Highlights The HHS-OIG released a favorable opinion regarding a customer loyalty program in which members earn redeemable points for future product purchases and tiered benefits by purchasing company products The “discount” safe harbor to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) does not apply to the proposed arrangement’s loyalty program The proposed arrangement includes factors, the agency said, that limit risk under the AKS and the civil monetary penalty laws (CMP) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) recently released Advisory Opinion No. 24-10 , a favorable opinion regarding the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and civil monetary penalty laws (CMP) against beneficiary inducements as applied to a customer loyalty program. The program, which involves redeemable points and tiered benefits based on product purchases, was offered by a distributor that provides dental and laboratory supplies, equipment and technology, repair services and business support services to office-based dental practitioners. The distributor operates a customer loyalty program in which members earn points on dental supply purchases, which can then be redeemed on future purchases. Redeeming points reduces the price of those future purchases. The membership is divided into tier levels. The tiers are designated based on members’ annual spending levels, and each tier provides additional offerings and promotions. According to the opinion, the proposed arrangement expands the existing customer loyalty program beyond the company’s dental division. Members can earn points on purchases from the company’s dental division and some of its other subsidiaries. The subsidiaries offer specialty dental services and provide general business software and financial services. The members can earn points on items and services that are both reimbursable and non-reimbursable by federal health care programs. The proposal still includes the tiered membership levels, with benefits and discounts increasing with each tier level. HHS-OIG’s Analysis The HHS-OIG concluded both parts of the proposed arrangement implicated the AKS and that neither the points program nor the tier benefits are protected by the “discount” safe harbor to the AKS. However, because the proposed program has safeguards designed to mitigate the risk of fraud and abuse, the HHS-OIG would not impose sanctions against the distributor of dental supplies. The HHS-OIG analyzed the redeemable points and tier benefits separately. The agency found the points implicated the AKS, but determined they created little risk of fraud and abuse because of the following factors: Each point awarded to members is of a low dollar value ($0.005). As a result, there is minimal risk of unfairly steering members to the company. The program includes features that prevent influencing members to purchase particular items or services. All qualifying purchases earn points in the same way, so there is no incentive for members to purchase any certain product. The program prevents members from using their points to cover more than 50 percent of the purchase price. This safeguard prevents against the provision of free items in exchange for purchases of federally reimbursable items. There are protections in place that ensure members use their points only for the purchase of redeemable products. Members cannot redeem points for cash, points have no value if they are not redeemed, and points are not transferable to other members or non-member customers. With respect to the tiered benefits, the HHS-OIG similarly found that the benefits implicated the AKS, but that they posed little risk of fraud and abuse due to the following factors: The types of benefits offered limit the risk of unfair competition and improper steering of customers to the company. The benefits relate to the company’s customer service offerings, such as priority service and extended labor warranties, instead of unrelated rewards like concert and sport tickets. The benefits are structured so that they are unlikely to cause overutilization or corrupt medical decision making. When members spend more on company products, they earn more benefits, which are comprised of support services for those products. The benefits design limits the risk that certain members or types of purchases would be selectively rewarded. The tiered benefits are based on objective criteria set in advance and shared with members. The HHS-OIG determined the proposed arrangement presented a low risk of fraud and abuse because of the safeguards that mitigate the risk of steering customers to the company and improperly influencing medical decision-making. Key Takeaways This advisory opinion, while highly fact-specific, highlights an example of a customer loyalty program that implicates the AKS and CMP, but does not warrant sanctions due to sufficient safeguards that mitigate risk of fraud and abuse. Suppliers, wholesalers, and distributors may wish to revisit their customer loyalty awards program to ensure compliance with the advisory opinion.
Introduction In the world of AI, new tools emerge every day. It is not always easy to determine whether they can be integrated into our daily lives to enhance them or if they’re simply unnecessary. Today we are taking a look at a rising category: AI summarization tools. Let’s dive deep into the subject and evaluate AI summarization’s usefulness. What is AI Summarization? AI-powered summarization refers to the use of artificial intelligence to obtain only key insights from long-form content. There are two types of AI summaries: abstractive and extractive. On one hand, extractive summarization selects and presents existing key points from the content. On the other hand, abstractive summarization offers a paraphrased, condensed version of the content. Why AI Summarization is Gaining Popularity Let’s see some of the reasons behind the rise of AI summarization’s popularity: Let’s dive into the main benefits of using AI summarizers: Limitations of AI Summarization Now that we explored the benefits of AI summarization, let’s have a look at the downsides of it: Use Cases of AI Summarization Many users can benefit from AI summarization, let’s review some use cases. There are many educational applications of AI summarization. Students, for example, can summarize their notes. This allows them to quickly extract the most important information, permitting easier information retention. Professors and researchers can also benefit from AI summarization tools. They can broaden their sources of information with limited effort. While this category might be more reluctant to use AI, we should not refrain from using AI in media and journalism. By summarizing articles, interviews, reports, or press releases, AI summarizers provide access to a wealth of information. They can also help to break language barriers. AI summarization can be used as a competitive advantage and productivity booster. By summarizing meeting notes, contracts, and long reports, AI tools help busy professionals save valuable time. While AI summarizers can not help with the creativity needed in these fields, they can help with inspiration. For example, with free to use ReadPartner YouTube Summarizer we can get the most important information from a long video, letting ourselves get inspired and saving time for more creation. Human vs. AI Summarization Humans will always have the advantage of emotional intelligence and creativity. This includes cultural and emotional interpretation, which AI cannot yet provide. On the other side, AI summarization stands out with its speed, scalability, and cost-efficiency. When comparing human and AI summarization it is important to analyze our needs. For standardized summaries, some AI tools are doing a great job. When it comes to more sensitive topics or when creativity is needed, it is still better to use the human brain. FAQ AI summarization tools are reliable for many tasks, especially when dealing with straightforward or factual content. However, their reliability depends on the quality of their training data and the complexity of the content. AI summarization saves time by quickly condensing large amounts of information, enhances productivity by allowing users to focus on analysis and decision-making, improves accessibility for non-experts, and delivers consistent results free from human bias. Yes. But, It depends on the tool. Some are format-specific, while others, like ReadPartner, are versatile and can summarize multiple content types, including YouTube videos, PDFs, articles, and websites. Conclusion AI summarizers are great time-saving tools, and we can not say they are useless. However, they can sometimes misrepresent information or miss important nuances. In conclusion, as is often the case, when it comes to AI summarization, it is important to choose our tools carefully and keep a critical eye. That said, it would be a missed opportunity to not use this technology to reclaim valuable time.
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Icy conditions weathered Thanksgiving travelers and Mizzou Tiger fans as the first snowfall of the year landed in Columbia on Saturday. Roughly 3.2 inches of snow fell in Columbia from roughly 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service . A 17-person crew was on call from the Columbia Public Works Department during the snowfall to address the buildup, John Ogan, a spokesperson for the Public Works Department, said in an email to the Missourian. Crews continued cleanup through the weekend. Ogan said that as of Monday, all roads were in passable condition. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 362 crashes and four fatalities across the state between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. One fatal crash occurred in the westbound lane of Interstate 70 in Columbia on Saturday morning, according to the Highway Patrol, which temporarily blocked both westbound lanes. Ogan also said that increased traffic from the Mizzou football game likely contributed to road congestion in Columbia on Saturday, and noted that the Public Works Department encouraged attendees to use the free Go COMO shuttles to reach the stadium. The conditions over the weekend met the city's expectations, Ogan said. "We don't control Mother Nature, but what we do control is how we plan for it and how we respond to it with the personnel and resources available to address the situation by adopted policy," Ogan said. Some Mizzou football fans took to social media to share their experience with the ice and snow at the stadium. Douglas Edgar commented under Mizzou Athletics' Facebook post that he saw several people slip on the stairs during the Saturday game. Photos were posted by Edgar that showcased the stairs coated in ice and snow. Eric Maze, public relations manager at MU Health Care, wrote in an email that at least one patient was treated at University Hospital on Saturday night related to a weather-related fall at the football game.TORONTO, Dec. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Purpose Investments Inc. ("Purpose”) today announced the final annual distributions of income and capital gains for its open-end exchange-traded funds structured as mutual fund trusts (the "Funds”) with a December 15, 2024 tax year-end. The distributions represent income earned and capital gains realized by the Funds during the year. Details of the per unit distribution amounts are as follows: Final Annual Distributions of Income Dec 19, 2024 (Cash or Notional) US $ 6.16 Final Annual Capital Gains - Notional Distributions (Cash or Notional) - ETF Units US $ 8.47 US $ 3.84 Purpose confirms that the notional capital gain distributions will be applied to ETF holders of record as at the close of business on December 23, 2024 . The ex-distribution date for the notional capital gain distributions will be December 23, 2024. Final Annual Capital Gains - Cash Distributions (Cash or Notional) The actual breakdown of taxable amounts of reinvested and cash distributions for 2024 tax year, including tax factor allocations, will be reported to the brokers through CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. in early 2025. As an update to the press release issued on November 27, 2024, Purpose confirms that Apple (AAPL) Yield Shares Purpose ETF, Amazon (AMZN) Yield Shares Purpose ETF, NVIDIA (NVDA) Yield Shares Purpose ETF, and Microsoft (MSFT) Yield Shares Purpose ETF will not declare a special annual distribution in 2024. Purpose expects to announce the final year-end distributions for Purpose High Interest Savings Fund - ETF Units, Purpose US Cash Fund - ETF Units, Purpose Cash Management Fund - ETF Units, and Purpose USD Cash Management Fund - ETF Units on or about December 31, 2024, if necessary. Purpose expects to announce the final annual capital gain distributions for Purpose Fund Corp. and Big Banc Split Corp. on or about January 24, 2025, if necessary. Shareholders of record on January 30, 2025 will receive the annual capital gains distributions on February 5, 2025, and such capital gains will be applicable for the 2025 tax year. The final year-end capital gains distributions for these funds will be paid in cash. Purpose confirms that Purpose Mutual Funds Limited funds will not declare annual capital gain distributions for the 2024 tax year. About Purpose Investments Purpose Investments is an asset management company with more than $21 billion under management. Purpose Investments has an unrelenting focus on client-centric innovation, and offers a range of managed and quantitative investment products. Purpose Investments is led by well-known entrepreneur Som Seif and is a division of Purpose Unlimited, an independent technology-driven financial services company. For further information please contact: Keera Hart [email protected] 905-580-1257 Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment fund investments. Please read the prospectus and other disclosure documents before investing. Investment funds are not covered by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government deposit insurer. There can be no assurance that the full amount of your investment in a fund will be returned to you. If the securities are purchased or sold on a stock exchange, you may pay more or receive less than the current net asset value. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy the securities referred to herein. This press release is not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to US news wire services.DENVER — Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert broke new ground over the weekend when she became the first sitting member of Congress to offer personalized messages for sale — starting at $250 — through the video platform Cameo . The Windsor Republican, who won election to a new congressional seat this month after moving across the state, started the account Saturday. The website allows customers to buy personalized video messages from celebrities. On Monday morning, Boebert advertised her messages starting at $250, though she stopped taking requests by 10:45 a.m. mountain time. “Whether you or someone you know needs an America-first pep talk, if you want to surprise friends or family with a message for a special day, or if you just want to know my thoughts on whatever’s on your mind, Cameo is the place to connect with me,” Boebert says in an introductory video. Brandon Kazimer, a Cameo spokesperson, confirmed that the account belonged to Boebert. Boebert’s office declined to comment Monday. Kazimer said she’s the first sitting member of Congress to sign up for the service as talent. At least two other former members of Congress, George Santos of New York and Matt Gaetz of Florida, have sold videos on the platform. Santos joined Cameo soon after he was expelled from Congress last year over allegations he exploited office for personal financial gain. Gaetz, who is a friend of Boebert’s, joined the service Friday, days after he withdrew his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be the U.S. attorney general following allegations that he paid a teenage girl for sex. Boebert does not appear to have advertised the service on her other social media accounts on X or Facebook. Congressional rules will limit how much Boebert can earn from the videos. In 2023, members were limited to making $31,815 in outside income beyond their annual $174,000 salaries. She will have to report any earnings from Cameo on her annual disclosures. The law also prohibits people from using their public office to make outside money, said Kedric Payne, a vice president and senior director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center. Ultimately, the restriction is meant to give voters confidence that elected officials aren’t using public office for personal gain — or putting that gain ahead of their public service. Boebert describes herself on Cameo as “Not your typical Colorado Republican politician. Jesus loving, Constitutionalist, America first, freedom fighter.” An earlier version of her Cameo page listed Boebert as a politician and categorized her as a political commentator, but it was updated to list her under the influencers category. Because she doesn’t use her title or appear to use other facets of her public job for the videos, such as filming in her congressional office, “that should take away any concern she’s trying to use her public job for personal gain,” Payne said. He added that the limit on outside income also anticipates these kinds of problems by limiting the incentive for members to spend more effort on outside business ventures than their public service. But, he noted, people can cross that line quickly if it’s not clear if they’re acting in their public or private capacity. The earned income that’s subject to the annual cap is considered separate from passive income made through things like stock market investments, Payne said, because it is actively made by selling goods and services. “We’ll be watching to see if this becomes a trend,” Payne said of the Cameo side work. “If this is just a one-off where someone does this for a month or so, that’s one thing — but if it becomes a trend, where members of Congress are trying to act as influencers and get paid, that could point to a bigger problem.” ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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