Rokita wins in Indiana’s GOP-heavy 4th District
The race for Steve Buyer’s seat became a three-month sprint among 13 candidates after he announced in late January that he
would retire after 18 years in Congress.
The race for Steve Buyer’s seat became a three-month sprint among 13 candidates after he announced in late January that he
would retire after 18 years in Congress.
Dan Burton is seeking his 15th term from the heavily Republican district after narrowly beating former state Rep. Luke Messer.
In Indiana this fall, Coats will face Democrat Brad Ellsworth, whose nomination is assured. The candidates are seeking the
seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh.
No can do. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was one of 15 who told the federal government they don't want to help create a
temporary high-risk insurance pool. The pools, which would end when the new federal health law creates insurance exchanges
in 2014, would be funded with $5 billion. But Daniels, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said
he fears that money will run out before 2014 and Indiana will have to pick up the bill. Daniels noted that Indiana already
operates its own high-risk insurance pool, in which about 7,000 Hoosiers participate. "In the end this was not a close
call for Indiana," Daniels wrote to the feds. "The risks Indiana is being asked to take are well beyond any range
of acceptability." A report by the Web site Politico.com noted that most Republican governors, like Daniels, have told
the feds to create the exchange on their own while most Democratic governors have said they would help.
Oops. Shares of Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. have tumbled 8.4 percent since math errors and other mistakes
forced the company to withdraw its requested rate hake for individual policies in California. That’s the infamous 39-percent
hike (25 percent on average) that President Obama seized on to reignite his push for health reform, which became law on March
23. California insurance regulators, after investigating WellPoint’s rate-hike application, said it was based on flawed
data, according to the Associated Press. WellPoint withdrew the application and said it would try again, perhaps within a
month. But investors didn’t wait. They launched a selloff that dumped WellPoint shares to their lowest level since November.
SonarMed, based in West Lafayette, will receive about $450,000 over two years from the National Institutes
of Health to adapt its airway monitoring system to neonatal patients. SonarMed’s product uses acoustic technology to
catch and prevent movement or obstruction of the tube, both of which can harm patients. Neonatal patients are especially vulnerable,
according to SonarMed, because slight movements of the breathing tube in their small, short tracheas can lead to serious complications.
The technology was developed at Purdue University and licensed to SonarMed by Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology
Commercialization.
Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have identified a mechanism that causes inflammation
in asthma, excema, and other allergic diseases, which could help drugmakers develop new medicines to control those conditions.
In research reported in the June 2010 issue of the journal Nature Immunology, the IU research team found that a regulatory
factor called PU.1 activates a newly discovered type of T-cell, which appears in higher concentrations in patients with allergic
disease. “Effectively targeting PU.1 to prevent its activation could lead to improved treatments for patients who must
deal with the inflammation caused by these allergic diseases,” said Mark H. Kaplan, professor of pediatrics and of microbiology
and immunology at the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Kaplan recently received a $1.9M grant from the National Institutes
of Health to continue research on this factor.
The administration is gearing up to produce tougher regulations that may reduce the amount of federal financial aid flowing
to for-profit colleges such as locally-based ITT Educational.
In the 5th District, they’ll decide whether to pick Rep. Dan Burton for what would make 30 years in Congress. In the neighboring
4th District, the likely replacement for retiring Rep. Steve Buyer will be determined.
Voters will nominate candidates in more than 30 Indiana House primary races Tuesday, completing matchups for November’s general
election that will determine control of the narrowly divided chamber.
Indiana Republican voters will decide Tuesday which of five U.S. Senate candidates will represent the party in its fight to
take the seat being vacated by Democrat Evan Bayh.
The former Indianapolis mayor will become a deputy mayor and oversee the fire and police departments.
Anthem Blue Cross withdrew plans to raise health insurance rates for Californians by as much as 39 percent after an independent
audit determined the company’s justification for raising premiums was based on flawed data.
Medicare actuary Richard Foster estimated the new law would raise overall health care spending by an additional $311 million
over current law—more than when he first examined the legislation in December.
Federal aviation officials want to fine Chautauqua Airlines $348,000 for allegedly flying regional jets thousands of times
without performing required safety inspections.
The Indiana Democratic Party and members of the Indiana Republican Party are still calling on Republican Senatorial candidate
Dan Coats to release his personal financial disclosure statement. The paperwork identifies income, assets, liabilities, gifts
and travel-related reimbursements. Candidates also must disclose any positions they hold with non-governmental organizations,
including lobbying groups. The forms were due April 4. A Coats campaign spokesperson said his forms will be released soon.
Opponents accuse the former U.S. Senator of trying to hide his connections to powerful lobbyists.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department likely will have to return more than $273,000 in cash seized as part of a
racketeering investigation after the Marion County Prosecutor's Office missed a civil forfeiture deadline.
The two largest U.S. health insurance companies, UnitedHealth, based in Minnetonka, Minn., and WellPoint Inc., based in Indianapolis,
sell Advantage plans.
Department of Defense concurs that Indianapolis a better location than Cleveland for about 225 Marine Corps jobs.
John Bales' firm earned $2.9M in commissions on leases for state agencies and $270,000 in commissions
on the sale of surplus state properties. He also acted as a developer for public-sector
tenants—putting them into buildings owned by him or his associates.
Privatization is a popular political parlor
game. Instead of providing thoughtful reasoning for consideration by an informed electorate, officials try to meet public
needs through artfulness.
State revenues are $867 million, or 9.4 percent, less than forecast through the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
What to do for an encore? Civic leaders are already asking the question.