GETTING READY FOR A SMALLER AIR FORCE

Photo:  B-2.  Credit:  U.S. Air Force

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Smaller Air Force Will Protect Quality, Readiness
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2013 - To roll with unprecedented strategic and fiscal challenges, the best path forward for the Air Force is to become smaller to protect a high-quality, ready force, top Air Force officials said today.

Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III briefed Pentagon reporters, addressing budget constraints, progress in the year just passed, and the development of future capabilities.

"Like the other services, the Air Force will work with our defense and national leadership to fine-tune our plans and programs as we confront both a dynamic security environment and the nation's fiscal challenges," Donley said.

"We'll adjust and compromise as necessary," he added, "but we will need broad consensus with the Congress on the way forward to avoid a hollow military. This must be our priority."

The Air Force secretary said the service would continue to balance competing defense needs with the size of its force structure, readiness and modernization.

"To avoid the perils of a hollow Air Force," the secretary said, "we believe the best path forward is to become smaller in order to protect a high-quality and ready force that will improve in capability over time."

Donley also described progress and accomplishments for the Air Force in 2012, including confronting the problem of sexual assaults and unprofessional relationships at basic military training and convicting offenders.

"We're strengthening our sexual assault prevention efforts," Donley said, citing recent initiatives that implement health and welfare inspections and establish a special victims' counsel program throughout the Air Force. The inspections are designed to reinforce expectations for the work environment, correct deficiencies and deter disruptive conditions, Air Force officials said.


Last year in space launch operations, the Air Force completed nine national security space launch campaigns in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, bringing the total number of consecutive EELV program launches to 55, and total consecutive national security space missions to 90, Donley said.

The Air Force implemented a new EELV acquisition strategy to efficiently purchase up to 36 existing rocket stages, called "cores," and is making it easier for commercial space companies, starting as early as fiscal 2015, to compete to produce up to 14 new core stages and in the process become new entrants in contributing to rigorous national security space operations.

"This, for the first time, gives new entrants a clear path to compete for national security space missions," Donley said.

The Air Force's procurement strategy is driving down satellite costs, he said, resulting in savings of more than $1 billion on the advanced extremely high frequency satellites. This system is a joint service satellite communications system that will provide survivable global, secure, protected and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets.

The Air Force also is projecting savings of more than $500 million for the Space Based Infrared Systems program, which the officials say will provide critical missile defense and warning capability well into the 21st century.

Donley also reported on a vexing issue with the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. "We've resolved as best we know how the previously unexplained hypoxia incidents in the F-22 and put this critical aircraft on the path from return to flight to full operational capability," he said.

Also in 2012, Donley told reporters, the next-generation F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter "continues to mature, and with the completion of our operational utility evaluation, the OUE, training at Eglin Air Force Base [in Florida] will begin this month." The OUE is a critical step in beginning joint strike fighter pilot and maintenance training for the service.

Welsh, who became Air Force chief of staff in 2012, said Donley's tough budget decisions, reflected in the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, translate into an active duty Air Force of about 329,000 airmen, about the same size it was when the Air Force became a separate service in 1947. In the past 10 years, the Air Force has retired about 1,900 airplanes and dropped about 30,000 active-duty billets, he said.

"None of those things is inherently bad, by the way," the general added. "They are simply reflective of today's fiscal and strategic environment."

For the Air Force, Welsh said, the future depends on "figuring out how to integrate data, how to better integrate information, how to move it quicker, how to connect platforms and sensors together."

"That's not as expensive as new weapons systems, ... and it benefits us in the way we do the job today," he added. "So we have people all around the Air Force focused on that problem right now."

Donley said the Air Force has been through many ups and downs over the years and the way through the challenges is to support the service's active, Air National Guard, Reserve and civilian members and their families in their work.

"I am confident that by making prudent choices -- difficult decisions among force structure, readiness and modernization -- we can and will stay the world's finest air force," he said.

NASA VIDEO: ROBOTIC REFUELING MISSION DEMO

FROM: NASA

Robotic Refueling Mission Demo
Robots present certain advantages when working in the harsh environment of space. They're not susceptible to hunger, to sleepiness, or catastrophic injury for starters. They're also capable of highly precise, yet highly tedious tasks-- tasks that might otherwise consume huge resources and attention from already busy astronauts and ground controllers. In an important demonstration of new technical methodologies, NASA engineers will try to simulate the transfer of fuel from one vehicle to another, in space, with nothing but robots doing the physical work. Called the Robotic Refueling Mission, it's a major step on the road to developing a robust suite of essential robotic capabilities in space.

Credit-NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

THE NATIONAL DEFENSE LANGUAGE CORPS SEEKS VOLUNTEERS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Language Corps Members Employ Skills for Nation
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2013 – A man translates the deposition of a Somali pirate for the FBI.

A woman who speaks Mandarin Chinese works with the Coast Guard aboard a cutter off the African coast to monitor Mandarin fishing vessels.

A federal agency requests humanitarian help following the outbreak of a disease in a small, foreign village, which quickly garners a group of volunteers who speak the language of the community.

These translators are among the 4,000-member National Defense Language Corps. They volunteer their second-language skills and cultural knowledge when the need arises across the Defense Department and the federal government, said Dr. Michael Nugent, director of the Defense Language National Security Office and National Security Education Office.

Nugent said the corps’ language assistance is one of the largest innovations in the federal sector. Agencies foreign and domestic that have sought the corps’ capabilities include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Peace Corps, the Department of Labor, and Interpol.

The volunteer members of the corps, a DOD organization, fill needs for any one of 260 languages and cultural knowledge, he said.

"If you are a combatant commander, you cannot have on hand 260 linguists who speak all those languages. It’s just too cost prohibitive [and] it’s very difficult to find those resources," Nugent said.

"We at the Department of Defense, plus the rest of the federal government, have an incredible need for language skills and these skills are enduring," he said. "The language corps provides a way to augment our federal service in times of need through [the use of] volunteers."

The volunteers in the program must be at least 18 years old. None are full-time employees but are on call to report for work, which could last anywhere from a few hours to a couple of months, Nugent said, adding that most volunteers work a week at a time. He added the corps is seeking nonfederal workers, to augment the federal sector.

Volunteers receive training and are compensated for their services by becoming temporary federal employees during the time they travel and work.

Once partially a pilot program, the corps has become permanent, following President Barack Obama’s Jan. 2 signing of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.

Many volunteers have grown up in other countries or have heritage language skills spoken at home, Nugent said, noting some are retired military linguists.

And with 4,000 volunteers, Nugent expects the corps to boast 15,000 members as the program is ramped up to further complement the federal sector.

The volunteers’ cultural knowledge of the languages they speak is crucial, Nugent said.

"[By] growing up in another country or speaking another language, there are different ways of doing things in different countries, and what these folks bring with them is an understanding of how things are done in other … cultures," Nugent explained.

Having people with those cultural and language skills makes a big difference, he said.

"In these times when we are drawing down a lot of capabilities, the corps offers an opportunity to retain a lot of language capability," Nugent noted. "It’s hard to create that capability in-house; it’s costly. The corps gives us an opportunity to retain that capability and draw upon it in times of need. That’s one of the most important aspects of the corps."

Nugent said members of the corps sign up for one particular reason.

"They want to volunteer and serve the nation," he said. "They’re not trying to make money out of this. They’re trying to give back to the country."

GEORGIA MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO BRIBING OFFICIAL

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, January 10, 2013 Georgia Men Plead Guilty to Bribing Official to Secure Government Contracts
Defendants Admit to Overcharging Defense Department More Than $900,000

WASHINGTON – Two men employed by a machine products vendor in Albany, Ga., have pleaded guilty to bribing a public official working for a military organization at the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (MCLB-Albany) to secure contracts for machine products, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia.

Thomas J. Cole Jr., 43, and Fredrick W. Simon, 55, both of Albany, each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands in the Middle District of Georgia to one count of bribery of a public official.

During their guilty pleas, Cole, the general manager of an Albany-based machine products vendor, and Simon, an employee responsible for processing sales orders, admitted to participating in a scheme to secure sales order contracts from the Maintenance Center Albany (MCA) at MCLB-Albany by subverting a competitive bid process. The MCA is responsible for rebuilding and repairing ground combat and combat support equipment, much of which has been utilized in military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other parts of the world. To accomplish the scheme, Cole and Simon bribed a MCA purchase tech responsible for placing machine product orders. Cole and Simon admitted to participating in the scheme at the purchase tech’s suggestion, after Simon had spoken with the purchase tech about how his company could obtain business from the MCA. Cole and Simon admitted that, at the purchase tech’s request, they paid the purchase tech a bribe of at least $75 for each of the more than 1,000 sales orders MCA placed with their company. According to court documents, the purchase tech would transmit sales bids to Simon and then communicate privately to him exactly how much money the company should bid for each particular order. Cole and Simon admitted that these orders were extremely profitable, often times exceeding the fair market value of the machine products, sometimes by as much as 1,000 percent.

Cole and Simon further admitted that, at the purchase tech’s urging, in 2011 they began routing some orders through a second company, owned by Cole, because the volume of orders MCA placed with the first company was so high. They also admitted that the purchase tech increased the bribe required for orders as the scheme progressed. Cole and Simon admitted to paying the purchase tech approximately $161,000 in bribes during the nearly two-year scheme. Cole admitted to personally receiving approximately $209,000 in proceeds from the scheme; Simon admitted to personally receiving approximately $74,500. Both admitted that the total loss to the Department of Defense from overcharges associated with the machine product orders placed during the scheme was approximately $907,000.

At sentencing, Cole and Simon each face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of not more than twice the pecuniary loss to the government. As part of their plea agreements with the United States, Cole and Simon both agreed to forfeit the proceeds they received from the scheme, as well as to pay full restitution to the Department of Defense. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle District of Georgia. The case is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crime Unit and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS WE ARE NEAR MISSION OBJECTIVE

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Obama: Mission Objective in Afghanistan 'Within Reach'
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2013 - The mission objective to prevent al-Qaida from using Afghanistan to launch attacks against the United States is within reach, President Barack Obama said in his weekly address to the nation today.

"This week, I welcomed [Afghanistan] President Hamid Karzai to the White House to discuss the way ahead in Afghanistan," Obama said in his address. "And today, I want to update you on how we will end this war, bring our troops home, and continue the work of rebuilding America."

The president thanked U.S. service members, noting the United States has "dealt devastating blows" to al-Qaida and ejected the Taliban from their strongholds in the past four years.

Obama said the 33,000 additional forces he ordered to Afghanistan served with honor, completed their mission, and returned home last fall as promised.

"This week, [President Karzai and I] agreed that this spring, Afghan forces will take the lead for security across the entire country and our troops will shift to a support role," Obama said. "In the coming months, I'll announce the next phase of our drawdown. By the end of next year, America's war in Afghanistan will be over."

Obama gave credit for the progress made in Afghanistan to the "heroic sacrifices of our troops and diplomats, alongside forces from many other nations."

More than a half-million Americans -- military and civilian -- have served in Afghanistan, the president said, noting thousands of have been wounded and more than 2,000 have given their lives.

And, the drawdown in Afghanistan remains a challenge, he said.

"This remains a very difficult mission," Obama said. "The work ahead will not be easy. Our forces are still in harm's way. But make no mistake -- our path is clear, and we are moving forward."

Now, the United States must "care for our troops and veterans who fought in our name," the president said.

BATH SALTS: It's not a fad...It's a NIGHTMARE.: U.S. NAVY VIDEO

MARS ROVER TAKES PHOTO OF COPPER CLIFF

FROM: NASA, COPPER CLIFF
Opportunity at 'Copper Cliff,' Sol 3153, Stereo View
This 180-degree, stereo mosaic of images from the navigation camera on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows terrain near the rover during the 3,153rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Dec. 6, 2012). West is at the center, south at the left edge, north at the right edge. The view appears in three dimensions when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.

Opportunity had driven about 7 feet (2.2 meters) westward earlier on Sol 3153 to get close to the outcrop called "Copper Cliff," which is in the center of this scene. The location is on the east-central portion of "Matijevic Hill" on the "Cape York" segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

The view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection.

Credit-NASA-JPL-Caltech

Weekly Address: Ending the War in Afghanistan and Rebuilding America | The White House

Weekly Address: Ending the War in Afghanistan and Rebuilding America | The White House

DOD MEMO INDICATES A PLAN FOR BUDGET UNCERTAINTIES

Ashton B. Carter

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Memo Tells DOD Components to Plan for Budget Uncertainties
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 - Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter has released a memo directing the services and defense agencies to begin planning for possible upcoming budget challenges.

The memo allows defense components to freeze civilian hiring, terminate temporary hires and reduce base operating funds. It also allows components to curtail travel, training and conferences and to curtail administrative expenses.

The memo -- dated today -- points to the threat of sequestration and the continued use of a continuing resolution as a way to fund the department. Sequestration was to have become effective Jan. 2, but Congress delayed its activation until March 1 to give lawmakers more time to come up with an alternative. It would impose major across-the-board spending cuts.

Since Congress did not approve an appropriations act for fiscal 2013, the Defense Department has been operating under a continuing resolution and will continue to do so at least through March 27. Because most operating funding was planned to increase from fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2013, but instead is being held at fiscal 2012 levels under the continuing resolution, funds will run short at current rates of expenditure if the continuing resolution continues through the end of the fiscal year in its current form, Carter wrote in the memo.

Given this budgetary uncertainty, the department must take steps now, the deputy secretary said.

"I therefore authorize all Defense components to begin implementing measures that will help mitigate execution risks," the memo reads. "For now, and to the extent possible, any actions taken must be reversible at a later date in the event that Congress acts to remove the risks. ... The actions should be structured to minimize harmful effects on our people and on operations and unit readiness."

The memo allows components to review contracts and studies for possible cost savings, to cancel third- and fourth-quarter ship maintenance, and to examine ground and aviation depot-level maintenance. This last must be finished by Feb. 15.

It also calls on all research and development and production and contract modifications that obligate more than $500 million to be cleared with the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics before being awarded.

For science and technology accounts, the components must provide the undersecretary and the assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering with an assessment of the budgetary impacts that the budgetary uncertainty will cause to research priorities.

Videos & More - airforce.com

Videos & More - airforce.com

JUSTICE SETTLES DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITEIS LITIGATION WITH STATE OF TENNESSEE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, January 10, 2013

Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive Agreement to Resolve Long Standing Litigation Regarding the Rights of People with Developmental Disabilities

Today, the Justice Department announced that it filed in federal court yesterday afternoon a comprehensive agreement that will resolve long running litigation with the state of Tennessee originally concerning conditions of care at the former Arlington Developmental Center (ADC). On Jan. 15, 2013, the U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tenn., will conduct a hearing to determine whether to approve the agreement. Individuals affected by the agreement are invited to attend the hearing and provide comment to the Court.

Over the 20-year course of the litigation, the state has made significant changes in the delivery of services for a class comprised of former ADC residents and many other individuals who were deemed at-risk of placement at ADC. Tennessee closed ADC in October 2010. The new agreement reaches many of those in the group deemed at risk of placement in ADC prior to its closure.

The agreement resolves remaining issues in the litigation by expanding community-based services so that the state can serve people with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, in their own homes, their families’ homes or other integrated community settings. The agreement also will provide class members in nursing homes to choice to receive services in integrated, community-based settings. Over the next year, Tennessee will expand community services by providing home and community-based Medicaid waivers to Medicaid-eligible individuals; seeking new and cost-efficient models of care for class members with behavioral needs; and providing supported employment for class members seeking work. This expansion will provide people the opportunity to transition successfully from nursing and other facilities to community settings that can meet their needs and prevent new people from being unnecessarily institutionalized.

"This agreement will provide remaining class members with developmental disabilities in western Tennessee the opportunity to live successfully in their homes and communities and bring this long-standing litigation to an appropriate end," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. "I commend Governor Haslam for his leadership on this issue, and we will continue to work with states around the country, as we have with Virginia, Georgia, Delaware, North Carolina, and – today – Tennessee, to ensure that people with disabilities are given the choice to live in community-based settings."

"This is an example of the state of Tennessee making the choice to do what is not only legally right, but right in the grander sense," said U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III. "Protecting the civil rights of every citizen is a fundamental duty of our office and this agreement does so while preserving the dignity and improving the quality of life for some of our most vulnerable citizens."

Upon the state’s successful completion of the agreement, the litigation is expected to come to an end. In 1991, the department released a findings letter pursuant to the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) detailing conditions at ADC that violated residents’ constitutional rights. The following year the department brought suit to remedy those conditions. The court joined that suit with a separate suit brought by People First of Tennessee concerning ADC and the rights of people at risk of institutionalization at ADC. People First remains active in the case and also is a party to the agreement.

Civil Rights Division staff Jonathan Smith, chief; Shelley Jackson, deputy chief; and senior trial attorneys Jonas Geissler and Michelle Jones, worked on the case and the agreement .

AFGHAN FORCES WILL SOON TAKE LEAD IN NATION'S SECURITY

President Barack Obama and Ambassador Capricia Marshall, Chief of Protocol, wave to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan as he departs from the North Portico of the White House, Jan. 11, 2013.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Afghan Forces Accelerate Taking Security Lead in Country
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2013 - Afghan forces will take the lead for security throughout Afghanistan this spring rather than at mid-year, President Barack Obama announced at a White House news conference today.

Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke following White House meetings.

The Afghan president emphasized that the number of American forces that will remain in Afghanistan after the NATO mission concludes at the end of 2014 is not crucial.

"Numbers are not going to make a difference to the situation in Afghanistan," Karzai said. "It's the broader relationship that will make a difference to Afghanistan and beyond in the region. The specifics of numbers are issues that the military will decide and Afghanistan will have no particular concern when we are talking of numbers and how they are deployed."

Afghan forces will be in the lead sooner than planned, Obama said. U.S. and NATO forces have been training Afghan police and soldiers, who have progressed to the point where they are able to take the lead, Obama said. "We are able to meet those goals and accelerate them somewhat," he said. "What's going to happen this spring is that Afghans will be in the lead throughout the country."

U.S. forces will still be in the fight, the president said. "It does mean, though, that Afghans will have taken the lead and our presence, the nature of our work, will be different," he said. "We will be in a training, assisting, advising role."

This will lead to a responsible end to the war in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the president said. "This progress is only possible because of the incredible sacrifices of our troops and our diplomats, the forces of our many coalition partners, and the Afghan people, who've endured extraordinary hardship," he added.

Obama noted that more than 2,000 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001, and tens of thousands have been wounded. "These are patriots that we honor today, tomorrow, and forever," he said.

The president promised that the number of U.S. service members in Afghanistan will continue to drop over the next year. Some 66,000 Americans are deployed to the nation now. "I've pledged we'll continue to bring our forces home at a steady pace," he said. "And in the coming months, I'll announce the next phase of our drawdown, a responsible drawdown that protects the gains our troops have made."

Karzai and Obama discussed the still to be worked out bilateral security agreement between the two nations. Part of this is a status of forces agreement, which will protect American service members. Both said they think an agreement is possible this year.

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY
A ground crew member from Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 132 signals to an EA-18G Growler as it returns from a flight during heavy snows at Naval Air Facility Misawa. VAQ-132 is finishing up a six-month deployment in support of U.S. 7th Fleet. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kenneth G. Takada (Released) 130110-N-VZ328-444

A helicopter assigned to the Eightballers of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 delivers supplies to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) as it makes its approach alongside the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10) during a replenishment-at-sea. John C. Stennis is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Armando Gonzales (Released) 130108-N-LV331-577

PANETTA PRAISES SUCCESSOR HAGEL

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Panetta Praises Hagel as 'Right Person' to Lead Department

By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 - Panetta spoke today during a press briefing with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The secretary expressed confidence in Hagel's experience and his projected ability to lead the department through budget uncertainties and the 2014 Afghanistan transition.

"I've known Chuck a long time," Panetta said. "He is the right person to lead the department, not only because he's a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, but [because] he understands Washington; he understands the issues that confront our national defense."

Panetta said topics during meetings with Hagel included a range of general issues facing the DOD. The two also had a meeting specifically to focus solely on budget challenges.

"I'm confident that he wants to do everything possible to try and deal with the challenges we face," Panetta said.

The secretary also noted that he and his successor agree about the future of the department.

"Despite a lot of very severe budget pressures ... we need to maintain -- and I believe he believes we need to maintain -- the world's most powerful and ready force to deal with the challenges we're going to confront in the 21st Century," Panetta said.

ISS WEEKLY RECAP FOR WEEK ENDING 01-11-2013

FROM NASA

DVIDS - Video - Joint Press Brief: President Obama and Preseident Karzi

DVIDS - Video - Joint Press Brief

Air Force News Briefing by Secretary Donley and General Welsh on the State of the Air Force in the Pentagon Briefing Room

Air Force News Briefing by Secretary Donley and General Welsh on the State of the Air Force in the Pentagon Briefing Room

REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER AND HEART CENTER TO PAY $4.4 MILLION TO SETTLE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

EMH Regional Medical Center and North Ohio Heart Center to Pay U.S. $4.4 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

EMH Regional Medical Center (EMH) has agreed to pay the United States $3,863,857 and North Ohio Heart Center Inc. (NOHC) has agreed to pay the United States $541,870 to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

EMH is a non-profit community hospital system located in Lorain County, Ohio. During the relevant time period, NOHC was an independent physician group located in Lorain County that practiced at EMH. The settlement resolves allegations that between 2001 and 2006 EMH and NOHC performed unnecessary cardiac procedures on Medicare patients. Specifically, the United States alleged that EMH and NOHC performed angioplasty and stent placement procedures on patients who had heart disease but whose blood vessels were not sufficiently occluded to require the particular procedures at issue.

"Billing Medicare for cardiac procedures that are not necessary or appropriate contributes to the soaring costs of health care and puts patients at risk. The settlement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s efforts both to protect public funds and safeguard Medicare beneficiaries," said Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

" Most doctors act responsibly," said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. " These few didn't. Patient health and taxpayer dollars have to come before greed."

This matter was initiated by the filing of a whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA). Under the FCA, private citizens can bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and receive a share of the recovery obtained by the government. The whistleblower in this matter, Kenny Loughner, was the former manager of EMH’s catheterization and electrophysiology laboratory. As a result of the settlement, Mr. Loughner will receive $660,859 of the United States’ recovery.

This resolution is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $10.1 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $13.8 billion.

The investigation was jointly handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services Cleveland Field Office and the FBI. The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

FEMA AID REGISTRATION EXTENED FOR RHODE ISLAND RESIDENTS

Warwick, R.I., Jan. 7, 2013 -- Representatives from the state of Rhode Island and local government agencies attended at two-day seminar at the Warwick, Rhode Island, Joint Field Office on January 7-8, 2013. The seminar on benefit cost analysis provided training on the use of FEMA software to complete applications for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants. These competitive grants are funded by FEMA and awarded by the state to fund projects that will prevent damage from future disasters like Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Nancy Helmick.

FROM: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANGEMENTAGENCY
FEMA Aid Registration Extended, Federal Support More than $9.8 Million in R.I.Release date:
January 11, 2013

WARWICK, R.I. – With total federal support to date for Hurricane Sandy damage in the The Ocean State now exceeding $9.8 million, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended the deadline for Rhode Islanders with losses from Sandy to register for assistance until February 13.

The following is a summary as of January 10, 2013, of federal support for individuals, families and public entities with losses from Hurricane Sandy:
590 households have registered with FEMA for some form of disaster assistance, including financial grants, loans and other disaster-related services.
$368,374 has been approved in grants to cover repairs to homes and rental assistance
$22,086 has been approved to help Rhode Islanders with other disaster-related needs such as lost personal property and loss of transportation.
71 applicants have requested aid from the Public Assistance Program. For these applicants FEMA has prepared 97 separate public assistance projects totaling $2,370,404, of which $347,793 has already been obligated to the state to reimburse local, county, and state government entities and
$631,400 in low interest, disaster recovery loans to homeowners has been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The National Flood Insurance Program estimates that approximately 1,000 claims have been filed related to Superstorm Sandy in Rhode Island and around $6.5 million has been paid out to survivors.
Rhode Islanders have until midnight February 13 to register online at www.DisasterAssistance.govHYPERLINK "http://www.disasterassistance.gov" or via smartphone at m.fema.gov. Individuals may also register by calling FEMA at 800-621-FEMA (3362) daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Multilingual recovery specialists are available. Those with a speech disability or hearing loss who use a TTY can call 800-462-7585 directly; or 800-621-3362 if using 711 or Video Relay service.

FEMA-state assistance may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, uninsured vehicle damage, lost or damaged personal property and many other costs incurred because of Hurricane Sandy. Even people who have insurance may qualify for FEMA aid to help with expenses their insurance does not cover, such as temporary housing during home repairs.

Low interest disaster loans are vital to full recovery for many who had storm damage. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides these loans, not just for small businesses, but also for homeowners, renters, businesses of any size and some private nonprofits to cover uncompensated real or personal property losses. The deadline to apply for an SBA loan is February 13.

SBA disaster loan information and application forms may be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for people with speech or hearing disabilities) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov or completed on-line at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/

Rhode Islanders who lost income because of Hurricane Sandy and are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits may be eligible for special disaster unemployment benefits. The deadline to apply is February 4, 2013. File a claim online at http://www.dlt.ri.gov/ui/.

Find tweets about Sandy recovery at www.twitter.com/femaregion1. For Rhode Island specific information go to http://www.fema.gov/disaster/4089. Other online resources include http://blog.fema.gov, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

FEMA’s temporary housing assistance and grants for medical and dental expenses, funeral and burial expenses do not require individuals to apply for an SBA loan. However, applicants who receive SBA loan applications must submit them to SBA loan officers to be eligible for assistance that covers personal property, vehicle repair or replacement, and moving and storage expenses.

West Wing Week: 01/11/13 or "The Interests of Our Country" | The White House

West Wing Week: 01/11/13 or "The Interests of Our Country" | The White House