| Special options are available to registered members.
Besides incontinence supplies such as briefs and diapers, state purchasing officials are looking for large medical suppliers to provide blood glucose monitors, nutritional supplements and other items to the entire state by mail.Contractors selected by the state must receive written prescriptions by fax, mail or electronic request. They must deliver supplies within four business days after getting an order, and within 24 hours in an emergency, 95 percent of the time.Pharmacy managers and owners are concerned that the system will cause Medicaid clients to go to hospitals and emergency departments to get help that could have otherwise been met by local pharmacists."What we see is sometimes those mail orders don't come in on time, and people will come in and ask for some pills until their mail order gets in," said Troy Paz, general manager of Maag Prescription and Medical Supply in Pocatello.He said many patients need help understanding how to use things like voice synthesizers, which help the blind or visually impaired get blood sugar numbers.But Shanahan said the items being mailed as part of the new program are supplies that won't need a lot of explanation on how they are used.Some health workers are concerned that rural patients might not have access to a computer or fax machine, and might have problems dealing with a company in another state.But Shanahan said patients could benefit from having supplies sent to their homes."Delivered to your door is a good thing," he said.
Eikaiwa romance
Many a romance has sprouted in the cubicle classrooms of Japan's eikaiwa English conversation schools. Some flourish. Others wither. For Fukuoka resident Midori Saito, 30, one outcome is quickly followed by the other. The eponymous heroine of the romantic comedy novel Midori by Moonlight thinks it's a bit sudden when her handsome American English teacher proposes marriage on their third date, but she winds up accepting for reasons that include her dream of living in the United States and the nightmare of her stereotypically traditional parents' efforts to marry her off. But scarcely has she unpacked her bags in San Francisco when Prince Charming shows himself to be a frog and cancels the wedding. Unwilling to return to Fukuoka in disgrace, but lacking the proper visa to live or work in the United States, Midori finds herself "up the creek without a saddle." Midori mangles a new English idiom every few pages, and for a while this is her most pronounced trait.
US House OKs federalization
The U.S. House of Representatives approved Tuesday the bill that would place local immigration under federal control.The NMI Immigration, Security, and Labor Act, passed by a voice vote, would extend immigration law and create a federally run guest-worker program in the Commonwealth.It would also give the CNMI a delegate in the House with limited voting powers. Currently, all U.S. possessions except the CNMI have a delegate in Congress.However, the House-passed bill does not include the controversial provision granting improved status to long-term guest workers in the CNMI. Instead, the bill requires the U.S. administration to submit to Congress within two years after the bill's enactment a report with recommendations on how to grant the guest workers a more permanent status.H.R. 3079, as passed by the House, will be transmitted to the Senate later this week.
Microsoft looks to monetize SEC filings with advertising
The Redmond company announced Thursday that it had penned a deal with financial data provider EDGAR Online to bring the reports to its service. While EDGAR will supply the actual data to MSN, Microsoft will present those reports in context along with advertisements from its own network. The revenues would likely then be used to balance out any expenses for bringing the content to its users. .
|
