District of Columbia
States allowed to alter Medicaid, with limits
WASHINGTON - Cash-strapped states can make some Medicaid cuts, but not deep ones, the Obama administration said Friday.
The Health and Human Services Department said states can raise premiums and drop a limited number of low-income adults from the rolls.
The changes stop well short of demands by Republican governors to scale back Medicaid enrollment to help balance their budgets. The new health-care overhaul generally requires states to keep current eligibility rules.
The administration now says states can raise premiums to reflect inflation, which might discourage some people from signing up. And states can drop coverage for adults making over $14,484, but not if those beneficiaries are pregnant or disabled. Only a small number of states now provide that coverage.
People are also reading…
Texas
Day-care operator away when fire hit, state told
HOUSTON - A state agency was investigating Friday whether a woman left seven preschoolers alone in her home day-care center before a fire broke out, killing three of the youngsters and injuring the others.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which licenses day-care centers, is investigating other possible violations as well, including whether the number of children in the home exceeded the state limit, spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. State regulations allow no more than six children under preschool age - generally considered 5 years or younger - to be cared for in any 24-hour period in registered child-care homes, Carter said.
Geoffrey Deshano, 18, who lives near the home, said he and a friend saw its operator, Jessica Tata, 22, arrive at her one-story home in a minivan Thursday and then run out, screaming for help, about 10 to 20 minutes later. Deshano and John Chestnut said they were standing outside and did not see Tata take any children from the vehicle before going inside the house.
Kentucky
4 Amish children killed as creek overturns buggy
MAYFIELD - Four Amish children were swept away and died when the horse-drawn buggy they were in overturned in a creek swollen by heavy rains.
A married couple along with seven children were trying to cross the creek Thursday night on a roadway in southwestern Kentucky when the buggy overturned, knocking them into the water, Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon told The Associated Press. The couple and three of the children escaped but four other children under age 12 were swept away.
New York
Homeless man reunited with daughter via tweet
NEW YORK - A homeless man has been reunited with his daughter after 11 years - thanks to Twitter.
Daniel Morales, 58, was given a prepaid cell phone to create a Twitter account as part of a project on homeless people called Underheard in New York. He decided to use the social-networking tool to find his 27-year-old daughter, Sarah Rivera.
The New York Daily News said he posted his cell phone number, her name and a photo of her at age 16 on Wednesday. She called him the next day. On Friday, their reunion was recorded on WCBS-TV.
Morales said he was overjoyed. Rivera said social networking was amazing. Morales lives at a homeless shelter. His daughter lives in Brooklyn.
Wire reports
