Posted by Jack
The National Intelligence Council has released their fifth installment in a series aimed at providing a framework for thinking about potential global trajectories in the next fifteen to twenty years.
The world of 2030 will be radically transformed from our world today. By 2030, no country–whether the US, China, or any other large country–will be a hegemonic power. The empowerment of individuals and diffusion of power among states and from states to informal networks will have a dramatic impact, largely reversing the historic rise of the West since 1750, restoring Asia’s weight in the global economy, and ushering in a new era of “democratization” at the international and domestic level. In addition to individual empowerment and the diffusion of state power, we believe that two other megatrends will shape our world out to 2030: demographic patterns, especially rapid aging; and growing resource demands which, in the cases of food and water, might lead to scarcities. These trends, which are virtually certain, exist today, but during the next 15-20 years they will gain much greater momentum. Underpinning the megatrends are tectonic shifts – critical changes to key features of our global environment that will affect how the world “works” (see table on page v).
Calif: Cuts to Medi-Cal Reimbursements Could Jeopardize ObamaCare
On Thursday, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state of California had the authority to slash Medi-Cal reimbursements by 10%, overturning various injunctions blocking the state from implementing a 2011 law that was passed to help California Gov. Jerry Brown close the state’s budget deficit.
This ruling may make it more difficult for the state to implement Obamacare in 2014, especially the 25% expansion of the Medi-Cal program and California’s state-based health insurance exchange, because there may not be enough doctors in California who can afford to treat patients on Medi-Cal.
The ruling, which can be “applied retroactively to June 1, 2011,” will impact as many as “2 million new patients who could become eligible for Medi-Cal” in 2014 when Obamacare goes into effect.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/12/14/Ninth-Circuit-Ruling-Allowing-CA-To-Cut-Medi-Cal-Reimbursements-Could-Destroy-Obamacare-In-State?utm_source=BreitbartNews&utm_medium=facebook