Teacher accused of molesting 20 student may have more victims, police say

This story has been corrected. See note below.

An Orange County investigation into a former Los Angeles elementary school teacher is being reopened after the man was charged with molesting a dozen students at a Wilmington grade school.

The earlier investigation into the relations between Robert Pimentel and four youths – one from Newport Beach, three from Long Beach – was dropped because of “insufficient evidence, lack of corroboration, problems with the availability of witnesses and other evidentiary issues," the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

But in light of Pimentel’s arrest, the case will now be forwarded to the Los Angeles County district attorney.

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County district attorney’s office, said prosecutors in L.A. had requested that they handle “all of our charges as well as their charges.” No details of the earlier Orange County investigation were made public.

Pimentel’s attorney, Richard Knickerbocker, said the former teacher is “absolutely innocent” and cautioned that the accusations are just that.

The Newport Beach resident and former youth soccer coach is being held on $12-million bail. He is charged with molesting a dozen elementary school students in 2011 and 2012, though Los Angeles police allege there are a total of 20 child victims and one adult.

Schroeder said Newport Beach detectives first submitted a case involving the four children in 2005 and that her office twice returned the case to police for further investigation. Ultimately, it was decided not to file charges, she said.

Pimentel volunteered for AYSO for six years as a referee and about one year as a coach in the Newport Beach area. He was suspended last March after he told the soccer organization that he was under investigation by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Pimentel coached boys and had a child who played youth soccer, said George Passantino, an AYSO spokesman.

Although neither the district nor law enforcement contacted AYSO at the time, Pimentel's volunteer privileges were suspended immediately after the league learned of the investigation, as is standard any time allegations arise, he said.

"AYSO takes this very, very seriously, and when any type of a concern of this sort comes up, it is addressed," Passantino said. "It's not casting judgment, but we're making sure those kids are safe. You've got 500,000 kids. That's a big responsibility, and we're proud of the reputation we have in that arena."

No players or parents have reported abuse by Pimentel to AYSO, but the league is encouraging players' parents to contact authorities if they have any relevant information.
In the statement, the league also said it is "prepared to work closely" with law enforcement, should that become necessary.

[Updated, Saturday, 1 p.m.: This story initially said that  Pimentel coached youth soccer for seven years. He volunteered for AYSO as a referee for six years and as a coach for about a year.]

ALSO:

Man is arrested on suspicion of twice evading CHP in pursuit

Secret jail tapes of Seal Beach murder suspect must be handed over

After several hours, burglary suspect climbs down from East L.A. roof

--Jill Cowan and Richard Winton

Photo: Robert Pimentel in court Thursday. Credit: Associated Press.

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Jihadists and Secular Activists Clash in Syrian Town

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The tensions had been simmering for months in the northern Syrian town of Saraqib. Civilian antigovernment activists had complained of rebel fighters needlessly destroying a milk factory and treating residents disrespectfully. A growing contingent of jihadist fighters from the ideologically extreme and militarily formidable Nusra Front was suspicious of the activists’ secular, nonviolent agenda.

On Thursday, mistrust erupted into confrontation. Masked men believed to be with Al Nusra raided the headquarters of two secular civilian grass-roots organizations — setting in motion one of the most dramatic tests yet of the makeshift system of local governance that civilians and fighters have established in Saraqib, a rebel-held town.

The dispute also tests the clout of jihadist fighters and the ability of civilian opposition groups to stand up to them. The increasingly prominent role of jihadist battalions on the battlefield in Syria worried the United States enough to blacklist Al Nusra last year as a terrorist organization, an effort to isolate it that may have backfired. The Syrian opposition is ambivalent about the group: while many antigovernment activists oppose its vision of an Islamic state and complain of attempts to enforce pious practices, its relatively steady arms supply and string of battleground victories have brought it respect.

The dispute in Saraqib began when a group of masked men raided two organizations run by local activists, a new cultural club and a social work office, the activists said. At the second office, where Danish journalists and two visiting female Syrian activists were staying, the men seized fliers advocating nonviolence, and ordered the group to leave town by sunrise, according to activists and one of the journalists, a filmmaker. The masked men were angry, the witnesses said, in part because the visiting Syrian activists were not covering their hair in accordance with the practice of many pious Muslims. The men also declared that they preferred foreign journalists entering the country to be men.

Northern Syria is socially conservative, and many people there, regardless of their feelings about extremist groups, might expect female visitors to cover their hair. One activist in the area said the Syrian women had upset people with their dress and behavior. The filmmaker, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said the women were respectful and came from a group called Waw al-Wasel that had produced an ethics guide for rebel fighters, quoting the Koran and other sources.

A number of Saraqib activists were enraged by the masked men’s interference with Syrian civilian activities. They denounced the fighters on social media. “Shabiha,” one activist, Ahmed Kaddour, called them in a Facebook post, using a term usually reserved for pro-government militias. But they also decided to fight back more concretely.

A contingent of local activists and 40 other residents went to the town’s court of Islamic law and filed a complaint. They insisted on holding accountable the local council, whose security committee the masked men claimed to represent, and the town’s military command, the Revolutionary Front of Saraqib. Both groups denied involvement and refused to confront the attackers. That further angered the activists, who said they had recognized the intruders as Nusra members and complained that the local council and military commanders were either sanctioning or ignoring abuse.

“We are currently waiting for the court to finish its investigation,” Assaad Kanjo, 21, a local activist with both Islamist and secular contacts, said in an interview via Skype. “We hold the Revolutionary Front of Saraqib responsible for the safety and well-being of all Syrian civilians and foreign and Arab journalists living in Saraqib.”

Members of Al Nusra later took a conciliatory tone, Mr. Kanjo said, sending mediators to the activists and calling for “extinguishing strife” and uniting against the government. Emboldened, the activists went a step further, demanding an official apology from the local council and the attackers’ brigade, and asking them to take disciplinary action against the attackers.

“I won’t put up with their intimidation tactics anymore,” said Iyas, a civil activist in Saraqib and the owner of the cultural club, who provided only his first name for safety reasons.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 26, 2013

An earlier version of this article misidentified the time of day that masked men set as a deadline for visiting Syrian activists to leave Saraqib. It was sunrise, not sunset.

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Smartphone 4Q sales rise 36 pct led by Samsung

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Smartphone shipments rose 36 percent worldwide in the fourth quarter as the sleek devices supplanted personal computers and other gadgets on holiday shopping lists, according to a report released Friday.

The findings from the research firm International Data Corp. are the latest sign of the technology upheaval being wrought by the growing popularity of smartphones that can perform a wide variety of tasks, including surfing the Web and taking high-quality photos.

Companies whose fortunes are tied to the PC industry have been particularly hard hit by the shift to smartphones and tablet computers.

While some smartphone models were in short supply during the holiday season, fourth-quarter PC shipments fell by 6 percent from the previous year, according to another IDC report released earlier this month.

IDC estimates 219 million smartphones were shipped during the final three months of last year. That compares with nearly 161 million in the same 2011 period. Smartphones accounted for about 45 percent of all mobile phone shipments in the fourth quarter, the highest percentage recorded by IDC.

Samsung Electronics Co. retained its bragging rights as the smartphone leader, shipping nearly 64 million devices for a 29 percent share of the global market.

Apple Inc. ranked second with nearly 48 million iPhones shipped during the fourth quarter, translating into a market share of 22 percent.

For all of 2012, IDC estimated nearly 713 million smartphones were shipped worldwide, a 44 percent increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, annual PC shipments fell 3 percent from 2011, IDC said. It was the first annual decline since 2001.

Entering 2012, Apple held a slight edge over Samsung in the smartphone market. But Samsung sprinted past Apple during the year as it introduced an array of models, most of which run on Google Inc.‘s free Android software. Samsung’s top-selling line, the Galaxy, boasts larger display screens than the iPhone and other features.

Apple alleges Samsung’s devices illegally ripped off the iPhone’s innovations. After a high-profile trial in federal court, a jury in San Jose, Calif. sided with some of the patent infringement claims last August and decided Samsung should pay more than $ 1 billion in damages. Samsung has been trying to overturn the verdict.

Lower-priced smartphones from Samsung and other device makers also have hurt Apple, whose slowing iPhone growth has contributed to a $ 250 billion decline in its market value since its stock price peaked in late September.

IDC says Huawei Technologies Ltd.‘s emphasis on less expensive handsets helped it become the third largest smartphone maker with a market share of 5 percent at the end of the fourth quarter.

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Ashton Kutcher Parties in Sundance After jOBS Premiere

Caught in the Act

01/26/2013 at 01:50 PM EST

Ashton Kutcher's much-hyped movie jOBS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, and the star was on hand – minus girlfriend Mila Kunis – for all the festivities.

Kutcher was one of the first to arrive at the official after party, hosted by Nur Khan Presents NK on Main Street for the cast and filmmakers and sponsored by Red Touch Media.

Kutcher was captivated by a floor-to-ceiling portrait of late Apple visionary Steve Jobs, whom Kutcher portrays in the film. Guests were quick to snap a photo of the actor admiring the subject of his role.

Without Kunis by his side, Kutcher very much remained a one-man guy, focusing his attention all night on his table of male friends and colleagues and posing for pictures with fans, according to an observer. The pride he takes in jOBS was palpable, as Kutcher was incredibly excited to chat about his film and role with all the guests who came up to greet him.

Co-star Ahna O'Reilly spent the evening in a very social mood, dancing to the beats of DJ Cash and catching up with co-star Josh Gad. Not to live down his "funny man" persona, Gad went into the evening entertaining all the guests and causing an uproar of laughter with Kutcher and O'Reilly while catching up about filming and their time at Sundance.


– Jennifer Garcia

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.

Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.

There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.

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CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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Nude woman hits nude fiance with car, CHP says

Authorities are investigating after a woman in San Bernardino County allegedly struck her fiance with a car. The California Highway Patrol said both were naked at the time of the Thursday incident.

CHP officials told KTLA News that the couple were in the parked car on Phelan Road in Phelan when Alberto Giovanni Bravo got out and walked in front of the vehicle. For reasons that are not clear, the woman, identified as 22-year-old Hesperia woman, got behind the wheel and ran into him.

Bravo was thrown onto the hood of the car and then tossed to the ground as the vehicle preceded to cross the road and run into a chain-link fence and some trees before coming to a stop.

The man was airlifted to a hospital and was said to be in serious condition. The woman, whose name was not released, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. She was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.

“Part of this investigation is of a sensitive nature and still under investigation,” a CHP officer told the Daily Press.

-- A Times staff writer

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Riots Mark Anniversary of Egyptian Revolt

CAIRO — Violence erupted across the country on Friday as Egyptians marked the second anniversary of their revolution with an outpouring of rage against the power of the Muslim Brotherhood.

At least seven people were killed in the canal city of Suez, state news media reported. More than 250 people were injured as protesters clashed with security forces around government facilities across the country, including the Interior Ministry headquarters, the state television building and the presidential palace in Cairo. And unidentified assailants attacked Muslim Brotherhood offices in several cities, including Cairo, the Delta town of Demanhour, and the canal town of Ismailia, where the group was founded 85 years ago.

The chaos was the clearest demonstration yet of the chasm of animosity and distrust dividing the Brotherhood and its opponents.

Although the Islamists of the Brotherhood have dominated elections since the ouster of the longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, two years ago, another broad segment of the population harbors deep suspicions of the group’s conservative ideology, hierarchical structure and insular ethos. Those doubts were redoubled last month when President Mohamed Morsi, with the Brotherhood’s political party, temporarily overruled the authority of the judiciary in order to ensure that his allies could push through an Islamist-backed constitution to a referendum despite the objection of other parties and the Coptic Christian Church.

It was also the latest confirmation that the Brotherhood had inherited not only Mr. Mubarak’s presidential palace, but also the blame for Egypt’s myriad problems.

On Friday, five months after Mr. Morsi took power from Egypt’s interim military rulers, the demonstrators’ main complaint was that the Islamists had failed to fulfill the social welfare and social justice demands of the original uprising. A banner in the center of the square called for the repeal of the Islamist-backed Constitution, passed in a referendum last month, which opponents say failed to enshrine ironclad guarantees of individual freedoms.

“The Egyptian people had so many dreams and the reality on the ground is, everything is still the same,” said Mohamed Adl, 41, a teacher who carried a sign with a handwritten poem accusing the Brotherhood of making “injustice the guard of our lives.”

Protesters at times seemed to be re-enacting scenes from the 18-day revolt in 2011 that toppled Mr. Mubarak. The loudest chants were recycled from the revolution — “Leave, leave” and “The people want the fall of the regime.” Others were adapted slightly to focus on the Islamist Brotherhood, calling for an end to “the rule by the supreme guide,” Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader.

By early afternoon in Cairo, a few dozen protesters at one corner of the square — many of them apparently teenagers — had begun to throw rocks over a cement barrier at security forces massed around the Interior Ministry building, resuming an intermittent battle that had begun the day before in anticipation of the anniversary. The security officers, as they typically do, threw back some of the rocks, and plumes of tear gas sailed overhead past a church steeple up the street.

State news media reported at around 3 p.m. that four people had been injured in the clashes with security forces near the square, in addition to 25 injured since the battle began the day before.

Osama Amir, 22, a student walking from the fight, said he did not know how it started or why. “People have lost confidence in the central security forces, so when there is a chance to beat them up, we will beat them up,” he said.

A little while later, another fight broke out when demonstrators passed the office of the Muslim Brotherhood Web site on their way to the square and threw rocks at it. Other civilians — it was unclear whether they were annoyed neighbors or Brotherhood supporters — rushed out to strike back at the protesters, and a street vendor’s kiosk was burned in the melee.

Simultaneously, a group of masked men broke into the building and ransacked the Brotherhood office, overturning furniture, destroying computers and breaking glass. Neighbors of the building said the attack appeared to have been planned because the men had brought acid to break through a padlock.

The Brotherhood, hoping to avoid the kind of factional clashes that killed 10 people in December, had urged its supporters to stay away from the square and observe the anniversary with community service projects around the country.

Both the Brotherhood and its opponents are looking ahead to parliamentary elections expected to be held in April, and critics of the Brotherhood contended that its community service drive was in part an effort to curry favor with needy voters. The opposition had poured most of its energy into Friday’s demonstrations, and its critics said it was once again wasting its time on street protests while the Islamists had already turned their attention to the more important electoral battle.

“It is important that people go down to the square, if for no other reason than to remind Egypt, and themselves, that something really special happened during those 18 days two years ago,” said H. A. Hellyer, a researcher based here with the Brookings Institution. “That energy, however, can’t stay in the square,” he said. “It’s got to be channeled.”

But some demonstrators argued that the public protests were a first step toward building a more potent political movement that might someday counterbalance the Islamists. “Nothing tangible will come of today, and I don’t think anything tangible with happen with the elections,” said Ayman Roshdy, 57, a retired marketing consultant. “But there is hope. What is happening today is part of the process of building hope.

“The Islamists have been saying that they are the good guys,” he continued. “Now they are in control and they are being exposed by the minute. And we are building a political movement that will help us to produce a reasonable government.”

By late afternoon, other marches from around the city, some led by well-known leaders of the political opposition, were streaming toward the square and the crowd was expected to swell by nightfall, along with the potential for more violence.

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Yandex says new mobile app is blocked by Facebook

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian internet company Yandex said on Friday its new experimental application to search on social networking sites from mobile devices was blocked by Facebook.

The Wonder app is a recommendation tool for devices using Apple’s iOS software that allows U.S. users of social networks to retrieve information from these sites by voice or by typing questions.

The application was released late on Thursday for users of Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare and Twitter but was blocked by Facebook three hours after the launch, a Yandex spokesman said.

He added that talks between Yandex and Facebook, aimed to establish the reason of the issue and resolve it, were to begin within hours. He gave no reason for the problem.

Facebook was not available for comment.

With the new app, Yandex wants to test the opportunities offered by social networks. If successful, the company will consider offering it to users in Russia and Turkey, he said.

Shares in Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, gained 0.8 percent in early trade on Friday.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

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Screen Actors Guild Menu Focuses on Fresh, Local Food

By Marla Lehner

01/25/2013 at 04:35 PM EST

How do you satisfy Hollywood's biggest stars – people with discerning palates, often strict diets and tight dresses?

That is the task before Los Angeles-based celebrity chef Suzanne Goin, who will cook up a seasonal, tasty meal for the A-listers attending Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.

"The challenge in this case is having that one plate that has three different dishes on it that need to all really work together," says Goin, who previewed the SAG Awards menu last week at her West Hollywood restaurant Lucques. "How do I do that? I use the produce and vegetables that are the most beautiful."

And Goin also keeps the occasion firmly in mind. "I want the plate to be festive and have a party feeling to it the way the awards actually do," adds the chef, who uses all seasonal and local ingredients from farmers she works with all year round. "These awards really feel like a party."

The calorie-conscious menu gives guests two choices. The vegetarian option includes a plate with a salad of beets, blood oranges, feta cheese and black olives; a serving of curried cauliflower, couscous and pomegranate salsa; and a hearty salad of farro with kale, young broccoli, currants and pine nuts.

The non-veggie plate includes melt-in-your-mouth slow roasted salmon with green rice and edible flowers; sliced beef tenderloin with horseradish cream; and the same tangy salad of beets and blood oranges.

Goin, who describes herself as nervous by nature when it comes to cooking for such a high-profile event, says the toughest part is the last 48 hours before the event. Because everything is made fresh, she and her staff "can't really cook until the last minute," she says. "The end is a real push and a crunch. ... But when you're done, it's the happiest moment."

Salad of beets, blood oranges, feta cheese and black olives; a serving of curried cauliflower, couscous and pomegranate salsa; and a salad of farro with kale, young broccoli, currants and pine nuts.

John Sciulli / Getty

Roasted Beets & Blood Oranges with Feta and Black Olives

Ingredients
• 3 bunches of small to medium beets
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 5 large blood oranges
• 2 tbsp. finely diced shallots
• 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• ½ cup Nyons olives of other strong-tasting oil-cured black olives, pitted
• 2 oz. arugula
• ¼ pound feta cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Cut the greens off beets, leaving about ½-inch of the stem still attached. Clean the beets well and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Place the beets in a roasting pan with a splash of water in the bottom. Cover the pan tightly with foil and roast the beats about 40 minutes or until they're tender when pierced. When they're done, carefully remove the foil. Let cool and peel the beets by slipping off the skins with your fingers. Slice the beets into wedges and place in a large bowl.
3. Slice the stem and ends off four of the blood oranges. Stand them on one end and, following the contour of the fruit with your knife, remove the peel and white cottony pith. Work from the top and bottom, rotating the fruit as you go. Slice each orange thinly into 8 to 10 pinwheels.
4. Squeeze juice from remaining blood orange and reserve a ¼ cup for the vinaigrette.
5. Combine the diced shallot, vinegar, lemon juice, ¼ cup blood orange juice and ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl, and let it sit 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining ½ cup olive oil and taste for seasoning.
6. Toss the beats with ¾ of the vinaigrette and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning. Gently toss in the olives and arugula.
7. Arrange half the salad on a platter. Tuck half the blood oranges in and around the beets and scatter half of the feta on top. Place the rest of the salad on top and nestle the remaining blood oranges into the salad and sprinkle the remaining feta on top.

Sliced beef tenderloin with horseradish cream; slow roasted salmon with green rice and edible flowers; a salad of beets and blood oranges

John Sciulli / Getty

Beef Tenderloin with Fingerlings, Arugula and Horseradish Cream

Ingredients
• 4 lb. center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed
• 2 tsp. cracked black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. rosemary leaves, plus 3 springs
• 1 Tbsp. thyme leaves, plus 6 springs
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, sliced
• 2 oz. arugula
• Roasted fingerling potatoes (recipe follows)
• Horseradish cream (recipe follows)

Directions
1. Marinate the beef overnight with the black pepper, thyme leaves and rosemary.
2. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking. After 30 minutes, season the beef generously with kosher salt.
3. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
4. Heat a large cast iron or other heavy pan over high heat for 4 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and place the beef in the pan. Sear until well browned and caramelized on all sides. Transfer to a rack set in a roasting pan and top with the sliced butter and the springs of thyme and rosemary. Place in the oven and cook about 50 minutes until the center reads 125 degrees on a meet thermometer.
5. Baste with the buttery-herby juices and let rest at least 12 minutes.
6. Slice into ½-inch thick pieces and serve with the fingerling potatoes, a few arugula leaves and a dollop of the horseradish cream on top.

For the roasted fingerling potatoes
• 1 lb. fingerling potatoes
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled and smashed
• 4 springs thyme
• 1 Tbsp. rosemary leaves

Directions
1. Preheat over to 450 degrees.
2. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Place in a roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil and roast for about 40 minutes until tender

For the horseradish sauce
• ¾ cup créme fraiche
• 1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions
Combine the créme fraiche and horseradish in a small bowl. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Taste for balance and seasoning.

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.

The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.

For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.

Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.

Workers covered on the job would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs, because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.

Nearly one of every five U.S. adults smokes. That share is higher among lower-income people, who also are more likely to work in jobs that don't come with health insurance and would therefore depend on the new federal health care law. Smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung problems and cancer, contributing to nearly 450,000 deaths a year.

Insurers won't be allowed to charge more under the overhaul for people who are overweight, or have a health condition like a bad back or a heart that skips beats — but they can charge more if a person smokes.

Starting next Jan. 1, the federal health care law will make it possible for people who can't get coverage now to buy private policies, providing tax credits to keep the premiums affordable. Although the law prohibits insurance companies from turning away the sick, the penalties for smokers could have the same effect in many cases, keeping out potentially costly patients.

"We don't want to create barriers for people to get health care coverage," said California state Assemblyman Richard Pan, who is working on a law in his state that would limit insurers' ability to charge smokers more. The federal law allows states to limit or change the smoking penalty.

"We want people who are smoking to get smoking cessation treatment," added Pan, a pediatrician who represents the Sacramento area.

Obama administration officials declined to be interviewed for this article, but a former consumer protection regulator for the government is raising questions.

"If you are an insurer and there is a group of smokers you don't want in your pool, the ones you really don't want are the ones who have been smoking for 20 or 30 years," said Karen Pollitz, an expert on individual health insurance markets with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "You would have the flexibility to discourage them."

Several provisions in the federal health care law work together to leave older smokers with a bleak set of financial options, said Pollitz, formerly deputy director of the Office of Consumer Support in the federal Health and Human Services Department.

First, the law allows insurers to charge older adults up to three times as much as their youngest customers.

Second, the law allows insurers to levy the full 50 percent penalty on older smokers while charging less to younger ones.

And finally, government tax credits that will be available to help pay premiums cannot be used to offset the cost of penalties for smokers.

Here's how the math would work:

Take a hypothetical 60-year-old smoker making $35,000 a year. Estimated premiums for coverage in the new private health insurance markets under Obama's law would total $10,172. That person would be eligible for a tax credit that brings the cost down to $3,325.

But the smoking penalty could add $5,086 to the cost. And since federal tax credits can't be used to offset the penalty, the smoker's total cost for health insurance would be $8,411, or 24 percent of income. That's considered unaffordable under the federal law. The numbers were estimated using the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator.

"The effect of the smoking (penalty) allowed under the law would be that lower-income smokers could not afford health insurance," said Richard Curtis, president of the Institute for Health Policy Solutions, a nonpartisan research group that called attention to the issue with a study about the potential impact in California.

In today's world, insurers can simply turn down a smoker. Under Obama's overhaul, would they actually charge the full 50 percent? After all, workplace anti-smoking programs that use penalties usually charge far less, maybe $75 or $100 a month.

Robert Laszewski, a consultant who previously worked in the insurance industry, says there's a good reason to charge the maximum.

"If you don't charge the 50 percent, your competitor is going to do it, and you are going to get a disproportionate share of the less-healthy older smokers," said Laszewski. "They are going to have to play defense."

___

Online:

Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator — http://healthreform.kff.org/subsidycalculator.aspx

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