American Morning
Unemployment check extensions are coming
By Christine Romans
The president today will sign an extension in unemployment benefits. Nationwide, it will be 14 more weeks for the jobless.
If you recently ran out of benefits, you can reapply for the extension. If you live in a high-unemployment state, with a jobless rate above 8.5%, you are eligible for 20 more weeks of jobless checks.
Many of you have asked if your state qualifies for 14 or 20 more weeks. Here are those high-unemployment states:
AL, AZ, CA, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MA, MI, MO, MS, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, WA, WV. Also, Washington, D.C.
Ian's Law aims to close health insurance loophole
By Jim Acosta
It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while we get to do a story that has a real life-changing impact on somebody's life. Ian Pearl is one of those stories. He's the disabled man we profiled last month. Living on a respirator with muscular dystrophy, he was just weeks away from losing his health insurance.
His insurance company, Guardian, had canceled his coverage. Guardian had found a loophole in New York state law that allowed the company to drop his coverage as part of a slew of policies it had decided to dump. The Pearl family's lawyer showed us a Guardian company e-mail that had referred to Ian's policy as one of the "dogs." It was a reference to the fact that Ian's care costs a million dollars a year.
Well, one day after the story aired, the company reversed itself, apologized, and restored Ian's policy.
But the story doesn't end there. New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman has now announced legislation called "Ian's Law," which seeks to close that insurance loophole.
Because of Ian's condition, he couldn't make it to the news conference. But he appeared via video conference and announced his intention to see this law passed across the country and potentially on a national level.
Watch Ian speak at the news conference
One thing we didn't get to mention in our piece is that as a kid, Ian was a poster child for people with muscular dystrophy. He later became president of his high school.
Now Ian is a spokesman and leader once again, fighting for health care reforms that protect the disabled from a system that sometimes fails to safeguard this country's most vulnerable people.
Related: Insurance company does an about-face
Will detainees get H1N1 shots before American soldiers?
Those on the front lines are first in line for the H1N1 vaccine that began arriving for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan this week.
But there's not enough.
The Pentagon is still taking heat for a plan to give terror suspects the shots. Our Barbara Starr has the latest developments from the Pentagon.
Dems worried about defecting independents
Political heartburn. After two big election night losses in New Jersey and Virginia, some Democrats are beginning to wonder if their party is out of step with the American people.
Republicans won in both states Tuesday night thanks in large part to independent voters – the same independent voters who helped sweep Barack Obama into the White House just one year ago. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports.
Sr. WH Adviser Jarrett also Obama's close friend
So what's it like when one of your closest friends is also your boss – and the president of the United States?
That's life for Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama. Suzanne Malveaux has part four of our AM original series, "The Presidential Brain Trust."
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