Masonic Grant: CLOSED

"You won't understand the Masonic grant until you do it," everyone told me.

Everyone was right. Hundreds of applications later, I have clawed my way out of the stack to tell you that the grant is closed and no longer accepting routine applications. (It actually closed in March, according to deadlines.) People in dire straits (aka 'exceptional circumstances') can still apply for urgent situations, but everybody else has to wait until the next grant cycle. I won't hang on to people's applications until then, because I did that last year and it didn't end well.

In Medicare news! The Senate has approved a bill that changes how Medicare pays doctors. Apparently doctors will now be paid according to the quality of their service, not the quantity of it. Community health centers also recieved more funding, yay! And the Children's Health Insurance Program was extended by two years, which: excellent. According to Medicare Watch, "the bill also permanently funds the Qualified Individual (QI) program that helps low-income Medicare beneficiaries afford Part B premiums." (Oh, yeah, and it also approved our funding for the next couple of years as well.)