for
the ACA last year for 2017 coverage, a decrease of over
64,000 more who signed up the year before. Observers
say one of the reasons for the decrease was uncertainty
about the future of the ACA, especially after Pres. Trump
won the 2016 presidential election, vowing to mothball
the federal law, which he and the Republican Congress
have repeatedly failed to do.
The Trump Administration has significantly cut the
advertising budget to make more Americans aware of the
ACA Open Enrollment period, in addition to shortening it
to just 45 days, hoping to slowly phase it out in the future.
It has also cut federal funding to nonprofit groups that
traditionally helped low-income residents navigate the
process of signing up and qualifying.
The White House has also discontinued the cost sharing
reimbursements to insurance companies to help offset
rising premiums to consumers. As a result, premiums
across the nation have gone up anywhere from 15 to 21
percent, according to published reports.
North Carolina residents “are guaranteed to be insurable
and are encouraged to sign up for health insurance....”
through the ACA if they currently have ACA coverage, but
want to change their plan for 2018; they don’t have health
insurance through their employer or spouse’s employer;
they don’t have government coverage (veterans, Medicaid
or Medicare); or they’re older than 26 and are no longer
on their parents’ policy.
Failure in having health insurance in 2018 will result
in a sizable tax penalty, official warn. For the past two
years, that fee has been $695.00 per uninsured adult, and
$347.00 per uninsured child, or 2.5 percent of household
income, whichever is higher.
Underground Railroad site now
part of historic Kansas trail
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A house that was part of the Underground
Railroad has been dedicated as an official site along a new Kansas
trail linking historical places related to African-American history.
The Kansas African American History Trail officially opened last
month as a partnership of 18 historic sites across Kansas, including
Topeka’s Brown v. Board of Education historic site.
On Oct. 29, the Shawnee County Historical Society officially
added the Ritchie House during a dedication in Topeka, the Topeka
Capital-Journal reported . The event allowed visitors to explore the
historic home where John and Mary Jane Ritchie helped escaped
slaves flee to Nebraska.
The local historian’s president, George Bernheimer, noted during
the event that visitors come to learn about the Ritchies’ courage, but
also about the bravery of those who fled captivity.
“It took a great deal of courage for someone in bondage,
somewhere to make that conscious decision that they were going to
change their situation, and to take that first step and move toward
making that become a reality,” he said. “So this site not only honors
the Ritchies, but actually honors all of those people.”
Other sites along the trail include Nicodemus, a community in
northern Kansas established by African Americans following the
Civil War, and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City,
Missouri.
“If you start down in south Kansas and work your way up, Fort
Scott, for example, is the location for the raising of one of the first
African-American regiments that were a part of the Civil War,”
Bernheimer said. “It’s not all focused on one era.”
Also keep in mind, per new rules that are now in effect,
insurance companies can now deny you coverage if you
owe them money on current coverage. You must settle
any outstanding balances before you will be re-enrolled.
And you can also be denied the premium tax credit to
lower your bill in 2018 if you’re behind in your taxes.
To correct this, fill out the federal tax reconciliation IRS
form 8962 to determine your 2016 taxable income.
For more information, call the NC Dept, of insurance
to speak to a consumer specialist at 1-855-408-1212.
NCCU ALUMNUS SWORN IN AS ALAMANCE COUNTY
JUDGE LARRY BROWN JR. - Alumnus Larry Brown Jr. has
been sworn in as Alamance County District Court judge. Brown
is the first African-American to serve in this position. Prior to his
appointment, Brown served as an assistant district attorney in
Alamance County and worked as an adjunct professor at Elon
University School of Law. Brown opened a general law practice
in 2013, specializing in a variety of areas including criminal
defense. Brown volunteers his time to several civic organizations,
including Alamance Citizens for a Drug Free Community,
CareNet of Alamance County and the Alamance County Teen
Court Program. Previously he served as NCCU School of Law
Alumni Association president. Brown obtained his Juris Doctor
degree from NCCU School of Law in 2008.
Under pressure,
social media giants
acknowledge meddling
By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
WASHINGTON (AP) - In three exhaustive hearings this week,
executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google acknowledged that
their platforms were used by Russia to try and create division over
such disparate issues as immigration, gun control and politics. House
investigators released a trove of Facebook and Twitter ads that
showed just how extraordinary the cyber intrusion was.
The companies’ admissions and disclosures over the last several
months have given congressional investigators one of their first real
wins in the Russia probes. The committees have been frustrated by
delays - and overshadowed by special counsel Robert Mueller - since
they launched probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election
earlier this year. Initially dismissive of Russia’s threat, all three
companies have pledged improvements since lawmakers ramped up
pressure and called them to testify.
It’s unclear what next steps Congress will take. The top Democrat
on the Senate intelligence panel, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, has co
sponsored legislation that would bring political ad rules from TV,
radio and print to the internet. Warner calls it “the lightest touch
possible,” but many Republicans have been lukewarm.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House
intelligence panel, said he thinks such advertising regulations for
social media are “inevitable,” but noted that many of the fixes will
come down to the companies’ own social responsibility.
“Congress isn’t going to prescribe an algorithm, so there are limits
to what we can feasibly do,” Schiff said after his committee’s hearing
recently.
The few dozen ads are a sampling from more than 3,000 Russia-
linked ads Facebook had turned over to the committee. Seen by
millions of people, they encouraged street demonstrations against
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and fostered support and
opposition to Bernie Sanders, Muslims, gays, blacks and the icons of
the Civil Rights movement.
(Continued On Page 8)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Jerod belton
Veterans Day Recognition
Luncheon and Celebration
November 09, Durham County Human Services
Complex, 414 E Main St, lla.m. -1pm.
Durham County recognizes former active duty military
service members during a celebration of service each year
on or near Veterans Day. Secretary of the North Carolina
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Larry D.
Hall, a former United States Marine Corp Officer, is the
keynote speaker for The event.
Chief of Staff of Durham Department of Veteran Affairs
Healthcare System Kenneth C. Goldberg, M.D. will also
be a special guest speaker at the upcoming celebration of
those who served.
The community is invited to join in honoring service
members and their families.
Parking is available across from the site in the Human
Services Parking lot located on the corner of Main and
Dillard Street.
Judge won’t dismiss
discrimination suit by
slave descendants
By Russ Bynum
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A federal judge in Georgia has
refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims racial discrimination is
eroding one of the last Gullah-Geechee communities of slave
descendants on the Southeast U.S. coast.
Residents and landowners from the tiny Hogg Hummock
community on remote Sapelo Island sued the state and McIntosh
County in December 2015. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court
says the enclave of about 50 black residents is shrinking rapidly
as landowners pay high property taxes yet receive few basic
services, pressuring them to sell their property.
Attorneys for the state and county asked the court last year
to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing slave descendants wrongly
claimed discrimination compared to whites living on the
mainland rather than whites on Sapelo Island. But Judge
Dudley H. Bowen Jr. ruled Oct. 30 there is enough merit in the
case to move forward with claims that agencies violated black
landowners’ constitutional rights.
Those claims, “if supported by proof, may indicate that
discriminatory intent exists or is at least plausible,” Bowen
wrote in his order. He concluded the black landowners “also
allege a very specific motive for this conduct - to force Plaintiffs
from Sapelo Island to make way for more commercially
beneficial development and wealthy white residents.”
Descendants of enslaved people known as Gullah, or
Geechee in Georgia, live in small island communities scattered
over 425 miles (684 kilometers) of the Southern Atlantic U.S.
coast, from North Carolina to Florida, where their ancestors
worked on plantations until freed by the Civil War. Hogg
Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, on Sapelo Island is
one of the last such communities.
Reachable only by boat from the mainland, the largely
undeveloped barrier island about 60 miles (97 kilometers)
south of Savannah has no schools, police, fire department or
trash collection - though island property owners pay taxes used
to fund those services elsewhere in the county.
The judge dismissed several counts in the lawsuit, ruling
some discrimination claims were improperly made under the
federal Fair Housing Act and provisions of the Civil Rights
Act prohibiting discrimination by programs receiving federal
funds. He also dropped county tax assessors from the lawsuit,
saying civil claims against them belong in state court.
Bowen ultimately ruled the lawsuit’s broad race discrimination
claims alleging violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the
Constitution could move forward. So can civil counts accusing the
state of operating ferry boats and docks that fail to meet federal
accessibility standards for people with disabilities.
NCC
^it