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We did this. We went through HUD or some federal program

Posted By: check into it on 2005-10-10
In Reply to: Is this your first house? - MT 10years and then some

that loaned us the closing costs and down payment on a second mortgage.  It was paid off within five years.


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Federal Govt program (sm)
I am going to ask my tax person about this. I am currently working for a company as an IC, but now I'm thinking it should actually be called SE status, since they withhold, what looks like, about 7% of my income for OASDI and medicare. I also worked for MQ as an SE and they took out FICA, so I think I'm okay for now. However, if I switch jobs, I will need to make sure this is taken care.
Section 8 housing. It's a federal program through HUD.
Google it "Section 8" housing to verify.
Federal holiday, banks and federal offices closed, but
schools and everything else open here. 
Federal ID #

If there is a "mother company" that is overall all the smaller companies sometimes the ID could be the same -- I think.  My husband drove a truck for Dalles Mavis that was owned by Active Transportation that all has other comanies.  All of hs W2 forms, etc. came from Active with their ID number on it though he worked directly for Dallas-Mavis.    Even when he moved to Texas and worked there instead of Oregon, his W2's all came from Active. 


They won't be saving anything since if you made $5000 from Company B and they deduct it from Company A, they will be paying taxes more taxes from Company B and less from Company A but again, if there is a corporation over all of the companies, it will all be merged in together to pay taxes on the "profit" from the corporation.   Just like being married, your husband can over withold and pay for your taxes because you merge your income together.   Just hopefully be requesting that they issue you another 1099 that they don't send both into the IRS and so the IRS thinks you made $10,000 and not $5,000.  


 


There is no such federal law! :)
Every employer has the right to answer questions about former employees. Most prefer to not go into too many details. Asking whether or not an employee is eligible for rehire is a very common question.


They were federal charges
go to a halfway house first, but I thought surely that the prison could tell me something, if that was the case?!  They just said he was out of custody and that's all they could tell me.  Thanks for the encouragement...it's appreciated!
You pay taxes to the Federal gov't, among others.
The question should not be about what taxes you pay and who gets the money. How governmental entities distribute the money is for them to worry about, not you. As an IC, you will have deductions available to you that are not available as an employee.

Only YOU can determine if the responsibility of being an IC is for you. There is so much more to IC status than taxes. My suggestion is to read up on what is involved in self-employment by checking out a book on entreprenurship from the library or do some reading on the Web. My guess is that you're not ready for this yet but you can be if you do your homework.
Is there federal money available

It occurred to me that it may be something we mention when writing/calling our government. 


I know that when Levi Strauss closed their factory in Roswell, NM, and sent it down to Mexico (thanks, NAFTA), they gave their workers money to retrain in a new profession.


Surely this is something that can be fought for.  We know darned well the MTSO's won't take money out of their own pocket to do this, but there was/is a government program called TAA which is supposed to help people who have lost work as a result of imports.  I think a case can be made for medical records transcribed overseas as qualifying as "imports". 


I found an old document on line at http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de8714x.pdf which describes that 3 or more workers who have been affected by imports can petition for federal money for assistance and retraining.  There's also JTPA/WIA which established one-stop career centers and I believe being laid off because of work being sent offshore (or just laid off, period) would qualify people for this program.


There's also this article, which I included a part of, that is talking about IT workers for Computer Sciences Corp (my brother happens to work for them and has survived the layoffs) filing suit....


*The department has long held that programmers who've lost jobs to cheaper, foreign workers aren't eligible for the TAA program because their employers, or employer's customers, are not importing a physical good in the same way as, say, steel manufacturers. A number of federal and state lawmakers have introduced bills that would automatically grant eligibility under the act to IT workers and other white collar professionals, but none has become law.


The labor department initially said that although CSC moved production of its Vantage-One insurance software from East Hartford to CSC India, the software was not an imported "article" as defined by the act. In a lawsuit, the workers asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to overturn the department's ruling. In January, trade court judge Nicholas Tsoucalas ordered the department to revisit the case, noting that, "Labor's interpretation of the law, that software code must be embodied on a physical medium to be an article under the Trade Act, is arbitrary and capricious."

In a Federal Register note published April 11, the Labor Department conceded the point and ruled that the four CSC workers would be eligible to apply for TAA assistance. In ruling, the department said it would henceforth look upon software, whether shipped into the U.S. on a disc or transmitted into the country via telecommunications networks, as a physical product.

Software and similar intangible goods that would have been considered articles for the purposes of the Trade Act if embodied in a physical medium will now be considered articles regardless of their method of transfer," the department wrote.*

Something to think about.

Also, I'm pretty sure we've been far OVERestimating how much money offshore people are paid for transcription.  Their companies might get 1 cent a line after it goes through 3 or 4 edits, but I'm pretty sure the person typing the report and mangling the English is paid more like 1/5 cent per line, which is still pretty good money for them.  My math is based on there being 40 rupees to a dollar, and 1/40 of 8 cents per line is 1/5 cent.  There was that article quoted on the company board from Manilla where they were gloating that their workers got $1 to $2 an hour and, if they're required to transcribe 1200 lines a day, that comes to 1/10 cent per line.  But that was back in 2005.

Back to the 1/5 cent.  So if the report goes through 3 or 4 edits, each getting paid their 1/5, then the Indian company keeps the 2 cents per line which is left over and our dear old MTSO here in the States charges the hospital what...11 cents?..pays our US MT 3 or 4 cents to edit.  So, 3 cents/line to the offshore company, 4 cents/line to our US editor, and the MTSO still pockets the 4 cents/line left over?  Why do you think we're seeing 7 cents/line more and more often as the going rate of pay?

Well, just some things to think about - I get my best ideas late, late at night!


Thanks for sharing this. If federal guidelines were followed,
the minimum wage earner could not even shop at Walmart---that's really sad!  This is just another point that shows that the government has obviously gotten too big for its people, $5.15 is a JOKE.  I'm glad some states actually have some sort of caring politicians.
I don't think FEDERAL varies whereas state...sm

I think states set their own regulations but I do believe that Federal is all one set of rules/regulations.  The police might be able to tell you but I think you'd find out so much more via the internet if you know what state he is in.  I found someone in jail recently.  I put in her name and she is locked up and probably going to get the books slammed at her.  Very young nonthinking girl too. 


All states and even federales have websites.  You can type in INMATE information and then the state and all kinds of links will come up.  You can probably this way find his name at some institution and if paroled, call the institution he was paroled from and find out more details if possible.


BEST of luck on this!!!  The internet is great for finding even old friends (I found several 30+ years after being in contact).


Question for ICs about SS and federal tax. I am new at this and I am wondering if you can pay
your federal tax and SS more often than quarterly so it doesnt turn out to be so much money.  I would pay the State and Local quarterly but would like to pay the fed more often.  Anybody do this or just file quarterly.
Can anyone that is an IC tell me when you send in your quarterly Federal and SS is there anywhere
you can check to make sure your money had been credit properly to your account to avoid problems at the end of the year.
HIPAA is a federal law, not State.
I could be wrong but I don't think you need to get the office to sign anything.  You just need to be HIPAA compliant on your end.  Double check on this though.
I have never found a program shorthand does not work with, it works outside the program (I think tha
nm
Marie, what type of federal job, is this still medical? nm
x
Probably 2 weeks and if i recall it will be on a Friday for Federal.
xx
I agree with "Snow Bunny" Federal govt. sm
Everyone new that New Orleans was pooooooooooooooooooooor
With state and Federal, you 40% of your earnings GO, bottom line.
I don't know what's up for debate, it's fact.

Housing prices have gone up 40% in the past year alone in California.
The federal gov't is urging paperless MR to save costs.
dd
you're right, it's federal but diff for each state...see link...sm

http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm


ALL STATES PAY MINIMUM WAGE DIFFERENTLY - i.e., Arizona says *No state minimum wage law.*


Here's how foster-to-adopt works on the federal level...sm
All non-Caucasian over age 1 automatically get adoption assistance. All Caucasian kids over age 8 get adoption assistance. If you adopt a sibling group that is more than 2 kids you get adoption assistance. All special needs children qualify for adoption assistance. Adoption assistance usually means Medicaid until they're 18 and in a lot of cases the monthly per diem rate is paid to the adoptive family. For the special needs kids, sibling groups and non-white children that meet the adoption assistance criteria generally the fees for adoption are reimbursed up to $2000 - which is pretty much what all of the attorneys charge for these adoptions since Child Protective Services/DFCS does the majority of the paperwork.

We're currently in the process of adopting our 6-year-old foster child who has lived with me since she was almost 5. The adoption should be finalized in January after my husband meets the 6 months residency requirement (we got married in June and he moved here from another state at that time).
Social security is part of Federal taxes

Your SS is figured in on your schedule C -- after your deductions you pay on your net income and that is added to your federal taxes and you send in one check and pay it all.  You can do quarterly if you do not have a husband to over withold from or if you are not an employee on another job.  Social Security and Federal taxes are not two entities -- but one.


Patti


PRD is a DOS program. I don't think it work with Word, a Window's program.
x
It will count everything if you go in the settings and program it to. Good program!
Sylcount is an awesome and accurate counting program also. That will count everything if you "tell it to".
Is there any danger putting bank acct# and routing# on federal tax (sm)
tax form so as to get your refund by direct deposit? Can someone use this info to their advantage?
I figure income minus expenses, send 23% for federal and 7.5% to state--sm
quarterly. The state probably differs state to state, but that is the percentile my accountant came up with. Have never had to pay and additional.
File complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, your state attorney general, and the SM

state attorney general for the state The VLC is located in.  I happened to check it out and they have offices in Niagara Falls, NY and in Ontario.  Be sure to forward copies of every thing your file to them.  You can fill online complaint forms at the FTC website and the NY Attorney General's website.  Print out copies of these forms and mail copies of them after you fill them out to the school with a letter basically stating that you have reported them to these agencies and they will be intervening for you on this matter.


I also like the idea of putting cc's on your correspondence to a local news reporter.  And call them every single day until they are tired of hearing from you!


Good Luck!


You can use Shorthand in ANY program, it works outside your program
I have never found a platform it did not work with and I have worked on several different versions of Meditech. Just start using it.
I think all state labor laws are pretty much in line with the federal laws as far as PTO SM

among other things.  Basically, federal law states that an employer is not required to offer paid time off or paid holidays.  An employer doesn't have to pay you for time not worked.  It states quite clearly that PTO is an agreement between the employer and employee upon hire.  So, if you have an agreement with your employer stating you accrue PTO and get certain Holidays off with pay, then upon termination or resignation, you are entitled to any unused time you have accrued.  However, since not mandated by any state or federal laws, if an employer refuses to pay you for any unused PTO, you will have to take legal action, likely in small claims court.  You will probably eventually win, but you have to decide is it worth all the trouble and legal fees?


When you actually get right down to it, labor laws really don't do much for the working class.  We are not guaranteed anything except minimum wage and a safe work environment.


English may not be the official language on the federal level, but it is the NATIONAL language. sm
From Wikipedia:

Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, English is the national language.

In 2003, about 215 million, or 82 percent of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by over 10 percent of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught foreign language.[139][140] Immigrants seeking naturalization must know English. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.[141] Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[142] Several insular territories also grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[143]


P.S. Miami may be one of the largest cities, but it is still just one city located in one small state. There are 49 other states. Miami is just a small speck when you compare it to the rest of the United States.
Not sure, I have deductions for federal income tax, SS tax, Medicare tax, and state income tax. ???
nm
Excuse me but federal taxes are paid as employee by employee
The ONLY difference in IC is you pay the ENTIRE amount of the SS which is the 15.25%, as an employee you only pay 7.75%.  And you can easily make up that difference in deductions.  As an employee you just have someone else manage your withholdings and as an IC you do it yourself.  I have much more usable income being an IC and not an employee and I am strict about putting aside what I need to.  But everyone always says you have to pay your own taxes, well your employer does not PAY them for you -- except 7.75% of SS, they merely withhold it for you.  As an IC you are the employer. 
M-TEC has a Basic program (12 month) and a Premier program (18 month). To WAH, you should take the P
:)
Shorthand works with every program, it works outside the program you use, does not interfere.
nm
PRD is a DOS program, so you just
copy the entire folder to a floppy or CD.  It does not need to be installed like windows programs. 
What program are you using?
nm
Value of SUM program...What would you pay???>>>

I asked this on the equipment board, but I think maybe I'll get a better response here, so I hope its okay to post it here, too.


Does anyone know what the SUM CDs are worth?  There are some on ebay.  The beginning one is 2005, and usually they are the older ones on ebay.  I looked on the HPI website, but they come with books and are VERY expensive.


Anyway, does anyone have an idea of what they are worth without any extra books?  I want to bid on them, but don't know how much.  They are at $9.99 each now.  There is a beginning one, an advanced one and a surgery one.  Shoot.  I want them, but don't want to pay too much, you know? 



Thanks for any input. 


SUM Program
First, realize if you are able to study independently. The SUM cd's that are on ebay now are the new 2005 editions. You will be able to find the additional books you need on eBay over a few weeks. My advice to you is 1) go to the HPI/SUM website and print out the Student Syllabus and assignments for beginning and surgical (this will give you all of your assignments and a list of what supplies you will need, 2) email the eBay seller and make sure she is including the password codes to "unlock" the cds (Without these, they are useless to you.), then bid what they are worth to you. I have seen them go from $10 to well over $100. I sold a one myself (and not the new edition) for $125. Since I now have everything I need, I will pass on a little hint for buying cheap on eBay. Look for the packages, purchase them, take out what you need, then relist the rest. I now have a second computer (used but fine), desk (nice and new), all the reference books needed for the SUM Program, every Stedman's book that I could ever want (the latest editions), flash cards from Career Step (which come in handy), the extra AAMT cd's that M-Tec uses along with macros and every possible item I could ever want. In the end, not only did it cost me nothing, but I actually came out ahead in the end.

So, if you have the time, this is an excellent way to purchase training materials. Good luck and happy shopping.

DQS program

Hello out there - Starting position who has DQS program.


I find it to be very poor.  (In fact those who know the Meditech program - I prefer Meditech over DQS anyday)     


I have a lot of issues with the program; however, will just ask two questions, please.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.


1.  Does anyone have advice as to the quality of dictation.  I am not referring to the physicians quality, but the inability of the DQS program to have more than 4 selections for speed, which are terrible.


Is it me or is this par for the program?  1-2 speed hash marks are draggy, 3-4 is distorted.  There is not a happy medium for clear dictation but at a rate you can type quickly and accurately.


2.  Also minutes - never measured my work in minutes how many minutes a day approximately to produce 1500 lines a day ??


35+ years transcription experience - this is the worst program ever.  Hey that is just my opinion, I could be wrong (5000 lb gorilla).


 


 


DQS program
Thank you so much for your information. You have hit the nail right on the head.

I too did the same as you. It seems almost impossible to get more than 700 lines. I am so confused as I usually average 200+ lines/hour on all other typing plateforms I have ever used. (Even Meditech)

Your reponse has really helped realize the program frustration is not completely my fault.

THANK YOU - God Bless
What program are you using?
nm
program
Top gray keys - press left key (program), press again and it will say keys, choose which black button you want for the headset and press it, type #*11, hit the select (X) key, hit the black button you chose again and the hit the top right gray key (no). If you hit the black button you chose, it should light up, indicating the headset is working.
See Clearly Program. Has anyone every tried this?
If so, did it work?
I believe you would need a program also.
I don't know of any free ones that could be used with a pedal but I certainly could be wrong.  Some companies have you test within their platform and it might work there.  Good luck!
? on sum program
Sorry not sure which board to put this ? on but I have sum program with 12 tapes side a and b, machine and answer key and have no idea of what kind of a price to put on this.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thank you.
don't know what program UR using but I NEVER

My reports, especially with ESL, come in better than they (the ESL dictators) can actually dictate.  I have to do editing, sure, but it's mostly punctuation, or wrong word(s), setting up paragraphs, doing some headings - it's very rapid for me (used to edit in a previous setting but not medical) but, yes, it is less $, so you work smarter, not harder, in this biz.... I'm much faster on VR than straight transcribing and wish I had more VR.....



is that the program that is - sm
specific to futurenet? 
IT program
is it easy to download? have you had a problem with it like the other post?  thank you so much!
In what program?
xx
You don't say what the program is.
Line counts can vary for several reasons and it's not fair for you to blame MS Word or the line-counting program for the discrepancy.

You need to check with the MTSO about the EXACT settings they're using. For example, are you counting for formatting such as Bold or Caps? Maybe they're not. Are you counting for tabs and they're not? Headers/Footers? There are any number of reasons for the difference so until you check with the appropriate source (the MTSO) about their settings, you won't know.
RE: Program
I use Transcription Gear and
have no problems.