BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20120311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20121104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20130310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20131103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120608T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120608T000000 DTSTAMP:20120608T040000Z CREATED:20120608T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120608T040000Z UID:4516-1339113600-1339113600@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA - Bob McMillan- Healthcare Supreme Court Decision DESCRIPTION:Bob McMillan has had an interesting and diverse career. His profession is law but he has served in many high profile executive positions including being a corporate officer at Avon\, CEO of the Panama Canal Commission\, a board member of Empire Blue Cross\, and board member of the American Medical Association. \nThis morning he took on the task of explaining the national healthcare plan that many people refer to as Obama Care. The discussion was centered on the possible outcomes of the Supreme Court as they test the constitutionality of the legislation. \nMcMillan pointed out that Teddy Roosevelt promised to enact a healthcare program if he had been re-elected in the early part of the 20th century. President Nixon proposed a healthcare plan that was more encompassing than this one. Mr. Nixon unfortunately had another bag of alligators he had to attend to\, namely Watergate and impeachment. Hillary Clinton guided the Bill Clinton administration efforts toward a healthcare plan. Well that went nowhere as we all remember \nNow that a healthcare plan is in place and has been challenged by lower courts\, and the results of those challenges are mixed. So here come the Supremes. What will they do? \nBob drew for us a very pessimistic picture of the present cost of Medicare stating that the system would be kaput by 2024. He cited the cost of drugs\, the duplication of testing\, the cost of creating and maintaining paper files\, malpractice insurance costs\, end of life heroic measures and the associated costs \nAll of the negatives in the plan revolve on the items in the above paragraph. All of which can and should be addressed. \nHe went into some positive points in the legislation\, such as; keeping children on the parents policy until age 26\, no lifetime caps\, insurance exchanges which should bring the cost down but 30 states do not have them. \nThe possible Supreme Court decisions run the gamut from; \n1)      Totally upheld – nothing changes \n2)      Individual mandate rejected \n3)      Employer mandate rejected \n4)      Challenge is premature- this essentially says that no harm has been done to any entity as of yet\, and can only be challenged when a party can show harm. \nThe most interesting points were made by the speaker and by the audience after the formal presentation. The out of control elements cited above already exist. It is the reason US healthcare costs are twice as much as the next most costly system. While that is bad the cost is not justified by better outcomes. There are numerous countries that have better health outcomes. \nIt was pointed out by the speaker that some states have severely limited malpractice and their malpractice insurance is commensurately less. As much as 70% less. \nI asked why the medical profession does not do what industry has done with workers compensation. There was a time when employers could be sued. Workers compensation has removed that sword of Damocles from employers and created an orderly no fault process that compensates every injured worker. In medicine there are outsized awards in some cases and absolutely no compensation in others. Why not create medical compensation boards with the same no-fault mentality guiding the system. \nI think most of us came away thinking that this is not real good legislation\, but there is nothing here that cannot be fixed if congress wanted it fixed. Let’s see! URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-bob-mcmillan-healthcare-supreme-court-decision/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120615T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120615T000000 DTSTAMP:20120615T040000Z CREATED:20120615T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120615T040000Z UID:4514-1339718400-1339718400@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA Doing business with India -Pradeep Gupta DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning\, Pradeep Gupta\, gave us an overview of the nature intricacies of doing business in India. Mr. Gupta is an accountant by profession but has built an expertise in American / Indian Trade. \nIndia has been on an unprecdentent growth pattern\, as have the other BRIC (Brazil\, Russia\, India\, China) countries. Each of these countries have various strengths and weaknesses. Mr. Gupta’s objectives included showing us the areas that are open to partnerships. India is the 4th largest economy in the world\, of the $450 billion in imports 5.7% come from the United States. The implication here is that\, that number could be considerably higher. On the other hand 12.6% of India’s exports are destined to the USA.  \nIndia is an attractive place to invest for several reasons. India has numerous dialects\, but English is almost universal (less so in the rural areas).  American brands are respected because we are considered innovators and that desirable trait is valued. The MADE IN AMERICA is a big plus. In the minds of the Indians\, American made implies quality. Intellectual property is generally respected. Architectural and engineering are among the desirable services that are used by the Indians.  \nHere are the key sectors in the Indian economy; \n\nAutomotive- American brands are being built in country- they are also creating replacement parts.\nClean Technology- That would include wind and solar technology as well as alternate fuels among others.\nDefense- This sector is protected and there may be limited opportunity\nEducation\nFinancial Services\nPharmaceuticals\nMedia and Entertainment- Including a big movie industry “Bollywood”\nRetail & Services\nTransport and Infrastructure – This sector includes India’s extensive rail system\, probably the world’s largest system.\n\nAmericans should pay attention to the fact that the population is growing wealthier\, and as wealth grows this large populace (1.2 billion people) will demand more and more consumer goods as this youthful nation develops.  We could benefit from that upward shift. \nNavigating- Local relationships and cultural knowledge is essential \n\nFind local partners\nAttend Trade Fairs or Road Shows\nSet up Liaison Office or Branch Office\n\nAs resource information Mr. Gupta offered the following; \n\nUSA / India Chamber of Commerce http://www.usaindiachamber.org\nUS Embassy in India. US Commercial Service\, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs\nIndian Consulate Office\, NYC http://www.indiacgny.org\nFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) http://www.ficci.com\nExport Import Bank of the United States http://www.exim.gov and http://export.gov/india\nStory of India documentary www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia\n\nWe are pleased to present this interesting topic and will create more programs in this vein in the future \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-doing-business-with-india-pradeep-gupta/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120622T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120622T000000 DTSTAMP:20120622T040000Z CREATED:20120622T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120622T040000Z UID:4520-1340323200-1340323200@limba.net SUMMARY:Theresa Regnante- United Way DESCRIPTION:Theresa Regnante is the Executive Director of the United Way of Long Island. Theresa was our speaker this morning. The United Way has a 48-year history on Long Island and while the mission remains the same the elements that need attention do vary. However the range of services has always been quite extensive. \n  \nThe mission pays a lot of attention to programs that foster access to healthcare\, providing financial information\, family counseling\, and education for children. \n  \nOne of the items that concern the United Way in addition to providing immediate services is the preparation of younger people to avoid the trap of need in the first place. That means vocational training to obtain skills that are in demand and are fairly compensated for. While pondering this need the United Way decided that instead of creating their own training unit\, why not partner with BOCES. BOCES has programs that have been developed over the years and the partnership works well. \n  \nUnited Way investments in the community are prioritized. Having limited resources means care must be taken in selecting programs. The entire budget for Long Island United Way is $18 million. Really not a lot of money when you consider the breadth and scope of the units demands. There are 38 people on staff and the net flowing to the programs is 88 cents of every dollar after paying staff\, insurance\, utilities\, and all ancillary costs. \n  \nThe agency has created other partnerships to deal with various problems. Project Warmth gets the support of National Grid and LIPA. National Grid will provide direct help as well advertising for the program in the bills. LIPA bills contain envelopes for contributions by the public to help support that program \n  \nWe were reminded of the corporate sign-ups that in the past were directed at the regions largest employers. Grumman\, NY Telephone LILCO were all big contributors through their very broad based employee enrollment plans. That still exists in many companies today\, but some very large companies have shrunk or disappeared. Republic Aviation\, and Fairchild\, gone. Grumman is a shadow of its old size and these dramatic business changes has made funding needed for programs that much more difficult. \n  \nThere is federal money that is dispersed through the United Way but the formulas for distributing those funds are convoluted and usually bear no semblance to need and logic. Areas that can certainly use the funds may not be getting it\, while on the other hand an equally deserving group is. This is one of the problems that the United Way is hoping to make some progress on. This inequity is governed by the way an area is structured. Incorporated villages will do better than unincorporated areas. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/theresa-regnante-united-way/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120629T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120629T000000 DTSTAMP:20120629T040000Z CREATED:20120629T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120629T040000Z UID:4522-1340928000-1340928000@limba.net SUMMARY:JUly 4th Recess No Meeting DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/july-4th-recess-no-meeting-2/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR