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LOCATNATION
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
^ Saturday, December 15, 2018 7A
Health insurance open enrollment closes today
Associated Press
With just days left to enroll,
fewer people are signing up for
the Affordable Care Act, even
though premiums are stable,
more plans are available and
millions of uninsured people
can still get financial help.
Barring an enrollment
surge, the nation’s uninsured
rate could edge up again after
a yearslong coverage expan
sion that has seen about 20
million people obtain health
insurance.
A status report Wednesday
from the Centers for Medi
care and Medicaid Services
showed nearly 20 percent
fewer new people signed up
than at about the same time
last year. New sign-ups drive
the growth of the Healthcare,
gov marketplaces, helping
keep premiums in check.
The sign-up deadline in most
states is today, for coverage
beginning Jan. 1. A few states
that run their own health care
websites have later deadlines.
Trying to encourage
enrollment, former Presi
dent Barack Obama posted
a whimsical video on social
media Monday encouraging
young adults to sign up for his
signature program. That same
day, a crush of people tried to
enroll in what was the highest
traffic this open enrollment
season.
Disappointing sign-ups will
add to the long-running politi
cal blame game over health
care. Democrats accuse
the Trump administration
of “sabotage” on the health
law. Republicans counter
that pricey Obama-law pre
miums are too high for solid
middle-class people who don’t
qualify for taxpayer-financed
subsidies.
The Trump administra
tion said in a statement this
week “our primary goal is
to provide a seamless open
enrollment experience for
HealthCare.gov consum
ers and ensure that those
who want coverage offered
through the (program) can
enroll in a plan.” Health and
Human Services Secretary
Alex Azar also posted his own
straightforward video pitch
on Twitter.
The new numbers suggest
there may be less demand
for government-subsidized
insurance during a time of
strong economic growth. But
interviews with current and
former officials, consumer
organizations and indepen
dent experts also revealed
several factors that appear to
be cutting into enrollment.
The Trump administration
didn’t set sign-up targets for
the health overhaul, accord
ing to a report this summer
from the nonpartisan Govern
ment Accountability Office.
Such targets are a standard
management tool for govern
ment agencies.
“Marketing does matter,”
said Peter Lee, executive
director of Covered Califor
nia, a state-run insurance mar
ketplace. “Not doing active
promotion, millions of Ameri
cans are not going to find their
way to HealthCare.gov.”
The administration has
been using targeted emails
and social media messaging,
but that’s nowhere near the
effort expended in the Obama
years. Administration offi
cials say they are focused on
providing a smooth sign-up
experience for consumers
who want coverage.
The GOP-led Congress
repealed the fine for being
uninsured, effective this
Jan. 1. The tax penalty was
the most unpopular part of
Obama’s law.
“The really big change tak
ing effect for this open enroll
ment period is repeal of the
individual mandate penalty,
so that is very likely a major
factor,” said Larry Levitt of
the nonpartisan Kaiser Fam
ily Foundation.
The administration also
increased access to lower-
cost plans that provide less
coverage than the more com
prehensive insurance offered
under the overhaul.
Short-term health insur
ance plans don’t have to offer
basic benefits such as pre
scription drugs, and insurers
can turn down people with
medical conditions. But such
plans may appeal to healthy
people looking for a measure
of financial protection against
an unexpected illness.
Clerk accused of
stealing $36,000
from Hall County
Juvenile Court
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A former Hall County Juvenile Court clerk is
accused of stealing $36,000 from fines and fees
paid to the court, according to
authorities.
Court officials performed an
audit after Lorena Marceleno,
36, of Gainesville, resigned in
February.
“The investigation revealed
that Marceleno, who was in
charge of deposits and account
books, appropriated cash from
fines and fees for her own
use,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman
Derreck Booth wrote in a news release.
Authorities believe Marceleno took the
money between February 2016 and February
of this year. A warrant for theft by taking was
issued for Marceleno, who turned herself in
Thursday, Dec. 13.
The case is still under investigation.
Attorney Jeff Talley declined to comment on
the case.
Core provisions of
‘Obamacare’ ruled
unconstitutional
BY TOM K0R0SEC AND
KARTIKAY MEHR0TRA
Tribune News Service
DALLAS — The Affordable Care Act was gut
ted by a Texas federal judge in a ruling that casts
uncertainty on insurance coverage for millions of
U.S. residents.
The decision Friday finding core provisions of
“Obamacare” unconstitutional comes just before
the end of a six-week open enrollment period for
the program in 2019 and underscores a divide
between Republicans who have long sought to
invalidate the law and Democrats who fought to
keep it in place.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth
agreed with a coalition of Republican states led
by Texas that he had to eviscerate the Affordable
Care Act, the signature health care overhaul by
President Barack Obama, after Congress last year
zeroed out a key provision — the tax penalty for
not complying with the requirement to buy insur
ance. The decision is almost certain to be appealed
all the way to the Supreme Court.
Texas and an alliance of 19 states argued to the
judge that they have been harmed by an increase
in the number of people on state-supported insur
ance rolls. They claimed that when Congress
repealed the tax penalty last year, it eliminated the
U.S. Supreme Court’s rationale for finding the ACA
constitutional in 2012.
California and Democratic officials in 14 states,
along with the District of Columbia, won permis
sion to defend ACA in the Fort Worth case when the
Trump administration sided with the states seek
ing to dismantle it. They contended overturning
the law would throw millions off health insurance
rolls by reversing Medicaid expansion, ending tax
credits that help people and empowering insurers
to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Justice Department lawyers urged the judge to
strike down the individual mandate and provisions
requiring insurance companies to cover individu
als with pre-existing health conditions and charge
them the same premiums as healthy individuals.
They argued the judge should spare the rest of
the law, which includes Medicaid expansion, the
employer mandate, health exchanges, premium
subsidies and federal health care reimbursement
rates for hospitals.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Regulators OK merger of troubled utility
CHUCK BURTON I Associated Press
V.C. Summer Nuclear Station’s unit two’s turbine is under construction near Jenkinsville,
S.C., Sept. 21,2016, during a media tour of the facility.
BY MEG KINNARD
AND JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press
COLUMBIA — A power company’s
$15 billion deal to purchase a troubled
South Carolina-based utility after a
costly nuclear construction failure won
approval Friday from state regulators.
Following more than an hour of com
ment and debate, South Carolina’s Public
Service Commission approved Virginia-
based Dominion Energy’s offer of cash
and stock to buy SCANA Corp., the parent
company of South Carolina Electric &
Gas. The deal approved by commission
ers would cut customer rates by about $22
a month — a smaller reduction than con
sumer advocates had requested.
Friday’s vote marked a pivotal point in
the unraveling of South Carolina’s nuclear
debacle, which started in the summer of
2017 when privately-owned SCANA and
its minority partner, state-owned Santee
Cooper, abandoned the reactors they had
spent a decade planning and building at
the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.
The main contractor, Westinghouse,
went bankrupt as it failed to make good
on its promises of cheaper, easier con
struction methods. Projections of soaring
electricity demand never materialized,
thanks to energy efficiency and the
advent of cheap natural gas.
About 737,000 SCE&G ratepayers have
already paid more than $2 billion toward
the project, which never produced any
electricity. Thousands of project work
ers lost their jobs. The disaster spawned
myriad lawsuits, as well as state and fed
eral investigations. On Friday, commis
sioners defeated an amendment that said
SCE&G had lied to them about the project
in order to get rate increases.
For most of the past 18 months, South
Carolina political leaders told SCE&G and
Dominion they weren’t doing enough to
ease the ratepayers’ burden. But Attorney
General Alan Wilson and House Speaker
Jay Lucas ultimately backed Dominion’s
latest offer, which the state’s own con
sumer advocate and environmental and
consumer groups said fell short.
In a release after Friday’s vote, Gov.
Henry McMaster said that he felt state
regulators had done their best to resolve
a mess.
“Since we learned of SCANA and San
tee Cooper’s decision to abandon the VC
Summer Project, my goal has been to
ensure that the customers bear no burden
for the failings of others,” McMaster said.
“The Public Service Commission - which
I am confident has vigorously sought to
make the best of a bad situation - has con
ducted a transparent, open process and
has carefully deliberated the positions of
ratepayers, the power companies, and the
court.”
During legislative debate about the
debacle, McMaster said repeatedly he
didn’t think ratepayers should have to
shoulder any of the project’s burden going
forward. Legislators ultimately overrode
his veto of a measure that removed all
but $5 of the monthly surcharge to pay
toward the defunct endeavor.
McMaster and some lawmakers want
to sell Santee Cooper, which has $8 billion
in debt, much of it from the failed reactor
project. A legislative committee has set
a mid-January deadline for any offers,
emphasizing they have not made a defini
tive decision on whether to sell.
Dominion’s latest offer gets rid of the
$1,000 rebate checks to SCE&G custom
ers that dominated much of the merger
discussion in 2018. Instead, Dominion
proposed keeping SCE&G rates at the
same level set by legislators who passed a
temporary 15 percent rate cut earlier this
year that knocks about $22 off the typical
monthly bill.
In 20 years, SCE&G customers would
add $2.3 billion to the $2 billion they
already paid for the mothballed project.
Most of the consumer advocacy groups
had pushed for more. Watchdogs in the
state’s Office of Regulatory Staff wanted
about a 20 percent rate cut, removing
closer to $30 from monthly bills, and elim
inating most of the extra charges for the
reactors. Consumers and environmental
groups wanted a bigger cut.
OBITUARIES
Sarah Foster Anderson
Aug. 18, 1941
-Dec. 13, 2018
Sarah Foster Anderson,
age 77, of Cornelia, Geor
gia, went to her Heavenly
Home on Thursday, Dec. 13,
2018, following an extended
illness.
Mrs. Anderson was born
on Aug. 18, 1941, in Gaines
ville, Georgia. She was
preceded in death by her
father, Gene Foster; mother,
Charlsey “Bubba” Ander
son; husband, Jack Ander
son; son, Harry Wiggins;
daughter, Merry Wiggins;
and brother, Ronnie Foster.
Mrs. Anderson retired as
Vice President of Sales with
Aflac. She was a member of
Baldwin Baptist Church.
Survivors include her
daughter and son-in-law,
Melissa “Missy” Wiggins
Robinson and John of Lees
burg, VA; son and daughter-
in-law, Andrew “Drew”
Anderson and Amanda of
Clarkesville; sister-in-law,
Peggy Anderson Nestler of
Gainesville; brothers, Gene
Foster of Auburn and John
L. Foster of Gainesville;
grandchildren: Amy Cham
bers, John-Scott Wiggins,
Harrison Wiggins, Trevor
Wiggins, Andy Anderson,
Cameron Robinson, and
Lauren Robinson; and three
great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are
scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sun
day, Dec. 16, 2018, at Whit
field Funeral Home, North
Chapel, Demorest, Georgia,
with Rev. Daniel Parker
officiating. Interment will
follow in Yonah Memorial
Gardens.
The family will receive
friends from 1 p.m. until the
service hour on Sunday at
the funeral home.
Those wishing to express
online condolences to the
family may do so by visit
ing www.whitfieldfuneral-
homes.com.
Whitfield Funeral Homes
& Crematory, Demorest
Sign the online guest book
at gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 15, 2018
DEATH
NOTICES
Mary Louise Beard
Aug. 11, 1942
-Dec. 14, 2018
Mary Louise Beard, 76,
of Dahlonega died Friday.
Funeral service, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 16, funeral
home chapel. Anderson-
Underwood Funeral Home,
Dahlonega.
Betty Borders
Died Dec. 9, 2018
Betty Borders, 82, of
Commerce died Sunday.
Memorial service, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15, Mt. Pleas
ant CME Church. Wimberly
Funeral Home, Gainesville.
Runette Cash Cantrell
Died Dec. 14, 2018
Runette Cash Cantrell,
78, of Hoschton died Fri
day. Funeral service, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15, funeral
home chapel. Evans Funeral
Home, Jefferson.
Dianne Turner Green
Died Dec. 13, 2018
Dianne Turner Green,
69, of Norcross died Thurs
day. Funeral service, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15, funeral
home chapel. Ingram
Funeral Home & Crematory,
Cumming.
George W. Osborn
Died Dec. 14, 2018
George W. Osborn, 90, of
Homer died Friday. Whit
field Funeral Home & Cre
matory, Baldwin,
Elise Bagwell Webb
Died Dec. 14, 2018
Elise Bagwell Webb, 90, of
Cornelia died Friday. Whit
field Funeral Home & Cre
matory, Baldwin,
Ricky Lee Wike Jr.
Died Dec. 14, 2018
Ricky Lee “Rick” Wike
Jr., 44, of Buford died Fri
day. Hamilton Mill Memo
rial Chapel, Buford.
Earl Denson Worsham
Died Dec. 13, 2018
Earl Denson Worsham,
95, of Buford died Thursday.
Flangian Funeral Home and
Crematory, Buford.
Obituary
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For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears
are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is
against those who do evil. - 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)
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