The Mallards started rolling only after the Eric Castonguay pounced on a rebound to give Missouri a 1-0 lead while up a man at 5:43 of the first period.

The Mallards next play at home Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Brampton Beast.  That game is the season's penultimate $1 Dog/$1 Beer Night presented by 97X.  $1 hot dogs and $1 beers are available at iWireless Center concession stands during each of the Mallards' 11 Friday night home games this season.

Tickets for Friday night's game and all Mallards regular season home games can be purchased at the iWireless Center ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000.  The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.

WASHINGTON–Provisions within the Affordable Care Act are both boosting the economy and helping millions of Americans receive affordable, quality health care, but adequate oversight is needed for "self-funded" insurance plans, witnesses testified at a Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee hearing today.

"Of the workers who get coverage through their jobs, about three in five work for an employer who self-funds their coverage, which means that they directly assume responsibility for covering the cost of their employees' medical care," said Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA), a senior Democrat on the subcommittee. "While the ACA provides employers who self-fund with greater flexibility, it also ensures that workers with this coverage have access to many of the law's important new consumer protections."

The landmark health care law protects workers in self-insured plans in a variety of ways. It allows, for example, parents to keep their children on their coverage until the age of 26; bans annual and lifetime limits on coverage so that battling a major chronic or catastrophic disease won't lead to bankruptcy; and provides the right to an external review of a benefit denial and the right to a summary of benefits and coverage, which helps ensure insurance decisions are made fairly and empowers those comparing plan options.

Furthermore, the economy has improved since the ACA was enacted. More than 8 million new jobs have been added, and the law is reducing job lock. With increased flexibility in the labor market, workers can make career decisions, such as changing jobs or starting their own business, without worrying about their health insurance coverage.

Employers may benefit from self-funding their health insurance plans. However, there are risks to such insurance models that require sufficient governmental oversight. For example, protections may be needed to ensure that employers don't repeatedly move back and forth between the fully insured and self-insured markets in a way that could raise costs and provide instability for workers. In addition, oversight of the insurance policies that businesses use to protect against occasionally higher costs in self-insured plans, called stop-loss insurance, will help ensure that this market is stable, especially for smaller employers and their employees.

"Ultimately, self-funding will likely lower costs for some employers who choose this path. But this trend will dramatically increase costs for other employers and their employees who remain in the insured market because self-funding is not a viable alternative," said Maura D. Calsyn, Director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. "We must acknowledge this and other trade-offs as part of the discussion about self-funding and affordability. Oversight and regulation of stop-loss insurance, which is extremely limited today, will help stabilize the small-group market and protect both employers and employees."

For more information on the hearing, click here.

For more information on the benefits and consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act, click here.

Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats

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LISLE, IL (02/26/2014)(readMedia)-- Benedictine University announced that it has awarded Associate of Arts (A.A.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degrees to 168 students who completed their degree requirements on or before December 2013.

Benedictine University has also awarded Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Arts in Education (M.A.Ed.), Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Master of Arts in Education (M.Ed.), Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) and Master of Science (M.S.) degrees to 261 students who completed their requirements on or before December 2013.

Nine students were awarded an Ed.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change and one was awarded a Ph.D. in Organization Development.

The December 2013 graduates include :

Jason L. Woods of Clinton. Iowa, who earned a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education and Organizational Change

Benedictine University is an independent Roman Catholic institution located in Lisle, Illinois just 25 miles west of Chicago, and has branch campuses in Springfield, Illinois and Mesa, Arizona. Founded in 1887, Benedictine provides 55 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate and four doctoral programs.

Benedictine University is ranked No. 1 among the country's fastest-growing campuses between 2001-2011 in The Chronicle of Higher Education's list of private nonprofit research institutions, and Forbes magazine named Benedictine among "America's Top Colleges" for the third consecutive year in 2013.

Benedictine University's Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain's Chicago Business as the fifth largest in the Chicago area in 2013.

Walk Fights Stigma and Helps Provide Free Support to Families in Six Counties

DAVENPORT, Iowa (February 26, 2014) - NAMIWalk will step forward Saturday, September 13, 2014, at Centennial Park in Davenport, Iowa, to raise public awareness about mental illness.

Sponsored by the Greater Mississippi Valley affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the walks help raise funds for free family education classes and support groups for individuals and families living with serious mental illnesses. This is the 11^th year for NAMIWalk in the Quad Cities area.

NAMI works to spread the good news that early identification, and access to treatment and recovery supports, is proven effective. The affiliate serves families residing in Muscatine, Clinton, Scott Counties in Iowa and Mercer, Henry, Rock Island Counties in Illinois.

"NAMIWalk is a fun event that supports serious work," said the Greater Mississippi Valley walk manager Shari Baker. "NAMI's work is about hope and recovery, and supporting families with adults and children living with mental illness." More than 60 teams and 1,100 persons participated in the 2013 event.

An organizational meeting will be held Monday, March 10, 2014, at 6 p.m. at the NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley office, 1706 Brady Street, Suite 101, Davenport, Iowa. Corporations, labor, civic, faith and social groups are encouraged to form walk teams. For further information, please contact Shari Baker at namiwalksgmv@gmail.com or 563-322-8870.

About NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley

One in10 children and one in four adults experience a mental health disorder in any given year. Half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by the age of 14. NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley is an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This grassroots organization complements the work of mental health professionals by providing support, education and advocacy to individuals and families living with mental illness. NAMI works cooperatively through the Quad Cities Community Mental Health Initiative, serving residents in Muscatine, Clinton, Scott Counties in Iowa and Mercer, Henry, Rock Island Counties in Illinois.

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