News For You

 Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - The U.S. military's health insurance program has been swindled out of more than $100 million over the past decade in the Philippines, where doctors, hospitals and clinics have conspired with American veterans to submit bogus claims, according to prosecutors and court records.
Seventeen people have been convicted so far -- including at least a dozen U.S. military retirees -- in a little-noticed investigation that has been handled by federal prosecutors out of Wisconsin because a Madison company holds the contract to process many of the claims. It has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

U.P.I.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 23 (UPI) -- A South Florida man has been acquitted of harassing a former girlfriend by distributing fliers that said she had given him herpes.
A jury found Hance Adams not guilty of all charges Tuesday, including criminal libel, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday. He was also charged with child abuse because fliers were left at the school attended by the woman's son.

USAToday

The Government Accountability Office estimates that more than 60,000 federal contractors owe $7.7 billion in back taxes. An additional $1 billion is owed by health care providers who receive Medicare funds, the GAO says. An undetermined amount of farm subsidies, small-business loans and other benefits flow to companies that owe taxes. These taxes are part of about $300 billion in taxes that go unpaid every year, the Internal Revenue Service estimates.

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Southeast Paying More For Water

  Now that the Southeast United States is coming out of a drought, those who control the water supply are loosening water restrictions, which is a good thing. But, it would seem that the water companies aren't happy with just making a little more money now that the supply is up, they are getting greedy and charging more for the water that they couldn't dish out back during the drought.

USAToday

Among the price hikes:

•Atlanta's water utility, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in bond debt for a $3.9 billion update of its sewer and water systems, is seeking a 15% rate increase to offset conservation losses; other water utilities in metropolitan Atlanta are likely to follow suit if usage stays low.

"We're estimating a $33 million-a-year loss because of the drop in revenue from people conserving," says Janet Ward, spokeswoman for Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management. "That's the Catch-22 that we're in. People conserve, and you're so proud of them. Then you say, 'But wait, you're going to get hit with a bigger bill for conserving.' "

•In Charlotte, where people have reduced their water usage by up to 40% since last year, water bills are going up about 15% beginning next month — about $6 a month for the average customer. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg utilities department, facing a $20 million shortfall because of conservation, will drop the increase to 14% in July and might drop it further as water usage rises. "It's tough for the average customer to understand," says Maeneen Klein, water conservation manager for the utility. "Do what we ask you to do, and it's going to cause your bill to go up."

•In Palm Beach County, Fla., water customers are seeing a drought surcharge on their bills: an additional $3.50 on an average $23.80 bill. The Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department, which serves about 500,000 people, is facing an estimated $13 million deficit, spokesman Robert Nelton says.

  The article goes on to state that consumers in the Southeast haven't been paying the true cost of water, that's according to Robin Craig, who happens to be a water expert at the Florida State University's college of Law. If you are going to get charged more for helping to conserve one of our natural resources, tell them where to go the next time around. those bond issues and crap should not be the consumers problem.

Technorati Tags: water,conservation,drought,Southeast