Kea simply takes its share of nature’s bounty | Brief letters

From your report (22 September) on the endangered New Zealand parrot the kea: “its destructive habits such as … attacking stock and habitually stealing food”. A wild creature has no concept of harm or property, so both “attacking” and “habitually stealing” are demonising anthropomorphism. The kea, like any other predator species, is simply and instinctively taking its share of nature’s bounty, the only way it could have survived until now. By any rational criterion, a wild animal is beyond human conceits of blame and responsibility.
Alex Watson
North Nibley, Gloucestershire

• Samuel Gibbs fingers a poor battery as the iPhone 7’s big weakness (Technology review, 24 September). This after five hours’ music, three hours’ browsing, photos, emails, etc. Allowing for seven hours sleep where do, you know, people, fit in?
Bill Steedman
Edinburgh

• It’s autumn. Cue creeper-clad cottage at Llanrwst (Autumn’s glow, 19 September), red deer in Richmond Park (Stag in a green scene, 23 September) again. Wales has hundreds of picturesque cottages next to rivers and Britain six species of deer. Any chance of some variety in 2017?
Kate Gibbs
Llanfairfechan

• Homa Khaleeli’s article “Snap, crackle and filth” (Family, 24 September) reminded me of my father’s oft-repeated “Nothing wrong with good clean dirt.” This was in the 1950s, and 60 years later my brother and I are in excellent, unmedicated health.
Stephen Lee
Ryde, Isle of Wight

• Re the obituary of Sir Trevor Jones (24 September), please note that a Bootle accent is not a Liverpool accent.
Joyce Blackledge
Formby, Merseyside

• I was taught to drive by a Welsh woman fluent in both English and Welsh. I asked her what she thought of bilingual signage (Letters, 24 September). “Terrible,” she said. “I have to read everything twice.”
John Shimwell
London

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Kea simply takes its share of nature’s bounty | Brief letters

Bounty Mutiny victory for Mumsnet: income reps need to be banned from NHS maternity wards

_{Income reps have no area on maternity wards}

Soon after providing birth for the second time, I was lying in a maternity ward, a bit befuddled, overwhelmed and, I’m sure, hanging halfway out of my hospital gown. My daughter, who had but to meet any of her grandparents or uncles, was lying subsequent to me when an productive and officious female bustled into the room. She quickly scanned the occupants of the four beds in the ward, and then set about speaking to my 3 ward-mates, collecting their information and giving them their post-natal Bounty packs. When she acquired to my bed, and I asked her what on earth she was doing there, she informed me that I was “too posh”, “plainly did not require [her] hand-outs”, and trundled off. As my vowels are a lot more Brooklyn than Cheltenham Ladies’ University, I have no notion what gave her that impression – possibly the mere act of questioning her presence in my personalized room (how entitled am I?) – but both way, 4 hrs post-birth was not the time to be judged, or pressured to get any certain goods.

Permitting commercial revenue reps onto wards with any individuals is disgraceful. A patient’s privacy and dignity need to be leading priority at all times, and the only men and women going to them must be health pros or near household and pals – not salespeople. However the NHS has encouraged the practice for many years, reportedly earning £5.50 per child born through this money-for-accessibility deal.

There is ample evidence of revenue reps collecting information with out permission, and suggesting that individuals who refused to divulge private information would not be eligible to claim youngster benefit. A lot more than half of mothers surveyed by Mumsnet said the Bounty reps had “invaded their privacy”, and 60 per cent mentioned they had not been told (as they should have been) that their personal specifics would be sold on to other businesses. More than 4 out of five mothers imagined the Bounty reps need to be denied access to wards. The NHS ought to have banned this years in the past.

Now, thanks to Mumsnet’s Bounty Mutiny campaign, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is last but not least examining the practice. Even though the campaign – in which the parenting network gathered far more than 90,000 signatures to a petition calling for an finish to the Bounty reps – has only just announced its victory, considering that April of this yr the CQC has been investigating no matter whether the reps invade the privacy of new mothers. A number of NHS trusts have announced previously that they will be terminating contracts with Bounty. But it is a victory no significantly less and I hope a rallying contact for widespread adjust.

Let’s hope that all NHS trusts adhere to suit quickly, so maternity wards can be risk-free, private areas for mothers, fathers and babies to bond. Soon after all, each and every single aspect of childhood is commercialised these days – let’s preserve the tough-sell out of the maternity ward.

Bounty Mutiny victory for Mumsnet: income reps need to be banned from NHS maternity wards

ObamaCare Part Of "Unprecedented" Bounty For Insurers, So Far

Even though some well being insurers say they may get rid of income in the initial year supplying rewards under the Affordable Care Act, the most significant wellness ideas continue to be committed to the program with at least 1 saying this week it will be component of an “unprecedented” amount of company to the market.

A parade of fourth-quarter earnings from insurers such as Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI) and Humana (HUM) this week is the newest indication wellness insurance companies are going to be in a position to manage the initial 12 months of threat from newly insured clients buying subsidized private health programs through government-run exchanges. Underneath the law, hundreds of thousands of Americans can get a subsidy of up to $ five,000 to acquire an array of wellness program choices.

On Friday, Cigna chief executive officer David Cordani stated people signing up are a “little older combine relative to population.” Meanwhile,  Humana earlier this week explained much more and a lot more younger people are signing up as the enrollment time period continues. Americans have until finally March 31 to stay away from a penalty.

But the new company from the Reasonably priced Care Act, which includes an expanded Medicaid system and enhancements to the Medicare health insurance system for the elderly, implies robust growth ahead, insurers are telling Wall Street as they report their fourth-quarter and complete yr 2013 earnings.

“The income growth possibilities in front of us may possibly be unprecedented in the background of managed care and we feel our diversified portfolio positions us to capture our honest share and grow working revenues at double-digit rates,” Mark Bertolini, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Aetna stated earlier this week as the firm reported fourth-quarter income practically double the 12 months earlier period. “These possibilities include: private exchanges, the likely motion of industrial membership from self-insured to fully insured goods Medicare Benefit growth, as 11,000 infant boomers age into the Medicare system on a daily basis dual eligibles development, as up to $ 300 billion in annual commit migrates to managed care public exchange growth, which could expand to 25 million members by 2020 and Medicaid growth, as 15 million further people grow to be eligible for the plan beneath the ACA.”

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Inexpensive Care Act at the White Residence (Photo credit score: Wikipedia)

Bertolini doesn’t sound like a CEO arranging to bail out on the Reasonably priced Care Act.

In truth, he and other executives have been telling Wall Street analysts and traders they assume to commence recouping the investments they have to make in administrative charges, regulatory and other expenditures to prepare for the Affordable Care Act by up coming year if not sooner.

“By 2016, we anticipate ACA-connected pressures will largely abate and longer-term revenue growth options will begin to mature,” Bertolini said. “As we stand here right now, we view 2016 as a yr when we can return to our lengthy-phrase growth dynamics. In 2015, ACA fees and taxes will be largely integrated into our baseline prices and premiums.”

Humana launched the most thorough picture of its enrollment growth from the exchanges and indicated younger men and women who the market needs to sign up are beginning to do so.

“While even now early, as we analyze the demographics of our exchange membership, we are seeing enrollees skewing a bit a lot more to the younger side,” Humana chief executive Bruce Broussard informed analysts on his company’s fourth-quarter earnings get in touch with earlier this week. “This is likely the outcome of premium-subsidized younger enrollees selecting the decrease deductibles provided with the larger metal tier plans. Around 82% of our new members are getting subsidies. This could potentially mitigate some of the adverse effect connected with the threat pool deterioration from our higher membership in non-ACA-compliant plans.”

ObamaCare Part Of "Unprecedented" Bounty For Insurers, So Far