Soldier in war on poverty says fight is not over

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson came to the front lines of his war on poverty: the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. His trip showed America a disturbing vision of itself: people living in shacks with no electricity.

Growing up in these mountains was a little girl named Eula Hall.

 "We didn’t have indoor plumbing, we didn’t have running water," she says. "There was no health care for the people who didn’t have any insurance or money."
Eula says "people died because they didn’t get the proper health care."

With the closest doctor 50 miles away on unpaved roads, something as benign as an infected cut from a rusty nail could prove fatal.

Hall's education ended in the eighth grade and she began working with community organizers who taught her how to fight to get things done. She eventually became the driving force in changing her corner of Appalachia.

Deep divides split Washington over how to combat poverty

Politicians took notice, and Sen. Ted Kennedy paid a visit.

"I was so happy I got to tour and talk to him," Hall says.

Ninety percent of the wells in Floyd County were contaminated with bacteria. In the late 1960s, she got federal funds to have clean water piped in from the closest water treatment plant.

Using federal grants and private donations, Hall also built the first and only medical clinic in the county. What began as a shack in 1973 is now a modern facility with its own doctors, X-rays and pharmacy, serving over 7,000 patients a year.
"I love this place because I know when they open that door and they walk in, they're going to be treated with respect, and they're going to be treated with the best we've got to offer," says Hall, whose fight is documented in a new biography, "Mud Creek Medicine."

Asked if she believes the U.S. has won the war on poverty, she replies, "I think we won a lot of battles in the war on poverty. I won't say we won all, but I think we've done great with what we could do."

As long as she has a cane to walk with, the 86-year-old soldier says she will never stop fighting.

RNC targets Democrats over Obama insurance pledge

There's no let-up in the new year in the GOP push to attack Democrats over Obamacare during the midterm elections.

Case in point: New radio ads announced Tuesday morning by the Republican National Committee that attack 12 Democratic senators and representatives, many of whom are in competitive races this November. The ads focus on President Barack Obama's broken pledge that people who liked their health insurance plans could keep them under the Affordable Care Act.

The RNC says their radio spots will target Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Udall of Colorado, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Mark Warner. Also in the party committee crosshairs are Reps. Bruce Braley of Iowa and Gary Peters of Michigan, who are both running for the Senate this year, and Reps. Tim Bishop of New York and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.

"So what's your New Year's resolution? Here's one you can keep. Resolve to keep [Senator/Representative] honest in 2014," says the announcer in the ad. "President Obama and [Senator/Representative] said if you like your insurance plan you can keep it under ObamaCare. They lied to you. Big time. PolitiFact called that the 'lie of the year'."

The ads are expected run Tuesday and Wednesday and the party committee says the spots will air in English, as well as in Spanish in Colorado and Virginia, Vietnamese in Louisiana and Korean in Virginia. The RNC did not disclose the buy behind the new commercials.

Republicans have vowed to make the flawed startup of the health care law, as well as the President's faulty pledge about keeping insurance plans, front and center as they try to win back control of the Senate and keep control of the House in the 2014 midterm elections.

The move by the RNC follows a multi-million dollar ad campaign by Americans for Prosperity targeting Hagan, Landrieu, and Shaheen, as well as some House Democrats, over the same pledge. AFP is a conservative group backed by the deep pockets of the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers.

Responding to the RNC spots, Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Michael Czin told CNN that "Today, more Americans have better, more affordable health care than before thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The GOP shut down the government trying to take it all away. The American people have a clear choice – and that’s a debate we’re eager to have."

Former Bryan Chiropractic Clinic Owner Convicted in $3 Million Auto Insurance Fraud Conspiracy

HOUSTON—The former owner of Private Chiropractic Care in Bryan has entered a plea of guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud various automobile insurance companies of more than $3 million, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Brittany Jessie, 24, admitted she participated in a three-year conspiracy to defraud numerous auto insurance companies by creating fraudulent chiropractic bills for chiropractic treatments which were never performed and used as support for fraudulent settlement demand letters sent to auto insurance companies.
During her plea, Jessie admitted that she, Marion Young, 52, and Chase Lindsey, 35, and others engaged in a conspiracy to defraud auto insurance companies. Jessie worked both at Sanjoh and Associates Law Firm in Bryan and as a tech at the chiropractic clinics run by Young, Lindsey, and others. Lindsey is a chiropractor licensed to practice in the state of Texas.
Jessie sometimes cashed checks and took the cash to Lindsey for payment. Lindsey routinely prescribed medically unnecessary treatment which was provided, if at all, by unlicensed, untrained, and unqualified individuals, including Jessie. Lindsey always prescribed the same six treatments, but the patients usually received only two: ice/heat packs and electric stimulation. Lindsey prescribed the treatments be done three to work times per week for five to six weeks, but the patients usually went once a week for three to four weeks, and many did not even go back for treatment after one or two visits.
Jessie was instructed on which treatments to mark down in order for the billing to be approved and to alternate treatments on the billing so it did not look suspicious. At one point, Jessie provided a set of treatment guidelines to an employee at Private Chiropractic Care to follow which were needed for the billing of patients. Jessie instructed that employee to mark down patient treatments, even if the treatments were not done, because it was necessary for billing. Jessie further instructed the employee to have the patients initial off next to the fraudulent treatments as if they received them.
Jessie also fraudulently marked down treatments and the patient’s pain levels on treatment forms at the Sanjoh & Associates office when the patient had not received the treatment. She also prepared the false chiropractic billing statements at Sanjoh & Associates. Although most of the treatments billed were never performed, Jessie created false and fraudulent chiropractic bills under Lindsey’s name for each of the four clinics in the scheme—Texas Avenue Chiropractic Clinic, H & E Chiropractic, Private Chiropractic Care, and Lindsey Chiropractic Care.
Despite changing the name and location of the chiropractic clinic four times, the fraud scheme remained the same. Jessie knew the fraudulent bills she created were used as support for settlement demand letters sent to auto insurance companies. The fraudulent demand letters caused the insurance companies to issue settlement checks and place those checks into the U.S. mail to be delivered to Sanjoh & Associates.
Jessie acknowledged the scheme to defraud the automobile insurance companies resulted in the submission of more than $3 million in false billing claims. The insurance companies paid at least $940,000 in false claims during 2007-2009, during which time Jessie was paid at least $22,637.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, who accepted the guilty plea, has set sentencing for December 2, 2013, at which time she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible $250,000 fine. As part of her plea agreement, Jessie has also agreed to pay restitution of approximately $941,000 to the insurance companies victimized by the scheme. She was permitted to remain on bond pending her sentencing.
Lindsey and Young both previously pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in early 2014. The remaining two defendants charged in the case are scheduled for trial on September 24, 2013. They are presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.
The criminal charges are the result of a joint investigation by agents of the FBI and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Al Balboni and Special Assistant United States Attorney Adrienne Frazior.