Snyder OKs bill to repeal, replace tax that funds Medicaid
LANSING (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law a plan to repeal and replace Michigan's tax on health insurance claims that is used to help fund Medicaid for low-income residents.
The laws enacted Monday require the state to seek a federal waiver to implement the tax change. The waiver is expected to be approved.
Under the legislation, Michigan would repeal the 1 percent Health Insurance Claims Assessment and create the Insurance Provider Assessment, a new tax. The Michigan Manufacturers Association says the laws could lead to more than $300 million in annual savings for businesses.
The tax would be assessed on Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicaid prepaid inpatient health plans and commercial insurance. The laws would boost state resources by more than $440 million annually by early next decade.
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Lawmakers consider resuming lethal control of cormorants
ALPENA (AP) — Congress is considering legislation that would allow government agencies to resume killing double-crested cormorants, which feast on fish in the Great Lakes and elsewhere.
A federal judge in 2016 ordered a halt to lethal control measures against the birds, saying the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hadn't done enough research to determine whether further efforts were needed.
U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan has introduced a bill that would restore authority to continue the measures in Michigan and 23 other states.
The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing on the issue Monday in Alpena.
Sporting groups say cormorants reduce populations of prized sport fish such as smallmouth bass and yellow perch.
Critics say the birds' effects on fish numbers are exaggerated.
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Trooper pulls over officer who helped with his delivery
KINGWOOD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A routine traffic stop reunited a New Jersey state trooper with the now-retired police officer who helped his mother deliver him as an infant.
Trooper Michael Patterson was on patrol recently when he pulled over Matthew Bailly for a tinted window violation. The two men talked and Bailly mentioned he used to be a police officer in Piscataway where Patterson grew up.
Bailly was on-duty in Piscataway 27 years ago when he was called to the home of Karen Patterson,who had gone into labor. He helped her deliver Michael Patterson.
The trooper said, "My name is Michael Patterson sir. Thank you for delivering me."
Bailly wasn't ticketed and the trooper and his mom later met Bailly and his wife.
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Distillery has new bourbon flavored by beaver secretion
TAMWORTH, N.H. (AP) — Beaver-flavored whiskey, anyone?
A New Hampshire distillery has a new bourbon, Eau De Musc, flavored partly by the secretion from a beaver's castor sacs.
Tamworth Distilling says the secretion, called castoreum, has a history of being used as a flavoring and is on a small list of FDA ingredients called "generally recognized as safe."
Other ingredients are raspberry, Canadian snakeroot, fir needles, birch bark (tar oil and regular oil) and maple syrup.
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