Recommendations Would Give Health Care To More Children, Increase Access To Child Care

Gov. Mike Easley said today his 2008-09 budget proposal will recommend spending an additional $31 million to help those who often are overlooked by society but are the most in need. The budget the governor will present to the General Assembly next week will provide additional funds for: health insurance for children in need through the Health Choice program; assistance to those at the greatest threat of foreclosure on their homes; increased aid to those in need of child care; and job-site inspections and assistance to workers in the state’s poultry industry.

Gov. Mike Easley today announced a three-part plan to return accountability to the state’s mental health system and make it more responsive to the needs of patients and their families. He will ask the legislature to give the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services clear authority over the local management entities (LMEs) created by the 2001 reform legislation, change the law to require all deaths in hospitals be reported to the state, and expand the state’s mobile crisis teams that provide hospital services across the state.

“Secretary Dempsey Benton needs to be the one to evaluate the LMEs, to appoint the LME directors, and be able to fire the LME directors, and to do that in a timely fashion. He does not have that authority today,” said Easley. “We need to allow the secretary to reduce the number of LMEs to avoid variations in quality of care and to make it possible to hold these programs accountable. It also would reduce significantly the administrative cost.”

President Bush, please take Dick Cheney with you when you leave the White House.

Cloaked in secrecy, Vice President Dick Cheney met today in a closed meeting with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

“While we might not know what they talked about, the evidence is clear that the Bush-Cheney economic policies have failed North Carolina,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek.

“A recession is looming and it costs more to put fill our gas tanks, heat our homes, and pay for health care when illness strikes,” Meek said.

In 2001, gas was $1.37 per gallon. Now it costs $3.09 per gallon. Americans could heat their homes for as low as $1.40 per gallon. Now it costs $3.39.

Health care insurance premium costs for families have doubled from $6,230 in 2001 to $12,106 per household today.

“North Carolinians work hard to secure a better future for their children and grandchildren,” Meek said. “But the Bush-Cheney Administration has diminished that with irresponsible policies and an unquenchable thirst for debt.”

Jennifer Loven, Associated Press

President Bush vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have expanded government-provided health insurance for children, his second slap-down of a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically increase funding for the popular program.

It was Bush's seventh veto in seven years - all but one coming since Democrats took control of Congress in January. Wednesday was the deadline for Bush to act or let the bill become law. The president also vetoed an earlier, similar bill expanding the health insurance program.

Bush vetoed the bill in private.

In a statement notifying Congress of his decision, Bush said the bill was unacceptable because - like the first one - it allows adults into the program, would cover people in families with incomes above the U.S. median and raises taxes.

Bush Republicans have engaged in unprecedented obstruction. They have used every delaying tactic available to them, including filibusters and secret holds. But Bush Republican efforts to block floor consideration of even bipartisan and non-controversial bills clearly reveals their strategy: block everything.

Below is a list of the non-controversial, bipartisan bills blocked by Bush Republicans this morning.

ALS Registry Act. S. 1382, which would authorize $75 million for fiscal 2008 to create a registry with the Centers for Disease Control to collect and analyze data on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The bill was passed out of committee and has 67 bipartisan co-sponsors.

Elizabeth Dole was against expanding the State Children Health Insurance Program before she was for it.

Dole endangered the health of 123,000 North Carolina children when she voted six times this year against fully funding the program.

Last week, she was among 28 senators who sent a letter asking Senate leadership to expand SCHIP.

“Elizabeth Dole is playing election year politics with the health of our children,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek.

“When Dole had the chance, in fact six chances, to provide quality access to health care for children, she did nothing,” Meek said. “She chose to stand by President Bush’s failed policies rather than stand up for North Carolina children and families.”

Living with HIV/AIDS isn’t easy.

There are good days and bad days. There are days when one’s dreams feel within reach. And there are days when there isn’t enough energy to take the dog for a walk, cook a simple meal, or read a bedtime story to a child.

There are days when co-workers understand that you have to leave work a little early to go to treatment. And there are days when the stigma and isolation of having HIV/AIDS feels too much to bear.

And then there’s World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day occurs on Dec. 1. It’s a time to celebrate the lives of the estimated 29,500 North Carolinians who live with the disease each day. It’s also a day to reflect on how much more we have to do in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

North Carolina Democrats are committed to making each day count by passing a state budget this year that provides:

* More than $235,000 to expand public health lab testing, including HIV testing for pregnant women.
* $2 million for local health departments, historically black colleges and universities, and other community organizations for HIV counseling, testing, and early medical interventions.

Fayetteville Observer editorial

One person in eight who leaves military service goes from something close to full medical coverage to no guarantees at all. Way to repay a debt, America.

Blame poverty, always a likely suspect. Blame the rising cost of health care and the higher premiums that result. But don’t overlook the fact that more than half of the veterans with no health insurance are middle-income.

That means no Medicaid. With the exceptions of National Guard veterans and reservists, there’s no employer keeping civilian benefits secure. And because “means testing” of insurance provided through the Veterans Administration can make people who earn as little as $24,000 a year ineligible, there goes another big bunch.

Everybody understands that this nation has a health-insurance problem confronting it. But there are several angles from which to view it, and all of them merit attention.

Republican Elizabeth Dole has accepted $235,432 from the pharmaceutical and health products industries since coming to Congress. [Center for Responsive Politics, 11/12/07]

What has that money bought?

According to an Associated Press report this week:

Legislation aimed at speeding the availability of cheaper generic drugs has stalled in Congress in the face of major lobbying by the drug industry.

The Senate bill would ban most settlements known as ''reverse payments,'' in which a brand-name company pays a generic manufacturer to delay the introduction of the generic drug. The Federal Trade Commission, which has called on Congress to take action, says such settlements could cost American consumers billions of dollars.

Speaker Joe Hackney of the North Carolina House of Representatives will lead a delegation of Democratic state lawmakers visiting the nation's capital Wednesday to meet with Congressional leaders.

The group is scheduled to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, both Democrats. They are expected to discuss the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP; the severe ongoing drought in parts of the nation, including North Carolina; transportation and other federal budget matters.

"State and federal leaders must work together and have good cooperation if we are to overcome the challenges we face in this nation and in our states," said Hackney, president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Meetings such as these allow for important exchanges of ideas and help all of us do better jobs for our constituents."