Advocates: Rule knocks Miss. poor off Medicaid

The News Review:

- Advocates: Rule knocks Miss. poor off Medicaid
- South Africa: Minister Calls for Sustained Allocations for Health …
- Health happenings
- New health plans drawing criticism
- US Sen. Harkin: Senate budget resolution makes down payment on …
- Autism rate higher for Somali kids in Minneapolis
- A win-win: Raising taxes on cigarettes brings two benefits

Advocates: Rule knocks Miss. poor off Medicaid
The Associated Press
poor off MedicaidBy SHELIA BYRD – 17 hours ago JACKSN Miss. (AP) — Poor Mississippi residents who rely on state and federal health insurance face a burden their counterparts in other states don’t — they must show up in person at a Medicaid office every year to renew health coverage for themselves and their children. Advocates say the four-year-old policy means children are being denied insurance because their parents don’t have transportation or can’t take time off from work. The rule was enacted to help prevent fraud. Tami Brooks a pediatrician in Jackson says people are missing appointments because Medicaid offices have limited hours and few cities in the mostly rural state have public transportation systems.

South Africa: Minister Calls for Sustained Allocations for Health …
AllAfrica.com
Speaking at the closing of the 4th Southern African AIDS Conference on Friday Minister Hogan said amid the global financial crisis she was concerned that health services should not be ignored and that global and domestic funding allocations must be sustained. GA_googleFillSlot( “AllAfrica_Story_Inset” );”As a community of health promoters we must ensure that health services are not cut but sustained for every job that is cut for every sector that buckles for every health cent cut there will be consequences for public health” Minister Hogan said. She stressed the importance of innovative financing mechanisms in order to scale up services. “Never before do we need donor’s donations than now” the minister said adding that anti retroviral treatment (ART) is expensive and they had no other options.

Health happenings
Fort Worth Star Telegram
April 20 at First Congregational United Church of Christ. Topics include housing options estate planning health proxies and hospice care. Light snacks will be served. Child care available with reservation. The church is at 4201 Trail Lake Drive in Fort Worth. Call 817-923-2990 for further information.

New health plans drawing criticism
2TheAdvocate
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US Sen. Harkin: Senate budget resolution makes down payment on …
IowaPolitics.com (press release)
“This budget addresses the reality of our current economic situation: that in order to reduce the nation’s deficit and fight recession we must make investments for the future that strengthen the middle class restore fiscal discipline and lower long term cost in the long term. The budget passed tonight by the Senate reflects the priorities of the American people. “It makes a down payment on health reform that will lead to legislation that transforms and modernizes our health care system and achieves the common goals of constraining costs expanding access and improving quality. nly when we rein in skyrocketing health care costs for families and reform the health care system in this country can we truly stabilize our economy for decades to come. “The budget expands educational opportunities for all Americans by investing in better teachers and better schools sharpening our focus on teaching science and technology and ensuring all students can afford higher education. The budget also makes an allowance for adding investment in the child nutrition bill we are writing this year so we can help our nation’s children eat healthier more nutritious meals in schools. Better nutrition for kids is critical to reforming both education and health care to foster better learning and to prevent the diet-related diseases and illnesses that so heavily drive up health care costs.
Related from Alternativemonster: Sen. Harkin: National Center for Alternative Medicine disproves …

Autism rate higher for Somali kids in Minneapolis
The Associated Press
State health officials cautioned that the finding doesn’t necessarily mean a higher rate of autism among Somalis. And the report didn’t speculate on reasons why more Somali children were winding up in autism programs. The Somali population in Minnesota was more than 24000 in 2006 according to the U.

A win-win: Raising taxes on cigarettes brings two benefits
Daily Camera
In Colorado that makes a one pack of smokes a full $5; no small change particularly during a time when increasing numbers of people are struggling to make ends meet. The increase was intended to extend the country’s health insurance program for low-income children. Camera reporter Alicia Wallace found Boulderites who echoed what statewide smoking cessation hotlines have found: The wallet wallop is inspiring some smokers to want to quit. Funding health insurance for poor children is a worthy goal; increasing taxes on a luxury non-essential item such as tobacco products is a better way to do that than most. The upside: If people do quit — and let’s be honest many addicts will try and fail — that’s good news for them and will lower health-care costs all around.

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