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IN BRIEF NJ PHYSICIAIN PLEADS GUILTY TO HEALTH CARE FRAUD CAMDEN, N.J. — A southern New Jersey physician who owns a business that provides homebased medical services has admitted billing Medicare for lengthy visits to elderly patients that they did not receive. Lori Reaves recently pleaded guilty to a complaint charging her with health care fraud. The 52year-old Winslow Township resident faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced July 13. Reaves owns the Hammontonbased Visiting Physicians of South Jersey. Federal prosecutors say she admitted lying about ser vices that the firm provided from early 2008 to late 2011. They say she used Medicare billing codes for problems requiring more than two hours of service when she actually spent 30 to 45 minutes with each patient. They say Reaves received at least $511,068 in criminal profits.
GUN CONTROL ACTIVIST CALLS FOR MENTAL HEALTH DISCUSSION WASHINGTON — Gun control activist Mark Kelly says a proposed national gun background bill under discussion in the Senate should include better access to mental health records that could prevent psychologically disturbed people from obtaining guns. Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, said yesterday that the suspect accused of severely wounding his wife could not have bought the guns he wielded if a background check had exposed his mental problems. Jared Loughner pleaded guilty to shooting Giffords and killing six people in Tucson in Januar y 2011. Case records released last week showed Loughner passed a background check despite evidence of his agitated mental state. Kelly pressed for the proposed background check law in an interview on Fox News yesterday. — The Associated Press
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APRIL 1, 2013
In healthcare fight, Obama turns to mass marketing THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — How do you convince millions of average Americans that one of the most complex and controversial programs devised by government may actually be a good deal for them? With the nation still split over President Barack Obama’s health care law, the administration has turned to the science of mass marketing for help in understanding the lives of uninsured people — hoping to craft winning pitches for a surprisingly varied group in society. The law’s supporters will have to make the sale in the run up to an election — the 2014 midterms. Already, Republicans are hoping for an “Obamacare” flop that helps them gain control of the Senate — while Democrats are eager for the public to finally embrace the Affordable Care Act, bringing political deliverance.
It turns out America’s more than 48 million uninsured people are no monolithic mass. A marketing analysis posted online by the federal Health and Human Services Department reveals six distinct groups — three of which appear critical to the success or failure of the program. They’re the “Healthy and Young,” comprising 48 percent of the uninsured, the “Sick, Active and Worried,” (29 percent), and the “Passive and Unengaged” (15 percent). The “Healthy and Young” take good health for granted, are techsavvy, and have “low motivation to enroll.” The “Sick, Active and Worried” are mostly Generation X and baby boomers, active seekers of health care information and worried about costs. The “Passive and Unengaged” group is mostly 49 and older, “lives for today,” and doesn’t understand much about health insurance.
North Korea threatens nuclear war against US THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea — Nor th Korea’s leader said Friday that his rocket forces are ready “to settle accounts with the U.S.,” an escalation of the countr y’s bellicose rhetoric and a direct response to U.S. nuclear-capable B-2 bombers joining militar y drills with South Korea a day earlier. Kim Jong Un’s comments in an early morning meeting with his senior generals are par t of a rising tide of threats meant to highlight anger over the militar y drills and recent U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear test. Nor th Korea sees U.S. nuclear firepower as a direct threat to its existence and claims the annual militar y drills are a preparation for invasion. Pyongyang also uses
the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a justification for its own push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States — a goal that exper ts believe to be years away, despite a nuclear test last month and in December, a long-range rocket launch. A full-blown Nor th Korean attack is unlikely, though there are fears of a more localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999. Nor th Korea’s threats are seen by outside analysts as ef for ts to provoke South Korea to soften its policies and to win direct talks with Washington that could result in aid. Kim’s comments are also seen as ways to build domestic loyalty and strengthen his militar y credentials.
Pope Francis delivers Mass prior to his first ‘Urbi et Orbi’ during Easter Mass yesterday in Vatican City, Vatican. GETTY IMAGES
Pope delivers peace plea for troubled times THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis delivered a plea for peace yesterday, in his first Easter Sunday message to the world, decr ying the seemingly endless conflicts in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula after celebrating Mass at an outdoor altar before over 250,000 people in flowerbedecked St. Peter’s Square. Francis shared in his flock’s exuberance as they celebrated Christianity’s core belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead following crucifixion. After Mass, he stepped aboard an open-topped white popemobile for a cheerful spin through the joyous crowd — kissing babies and patting children on the head.
One admirer of both the pope and of the pope’s favorite soccer team, Argentina’s Saints of San Lorenzo, insisted that Francis take the team jersey he was waving at the pontif f. A delighted Francis obliged, briefly holding up the shir t, and the crowd roared in approval. Francis has repeatedly put concern for the poor and suffering at the center of his messages, and he pursued his promotion of the causes of peace and social justice in the Easter speech he delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica — the same vantage point above the square where he was introduced to the world as the first Latin American pope on March 13.