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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Local and federal officials offered an update on new health care coverage options for community members under the Affordable Care Act and explained how to apply at a Saturday forum.
Close to 100 people attended the forum – titled, “The Affordable Care Act: What's happened so far, what's happening and what's coming next” – held at the Lakeport Senior Center on Saturday afternoon.
Congressman Mike Thompson, whose office organized the event, was unable to attend due to having what his district representative Brad Onorato called “minor” surgery in San Francisco on Jan. 21.
Onorato read a statement from Thompson, who said the demand for the health care coverage offered through the Affordable Care Act has been “through the roof.”
The new rules are meant to ensure that more people have health care by establishing fairer premiums, limiting out-of-pocket costs, stopping coverage caps and denial of coverage due for preexisting conditions, preventing people from being rendered uninsurable and ending the practice of charging women more for the same care as men.
“We all know that reforming our health care system is an ongoing process,” Thompson's statement said, noting that while the law is not perfect, it's “an important first step.”
Panelists during the hour-and-a-half-long meeting included Herb Schultz, US Department of Health and Human Services Region IX director; Eliot Enriquez of the Redwood Community Health Coalition; and Lake County Social Services Director Carol Huchingson.
There also were tables with information and counselors who could guide people through the enrollment process.
Schultz said the Affordable Care Act is seeking to expand health care coverage to 40 million people across the United States.
To date, nine million people have signed up for private health insurance through the new marketplace, learned they're eligible for Medicaid or renewed Medicaid coverage, he said.
The six-month enrollment period is under way, and people have until March 31 to sign up. The next enrollment won't be until October, Schultz explained.
Schultz said national health care spending growth is at its slowest rate now in 30 years, with the rate having already dropped 1.5 percent on adult rates.
He assured people who have Medicare that their health coverage won't be affected.
One area of the law that Schultz addressed related to small businesses. He said there has been a lot of misinformation – and not enough outreach to correct it – about how the law applies to them.
If a business has less than 50 full-time equivalents – a full-time equivalent is defined as working 30 hours or more per week – it is exempt from the requirement to provide health care coverage, he said.
He said 96 percent of small businesses nationwide are exempt based on that staffing level rule, with 99 percent of California's small businesses being exempt.
However, small businesses may decide they wish to provide the coverage anyway, he said.
Schultz also noted that small businesses providing health care coverage to employees are provided tax breaks, with businesses able to enroll in the marketplace year round.
The new rules have expanded Medi-Cal coverage to adults ages 19 through 64 with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, Schultz said. That equals $15,856 per year for individuals or nearly $33,000 a year for a family of four.
In addition, in the Covered California marketplace, advanced subsidized coverage is available for individuals with annual adjusted gross incomes of between $16,000 and $46,000, or $33,000 to $92,000 a year for families, he said.
The essential health benefits cover 10 areas, Schultz said: ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, prescription drugs, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, lab services, preventive and wellness services, chronic disease management and pediatric services, which extend up to age 21 and include oral and vision.
He would also tell community members during the meeting that the new rules will prevent people from having to be impoverished to be eligible for Medi-Cal coverage. “That will not happen anymore.”
Enriquez went over the Covered California Web site, www.coveredca.com , which translates into 13 different languages.
He recommended that people start by using the shop/compare tool, which asks basic information about the individual applying and their household.
Enriquez emphasized that people must sign up by March 31, otherwise they must wait until October for the next chance to sign up and may have to pay a fine on their income tax.
There are three ways to enroll, Enriquez said: call Covered California at 800-300-1506 and use a landline if possible, as the process takes a while; enroll online at www.coveredca.com ; or call Lake County Social Services at 800-628-5288.
The health care coverage available in Lake County through the marketplace is provided by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California, Enriquez said.
The basic requirements for getting health care coverage include being a US citizen or national, and not being incarcerated, he said.
There are four levels of coverage: bronze, the least expensive, offers 60 percent cost coverage from insurance companies and 40 percent from the buyer; silver, which has a 70-30 split; gold, with an 80-20 split; and platinum, the most expensive, with has 90 percent insurance coverage with 10 percent paid by the buyer. Enriquez said the lower-priced plans have more out-of-pocket costs.
Huchingson said that the new “MAGI” – or modified adjusted gross income – Medi-Cal coverage that is available does not count child support and veterans income, and there is no asset test, meaning they don't look at vehicles, bank and retirement accounts, and life insurance when deciding eligibility.
She said eligibility determination is based solely on residency, citizenship and income.
“We've done a lot here locally to prepare for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act,” Huchingson said.
That includes hiring additional staff, assembling a team to implement it locally, creating numerous new policies and procedures, and having staff undergo extensive training, according to Huchingson.
“We're a part of the 'no wrong door' policy,” she said, meaning that all agencies involved can help people enroll.
Social Services can help community members enroll whether they qualify for the subsidized or unsubsidized health care coverage, she said.
“Any member of the public can contact us and we can help you select a plan that's right for you,” she said.
Since open enrollment began Oct. 1, Social Services has processed 750 health care coverage applications, Huchingson said, with the majority of them coming through in December.
Social Services can be reached at 707-995-4200 or 800-628-5288.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Restrictions on campfires and off-road driving have been implemented for public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, Yolo, Colusa, Glenn and Solano counties.
The Bureau of Land Management said the restrictions went into effect on Friday, Jan. 24.
The restrictions, ordered because of unseasonably dry conditions, are designed to lessen the danger of human-caused fires. They will remain in effect weather conditions lead to reduced wildfire risk, said Rich Burns, manager of the BLM Ukiah Field Office.
The fire use restrictions include:
- Prohibit campfires or other open fires, including barbecues and portable stoves, except within fire rings or stoves in designated recreation sites or campgrounds. Portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel may be used with a valid California campfire permit.
- Restrict use of internal combustion engines to roads and designated trails. Motor vehicles must remain on established roads and trails.
- Prohibit shooting with steel jacket, steel core, armor piercing, tracer, incendiary or exploding ammunition. Exploding targets are prohibited.
- Limit smoking to enclosed vehicles or buildings or developed recreation sites.
- Prohibit use or possession of fireworks, including “safe and sane” devices approved by the state fire marshal, on all BLM-managed public lands.
- Violation of the restrictions is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 12 months imprisonment or both.
For more information contact the BLM Ukiah Field Office, 707-468-4000.
COBB, Calif. – A 3.0-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Cobb area Saturday evening.
The quake occurred at 6:39 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
It was centered two miles northwest of The Geysers and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, at a depth of sixth-tenths of a mile, the survey reported.
The survey received no shake reports on the quake.
A 3.7-magnitude quake was reported near The Geysers on Jan. 21, as Lake County News has reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a full house of dogs available for adoption this week.
The dogs includes mixes of Labrador Retriever, terrier, dachshund, Chihuahua, shepherd and Jack Russell terrier, and come in a variety of ages.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
Pit bull terrier mix pup
This female pit bull terrier mix puppy is 16 weeks old.
She weighs 26 pounds, has a short brown coat and gold eyes, and has been spayed.
She can be found in kennel No. 3, ID No. 38768.
'Han Solo'
“Han Solo” is a 3-year-old male Jack Russell terrier mix.
He has a short black and white coat, weighs 21 pounds and has been neutered.
He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 38927.
'Bella'
“Bella” is a 4-year-old female Chihuahua mix.
She has a short buff-colored coat and has been spayed.
She's in kennel No. 6b, ID No. 38877.
'Max'
“Max” is a a 3-year-old male Chihuahua mix.
He's got a short tan coat and perky ears. Shelter staff did not report if he has been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 7, ID No. 38940.
Male dachshund mix
This male dachshund mix is 2 years old.
He has a short red coat, weighs 12 pounds and has not yet been neutered.
He's in kennel No. 8, ID No. 38938.
Female shepherd mix
This female shepherd mix is 1 year old.
She has a tan and black coat, weighs 58 pounds and has not yet been spayed.
She's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 38941.
'Frost'
“Frost” is a 2-year-old Labrador Retriever mix.
He's got a short black coat with white markings, weighs 64 pounds and has not been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 10, ID No. 38690.
'Crystal'
“Crystal” is a 3-year-old shepherd mix.
She's got a short tan coat and shelter staff did not report if she had been altered.
Find her in kennel No. 12, ID No. 38937.
'Happy Feet'
“Happy Feet” is a 1-year-old female pit bull terrier mix.
She has a short black and white coat, weighs 42 pounds and has not yet been spayed.
Shelter staff said she is a very sweet girl and is good with other dogs.
Find her in kennel No. 14, ID No. 38693.
Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier
This female Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier is 1 year old.
She is pregnant, weighs 50 pounds and has a short gray and white coat.
Find her in kennel No. 16, ID No. 38939.
Female pit bull terrier mix
This female pit bull terrier mix is 11 months old.
She has a short black and white coat, gold eyes, weighs 57 pounds and has not yet been spayed.
She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 38925.
Male brown brindle
This male dog of undetermined breed is 1 year old.
He has a short brown brindle and white coat, and has not yet been neutered.
He's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 38863.
'Joey'
“Joey” is a 3-year-old male mastiff-American Bulldog mix.
He has a short brown brindle and white coat, weighs almost 70 pounds and has been neutered.
Shelter staff said Joey is available for a low adoption fee.
He's very friendly and housebroken, gets along with female dogs but would need to be tested with other males.
Find Joey in kennel No. 29, ID No. 38803.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
A breakthrough using data from the Gaia-ESO project, a public spectroscopic survey, has provided evidence backing up theoretically predicted divisions in the chemical composition of the stars that make up the Milky Way's disc – the vast collection of giant gas clouds and billions of stars that give our Galaxy its 'flying saucer' shape.
By tracking the fast-produced elements, specifically magnesium in this study, astronomers can determine how rapidly different parts of the Milky Way were formed.
The research suggests that stars in the inner regions of the Galactic disc were the first to form, supporting ideas that our Galaxy grew from the inside-out.
Using data from the 8-m VLT in Chile, one of the world's largest telescopes, an international team of astronomers took detailed observations of stars with a wide range of ages and locations in the Galactic disc to accurately determine their “metallicity” – the amount of chemical elements in a star other than hydrogen and helium, the two elements most stars are made from.
Immediately after the Big Bang, the Universe consisted almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with levels of “contaminant metals” growing over time. Consequently, older stars have fewer elements in their make up – so have lower metallicity.
“The different chemical elements of which stars – and we – are made are created at different rates – some in massive stars which live fast and die young, and others in sun-like stars with more sedate multi-billion-year lifetimes,” said Professor Gerry Gilmore, lead investigator on the Gaia-ESO Project.
Massive stars, which have short lives and die as “core-collapse supernovae,” produce huge amounts of magnesium during their explosive death throes. This catastrophic event can form a neutron star or a black hole, and even trigger the formation of new stars.
The team have shown that older, “metal-poor” stars inside the Solar Circle – the orbit of our Sun around the center of the Milky Way, which takes roughly 250 million years to complete – are far more likely to have high levels of magnesium. The higher level of the element inside the Solar Circle suggests this area contained more stars that “lived fast and die young” in the past.
The stars that lie in the outer regions of the Galactic disc – outside the Solar Circle – are predominantly younger, both “metal-rich” and “metal-poor,” and have surprisingly low magnesium levels compared to their metallicity.
This discovery signifies important differences in stellar evolution across the Milky Way disc, with very efficient and short star formation timescales occurring inside the Solar Circle; whereas, outside the Sun's orbit, star formation took much longer.
“We have been able to shed new light on the timescale of chemical enrichment across the Milky Way disc, showing that outer regions of the disc take a much longer time to form,” said Maria Bergemann from Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, who led the study.
“This supports theoretical models for the formation of disc galaxies in the context of Cold Dark Matter cosmology, which predict that galaxy discs grow inside-out.”
The findings offer new insights into the assembly history of our Galaxy, and are the part of the first wave of new observations from the Gaia-ESO survey, the ground-based extension to the Gaia space mission – launched by the European Space Agency at the end of last year – and the first large-scale survey conducted on one the world's largest telescopes: the 8-m VLT in Paranal, Chile.
The study is published online today through the astronomical database Astro-ph, and has been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The new research also sheds further light on another much debated “double structure” in the Milky Way's disc – the so-called 'thin' and 'thick' discs.
“The thin disc hosts spiral arms, young stars, giant molecular clouds – all objects which are young, at least in the context of the Galaxy,” explained Aldo Serenelli from the Institute of Space Sciences (Barcelona), a co-author of the study. “But astronomers have long suspected there is another disc, which is thicker, shorter and older. This thick disc hosts many old stars that have low metallicity.”
During the latest research, the team found that:
- Stars in the young, 'thin' disc aged between 0 to 8 billion years all have a similar degree of metallicity, regardless of age in that range, with many of them considered “metal-rich.”
- There is a “steep decline” in metallicity for stars aged over 9 billion years, typical of the “thick” disc, with no detectable 'metal-rich' stars found at all over this age.
- But stars of different ages and metallicity can be found in both discs.
“From what we now know, the Galaxy is not an 'either-or' system. You can find stars of different ages and metal content everywhere,” said Bergemann. “There is no clear separation between the thin and thick disc. The proportion of stars with different properties is not the same in both discs – that's how we know these two discs probably exist – but they could have very different origins.”
Added Gilmore: “This study provides exciting new evidence that the inner parts of the Milky Way's thick disc formed much more rapidly than did the thin disc stars, which dominate near our Solar neighborhood.”
In theory, say astronomers, the thick disc – first proposed by Gilmore 30 years ago – could have emerged in a variety of ways, from massive gravitational instabilities to consuming satellite galaxies in its formative years.
“The Milky Way has cannibalized many small galaxies during its formation. Now, with the Gaia-ESO Survey, we can study the detailed tracers of these events, essentially dissecting the belly of the beast,” said Greg Ruchti, a researcher at Lund Observatory in Sweden, who co-leads the project.
With upcoming releases of Gaia-ESO, an even better handle on the age-metallicity relation and the structure of the Galactic disc is expected, say the team.
In a couple of years, these data will be complemented by positions and kinematics provided by the Gaia satellite and together will revolutionize the field of Galactic astronomy.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's unemployment rate edged down a little in December, coming in just below its November rate, according to the latest report on unemployment from the state.
The California Employment Development Department's report on December unemployment showed that Lake County's rate last month was 12.1 percent, down from the revised November 2013 rate of 12.2 percent and well below the December 2012 rate of 15 percent.
California's overall unemployment rate for December was 8.3 percent, down from 8.5 percent in November and 9.8 percent in December 2012, the report showed.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said the nationwide unemployment rate for December was 6.7 percent, down from 7 percent in November and 7.9 percent in December 2012.
The number of people unemployed in California was 1,532,000 – down by 48,000 over the month, and down by 281,000 compared with December of last year, the Employment Development Department reported.
The state's nonfarm payroll jobs totaled 14,767,800 in December, an increase of 13,600 jobs. The report said nonfarm employment was up by 1.6 percent – or 235,700 jobs – in a year-over-year comparison.
California has gained 922,500 jobs since the economic recovery began in February 2010, according to the report, which is based on data from two separate surveys, one of households, one of businesses.
Lake County's 12.1-percent December rate earned it a ranking of No. 47 among the state's 58 counties, an improvement from the No. 50 rank it received in November.
During December, Marin County had the state's lowest unemployment rate, 4.1 percent, and Imperial had the highest, 22.5 percent, the report showed.
The state report said that Lake County only had minor job growth in categories such as professional and business services, 1.7 percent; retail trade, 1 percent; local government, 0.5 percent; educational and health services and trade, transportation and utilities, 0.4 percent.
Lake's neighboring counties ranked as follows in December, according to the Employment Development Department: Colusa, No. 57, 20.5 percent; Glenn, No. 45, 11.3 percent; Mendocino, No. 20, 7.4 percent; Napa, No. 8, 6.7 percent; Sonoma, No. 6, 5.7 percent; and Yolo, No. 33, 9.5 percent.
The Employment Development Department said that during the December survey week there were 504,558 people receiving regular Unemployment Insurance, compared to 465,581 in November and 496,500 in December 2012.
New claims for unemployment insurance totaled 73,458 in December, compared with 72,642 in
November and 51,545 in December of the previous year, the state said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at