ACA Ends Lifetime Limits For 105 Million Americans|

The Affordable Care Act prohibits health plans from imposing a lifetime dollar limit on most benefits received by Americans in any health plan renewing on or after September 23, 2010.  While some plans already provided coverage with no limits on lifetime benefits, millions of Americans were previously in health plans that did not.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, 59 percent of all workers covered by their employer’s health plan in 2009 had some lifetime limit placed on their benefits.  In addition, 89 percent of people with individually purchased coverage had a lifetime limit on their benefits.

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Nation’s Electric Grid Gets Smart

Per a provision in the Recovery Act, the Department of Energy has begun the long process of modernizing the nation’s 110-year-old electric grid. Expected to take possibly two decades to complete, the building of the so-called “Smart Grid” is a federal government partnership with utility companies, which are adding approximately $5 billion for the initial phase to DOE’s $4.5 billion.

The effort will essentially computerize the current electric grid and install digital communication systems among grid components so that electricity can be delivered much more efficiently, collectively saving consumers and businesses billions of dollars over the next 20 years, officials say.

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North Korea agrees to nuclear moratorium

(Reuters) - North Korea has agreed with the United States to suspend major elements of its atomic weapons program in a surprise breakthrough that could pave the way for the resumption of long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks with the secretive state.

But the announcement, made simultaneously on Wednesday in Pyongyang and Washington and accompanied by pledges of U.S. food aid, was met with very guarded optimism by analysts and diplomats who noted that efforts to defuse tensions on the divided Korean peninsula had seen many false dawns.

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Obama directive waters down military custody for terror detainees

President Obama nullified major provisions of the 2012 Defense Authorization law on Tuesday that would have mandated military custody for terrorist suspects.

In a directive issued Tuesday evening, Obama cited national security interests as he gave federal law enforcement power over the military to investigate and prosecute terrorism cases.

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You Can Play - The Faceoff :: Message to LGBT Atheletes

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