Latest news with #GaryPalmer
Finextra
5 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Ventura Capital leads growth round in Payall Payment Systems
Payall Payment Systems, the world's first provider of end-to-end infrastructure that enables financial institutions to offer institutional-grade, safe, fast, low-cost, transparent and inclusive cross-border payments for B2X, P2X and G2X use-cases, has selected Ventura Capital to lead their Growth Round raise. 0 With this new capital, Payall will accelerate its global payout partner connections and sales to originating institutions, correspondent banks and regulators as well as further distinguish its breakthrough counterparty risk management, multi-jurisdictional compliance automation and AI deployment. Gary Palmer, founder and CEO of Payall noted, 'As a repeat founder of successful banktech companies, having financial sponsors who understand the challenges and rewards of building software used by banks and other regulated entities is critical. Mo not only gets the big idea we're powering, but his trusted financial institution network is extraordinarily valuable to me and Payall.' As noted, part of the investment is earmarked to expand the sales team in order to respond to growing awareness at originating institutions that they can compete and win in crossborder payments with Payall. With regard to correspondent banks, Gary noted, 'our tech enhances their capabilities that work, but uniquely addresses serious problems that drive fear and friction - we're a correspondent bank and their regulator's best friend'. Mo El Husseiny, managing partner of Ventura Capital noted, 'Ventura Capital is thrilled to lead this investment and contribute more than capital to Payall's differentiated technology that every financial institution needs to safely and efficiently address the complex and growing cross-border payments market - either as originator, correspondent bank or intermediary bank. We are particularly excited by the recognition among central banks - including being featured on the United States Federal Reserve's FedNow Marketplace - and global regulators that Payall's software is a breakthrough in managing counterparty risk and compliance obligations.' This funding adds to the previous funding from a16z, Motivate Venture Capital, Thomson Reuters, Presidio Ventures / Sumitomo Corporation, RRE and PS27 and high net worth banking and fintech industry leaders.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘You Will Kill Me': Disabled People Call BS On Republicans' Medicaid Cuts
WASHINGTON — Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) was in the middle of explaining why vulnerable Americans wouldn't lose benefits as a result of the GOP's proposed changes to Medicaid when a scream interrupted him. 'You will kill me,' a woman in the audience of the House Energy and Commerce Committee room yelled. She added in a loud voice that she is HIV-positive and her drugs cost $10,000 a month. Palmer waited silently as police pulled and pushed her wheelchair from the room. Americans with disabilities, many in wheelchairs, were an overwhelming presence at the committee meeting where Republicans jump-started the process of passing legislation with significant cuts to Medicaid, which covers health care costs for 70 million Americans. Police arrested 26 people for interrupting the meeting or blocking the hallway. Republicans spent the length of the meeting insisting the cuts, which are part of the legislation encompassing President Donald Trump's biggest domestic policy goals, would preserve Medicaid for the people who really need it, especially those with disabilities. 'Our priority remains the same: strengthen and sustain Medicaid for those whom the program was intended to serve: expectant mothers, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly,' committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said in his opening statement. But the disabled people who came to protest Tuesday disagreed and were worried they could lose their benefits despite what Republicans say. The Congressional Budget Office has said the bill's various provisions affecting both Medicaid and subsidies for private health insurance would result in at least 8.6 million fewer Americans having health insurance by 2034, saving the government more than $700 billion on health costs. The savings would result from a combination of changes, including state funding reductions, new 'work requirements' limiting benefits for unemployed able-bodied adults, and increased eligibility checks on those who got Medicaid coverage thanks to the 2010 Affordable Care Act expansion, commonly known as Obamacare. People with disabilities would be exempt from the work requirements, as well as from increased eligibility checks. Disabled people and their advocates said, however, that they could be harmed by the overall reduction in federal Medicaid spending and increased pressure on states to cut costs and scrutinize enrollees. Kim Musheno, a Medicaid expert with The Arc of the United States, a civil rights organization for people with disabilities, said increased eligibility checks and work requirements are intended to push people off Medicaid. 'It's just another way of reducing people on Medicaid because they might miss the mail, or, you know, they might fill out the form wrong,' Musheno said. 'All of these proposals are for one reason: to make savings. Savings are cuts.' Julie Farrar, 56, traveled from Albany, New York, to attend Tuesday's hearing as part of National ADAPT, a group advocating for Medicaid funding for long-term services and supports (LTSS). Many people with disabilities rely on in-home caregivers funded by LTSS programs for help with daily tasks, including things like changing, toileting and getting ready for work. Farrar uses a wheelchair and receives daily assistance in her home. 'All of the people here are on Medicaid, all of the people here are fighting for our lives,' Farrar said. 'Some of the people that I know will die without their home care services.' If states face funding pressures as a result of federal cuts, they might scrutinize their home-based services, as those make up a significant portion of overall Medicaid costs but often aren't required under federal law, said Anthony Wright, director of Families USA, a nonprofit consumer health advocacy group. 'It's not like the states want to cut home and community based services, but if there is a [federal] cut of a significant size, then they will be forced to look at cutting anything that's not nailed down,' Wright said. As far as Republicans in Congress are concerned, if a state decided to cut services as a result of the changes under consideration, it would be the state's decision — not theirs. One provision of the bill would reduce federal funding for states that use their own money to provide Medicaid services to the children of undocumented immigrants. If states want to lose that funding, that's their choice. As House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) put it Wednesday, 'We're not cutting Medicaid.' That's why eligibility checks and work requirements have been some of the least controversial proposals for both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program among Republicans. Their thinking is that if someone doesn't get a job or can't prove they meet the requirements, either that person isn't eligible or has made their own personal decision to become ineligible. 'The intention is to make sure that people that aren't eligible are no longer on the program, and that's not out of mean-spiritedness. It's out of a desire to preserve the program for the people that are eligible,' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told HuffPost. There's not much question that increased paperwork can lead to reduced enrollment. When the federal government first allowed states to experiment with limits on benefits for able-bodied adults, the work requirement in Arkansas led to reduced enrollment partly because of paperwork issues, confusion over the rules and the state's own failure to contact affected enrollees. Guthrie said Republicans have no interest in following the Arkansas example. 'We don't want people to lose Medicaid, who are eligible for Medicaid, because they don't fill out the paperwork,' the committee chair said, noting that the bill doesn't have the kind of monthly compliance checking that Arkansas tried. Amid disruptions from disabled activists on Tuesday, Guthrie and other Republicans said Democrats were lying about what's in the bill, especially the potential impact of the Medicaid changes on people with disabilities. 'I am sorry that so many people in the media and on the left have lied to you about what's in this bill,' Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said. 'That's not fair for people to be lied to and to be scared, on purpose, for political reasons.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘You Will Kill Me': Disabled People Call BS On Republicans' Medicaid Cuts
WASHINGTON — Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) was in the middle of explaining why vulnerable Americans wouldn't lose benefits as a result of the GOP's proposed changes to Medicaid when a scream interrupted him. 'You will kill me,' a woman in the audience of the House Energy and Commerce Committee room yelled. She added in a loud voice that she is HIV-positive and her drugs cost $10,000 a month. Palmer waited silently as police pulled and pushed her wheelchair from the room. Americans with disabilities, many in wheelchairs, were an overwhelming presence at the committee meeting where Republicans jump-started the process of passing legislation with significant cuts to Medicaid, which covers health care costs for 70 million Americans. Police arrested 26 people for interrupting the meeting or blocking the hallway. Republicans spent the length of the meeting insisting the cuts, which are part of the legislation encompassing President Donald Trump's biggest domestic policy goals, would preserve Medicaid for the people who really need it, especially those with disabilities. 'Our priority remains the same: strengthen and sustain Medicaid for those whom the program was intended to serve: expectant mothers, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly,' committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said in his opening statement. But the disabled people who came to protest Tuesday disagreed and were worried they could lose their benefits despite what Republicans say. The Congressional Budget Office has said the bill's various provisions affecting both Medicaid and subsidies for private health insurance would result in at least 8.6 million fewer Americans having health insurance by 2034, saving the government more than $700 billion on health costs. This woman yelled 'you will kill me!' at Rep Gary Palmer (R-Ala) after he said Republicans aren't targeting the disabled with their cuts. Bill doesn't target disabled beneficiaries but advocates they'll get caught up in more frequent eligibility checks, could lose benefits — Arthur Delaney 🇺🇸 (@ArthurDelaneyHP) May 13, 2025 The savings would result from a combination of changes, including state funding reductions, new 'work requirements' limiting benefits for unemployed able-bodied adults, and increased eligibility checks on those who got Medicaid coverage thanks to the 2010 Affordable Care Act expansion, commonly known as Obamacare. People with disabilities would be exempt from the work requirements, as well as from increased eligibility checks. Disabled people and their advocates said, however, that they could be harmed by the overall reduction in federal Medicaid spending and increased pressure on states to cut costs and scrutinize enrollees. Kim Musheno, a Medicaid expert with The Arc of the United States, a civil rights organization for people with disabilities, said increased eligibility checks and work requirements are intended to push people off Medicaid. 'It's just another way of reducing people on Medicaid because they might miss the mail, or, you know, they might fill out the form wrong,' Musheno said. 'All of these proposals are for one reason: to make savings. Savings are cuts.' Julie Farrar, 56, traveled from Albany, New York, to attend Tuesday's hearing as part of National ADAPT, a group advocating for Medicaid funding for long-term services and supports (LTSS). Many people with disabilities rely on in-home caregivers funded by LTSS programs for help with daily tasks, including things like changing, toileting and getting ready for work. Farrar uses a wheelchair and receives daily assistance in her home. 'All of the people here are on Medicaid, all of the people here are fighting for our lives,' Farrar said. 'Some of the people that I know will die without their home care services.' If states face funding pressures as a result of federal cuts, they might scrutinize their home-based services, as those make up a significant portion of overall Medicaid costs but often aren't required under federal law, said Anthony Wright, director of Families USA, a nonprofit consumer health advocacy group. 'It's not like the states want to cut home and community based services, but if there is a [federal] cut of a significant size, then they will be forced to look at cutting anything that's not nailed down,' Wright said. As far as Republicans in Congress are concerned, if a state decided to cut services as a result of the changes under consideration, it would be the state's decision — not theirs. One provision of the bill would reduce federal funding for states that use their own money to provide Medicaid services to the children of undocumented immigrants. If states want to lose that funding, that's their choice. As House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) put it Wednesday, 'We're not cutting Medicaid.' That's why eligibility checks and work requirements have been some of the least controversial proposals for both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program among Republicans. Their thinking is that if someone doesn't get a job or can't prove they meet the requirements, either that person isn't eligible or has made their own personal decision to become ineligible. 'The intention is to make sure that people that aren't eligible are no longer on the program, and that's not out of mean-spiritedness. It's out of a desire to preserve the program for the people that are eligible,' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told HuffPost. There's not much question that increased paperwork can lead to reduced enrollment. When the federal government first allowed states to experiment with limits on benefits for able-bodied adults, the work requirement in Arkansas led to reduced enrollment partly because of paperwork issues, confusion over the rules and the state's own failure to contact affected enrollees. Guthrie said Republicans have no interest in following the Arkansas example. 'We don't want people to lose Medicaid, who are eligible for Medicaid, because they don't fill out the paperwork,' the committee chair said, noting that the bill doesn't have the kind of monthly compliance checking that Arkansas tried. Amid disruptions from disabled activists on Tuesday, Guthrie and other Republicans said Democrats were lying about what's in the bill, especially the potential impact of the Medicaid changes on people with disabilities. 'I am sorry that so many people in the media and on the left have lied to you about what's in this bill,' Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said. 'That's not fair for people to be lied to and to be scared, on purpose, for political reasons.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Uproar as disability rights protesters in wheelchairs dragged out of House Medicaid meeting: ‘You're going to kill me!'
Disability rights protesters in wheelchairs clashed with Republican lawmakers Tuesday as they sought to discuss and debate their sprawling legislation on Medicaid, which led to police dragging advocates out. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which governs Medicaid, began its 'mark up' for its part of the legislation that Republicans have taken to calling 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.' At one point, one advocate shouted at Republican lawmakers saying: 'You will kill me!' As Capitol Police escorted the protester out, she shouted: 'Bulls***! Liar!' Throughout the hearing disability rights activists interrupted discussions to protest the cuts. Under the House Budget resolution that passed earlier this year, the House has to find $1.5 trillion in spending reductions to unlock $4.5 trillion worth of tax cuts. If Republicans fail to cut $2 trillion worth of spending, the amount of money left for tax cuts will be reduced by the difference between $2 trillion and the final number of savings. Republicans claimed throughout the hearing that the legislation would not hurt people with disabilities. Under the bill, able-bodied adults without dependents must engage in at least 80 hours of either work, community service or education to be eligible for Medicaid. Republican Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama pushed back against accusations that people with disabilities would lose their Medicaid coverage. 'The people who are legally eligible for Medicaid are not going to lose their Medicaid,' he insisted. 'We've all got family members, friends, we've got people in our districts, we all know these stories, people that are depending on Medicaid, and you will not lose your Medicaid.' But the protester interrupted Palmer, identifying herself as from Youngstown, Ohio and said that her drugs cost $10,000 a month. Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas tried to tamp down criticism as people with disabilities expressed fear that they might lose their coverage. 'Here's my apology to you: I am sorry that people lie to you, I am sorry that so many people in the media and the left have lied to you,' he said. Many Republicans have said that the legislation would only cut coverage for able-bodied men, and specifically focused on undocumented immigrants. But disability advocates say that the legislation's requirements to have states determine if patients are eligible for Medicaid every six months could cause some to lose benefits. 'There are lots of people with disabilities ... who may not meet the specific social security definition, but who absolutely do have disabilities,' Katy Neas, the CEO of the Arc, told The Independent. Neas also said that the cuts to Medicaid could wind up causing states to cut optional programs such as Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, which allows for people to stay in their homes rather than in nursing homes. Because it's an optional program, it has long waiting lists to apply, varying by state 'The choice is to go in an institution, or, more likely, people will just be put out, and their families will do the best they can for them, but isn't going to be sufficient for what they need,' she said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who joined the committee this Congress, praised the activists for their protests. 'First and foremost, I think that they have demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage and bravery putting themselves on the line in order to defend Medicaid for people across the country, and the Affordable Care Act,' she told The Independent. She feared that the 'able-bodied' requirement might exclude some people who desperately need Medicaid. 'Does it include people with varying degrees of mental health diagnoses?' she asked. Ocasio-Cortez also pointed out that the legislation would also roll back a rule from the Biden administration requiring that a minimum number of staff work at nursing homes. 'This is definitely going to affect people who rely on nursing homes, the staffing that happens in nursing homes, this is all in the text of the bill, and on top of that, including people who are eligible and covered by Medicaid,' she said. During the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out how many people in areas – including those represented by Republicans – depend on Medicaid. Rep. Greg Landsman, a moderate Democrat from Ohio, questioned why people needed to be dragged out from the hearing. 'It seems strange that folks in wheelchairs would be arrested,' he said. 'Quite frankly, it's a life or death situation for them. I understand that they can't disrupt a proceeding, so they need to be removed. But why arrested?' Numerous House committees are engaged in marathon markups of their parts of the bill. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, hope to pass the bill that ramps up spending for immigration enforcement at the Mexican border and boosts oil exploration while also extending the 2017 tax cuts that Trump signed in 2017. But the bill will face stiff opposition in the Senate, where many Republicans, including allies of the president, worry about steep cuts to Medicaid.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'You Will Kill Me': Protester Dragged Out as GOP Debates Medicaid Cuts
Republicans contending with the prospective damage of their Medicaid cuts have decided to simply brush the protests of their constituents as 'misinformation.' Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee went back and forth Tuesday on who exactly would be affected if conservative lawmakers trudged forward with $880 billion in cuts to the public health insurance coverage. At one point, a wheelchair-bound protester identifying herself as from Youngstown, Ohio, interrupted Alabama Representative Gary Palmer to express her fears. 'You will kill me, I'm HIV-positive,' she shouted as security rolled her out. 'I have survived on my meds that are $10,000 a month.' 'If you [got] all these cuts, how the hell would I be able to shop at your store?' she added. But Palmer was unswayed, quickly throwing aside her plea for help. 'It's unfortunate that people are so enraged by the misinformation that they've been given,' he said after the protester had been removed from the room. 'It's a commentary on this Congress and how we treat people.' The Republican bill would kick 8.6 million Americans off of Medicaid over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (Republicans offered their own numbers, revealing shortly before the Committee meeting was scheduled to begin that at least 7.6 million Americans would be affected.) Republicans claim that the bulk of people who would be booted off the program include undocumented immigrants and non-disabled, jobless Americans. That could happen by way of adding a work requirement to Medicaid, which would ask recipients to navigate work-reporting and verification systems on a monthly basis—a detail that would require significant federal funding. The plans would also negate coverage for individuals who find themselves temporarily unemployed, such as those who were recently fired or laid off. But critics of the Republican measure argue that eligible Medicaid recipients could get strung up in these increasingly frequent eligibility checks, potentially lapsing their coverage and benefits. A February report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that introducing work requirements to the insurance program could strip upwards of 36 million Americans of their health coverage—half of Medicaid's 72 million enrollees. Republicans have spent months attempting to pencil out an $880 billion cut to the program in order to extend Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts for corporations and billionaires in an effort to make the tax cuts' estimated $6.8 trillion deficit hike more palatable to their base. 'Republicans are trying to say this is kind of a moderate bill,' Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone told reporters Monday. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.
