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100-608: The Thomas More Law Center is active in social issues such as opposing same-sex marriage, abortion, provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the HHS Mandate . The Law Center has been involved, often unsuccessfully, in high-profile cases including the litigation of the Dover, Pennsylvania intelligent design case, the defense of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani against misconduct allegations stemming from

200-538: A CD and endnotes that delve deeper into the technical issues. Dembski said the book corrects many of the misrepresentations and biased descriptions of intelligent design that have appeared. Dembski also revealed that he believes that the "intelligent designer" is the Christian god. Many of the book's arguments are identical to those raised by creationists, which have been dismissed by the scientific community. A comparison of an early draft of Of Pandas and People to

300-538: A 139-page decision in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that Intelligent Design is not science but essentially religious in nature and consequently inappropriate for a biology class. Members of the board that had originally enacted the policy were not re-elected, preventing an appeal. The judge was scathing about the conduct of the defendants, saying, "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise

400-654: A 1984 article as well as in his affidavit to Edwards v. Aguillard, Kenyon defended creation science by stating that "biomolecular systems require intelligent design and engineering know-how". According to the Discovery Institute 's account published in December 2005, Charles Thaxton as editor of the Pandas book needed a new term after the Supreme Court case, and found it in a phrase he "picked up from

500-503: A NASA scientist – intelligent design". He thought: "That's just what I need, it's a good engineering term….. it seemed to jibe... And I went back through my old copies of Science magazine and found the term used occasionally." In a new draft of Pandas prepared shortly after the 1987 Supreme Court ruling, approximately 150 uses of the root word "creation", such as "creationism" and "creationist", were systematically changed to refer to intelligent design . The definition remained essentially

600-478: A blueprint, a plan, a pattern, devised by an intelligent agent". The text remains non-committal on the age of the Earth, commenting that some "take the view that the earth's history can be compressed into a framework of thousands of years, while others adhere to the standard old earth chronology". The book raises a number of objections to the theory of evolution, such as the alleged lack of transitional fossils , gaps in

700-423: A creator beyond the cosmos", and described Special Creation as holding "that the source that produced life was intelligent". Thaxton approached Dean H. Kenyon to write the foreword. When Mystery was ready to go to the printers late in 1982, work began on the textbook, written by Kenyon and Percival Davis with Thaxton as editor. A draft dated 1983 was entitled Creation Biology Textbook Supplements , and

800-520: A former Oakland County, Michigan prosecutor known for his role in the prosecution of Jack Kevorkian . Among those who have sat on the center's advisory board are former Senators Rick Santorum and retired Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton , former Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn , Catholic academic Charles Rice , Mary Cunningham Agee , and Ambassador Alan Keyes . The center's Citizens' Advisory Board also includes Representative Michele Bachmann and Lieutenant Colonel Allen West . The center

900-407: A later 1987 draft showed how in hundreds of instances the word "creationism" had been replaced by "intelligent design" and "creationist" replaced by "intelligent design proponent", while "creator" was replaced by "agency" or "designer". In his 2007 book Monkey Girl Edward Humes describes how this change was made after Edwards v. Aguillard settled that teaching "Creation Science" in public schools

1000-469: A meeting on short notice, and receptive. If you would like to be a part of this 'quiet army', please let us know right away. Those choosing not to enlist may wish to support those who do by their prayers. The FTE provided publicity materials to its supporters to assist them in promoting the adoption of the book. These included a video of testimonials by pro-ID scientists and a promotional script, including "lines to take" on contentious issues. For instance, on

1100-405: A penalty . The mandate and limits on open enrollment were designed to avoid the insurance death spiral , minimize the free rider problem and prevent the healthcare system from succumbing to adverse selection . The mandate was intended to increase the size and diversity of the insured population, including more young and healthy participants to broaden the risk pool , spreading costs. Among

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1200-471: A professor of philosophy and biology, said the book was "worthless and dishonest". In the third of these reviews, Gerald Skoog, Professor of Education at Texas Tech University , wrote that the book reflected a creationist strategy to focus their "attack on evolution", interpreting the Edwards v. Aguillard ruling as though it legitimized "teaching a variety of scientific theories", but the book did not contain

1300-618: A promise in the risk corridors program that it has yet to fulfill. Today, the court directs the Government to fulfill that promise. After all, to say to [Moda], 'The joke is on you. You shouldn't have trusted us,' is hardly worthy of our great government." Moda Health's case was appealed by the government to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit along with the appeals of the other insurers; here,

1400-580: A publisher for the book, sending a Boston firm a prospectus which indicated that the draft had been sent to school districts for testing as well as to prospective publishers. In the prospectus, Buell stated that a "new independent scientific poll... shows almost half of the nation's biology teachers include some creation in their view of biological origins. Many more who don't still believe it should be included in science curriculum." Additionally, he enclosed projections showing expected revenue of over $ 6.5 million in five years based upon "modest expectations for

1500-464: A scientific theory or model to "balance" against evolution, and was "being used as a vehicle to advance sectarian tenets and not to improve science education". There are currently two editions of the book, the 1989 first edition edited by Charles Thaxton , a chemist who earned his PhD in physical chemistry from Iowa State University, and the 1993 second edition, which included a "Note to Teachers" by Mark D. Hartwig and Stephen C. Meyer . A third edition

1600-463: A statement to students in the ninth-grade biology class at Dover High School: "The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about Darwin's Theory of Evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part. Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there

1700-550: A subsidy. The subsidies for an ACA plan purchased on an exchange stop at 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). According to the Kaiser Foundation, this results in a sharp "discontinuity of treatment" at 400% FPL, which is sometimes called the "subsidy cliff". After-subsidy premiums for the second lowest cost silver plan (SCLSP) just below the cliff are 9.86% of income in 2019. Subsidies are provided as an advanceable, refundable tax credit . The amount of subsidy

1800-431: A waiver, a state must pass legislation setting up an alternative health system that provides insurance at least as comprehensive and as affordable as ACA, covers at least as many residents and does not increase the federal deficit. These states can escape some of ACA's central requirements, including the individual and employer mandates and the provision of an insurance exchange. The state would receive compensation equal to

1900-463: Is $ 250,000 for a married couple filing jointly (threshold applies to their total compensation), or $ 125,000 for a married person filing separately. In ACA's companion legislation, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , an additional tax of 3.8% was applied to unearned income, specifically the lesser of net investment income and the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds

2000-614: Is a fee-for-service model. The Act allowed the creation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are groups of doctors, hospitals and other providers that commit to give coordinated care to Medicare patients. ACOs were allowed to continue using fee-for-service billing. They receive bonus payments from the government for minimizing costs while achieving quality benchmarks that emphasize prevention and mitigation of chronic disease . Missing cost or quality benchmarks subjected them to penalties. Unlike health maintenance organizations , ACO patients are not required to obtain all care from

2100-461: Is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level supplementary textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon , edited by Charles Thaxton and published by the Texas -based Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE). The textbook endorses the pseudoscientific concept of intelligent design  – the argument that life shows evidence of being designed by an intelligent agent which

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2200-678: Is by Jon A. Buell, president of the Foundation for Thought and Ethics , which is the publisher of The Design of Life . The book tries to address some novel areas. For example, it states that intelligent design does not require miracles or the supernatural, but still does not rely on " materialistic explanations ". The book states that "Supernatural explanations invoke miracles and therefore are not properly part of science", and that "[e]xplanations that call on intelligent causes require no miracles but cannot be reduced to materialistic explanations." It includes 100 pages of footnotes and notes. Also,

2300-429: Is hard to say what is worst in this book: the misconceptions of its sub-text, the intolerance for honest science, or the incompetence with which science is presented. In any case, teachers should be warned against using this book." The FTE's activist approach has produced heated controversies in several US states as Christian conservatives and school boards sought to adopt Of Pandas and People in public schools, against

2400-460: Is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations. Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People , is available for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what Intelligent Design actually involves. With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves

2500-532: Is not named specifically in the book, although proponents understand that it refers to the Christian God . The overview chapter was written by young Earth creationist Nancy Pearcey . They present various polemical arguments against the scientific theory of evolution . Before publication, early drafts used cognates of "creationist". After the Edwards v. Aguillard Supreme Court ruling that creationism

2600-531: Is primarily financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations and is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization . The center is named after Thomas More , an English lawyer, social philosopher , author, statesman and Renaissance humanist . He was an important councilor to Henry VIII and was Lord Chancellor . More opposed the Protestant Reformation , in particular,

2700-470: Is religion and not science, these were changed to refer to "intelligent design". The second edition published in 1993 included a contribution written by Michael Behe . A third edition of the book was published in 2007 under the title The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems . The book argues that the origin of new organisms is "in an immaterial cause: in

2800-409: Is sufficient to reduce the premium for the second-lowest-cost silver plan (SCLSP) on an exchange to a sliding-scale percentage of income. The percentage is based on the percent of federal poverty level (FPL) for the household, and varies slightly from year to year. In 2019, it ranged from 2.08% of income (100%-133% FPL) to 9.86% of income (300%-400% FPL). The subsidy can be used for any plan available on

2900-587: The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit on behalf of eleven Dover parents, claiming that the statement was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment . The Center defended the school district in the trial, which lasted from September 26 through November 4. The case was decided on December 20, 2005. Judge John E. Jones III delivered

3000-549: The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation , the Independent Payment Advisory Board , and accountable care organizations . Health care cost/quality initiatives included incentives to reduce hospital infections , adopt electronic medical records , and to coordinate care and prioritize quality over quantity. Medicare switched from fee-for-service to bundled payments . A single payment

3100-565: The Medicare prescription drug benefit . While many insurers initially offered exchange plans, the program did not pay for itself as planned, losing up to $ 8.3 billion for 2014 and 2015. Authorization had to be given so DHHS could pay insurers from "general government revenues". However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547) stated that no funds "could be used for risk-corridor payments". leaving

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3200-439: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( PPACA ) and colloquially as Obamacare , is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system 's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since

3300-455: The Tasmanian wolf , a marsupial, would be placed [classified] with the placental wolf if evolutionists were not so hung up on the single character of their reproductive mode by which marsupials and placentals are traditionally separated . This is a complete falsehood, as anyone with access to the evidence knows. It is not a matter of a single reproductive character, but dozens of characters in

3400-627: The fossil record and the apparent sudden appearance ex nihilo of "already intact fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, and wings, etc". The book makes no explicit reference to the identity of the intelligent designer implied in the "blueprint" metaphor. In 1989 the National Center for Science Education published three reviews of the book: Kevin Padian , a biologist at University of California, Berkeley , called it "a wholesale distortion of modern biology". Michael Ruse ,

3500-563: The individual mandate penalty at $ 0 starting in 2019 due to its overall unpopularity and to reduce the federal budget deficit. ACA amended the Public Health Service Act of 1944 and inserted new provisions on affordable care into Title 42 of the United States Code . The individual insurance market was radically overhauled, and many of the law's regulations applied specifically to this market, while

3600-495: The poverty line would qualify for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid program. Previously, states could set various lower thresholds for certain groups and were not required to cover adults without dependent children. The federal government was to pay 100% of the increased cost in 2014, 2015 and 2016; 95% in 2017, 94% in 2018, 93% in 2019, and 90% in 2020 and all subsequent years. A 5% "income disregard" made

3700-561: The ACA and the use of riders to de-obligate its from those payments was illegal. The temporary reinsurance program is meant to stabilize premiums by reducing the incentive for insurers to raise premiums due to concerns about higher-risk enrollees. Reinsurance was based on retrospective costs rather than prospective risk evaluations. Reinsurance was available from 2014 through 2016. Risk adjustment involves transferring funds from plans with lower-risk enrollees to plans with higher-risk enrollees. It

3800-515: The ACO. Also, unlike HMOs, ACOs must achieve quality-of-care goals. Medicare Part D participants received a 50% discount on brand name drugs purchased after exhausting their initial coverage and before reaching the catastrophic-coverage threshold . By 2020, the "doughnut hole" would be completely filled. From 2017 onwards, states can apply for a "waiver for state innovation" which allows them to conduct experiments that meet certain criteria. To obtain

3900-466: The Bible and the light it sheds on the academic and social issues of the day". In the original Internal Revenue Service tax-exemption submission, Buell described the foundation as a "Christian think-tank" and stated that the organization's first activity would be the editing of a book "showing the scientific evidence for creation". Co-author Percival Davis later acknowledged that religious concerns underlay

4000-628: The Discovery Institute are deceitfully manipulating the Amazon.com review system to promote their own work and denigrate the work of their adversaries. The Discovery Institute's blog, Evolution News and Views , also gave the book a positive. Evolution News and Views says that The Design of Life describes how evolution cannot account for the necks of giraffes, how the transition from reptiles to mammals took place, how whales evolved from land animals, and how all evolutionary explanations of

4100-589: The Dover trial. The book is published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE), a non-profit organization founded by ordained minister Jon Buell in Richardson , Texas , in 1980 as a tax-exempt charitable and educational organization, with articles of incorporation which stated that its purpose includes "proclaiming, publishing, preaching [and] teaching…the Christian Gospel and understanding of

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4200-664: The FPL. Medicaid recipients were not eligible for the reductions. So-called cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies were to be paid to insurance companies to fund the reductions. During 2017, approximately $ 7 billion in CSR subsidies were to be paid, versus $ 34 billion for premium tax credits. The latter was defined as mandatory spending that does not require an annual Congressional appropriation. CSR payments were not explicitly defined as mandatory. This led to litigation and disruption later. ACA implemented multiple approaches to helping mitigate

4300-538: The FTE, whose members were told in a December 1988 fundraising letter that donors would receive an enameled box with a panda on the lid as a gift. The box would "become a pleasant reminder to pray for our work", as Buell put it. Following the book's publication in 1989, the FTE embarked on a lengthy campaign to get the book into use in schools across the United States. Previous creationist efforts to dilute or overturn

4400-490: The Federal Circuit reversed the Moda Health ruling and ruled across all the cases in favor of the government, that the appropriations riders ceded the government from paying out remain money due to the insurers. The Supreme Court reversed this ruling in the consolidated case, Maine Community Health Options v. United States , reaffirming as with Judge Wheeler that the government had a responsibility to pay those funds under

4500-779: The November 2005 Haditha incident , and the Law Center's federal lawsuit against the US Government regarding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Individual Mandate . The Law Center also litigates cases related to the defense of Christians and anti-abortion activists. The center was founded in 1999 by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan and the center's current President and Chief Counsel Richard Thompson,

4600-475: The Thomas More Law Center represented the defendants in one of the country's first intelligent design cases, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District . Prior to taking on this particular case, the lawyers of the Thomas More Law Center traveled the country seeking a school board willing to withstand a lawsuit as a test case for the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, forcing

4700-604: The University of California at Berkeley for the National Center for Science Education 's Bookwatch Reviews in 1989 called the book a "wholesale distortion of modern biology", and says that FTE's writers had misrepresented such topics as the Cambrian explosion , the history of birds , and the concept of homology . Padian described the treatment of homology in Of Pandas and People as "shameful", citing: They pretend that

4800-440: The above income limits. ACA included an excise tax of 40% (" Cadillac tax ") on total employer premium spending in excess of specified dollar amounts (initially $ 10,200 for single coverage and $ 27,500 for family coverage ) indexed to inflation. This tax was originally scheduled to take effect in 2018, but was delayed until 2020 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 and again to 2022. The excise tax on high-cost health plans

4900-537: The adoption of Of Pandas and People as a class textbook. In January 1990 the book was withdrawn from consideration by its publishers, the Haughton Publishing Co., who said that they "backed off because they weren't given [the] chance to defend [the] book." By 1990, a public campaign was mounted in Idaho to urge the state school board to adopt Of Pandas and People . However, the book was rejected by

5000-520: The aggregate amount of any federal subsidies and tax credits for which its residents and employers would have been eligible under ACA, if they cannot be paid under the state plan. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (or CLASS Act) established a voluntary and public long-term care insurance option for employees, The program was abolished as impractical without ever having taken effect. Of Pandas and People Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins

5100-493: The bacterial flagellum are fallacious. In addition, the review asserts that this book exposes substantial holes in abiogenesis and common descent , as well as refuting SETI objections to intelligent design and discussions of the shortcomings of ocular design. Dembski was interviewed about the book by Focus on the Family 's Citizenlink in December, 2007. Dembski described the book as accessible, but noted that it also includes

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5200-428: The beginning and end of the original word "creationists" were accidentally retained, so that "creationists" became "cdesign proponentsists". The basic metabolic pathways (reaction chains) of nearly all organisms are the same. Is this because of descent from a common ancestor, or because only these pathways (and their variations) can sustain life? Evolutionists think the former is correct, cdesign proponentsists accept

5300-476: The board. In March 1990, the school board in Pinellas County , Florida , rejected an appeal by a retired minister "to adopt the textbook Of Pandas and People that would offer a creationist's view". In January 1993, right-wing members of the school board of Vista, California , sought to include Of Pandas and People in the school science curriculum. A teachers' committee voted unanimously to reject

5400-438: The book is viewed by some as way of mitigating this and at the same time distancing the book from past controversy. For the 1993 edition, Michael Behe wrote a chapter on blood clotting , presenting arguments which he later presented in very similar terms as " irreducible complexity " in a chapter in his 1996 book Darwin's Black Box . Behe later agreed that they were essentially the same when he defended intelligent design at

5500-404: The book saying it lacked scientific merit. The board eventually backed away from plans to require creation science to be taught in science classes. In September 1994, residents of Louisville, Ohio , voted 121–2 to urge the local school board to adopt Of Pandas and People . Creationism had been taught openly in district schools until a lawsuit forced a change of policy in 1993. In the wake of

5600-637: The book tries to explain away the loss of intelligent design in the Kitzmiller v. Dover decision: "In the end, not any court rulings or public policies or Hollywood films, will decide the merit of intelligent design." A blog associated with the book began on December 17, 2007. Dembski wrote in his blog, Uncommondescent , that The Design of Life had 9 five star reviews, and only a single one star review on Amazon.com on December 5, 2007. California State University emeritus professor Mark Perakh has written that he believes Dembski and his associates at

5700-578: The books to school libraries so teachers and students could use it as a resource. According to the local Civic, Business and Ministry Coalition, copies of the book were purchased by the Coalition from the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego, California , and were sent to school administrators on the grounds that it was "a good, science-based text appropriate for school children". The Coalition

5800-537: The combination of a three-star financial rating and a three-star accountability and transparency rating. For the fiscal year ending December 2011, the organization had a one-star overall, reflecting one star each for financial and accountability and transparency. Those same ratings repeated for the year ending December 2012. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated the center as an anti-Muslim hate group as of 2019. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act ( ACA ), formally known as

5900-517: The controversial issue of ID's perceived overlap with religion, the FTE's suggested response read: I agree that personal beliefs should not be taught in science classrooms, but intelligent design is not a personal belief; it is accepted science, a view that is held by many highly qualified scientists. The FTE was aided in this effort by "traditional" creationist organizations such as the Institute for Creation Research , which sells Of Pandas and People through its own online shop and catalogue. The book

6000-456: The decision, the district was given 150 copies of the book. In October 1994, school officials in St. Lucie County, Florida , distributed copies of the book to every high school and one middle school in the county to be reviewed by teachers and principals for use as a possible supplement for science classes. The response from teachers was negative but county school officials still planned to distribute

6100-486: The deficit, and that the law reduced income inequality by taxing primarily the top 1% to fund roughly $ 600 in benefits on average to families in the bottom 40% of the income distribution. The act largely retained the existing structure of Medicare, Medicaid, and the employer market , but individual markets were radically overhauled. Insurers were made to accept all applicants without charging based on preexisting conditions or demographic status (except age). To combat

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6200-559: The discussion of the Origins of Life to individual students and their families. As a Standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on Standards-based assessments." A large number of copies of Of Pandas and People had been donated to the school by a member of the school board who purchased them using money he had given to his father, Donald Bonsell, and said they were donations solicited from his church. A month later, on December 14, 2004,

6300-583: The disruptions to insurers that came with its many changes. The risk-corridor program was a temporary risk management device. It was intended to encourage reluctant insurers into ACA insurance market from 2014 to 2016. For those years the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) would cover some of the losses for insurers whose plans performed worse than they expected. Loss-making insurers would receive payments paid for in part by profit-making insurers. Similar risk corridors had been established for

6400-414: The earth or life,... the concept of kinds, or any concepts from Genesis or other religious texts", but this attempt to re-define creation science did not succeed in the Edwards case. Both authors had previously written young Earth creationist publications referring to biological design: a 1967 book co-written by Percival Davis referred to "design according to which basic organisms were created", and in

6500-934: The effective income eligibility limit for Medicaid 138% of the poverty level. However, the Supreme Court ruled in NFIB v. Sebelius that this provision of ACA was coercive, and that states could choose to continue at pre-ACA eligibility levels. Medicare reimbursements were reduced to insurers and drug companies for private Medicare Advantage policies that the Government Accountability Office and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found to be excessively costly relative to standard Medicare; and to hospitals that failed standards of efficiency and care. Income from self-employment and wages of single individuals in excess of $ 200,000 annually are subjected to an additional tax of 0.9%. The threshold amount

6600-522: The employee's coverage) through their own or a family member's employer. Households below the federal poverty level are not eligible to receive these subsidies. Lawful Residents and some other legally present immigrants whose household income is below 100% FPL and are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid are eligible for subsidies if they meet all other eligibility requirements. Married people must file taxes jointly to receive subsidies. Enrollees must have U.S. citizenship or proof of legal residency to obtain

6700-574: The enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Most of the act's provisions are still in effect. The ACA's major provisions came into force in 2014. By 2016, the uninsured share of the population had roughly halved, with estimates ranging from 20 to 24 million additional people covered. The law also enacted a host of delivery system reforms intended to constrain healthcare costs and improve quality. After it went into effect, increases in overall healthcare spending slowed, including premiums for employer-based insurance plans. The increased coverage

6800-489: The exchange, but not catastrophic plans. The subsidy may not exceed the premium for the purchased plan. (In this section, the term "income" refers to modified adjusted gross income . ) Small businesses are eligible for a tax credit provided they enroll in the SHOP Marketplace. a. ^ In 2019, the federal poverty level was $ 25,100 for family of four (outside of Alaska and Hawaii). b. ^ If

6900-557: The federal government responsible for operating their exchanges. Individuals whose household incomes are between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) are eligible to receive federal subsidies for premiums for policies purchased on an ACA exchange, provided they are not eligible for Medicare , Medicaid , the Children's Health Insurance Program , or other forms of public assistance health coverage, and do not have access to affordable coverage (no more than 9.86% of income for

7000-567: The first test case for intelligent design in the courts. In the summer of 2004, the Dover, Pennsylvania , school board, after receiving legal advice from the Discovery Institute , accepted the center's offer of advice and possible representation as they worked to change their science curriculum. On November 19, 2004, the Dover Area School District announced that commencing in January 2005, teachers would be required to read

7100-402: The former is correct, creationists accept the latter view. The outcome of the case prompted significant editorial changes to the book. Dean H. Kenyon had presented an affidavit to the court in which he defined " creation science " as meaning "origin through abrupt appearance in complex form", which did "not include as essential parts... catastrophism, a world-wide flood, a recent inception of

7200-503: The government has subsidized a full-time employee's healthcare through tax deductions or other means. This is commonly known as the employer mandate . This provision was included to encourage employers to continue providing insurance once the exchanges began operating. The act includes delivery system reforms intended to constrain costs and improve quality. These include Medicare payment changes to discourage hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions , bundled payment initiatives,

7300-599: The government in a potential breach of contract with insurers who offered qualified health plans. Several insurers sued the government at the United States Court of Federal Claims to recover the funds believed owed to them under the Risk Corridors program. While several were summarily closed, in the case of Moda Health v the United States , Moda Health won a $ 214-million judgment in February 2017. Federal Claims judge Thomas C. Wheeler stated, "the Government made

7400-845: The groups who were not subject to the individual mandate are: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 , set to $ 0 the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate, starting in 2019. ACA mandated that health insurance exchanges be provided for each state. The exchanges are regulated, largely online marketplaces, administered by either federal or state governments, where individuals, families and small businesses can purchase private insurance plans. Exchanges first offered insurance for 2014. Some exchanges also provide access to Medicaid. States that set up their own exchanges have some discretion on standards and prices. For example, states approve plans for sale, and thereby influence (through negotiations) prices. They can impose additional coverage requirements—such as abortion. Alternatively, states can make

7500-474: The language of science. In 1987 a further draft of the book was produced with the new title Of Pandas and People , which still had the definition "creation means that various forms of life began abruptly", and used the term "creationists": The basic metabolic pathways (reaction chains) of nearly all organisms are the same. Is this because of descent from a common ancestor, or because only these pathways (and their variations) can sustain life? Evolutionists think

7600-507: The latter view. FTE founder Jon Buell says that the word creationism was a "placeholder term" whose definition "changed to include a religious context after the draft was written, so the writers changed the word." However, the proof that intelligent design was creationism re-labeled played a significant part in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District , and "cdesign proponentsists" has been described as "the missing link between creationism and intelligent design." Of Pandas and People

7700-406: The law's Medicaid expansion, but upheld the law as a whole. The federal health insurance exchange, HealthCare.gov , faced major technical problems at the beginning of its rollout in 2013. Polls initially found that a plurality of Americans opposed the act, although its individual provisions were generally more popular. By 2017, the law had majority support. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 set

7800-454: The market." If creationist teaching in schools was explicitly permitted by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Louisiana "Balanced Treatment Act" case that was then ongoing, the FTE's founder Jon Buell wrote that "you can throw out these projections, the nationwide market would be explosive!" The Louisiana "Balanced Treatment Act" case – Edwards v. Aguillard  –

7900-498: The opposition of mainstream scientists, educators and civil liberties organizations. This has caused several notable controversies, culminating in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case in Pennsylvania in which the contents and antecedents of the book came under scrutiny. In Alabama , 11,800 people signed a petition which was presented to Alabama's school textbook committee, endorsing intelligent design and urging

8000-669: The premium for the second lowest cost silver plan (SLCSP) is greater than the amount in this column, the amount of the premium subsidy will be such that it brings the net cost of the SCLSP down to the amount in this column. Otherwise, there will be no subsidy, and the SLCSP premium will (of course) be no more than (usually less than) the amount in this column. Note: The numbers in the table do not apply for Alaska and Hawaii. As written, ACA mandated that insurers reduce copayments and deductibles for ACA exchange enrollees earning less than 250% of

8100-500: The real purpose behind the ID Policy" and "The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources." Charity evaluator Charity Navigator rated the center with three stars out of a possible four overall, based on their filings for the fiscal year ending December 2013. This overall rating reflects

8200-427: The resultant adverse selection , the act mandated that individuals buy insurance (or pay a monetary penalty) and that insurers cover a list of " essential health benefits ". Before and after enactment the ACA faced strong political opposition, calls for repeal and legal challenges . In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius , the Supreme Court ruled that states could choose not to participate in

8300-415: The same, with "intelligent design" substituted for "creation", and "intelligent creator" changed to "intelligent agency": Intelligent design means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency, with their distinctive features already intact. Fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, wings, etc. The term "creationists" was changed to "design proponents", but in one case

8400-489: The skull, teeth, post-cranial bones (including the marsupial pelvic bones), soft anatomy, and biochemistry, to say nothing of their respective fossil records, that separate the two mammals. About the closest similarity they have going for them is that they are both called "wolf" in English. The same criticism can be applied seriatim to the authors' mystifying discussion of the red and giant "pandas". Padian's conclusion was: "It

8500-482: The structure of Medicare, Medicaid, and the employer market were largely retained. Some regulations applied to the employer market, and the law also made delivery system changes that affected most of the health care system. All new individual major medical health insurance policies sold to individuals and families faced new requirements. The requirements took effect on January 1, 2014. They include: The individual mandate required everyone to have insurance or pay

8600-563: The teaching of evolutionary theory had relied largely on a "top-down" approach of pro-creationist legislators passing laws to regulate science education in schools. However, these had repeatedly failed to survive court challenges. The FTE took a "bottom-up" approach instead, mobilizing local Christian conservative groups to push school boards and individual teachers to adopt the book and also to get themselves elected to school boards and local educational committees. Buell told supporters: Biology teachers are generally easy to contact, available for

8700-837: The theology of Martin Luther and William Tyndale , whose books he burned. More later opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England because it disparaged papal authority. He was tried for treason, convicted, and beheaded. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers in the Catholic Church . Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In 2005,

8800-499: The title Biology and Creation included a similar statement, and defined "creation" using the classic creationist concept of "abrupt appearance": Creation means that the various forms of life began abruptly through the agency of an intelligent creator with their distinctive features already intact. Fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, and wings, etc. A 1987 draft entitled Biology and Origins made only minor grammatical alterations to these statements. The FTE sought

8900-572: The writing of the book; in a November 1994 interview with The Wall Street Journal , he commented: "Of course my motives were religious. There's no question about it." In 1981, the FTE advertised in a creationist newspaper, seeking authors for a textbook that would be "sensitively written to present both evolution and creation". Their first production was Unlocking the secrets: The Mystery of Life's Origin by creationist Charles Thaxton (a chemist), Walter L. Bradley, and Roger L. Olsen. In this book, Thaxton presented arguments for "Special Creation by

9000-417: Was completely repealed as part of H.R.1865 - Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020. Excise taxes totaling $ 3 billion were levied on importers and manufacturers of prescription drugs. An excise tax of 2.3% on medical devices and a 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services were applied as well. The tax was repealed in late 2019. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment process

9100-504: Was decided by the Supreme Court in 1987. The court determined that teaching creationism in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution , but that alternative scientific theories could be taught. While the decision ruled out any return to teaching traditional Young Earth creationism in science classes, it did offer an opening for those willing to recast creationist doctrine in

9200-400: Was due, roughly equally, to an expansion of Medicaid eligibility and to changes to individual insurance markets. Both received new spending, funded through a combination of new taxes and cuts to Medicare provider rates and Medicare Advantage . Several Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports said that overall these provisions reduced the budget deficit , that repealing ACA would increase

9300-405: Was explicitly marketed by retailers as a creationist work; in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, donated copies of the book were accompanied by a catalog which listed Pandas under "creation science". Discovery Institute Senior Fellows William A. Dembski and Jonathan Wells are the listed authors of this edition, presented as a sequel. The preface of The Design of Life

9400-403: Was intended to encourage insurers to compete based on value and efficiency rather than by attracting healthier enrollees. Of the three risk management programs, only risk adjustment was permanent. Plans with low actuarial risk compensate plans with high actuarial risk. ACA revised and expanded Medicaid eligibility starting in 2014. All U.S. citizens and legal residents with income up to 133% of

9500-421: Was published in 1989 by "Haughton Publishing Co." This was the assumed name of a Mesquite, Texas , printing firm, Horticultural Printers, Inc., which mainly served the agricultural industry and had no other books in print, nor any in-house writers or science advisors. (It should not be confused with the well-known children's and school textbook publisher, Houghton Mifflin ). Printing costs were met by donations to

9600-463: Was retitled The Design of Life . Jon Buell, the president of the Foundation for Thought and Ethics , said that the ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that intelligent design was religious would make the textbook "radioactive" in public schools and would be "catastrophic" for the marketability of both the (then) present (second) edition and the (then) forthcoming third edition, citing possible losses of around US$ 500,000. The renaming of

9700-435: Was simplified. Beginning September 23, 2010, dependents were permitted to remain on their parents' insurance plan until their 26th birthday, including dependents who no longer lived with their parents, are not a dependent on a parent's tax return, are no longer a student, or are married. Businesses that employ fifty or more people but do not offer health insurance to their full-time employees are assessed additional tax if

9800-431: Was stated in the language of creationism, including the following statement: The basic metabolic pathways of nearly all organisms are the same. Is this because of descent from a common ancestor, or because only these pathways (and their variations) can sustain life? Evolutionists think the former is correct; creationists because of all the evidence discussed in this book, conclude the latter is correct. A 1986 draft with

9900-517: Was to be paid to a hospital and a physician group for a defined episode of care (such as a hip replacement ) rather than separate payments to individual service providers. The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) was established by section 3022 of the Affordable Care Act. It is the program by which an accountable care organization interacts with the federal government, and by which accountable care organizations can be created. It

10000-468: Was unconstitutional. Scientific and education professional groups have strongly criticized Of Pandas and People and have opposed its use in schools. Science educator Gerald Skoog described it as "a vehicle to advance sectarian tenets and not to improve science education" and said "This book has no potential to improve science education and student understanding of the natural world." A review of Of Pandas and People by paleontologist Kevin Padian of

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