Lawyer Withdraws $7.5 Million Dollar Lottery Claim

Comment

January 28th, 2012

A New York attorney’s decision to withdraw his claim on a multimillion dollar Iowa Lottery prize doesn’t put to rest officials’ questions about how he obtained the ticket.

Crawford Shaw, of Bedford, N.Y., withdrew his claim Thursday on a multimillion dollar Iowa Lottery prize just as mysteriously as he has made it, saying through a Des Moines law firm that he couldn’t satisfy lottery officials’ request for basic information about how he obtained the winning ticket. The lottery has asked the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa attorney general to investigate. Officials say Shaw submitted the ticket for redemption on behalf of a trust on Dec. 29, less than two hours before it expired, and has identified the recipient only as a corporation in the country of Belize. The lottery wants to know how Shaw obtained the ticket to make sure it wasn’t stolen and that a valid player bought it.

13 Months

It has been 13 months since the winning ticket was purchased at a Des Moines gas station in December 2010. The payout for the prize would have been $7.5 million cash, or $10.3 million spread over 25 years after taxes. Iowa lottery officials had given Shaw until Friday to provide the identities and contact information of anyone who purchased or possessed the ticket. Instead of claiming the prize in person, as is normally done, Shaw signed the ticket on behalf of the trust and shipped it by FedEx to a Des Moines law firm he had retained. Shaw, 76, sent a fax to the law firm Thursday saying he doesn’t know the identity of the purchaser. The firm relayed the information to lottery officials.

Fax

"In order that the claim be resolved without further controversy, Crawford Shaw, as Trustee for and on behalf of the Trust, does hereby withdraw the Claim and does hereby agree to take no further action to enforce the Claim," the fax signed by Shaw reads. Shaw signed the ticket on behalf of Bedford, N.Y.-based Hexham Investments Trust, though lottery officials have said he misspelled the name of the trust by leaving off the second "h." Shaw claimed not to be a beneficiary of the trust.

Strange situation

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said Thursday that it’s the strangest situation officials can recall in the 26-year history of the lottery. He declined to speculate on the details of the claim, saying if he knew more than what’s been released, lottery officials would probably be writing a check to a winner. Iowa law also prohibits employees and contractors of the lottery, their relatives and anyone younger than 21 from playing.

Jackpot

Shaw said Wednesday through the Des Moines-based Davis Brown Law Firm that if the jackpot were paid, the money would be donated to charity. He declined to comment further Thursday. Records show Shaw played at least a minor role in the collapse of Industrial Enterprises of America, a chemical company that was looted and bankrupted in 2009 by a stock manipulation scheme. Shaw helped found the company after taking control of a Houston-based shell corporation, serving as its CEO from 2004 to 2005.

Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Loans, Lottery, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

The Amazing Apple

Comment

January 25th, 2012

Apple sold 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in its first quarter, ended Dec. 31.

Apple is truly an amazing story of our own times. A man, Steve Jobs, had a vision. So what, you say, we all have visions. But Steve Jobs had something that few of us have, the sheer tenacity, dedication and will to make his vision happen. He saw a new kind of communication device, a device that would put you in communication with the entire planet or that would enable you to talk to your kids while you were communicating with the rest of the world.

The first quarter’s results

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPod sales more than doubled from a year ago, far surpassing analyst expectations. "We would attribute it to just a breathtaking customer reception of the iPhone 4S," said Apple CEO Tim Cook on a conference call. Apple’s first-quarter profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion, from $6 billion a year ago. Sales surged 73% to $46.3 billion from $26.7 billion for the same period. The results blew past Wall Street expectations for the company. Apple shares jumped almost 8% in after-hours trading, to $453.16. As to the good old Mac computer, Apple’s Mac sales didn’t disappoint. The computer maker sold 5.2 million Macs in the quarter compared with 4.1 million a year ago. Apple projected $32.5 billion in revenue for its second quarter, slightly ahead of Thomson Reuters’ forecast.

The ‘I want’ gadget for all ages

I am a senior, well in my ‘golden years’. I use a computer with old software, because it suits me and I know where to find everything after years and years of use. I tried a new computer and couldn’t cope with the advances. One day about a year ago I saw someone in a coffee shop using something I had never seen before. “It’s the latest thing,” he explained patiently. “It’s called an iPad.” I sat and watched him surfing around the world, looking at new headlines in far-off countries and watching his stocks on stock exchange sites in real time. I knew in an instant that this was not for me. I was wrong. It didn’t take more than 6 months for me to walk into a store and buy one. Today I don’t know how I managed without it. I am eyeing an iPhone as well, after years of swearing that my first generation steam-operated cell phone is all I need. If my 5 year old grandson can handle one why can’t I? That’s what Steve Jobs did for the world he lived in and for future worlds, he made devices for everyone

Apple is No. 1

It was reported Tuesday that Apple became the No. 1 semiconductor customer in 2011. Demand for Apple’s iPads and iPhones boosted its use of chips 34% from a year ago, catapulting it over Samsung and Hewlett-Packard, according to the researcher. Verizon (VZ) reported on Tuesday that the company activated 4.3 million iPhones in its fourth quarter.

Tags: Apple, iPad, iPhone, Steve Jobs
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Finance, Personal / Internet, Technology | No Comments »

They Get You by the Teeth

Comment

January 22nd, 2012

Lack of dental coverage sends patients running to ER for pain relief

While government-managed health care programs such as Medicaid pay for emergency room visits for adults seeking temporary relief from toothaches and other dental emergencies, coverage of outpatient dentist office treatment for those problems varies from state to state, according to a 2011 federal Medicaid report. Federally mandated preventive and other dental care usually ends when Medicaid recipients enter early adulthood. That leaves states to determine whether they will provide dental benefits to adult Medicaid patients and if so, what type and how much.

No Medicaid

The report shows that 10 states offer no Medicaid dental benefits to adults. The remaining states offer a jumble of services that leave many adults with inadequate and limited access to dental care. In addition, Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental care or most dental procedures such as cleanings, fillings, tooth extractions or dentures, Medicare spokeswoman Ellen Griffith said. As a result, many adult government health care program enrollees and uninsured Americans are turning to emergency care providers nationwide to manage the pain from dental problems. Unlike dentists or oral surgeons, ER doctors and other health care providers can’t pull a tooth or treat other dental problems.

The ER

One dentist estimates as many as 40% of the patients she sees needing an extraction had previously sought care in an ER. Those ER visits translate into higher costs for taxpayers as many patients return to the ER two or more times per dental problem to manage symptoms, according to the ADA. And, while the Affordable Care Act addresses dental care for children on Medicaid, the requirement doesn’t exist for adults, ADA spokesman Robert Raible said. "This funnels everyone to the ER, which is the most expensive place to get health care," said Sorkey.

Dental emergencies

Between 1.3% and 2.7% of all ER visits nationwide that don’t result in a hospital admission are dental emergencies, the HRSA report says. A 2011 South Carolina Dental Association study estimated a single ER visit for toothache pain resulted in a Medicaid reimbursement of $236. The report found a dentist’s office visit, which would include extraction of an infected tooth, would be about $107. "The key thing is the problem is not solved when they go to the emergency room," said Phil Latham, the Association’s executive director. "If they can go to a dental office, the problem is solved for half of the reimbursement."

The ADA

To better evaluate the impact of using the ER for relief of dental emergencies nationwide, the ADA is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to devise a methodology to get "broader and deeper numbers and look at key indicators for solutions," ADA President William Calnon said. Louisiana Medicaid Medical Director Rodney Wise said the state’s decision not to cover dental expenses for most Medicaid patients 21 and older is about money. South Carolina and Washington State cut adult Medicaid dental benefits last year, and other states, such as California, have reduced benefits in recent years in an effort meet budget cuts, according to state and federal reports.

Tags: Dental treatment, Medicaid, Tooth extractions
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Finance, Health Insurance, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »