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Late payments to ambulance firms troubling

It is hard to fathom any acceptable excuse for the state’s prolonged delay regarding Medicaid-related payments to eligible ambulance services operating in the commonwealth. Act 15 of 2023, which increased reimbursement for transporting Medicaid patients, took effect Jan. 1 of this year. This is September, and as of late last month, many ambulance services across the commonwealth still were waiting for release of the additional money authorized by the 2023 legislative measure. One of the ambulance units in question is Altoona’s AMED, which, as of late last month, was due $200,000 ...

IRS errors have impact on businesses

COVID-19 was a nightmare for the Internal Revenue Service, and the IRS still is experiencing plenty of “hauntings” from the pandemic. It will be interesting to follow how the federal agency finally exits the continuing “horror show” affecting businesses. One thing is certain: It is not going to be an easy pathway. According to an Aug. 5 Wall Street Journal article published under the byline of the writer Richard Rubin, the federal tax agency erred in rejecting numerous COVID-era claims, tax advisers allege. The tax advisers in question allege that in the IRS’ first big ...

Problem sites won’t simply disappear

Current and future City of Altoona elected and appointed officials should heed the lesson emanating from the longtime problem property on 21st Avenue at 14th Street. That lesson is to address that which is rundown before it becomes too expensive and difficult to repair, necessitating demolition. Had the city acted much sooner to try to address the house in question’s worsening condition, it might have ended up being cost-effective to bring the property back to life without demolition being a viable option. For a long time, it was no secret that the property had become a significant ...

Back to school not so easy for students

Young people’s return to their classrooms each fall usually is a routine, uneventful exercise, even for young men and women transitioning from high school to a college environment. They’ve gone through the proverbial ritual of clothes-buying over the latter part of the summer, as well as having stocked up on pens and pencils, notebooks and other such necessities, not to mention the electronics — devices such as computers, printers and cellphones. Even for those students who would much prefer additional freedom from classes, tests and homework, the final summer-vacation days ...

Emergency preparedness a topic for all

By itself, the Aug. 6 Mirror article about agencies working on emergency preparedness for the disabled should have been enough to bolster interest regarding the importance of the topic. But the arrival of Hurricane Debby — actually the remnants of the original weather event in the southeastern sector of the United States — further reinforced the magnitude of that important preparedness issue. Adequate special preparations are indispensable for responding quickly and correctly to emergencies, especially when the lives of disabled individuals could be at risk. Meanwhile, it is ...

Hospitals now excel at saving tiny infants

There has been no shortage of political dialogue about the abortion issue, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court negated Roe v. Wade in 2022. Unfortunately, though, there has not been enough discussion about what an Aug. 9 Wall Street Journal headline described as “A life-or-death divide for very premature babies.” Every woman and many men should be interested in what that all is about. The Journal article in question reported that doctors now are capable of saving the lives of babies born at 22 weeks and, in rare cases, a week earlier, thanks to improved techniques “to help ...