Government

One of the bills would allow grants awarded to the eligible countries or entities to be used to train anti-trafficking police and investigators; build the capacity of NGOs to educate vulnerable populations; create “victim-friendly” court; the second bill would provide assistance, priority would be given to areas or regions of the world where 15 percent of girls under age 15 or 40 percent of girls under age 18 are married. more »

For far too long, banks have encouraged abusive use of debit cards, and have pocketed the resulting punitive fees with, I’m sure, big, understanding smiles on their corporate faces. These days, more and more high schools are offering “life skills” classes that teach kids how to make a budget, handle a checking account, read a credit card agreement more »

Medicare and Medicaid will begin using their payment systems to induce quality improvements in the delivery system, for example by reducing hospital payments when a patient suffers from a hospital-acquired infection, and by rewarding doctors and other providers who do a good job of managing patients with complex conditions. more »

Many of the ads feature seniors saying the law will "hurt the quality of our care." But the law specifically forbids cuts in the basic package of Medicare benefits, and even adds some new features, such as wellness checkups. It also closes the "doughnut hole" gap in the prescription drug benefit. more »