Additional Benefits

Orioles Hall of Famer Brady Anderson, making his first appearance since being appointed special assistant to executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, said today at FanFest that the difference between Brian Matusz a year ago at this time and Brian Matusz today is the difference between night and day. "He's like a different human as far as his mentality and his dedication and the raw numbers, what type of athlete he is, he's...

More than 80 percent of employees in the Baltimore-Washington area, and nearly that many nationally, are covered by some form of managed care plan, according to an annual survey by Foster Higgins, the national benefits-consulting firm.The survey found only 23 percent of employees nationally covered by traditional indemnity health insurance -- compared with 52 percent just five years ago.Despite a steady growth in managed care, indemnity insurance will not disappear altogether, said John Welch, a principal in the Washington office of Foster Higgins.

Senate votes to extend aid for jobless, homebuyers WASHINGTON - - Recognizing that a weak economy still needs a government boost, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to provide the jobless with up to 20 weeks in additional unemployment benefits and expand a first-time homebuyer tax credit to include a far larger pool of people entering the dormant housing market. The $24 billion bill, passed 98-0, also provides tax relief for struggling businesses. It comes to the rescue of more than 1 million out-of-work people who will run out of benefits by the end of the year.

Efforts under way in Congress this week to renew and strengthen the program that provides medical care to children of the working poor enjoy broad support - and ending overpayments to insurance companies is a fitting way to pay for it. Competing House and Senate proposals include enough new money to ensure that the 6 million children covered by the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program would continue to be served. As many as half the roughly 9 million children without health insurance would be covered as well.

The drought that has browned corn stalks across the state will be declared a disaster by the federal government, a designation that will allow farmers to get low-interest loans, Gov. Martin O'Malley's announced yesterday. The problem has been particularly severe in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, where fields have been withered by the lack of rain. The impact has been worsened by the decision of many farmers to plant more corn - a drought-sensitive crop - in hopes of taking advantage of the high demand for ethanol, which has boosted prices.

The Office of the People's Counsel yesterday rebutted claims by a coalition of power companies that said this week's deregulation settlement with BGE closes Maryland to competition.Michael J. Travieso, the state-appointed People's Counsel representing consumers, said criticism of the state's energy-deregulation plan by the Mid-Atlantic Power Supply Association is "inaccurate and misleading."On Tuesday, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and at least a dozen parties involved in closed-door talks submitted a proposal to the Public Service Commission (PSC)

ANNAPOLIS - Three Western Maryland counties will get about $500,000 to maintain and expand local parks, the Board of Public Works has announced.The three-member board, led by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, approved the Program Open Space funds to both reimburse park- building efforts and support new park programs.The state's action will preserve the Holly Avenue Recreation Area, located in LaVale. The board approved about $170,000 for Allegany County to purchase the site.Currently owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and leased for almost four decades to the LaVale Athletic Association, Holly Avenue was in a prime location for residential development, said Patricia Manown, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Baltimore County firefighters overwhelmingly ratified a one-year contract that calls for a 3 percent cost-of-living increase and additional benefits for tenured members of the department, union officials said yesterday. The agreement calls for additional pay raises for firefighters and paramedics who have worked for the department for at least 13 years and another increase for those with more than 17 years, union officials said. Under the new contract, new hires will be required to work 30 years with the department or be 60 years old before they're eligible for their pension, said Michael K. Day Sr., president of the Baltimore County Professional Fire Fighters Association.

Verizon Communications Inc., the nation's second-largest phone company, said yesterday that it would freeze the guaranteed pension plan covering 50,000 of its managers and expand their 401(k) plans instead. In freezing the plan, the company will pay workers the benefits they have already earned but will not let them build up additional benefits. Verizon also said it would contribute less to the health care benefits of those managers when they retire. Over all, the company hopes to save about $3 billion over the next decade by taking these steps.

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland's biggest welfare program supports dependent children. But a Baltimore County legislator thinks there should be limits on how many children the state should support.Del. Richard Rynd, a Pikesville Democrat, is pushing a bill that would deny, or at least limit, additional benefits to women who have additional children after they're on welfare.It would cut in half the extra payment mothers now receive under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program when they give birth to another child.