星期一, 1月 04, 2021
波士頓慈濟跨年送舊迎新 勸募冬衣上健身課
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| 部分出席者堅守到幾近跨年時分才道別。(周菊子攝) |
波士頓慈濟的網站上記錄著，過去這一年因為新冠病毒疫情，他們比往年更忙碌，曾經到紐約支援救助，募集愛心物資，送上口罩，香積飯，蔬果食物袋，甚至衣物，護膚品到雀喜市(Chelsea)，摩頓市，羅爾市，以及亞裔家暴中心，遊民醫療中心等地，還不忘浴佛，辦”蔬福健康講座”，請珠媽廚房製作素菜支援，提倡茹素，護生，愛地球。
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| 慈濟波士頓聯絡處負責人長金滿 感恩祝福眾人。 |
在”迎新送舊”的一分鐘分享中，慈濟教育組的慈濟人文學校校長彭淑敏說，過去這一年實在不容易，這天能彼此遙距相聚，讓人很感恩，希望疫情早日結束，生活重歸正常。
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波士頓慈濟人文學校校長彭淑敏 |
波克萊台灣商會前會長楊羅東透露，因為新冠疫情，今年結婚的兩個女兒，都被迫取消婚禮，改成公證結婚，讓她既感嘆女兒失去留下婚禮記憶機會，卻也為自己不必舟車勞頓的飛到東南亞出席婚禮，偷偷鬆了一口氣。
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| 譚嘉陵慨捐畫作。 |
紐約慈濟分會執行長蘇濟義這晚也特地來參加網路會，向波士頓慈濟義工拜年，感謝他們合作執行慈濟志業。波士頓僑教中心主任潘昭榮到任半年來，曾多次和慈濟互動，這晚也參加了網路聚會，同聲祝福。
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| 謝宜芬帶動唱"一家人"。 |
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| 宋永麒分享二度心臟停止跳動 的經驗。 |
星期日, 1月 03, 2021
麻州最年輕國會議員 32歲Jake Auchincloss 上任
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| Jake Auchincloss (圖片來自競選網站) |
Jake Auchincloss是猶太人，父親是外科醫生，在麻州牛頓市出生，長大，上牛頓市公校，哈佛大學畢業後加入海軍，指揮過阿富汗的步兵，巴拿馬的特種部隊，現在是後備軍少校。
2015年他當選牛頓市議員，此後三度連任。做為牛頓市議員，他的年薪是15,000元。當選為國會議員後，他的年薪資將增為174,000元。
由於約瑟夫甘乃迪參選聯邦參議員，和在位聯邦參議員馬基(Ed
Makey)競爭，他的聯邦眾議員席位因而空了出來，吸引了不下13人參選，其中甚至包括麻州財政廳廳長高柏珂(Deb
Glodberg)。不過高柏珂在民主黨初選前就退出了。
Jake Auchincloss上任後第一次投票，就是支持加州民主黨的Nancy
Pelocsi連任眾議院議長。他說病毒大流行是他的第一優先議題。
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| 沈安平 |
Jake Auchincloss也呼籲擴大病毒檢測，尤其是為那些到學校上課的人做檢測。他還為此在報章上發表了一份公開信。
牛頓市人口88,411，其中亞裔13,453，佔15.3%，再細分為華裔則有7,474人，佔8.5%。牛頓市不但有個牛頓市華人協會，更有個歷史更為悠久，目前學生人數已超過1,000的牛頓中文學校。2017年，華人沈安平當選為牛頓市學校委員會第三區委員，成為八名委員之一，連任迄今。
星期五, 1月 01, 2021
波士頓今日陽光普照 慶元旦僑領代表出席升旗禮
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| 大波士頓僑領出席2021元旦升旗典禮。(周菊子攝) |
典禮由波士頓僑教中心主任潘昭榮主持，張小慧升旗，波士頓經文處處長孫儉元致詞，並頒發熱心公益獎牌，感謝僑務顧問郭競儒代表北美洲臺灣商會聯合總會，在新英格蘭地區協辦「一千萬個口罩一千萬個愛心」活動。
孫儉元表示，儘管新冠疫情改變了人們的互動方式，但他從去年7月到任後，仍充分感受到僑界的關愛與支持，例如10
月份的雙十國慶，雖然不能遊行，但經由僑務諮詢委員陳毓禮所領導的中華總會以及各僑團的支持，中華民國國旗依然順利的在波士頓市府廣場升起。波士頓華埠街道上也能循例掛出串旗。他期盼繼續和大波士頓僑界合作，推動台灣與本地的互動交流。
波士頓經文處處長孫儉元(右)頒發獎牌給僑務顧問郭靜儒。
後為僑教中心主任潘昭榮。(周菊子攝)
今日到現場出席升旗典禮的人除了波士頓經文處處長孫儉元夫婦，僑教中心主任潘昭榮，受獎的郭鏡儒之外，還有牛頓市高地社區發展協會主任John
Rice
，波士頓僑務委員梅錫銳、蔣宗壬，紐英崙中華公所主席鄭慧民夫婦，全美安良工商會總理陳仕維，波士頓洪門致公堂主席余麗媖，國民黨波士頓分部常委張韻蘭，紐英崙廣東同鄉會主席雷國輝，紐英崙阮氏公所主席阮鴻燦，紐英崙李氏公所主席李奇舜，波士頓港澳之友社主席謝中之，代表波士頓榮光會的僑務諮詢委員陳家驊，以及僑務顧問張昆等人。
波士頓經文處處長孫儉元，倪雪娥夫婦在波士頓首度同框。
(周菊子攝)
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| 紐英崙中華公所主席鄭慧民、翁美蓉夫婦應邀出席升旗典禮。他說 礙於疫情，來自台灣的太太難得有機會出來見見鄉親。(周菊子攝) |
Governor Baker Signs Health Care Legislation Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Care, Promoting Telehealth and Protecting Access To COVID-19 Testing, Treatment
Governor Baker Signs Health Care Legislation
Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Care, Promoting Telehealth and
Protecting Access To COVID-19 Testing, Treatment
New Law Also Expands Scope of Practice, Increases Access to Urgent Care, Addresses Surprise Billing
BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker today signed comprehensive health care legislation that promotes key priorities initially included in the Administration’s health care legislation filed in 2019. The new law increases insurance coverage for telehealth services, expands the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, other specialized nurses, and optometrists, and takes steps to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. Recognizing the continuing impacts of COVID-19, the law also extends requirements for all insurance carriers in Massachusetts to cover COVID-19 testing and treatment.
The legislation signed today contains several priorities initially included in the Baker-Polito Administration’s health care legislation which was introduced in the fall of 2019, including requiring coverage of telehealth services and expanding the scope of practice for Advanced Practice Nurses. The legislation also extends, and in some instances codifies, critical measures taken through executive action throughout the pandemic to ensure timely access and coverage for COVID-19 treatment and services.
In addition to the provisions enacted today, the recently signed Fiscal Year 2021 budget includes several provisions that correspond to proposals initially introduced in the Administration’s health care legislation. These proposals require all Massachusetts insurers to use a standard credentialing form, and prohibit additional costs for same-day billing for multiple primary care and behavioral health visits.
The key provisions of the new law include:
- Requiring coverage of telehealth services including
behavioral health care
- Expanding Scope of Practice for Advanced Practice
Nurses and Optometrists
- Increasing disclosures around provider costs and
network status to protect consumers from surprise medical bills
- Removing barriers to urgent care centers for MassHealth
members
- Extending insurance coverage and access to COVID-19
testing and treatment
- Directing a study and report of the impacts of COVID-19 on the health care system
“Massachusetts has long been a leader in ensuring health care quality and access and with this new law, we are making further progress in building a strong, accessible and affordable health care system, a goal that is more important now than ever,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am proud to sign this legislation which promotes telehealth services that have become vital during this pandemic, expands access to high-quality, affordable care, takes steps to protect consumers from surprise medical bills, and preserves access to COVID-19 testing and treatment. We look forward to working with our partners in the Legislature and the health care community to build on these reforms in the future.”
“The legislation signed today will increase access to high quality, affordable health care for residents and families across the Commonwealth, and we thank our legislative partners for their collaboration on these important issues,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “We were pleased that many of the shared priorities that we introduced in our health care legislation were enacted as part of the final legislation and look forward to this law strengthening the Commonwealth’s health care system for years to come.”
“The COVID-19 public health emergency required immediate changes to our health care system to maintain health care capacity and help our residents cope during this extraordinarily challenging time. We’re pleased to now codify policies that help people access the treatment and services they need in our fight against COVI-19, and look forward to seeing them in action,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders. “Now more than ever do we need to ensure access to behavioral health care services, as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need and urgency to increase behavioral health care access across the state. I applaud the Legislature for addressing several proposals to increase coverage and address barriers to necessary behavioral health services. We plan to release our behavioral health roadmap in the coming weeks and look forward to partnering with the Legislature to implement overdue reforms to ensure we have a true behavioral health system.”
“This pandemic has brought an urgency to the need to make quality healthcare more accessible to all,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D – Ashland). “By eliminating barriers to care, protecting patients from surprise billing practices, and advancing our state’s support for community hospitals, testing sites and medical staff, this comprehensive legislation will equip healthcare providers to truly put patients first. I am particularly happy that rate parity for telehealth services will remain a permanent option for Massachusetts patients – thereby expanding efficiency in care while reducing stress for everyone involved. I want to offer my thanks to Senator Friedman, Speaker Mariano and their fellow conferees for their hard work, as well as former Speaker DeLeo for his partnership in advancing these significant reforms, and Governor Baker for signing this important bill."
“This legislation applies lessons learned during the pandemic to make long-lasting changes in the way people access health care services,” said House Speaker Ronald Mariano (D – Quincy). “I want to thank Governor Baker and his Administration for signing this bill into law and for the emergency measures they implemented during the pandemic to stabilize our health care system. I also want to thank Senate President Karen Spilka and Senator Cindy Friedman for their cooperation and partnership.”
“This conference committee report embraces the best of both the Senate and House bills to create comprehensive and necessary healthcare reforms,” said Senator Cindy Friedman (D — Arlington), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. “While there is still more to do to improve patient outcomes and access to care, this bill takes a meaningful step forward by ensuring that the Commonwealth’s healthcare system can continue to meet the needs of patients during this unprecedented time, and long after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. I am grateful to the House for their collaboration and to Senate President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for their leadership, and I want to thank Governor Baker for recognizing the importance of this legislation by signing it into law today.”
"This legislation continues to advance our shared goal of transforming mental health care access and delivery in Massachusetts," said Senator Julian Cyr (D – Truro), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. "This legislation will do so much good, but particularly it will expand mental health care access for rural residents, people of color, working families, and young people.”
“I would like to thank Speaker Mariano, Governor Baker, and my colleagues on the Conference Committee for all of their hard work to get this incredibly important and timely piece of legislation across the finish line,” said Joint Committee on Public Health House Co-Chair Representative John J. Mahoney (D – Worcester). “As we enter these difficult months ahead in the midst of the pandemic, it is imperative that health care be as accessible and affordable as possible across the Commonwealth, and this legislation solidifies that ongoing commitment.”
“The legislation addresses several key factors in making healthcare more accessible and medical bills less surprising,” said Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich). “Telehealth is here to stay and, combined with expansion of practice responsibilities, more people in more places will receive quality medical care. I especially applaud mandatory coverage for PANS and PANDAS and my heart goes out to all of the families dealing with these devastating conditions.”
"Health care is critical to the physical and mental well-being of our residents. This historic legislation will allow and expand access to Telehealth, reform the healthcare workforce, provide assistance to eligible community hospitals, increase cost transparency, provides coverage to PANDAS/PANS, eliminate barriers to urgent care facilities for MassHealth patients, and provide access to COVID-19 testing and treatment," said Senator Dean Tran (R – Fitchburg). "It was a privilege to be on the conference committee and worked closely with my colleagues in the Senate and House, as well as with the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on this legislation to become law."
Key provisions of the law signed today include:
Strengthening Telehealth Coverage: At the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Baker-Polito Administration, through emergency order, required insurers to immediately cover telehealth to ensure the continuity of services remotely when it was not safe to do so in person. This led to a rapid shift to remote delivery and significant uptake in telehealth services. The legislation builds on these emergency flexibilities, and requires coverage parity for telehealth services and implements permanent telehealth rate parity for behavioral health services. Additionally, it requires rate parity for telehealth coverage for primary care and chronic disease management services for two years, and rate parity for all services for 90 days past the state of emergency.
Expanding Scope of Practice: During the public health emergency, the Administration implemented emergency orders to increase health care system capacity, including temporarily expanding the scope of practice for several types of practitioners, and streamlining licensure requirements before independent practice. The new law makes permanent certain measures to expand scope of practice for nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, psychiatric nurse mental health specialists and optometrists.
Taking Steps to Address Surprise Billing: The new legislation takes steps to protect consumers from surprise bills, including a provision that requires providers to notify patients in advance as to whether a procedure is in or out of network. Additionally, it directs the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to work with the Health Policy Commission, Center for Health Information and Analytics, and Division of Insurance to recommend a default rate for out of network billing by September of 2021.
Increasing Access to Urgent Care for MassHealth Members: Retail clinics and urgent care centers provide important access points to health care beyond the traditional hours and sites of physician offices, community health centers, and hospitals. This legislation takes several steps to increase MassHealth member access to urgent care sites, including eliminating referral requirements before urgent care visits and requirements for care coordination with the member’s primary care physician.
COVID-19 Related
Provisions: The bill extends
requirements for insurers in Massachusetts to cover COVID-19 testing and
treatment. Under this legislation, insurers, including MassHealth, are required
to cover all COVID-19 related emergency, inpatient, and cognitive rehab
services. Additionally, coverage is required for medically necessary outpatient
COVID-19 testing, including for asymptomatic individuals under specific
circumstances outlined by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and
Human Services. The legislation also directs the Health Policy Commission and
Center for Health Information and Analytics to analyze and report on the effect
of COVID-19 on healthcare accessibility, quality and fiscal sustainability in
both the short and long term as well as those effects on long term policy
considerations, including an examination of existing healthcare disparities due
to economic, geographic, racial or other factors.
2021年麻州4項新法生效 家事就醫假 12至20週 最低時薪提高至13.5元
(Boston Orange 編譯)跨入2021年，麻州勞工及薪資法有4項新法生效，1. 有薪家事、就醫假，2. 最低時薪資提高至13.5元，3. 週日優惠薪資降低為1.2倍，4.六月節成為麻州州定假日。
2021年1月1日起，麻州在2018年時通過的前述3項工人權益法案開始生效。慶祝非洲裔美國人解放，已有155年歷史的六月節(Juneteenth)，也從今年起被正式認可為麻州州定假日，在這天工作的人，可以享有假日費率薪資。
家事及就醫假部分，在麻州工作的所有人將可享有最高12週的家事假，20週的就醫假，而且休假結束可回到相同或相等職位上，保有相同狀態，薪資，以及就業福利。
這項目的費用將由薪資稅資助，平均而言，累計約每名員工每週4.5元，由員工和雇主各分攤一半。各企業去年已開始繳交這項計畫的費用，以俾法案今年開始實施，員工可以開始想用這一福利。
這家事假是為過去12個月中，無論是因為生育，領養，或是收養(fostering)，而家有新生兒的人設計的。這家事假也適用於受重傷或生重病的人。
因為照顧家人而須請假的人，得等到7月1日以後，才能使用這家事假法。
麻州的家事及就醫假法和聯邦的相似，但麻州版本是有薪，而且適用於所有公司，但聯邦版本只適用於有員工50人以上的公司。
「麻州扶養會(Raise UP Massachusetts)」發言人Andrew Farnitano指出，只要在過去12個月內迎接了新嬰兒，就適用這新法案，因此即使是在今年1月1日前迎接了新嬰兒的家長，都可申請使用此法。
至少有2700家大公司已選擇不參加州政府的家事及就醫假計畫，但新法案中的一項條文，容許這些公司找私營保險來提供相同或更好的保險方案。
最低薪資增加部分，1月1日起，麻州最低時薪將從12.5元調升為13.50元。賺小費的侍應生，最低時薪將從4.95元調漲為5.55元。
這是麻州要在2023年時把最低時薪調漲為15元的分多年進行計畫。這最低時薪明年還會再調漲。
週日優惠薪資降低部分，1月1日起，零售業工人在週日工作的薪資，將從平日薪資的1.3倍降為1.2倍。
任何在週日工作了的員工，如果在一週之內已工作40小時以上，還有資格領加班費，就不適用這週日優惠新資法。但如果是一週之內只工作了20小時，也在週日工作了，就適用這法案。
六月節明訂為州定假日部分，麻州從今年起認可六月節為州定假日，6月19日這天員工可放假，如果這天工作，就可賺取1.2倍的假日優惠薪資。
6月19日是一名聯邦將軍在1865年通知德州Galveston居民，被奴役的黑人自由了的日子。這比林肯簽署宣佈解放令晚了2年半。1866年人們在德州首次慶祝這節日，之後才慢慢擴散到全美各地。
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