#Insurance Back-office Management Services

[cleo-fox]

Unraveled

Summary: It was all fun and games until Loki started wearing that goddamn sweater.

Pairing: Loki x Female Reader

Warnings: Smut, 18+, Minors DNI, dirty talk, praise kink, teasing, orgasm delay, sex, vaginal fingering, godly refractory periods, kitchen sex, semi public sex, Loki in a sweater.

A/N: My explanation for this one is that I saw too many pictures of Tom Hiddleston in a sweater and it gave me thoughts.

Being an Avenger has made you pretty good at rolling with the punches. After your third or fourth encounter with some alien/wizard/android bullshit, your perspective is fundamentally altered and real life seems manageable in a way that it didn’t before. You have to call your insurance company to dispute a claim? Big deal, you’ve negotiated with terrorists; you can handle Garth from Member Services.

The thing is, having that kind of perspective means that the things that do get to you can rattle you a lot more than they should. Natasha had warned you about that, but you were riding high on the thrill of successfully conquering Blue Cross Blue Shield and you kind of got to thinking she was exaggerating.

And then the seasons started to turn and Loki started wearing that goddamn sweater.

You can recognize when someone is out of your league. When you first moved into the Tower, it had been relatively easy for you to assign Loki to that category: he was a god. He’d been featured in last month’s GQ. You were mortal and your most recent press had been a TMZ story featuring unflattering paparazzi photos of you leaving a bodega in your pajamas at seven o’clock in the morning, a bagel halfway into your mouth. You were clearly not the same.

Up until the sweater, you’d managed to keep your cool around Loki and keep your attraction confined to daydreams and the occasional surreptitious lustful glance. Hell, you’d even had the nerve to be proud of yourself for keeping your shit together in front of him.

The sweater lays waste to all of that.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like a sweater that is capable of completely destroying your carefully constructed composure. It’s a fairly standard crew neck in a deep green so dark it almost looks black at a first glance. But on Loki it just…does things to you. The fabric is well fitted, clinging to his biceps, pulling taut across his chest, emphasizing the line of his pectorals. It somehow accentuates how muscular he is while also still making him look lean and lithe.

The first time he wears it, you find your eyes just trail to him of their own volition, like an incredibly horny moth to the flame. It’s a day of catching yourself staring, panicking, pretending that you were actually looking at something else, and then repeating the process five minutes later when your gaze inevitably wandered again. It almost would have been funny if it didn’t put your blood pressure into the stratosphere.

To make matters worse, at the end of that day’s debriefing, he rises from his chair and raises his arms to the ceiling in a long stretch. The hem of the sweater creeps up, exposing the firm, flat muscles of his stomach, lightly dusted with a trail of hair that meanders in a tantalizing path down to his belt buckle.

You promptly choke on your own spit. Clint claps you hard on the back and asks if you’re okay, which is a question you don’t know how to answer (ultimately, you stick to a thumbs up and mumble something about dust getting caught in your throat). Loki is too preoccupied complaining about the entire concept of office furniture to notice. Or at least you’re pretty sure he doesn’t notice.

You might have been okay if that had been the only incident, but the sweater makes a repeat appearance on Friday. The following Tuesday features the deadly combination of the sweater with a pair of tight, dark wash jeans that nearly send you into cardiac arrest. Your fantasies suddenly become much more frequent and detailed.

You are not really sure what to do about this—it’s not like you can talk to anyone about it, nor can you ask him to stop wearing it without prompting some very uncomfortable questions. The idea that you’ll get used to it is laughable. 

You look at your calendar and note that spring is six months away. At least.

Fucking hell.

*

It’s a Saturday afternoon and in a strange quirk of scheduling, almost everyone is out of town for a mission or a personal obligation, leaving the Tower unusually quiet. As much as you enjoy the daily clatter and chaos that comes with living here, you find a lot of comfort in these moments of quiet, however infrequent they may be.

You intended to make yourself a late afternoon snack. That was the plan, anyway. But as you’re standing at the kitchen counter and cutting up the fruit you just washed, you realize that you’re not entirely alone. From this vantage point, you can see Loki lounging on the couch in the next room and reading.

He’s wearing the sweater. Of course he’s wearing the sweater. And the so-tight-they-should-be-illegal dark wash jeans.

Goddammit.

You have the sense to set the knife down at least. The last thing you need is a trip to the hospital because you got too distracted by your hot colleague while handling a knife.

You let your gaze travel along the firm muscles of his chest. It’s just a sweater. It shouldn’t look this good. It shouldn’t prompt these kinds of thoughts. And yet…

He shifts on the couch and the hem of the sweater creeps up. His hand drops to his belt buckle. It’s entirely appropriate, but the way his long, long fingers are splayed against his stomach makes your mind drop straight to the gutter and wonder what they’d look like wrapped around his rock hard co—

“You know, it’s rude to stare.”

His voice comes from behind you and adrenaline surges through you like an electric shock. The Loki on the couch looks up at you and smirks before disappearing in a shimmer of green.

You wonder if it’s possible to die of embarrassment and a heart attack all at the same time. It certainly feels like you’re about to.

You take a deep breath and try to collect yourself, which feels largely futile. Come on, get it together. You’ve negotiated with terrorists and insurance companies. Shake it off.

You slowly turn around, cheeks burning. Loki is standing right behind you, arms folded across his chest. You swallow.

“I um. I was—I was just…” Words escape you as your brain fires in every direction except a helpful one.

“You were just what?” His expression is intense, but you’re not sure that he’s angry.

“Spacing out,” you say, trying to infuse your voice with confidence that you absolutely do not feel.

He places his hands on the counter behind you, intentionally caging you in with his body. You are overwhelmed by the scent of him—a masculine, wintery musk that makes you want to bury your face against his chest.

“Try again,” he says. His voice is deep enough to rattle your bones.

You swallow. Everything you could possibly say seems wildly inadequate.

Loki has never been one to be at a loss for words, though, and after a moment of terrified silence from you, he continues speaking.

“I’ve noticed something curious over these past few weeks,” he says. “When I wear this sweater, you can’t seem to take your eyes off of me.”

Your heart is pounding. Fucking hell. Have you really been that obvious?

“Now why is that?” he asks, his voice a low purr.

You briefly consider trying to lie again, but the piercing green of his eyes instantly makes you rethink it. “I um…” You swallow hard. “It’s just…it suits you. You…you look good.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I look good?”

You nod.

“Interesting.” His lips twitch in a slight smirk as he looks you up and down. “And how does that make you feel?”

Your heart thuds in your chest, your stomach contorting with a strange combination of fear and desire. You’re still humiliated, but the sound of his voice and the dark intensity of his gaze is intoxicating and incredibly arousing.

“I don’t—I don’t know how to answer that question.”

“Oh, I think you do.” There’s a rawness in his voice that makes your cunt clench.

You shake your head, eyes wide. You’re pretty sure he’s not really mad, but you also don't know where this is going. Surely he’s not making a pass at you…right?

“How does it make you feel to see me in this sweater?” he continues, his voice a low whisper. He pauses for a moment and when you don’t answer, he continues. “Does it…arouse you, perhaps?”

Holy fuck.

This can’t be happening.

You try to think of something clever or sexy, but the bluntness of the question and the fire in his eyes kills whatever remaining brain cells you have left. Mutely, you nod.

There’s that smirk again as he licks his lips. “Are you wet right now?”

Your cheeks burn. You give the tiniest nod possible.

“Hmm.” His hand alights on the button of your jeans. “I believe you Midgardians have a saying that is appropriate here: trust, but verify.” He slips the button free and your heart pounds like a war drum in your chest. 

You cannot believe this is happening.

“You haven’t been entirely truthful in this conversation.” His palm presses flat against your stomach, the tips of his fingers slipping under the waistband of your underwear. “So I’m afraid I’m going to have to see for myself.”

His hand is achingly slow, creeping lower and lower. He watches you intently as his hand cups your sex, seemingly cataloging the way your breath hitches and all the little shivers that run through you.

His middle finger finally slides between your folds and you can’t help but moan.

“Oh, you did lie to me,” he growls, his index finger joining his middle, both sliding up to circle your clit. “You’re not wet, you’re soaked.”

Your legs are already starting to tremble and you grab on to his shoulders to try and steady yourself. The fabric of the sweater is softer than a cloud against your hands.

“Sopping wet,” he continues, trapping your right leg between his thighs and the counter, the heavy weight of his erection pressing eagerly against your hip. “And this is all for me?”

Wordlessly, you nod. There’s no point in denying it—and you don’t think he wants you to, either.

“What am I going to do about this?” he muses. His index and middle fingers lightly circle your clit again and you whimper.

“Don’t stop,” you gasp. “Please don’t stop.”

“Don’t stop?” he says. His tone is one of light curiosity, like you’re just chatting casually about the weather. “But if I continue, you’re almost certainly going to come.”

“Yes,” you gasp. “Please.”

“Oh, you want me to make you come?” You can hear the smirk in his voice. “Right here in the middle of the kitchen?”

You nod.

“Anyone could walk in, though,” he purrs. “Anyone could come in and see me with my fingers buried in your dripping cunt. What would they think if they saw you so utterly debauched and at my mercy, begging for me to make you come?”

“Don’t care…” you gasp. How are you already so close?

He raises an eyebrow. “You don’t care what they’d think if they saw us like this?”

You shake your head.

“Oh, you must be desperate.” He adjusts his hand, his thumb taking up the rhythm on your clit while his index finger sinks into your slick channel, making you gasp.

“Loki, please—”

“Begging already,” he says, not letting up in his rhythm. “Has it been a long time, sweetheart? When did you last feel this good?”

It’s not a question you can answer. You don’t know that anyone ever has made you feel like this. You moan, your hips bucking hard against his hand.

“Poor thing,” he tuts. “You’re clearly desperate for it. What kinds of filthy thoughts have you had about me?” he purrs. “I’ve seen you staring, I’ve heard your breath hitch. Have you touched yourself while thinking of me?”

You manage a nod and his smile turns feral. “When was the last time?”

“Last…last night,” you gasp.

“How many times did you come?”

“F-Four.”

“Filthy girl.” His free hand slides up to cradle the back of your head, his fingers tangling in your hair as he tips your head back. “Next time, all you have to do is ask.”

His mouth covers yours, his tongue pushing past your lips as he slides a second finger into you. You moan into his mouth as the pressure in your hips increases.

“Oh yes, let me hear all of those pretty noises,” he murmurs. “Are you going to let me fuck you against the counter after I make you come?”

You nod, whimpering.

“Good girl,” he purrs. “I think you need to be fucked properly and hard. Is that what you need?”

“Yes,” you gasp.

“Mmm, that’s what I thought. This cunt is just too wet and needy for any other treatment.” He draws back to look at you more fully, giving you a lazy, hungry smile. “You’re about to lose it all over my fingers, aren’t you?”

Your orgasm is cresting, the tingling pressure in your hips becoming unbearable. You nod, lost for words.

With one more smirk, he curls his fingers inside of you. “Come for me, pretty girl, let me see you.”

Your cunt spasms around his thrusting fingers and your whole body shudders as your orgasm overtakes you, your head tipping back as you cry out.

“Oh, that’s it,” he murmurs, “there’s my good girl.”

A shiver runs through you at his words, your hips still moving against his hand, trying to draw out every last ripple of pleasure.

He kisses you as you come down from your high, and you take the opportunity to run your hands over his chest and tentatively feel the hard planes of muscle that you’ve been staring at these last few weeks. But after a few moments, he takes your hand and guides it to his cock.

His preference for leather pants or those sinfully tight dark wash jeans made you suspect that the size of his ego might actually be proportionate to the size of his cock and your initial assessment seems to confirm that theory. You rub your fingers over the denim that covers his thick shaft, feeling yourself grow even wetter at the low groan he makes in the back of his throat.

“Take my cock out.” His voice is so deep and his eyes are so smoldering, it feels like the command goes straight to your cunt. You are practically trembling with anticipation as your shaking hands  make quick work of the button, buckle, and zipper.

You can’t help but suck in a breath when his cock comes into view. He’s long and deliciously thick—big enough to be a little intimidating, but not overwhelmingly so.

He guides your hand to wrap around his shaft. He barely fits in your hand. “Look at what you’ve done to me,” he says, his voice raspy as he guides your hand to stroke his cock. “Feel how hard I am for you, feel how much I want you.”

His cock practically pulses with need, the tip slick with pre-come and you grasp him more firmly, your cunt pulsing as he gives a deeply satisfying groan.

You stroke him from base to tip, squeezing lightly. He groans again. “They told me to stay away from you, you know,” he says.

You aren’t so far gone that you can let this information slip by. “What? Who?”

“Stark. Rogers. Romanoff. My brother.” He reaches behind you and shoves the fruit and cutting board into the side, the knife clattering into the sink. “They saw how I looked at you,” he says. “They saw that I wanted you. They told me you were too good for me. Too sweet.”

You feel your jeans and underwear melt away in a shimmer of green and he lifts you easily onto the counter.

His eyes flash with desire. “I wonder what they’d say if they knew you’d let me fuck you raw in the middle of the kitchen?”

For a brief moment, frustration almost wins out over your lust. “We could have done this sooner?”

His gaze turns serious. “Darling, we could have done this the moment we met, but I’m told a handshake is more appropriate.”

You take a breath, about to embark on a rant about the individuals he’d named and how they hadn’t even asked, they’d just assumed, but Loki puts a hand up against your mouth.

“Don’t make me wait any longer,” he says. There’s a sincerity and a need in his gaze that you’ve never seen before and it’s enough to calm your anger for just a moment.

“Okay,” you say, wrapping your legs around his waist and angling your hips toward his, “but clear your schedule because I’m gonna need you to fuck me a lot to make up for all that time.”

His grin is feral as he pushes into you.

You shiver at the blunt stretch of his cock, your hands gripping his broad shoulders. He indulges in a low groan as his hips press flush against yours.

“If I’d known they were keeping me from this tight cunt, I would’ve done something sooner,” he rasps. “You feel absolutely perfect.”

“Please,” you breathe, “I need—please.”

His hips snap hard against yours and you moan, your head tipping back.

His eyes glitter as he pulls you close, pressing his mouth against your ear. “The next time I have you, I will be sweet and soft.”

“And this time?” you ask, though you think you already know the answer.

“This time—” His mouth presses against the curve of your neck, teeth scraping just this side of too hard against the tender skin. “—I’m going to utterly ruin you.”

His pace is fast and rough—the word possessive comes to mind. You twist the luxurious fabric of his sweater in your hands as his cock hits that sweet, aching spot inside of you, pressing against your sensitive cunt in a way that makes your muscles spasm and clench around him. You moan, a shiver rolling through you as you inch closer to release.

“I’m…fuck, I’m getting close,” you gasp.

His pace abruptly slows and his grin is wide and his eyes are dancing with mirth when he raises his head from your shoulder.

“That was unnecessary,” you say with a scowl.

“Oh, I just want to savor you for a little longer, my love,” he purrs as he settles into an easy and slow pace that still makes your toes curl. “You’re going to take me right over the edge with you and I’ve waited so terribly long to have you.”

“I feel like you’re probably omitting the fact that you like being a tease,” you say.

He grins again, increasing his pace ever so slightly. “Both things can be true.”

He does this a few times—taking up a wicked pace that almost sends you hurtling over the edge, only to slow at the last possible moment, silencing your whimpering protests with a deep and slow kiss that is good enough to make you forgive him until a few minutes later when he does it all over again.

You hold out for as long as you can, but eventually, the ache in your hips overwhelms you.

“Loki,” you breathe when his pace again begins to increase. “Please don’t stop.”

“Don’t stop?” he rasps, somehow finding the concentration to raise an eyebrow. “You’re quite sure?”

You nod.

“You want to come all over my cock?”

Speech is slightly beyond you at this point, but you manage to gasp a desperate plea as you hurtle into the final plateau, right before the fall.

Loki regards you with that same playful look as he fucks you. You wait, unsure of what he’s going to do, your body desperately crying out for your release.

His lips curl into a smile. “Come for me, sweet thing.”

At the sound of his voice, every one of your muscles is tensing and releasing, the slick walls of your cunt clamping down hard on the thick girth of his cock as you shudder and moan.

The remnants of Loki’s composure are fraying, his eyes closed and his jaw slack as he chases his own end. His brow furrows and he throws his head back, letting out a low groan as he comes and you think it might be the best sound you’ve ever heard.

You sag against him as you both come down from your respective highs, his heart beating hard under the soft fabric of his sweater. He reaches for your face, tilting your head back so he can kiss you, impossibly slow and soft.

You’re in the middle of the kitchen. You understand this. In a wholly rational world, you would be quick to hop off the counter, quick to try and negotiate the return of your jeans from whatever pocket dimension he’s sent them to.

Instead, you find yourself wanting to stay in this moment, with his arms wrapped around you, his cock still pulsing inside you as he kisses you breathless.

You count to ten, then twenty. At forty, you draw back slightly, only to have him pull you back into the kiss.

It’s somewhere after one hundred when he trails his lips to your neck and you manage to say what you intended: “We should probably…” you trail off as he sucks at your pulse point, sending a shiver down your spine.

“We should probably what?” he murmurs against your neck, before tracing a lazy figure eight with the tip of his tongue.

It takes you a moment to find that sentence. “Get dressed and such.”

You feel the sharp press of his smile against your skin. “I think not.”

Before you can open your mouth to say anything, the kitchen is fading in a shimmer of green to an unfamiliar bedroom and the two of you tumble into a bed draped in green silk.

“I’d like to stay like this for a while,” he says, a smile playing at his lips as he slowly rolls his hips against you, somehow still impossibly hard. “In fact, I think I need to have you again.”

“I can live with that,” you say. You tug at the fabric of his sweater. “But this is going to have to go.”

His gaze is smoldering and his bare skin is suddenly pressed against yours as the sweater and the rest of your clothes disappear in that familiar shimmer of green.

“Will you like me as much without it?” he asks, rolling his hips against you.

You drag your fingernails up along the firm muscles of his back. “I think I’ll manage.”

“Good,” he says, leaning in to kiss you, “because as I understand it, we have quite a lot of time to make up for.”

[cosmerelists]

If Cosmere Characters Had Real-World Jobs (But Not The Obvious Ones)

In this list, I wanted to try to give Cosmere characters jobs in our world while avoiding the jobs that would be the most obvious picks--like, for example, the real world equivalent of whatever their canon job is.

1. Kaladin: Professional Football Player

It's a dangerous job that Kaladin's dad would scoff at, but the other kids in town think it's really cool and also the recruiters are coming through town and, I mean, he's really good at football.

2. Lirin: Public Defender

If we avoid the obvious job (doctor), then Lirin still needs a job where he is doing good, but it's pretty thankless and the general public are suspicious and think he might actually be evil somehow. So I figure: public defender. He's highly educated, helping people who need it, and just getting nothing but grief as a result. Worst of all, his smart son wants to be a FOOTBALL player!

3. Marsh: Masseuse

I feel like people who are good at hemalurgy know about the body and its pressure points and things like that. And frankly, "acupuncturist" felt too on the nose.

4. Shallan: Park Ranger

Shallan HATES to be confined, so no way she's going into an office job. Plus, she likes nature and animals, but I'm trying to avoid the more obvious jobs (like botanist or ecologist). It's just too bad that Shallan is SO bad at staring a campfire, though.

5. Navani: Wedding Planner

Navani is VERY good at managing people and events, as seen when she had to manage everything while Gavilar was off plotting. She's also very organized and literally invented wristwatches. So I think she's be very good at this job.

6. Elend: Grad Student

This one may be too obvious, but I figure something like "politician" or "philosopher" are more obvious. But to me, Elend has major grad student energy.

7. Nale: Insurance Adjuster

Nale is a cop, of course, through and through. But if he wasn't a cop, then he'd need some other job where he uses the rules to screw people over. So I see him as, like, an evil insurance guy who's denying people medical coverage because the company wants him to.

8. Blackthorn-Era Dalinar: Debt Collector

If flashback Dalinar couldn't make a living mowing people down in battle and had to find a less obvious job, then I could see him being the guy to hunt down people and demand money they don't have. He doesn't really care about the money. He just likes the hunt.

9. Adolin: eSports Player

It's a job where you can head-to-head battle people and your dad is vaguely puzzled and thinks you should be doing something more important with your life.

10. Lightsong: Customer Service Agent

In canon, Lightsong's job is to face down a huge line of people and tell them "no" in response to them asking for something they want. So, I mean, I feel like that's equivalent to one of those shitty customer service jobs where you're not really allowed to help people (until, of course, Lightsong goes rogue and does start helping people, but that's another story...)

11. Stormfather: Bus Driver

He has his route, and he's not deviating from it. And if you miss the bus, he's not stopping. He's not going back. You can try to run, but you will not catch up to him.

12. Tress: Mechanic

As a Sprouter, Tress had to figure out how each of the spores worked and how to use them. I just feel like she'd be good at diagnosing issues in machinery and then fixing them.

13. Steris: Programmer

She's precise, she's smart, she likes rules. I think coding would suit her.

14. Yumi: Waitress

She could stack the plates SO high.

15. Marasi: Investigative Reporter

Which, honestly, is what I wish she had been rather than being a cop like in canon. I think it would suit her! She'd get to research, investigate, find the truth...

16. Kelsier: Motivational Speaker

He tells you about the power of smiling no matter what, so that you are never defeated. He tells you to carry something small, some memento or photo, to help you find your motivation. You tells you that no goal is out of reach--you just have to find the right people and the right steps to move forward. And he tells you that the most important thing is to survive.

[fearfulachilles]

9. wunderkind.

chapter nine to buop (nanami kento x reader jjk medical au.) .

full contents here.

summary: working with dr. geto proves to be more difficult than you thought, but you have an enjoyable lunch break.

tw: american healthcare.

Satoru Gojo was a wunderkind. He graduated high school early, finished pre-med in half as much of time than normal, and aced his way through med school at an incredibly young age. He was a medicine prodigy. He was sought out by many hospitals for his neurosurgery fellowship, but decided to accept a fellowship at Jujutsu Metropolitan Hospital.

During his fellowship, he created and developed a new technique that is still used by nearly all neurosurgeons across the country, even years later. Up until a year ago, it had been known as the Gojo technique.

During and after Satoru's fellowship, he quickly noticed that he hated how the hospital was managing things. The owners of the hospital were old men who didn't work with patients anymore, instead they worked closely with insurance companies to milk money out of patients looking for care.

Satoru had to constantly turn away sick patients in need of surgery, and even the ones who needed simpler treatments such as medication and routine examinations, all because the patients couldn't afford to pay for it, and pro-bono services were forbidden. Patients waited months for post-operative visits and some had to hold off on returning after surgery completely, all due to money. He saw how the staff around him, nurses and scrub techs, were always shorthanded and overworked because the higher ups refused to hire more people, just to save themselves money.

Eventually, it all came crumbling down on the members of the hospital board. Patients were seeking care elsewhere, strung out employees were quitting, and the Jujutsu Hospital reputation was going to shit. Money doesn't last forever, but they were in need of it. That's when an anonymous buyer came in with a generous offer, in exchange for the board to be changed immediately, of course.

It didn't take long for senior hospital board member, Dr. Yoshinobu Gakuganji, to trace the money back to the one and only, medicine prodigy, Satoru Gojo. He wished he never did find out where the buy-out offer came from, because he had no choice but to take the offer. So, now he stood in an office room located in one of the higher floors of the hospital building with the young white haired physician.

“I'll accept the buy-out under one exception,” Gakuganji started, wrinkling fingers tapping against one another.

Satoru only scoffed, his arms crossed on his chest. His voice is smug, laced with his usual know-it-all attitude, “you have no room to bargain, you're out of options. No one wants you bail you out of your shitty hospital but me.”

“For this, it's worth the risk. No surgery for four years.”

How evil. Brain surgery was Satoru's passion. He worked hard, studied long nights, developed his own technique for his surgeries. His eyes widened and he bared his teeth, slamming his hand down on the old man's desk.

“Fuck no, you can't do that!” Satoru had always been out of line as a subordinate, but he was well aware that his brain and talent were too prestigious to reprimand or hold accountable so he got away with a lot, much to Gakuganji's disliking. It explained why Gakuganji was always looking for reasons to get rid of him.

“I can have the hospital’s lawyer on retainer add it into the contract. You want to turn this hospital around? Time to make some sacrifices, Gojo.”

Satoru grunts, chewing on the inside of his cheek, his fingertips digging into the palm of his hand in a shaking fist. Gakuganji can't be serious.

“One more thing...”

“You’ve asked for enough.” Satoru rolls his eyes.

“The Gojo technique, it's brilliant. Forfeit your name to it.”

Gakuganji was going for the jugular. The Gojo technique was pretty much flawless and it had never failed to save a life in surgery. It was Satoru's creation, his baby. He had traveled the country to teach this technique to other neurosurgeons, articles were published about it, it was his.

“To what, your name? The Gakuganji technique is a mouth full and an eye sore.” Satoru spat. Though surgery was his life, he was willing to step down for a short amount of time, if it was for his vision of this hospital he had, then four years wasn't too long.

“Preferably, but as long as it's out of your name, I'll be satisfied. Make a public announcement about forfeiting the ownership of your technique, and we can move forward this deal.” Gakuganji said, stroking his thin-haired beard, it always creeped Satoru out.

Satoru glared daggers at the old man. He was wrinkly, fragilely thin, shaking like a leaf in the cold air conditioning of the the office. He could croak at any time and Satoru wished it'd happen now more than ever.

“You're acting like a man with nothing to lose.” Satoru’s eyes sized up the shrinking old man.

“I don't anymore.”

The deal closed the day after Satoru made a public announcement, giving titleship and credit to Dr. Geto for his the technique.

He walked into work like nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just become the owner of Jujutsu Hospital, as if he hadn't just agreed to sacrifice the next four years. He struck a deal with Dr. Geto to take over his surgical cases from now because he'll be “too busy with paperwork” for a while.

He hires back the old chief of surgery, Dr. Masamichi Yaga, who had been forced to retire by the old hospital board members, despite them hitting critical ages themselves. He confides in his old mentor that he has no clue what he's doing with this hospital he had just bought, but he may know where to start.

“I'm sick and tired of insurances denying everything. I'm the doctor, I know what my patients needs, not them.” Satoru complains, resting his cheek on his palm.

“It is a pain dealing with them.” Dr. Yaga agreed.

They sat in Satoru's new office, a place he was told to get used to; he'll be spending most of his time in there, rather than the operating room.

The young physician had a vision for the future of medicine: no red tape from insurance companies, no gouged up prices for medicine that patients need, fair wages and generous personal time off for employees.

Satoru sighed, blowing the air out of pursed lips. His eyes fall on to a pile of rejected proposals by the last hospital head. He finds an old one he had proposed—the free clinic. He had brought this idea up during his fellowship, the idea of offering free medical care for post-op patients, and once established, expand to offer free care for all patients.

His long fingers flip through his old proposal, a smile creeping on his lips as he comes to realization that he can approve this with a simple sign of his signature.

“I've got four years of free time, anyways.” Satoru tells himself.

More than half the employees who quit due to an unfair working environment had been rehired the first month of Satoru taking over, and new employees were hired to share the workload. He opened the hospital for med school students to come there for their clinical rotations and for residents to come work for their residency, and he found room in the budget for medical scribes to be hired.

_________

Your first day working with Dr. Geto couldn't have gone worse.

Dr. Geto requested to start work in the clinic two hours earlier than when it usually opens, so you have to show up two hours earlier than normal.

You wake up with exactly 10 minutes left before you have to leave. You rush through brushing your hair and tying it back, brushing your teeth, and you change into a pair of scrubs. Then you spill your homemade coffee on yourself by accident. Changing again makes you five minutes late to the clinic, and your gas tank is nearly on empty, so you'll have to pump more after work.

Dr. Geto is already standing and waiting at the nurse station when you walk in. You run to grab a scribing laptop from the supply closet at the back of the clinic, frantically opening it and logging into the electronic health system the clinic and hospital use.

You finally catch your breath as you wait near Dr. Geto for the first patient to be ready for him. You lose your breath again when Dr. Geto addresses you directly.

“Satoru told me you're interested in neurosurgery.” His voice is silk smooth, almost hypnotizing. He's prettier than the images you saw of him when you Googled the surgeon. His hair is so dark and shiny, it's long enough to go down his back, and he has half of it tied up. He takes care of it, you can tell.

You can't seem to find your voice, so you just nod. You're not necessarily interested in neurosurgery solely, but you're really open to it. You're not going to tell that to Dr. Geto, a neurosurgeon, though.

Dr. Geto works differently than Satoru or Kento. He likes to move quickly, even wasting less time than Kento does. He moves so swiftly, almost like he's gliding across the floor. You're barely able to keep up with his pace, once he's done with one patient, he moves on to the next room. He doesn't look back, he doesn't ask if you have any questions, he doesn't check your notes, you have no idea how he prefers them. You try stopping him, but it does no good.

“Dr. Geto, if I can just ask—” Your words don't reach him, he's already stepped into the next available exam room and began exanimating his patient.

You take your lunch break earlier than everyone else, since Dr. Geto had you start work earlier today.

“Goddamn it,” you curse to yourself as you realize you've gotten lost on the way to the hospital cafeteria again. You don't think you'll ever learn where it is. The hallways are so identical, other than different variations of some CPR posters pinned up in certain hallways.

“Need help?” You hear in a very familiar deep tone.

You turn your head to the direction of the voice and see Kento walking towards you. He looks handsome in the scrub cap he's wearing. He still lacks the white doctor coat so his muscular forearms are out for all to see, like usual. You can't help but stare at them, tracing each vein you see with your eyes. You remember how he held you with those arms as he fucked you four times.

Your gurgling stomach brings your focus back to him. “Uh, yeah, I always get lost on my way to the cafeteria.”

Kento chuckles, he thinks that's cute. “I was just heading there myself. I can show you.”

He really tries to continue a conversation with you, but it's awkward at first. You feel nervous, like you want to throw up, but despite not feeling any bile come up, the fluttering sensation stays in your stomach.

Kento opens each door at the end of the hallways for you like it's natural instinct. You tried opening one for him, but he gently replaced your hand on the steel doorknob with his own. His hands are so much bigger than yours, he can almost engulf your hand in just his palm alone.

He asks you how your day is going, and you respond by automatically pouting and dropping your head down. He laughs briefly as he watches your sulking. He opens one of the double doors that finally belongs to the cafeteria entrance, placing his large hand on the small of your back and guiding you inside as you continue pouting with your head down.

You pick up your head, and whine. “It's going horrible! I can't keep up with Dr. Geto, he's impossible to stop once he's started, it's like he can't hear me, I have no idea how he likes his notes, it's like he expects to know how he wants it—”

Kento nods, he's aware of how... difficult Suguru can be to work with. He expects everyone to be on his level from the get-go; he wants his scrub techs to know what instruments he's going to ask for during surgery before he needs to ask for it, he likes his nurses to write their supervision notes in a particular format so he can learn the most information without needing to ask the patient more questions himself. He has high expectations from everyone he works with, with little remorse or thought to new employees around him.

“—I like working with you way more.” You say quietly, finishing your rant.

The corners of Kento's lips turn up slightly, a small smile appearing at your confession. He notes how your cheeks turn pink, so he decides to not respond to it. You're thankful, thinking he hadn't heard you.

The hospital cafeteria is almost nearly empty, a few family members of patients eat, but there weren't many staff members there, most likely because you're taking an earlier lunch than normal. You and Kento grab food and he pays for your portion without exchanging words and without a second thought. You want to hate how he does that because you can take care of yourself, but you can't.

“About my parking ticket—” you begin, both of you moving to an empty table in a private corner of the cafeteria. He carries his food, a chicken sandwich with wheat bread, in one hand and pulls out a chair for you with his other.

“Already paid.” Kento replies, quickly shutting you down on it. He's smiling, smugly if you squint hard enough to see.

“You didn't have to do that.” You insisted. You take a seat in the chair he's pulled out for you, and he sits beside you.

“I know.” His voice is kind, traced with unwavering certainty. How odd. You're not used to that: someone doing something like that for you because they wanted to. It sends a chill down your spine, ringing an alarm in your head. Kento causes it, but he also helps dull out the noise of it.

You didn't think you'd really talk to Kento again after having dirty, hot sex at his home—other than having to talk to him during work. But you're not working with him today and you're here talking to him. It feels like it did in the bar, now that you've gotten over the one-sided awkwardness you were feeling.

Kento had your full attention and you had his. Your legs brush against one another's underneath the table and it makes you aware of how close he was. You remember how you brushed shoulders at the bar and how your bodies felt pressed together in his bed. You have to bring yourself back to reality.

Your lunch break breezes by a lot faster than you'd like it to. You have to return to Dr. Geto's service and the thought of it makes you dread it. Kento chuckles to himself as you pout and drag yourself up from the table you both shared and then joins you in doing so. He has a couple more surgeries to do before he's done for the day, some routine procedures that won't take long.

Kento had enjoyed spending his break with you. He didn't want to return to wondering when he'd be able to talk to you again or wait until his days in the clinic to see you. As you both walk out of the cafeteria with brushing shoulders, he finds it in himself to ask you for your numbers.

“I was wondering if I could have your phone number,” Kento's cringing at himself, he sounds old and out of sync with this hook-up dating culture that people your age are doing. “So it'd be easier to...”

To what? Bootycall you? He almost wants to say never mind, and go back to bland coffee and tasteless foods. No, he knows that's not enough for him anymore. He wants more of your touch, your body, you.

Thankfully, you don't make him say it. “Sure, yeah.” You sound cool, nearly aloof, but you're anything but that. Kento hands you his phone for you to input your number. Just as you finish saving the contact, you realize the time at the top of his screen—you're gonna be late at returning from your lunch break.

“Shit, I gotta go.” You push his phone back to him and quickly leave, fast on your feet as you walk away.

“Talk to you later.” Kento says, though you're gone already. He stares at his phone screen.

_________

The second portion of the day goes by a lot slower than you would have preferred. You feel like you can finally catch your breath after keeping up with Dr. Geto the whole day. You close your work laptop slowly, sighing out tiredly.

“Good job today.” You hear Dr. Geto's smooth voice day to you. You perk up and look at him. If you were a dog, your tail would be wagging.

“Oh—thank you!” You reply brightly. “I really enjoyed working with you.”

That's a lie. Dr. Geto didn't slow down for a second after lunch, if anything, he had started working faster. He also didn't take time to go the extra mile to talk or teach you about neurosurgery, like Satoru and Kento had. He wasn't required to, but it would have been appreciated on your part. Still, there's no denying Dr. Geto was a genius at what he does for a living. He had a lot more complex post-operative patients today, so you still had the opportunity to learn about his surgical cases and their treatment plans by being in the room and listening as you scribed.

Dr. Geto isn't much of a talker if he doesn't need to be, so he nods at your words in acknowledgement before leaving for the day.

You take a look around as you come from down that people-pleasing high you just experienced and see Yuji grimly working with Dr. Ieiri, the surgical oncologist, in one part of the clinic. You spot Nobara's eye twitching with near annoyance as she works with Dr. Haibara, the OBGYN, in the other part of the clinic. They would be better suited if they switched physicians.

Your roommates still have some time left in their workday, while you were able to go home now since you had started earlier today. You wave at them, Yuji brightly smiles at you and waves back, Nobara scrunches her nose in friendly envy that you're able to leave now, but waves back too.

You make it home after leaving work and stopping at a gas station for your car. Your phone had been more silent the entire time despite turning on your ringer for the first time in a long time—you always preferred your phone on vibrate. Not a peep from an unknown number you were hoping to hear from.

What's gotten into you? Looking forward to Kento hitting you up? Get a grip.

You shower when you get home and change into some loungewear. You finally feel your body relaxing as you lay in bed freshly showered and in clean clothes. You try to scroll mindlessly on your phone, but you feel your eyes getting heavier and tired until you finally give into the sinking feeling. You've sunk too deep into a quiet nap when your phone finally does ring.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

This is Kento. I hope your day improved.

sticky note:

i didn't want to specify where this au takes place or what specific ages the characters are because i wanted to give readers free reign on that, if that makes sense. though, since i am from america then most of my writing may be american-based (like the insurance part of this fic lol), but i'm am trying to stay unspecific in those areas. but even tho an age gap is intentional, i may never specify what ages everyone is because that way anyone reading can imagine an age gap they're comfortable with, if that makes sense too.

ps. when i worked as a scribe i saw an insurance company deny cancer treatment for a patient with prostate cancer bc the insurance company believed “it was not necessary” :O 

[disabled-dragoon]

Tried to sign up for my local NHS gym. They needed a letter from my doctor saying that I was fit to exercise. Was told it was for their insurance

Went to the doctor about it. Told him what they said. He said that they weren't an NHS service and it "wasn't appropriate" for them to ask for that. Referred me to other weight loss and health management services.

Received a phone call yesterday from one of the services he referred me to. THEIR CLOSEST OFFICE IS IN THE GYM I ORIGINALLY APPLIED FOR.

The woman who called me told I'd been given the wrong information. They don't need a physical letter, they don't need it solely for insurance, they just need to know what I can/cannot do.

Wrote back to the doctor yesterday.

Received the same response that it "wasn't appropriate" for them to ask for this.

Please.

I just want to exercise.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jonathan Cohn at HuffPost:

“Folks, he’s coming for your health care, and we’re not going to let that happen.” Those are the closing words of a new 30-second ad from the Biden campaign, focusing on the Affordable Care Act and the possibility of repeal if Donald Trump becomes president again. The ad buy is significant: $14 million to run the spot in a half dozen swing states, as my colleague S.V. Dáte reported. And it’s not difficult to understand why.

Trump’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017 was highly unpopular. The backlash was almost certainly a big reason Republicans managed to lose both houses of Congress and the presidency over the next two elections. Reminding voters of this history can only help Biden and the Democrats, especially amid polls that show the 2010 health care law to be more popular than ever. And the threat to the law is real. Trump spent his entire presidency trying to tear down the program; when legislation failed, he tried to undermine the law by ― among other things ― taking away funds for advertising and promotion. Last fall, he returned to the subject in a Truth Social post, declaring, “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives.”

Trump followed up with what was supposed to be a clarification, stating, “I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE. Obamacare Sucks!!!” But of course, that was just another version of the promises he made before taking office last time ― you may remember vows like “I’m going to take care of everybody” or “We’re going to have insurance for everybody.” He then proceeded to push bills that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would have added more than 20 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured.

[...] Democratic leaders vowed to address that issue by increasing the subsidies, effectively realizing their original vision for the law. And they did precisely that in 2021. The American Rescue Plan, which Democrats passed and Biden signed, boosted the Affordable Care Act’s financial assistance so that nobody has to pay more than 8.5% of household income on a standard plan.

It was a temporary measure tied to the pandemic, but in 2022, they extended the subsidies through 2025. The impact has been substantial. Roughly 15 million Americans are saving an average of about $800 a year on their insurance, according to calculations by the Department of Health and Human Services. And like all averages, that covers a range of people. The savings amount to only a pittance for some, but it’s literally thousands of dollars a year for others. The enhanced subsidies have also had more subtle effects. Some insurers still sell “non-compliant” plans that resemble the old policies. These plans can be sold more cheaply because they have big coverage gaps that can leave beneficiaries exposed to punishing, catastrophic medical bills. (Loopholes in the law allow this.) However, fewer people are now buying those policies, opting for the more comprehensive plans available than the Affordable Care Act, according to a study from the non-partisan health research organization KFF. That’s because, with the extra subsidies, the more comprehensive plans don’t cost as much as they did before.

[...]

A Familiar Debate, An Uncertain Political Future

The new Biden ad says he wants to make the assistance permanent, consistent with a proposal in his latest budget. That wouldn’t be cheap. CBO pegged the cost at about $25 million a year back in 2022. It’d probably require more money more now. The inability to find enough offsetting cuts or revenue to cover that cost is one reason Biden and the Democrats didn’t make the bigger subsidies permanent last time. That could happen again. But it’s safe to assume that, at the very least, Biden and the Democrats would approve another temporary extension if they are in office and have enough leverage in Congress after 2024. If Democrats don’t have that kind of power come next year, the fate of these increased subsidies will be in the hands of Trump and the Republicans. And while they haven’t had much to say about the issue, it’s hard to imagine they’d be enthusiastic about extending the subsidies given their traditional hostility to government spending on social welfare, to say nothing of their animus towards Obamacare. Conservative intellectuals are already laying the groundwork. Brian Blase, the former Trump administration official now president of the conservative-leaning Paragon Health Institute, has assailed the extra subsidies as regressive because they have made higher-income Americans eligible for assistance.

If Donald Trump wins in 2024, then there could be big consequences for Obamacare… and it won’t be pretty.

[coochiequeens]

Maybe now that the people with the money to buy babies are being scammed even IVF proponents will admit that there needs to be regulations in the Buy a Baby Business

Dominique Side, the owner of Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, poses in 2023 at Vegan Fashion Week in Los Angeles.

(Gilbert Flores / WWD via Getty Images)

By Matt Hamilton Staff Writer June 30, 2024 

They scrimped, and they saved. Some asked family and friends to pitch in. Others took out loans for tens of thousands of dollars.

Their goal was twofold: To raise the small fortune necessary to pay for a surrogate mother. And to realize a dream previously impossible — having a child of their own.

Hundreds of people across California, the U.S. and around the globe put their money, sometimes $50,000 or more, into the hands of a Texas-based escrow company so the funds could be held in trust and doled out to a surrogate for healthcare costs, insurance and compensation.

But this month, expectant parents and their surrogates learned the money they had set aside at Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, or SEAM, is inaccessible and likely gone.

“We want answers,” said Chris Kettmann of Fair Oaks, Calif., a suburb of Sacramento. “Is there recourse to get the money back? If not, what can we do?”

Chris Kettmann and his wife with their ultrasound in an undated photo. (Chris Kettmann)

Kettmann, 33, said he and his wife had about $45,000 in their escrow account, money owed to their surrogate mother, who is pregnant with their baby boy and due in October. “We don’t know enough to say what happened,” he said. “We just know there’s something crazy going on.”

Police in Houston have opened a wide-reaching investigation. Christina Garza, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Houston field office, confirmed last week that the agency also is investigating SEAM. The FBI has developed a public portal for SEAM clients to report their account information and how much money they believe they are owed. Garza, however, cautioned that the inquiry was in its early stages and said, “We’re trying to compile as much information as possible.”

A married same-sex couple in Washington, D.C., says they are out $55,000. A Los Feliz couple said they demanded their $40,111 be returned and believe it is gone. Arielle Mitton, an L.A. native who recently moved to Bellingham, Wash., can recite the amount that she and her husband are missing down to the cent: $37,721.44.

“I assumed naively that an escrow account was a safe thing,” said Mitton, whose surrogate mother in Indiana is pregnant with their daughter and is due to deliver on Christmas Eve.

Mitton has joined hundreds of affected parents and surrogates in a private Facebook group that has become a forum for venting, grieving, exchanging information and trying to answer the overriding questions: What happened here? And where did all their money go?

Scrutiny has centered on the sole owner of SEAM, Dominique Side, who has told customers that she had once been a surrogate. The 44-year-old billed herself as an entrepreneur of multimillion dollar businesses in the Houston area, including a vegan grocery store, a nonprofit school, a vegan music studio, and the surrogacy escrow outfit. She walked the red carpet in L.A. for vegan fashion events and ran a concierge service for those seeking a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

“One common thread runs through all my businesses: each is based firmly on a foundation of compassion — for others, for myself and for the planet,” she told a Houston publication in 2022.

Side did not respond to calls or written questions. Emails to Side triggered an auto-response that doubled as a press statement. Citing the “active investigation by federal authorities,” Side wrote in the email, “Under the advice of counsel, I am not permitted to respond to any inquiries regarding the investigation.”

On Thursday, Side and SEAM were hit by a lawsuit from a merchant cash-advance lender, the third such lawsuit this year. Merchant cash advance lenders provide small businesses with quick infusions of money at high fees akin to interest rates of 50% to 100%.

A judge in Texas also froze all of the company’s accounts along with Side’s other businesses after a SEAM client, Marieke Slik, sued over her “vanished” $28,000.

Calling herself a “victim of a scam,” Slik alleged that Side and her company had lured her and others “into a fiduciary relationship in order to steal their escrow funds,” according to her lawsuit, which was filed in Texas. “The Defendants have left hundreds of surrogates throughout the country — who are pregnant with a child that does not belong to them — with no way to pay for necessary prenatal care.”

Sides’ actions, according to the lawsuit, “are nothing short of evil.”

Struggling parents

Many surrogacies often involve LGBTQ+ couples who want children, or older couples for whom childbearing is no longer a viable possibility.

For others, the road to surrogacy is one of heartbreak and tragedy.

The married woman in Los Feliz said she had had multiple miscarriages. She was recently pregnant but gave birth in the second trimester. The newborn died at Cedars-Sinai in his parents’ arms.

The couple turned to surrogacy after exhausting all other options. They selected a surrogate mother, completed the necessary contract — which often requires using an escrow firm — and put more than $40,000 into the account, a portion of the overall cost. But their embryo had yet to be transferred into the surrogate mother.

“Nothing is clear,” she said, explaining that she and her husband demanded their funds weeks ago. “Obviously that fell on deaf ears — we didn’t get our money back,” she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because their extended family remains unaware of their attempt at using a surrogate.

“I’d love to carry this child,” she said, and “not spend any money on a surrogate. There’s a level of that, where you feel so terribly sad. You feel sad about the money, but you feel sad about the situation.”

‘Something really bad has happened’

For intended parents and surrogates, trouble emerged around late May, when surrogates did not receive their usual payments.

Arielle Mitton gives surrogate mother Tena Doan’s belly a kiss. Doan is carrying Mitton’s baby.  (Arielle Mitton)

In early June, Tena Doan — a 42-year-old surrogate mother in Indiana — said she noticed her bank account balance was lower than expected and realized her monthly payment and allowance had not come through. Her surrogacy agency told her that banking issues at SEAM had delayed the arrival of the money.

“I said, ‘No problem, they’ll get it fixed,’” Doan recalled, figuring that banking issues happen. When she logged into SEAM’s portal, she saw that the money listed as due her was still there.

Then came a June 12 email from Side claiming that fraudulent charges had prompted Capitol One to freeze SEAM’s account.

“Some payments were able to go through before the accounts were frozen,” Side wrote in the email. She stated that new bank accounts were established and promised service would be restored.

Two days later, however, Side sent another email indicating that “all operations have been placed on hold” due to legal action.

Doan said that the email stopped her in her tracks.

“That’s when we were like, ‘Oh s—, this is not good. Something really bad has happened,’” Doan recalled. “From there, it’s been a whirlwind.”

Mitton — the mother of the child that Doan is carrying — was at home more than 2,000 miles west.

“The first few days, I barely slept, I was nauseous from all the emotional aspects and had vertigo,” Mitton remembered.

She contacted the FBI, Houston police, the Texas attorney general. Mitton even emailed the CEO of Capital One, questioning how the money could apparently vanish.

Tena Doan, left, and Arielle Mitton. (Arielle Mitton)

Both Doan and Mitton joined the Facebook group and realized they were part of a club they never wanted membership in: those affected by SEAM’s financial collapse.

An informal poll among members suggested that about $10 million was unaccounted for. Parents and surrogates from across the country and around the world have traded information in the Facebook group about current police investigations and become sleuths themselves.

They’ve pored over Side’s various businesses — the Vgn Bae Music Studio, and Nikki Green, a luxury vegan fashion line. They’ve also mined her social media accounts.

A recent post on Side’s Instagram page VgnBaeDom, which has since been deleted, recounted her birthday week in June: Side said she flew to L.A., enjoyed a vegan dinner at the upscale Culver City vegan restaurant Shojin, dined at Crossroads Kitchen and Craig’s — both frequent celebrity hotspots — enjoyed a “full day of spa and cabana” at the Four Seasons, before doing fittings at Celine, the luxury French fashion house.

“The week this was going down was also her birthday week,” said Mitton, who recalled thinking, “She’s probably spending our escrow money there.”

Signs of financial difficulty SEAM was first registered in Texas in 2014. Testimonials from 2017 onward show glowing reviews, and one parent told The Times he had used SEAM for their first child without issue.

Lawsuits from cash advance lenders filed against SEAM and Side in New York this year indicate mounting financial trouble in recent months.

So-called merchant cash-advance lenders send sums of money to distressed businesses, often with a rapid turnaround, and, in exchange, a business lets the lender withdraw a portion of future receipts directly from the business’ bank account to pay off the debt. Cash-advance lenders often insist they aren’t lenders and that cash advances against future revenue aren’t technically loans — but New York’s former attorney general had lambasted the industry for predatory debt-collection practices.

In January, Side received an unspecified sum from Pearl Delta Funding and agreed to pay back $69,500. But she defaulted the next month, prompting the lender to sue her in New York in March. (Pearl Delta’s attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment.)

On May 6, Side secured $650,000 from Dynasty Capital and agreed to pay $975,000, or 150% of the amount borrowed, according to court records.

Under the agreement, the lender was allowed to debit $12,500 per day from SEAM’s account until the full amount was paid back. On May 31, Dynasty Capital said in court papers, SEAM “breached the agreement” and either failed to put revenue into the business account or diverted it elsewhere, leaving Dynasty unable to recoup its money.

Dynasty Capital sued Side, SEAM and her various businesses on June 18. Dynasty’s lawyer declined to comment.

On May 29, Side obtained $100,000 from Arsenal Funding and agreed to allow Arsenal to deduct 1.25% of SEAM’s daily revenue from its business bank account until $149,000 was paid off.

Arsenal sued Side and SEAM last week after Side stopped making payments on June 21 and defaulted, according to the lawsuit filed in New York, which demands about $190,000 to cover the outstanding debt and fees.

To secure the loan from Arsenal, Side had to disclose her largest revenue sources. She listed three companies, all in Southern California: US Harvest Babies Surrogacy in the City of Industry; Mle & Mlang International Surrogacy in L.A.; and a Shady Grove Fertility office in Solana Beach.

But there is reason to doubt the accuracy of what Side told the lender. In a statement, Shady Grove said it had no financial relationship with Side or SEAM and did not refer patients to the company, explaining that “some patients may have independently engaged with SEAM.”

Further, the name that Side had listed as her contact has never been an employee of Shady Grove, according to a person familiar with the company’s operations. And the address she listed for Shady Grove is a small branch in the San Diego area that’s been open for only a few months; Shady Grove is headquartered in Maryland and has 49 locations nationwide.

Neither Harvest Babies or Mlan responded to requests for comment.

Side told Arsenal that she was the 100% owner of SEAM and projected an average monthly revenue of $2.78 million, according to a copy of the financial agreement that Arsenal included with its lawsuit.

Lori Hood, a Houston-based attorney who is representing Slik — the client who sued Side this month in Texas — said she was confounded by SEAM’s financial practices. She said the lawsuit from Dynasty Capital indicated that escrow money was used to secure the $650,000 cash payment.

“How do you put up escrow funds as collateral?” said Hood. “That’s my first indication that something’s desperately wrong. You don’t recognize escrow funds as revenue.”

Second, Hood said, SEAM’s tax records that she’s reviewed also showed revenue of “millions of dollars.”

“Did her company make millions of dollars, or is she putting into the tax returns that the escrow money was her revenue?” Hood asked.

To press their client’s lawsuit against SEAM, Hood and her law partner, Marianne Robak, petitioned a judge to freeze all of SEAM’s accounts at Capital One along with other accounts owned or controlled by Side.

“The evidence shows that SEAM’s escrow account with Capital One ... has no funds available,” notes the request for a restraining order to freeze all accounts. “SEAM is insolvent.”

In the filing, Hood also accused SEAM of diverting money into accounts in the name of Life Escrow LLC, a company registered last year to Side’s business partner, Anthony Hall, who is also a defendant in the suit filed by Slik.

Side’s “actions appear to be to avoid having to face the clients she defrauded. It appears she had absconded,” states the restraining order, which a Harris County, Texas, judge signed off on June 21.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Hall said he “had no connection with SEAM,” adding, “I wish I had answers.” Hall said he was a business partner of Side in the vegan music studio, Vgn Bae Studios, adding, “Everything was great until it wasn’t.”

Hall said he did not know if Side had an attorney and said that he was speaking only for himself.

“She’s not gonna respond,” he said of Side. “I’m defending myself. I don’t know what they have going on.”

Pregnancies don’t wait

For Hood and hundreds of surrogate mothers and parents, questions mount.

“I won’t cast blame on any of the parents. They did everything they were supposed to do,” Hood said.

Time is short, however, for ongoing pregnancies and those couples who hope to have a surrogate receive an embryo soon.

Kettmann, from the Sacramento area, said their surrogate mother is 22 weeks pregnant. Of the $57,000 they put into SEAM, he said, $45,000 is missing. The rest had already been distributed to the surrogate.

“It’s a scramble,” he said. He and his wife had some money saved for additional expenses, which they’ve used to cover the June payment that never arrived from SEAM. He’s now fundraising from family and friends.

“We told her we’ll do everything we can to keep her up to date on payments,” he said, “but [we’re] asking her to be patient.”

Mitton and her surrogate mother, Doan, have started collecting donations through GoFundMe and plan to extend the payment terms two years, rather than having all the money sent to Doan shortly after delivery.

“I’m growing a healthy baby girl for them,” Doan said, “and that’s all that matters.”

[mariacallous]

So risky has the Red Sea become since Houthi militants started their attacks on shipping that, since late November, over 350 container ships—plus all manner of tankers, bulk carriers, car carriers, and other merchant vessels—have diverted to other routes. That means massive logistical challenges that involve not just new charts and more fuel but getting crews and cargo to alternative staging posts. Because shipping is extraordinarily efficient, most won’t notice a thing. But if the attacks on shipping continue, we’ll start paying for the service. And we would do well to anticipate Houthi-like campaigns in other waters.

Not a day passes without more turbulence in the Red Sea. Since Christmas Eve, the inlet that links countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia has seen multiple Houthi attacks, including against a Swiss-owned container ship and a Norwegian tanker.

Drama in the Red Sea is, of course, nothing new, going all the way back to the biblical book of Exodus. Yet today’s users of the Red Sea can’t hope for divine intervention. To be sure, the U.S. military has launched Operation Sea Guardian to protect Red Sea shipping, and since Christmas Eve the force has, among other things, shot down 12 attack drones and five missiles launched by the Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthis. But counterfire from Western navies in response to Houthi attacks doesn’t yield the sort of chartable sailing environment shipping lines need. It may help solve the problem in the long-term, but it does little right now.

What’s more, it’s unclear which ships can expect escort. The French Navy seems to prioritize French-flagged vessels, but—as I have often discussed in Foreign Policy’s pages—most vessels sail under a flag of convenience, are owned in one country and managed in another, have foreign crew members, and carry cargo between altogether other places.

What qualifies as a U.S., or French, or Norwegian vessel in the Red Sea can be deeply uncertain. And shipping—and most importantly, the insurers—is all about reducing risk. That means the largest shipping lines have instead begun diverting their ships to other routes. By Dec. 24, some 280 box ships had already been rerouted, as had lots of tankers, bulk carriers, car carriers, and other merchant vessels. (By Dec. 27, Maersk and CMA CGM had announced they would gradually returning to the Red Sea—but if the situation continues to deteriorate they can divert again.)

That means a sudden procession of ships taking the much longer route via the Cape of Good Hope on South Africa’s southwestern coast. “Shipping companies are extremely busy right now,” Cormac McGarry, a maritime analyst at consultancy Control Risks, told Foreign Policy. “They’ve been working over Christmas, changing routes. The first thing that happens when you divert is the legal aspect—a clause in shipping contracts allows shipping lines to divert if there’s a war risk. And then you have to decide where to divert your ships to.” The Cape of Good Hope route, which the Suez Canal’s construction once made redundant for long-distance cargo, is suddenly en vogue again.

As large parts of the global public now know, traveling via the Cape of Good Hope rather than the Suez Canal adds an additional 10 to 12 days of sailing—and a completely different route for captains and their top lieutenants to chart. But that’s perhaps the easiest part. “Planning a new route doesn’t take much time when working with electronic charts, but rounding the Cape does bring new considerations,” a senior officer who works on the largest types of container ships told Foreign Policy.

Those new, and thorny, considerations include getting crews and cargo to where they need to be—because, in many cases, ships’ current crews are scheduled to finish their rotations and other seafarers are waiting to take over. “If you’re going around South Africa, you may need to stop somewhere during the journey for bunkering and change of crews,” McGarry pointed out. “And if you’re changing a crew out of somewhere in southern Africa rather [than] somewhere around Suez, you need to change where they fly to and from.”

McGarry said ordinarily ships might change crews and cargo near the canal; now, the changes will need to occur in places such as Mombasa, Kenya; Durban, South Africa; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; or Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. Just before Christmas, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam were reporting a massive spike in ship arrivals; in the case of Dar es Salaam, the sudden rush had resulted in a 16-day wait to refuel. “ [Diversion] can be done, and the shipping lines are doing,” McGarry said. “But it brings additional costs.”

Those costs are there whatever route the ships take: Journeys through the Red Sea bring hefty war risk premiums, and the Cape of Good Hope route brings additional fuel costs, not to mention the costs of rerouting crews and cargo. Several shipping lines have already imposed surcharges for their services. The delays and extra costs may, in fact, merely be the first chapter in the geopolitically connected turbulence facing global shipping and, as a result, the globalized economy.

The Red Sea turbulence is also bringing trouble to nearby countries. With ships spending as little time as possible in the Red Sea, countries such as Sudan and Eritrea—whose only ports are located on the Red Sea—will struggle to get ships to call at their ports. Egypt, the custodian of the Suez Canal, is already suffering. And with less traffic through the canal, shipping to Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Italy, and Turkey will become especially cumbersome.

Iran, in fact, seems to have concluded that the Houthis’ experiment in the Red Sea has been so successful that it bears repeating in the Mediterranean. “They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, [the Strait of] Gibraltar and other waterways,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the coordinating commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told Iranian media on Dec. 23, apparently referring to the international community.

Spare a thought for the world’s seafarers and shipping logisticians—there’s no holiday break for 2024’s troubled waters.

[eloquencejazz]

I feel so stuck at this point in my life right now.

I've been unemployed since April 2023. I've applied to hundreds of jobs and have only gotten maybe less than 10 interviews since then. And tons of rejection emails.

I am currently waiting to hear back from two potential jobs but it's taking longer than expected.

One is for a local big hospital working in their business office and I've already had two interviews with them - one with HR and one with the hiring manager. I was told I'd hear back after Memorial Day but that was last week. This week, I've sent the HR recruiter an email AND a text, each a day apart, but I haven't gotten a response. No "I'm sorry, the process is taking a bit longer" or whatever reason they have for it. Just silence.

The other job is for the county and I've already passed the two assessments required for the job and completed the interview last week. This is my highly desired job, but here's the kicker... they say it would take up to 6 months to hear a response. 6 MONTHS?! Now, I get government jobs take a while to process their job applications. I mean, it's the government. They take so fucking long to do anything, to get anything done. But 6 months is way too long to hear back for someone who's been unemployed for over a year.

It's like, what am I supposed to do?

I can't even get any more unemployment insurance. It doesn't even last that long. Only 6 months is allotted for everyone and in order to reapply, you have to wait another 6 months for your claim to expire and even then, you need to have earned enough wages in the previous 18 months. But if you didn't earn enough wages, then you're SOL.

I'm not going to apply for fast food, retail, or service jobs. I am in my thirties and while I have done those types of jobs in the past, I don't have the physicality or the mental space to handle them anymore. I also would prefer to have a work-life balance at this point in my life.

I have some small business ideas I would love to work on since I have this free time, but what do you need in order to start a small business? Money. You need money to fund a small business and in order to get a business loan, you need proof of income. But how can I get that if I can't get a job? You also need the space in order to start a small business, but I don't have any free space. I live in a studio apartment with my partner and we don't have enough space for everything.

I'm just frustrated and feel like I keep running in circles.

And it's like, I don't really have anyone else to vent to other than my partner, who is also going through unemployment with me.

I know I can talk to my family and some of my friends, but I'm at a point where I feel like I've been putting in most of the effort to maintain the relationships and not receiving much back. I get that everyone is busy and has their own lives. I do get that. But they also can't rely on the unemployed person to put in more effort just because I have a lot of free time. It's not fair. It shows me that they don't really care about our relationship.

This is why I really need therapy. To be able to work through the issues that I have and start my healing journey. But it's hard when you don't have a job to be able to afford it.

I don't know what to do anymore.

I guess, just wait...

[lean-mean-demon-genevieve]

Very reasonably priced woo-woo machine, I see she understands her targeted audience. Btw, what is parasite cleansing? I feel like I’m missing something here…

Anon #2 that came through while I was putting this together:

Parasite cleansing? Apart from the fact that in the US this really only an issue for pets and livestock, I’m still calling bull. No way that anything designed to kill parasites wouldn’t be intrinsically toxic to this leech.

———————————————————————

Ok, get ready. Because THIS is one of my favorite things to talk about when it comes to Gen…You’re not missing anything because “parasite cleansing,” as she’s referring to it, is not a real thing. In recent years, G has become obsessed with “gut health” alongside the rest of the wellness community. Part of that is a concern for parasites that may be upsetting your delicate GI balance. 🙃 More info on the trend, scam, and risks here.

Time will tell if she actually circles back around to talk about this more like she said she would in that video. I hope she tells us who suggested it to her. But overall, Gen’s hypochondria stems from a mix of generalized anxiety, perfectionism/the drive to be constantly improving her “health”, and an abundance of access to resources and “professionals” who validate her concerns. G has been on this health optimization kick for quite a while but she recently named one of her major influences.

In the podcast where she talked about her implants, she also mentioned her doctor by name; Dr. Sharon Hausman-Cohen of Resilient Health. This whole medical practice is set up for the rich and the anxious. A few things stand out to me upon reading the doc’s bio on their website: First, she is the lead scientist for IntelxxDNA, a genetic testing service that claims to be able to tell you what medical concerns you may be at risk for, and advise on next steps.

As I researched this service further, other resources would note that one risk of this kind of testing is an increase in stress and anxiety. And that makes sense if you find out your DNA makes you at risk for some super scary disease. Just ask Gen:

So if I’m reading between the lines here, it sounds like G got her DNA profile read at this practice and then has become, understandably, even more hyper-aware of her body and body sensations as a result. And then you have a doctor with an invested interest going, “oh no, let’s monitor how you’re feeling at all times.” This is a recipe for disaster when you’re anxious. You will see what you look for, without fail. No wonder she bites her cuticles.

Furthermore, the clinical validity and utility of these tests cannot be confirmed as of yet. (Source) Clinical utility refers to whether the test can provide helpful information about diagnosis, treatment, management, or prevention of a disease. So all this hyper-focus and making it rain on this doctor could all be for nothing.

You might saying, “what does she mean by making it rain on the doctor?” Well, finally there’s this part:

Private membership at the doctor’s office? If you’re unfamiliar with this form of boutique or concierge medicine, it may be because you aren’t in the right tax bracket. Here’s a fairly quick rundown that I like, but it’s basically paying a monthly out-of-pocket fee to a physician for 24/7 access to their care. For my friends in the US, our insurance plans could never. (And you still need health insurance or deep pockets on top of it for additional prescriptions, tests, etc…seriously, read the article above.)

I won’t go into the ethical implications of providing access to care to only the rich, but it’s definitely there imho. Plus check out the practice’s condescending phrasing: a membership is the ultimate self-care. Don’t you care about your health??! Inquire about giving us your money today!

So why am I going on and on about this? Because our dear Gen is stuck in an echo chamber of health anxiety and she wants you to be right there with her. There’s nothing inherently wrong with integrative medicine or holistic practices, but life is hard enough without allowing this broad to add to your stress. If you find yourself asking if you too need some crap she’s peddling, the answer is likely no. And she doesn’t need it either. She just has access to it...and she’s probably hoping you help foot her bill with a purchase through a monetized link.

[geezerwench]

At this point we just need democrats and those against America like you to wear some kind of yellow badge when they are in public so we can identify them and treat them like the traitors to America they are.

Like the yellow Star of David? Hmmmm?

I'm not Jewish. Not all Jews are Democrats, and not all Democrats are Jews.

Yellow triangles? Octagons? Trapezoids?

Oooo! Yellow ribbons! Pretty yellow pentagrams!

I know! Canary yellow ball caps! Sorry, but that would match the stripe up Kevin McCarthy's, Josh Hawley's, and Bunker Boy Trump's backs.

Traitor?

Because I think Veterans should be cared for after they finish their active service to the US?

Because I think children should be fed and learn to read and write?

Because people who worked their whole lives and paid into Social Security should get their money back when they retire? Because housewives who worked their whole life managing the home and raising the children should receive their spouse's Social Security if their spouse dies before they do? Ya know there's no actual paycheck for managing a home, raising children, being the chauffeur and requisition officer, bookkeeper, secretary, personal assistant when you're a "housewife" or "homemaker."

Because I believe citizens shouldn't go bankrupt and lose everything because their spouse got sick and spent months in the hospital? Or that families shouldn't be destitute because a single parent or their child got cancer?

Because I think children and teachers should not be gunned down at school, and people shouldn't be slaughtered at the grocery store, movie theater, dance club, concert, church, temple, any public place?

Because I think people should have some kind of roof over their heads and food?

Because people should have drinkable water and breathable air?

Because I think it should be easier to vote and shouldn't be made harder?

Because I think billionaires and millionaires should have the same tax rate as the carpenter, the accountant, the nurse, the fast food worker?

Because I believe in the separation of church and state?

Because I believe people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Because I think our government should establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare of its country and peoples?

Okay, anonymous, chickenshit maga. Democrats don't need a yellow badge. All you have to do is look for the people who are not wearing AR-15 lapel pins, red hats, or anything with trump on it.

[thesaleswhisperer]

How To Start Over and Crush Your Goals | Angela Duncan

https://blog.thesaleswhisperer.com/p/p/angela-duncan-empower-your-money

In this conversation, Wes and Angela Duncan discuss various topics related to real estate investing and entrepreneurship. 

Angela shares her experience in the real estate industry, including owning a successful Remax office and selling over $2 billion in real estate. 

She also talks about her transition from real estate to starting an insurance company and eventually pivoting back to real estate investing. 

Angela provides insights into the current real estate market and emphasizes the importance of understanding different investment strategies, such as tax lien investing. 

Additionally, she discusses the benefits of becoming a bestselling author and offers advice for individuals looking to grow their businesses or make a career change. 

In this conversation, Wes and Angela discuss various ways to gain knowledge and mentorship without spending money. They also talk about the value of charging for your unique perspective and approach, even if information is available for free. 

Angela shares her plans to reach a broader audience through speaking engagements and podcasts, and offers tips for speaking for organizations with limited budgets. They also discuss the importance of educating people about alternative investment opportunities, such as real estate and tax lien investing. Angela emphasizes the need for simplicity and action when it comes to managing money.

Takeaways Real estate is always a good investment, but it's crucial to do thorough research and understand the market before jumping in. When transitioning to a new career or starting a new business, it's important to take time to heal and find your identity. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and focus on what you're good at. Don't be afraid to hire others to handle tasks that are not your strengths. Tax lien investing can be a lucrative investment strategy, but it requires knowledge of the process and understanding the rules in different states. Invest in your own education by seeking out mentors, absorbing educational content, and investing time in learning and growing your skills. Consider bartering or trading services with mentors or experts in your field if you can't afford to hire them. Having a book can provide credibility and open doors for speaking engagements and other opportunities. Prioritize self-education over excessive consumption of non-educational content like TV shows and movies. There are various ways to gain knowledge and mentorship without spending money, such as bartering and accessing free online resources. Charging for your unique perspective and approach is justified, even if information is available for free. Speaking engagements and podcasts can be effective ways to reach a broader audience and establish credibility. When speaking for organizations with limited budgets, consider alternative forms of compensation, such as books or access to a database. Educating people about alternative investment opportunities, such as real estate and tax lien investing, can help them achieve higher returns. Simplicity and action are key when it comes to managing money.

Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:16 Transition to Miami and New Ventures 03:26 Pivoting and Finding a New Identity 04:15 Knowing Your Strengths and Hiring Out 06:21 Transitioning Out of the Insurance Business 08:15 Investing in Real Estate 09:46 Exploring Tax Lien Investing 11:09 Teaching and Consulting in Real Estate 12:16 Writing a Book and Hosting a Podcast 13:23 The Benefits of Becoming an Amazon Bestseller 16:15 Hiring Coaches and Investing in Education 19:27 The Value of Unique Perspectives and Approaches 20:19 The Abundance of Free Information Online 21:20 Speaking as a Platform for Teaching and Reaching a Wide Audience 22:57 Creative Ways to Benefit from Speaking Engagements 24:36 The Benefits and Opportunities of Speaking Engagements 27:51 Writing a Second Book and Gathering Ideas 30:41 Common Mistakes People Make with Money 31:49 Investing in Real Estate and Tax Liens 33:04 The Pitfalls of 401(k)s and the Importance of Education 36:16 Using Social Media to Educate and Connect with People 40:00 Dealing with Audio Issues and Continuous Learning

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.

SUBSCRIBE to sell more, faster, at higher margins, with less stress, and more fun! https://www.youtube.com/@TheSalesWhispererWes ----- Connect with me: Twitter -- https://twitter.com/saleswhisperer TikTok -- https://www.tiktok.com/@thesaleswhisperer Instagram -- http://instagram.com/saleswhisperer LinkedIn -- http://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/ Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/wes.sandiegocrm Facebook Page -- https://www.facebook.com/thesaleswhisperer Vimeo -- https://vimeo.com/thesaleswhisperer Podcast -- https://feeds.libsyn.com/44487/rss Sales Book -- https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/c/way-book

BUSINESS GROWTH TOOLS https://12WeeksToPeak.com https://CopyByWes.com https://CRMQuiz.com https://TheBestSalesSecrets.com https://MakeEverySale.com https://www.TheSalesWhisperer.com/

Check out The Sales Podcast's latest episode

[lboogie1906]

Attorney Harry S. McAlpin (July 21, 1906 - July 18, 1985) was the first African American reporter to attend a press conference at the White House. He was born in St. Louis. He grew up in St. Louis and attended the University of Wisconsin where he studied journalism and advertising and received his BA. He moved to DC to pursue a career in journalism. He was a reporter, editor, and office manager at the Washington Tribune. He went on to work for the National Benefit Life Insurance Company, handling publicity and advertising.

He joined the New Negro Alliance to protect African American employment opportunities in the National Recovery Administration program. He enrolled in the Robert H. Terrell Law School, where he took classes at night. He worked for the Federal Security Agency and the Employment Service. He passed the DC bar exam and afterward, he started working for Mary McLeod Bethune, Director of Negro Affairs at the National Youth Administration, as well as for the Chicago Defender.

In 1943, the National Negro Publishers Association successfully petitioned the White House Correspondents Association for press credentials, which resulted in the NNPA opening its Washington bureau. He was hired as its first full-time Washington correspondent there. He was invited to attend his first Presidential press conference in 1944. He went to the Oval Office for his first press conference and was personally greeted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He left the NNPA and moved to Louisville, to work as the only African American assistant commonwealth attorney in the state. He resigned after being dropped from a criminal prosecution case of three white women. He became leader of the Louisville chapter of the NAACP. He returned to DC and worked as a hearing officer for the Social Security Administration before going back to Louisville to practice law.

He was married and had a daughter and son. He was honored by the White House Correspondents on May 3, 2014. A scholarship was created in his honor and he was recognized by President Barack Obama for being a pioneer in journalism. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha

[reasoningdaily]

‘We’re hemorrhaging money’: US health clinics try to stay open after unprecedented cyberattack

For more than two weeks, a cyberattack has disrupted business at health care providers across the United States, forcing small clinics to scramble to stay in business and exposing the fragility of the billing system that underpins American health care.

“We’re hemorrhaging money,” said Catherine Reinheimer, practice manager at the Foot and Ankle Specialty Center in the suburbs of Philadelphia. “This will probably be the last week that we can keep everybody on full-time without having to do something,” she told CNN. The center is considering taking out a loan to keep the lights on.

The cyberattack disrupted the computer networks of Change Healthcare, which serves thousands of hospitals, insurers and pharmacies nationwide. It prevented some insurance payments on prescription drugs from processing, leaving many care providers footing the bill up front and hoping to get reimbursed.

Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth, is one of handful of companies that make up the central nervous system of the US health care market. Its services allow doctors to look up patients’ insurance, pharmacies to process prescriptions, and health clinics to submit claims so they can get paid.

Health care groups have pleaded with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer medical practices a financial lifeline. The department on Tuesday said it was taking extraordinary steps to help get claims processed, but some care providers say it’s not nearly enough.

Mel Davies, chief financial officer of Oregon Oncology Specialists, told CNN she is worried that the private clinic that treats 16,000 cancer patients annually could be forced to close if she doesn’t get financial relief soon.

Cash flow has dropped by 50% in the two weeks since the cyberattack, she said. “The magnitude of this is off the charts for us.”

On Thursday night, half a month since the saga began, Change Healthcare announced plans to have its electronic payment platform back online by March 15 and its network for submitting claims restored the following week.

But the financial wreckage caused by the cyberattack will take a lot longer to clean up, health providers and analysts say.

“The prospect of a month or more without a restored Change Healthcare claims system emphasizes the critical need for economic assistance to physicians, including advancing funds to financially stressed medical practices,” Jesse Ehrenfeld, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement Friday.

Reinheimer, who works at the foot treatment center, said Change Healthcare’s plan to bringing systems back online was a “light at the end of the tunnel … However, it doesn’t solve the immediate issue, which is lack of money today, tomorrow and next week.”

The chaos caused by the cyberattack is prompting a reckoning for senior US cybersecurity officials about the vulnerabilities in hugely important companies that underpin the health care system.

The Change Healthcare hack “is an evolution beyond” other ransomware attacks on individual hospitals “that shows the entire system is a house of cards,” a senior US cybersecurity official told CNN.

Health care executives have been sounding the alarm for several days that the cyberattack is causing severe financial strain on the sector.

The Medical Group Management Association, which represents 15,000 medical practices, has warned of the “devastating” financial fallout from the hack and of “significant cash flow problems” facing doctors. The ransomware attack has “had a severe ongoing impact on cancer practices and their patients,” the nonprofit Community Oncology Alliance said this week.

A week ago, Change Healthcare announced plans for a temporary loan program to get money flowing to health care providers affected by the outage.

But Richard Pollack, head of the American Hospital Association representing thousands of hospitals nationwide, slammed the proposal as “not even a Band-Aid on the payment problems.”

The cyberattack could end up costing Change Healthcare billions of dollars in lost revenue and clients, said Carter Groome, chief executive of cybersecurity firm First Health Advisory.

“This is a huge, huge moneymaker being essentially the middleman or the intermediary between the insurance companies,” Groome told CNN.

Change Healthcare has blamed the hack on a multinational ransomware gang called ALPHV or BlackCat that the Justice Department says has been responsible for ransomware attacks on victims around the world.

A hacker affiliated with ALPHV this week claimed that the company had paid a $22 million ransom to try to recover data stolen in the hack. Tyler Mason, a spokesperson for Change Healthcare, declined to comment when asked if the company had paid off the hackers.

Private experts who track cryptocurrency payments said the hacking group had received a $22 million payment, but it was unclear who made the payment. “A cryptocurrency account associated with ALPHV received a $22 million payment [on March 1],” Ari Redbord, global head of policy at blockchain-tracing firm TRM Labs, told CNN.

For Joshua Corman, a cybersecurity expert who has focused on the health sector for years, the Change Healthcare cyberattack is clear evidence that the US health sector is not as resilient as it needs to be in a crisis.

Acquisitions that have merged multibillion-dollar healthcare companies have accentuated the problem so that “a single point of failure can have outsized, cascading reach and consequences,” said Corman, who helped lead a federal taskforce to protect coronavirus research from hacking.

If federal officials “don’t identify the systemically important entities proactively, our adversaries will continue to do it for us … while we burn,” he told CNN.

[po-pulari-tics]

@beatrice-otter wrote this on May 26 (reposted with permission)

I want to push back on the battle "not being about progress?' Because Biden has accomplished a lot, actually, especially given a Republican-controlled House. One could argue that he hasn't gone far enough, but that's not the same as having accomplished nothing. So here's some things Biden has done:

1) Raised taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

2) Highest appointment of federal judges since Reagan. Reagan started a trend of Republicans packing federal courts with uber-conservative judges, and blocking Democrat appointments, which is how we ended up with our current Supreme Court. Biden is doing his absolute best to turn the scales back the other direction by appointing as many liberal and left-wing judges as he can, as fast as he can.

3) $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure package that will pour federal money into things like public transit, high-speed internet in places that don't have it (which are overwhelmingly poor, and cut off from the rest of the world), and a whole lot of other basic things that make life easier for ordinary people.

4) Halted Federal executions. This doesn't affect state-level convictions, but it does affect federal-level executions; those are completely off the table for as long as he (or any other) Democrat is President. (13 people were executed under Trump)

5) Rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and pushing for other environmental care legislation,

6) Pushed through the "Inflation Reduction Act" (named that to get Republicans to be willing to allow it through). It's actually the largest climate bill in U.S. history and allows Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs for the first time. It includes 369 billion for a climate initiative to reduce greenhouse emissions and promote lean energy technologies. $300 billion in new revenue through a corporate tax increase. $80 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to hire new agents, modernize its technology, audit the wealthy and more. A $2,000 annual cap for out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for those insured by Medicare.

6) Overturned Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military.

7) Re-authorized the Violence Against Women Act

8) Pardoned marijuana

9) Forgave student loan debt (this one the Republicans in congress managed to partially stymie, but that's not Biden's fault--it's the Republicans).

10) Managed to get a modest gun-safety bill through the gauntlet of Republican opposition. (The first one anyone's managed to get passed in decades.) It's far from perfect, or enough, but it did expand background checks on gun purchases and made it easier to prosecute illegal gun trafficking. And the reason it was as weak as it was, is because the Republicans have a majority in the House and they blocked anything stronger, it's the Republicans' fault. Not Biden's. If we want sensible nationwide gun control, we have GOT to get the House a Democrat majority.

11) Passed a long-stalled Post Office reform bill.

There's a lot there! And the things that he promised but didn't manage to achieve, he put them before Congress and the Republicans in the House stopped them. If Democrats controlled the House as well as the Senate, most of them would have passed and now be the law of the land! The problem is not Biden.

Biden may not be very exciting, and he may not be as far left as we want. But he's still got a lot done in the last three years.

[bryanevansduff]

Enforcing Our Company’s Back-To-Office Policy Has Made Me Drunk Off A Power You Couldn’t Possibly Comprehend

Our company’s back-to-the-office policy strives to promote a healthy balance between remote work and in-office collaboration. By having team members return to the office, we can foster a sense of connection, strengthen our company culture, and, most importantly, make an HR middle manager like me drunker on power than you would ever believe.

Truly, my power high is indescribable. The Germans don’t have a word for how intoxicating it is to command people to spend more time in the physical presence of coworkers who could care less if they lived or died. The Romans’ Bacchus himself could never have dreamed of the wild orgy of elation I get to experience when I report to a team leader that their direct report didn’t arrive last Thursday as they said they would. And the Hindus never conceived of a caste high enough for those of us who get to remind their colleagues to fill out the shared Outlook calendar to schedule a workspace for their days in the office. Now I Am Become Death.

As a reminder, our company believes in-person attendance is a powerful way to build unity and cohesion, but that power dwarfs in comparison to what I feel when enforcing it. Sending out back-to-office mass emails fill me with an Atlas-like resolve. Forcefully weaning these babies’ off of their precious “work-life balance” makes me think of Hercules’ 12 labors as child’s play. And had I been able to call their personal cell phones to issue them a verbal warning for not being in the office enough, Genghis Khan and his Mongol Horde would have stopped dead in their tracks. King Kong Ain't Got Shit On Me.

Though my resolve is unrelenting, that’s not to say I won’t occasionally vary my approach. I’ll surprise someone with a “I hate to be the bad guy...” or “You know, if it were up to me...” when reminding them they have to spend two hours a day commuting if they want to keep their health insurance. But all this empathy is nothing but a performative sham. The truth is, if it WAS up to me, you’d all be chained to galley oars like Ben Hurr, where your rowing could power the vending machines in the break rooms that no one has used since the last Bush administration. I Am The Captain Now.

Some call me a zealot, but how could I not be with a responsibility this important? I’m charged with ensuring the company crams as many people as possible into our big, dumb open floor plan so they can all sit on Zoom calls with each other all day while our Wifi bandwidth totally tanks from it. Upper management charged me with the divine purpose of justifying the company’s inordinate, shortsighted investments into the office’s real estate and I have accepted that calling with an unbridled enthusiasm. I Am A Golden God. 

There are no exceptions to the policy, as there are none with my power. You have a funeral to attend during one of your scheduled back-to-office days? Hey, why don’t you “Zoom in” to the service to pay your respects? What’s wrong - I thought you said being remote was JUST AS PRODUCTIVE as being in person? Allow me to remind you that your offer sheet said you were required to come to the office three days a week as terms of your employment and said nothing about you being able to adequately mourn for your mother. That’s right: Say My Name. (In case you forgot, it’s “Hayley” or “Sayge” or “Zacc” or something stupid because the boomers in charge outsourced this work to someone who was born shortly after 9/11).

Anyway, if you have any questions at all about this transition, please do not hesitate to reach out! But as a reminder I do not work Mondays, Wednesday, Thursdays, or Fridays.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Revelations that the Trump Organization created a new company just as New York Attorney General Letitia James was about to file a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his business has drawn mockery online.

James' office sued Trump, the Trump Organization, senior management and other entities last month for what it alleged was "years of financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits." The former President is accused in the suit of falsely inflating his net worth by billions of dollars with the help of three of his children and senior Trump Organization executives in order to deceive lenders, insurers and tax authorities.

The New York Attorney General wrote in a court filing on Thursday that on the exact day the lawsuit was filed, September 21, the Trump Organization registered a new entity with the New York Secretary of State called "Trump Organization II LLC."

"That entity is a foreign corporation that was incorporated in Delaware. The Trump Organization has since refused to provide any assurance that it will not seek to move assets out of New York to evade legal accountability," James' office wrote in a release. The court filing notes that attorneys for Trump said the Trump Organization had not taken any steps to avoid potential consequences of the lawsuit.

"On the eve of this filing, counsel did offer to provide assurances and advance notice to address what were described as 'purported concerns,' but again offered no concrete mechanism to either effectuate or enforce that offer," the filing added.

The court filing's details about the almost identically named new company sparked parodies and ridicule on Twitter Thursday. One user, television producer Jonathan Goldman, wrote: "Trump Organization II is like the criminal putting on a fake mustache and thinking nobody recognizes him."

In another tweet, Goldman shared a picture of Trump with a drawn-on mustache.

"BREAKING: Trump Organization II announces its new CEO," he captioned the photo.

Heather Cox Richardson, a professor, took aim at the timing of the creation of Trump Organization II.

"I dunno, but creating 'Trump Organization II' on the same day that NYAG Letitia James sued the Trump Organization, and then continuing the same financial practices, sure sounds crimey," Richardson tweeted.

The New York Attorney General's court filing on Thursday was a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to block what it alleged was an "ongoing fraudulent scheme" by Trump and the Trump Organization.

Writer Mike Larsen's response to the revelation centered on the name of the new business.

"On second thought, Trump Organization II might not have been the best name for the shell corporation," he tweeted.

The measures James' office is seeking to curtail the alleged continued fraud include blocking the Trump Organization from transferring any material assets to another entity without court approval, and requiring that all supporting and relevant materials are included in any new financial disclosures to banks and insurers. The office's release on Thursday also stated that James was seeking court permission to electronically serve Trump and his son, Eric Trump, "as both defendants and their counsels have refused to accept service of the complaints for almost a month."

A Trump Organization spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement back when the lawsuit was filed that it "has nothing to do with the facts or the law" and denounced it as political targeting of Trump and his company.

Newsweek has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment.