4 The Hampton Roads Messenger


What I learned about Steph Curry while walking with him at the Ellie Mae Classic


Editorial


last year was his golf bag because he had to add another championship trophy on it. Last year his bag only displayed two trophies . Te second thing I discovered


BY ANGELA JONES I had an opportunity to walk


inside the ropes with Steph Curry recently while he played in the Ellie Mae Classic on the Web.com Tour at TCP Stonebrae in Hayward, California. Te NBA’s first unanimous MVP


winner in history shot an impressive 71 in the first round this year, aſter a 74 – 74 showing on Tursday and Friday in the same tournament last year. Curry started the first round this


year on the 10th hole. Tat is the same hole where his tee shot ended up in a cup that was in a golf cart, last year. Tis year, his tee on shot landed near a sprinkler head prompting Curry to exclaim in jest,


without getting a ruling.” “Awesome day,” is how Curry


summed up his play aſter finishing the round. “Obviously I came in with high expectations based on how I played last year. We just wanted to play better.


I


started off the round and I got a little rattled on the back nine (he started on the back nine). Ten, going into the front nine on No. 2, a couple three putts and I was able to right the ship from there.” “I think I hit every green on the


back almost and gave myself plenty of opportunities, which was pretty cool. I just have to make couple more putts tomorrow and see what happens, but I think the way I was able to turn it around aſter being 3-over through my first 11 holes was pretty solid.” Te lead in the tournament, aſter


the first round, was shared by three players. Adam Long, Seth Reaves and Samuel Del Val all scored 63 to finish 7-under par. For the second round, Curry


was again paired with Web.com Tour winners Martin Trainer and Cameron Champ. Although he did not play as well in round 2, walking with him on the course revealed a great deal about the type of person he is and what makes him such an amazing athlete. Te first thing I noticed about


Curry, who recently welcomed his third child


into the world about a


month before the tournament, is how important family is to him and how important he is to his family. Both his mother and his father came to the tournament to watch him play. Tey reside in North Carolina. His father former NBA player, Dell Curry, said that Steph is a better basketball player and golfer than he is. He also revealed that the only new piece of equipment that he believed Steph acquired since


about Curry while walking inside the ropes with him was that he likes to have fun. Although his game play was not going well, he lightened the mood while waiting for the players ahead of him to clear the hole. He could oſten be seen dancing while waiting for his group’s turn to tee off. One cannot help but notice commitment


that Curry takes


seriously. He is committed to the Warriors organization and takes every opportunity to show his commitment. Whether giving it his all on the basketball court during a championship game or playing in a golf tournament to help raise money for the Warriors Foundation, his commitment does not waiver. Aside from making people laugh


“I can’t play this hole


with is dance moves, Steph Curry does not shy away from an opportunity to crack a joke. During the press conference aſter the second round of the Ellie Mae Classic he did not miss an opportunity to slip in a couple of wise cracks. When asked how much time he had to prepare for the tournament since his team had recently won the NBA Championship and he just had a new addition to his family, Steph’s response made the press gathered around chuckle. “...Not as much as I would want to just knowing my wife had our third baby very recently... maybe one of these days I wont have a baby in the summer and I'll know what the schedule is between the finals and this tournament...”


Finally, one of the most


noticeable things about Steph Curry is his generosity. Whenever he has an opportunity to give, he does. Whether he is giving his autograph to a kid, giving a kind word about the head of Warriors


speech or money to a family battling cancer, his generosity seems to know no bounds. Steph Curry announced during the tournament that he would be donating $25,000 to the GoFundMe page of Scott Harrington, a fellow golfer, and his wife Jenn, to help with medical bills as she fights Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Curry


said he called


Harrington earlier to tell him about the donation: “It was a good conversation this morning that I had with him. just to let him know how, obviously everybody out here on the Tour, and everybody I’ve talked to that knows him, says so many great things about him and his family, and are thinking about him during the tough time right now.”


Although Steph Curry did not


play well during the second round of the Ellie Mae Classic, shooting an 86, anyone watching, received an unforgettable lesson about family, fun, commitment, humor and generosity from one of the greatest men to ever play basketball or golf.


Established 2006 A. J. Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Sarah Parks, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


Sales and Information:


info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


Volume 12 Number 12 Town Hall FROM PAGE 3 -Te increase in the number of


uninsured people relative to the number projected under current law would reach 19 million in 2020 and 23 million in 2026.


-People who are less healthy


(including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive nongroup health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all…


-Insurance, on average, would pay


for a smaller proportion of health care costs


Representative Scott said that by


every measure the House’s version of Trumpcare is worse than current law. He said there would be millions without coverage and all versions would severely limit coverage of essential health benefits. Insurers would also again be able to put annual and lifetime caps on coverage, including in large employer plans.


By eviscerating the ACA’s


guaranteed comprehensive essential health benefits package, under various versions of Trumpcare insurers could charge extra for the coverage that people with preexisting conditions need, such as coverage for chemotherapy. Many versions sought to imposes an “age tax” on older Americans between the ages of 50 and 64. Under the House-passed bill, CBO projected that premiums for low-income, older enrollees could go up 850%. All else being equal in the


economy, Trumpcare could


estimates result


showed that in 1 to 1.5


million fewer jobs, hurting workers and the economy. Billions in tax breaks to the rich and corporations. For example, the House-passed bill provided,


on


average, those making more than $1 million a year with a tax cut of $50,000 a year.


By contrast the Senate considered


three versions: 1) Obamacare Repeal


security during his MVP Reconciliation Act 2) of 2017 (repeal


only)–would have repealed major pieces of the ACA without any replacement


Better Care Reconciliation


Act (repeal and replace) –would have repealed the ACA and made major changes to the health system


3) Te Healthcare Freedom Act


of 2017 (“skinny repeal”) –a last resort effort that would have repealed only a few provisions of the ACA, including the mandates


None garnered enough support to pass. Congressman Scott says while


repeal has failed, there has certainly been plenty of ACA sabotage. On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order directing agencies to take all legal steps to undermine the ACA. In the fall of 2017, the Trump Administration shut down HealthCare. gov for 12 hours nearly every Sunday during open enrollment; outreach and advertising efforts were also cancelled. Trump cancelled cost-sharing reduction payments, which help reduce deductible sand copays for low-income Americans. Te Trump Administration issued rules to expand plans that bypass the ACA’s requirement to cover essential health benefits. Te Republican tax bill zeroed out the individual mandate penalty. Te Trump Administration has twice cut funding for navigators who help individuals enroll in coverage; navigator funding has now fallen more than 80 percent since 2016. Te Department


of Justice has decided to not defend the ACA’s protections for people with preexisting conditions.


Scott cited other efforts. On


February 28, 2018, Attorneys General from 20 states, led by the Texas Attorney General, filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court seeking to strike down the entirety of the ACA. Te plaintiffs argue that the entire ACA is invalid because Congress zeroed out the individual mandate penalty. On June 7, 2018, the Trump Administration announced it will not defend the constitutional- ity of the ACA’s community rating and guarantee issue provisions that apply to the individual and small group markets (two provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from paying more). On July 26, 2018, a House resolution was introduced to allow the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Judiciary to intervene in the case. A similar resolution was introduced in the Senate.


Scott explained the short impact


of the Texas v. United States case is the administration’s failure to defend these critical protections creating chaos and uncertainty for insurers.


In


the long term, he says, invalidating these protections would once again allow insurers to charge the millions of Americans with preexisting conditions as much as they want or deny them coverage altogether.


Tis would cut


coverage dramatically and raise costs for everyone.


Te Congressman said the


sabotage efforts have resulted in significant impacts on Virginians: 1) Anthem on its Initial Decision in


2017 to Pull out of Virginia’s


Marketplace “Planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to . . . continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage.” And (2) Cigna on its 15 percent rate increase request for 2019 in Virginia “Te risk pool is significantly impacted by changes in. . . elimination of the Individual Mandate penalties and anticipated changes to regulations regarding Short Term Medical and Association Health Plan that will impact the Affordable Care Act risk pool.”.


Meanwhile, Congressman Scott


lauded Virginia’s move to expand Medicaid. He said it extends Medicaid for 400,000 Virginians, brings over $2 billion federal dollars back to the Commonwealth, saves the state more than $1 billion (e.g., expenditures on hospital


care for the poor), creates


more than 15,000 new jobs, and preserves rural hospitals.


Tax Cuts Moving on to the Tax Cuts and


Job Act, Congressman Scott pointed out


individuals and families but permanent for corporations.


the tax cuts are temporary for He said CBO


estimates these cuts will cost nearly $2 trillion over 10 years – this has increased since the initial $1.5 trillion estimate. Moreover, he adds, Speaker Ryan and the Tax Foundation estimate the creation of only 339,000 jobs (that is $4.1 million per job).


Te wealthiest Virginia taxpayers


receive the largest average tax cuts while lower-income groups face tax hikes. He adds income gains at the top


TOWN HALL PAGE 10


September 2018


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