It was senior night at Philipsburg and the Lady Mounties gave Clearfield all they could handle before the Lady Bisons picked up win number 13 on the year with a hard fought 49-44 victory. Clearfield has lost seven times this season.

The Lady Mounties jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before Clearfield went on a 14-0 run to end the first quarter out in front 16-8. The Bison run was fueled by junior Breanna Peters who had eight first quarter points.

The Lady Mounties had their best eight minutes of action by outscoring Clearfield 17-8 in the second period and they themselves had an 8-0 run during that stretch to lead at the break 25-24.

This was a Lady Bison team that had mauled Philipsburg-Osceola in the first encounter on January 10 by a score of 71-37 at Clearfield. Clearfield needed to prove that they could withstand the highly fueled effort by its host and they did just that in the third period of action.

The Bisons had another run, this time 12-2, during the third period, which enabled them to have a 16-5 advantage in the quarter giving Clearfield back the lead at the end of three, 40-30.

To the credit of a very young, scrappy squad, the Mounties stayed in the game with a fourth quarter advantage of 14-9, but in the end the Lady Bisons finally prevailed.

After the tough battle Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo said, “The Philipsburg team played with great emotion and fire as expected on their senior night. And I am very proud of our girls for the way they played on such a night.”

Then Castagnolo added, “Bre (Breanna Peters) and Dakota (Farmery) not only did a lot of our scoring but they also dominated the boards for us that was a key to getting this win.”

The fact that the Lady Bisons were 14 of 17 from the free throw line wasn’t lost on the Clearfield mentor, “We have worked very hard at practice with our free throw shooting and I really expect that kind of performance from the girls. Tonight it really paid off.”

Peters had 18 points for the Lady Bisons with Farmery adding 17. The Lady Mounties also had two players in double figures, as Lauren Simcox, the only senior on the team, and freshman Abby Showers each netted 14 points.

In the junior varsity contest it was Clearfield coming away with a 35-32 win over the Lady Mounties as Brittany Renuad scored 19 points to pace the Lady Bisons.

Philipsburg-Osceola, who dropped to 5-17 on the season, will entertain Huntingdon on Friday.

The Lady Bisons will host rival Curwensville on Monday with the JV game starting at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.

In the first meeting this season Clearfield downed the Lady Tide 57-38 on December 28.

Listen to Clearfield-Curwensville girls basketball Monday on WOKW-FM, 102.9, beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm.

CLEARFIELD – 49

Kristen Butler 0 2-2 2, Dakota Farmery 6 5-6 17, Lisa Ambuski 0 2-2 2, Rachel Thompson 1 2-2 4, Breanna Peters 8 1-3 18, Brittany Renaud 1 0-0 2, Janelle Mumma 0 0-0 0, Katherine Sheeder 1 2-2 4, Maggie Sopic 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 17 14-17 49.

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 44

Chelsea Brown 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Bauman 4 0-0 8, Lauren Simcox 5 2-6 14, Abby Showers 6 0-0 14, Briana Rusnak 3 0-0 6, McKenzie Burge 0 0-0 0, Katie Meersand 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 19 2-6 44.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CLEARFIELD 16 8 16 9 49

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 8 17 5 14 44

THREE-POINTERS: Peters, Simcox, 2, Showers 2

OFFICIALS: Jim Cushion, David Day, Jim Klausman

Lady Bison Scoreboard:

Curwensville took a 10-7 first quarter lead into the second eight minutes only to watch Moshannon Valley put together its best quarter of the evening by outscoring the Tide 16-7 to take a six point halftime lead at 23-17. 

The Lady Tide offense got untracked in the second half, and the third period in particular got Curwensville rolling, with a 19-10 edge putting them back in front after three 36-33. 

In the fourth period neither team could generate much on the offensive end of the floor, but the Lady Tide maintained their margin to come away with tough win in a very physical game. 

The Strickland sisters of the Lady Tide, Savannah and Ciara, combined for seven three-pointers on the night with Savannah hitting four and Ciara three. 

Ciara Strickland fueled the Tide offense with 15 while sister Savannah had 14. 

Moshannon Valley had Laura Harris drop in 13 points with Brieanna Shawver adding nine. 

Lady Tide head coach Rusty McCracken said afterwards, “The girls played two hard fought games the last two nights. This was a very physical game on both sides. Moshannon Valley played hard, and we did what we had to do on the road to get the win.” 

Of course the effort by the Strickland girls wasn’t lost on McCracken, “It was sure nice to have Savannah and Ciara as a one-two punch tonight leading our offense. But I was also very pleased with all of the other girls because they did their jobs too. Katrina (Seaburn) got into early foul trouble and I was very proud of how the other girls stepped up.” 

The junior varsity game was also won by Curwensville, 21-18, over Moshannon Valley as Abby Dugo lead the Tide with seven points. 

Curwensville will travel to Kane on Friday to battle the Lady Wolves. Kane won the first game back on January 4, 60-24 in Curwensville. The junior varsity game will start at 6 pm and the varsity will immediately follow. 

CURWENSVILLE – 42 

Savannah Strickland 4 2-4 14, Tierra Shope 0 4-8 4, Rebecca Johnson 0 4-4 4, Ciara Strickland 6 0-0 15, Katrina Seaburn 1 1-2 3, Kealy Wassil 0 1-2 1, Heather Thorp 0 1-2 1, Tiara Bumbarger 0 0-0 0, Tiffany Carter 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 11 13-22 42. 

MOSHANNON VALLEY – 37 

Ruthie Hutton 0 2-4 2, Brieanna Shawver 4 1-2 9, Amanda Howell 1 0-0 3, Laura Harris 6 0-0 13, Tayin Swoope 3 0-1 6, Kelsey Kitko 1 0-0 2, Mikayla Shawver 1 0-0 2, TOTALS – 16 3-7 37. 

SCORE BY QUARTERS 

CURWENSVILLE 10 7 19 6 42 

MOSHANNON VALLEY 7 16 10 4 37 

THREE-POINTERS: S. Strickland 4, C. Strickland 3, Howell, Harris 

Lady Tide Scoreboard: 

The species offered are suitable for many uses, including aesthetic pleasure, wildlife food and habitat, windbreaks, erosion control and stream buffers.  Each year they strive to provide something different than the year before but still offer their old standbys like white pine, arborvitae, white and red oak and sugar maple seedlings.   We are also selling a variety of fruit trees including apple, pear, plum, cherry, peach and nectarine. You will also find several shrub and small tree seedlings for sale such as American hazelnut and crabapple.  Whether you’re looking for the showy flowers of the white flowering dogwood or the bird attracting berries of the wild black cherry, you’re sure to find something to suit your needs and interests.  Their full color order brochure provides species descriptions and planting requirements and can be viewed and printed from their Web site. 

All orders must be pre-paid and received by the Conservation District office by Feb. 22.  Trees will be available for pick-up in late April.  All proceeds from the sale will support local conservation efforts and environmental education programs in Clearfield County.  To receive an order brochure by mail please contact the Clearfield County Conservation District at 814-765-2629.

(GantDaily Graphic)

CLEARFIELD – A woman accused of being involved in an accident that resulted in the death of a passenger waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Lilia Aguilera-Aguilera faces charges of accidents involving death or personal infury, accidents involving death or personal injury-not properly licensed, accident involving damage attended vehicle/property, and failure to stop and give information or render aid.

According to court records, on Jan. 19 at 9:15 p.m., Aguilera-Aguilera was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 in Graham Township. The vehicle was involved in an accident in which the passenger was ejected from the vehicle  and died at the scene as a result of the injuries.

It is alleged that she failed to remain at the sceneand was later located at a hotel in Kylertown. She reportedly admitted to police she was the driver of the vehicle when it was involved in the accident.

Police learned that she did not have a valid driver’s license and through ICE that she was in the country illegally.

She is currently housed in Clearfield County Jail.

Visit Clearfield County will be holding a Grant Workshop at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at its 12 North Front St. Clearfield, office.

The workshop is open to any business, municipality or organization that is looking to undertake a tourism-related marketing or signage project. You can find the criteria for the CCTP grant on our web site.

Space is limited and will be available to the first 15 people. Please call Sue Vitullo to reserve your spot at (814)765-5734 or email svitullo@visitclearfieldcounty.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson has proudly announced the Fully Qualified Appointment of State College Area High School senior, Cathryn M. DeLong, of Port Matilda to the U.S. Naval Academy.  Cathryn, the daughter of Jim and Melissa DeLong, will join the academy as a member of the Class of 2016. The appointment came at the recommendation of Thompson.

“Cathryn has proven herself as a leader and is dedicated to excellence, and I know that she will make us all proud as a naval officer,” said Thompson. “She has a tremendously impressive background and I am proud to have recommended her to one of our nation’s finest educational institutions.”

At State College Area High School, DeLong excelled in Advanced Placement coursework earning a cumulative grade point average of 4.5 and ranking 43rd out of 507 students.  DeLong also put her academic abilities to test outside of the classroom participating in the National Ocean Science Bowl, which is a forum for talented students to test their knowledge of the marine sciences.  During 2011, DeLong’s team won 1st place in regional competition and placed 7th nationally.

Throughout high school, DeLong balanced her academic work with countless other commitments including Student Government, varsity lacrosse, varsity cross country, orchestra, band, and community service.  DeLong was also an active member of the Civil Air Patrol, where she achieved the rank of Master Sergeant, commanded her squadron’s Drill Team, and received the Outstanding Cadet Award in state competition.

“Cathryn’s many achievements and community involvement, coupled with an excellent academic record, make her truly deserving of this opportunity,” Thompson added. “The U.S. Naval Academy will benefit greatly from Cathryn’s leadership abilities and intellectual curiosity, and we wish her well in this endeavor.”

Cathryn’s paternal grandparents are Jim DeLong and the late Margaret Van Horn of State College, and maternal parents are Jim and Faye Shaw of Lansdale.

UNIVERSITY PARK – People who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than people who are less physically active, according to Penn State researchers. People also are more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active than usual.

“You don’t have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise,” said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. “It’s a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there’s this feel-good reward afterwards.”

Conroy added that it often is hard for people to commit to an exercise program because they tend to set longterm rather than short-term goals.

“When people set New Year’s resolutions, they set them up to include the entire upcoming year, but that can be really overwhelming,” he said. “Taking it one day at a time and savoring that feel-good effect at the end of the day might be one step to break it down and get those daily rewards for activity. Doing this could help people be a little more encouraged to stay active and keep up the program they started.”

The researchers asked 190 university students to keep daily diaries of their lived experiences, including free-time physical activity and sleep quantity and quality, as well as their mental states, including perceived stress and feeling states. Participants were instructed to record only those episodes of physical activity that occurred for at least 15 minutes and to note whether the physical activity was mild, moderate or vigorous. Participants returned their diaries to the researchers at the end of each day for a total of eight days. The researchers published their results in the current issue of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

According to Amanda Hyde, kinesiology graduate student, the team separated the participants’ feeling states into four categories: pleasant-activated feelings exemplified by excitement and enthusiasm, pleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by satisfaction and relaxation, unpleasant-activated feelings exemplified by anxiety and anger, and unpleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by depression and sadness.

“We found that people who are more physically active have more pleasant-activated feelings than people who are less active, and we also found that people have more pleasant-activated feelings on days when they are more physically active than usual,” said Hyde, who noted that the team was able to rule out alternative explanations for the pleasant-activated feelings, such as quality of sleep.

“Our results suggest that not only are there chronic benefits of physical activity, but there are discrete benefits as well. Doing more exercise than you typically do can give you a burst of pleasant-activated feelings. So today, if you want a boost, go do some moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise.”

Conroy added that most previous studies have looked only at pleasant or unpleasant feelings and paid less attention to the notion of activation.

“Knowing that moderate and vigorous physical activity generates a pleasant-activated feeling, rather than just a pleasant feeling, might help to explain why physical activity is so much more effective for treating depression rather than anxiety,” he said. “People dealing with anxious symptoms don’t need an increase in activation. If anything, they might want to bring it down some. In the future, we plan to look more closely at the effects of physical activity on mental health symptoms.”

Other authors on the paper include Aaron Pincus, professor of psychology, and Nilam Ram, assistant professor of human development and family studies and of psychology.

National Institute on Aging and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute funded this research.

Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) – KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about an Obama administration rule that would require many religious-affiliated groups to cover birth control in their insurance plans. House Speaker John Boehner has suggested Congress could take legislative action to stop the rule.

JACKIE JUDD: Good day, this is Health on the Hill. I’m Jackie Judd.

Religion, politics and health care. It’s a potent combination as the political fight between the White House and Capitol Hill shows: A fight triggered by the administration’s decision to require most religious-affiliated institutions—such as Catholic hospitals—to include free contraceptive care as part of their health insurance coverage beginning in 2013. A clear sign of the growing anger over the issue was Speaker John Boehner’s unexpected appearance today on the House floor.

SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER, R-OHIO (video clip): “In imposing this requirement, the federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitutional boundaries, encroaching on religious freedom in a manner that affects millions of Americans and harms some of our nation’s most vital institutions.”

JACKIE JUDD: Kaiser Health News correspondent Mary Agnes Carey is following this and joins us now. Welcome, Mary Agnes.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Thank you.

JACKIE JUDD: Walk us back a couple of steps. This is part of the ACA – the health reform law. What does it require, and what has the administration done about it in the past couple of weeks?

MARY AGNES CAREY: What the health law requires is that preventive services be offered free – no copays, no deductibles. The Institute of Medicine advised the Department of Health and Human Services to include contraception as part of these required services. So when that announcement was made on Jan. 20, churches themselves, synagogues and so on, were exempted. But as you noted, not the religious-affiliated institutions, not the hospitals, not the universities. They’ve said those institutions will have a year to comply with the requirement that goes into effect for everyone else in August.

JACKIE JUDD: David Axelrod, one of the president’s top advisors in his presidential campaign, suggested last night there might be a compromise in the works. What did the White House say about that today?

MARY AGNES CAREY: The White House has reiterated repeatedly that they’re open to talking to all parties. As Speaker Boehner mentioned, there are religious institutions – Catholic institutions, some evangelical institutions – that find this requirement offensive to them, and they feel it is an intrusion into their religious freedom. And so what the White House has said is: We want to talk to people that have concerns. We’ve given them additional time to implement this requirement, and we hope to find a compromise. But they’ve made it clear that they’re not backing down from this guarantee of contraceptive coverage for all women no matter where they work.

JACKIE JUDD: Political tightrope for the White House.

MARY AGNES CAREY: I think it is a political tightrope, but it kind of cuts both ways. This was very critical for the Democratic base. Very important for women’s rights groups, women’s health groups – they feel very strongly about this. The administration feels strongly. They’re hoping that signaling that they want to be flexible in giving an additional year to comply will possibly buy them some time. They might find some compromise. But opponents of this say it doesn’t matter that they have an extra year. They have another year to “violate their conscience,” which just doesn’t appeal to them.

JACKIE JUDD: And in the House floor speech today that John Boehner delivered, he suggested that there may be some kind of legislative action that he will try to move through the House?

MARY AGNES CAREY: The Energy & Commerce Committee has already had a hearing on this previously. I’m sure they’ll have more hearings there. You can see legislation coming out of that committee, going to the House floor. In the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who is the Republican leader, has suggested they’ll also have a legislative response. But in the Senate, Democrats control the floor. So you might not see something like that get to the floor for action.

JACKIE JUDD: But on Capitol Hill this fight is not breaking cleanly between Democrats and Republicans. For some Democrats for example, who are Catholic, they’re not very happy.

MARY AGNES CAREY: John Larson, who is the fourth ranking Democrat in the House has suggested the administration work with opponents, including Catholic churches, to find a compromise on this. Dan Lipinski, who is another Democrat in the House, is concerned about it. In the Senate, Bob Casey, who is a senator from Pennsylvania, is very concerned. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is concerned.

So while the majority of Democrats do support the president, there are absolutely those who do not.

JACKIE JUDD: And in 2012, we cannot have a conversation like this without making the obvious point that there is presidential campaign going on. So how much of this dispute is a proxy, if you will, for the larger disagreements that many Republicans have with the reform law at large?

MARY AGNES CAREY: I think that it is simply another opportunity for Republicans to talk about what they hate about the law. They’ve made the argument for a long time: It’s an overreach of the federal government. Here’s another example: “if, by the way, we run the place, we’ll get rid of it.” So they’re definitely using this.

But Democrats, as well, are using this to build support for the health law, to say that this guarantee for women is a critical pillar of the health law, and they plan to maintain it.

JACKIE JUDD: OK, more later I’m sure.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Absolutely.

JACKIE JUDD: Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, thank you.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Thank you.

– Provided by Kaiser Health News.

United States (KaiserHealth) – When Sharon Smith chose an out-of-network specialist to perform a complicated jaw surgery on her teenage son last May, she knew it would cost her more. But she was not expecting a $15,000 difference.

Consumers have long complained about the cost of going outside their health plan’s network, but Smith encountered a new twist: a growing number of insurers have changed the way they calculate reimbursements to shift more of the expense to patients.

Now, instead of paying a percentage of the “usual and customary” charges from physicians and other providers, insurers are basing reimbursements on a percentage of what Medicare pays, which can be much less. “Every carrier is moving to this,” says Ken Sperling, global health care practice leader at the benefit consulting firm Aon Hewitt.

Many employers welcome the change as a way to slow rising premium increases, but some “employees are going to get stuck shouldering a significant portion of the bill because they don’t understand how it’s done,” Sperling says.

Consumers are responsible for the difference between what the out-of-network doctor charges and what their insurer pays. But few understand the basis on which plans reimburse, let alone the widely varying prices doctors and hospitals charge. As a result, they may be blindsided by big bills, says Lynn Quincy, senior health policy analyst at Consumers Union.

Insurers that use the Medicare-based method — including Oxford, a subsidiary of the nation’s largest insurer UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield — say the new approach offers greater consistency and thwarts efforts to game the system.

“Usual and customary became abused by a minority of physicians,” says Mark Wagar, CEO of Empire in New York, which is switching most policies to the new method. “It was not infrequent to see an emergency case where 98 percent of the physicians would charge $5,000, but some outlier would decide to charge $50,000.”

There are no good estimates of how many consumers are affected by the switch, but tens of millions of people who buy their own insurance or get coverage through their jobs, like Smith’s family, have the type of health plan that allows them to seek care outside the insurer’s network.

Some say they discover the change only after they rack up big bills. Smith, a certified public accountant in Syosset, N.Y., says she thought her Oxford insurance plan would cover as much as 80 percent of the total and was shocked when it paid $2,500 toward the surgeon’s $18,000 fee. That $2,500 is 150 percent of the Medicare rate. Smith owed the rest.

Had the usual and customary standard been used, her policy would have paid at least $12,000, said Oxford spokesman Tyler Mason.

“If I had set out knowing all these costs ahead of me, I could have negotiated, or I could have said, ‘Wow, I can’t afford this’,” says Smith, 53, who is not currently working because of a medical disability.

To be sure, the information about how the insurer would calculate the payment was included on page 108 of a 126-page booklet outlining the Oxford plan offered by her husband’s employer. The two-page explanation says the employer purchased a rider from Oxford that changed out-of-network payments from a percentage of usual and customary charges to Medicare rates plus 50 percent.

“It was so buried I never saw it,” says Smith, adding that even if she had, there was no easy way to find out what Medicare pays for a procedure.

Mason says Smith should have asked her surgeon how much he would charge ahead of time, and then called the insurer to see how much it would pay toward that charge.

He also notes Smith received a letter from Oxford a month before the surgery saying her costs would likely be higher if she went out of network. However, it did not spell out the Medicare-based method or her exact dollar liability.

Her cost would have been only about $500, on top of her deductible of more than $2,000, if she had chosen from among several dozen in-network oral surgeons in nearby New York City, he says.

Insurer networks are designed to slow rising health care costs, in part by getting doctors and hospitals who join to agree to negotiated rates, which are generally lower than their usual fees.

Because out-of-network hospitals and doctors are not held to negotiated rates, they can set their own fees and “balance bill” patients for the portion insurers don’t cover.

Some states bar balance billing for emergency care. Medicare strictly limits how much patients can be balance billed by doctors who don’t participate in the program.

“One of the most expensive decisions that a customer could make is going out of network,” says Alan Muney, chief medical officer at Cigna.

Smith says she knew the decision would be more expensive but sought treatment outside her network because she wanted a surgeon with experience in the type of complicated jaw surgery needed by then-18-year-old Thomas: “This is my son’s face.”

Benefit consultants, insurers, patient advocates and actuaries say the shift to Medicare rates began after a national database tracking usual and customary charges — run by UnitedHealthcare subsidiary Ingenix — was shuttered in 2009 following an investigation by the New York Attorney General, who questioned whether the data were skewed in favor of insurers.

While the closure was touted as a consumer win, “unfortunately, it’s worse now,” says Jennifer Jaff, executive director of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, a Connecticut-based group that helps file insurance appeals for consumers. “Once New York said you can’t use those (Ingenix figures) anymore, the insurers looked at it as an opportunity to pay even less.”

After the closure, some insurers turned to basing payments on Medicare rates, which are set for each procedure and vary regionally, says Rob Parke, an actuary at the consulting firm Milliman.

While an office visit for a primary care doctor paid at 170 percent of Medicare might be similar to payments made under usual and customary calculations, Parke says, specialist visits and other types of care often don’t come close.

Stepping into the data gap left by Ingenix is a new nonprofit created by settlements paid by insurers involved with the investigation. Called Fair Health, the New York-based group began selling data a year ago that tracks doctors’ usual and customary charges and includes a website calculator for consumers to figure out their costs. It now contracts with medical and dental plans covering more than 170 million people, says Robin Gelburd, president of Fair Health.

“Employers can choose to use Medicare rates, that’s totally fine,” but it needs to be put into context, Gelburd says.

Cigna’s Muney says the insurer has decided to use Fair Health’s usual and customary calculations, but will continue to offer the Medicare rate method as an option because it was well received by employers. Like several insurers, Cigna also has an online calculator that shows policyholders how much they would pay for services in and out of their networks.

Muney and other insurers say that consumers should be asking why some hospitals and doctors charge so much. A 2009 survey of doctor charges in 30 states by the industry’s lobby group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, found prices for some common procedures ranged to up to 10 times what Medicare sets as payment.

Some out-of-network hip surgeons, Muney says, charge 30 times what Medicare pays: “Does the patient think that’s OK?”

Smith, for one, is not angry that her son’s surgeon, Stephen Sachs, charged $18,000.

“We’re talking about a five-hour surgery, a very, very, complex surgery,” she says. “For all that the doctor is paid is $2,500? The doctor would have to shut down his office if that’s all he could get.”

Sachs says the $18,000 fee covered not just the lengthy surgery, but pre-op care and two years of follow-up visits “We do a very complicated, very exact and demanding treatment plan,” says Sachs.

He says his rates haven’t gone up in five years, and he takes on many charity cases, especially involving children. But payment rates for in-network care are so low, he says, that he would have to make sharp changes, maybe even close, were he to sign on with insurers.

Sachs says he won’t pursue Smith for the remaining money she owes because “you can’t get water out of a rock,” but he will begin to charge higher up-front fees for patients with insurance similar to hers.

– Provided by Kaiser Health News.