| 10-30-03 Living Sicker, Dying Younger
- Montana's Indian people have poorer health, higher disease rates,
lower life expectancy and greater difficulty obtaining healthcare than
other Montanans. Nearly 40 percent of American Indian Montanans
are uninsured. Many are ineligible for Indian Health Services
(IHS) because they do not live on a reservation and/or are not a member
of a federally recognized tribe. And the American Indian
Montanans who do have access to IHS do not receive comprehensive
healthcare; they must deal with severe underfunding and understaffing,
as well as long wait lists and rationed care. Many Indian people
are unable to receive needed care.
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| 09-29-03 New Mexico
Considers Universal Health Care Coverage, But Will Universal Also Mean
Quality and Affordable?Governor Bill Richardson handily won his election in 2003,
returning the state to Democratic rule after eight years under a
Republican governor. Richardson campaigned on universal health
care, promising health care coverage to every New Mexican within four
years. While his health care task force continues to meet and a
formal plan has not yet been developed, Richardson’s embrace of the
Medicaid waiver and his cuts to Medicaid have advocates concerned that
his vision of universal health care is significantly different than
theirs.
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| 09-29-03 How Do the
Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Health Care Plans Stack Up? -
All the Democratic presidential candidates have made detail-laden
speeches explaining how they would provide health coverage for
uninsured Americans and revamp the Bush administration’s tax policies.
Still, the proposals from the Democratic candidates represent an
abandonment of the incremental steps in political favor since the
Clinton plan was quashed in 1994 and promise to dramatically reduce the
number of uninsured. With the exception of long-shot candidate
Kucinich, all the plans build upon the existing public and private
health insurance system.
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| 09-29-03 Idaho’s
Challenge: Is Something Always Better Than Nothing When it Comes to
Health Care? - Since Idaho Governor Batt used the CHIP funds to
expand Medicaid for children up to 150 percent of poverty by executive
order in 1997, Idaho Republicans have been looking for ways to gut the
state’s already lean Medicaid program. By crafting an expansion program
that promises to provide some health insurance to those who currently
have none, Senator Dean Cameron managed to effectively silence
opposition to reduced benefits and increased cost-sharing. His program,
the Access Card, uses federal CHIP matching dollars to subsidize the
cost of purchasing health insurance on the private market.
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| 09-29-03 Maine Builds
Universal Health Coverage, But Will Employers Come? - Maine’s Governor Baldacci made health
care a central issue of his campaign, frequently referring to Maine’s
"health care crisis" during speeches. Over 180,000 Mainers are
without health care coverage, and the state faces rapidly rising health
care costs. Dirigo Health was the centerpiece of Governor Baldacci’s
legislation agenda. Dirigo Health follows several years of significant
health care advances in Maine, including the groundbreaking
prescription drug negotiated discount program and a patients’ bill of
rights. While Dirigo Health offers the promise of employer-based
universal coverage, it remains to be seen if employers will
participate, a necessary element for its success.
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| 08-28-03
Shared
History, Shared Hopes: A Photo Exhibit Documenting the
Contributions, Struggles and Dreams of Idaho's Immigrant
Communities. All human beings deserve respect for their dignity
and human rights. Idaho's immigrants will continue contributing
and giving to Idaho - and also striving for the promise of justice and
equity to be fulfilled.
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| 07.31.03 Medicaid: Someone You Know
Needs It - The Impact of Medicaid Spending on....
The above reports provide overviews of the
important contributions Medicaid make to the economies of and the
quality of life in the above counties. Medicaid spending directly
purchases goods and services, and supports healthcare industry
jobs. And these direct healthcare purchases trigger further
cycles of earning and purchases that ripple throughout the above
counties, affecting individuals and businesses not directly associated
with healthcare, and generating jobs, income, and economic activity.
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| 04-14-03
No End in Sight Over the past five years, Montana’s Legislature
passed large tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy Montanans. The
recent recession, coupled with years of these tax breaks, has resulted
in dramatic declines in state revenue. Montana ends the
legislative session basically where it began: with an unstable revenue
stream, and deep cuts to public programs that worsen economic
conditions, increase the state’s long term costs and budget problems,
and shred Montana’s safety net — eliminating many of the supports
Montana’s poorest families need to live safe, healthy, and productive
lives. Montana’s budget has a revenue problem, and needs revenue
solutions that will adequately and stably fund Montana’s programs.
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| 03-31-03 Reverse
Washington State's Health Care Inequalities Nationwide, people of
color are at a greater risk of being uninsured than are whites, and
they face many more obstacles to accessing the health care they need.
The disparities in the availability of quality health care are mirrored
by poorer health outcomes among people of color. Although Washington is
considered a leader in health care, when it comes to health coverage
people of color still fare far worse here than do whites.
Increased commitment to health care access — and not a withdrawal from
prior commitments — is needed to reverse our state’s great health care
inequality. Fixing the grave racial disparities in Washington’s
health care system must become a priority of our government.
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| 03-26-03 Cut Costs Not Services While
some states have implemented strategies that harm consumers and don't
address rising prescription drug prices, other states have started
negotiating lower prescription drug prices from the extremely
profitable pharmaceutical companies - and they are already saving
money. By using multi-agency and multi-state prescription drug
purchasing pools and/or preferred drug lists, states have projected or
realized savings of 5 to 15 percent of their total prescription drug
costs.
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| 02-10-03
Freed Today, Hungry
Tomorrow Documents the harmful effects of Washington state's
policy of denying food stamps to former drug felons. This report
shows who is hurt by the drug felony disqualification as well
indentifying how it is unsound public policy for Washington state.
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| 02-07-03
Stamp Out Hunger
The Food Stamp Program is one of the most cost-effective public
assistance programs available to states because the federal government
covers the entire cost of food stamp benefits and states only pay half
of the administrative costs. By increasing food stamp
allocations, Monatana could ensure that people have sufficient
food. In turn, such an increase would benefit local economies
through increased federal dollars.
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| 01-24-03
The Best Medicine at
the Best Price Prescription drugs are a top driver of
Northwest state's Medicaid budgets. Many strategies have been
implemented and proposed by Northwest states that harm consumers and do
not address rising prescription drug prices. By using
mult-agency and multi-state prescription drug purchasing pools states
in the Norhtwest can save 5 to 15 percent of their total prescription
drug costs.
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| 01-20-03
Restore
Adult Dental Care - Restore Idaho's Dignity In April, 2002 the Idaho Legislature
eliminated adult dental care from the Medicaid program leaving
participants without access to affordable dental services. Why
Idaho needs to restore dental services.
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| 01-13-03
Raise the Roof
Over the last decade, Oregon's economy has exploded with the creation
of new jobs and massive migration from California and other
states. This ecomomic boom has dramatically increased housing
costs around the state at the same time that federal funding for
affordable housing has declined. There are many proven strategies
available to Oregon communities that can be used to alleviate the
problem and secure affordable housing.
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| 01-06-03
Stop the War
on the Poor Current projections
show a Montana general fund deficit of nearly $250 million for the
2004-2005 budget,as
well as a deficit for fiscal year 2003.The governor’s proposed budget for fiscal years
2004-2005 and the Department of Public Health and Human Services’
(DPHHS) proposed cuts for fiscal year 2003, coupled with earlier cuts,
will shred Montana’s safety net — eliminating many of the supports
Montana’s poorest families need to live safe, healthy and productive
lives. Cuts only worsen economic conditions, increasing the state’s
long term costs and budget problems.
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