Starting in July, a special high-risk pool will offer coverage to uninsured people with pre-existing health conditions at a cost similar to what everyone else pays. Its the first test of whether the administration can deliver on Obamas vision within the budget Congress set.
But some vulnerable patients are probably going to feel a little cheated. Consider this coverage wrinkle:
Suppose your cancer is in remission. You had to quit your job while you were having chemotherapy, and your employer coverage ran out. You cant find a private insurer wholl take you, but youre lucky to live in a state that has - - - - >

Toyota said Tuesday it had asked dealers to temporarily suspend sales of the SUV while it conducts its own tests on the GX 460. About 6,000 GX 460s from the 2010 model year have been sold since the vehicle went on sale in late December, and an estimated 1,600 of the SUVs are at dealerships.
The carmaker issued the temporary “stop sale” within hours after the popular consumer magazine raised the handling problem. It reflects Toyotas attempt to respond more quickly to safety concerns after being castigated by the federal government for dragging its feet on recalls to address faulty gas - - - - >

China is forecast to grow by 9.6 percent, after last years 8.7 percent expansion almost singlehandedly lifted the regions overall growth to 5.9 percent, offsetting weakness elsewhere. Another powerhouse, India, is projected to see growth rise to 8.2 percent from last years 7.2 percent.
Five Southeast Asian economies that contracted last year - Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Brunei - also are set to return to growth, together with Hong Kong, Mongolia and Taiwan, the bank said in its economic outlook.
In 2011, GDP growth across the region is seen easing back to 7.3 percent.
Investment is expected to remain strong and private - - - - >

The combined company, which will have a market capitalization of about $3.1 billion, will be called GenOn Energy. It will bring together roughly 24,650 megawatts of electric generating capacity, operations from coast to coast and have total revenue of $4.13 billion, based on full-year 2009 figures.
GenOn will be led by Mirant Chairman and CEO Edward R. Muller until 2013, when he will retire and the top post will be taken by Mark M. Jacobs, RRI Energys current president and CEO. Jacobs will serve as GenOns president, chief operating officer and a director until that time.
There likely will be job cuts - - - - >

A record number of strawberries for this time of the year were picked in the U.S. last week - 80 million pounds, said Gloria Chillon, director of marketing for Driscolls, a major berry producer and distributor based in Watsonville, Calif.
At Publix supermarkets on Floridas Gulf Coast, shoppers can buy a pound of locally grown strawberries for $1.25. Prices elsewhere were a bit higher: Sams Club in Fort Worth, Texas, had a pound for $1.49, while Meijer in Ann Arbor, Mich., offered a pound for $1.66.
Shoppers can thank the freezing weather and rain at the beginning of the year.
Florida is the - - - - >

Many water utilities are raising rates because water use is down, in part because manufacturers have closed or are cutting back, tourism has fallen and the real estate market is in the doldrums.
Water sales for the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport & Wells Water District in southern Maine fell 11 percent last year, to 1995 levels. The No. 1 reason is the sour economy, said superintendent Norm Labbe.
One of the utilitys largest customers, a catalog printer, shut its doors last year, putting 374 people out of work. Tourism also has been down - meaning fewer tourists are taking showers and flushing toilets in - - - - >

Obamas plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nations shores. Hinted at for months, the plan modifies a ban that for more than 20 years has limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs - both politically popular ideas - but the presidents decisions also could help secure support for a climate - - - - >

The Treasury Department said Monday it will begin selling its stake in Citigroup Inc. at a potential profit of about $7.5 billion - not a bad haul for an 18-month investment.
The move is a major step in the governments effort to unravel investments it made in banks under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program at the height of the financial crisis.
Yet a year and a half after Congress passed the big bailout, other parts of it - particularly troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler and insurer American International Group - show no signs of being profitable.
Despite the returns from - - - - >

Lentil and other legume farmers hope to capitalize on this interest and convince consumers and food producers to use them in breads and cookies as well as the more traditional soups and stews. To do this, theyve formed a new marketing venture aimed at promoting the health and other benefits of lentils, dry peas, garbanzo beans and other so-called “pulse” crops.
“Theyre barking up the right tree,” said Brad Barnes, associate dean of culinary education at The Culinary Institute of America.
Growing interest in Indian and other international cuisines, along with greater awareness of intolerance to gluten, a protein found in many - - - - >

Moroccos official MAP news agency said that Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyans glider went down in the lake Friday. The pilot of the aircraft was rescued in good condition, but authorities continued the search for Al Nahyan.
Al Nahyan is the managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He is also the younger brother of Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the leader of the United Arab Emirates.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority could not be immediately reached for comment.
The glider went down near the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah Dam, which forms the lake. It - - - - >