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(12/11/09 4:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nazif Shahrani, chairman of the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, questioned President Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy in a speech at the Monroe County Public Library on Thursday. Shahrani, who was born, raised and partly educated in Afghanistan, recently returned from the country. He spent the last part of November in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.On Nov. 25, President Obama announced his revised policy toward Afghanistan, which includes an escalation of 30,000 troops, in addition to the 68,000 American troops already there.Shahrani said he thinks the escalation is a big mistake, and he questioned whether it could address the biggest problems facing Afghanistan, which lie in its system of governance.“It’s not a military problem, it’s a political problem,” Shahrani said.He spoke about corruption and cronyism within Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration, a problem Obama also mentioned in his speech. Shahrani also questioned whether a constitution placing so much power in the central government could work for Afghanistan. Under the current political system, free and fair elections are impossible, Shahrani said. The presidential election in Afghanistan this summer yielded allegations of widespread voting fraud.“Those people who are in fact responsible for the management of elections have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo,” Shahrani said. “Karzai didn’t have to go and stuff those ballots himself. The system is geared to do that, and in fact that’s what happened.”Shahrani recommended a system that empowers local communities and gets them involved in government. Bloomington resident Juliet Frey said she came to Shahrani’s speech because she was concerned about Obama’s announcement to send more troops. “(The speech) was very informative and it gave me a much better sense of what is really the problem in Afghanistan,” Frey said. “I was very interested in what he said about local government as opposed to a highly centrist government.”Obama’s new strategy includes plans to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in 18 months. But Shahrani doubted if Afghanistan’s most serious problems could be addressed in such a short time frame.“It’s almost like farming,” Shahrani said. “It’s not state-building, it’s state-growing ... We always use the wrong analogies for these things - state-building as if it was some mechanical thing you could do with nuts and bolts.”Bloomington resident James Pennington said he came to the speech to hear Shahrani address why the United States went to war with Afghanistan in the first place. When an audience member asked Shahrani a similar question, he said he believes this had to do with a lack of transparency in the way American foreign policy is made.“As long as foreign policy is made outside the moral purview of this country, there is no hope of improvement,” he said.For all his criticism, Shahrani said he remains optimistic that the Obama administration will recognize mistakes in its policy, and that it could change course.“I’m not pessimistic if the right steps are taken, but I am pessimistic if we continue with the status quo,” Shahrani said. “If we fail, we have failed politically, not militarily.”
(12/07/09 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Honoring the 25th anniversary of the largest industrial disaster in human history, the Bloomington City Council passed a resolution that aims to prevent such an event from happening locally. On Dec. 3, 1984, on the site of the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, 125 gallons of water flowed through a pipe that was supposed to be empty. It leaked into a tank containing methyl isocyanate, a toxic chemical that is highly reactive to water.The tank, not designed to withstand this pressure, began leaking poisonous gas, which quickly spread throughout Bhopal. More than 2,000 people died that night from exposure to the gas or were trampled in the chaos that ensued. Death tolls vary, but the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal estimates that more than 20,000 people have died and 100,000 more still suffer severe illnesses as a result of exposure.The American-owned Union Carbide company was never forced to clean up the site and has not been tried in American or Indian courts for its role in the disaster.To commemorate the disaster, the Bloomington City Council declared Dec. 3 “Bhopal day.” It also passed a resolution calling for the development of a report on the current state of toxic waste in Bloomington.Council member Steve Volan, who sponsored the resolution, said the anniversary of the Bhopal incident made him wonder if Bloomington could be at risk for a similar disaster.“I wondered what would happen if toxic substances were to be released because of a tornado or an earthquake, natural disasters that Indiana is prone to,” Volan said.The report will aim to find out where there are toxins, what could be done to eliminate them, who is responsible for putting them there and how much has been done to remedy the hazard, Volan said at the meeting.The report would not necessarily identify new problems. It is instead meant to catalogue information that is already collected in different offices and agencies across the city. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act, passed by the federal government after the Bhopal disaster, requires companies to report toxic chemicals stored at their facilities to state and local authorities, so they could respond appropriately to a spill. One function of the report is to centralize that information. The Bloomington Environmental Commission will develop the report, with expected completion Dec. 3, 2010.Mike Tosick, vice chair of the Commission, said there are no specific plans for implementation yet, but the Commission will discuss possible approaches in its upcoming meeting.“Our plan is to take this on as a priority for next year, forming committees and subcommittees around it, with the intent of supplying the city with a usable report,” Tosick said.Bloomington’s most widely known environmental toxin is polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, a chemical that was used to insulate electrical capacitors in the 1970s. When the capacitors broke down, they were typically buried in landfills, allowing PCBs to leak into the soil and nearby water supply.Tosick said PCB is the most likely toxin to show up in the report, but he said the Commission could identify “hot spots” of mercury, remnants of historical spills or even storage tanks that were buried and forgotten.“This is a tall task for the committee that takes it on because we are essentially starting from scratch and inventing the process,” he said.Saurabh Ajmera, president of the local chapter of the Association for India’s Development, spoke about the Bhopal disaster at the Bloomington City Council meeting last week, urging it to pass the resolution.“Twenty-five years later, Bhopal is still defined by disaster,” he said. “We should do everything we possibly can to avoid such a catastrophe.”
(11/18/09 6:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former president George H. W. Bush will speak at a charity event for Alzheimer’s disease research Thursday in Indianapolis.Tim Sadler, co-owner of Ambassador Health Care, the organization sponsoring the event, said he is looking forward to welcoming the former president to his home, the former home of author Booth Tarkington, at 4270 N. Meridian St. The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased for $250 by calling 317-577-2827.“We’re very honored to have President Bush come to Indiana,” Sadler said. “He doesn’t make many personal appearances anymore, so we’re really glad he chose this one.”Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993. Sadler said Bush will give a private briefing to Ambassador Health Care’s corporate sponsors and then deliver a 45-minute speech to about 180 guests. He said Bush will speak about his experience serving as vice president under Ronald Reagan, who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2004 at age 93.In a speech delivered at Reagan’s funeral, Bush talked about his experience with the former president.“As his vice president for eight years, I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life,” Bush said. “I learned kindness – we all did. I also learned courage – the nation did.”Other speakers include Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, director and founder of the UCLA Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics; Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association; and Dr. Bernardino Ghetti, director of the Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the IU School of Medicine, according to a press release.The proceeds from the event will benefit the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center at the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis and the Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Both work to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research.As an IU graduate, Sadler said it was important to him to share the proceeds with an IU medical center. Sarah Ferguson, director of development for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Greater Indiana chapter, said proceeds from the event will be used to fund research projects and local programs and services the organization provides.At the national level, the Alzheimer’s Association funds more than $26 million worth of research projects throughout the country and internationally, Ferguson said.The event will also benefit the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics at UCLA, a clinical trial center devoted to advancing the treatment of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s.Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting one of every eight people over the age of 65, according to a report from the Alzheimer’s Association. It was the sixth-leading cause of death across all ages in the U.S. in 2006.The report projects that by 2010, about 120,000 people in Indiana will have the disease. “We are very appreciative of the support we are receiving from this event,” Ferguson said, “and we hope to further the awareness on Alzheimer’s.”
(11/10/09 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller co-authored a friend-of-the-court brief last week urging the U.S. Supreme Court to modify or overturn its June decision in the case Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, which requires crime lab analysts to appear in court to testify to their results.The Supreme Court will soon hear a nearly identical case that presents an opportunity to change, overturn or uphold the precedent it set.The case this summer involved a Massachusetts man, Luis Melendez-Diaz, charged with distributing and trafficking cocaine. At his trial, prosecutors introduced as evidence a certificate from a state crime lab. A jury found Melendez-Diaz guilty, and he appealed his case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the use of a document as evidence violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers.The Court ruled 5-4 in his favor, saying a lab analyst must appear in court so he or she can be cross-examined.Briscoe v. Virginia, which is on the court’s docket for Jan. 11, will force the justices to again consider whether using a report from a crime lab as evidence violates the Confrontation Clause.Zoeller’s brief, which is signed by attorneys general in 24 states and the District of Colombia, says requiring lab technicians to appear in court will create larger backlogs for crime labs and will result in more expensive and time-consuming drug prosecutions.According to the brief, Melendez “stymies prosecutors and cripples crime labs” and provides defendants with a “procedural advantage unrelated to guilt or innocence.” It says if Melendez is not overturned, it will wreak havoc on state criminal justice systems.But directors of two Indiana crime labs said the new rules have not increased their backlogs.The Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Service Agency has a backlog of 1,333 forensic cases, of which 900 are in the DNA unit. At the Indiana State Police Department crime lab, which has a larger staff, the DNA backlog is 812.The Forensic Service Agency has actually analyzed more evidence than it had at the same time last year. Through the end of last month, the lab had completed 11,450 cases, compared to the 9,727 it had completed in October 2008.Zoeller’s brief argues that lab technicians are not accusatory witnesses and thus are not subject to the Confrontation Clause. Michael Medler, director of the Marion County Forensic Services Agency, agreed that lab technicians are not accusers.“We exonerate as many people as we identify,” Medler said. “Lab personnel are not investigatory in nature, they’re part of the system. They are not in the business of putting people in jail.”But the Court said because lab evidence is often crucial to proving guilt, the defendant must have an opportunity to cross-examine the person who presents that evidence.Medler said Melendez hasn’t changed much about the way his lab operates. Analysts from his lab have always appeared in court to testify unless the defense attorney stipulated to the results, he said. What have affected his lab, however, are the stricter requirements about who can testify.In the past, supervisors in each unit of Medler’s lab reviewed and signed off on technicians’ test results. But under the new precedent, these “technical leaders” cannot testify – the technician who tested the sample must appear in court.“That can affect the system drastically,” Medler said. “There’s no reason that (technical leaders) can’t testify except through this interpretation of the Confrontation Clause.” Major Ed Littlejohn, head of the Indiana State Police Laboratory, said his lab had a similar practice of sending “keepers of the record,” to testify. Littlejohn also echoed Zoeller’s brief, saying the new rules may make defense attorneys less likely to stipulate to test results.Melendez could also have consequences other than those mentioned in Zoeller’s brief.Medler gave an example of a chemist who worked in his lab that was killed in a car accident. After the Melendez decision, Medler said about 30 of the chemist’s cases had to be re-analyzed so that someone could testify to the results in court.Medler said this was not particularly burdensome, but it raised an important question: What if a forensic scientist in the DNA unit passed away?Forensic scientists develop a DNA profile of a suspect based on a tiny amount of genetic material. Medler said sometimes the entire sample is used during a DNA analysis. In that instance, it would be impossible to go back and re-work the case if the scientist who did the original analysis passed away.Since lab results are often crucial to criminal cases, this raises the question of whether cases like these would be dismissed.Medler and Littlejohn said they would favor a ruling in Briscoe that allowed technical leaders or keepers of the record to testify.“We would very much favor that because it’s going to save time and effort, and I personally believe it’s going to give the defendant the same opportunity to ask questions from that person,” Medler said.Although Indiana labs have not been profoundly affected by Melendez, Zoeller is convinced state criminal justice systems will suffer under the precedent.“We zealously support the Sixth Amendment protection that all defendants have the constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses,” Zoeller said in a press release.
(10/28/09 4:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., recently introduced a bill that would extend health care coverage to veterans exposed to hazardous chemicals in the line of duty.The bill, called Health Care for Veterans Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009, would extend veterans’ eligibility for medical services and would recognize a veteran’s report of exposure as sufficient proof to receive medical care.“The Indiana National Guard is all for any legislation that will provide health care to service members who were subjected to these chemicals,” Lt. Col. Deedra Thombleson said.Thombleson, public affairs officer for the Indiana National Guard, said 142 members of the Guard have been identified as having had contact with the substance.The bill would create a registry including members of the armed forces who have been exposed to any environmental chemical hazard.It was referred to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is not yet scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor.The bill was drafted in response to an incident that occurred at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Basrah, Iraq in 2003.Service members from Indiana, Oregon, West Virginia and South Carolina guarded the facility for months before it was discovered to be contaminated with sodium dichromate, one of the world’s most carcinogenic substances.In August, Senators Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Robert Byrd, D-W.V., Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Bayh requested an investigation into the actions of the Army and Kellogg, Brown and Root, a private contractor.Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General responded that it had opened an investigation.Thombleson said the purpose of the investigation is to determine when and where the communication chain broke down.The service members and their superiors were unaware of the potential presence of the toxic chemical, which is usually used as an anti-corrosive.In a speech before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Oct. 21, Bayh said one Indiana Guardsman has already died from lung disease, and dozens have come forward with serious respiratory symptoms.Senate testimony last year identified at least seven serious instances of potential contamination involving various industrial hazards including sulfur fires, ionizing radiation, sarin gas and depleted uranium, Bayh said in a press release.“Exposure to toxic chemicals is a threat no service member should have to face,” Bayh said to the committee. “It is our moral obligation to offer access to prompt, quality care. We should cut the red tape for these heroes.”Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, a spokesman from the Pentagon, and Thombleson said they did not know exactly how many service members have become ill as a direct result of exposure to sodium dichromate.In a Senate hearing in 2008, Dorgan testified that KBR internal reports said 60 percent of the employees at Qarmat Ali, including American soldiers and Iraqi workers, exhibited symptoms of exposure.At the same hearing, Danny Langford, a former KBR employee and technician who worked at the Qarmat Ali plant, said an orange powder, later identified as sodium dichromate, was visible throughout the facility.During the first two weeks of work, “my boots, my pants, my clothing would absolutely be caked with this orange colored material,” Langford said. He said he experienced symptoms such as a sore throat, a hacking cough, eye irritation and regular nosebleeds. He said he also began spitting blood. Bayh’s bill is modeled after legislation passed in 1978 after soldiers serving in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange, carcinogenic herbicide. The legislation ensured lifelong Veteran Affairs health care for soldiers exposed to the herbicide.“I look forward to the findings by the Inspector General,” Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a press release. “The hazards of war are many and often unavoidable. But we owe it to our troops, who risk so much for our nation, to provide the best possible health and medical care, whether they are injured by a bullet or by a cloud of toxic chemicals.”
(10/15/09 3:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana House of Representatives and Senate will hire several interns to work full-time during the 2010 session of the General Assembly.Candidates can choose to apply for different internships in member services, technology, communications or fiscal policy.Last year the house hired 26 interns, mostly in the member services area, said Michael Smith, legislative assistant and house democratic intern director.He said member services interns assist in communication with constituents, organizing legislators’ schedules and writing constituent letters, position papers and bill summaries.During session, the workload of a full-time legislative assistant triples, and the interns are charged with making sure constituent’s complaints, questions and concerns are answered, Smith said.While both caucuses of the House and Senate are seeking interns, applicants who apply to both will be disqualified from consideration, according to a press release.Smith said that even though the bulk of applicants tend to be political science majors, the House hires interns from a variety of educational backgrounds. His last assistant was a psychology major, and one previous intern had a master’s degree in opera singing.Smith said interning at the House is a great opportunity for students because of the extensive networking opportunities in working for state government.He said that during session, business leaders, interest groups and people from every aspect of government flock to the Statehouse.“It’s a really great stepping stone because you meet a lot of people and it looks good on resumes,” Smith said. “That hallway is jam-packed full of contacts and potential resources.”Senior Sami Silverstein was a communications intern for the Senate Democrats last spring. She said working in state government was a great experience, and she would encourage students to apply, even if they don’t plan to pursue a career in politics.“Working in the Statehouse is such an eye-opening experience because there are so many things that go on behind the scenes that you never hear about,” Silverstein said. “Seeing the process go on every day — until you see it, you won’t understand it,” she said. “You learn so much about the world in general.”
(10/14/09 3:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>State revenue collections fell short of estimates by 8 percent, or $254 million, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010.According to the State Budget Agency, revenue figures for the first quarter include $34 million in tax collections that were expected to be received later in the year, so revenue may actually be off by nearly 10 percent.Budget officials predict that if this trend continues, state revenue will be more than $1 billion off forecast by June of next year.At the end of fiscal year 2009, Indiana had $1.3 billion in reserves, and $300 million of those reserves will be used in this year’s budget.Gov. Mitch Daniels said in a press release that he will not raise taxes or make any immediate spending reductions, but he may have to consider budget cuts in the future.Daniels oversaw a 10 percent budget cut in most agencies last year.“The job of keeping Indiana above water and solvent is not getting any easier,” Daniels said in the release. “But Indiana remains one of a few states not raising taxes and not cutting vital services.”Other states have experienced similar revenue shortages, and most have responded by raising taxes or cutting services.Since the beginning of the recession, 27 states have raised taxes on income, sales, gas, alcohol and tobacco or in other areas, according to the State Budget Agency.Thirty-five states made cuts in K-12 education programs. In Alabama and California these cuts were higher than 15 percent.Spending on K-12 education accounts for nearly half of Indiana’s budget.In a press release from his office, Daniels said he might ask the state revenue technical forecasting committee to revise its model to reflect changing consumer behavior in response to the recession.David Dukes, senior fiscal analyst for the House Ways and Means committee, who also serves on the technical forecast committee, said he and the other members are discussing that possibility.He said the committee could change the formula it uses to generate the forecasts, but it has not decided on a specific course of action yet.The difference between the forecasted collections and actual state revenue means consumers aren’t spending as much as was predicted. Revenue collected in this quarter was about 15 percent lower than what was collected in the first quarters of fiscal years 2008 and 2009.“It’s a combination of less spending because of less income, and our unemployment rate is 10 percent – people just aren’t making the income,” Dukes said.He also said consumers appear to be saving the extra money they do make. Whether this is a permanent change in consumer behavior remains to be seen.“The economy has changed in fundamental ways, but we can’t ignore those changes if we are going to continue to protect taxpayers,” Daniels said in a press release. “The best thing we can do is to continue to build a job-friendly, business-friendly environment so that we ultimately have more taxpayers and help lighten the load on everyone.”
(10/07/09 4:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Monday, Indianapolis received 3,500 doses of H1N1 Flu Mist, an active, intranasal form of the H1N1 vaccine, which will be used to inoculate the city’s health care workers. Indianapolis and Memphis, Tenn., were the first two cities in the nation to receive shipments of Flu Mist.Last week, the Indiana Health Department ordered 28,700 doses of the vaccine to be distributed among the state’s 93 local health departments, according to a press release. The shipments are expected to arrive in the next few days.Monroe County has yet to receive its shipment of Flu Mist. When it arrives, that shipment will first go to pediatric offices and then health care officials upon request.Penny Caudill, administrator at the Monroe County Health Department, said she is “anxiously awaiting permission to order” the inactive, injectable vaccine and expects to receive shipments in mid-October.Vaccination efforts in Monroe County will focus on five target groups: pregnant women, caregivers of infants, children and young adults six months to 24 years old, people aged 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions and health care providers.Caudill said health care providers will begin to offer the vaccine to others when the department has enough supplies for everyone in the target group. She estimated this would take between six and eight weeks.Caudill said the vaccine will be available at health care centers throughout the county, including the IU Health Center. The vaccination is free, but health care providers may charge a fee for administration.The first Flu Mist vaccinations that arrived in Indianapolis will be given to health care workers so they can continue to care for the sick, said Collette DuValle, director of communications for the Marion County Health Department. Because Flu Mist is a live form of the vaccine, it can only be used for a restricted population – healthy, non-pregnant people ages 2 to 49.The Marion County Health Department is expecting a shipment of the inactive H1N1 vaccine in mid-October. That vaccine will be used to inoculate the rest of the public, including pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with chronic health conditions.Details about the shipment date and number of doses could not be confirmed, but health department officials encourage the public to monitor local media for information about when and where they can get vaccinated.DuValle said when the shipment arrives, the health department will partner with schools and local clinics to distribute the vaccine to the public.In the meantime, health officials recommend practicing good hygiene and frequent handwashing. They said students and workers should stay home if they experience flu-like symptoms, and they are urging school officials and employers to cooperate.“Right now, we are seeing a large influx of influenza,” DuValle said. “We are expecting that a lot of people in the community will become sick, and we are urging businesses and schools to prepare for large numbers of absenteeism.”H1N1 is widespread in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The agency reported that between Aug. 30 and Sept. 19, 182 deaths nationwide were positively attributed to influenza. In Region 5, which includes Indiana and five surrounding states, 1,594 cases of H1N1 had been identified during the 2008-09 flu season as of Sept. 26.Despite this, officials from both counties are pleased with the response to H1N1 thus far.DuValle said everything has gone smoothly for the first round of vaccinations.“This is a huge undertaking,” Caudill said. “It’s really larger than what we’ve ever done before. It’s a massive project, and everyone has really stepped up and been willing to do whatever they can. I am very pleased with the response of our community in being willing to participate.”
(10/01/09 8:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 40 people gathered in the Monroe County Courthouse Wednesday evening for a meeting advocating a single-payer, universal health care system, which has garnered considerable support in Bloomington, but is not being seriously considered in the health care debate in Washington.Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, a grassroots group that advocates for a single-payer system, organized the meeting to coincide with the Mad As Hell Doctors’ arrival in Washington, D.C.The Mad as Hell Doctors, based in Oregon, made their case for a single-payer system at the Bloomington Farmer’s Market on Sept. 19. The traveling doctors are making their way to Capitol Hill in an attempt to meet with Congress and President Barack Obama.Dr. Rob Stone, an emergency room physician at Bloomington Hospital and director of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, opened the meeting by talking about a recent study from Harvard University published in the American Journal of Public Health.The study found that 45,000 people die annually in America for lack of health insurance, a drastic leap from earlier estimates of 18,000.Stone said the reform options Congress is considering, especially the new Senate bill, would do little to remedy these numbers.“The best version is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to cut the number of uninsured people to 17 million, which means only 17,000 needless, tragic, preventable deaths per year,” Stone said.Speakers then addressed the crowd about the urgency of the issue and their frustration at insurance companies, special interest groups and representatives in Congress.Jay Bainbridge spoke about his friend and colleague Libby Yarnell, former executive director of Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, a Bloomington food pantry. Yarnell died in June at age 29 of a rare form of cancer.Bainbridge said that because she did not have health insurance, Yarnell was unable to see a doctor for months after she began experiencing strange pains in her side. She had to wait several more months to be able to pay for the numerous tests the doctor recommended.“She may have died anyway, this may have been a cancer that was going to kill her no matter what,” Bainbridge said. “But I sure as hell would have liked to see her get a chance to get the tests done and start detecting what was ailing her when she was feeling sick.”Other speakers shared similar stories about the dangers of being uninsured, and the necessity for universal health care.Toby Strout, executive director of the Middle Way House, said employee health insurance costs are on their way to consuming 10 percent of Middle Way’s budget.“We are shopping the market, and the market isn’t providing anything that makes sense,” Strout said. “If we don’t do this, the services that the Middle Way House provides aren’t going to be there anymore.”Other speakers included Vic Kelson, president of the Monroe County Council, Sally Hegeman, president of the Bloomington-Monroe County League of Women Voters, and Nancy Woolery, health projects manager for the City of Bloomington, among others. An audience member asked Stone if he was frustrated by the lack of attention Congress has paid to a single-payer model.“It is a little frustrating, in fact it’s more than a little frustrating,” Stone said. “The original conception of the public option was going to be something that might, after five years, cover $100 million people. Now, even if there is a public option that comes through, it’s going to be, really, just a shadow. I don’t even know if you can use that term anymore to describe it.”
(09/22/09 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From July to August, Indiana experienced the largest decline in unemployment in the nation, according to new data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The unemployment rate in Indiana dropped to 9.9 percent, down from 10.6 percent in July. Only three other states reported significant drops in jobless rates: Colorado, Kansas and Virginia.According to the Bureau, unemployment rates in most states did not change significantly, and this month’s reported drop in unemployment could be an anomaly.Surveys from individual households showed 24,000 fewer unemployed Hoosiers, but a different survey of business payrolls showed 21,000 fewer jobs, according to data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Usually, a decrease in jobs is accompanied by an increase in unemployment.Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the Department, said the statewide drop in unemployment could be the beginning of a positive trend, but because of the apparent contradiction in this month’s data, the department will have to wait and see if the trend continues.“Decreases in unemployment are always welcome news,” the Department’s Commissioner, Theresa Voors, said in a press release. “We hope it’s a trend, but data from two key factors used to determine employment levels – surveys of individual households and business payroll – appear to contradict each other. The next few months should provide evidence of a trend or a one-month survey anomaly.”Jeremy Sowders, vice president of business development at the Bloomington Economic Development Council, agreed that this month’s numbers were strange and that next month’s figures will be more telling.Among the 92 counties in Indiana, Monroe County had the second-lowest unemployment rate, 6.1 percent, surpassed only by Daviess County. This is far below the statewide unemployment rate of 9.9 percent and the national rate of 9.7 percent. In Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, 8.9 percent of people are unemployed.Exactly a year ago, unemployment in Indiana was at 6 percent, and before the recession began in December 2007, it was at 4.6 percent.Sowders said Bloomington’s rate has remained lower than other counties because of the burgeoning life sciences industry, the University and other stable employers that have not been affected as harshly by the recession.Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that, from a technical perspective, the recession is likely over, but he cautioned that unemployment rates will probably continue to rise.“I think we will see this reflected almost immediately in tiny increments,” Sowders said. “It looks like the way the economy is going to move forward is very slowly over a long period of time.”
(09/21/09 2:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A group of eight West Coast doctors spoke out at a rally Saturday to tell Bloomington residents why they are “Mad as Hell” and to show support for a single-payer health care system.The Mad as Hell doctors have held similar rallies in 15 other cities across the country. They plan to stop in nine more on their way to Washington, where they hope to meet with Congress and the president.They parked their RV, “Winnie,” at Bloomington’s Farmer’s Market and began speaking after the market closed at noon.The speakers advocated a single-payer system, which they defined as “a system of payment that redirects all current health care monies, both public and private, into a single public fund that covers everyone.”The doctors sought to dispel the notion that a single-payer system is a radical solution. They denied the labels opponents use to describe the position, such as “socialized medicine” and “government takeover”.“The fiscally responsible thing for us to do is for us to have a single-payer system because it’s the only way we’re ever going to afford the moral imperative of universal access without breaking the bank,” said Dr. Paul Hochfeld, an emergency room physician from Oregon.Dr. Marc Sapir, a primary care physician from the Bay Area, who practiced medicine for 38 years, said he was “mad as hell” because of the inefficiency in America’s health care spending.“After 38 years of practice, I hear that we’re 37th in the care that we provide to our patients and to our population,” Sapir said. “And behind that we’re spending twice as much as the next most expensive system in the world, and besides that we’re spending more tax dollars than any country in the world that has a totally tax-funded system of care.”The doctors mentioned a new Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health, which found that 45,000 people die each year in America from lack of health care. This number is higher than the previous estimate of 18,000.Oregon family physician Eugene Uphoff said he was “mad as hell” because the amount of money insurance companies are spending to defeat health care reform is enough to cover those 45,000 people three times over.Finally, the doctors invited participants to share why they were “mad as hell.”Bloomington resident Deb Owens said she was “mad as hell” because she was denied coverage due to her recently developed high blood pressure. Owens tried to purchase private health insurance but was denied.Owens now pays about $89 a month — about $3 per pill – for blood pressure medication.“It’s crippling, especially in this economy,” Owens said.“I’m mad as hell because I have an 18-year-old daughter who has a disability, who has the option in life of always being poor so that she can qualify for Medicaid,” said Cindy Calley, a Carmel, Ind. resident.When asked why she drove from Carmel to attend the rally, Calley said, “Because this is the most important domestic issue in the country. Why didn’t everybody?”
(09/16/09 1:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita has called for state legislators to reform the process through which legislative districts are defined, saying the current maps were drawn with political interests in mind.“That’s why there are oddly shaped districts with chunks cut out of them or that jut off in different directions,” said Jim Gavin, communications director for Rokita.Gavin said the current districts, which were drawn in 2001, are producing undesirable results. They are too “safe” for one political party or another, inhibiting competition in elections.Gavin said that 40 percent of the legislative races between 2002 and 2008 went without a major party opposition.By law, Indiana’s congressional and state legislative districts must be redrawn by the end of the 2011 session, after the federal government approves 2010 census data.Rokita has proposed a set of reforms for the process, including keeping communities of interest together, creating districts that are geographically compact, respecting the boundaries of political subdivisions and prohibiting the use of political data in the process.Indiana law only specifies that districts be contiguous, meaning they can jut into each other like puzzle pieces, but one district cannot include two unconnected pieces.With only this restriction, legislators can easily use political data such as voting history and incumbent addresses to draw the districts, Gavin said.Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, introduced a bill in 2006 that would have created a bipartisan commission charged with redrawing the maps every 10 years. The bill passed in the House but was not granted a hearing in the Senate.Torr’s bill would have made it a felony to use voting history data as a consideration in the redistricting process. Torr said he has been pushing this issue since 2006 because of the unfairness of the 2001 map.“They were created to serve politicians rather than voters,” Torr said. “All you have to do is look at the maps to see what’s wrong with them.”But not everyone is on the same page about the methods for reform.Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said there is a legitimate debate to be had about how to redraw the maps, but he said the approach proposed by Secretary Rokita is “silly.”Pierce said that, in keeping with the “one person, one vote” standard for legislative redistricting outlined by the Supreme Court, districts have to be as equal in population as possible, so each individual’s vote has roughly equal weight statewide.Pierce said he does not believe the maps could be redrawn to follow that standard and also rigidly respect geographical boundaries.“(Torr’s) parameters don’t make any sense,” Pierce said.But Gavin said most of the opposition to Rokita’s ideas has been in the form of “attacking the messenger” rather than attacking the message.“One of (Rokita’s) main goals is to make sure that elections matter to people, make sure that every election is relevant, every election has purpose and every election is a competition between the opponents so that the best candidates emerge, the best office holders emerge, and out of the process you get better representation in Congress and a better voice representing each community,” Gavin said.
(09/15/09 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former Bloomington Mayor and City Council President John Fernandez was sworn in Monday as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development for the Obama administration.In his new position within the Economic Development Administration, Fernandez will help support the economic development needs of the nation’s distressed communities by promoting job growth and economic recovery in those areas.“I look forward to working with EDA’s staff and our colleagues at the Department of Commerce as we work to promote innovation and restore economic growth in communities throughout the United States,” Fernandez said in a press release. The administration has several programs through which distressed communities can obtain financial and technical assistance in stimulating their economies. Cities and small towns facing high unemployment, low wages and business closings may apply for federal grants to boost the local economy.Last year, the administration invested $281,282,000 in communities across the country. Indiana received $5,069,000 from the administration in the forms of planning grants and funding for public works projects. Of the $5 million, Purdue University received $170,000 for University Center Assistance.Fernandez grew up in Kokomo, Ind., as the son of Spanish immigrants. He earned his bachelors and masters degrees from the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs and his law degree from what was then known as the IU School of Law.He served on the Bloomington City Council for five years and was president of the council in 1991. He served as Bloomington mayor from 1996 to 2003.Bloomington City Council member Tim Mayer, who began serving on the council in 1997 when Fernandez was the city’s mayor, said the same qualities that made Fernandez an effective mayor will likely help him succeed in his new position.“It’s an appropriate position for him because he was very much involved in economic development and job creation, both as a mayor and as a city council member,” Mayer said.Mayer said Fernandez was able to restructure city government and reallocate resources to implement several crucial construction projects, including street improvements across Bloomington. The downtown revitalization that Fernandez implemented as mayor brought the city more than $100 million in new investments, and his work to launch Bloomington’s Life Sciences Partnership brought $243 million in private investments and created more than 3,700 jobs, according to a press release from the White House.Mayer said while Fernandez served on the City Council, he played an instrumental role in setting up a fund for social services in Bloomington. He said Fernandez set it up with Jack Hopkins, a fellow councilmember for whom the fund is named. When Fernandez became mayor he expanded the fund.“He also reorganized the city’s social services to make them more responsive and more effective,” Mayer said.Mick Renneisen worked for Fernandez as Parks and Recreation director for the City of Bloomington, a position he still holds.“John is an outstanding appointment to the Obama administration’s team,” Renneisen said in a statement. “He is a devoted public servant who truly cares about the needs of the people. His experience in Bloomington has prepared him well for his new role in Washington.“John understands the myriad factors that contribute to economic development and will use that experience to meet the employment challenges our country is facing.”
(09/14/09 2:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A crowd of about 50 people gathered on the steps of City Hall on Saturday at a rally to support proposed health care reforms, particularly the public option that President Obama has advocated.Participants met at the Monroe County Convention Center and walked down the B-Line Trail to the City Hall building chanting, “Health before wealth. Health care for all.” Kimberly Glassman, a member of the board of directors of Democracy for Monroe County and lead organizer of the rally, said the purpose of the event was to spread awareness about the proposed reforms and to support a public option in the health care system.The crowd heard from several speakers, including Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, City Clerk Regina Moore, former Veteran’s Affairs Officer Col. John Tilford, County Council President Vic Kelson and a recorded message from founder of Democracy for America Howard Dean.Glassman said the rally was a success.“Each speaker made a great point,” Glassman said. “I think there was an overall theme of how important this issue is and that it’s an emotional issue for everyone.”Several of the speakers echoed themes from the President’s speech Wednesday, calling the health care debate a question of national character.Pierce said many people oppose the public option because “they don’t want to pay for other people’s health care.” “I suspect that a lot of those people shouting ‘no reform’ are the same people that would tell you that we are the greatest nation on Earth and that America is a very special place,” Pierce said. “And yet they seem to be espousing what I think is a very un-American kind of position, which is ‘I’ve got mine, you get yours.’”Other speakers acknowledged the fierce controversy the public option has generated and encouraged participants to speak out against opponents of reform.“Doing nothing is the greatest threat to this nation’s future,” Kruzan said. “This health care system will literally collapse under its own weight if we continue to wait.” “I think there really is a silent majority out there of people who are suffering very much, and quite frankly, they are fighting every day of their lives just to survive,” Pierce said. “They don’t have time for the circus that this health debate has become. And because of that, their voices are not being heard.Rep. Pierce also said the time for debate is finished. “If those people would simply speak out, I’m convinced we’d overwhelm any opposition to reform that exists out there.”Bloomington resident Patrick Siney said he came to the rally to get more information about the proposed reforms and the public option. “It’s an important issue for families that can’t afford it,” Siney said of health insurance.Siney is a graphic designer for a small company which recently cancelled its health insurance plan, substituting it for an optional group plan. Siney said he pays out of his pocket for his and his 11-year-old daughter’s health expenses.He added he is unsure of how he feels about the public option and is eager to learn more and sort through misinformation on the issue. He thinks everyone else should do the same.“We all need to be ambassadors of the message,” Kruzan said. “The public option is not only about health care. It’s about consumer protection, and it’s literally about our economic survival.”
(09/08/09 4:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement, of which $3.7 million will go to Indiana for the illegal promotion of several of its drugs. The agreement is the largest health care fraud settlement reached in the history of the Department of Justice, according to a press release.Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Pfizer’s subsidiary, pleaded guilty to misbranding Bextra, an anti-inflammatory drug, and promoting it for non-FDA approved, off-label uses. Bextra was pulled from the market in 2005. Pfizer also allegedly marketed three other drugs for purposes not approved by the FDA.As a result of the alleged illegal practices, Indiana Medicaid paid for prescriptions that otherwise might not have been prescribed, said Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.The government’s suit was prompted after several sales representatives from Pfizer came forward with information about the company’s promotion practices. These employees, known as the “whistleblowers,” will receive a share of the settlement.Corbin said the Attorney General’s Office is especially interested in whistleblower – or qui tam – lawsuits because they could be used in other situations in which state or federal governments end up paying falsely submitted claims.“Pfizer has owned up to its improper conduct through which Medicaid was wrongly billed – conduct that whistleblower lawsuits helped bring to light,” Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said in a press release. “To us, this case underscores the need for transparency at all levels – federal, state and local – whenever government agencies are asked to pay claims submitted by private entities.” In total, Pfizer will pay $1 billion in civil payments and a $1.195 billion criminal penalty – the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S., according to a press release from the Department of Justice. Pharmacia & Upjohn Company will supply $105 million as well, bringing the total to about $2.3 billion.According to a Pfizer press release, the company denies all of the civil allegations, except it “acknowledges certain improper actions related to the promotion of Zyvox.”“We regret certain actions taken in the past but are proud of the action we’ve taken to strengthen our internal controls and pioneer new procedures so that we not only comply with state and federal laws, but also meet the high standards that patients, physicians and the public expect from a leading worldwide company dedicated to healing and better health,” said Amy Schulman, senior vice president and general counsel of Pfizer, in a press release. “Corporate integrity is an absolute priority for Pfizer, and we will continue to take appropriate actions to further enhance our compliance practices and strengthen public trust in our company.”
(09/03/09 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rep. Baron Hill fielded health care questions last night at a town hall meeting in the packed auditorium at Bloomington High School North. Speaking to a mixed crowd of supporters and critics, Hill tried to explain to constituents the contents of the current House health bill.Hill promised that the health care bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives would allow people who are satisfied with their current insurance to keep their plans, that it would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, and that it would not ration health care.He said if H.R. 3200 were passed, people who are satisfied with their insurance could take their plans with them even if they change jobs. Although he reiterated this promise three times, many audience members did not seem to believe him.“You know that’s not true,” someone shouted.Several questions were raised about the cost of the bill and how it would be funded. Hill responded that the reforms would lead to savings that would offset much of the cost. He also said there would be a tax on individuals making more than $250,000 per year.Yet several attendees came away from the meeting feeling that the question of cost was not adequately answered.Rob Deppert, a Bloomington resident who sells health insurance for Universal American, said he was mostly satisfied with the meeting and Hill’s answers, except on cost.“I think he could have gone into the cost and how it was going to be funded better,” Deppert said. “I don’t think that a tax on people making over $250,000 is going to cover it all. If he’s a conservative Democrat he ought to be proposing cuts that can be made in the federal budget to offset the cost, but I didn’t really hear that mentioned.”Nelson Shaffer, who has lived in Bloomington for 35 years, agreed that Hill understated the costs of the plan.“You can’t throw 40 million people in and have no additional cost,” he said.Though he does not support the congressman’s position on health care, Shaffer said he admired Hill for allowing the town hall meeting in the first place. Other politicians, Shaffer said, responded with teleconferences or neglected to attend public meetings at all to avoid the potentially contentious atmosphere.“I really respect him for coming here and standing up to this,” Shaffer said. “We vote on people we trust. We expect him to honor that. It’s easy to hear the shrill people or the people who have sad stories.”The audience was mixed in its reactions to Hill and the proposed health care reforms. Continually, Hill scolded the audience for being disrespectful and contentious.He drew a particularly loud backlash with his response to a journalism student who complained about not being allowed to videotape the meeting.“This is my town hall meeting,” Hill said. “Let me restate that. This is my town hall meeting for you.”During the meeting, Hill called on Dr. Rob Stone, director of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, to ask a question. Stone, who works in the emergency room at Bloomington Hospital, asked about a Medicare-for-all health care system.Hill responded that he has not signed on to a single-payer system, but he did vote in favor of the public option. But Hill said he thought the public option only has a 50-50 chance of surviving a full vote.Congress will reconvene Tuesday, when it will likely continue to negotiate a final health care reform bill. The Senate has yet to act, and Hill said the House will likely postpone action until the Senate reveals its version.“This bill is a work in progress,” Hill said. “We’ve been debating health care since Harry Truman was President of the United States. It’s time to get this thing done.”
(09/02/09 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rep. Baron Hill will speak at a town hall meeting today at Bloomington High School North, where he will address health care reform.In the last few weeks of the August recess, Hill has been meeting with Bloomington constituents to hear concerns and answer questions about the issue. He met with the IU College Democrats Tuesday and held a town hall meeting in New Albany on Monday. Today’s town hall meeting is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m. Admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis.Constituents from various groups and political persuasions will attend the event, eager to hear Hill’s answers to the most troubling and elusive aspects of the health care reform debate.Hill represents Indiana’s 9th district, which extends north from the Indiana-Kentucky state line to Columbus, Ind., and west to Bloomington.Charlotte Zietlow, a member of the steering committee of the Bloomington-based Democratic Women’s Caucus, said she is a strong supporter of Medicare for all or some form of a single-payer system.Being a Medicare recipient herself, she is “amazed at the excellence of administration and delivery of services” she has experienced in the program.Although Hill has not pledged support to such a program, Zietlow said she believes he is on the right track. “Nobody can deny that these are not points one can walk away from, although we have been doing so for years,” Zietlow said. “But I do believe that Congressman Hill is seriously engaged in trying to find reasonable answers.”She said she hoped Hill is considering the high number of uninsured Americans, bankruptcies from high health care costs, the consequences of an unhealthy workforce and the denial of care to people with pre-existing conditions as he tries to find that answer.But others aren’t so quick to give Hill credit.Milton Fisk, a member of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, a group that supports a single-payer health care system, said at the town hall meeting he hopes to get an answer as to how a plan Hill supports would be funded.“He claims to be a fiscal conservative, and yet he has said he will support a plan which has no definite plan for funding,” Fisk said. “That seems to me contradictory. I would say that the only way a fiscal conservative could support health care reform would be if it provided national insurance, and that would be a single-payer system.” Fisk said private insurance companies’ administrative costs run about 20 percent, while Medicare’s are closer to 4 percent. A Medicare-for-all approach would keep down the inflation of health care costs, he said.Some constituents are not coming to argue or ask questions.Tricia Bock, community program representative for the American Cancer Society, said if she gets the opportunity, she will use the town hall as an opportunity to thank Hill.Bock said Hill has been a strong supporter of cancer programs, avoiding cutting their funding even in tough economic times. Hill has guarded the American Cancer Society’s top priorities regarding health care, Bock said. These include affordability, adequacy of coverage and elimination of lifetime caps.Lifetime caps impose a limit on the amount of health insurance an individual can receive. Bock recently learned about an eight-year-old cancer patient in Indiana whose lifetime cap had already been exhausted. “The fact remains that many people find themselves in that circumstance,” Bock said. “Even as an adult, it’s devastating to reach your lifetime cap and realize that other than that there’s nothing that you can do except hope you never get sick again.”
(09/01/09 3:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The recreational vehicle company Dutchmen Manufacturing Inc. announced Friday its plans to hire 50 more workers at its plant in Elkhart County, Ind., which suffered one of the nation’s largest increases in unemployment since June 2008.Other players in the RV industry have agreed to expand or move into the area as well, promising hundreds of new jobs for Elkhart residents.Earlier this month, Dometic LLC, an international manufacturer of RV accessories, revealed its plans to expand operations in Elkhart and LaGrange, Ind., creating a combined 350 jobs by 2012, according to a press release from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The agreement came after the corporation offered Dometic up to $1.1 million in tax credits and up to $320,000 in training grants. The Keystone RV company in Goshen, Ind., will also expand its plant and hire 200 more workers, according to a press release.In May, RV company Gulf Stream Coach of Nappanee, Ind., announced it would partner with the California-based Electric Motors Corp. to retool its facilities to manufacture an electric pickup truck. The companies estimated the plans would create more than a thousand jobs in Indiana.This comes at a pivotal moment in Elkhart, where the unemployment rate reached 16.8 percent in June, far above the national average of 9.7 percent. Unemployment was even higher in Kokomo, Ind., where about 19.2 percent of the labor force was unemployed, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Since June 2008, Elkhart’s unemployment rate increased by 10 percentage points and Kokomo’s jumped 11.8 points – the largest one-year increase in the nation. In response to the region’s ailing labor force, President Obama visited Elkhart County on Aug. 5, announcing a $39 million grant for Navistar, formerly Monaco Coach, to build 400 batteries for hybrid and electric trucks.Although it is too early to point to progress reflected in unemployment rates, officials in Elkhart are optimistic about the implications for the economy.Kyle Hannon, vice president of public policy with the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, said the expansions were great news for the economy as a whole and might show a turnaround in an industry that has historically been the largest employer in Elkhart.“A lot of people have said that when this thing turns around, it’s going to start charging ahead,” Hannon said. “I think that’s what we are all anticipating and hoping for.” Elkhart mayor Dick Moore is also optimistic.“While the job losses that we as a community have experienced over the past 16 months have had a negative impact on our local economy, I am confident that better times lay ahead,” he said in a press release. “We are a resilient community which has both faced and overcome adversity in the past.”
(08/26/09 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan and eight members of the City council reiterated their long-standing support for a single-payer health care system – essentially a “Medicare-for-all” model.The council members sent letters to Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Reps. Baron Hill, D-9th, and Steve Buyer, R-4th, urging them to support and move toward such a system.In 1994 and 2006, the council passed formal resolutions in support of a single-payer model. But the idea has received little attention in the national health care reform debate.“Deliberate misinformation from special interests have muddied the waters for a lot of people,” said Andy Ruff, city council president and at-large representative. “There’s billions of dollars of corporate profits at stake in this issue. That can still be cleared up, and people can still realize and recognize the truth of the matter.”Since the council’s first policy statement, the number of Americans without health insurance grew from 38 million to 46 million. There are more than 15,000 Monroe County residents currently without health insurance.America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, a health care reform bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives, contains an option for publicly funded health insurance. The bill would create a mixed marketplace of private and public insurance plans from which citizens could choose.According to City council members, however, the public option will not do enough to protect Americans from the weaknesses of private insurance – such as “extraordinary administrative waste” that leads to increased costs. A single-payer system would eliminate the private insurance industry altogether, making a single government-run entity the sole provider. Health care would be publicly financed and privately delivered. Ruff said a single-payer system is the only way to extend access to affordable health insurance to all Americans. He pointed to Medicare and the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs health care system as successful examples of single-payer models in America. “I don’t think it’s over yet,” Ruff said. “I don’t think that those who advocate for Medicare-for-all should retreat and throw in the towel. Given some time and unpolluted dialogue, discussion and information, people can see and understand what our best options are and move in the direction that we need to go.”Signing members were Council President Andy Ruff, Vice President Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Representatives Steve Volan, Tim Mayer, Susan Sandberg, Chris Sturbaum, Mike Satterfield and Dave Rollo. Brad Wisler was the only council member that did not sign the letters. “For me, this is an ethical issue as well as an economic one,” Sandberg said in statement. “Too many Americans are un- and underinsured, and far too many are suffering in a country that can and should do better. I can no longer remain silent as our nation’s health deteriorates.”
(08/25/09 3:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the August recess draws to a close, Indiana legislators are meeting with constituents and gaging public opinion on the health care reform bills making their ways through both houses of Congress.The House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed its bill on July 31. It could face a full vote when the House reconvenes in September.The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved its version in July, and the Finance Committee now faces an informal Sept. 15 deadline from President Obama to produce a final version.The House bill, called America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, aims to ensure access to affordable health insurance to approximately 40 million uninsured Americans. The bill would establish a marketplace in which individuals could shop among public and private health insurers.It would introduce market reforms, including restrictions on insurance companies’ ability to raise premiums and deny coverage. Employers would not be required to provide insurance, but those who don’t would be subject to penalty taxes ranging from 2 to 8 percent of their payroll.Businesses with payrolls less than $250,000 would be exempt from the tax.According to the text of the bill, the public option would be financially self-sustainable and compete on a level playing field, meeting the same benefit requirements and complying with the same market reforms as private plans.Indiana’s Republican congressmen cited concerns about expanded government involvement, higher taxes and the financial durability of the plan.In July, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the reforms would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by about a third, at a cost of $1 trillion dollars over 10 years.Rep. Dan Burton, R-5th District, opposes the bill and would oppose any version that mandated a government-run program, said Matt Prine, a spokesman for Burton.“Putting a government official between the patient and the doctor is overstepping the boundaries of what government should do,” Prine said. He estimated that three-quarters of constituents who have contacted Burton’s office since the bill’s proposal were opposed to it.In an August editorial, Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd District, called the bill a “bureaucratic maze” and a “federal government takeover.”But reactions in other districts are more mixed.Liz Farrar, a spokeswoman for Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-8th District, said constituents have called in advocating a pure single-payer system in which the federal government is the sole provider of health insurance, while others have called for the elimination of Medicaid. Most fell somewhere in the middle.Ellsworth has not yet taken a definitive position on the bill, but he and the rest of the Blue Dog Coalition will likely play an important role in the fate of the plan. The group of 52 fiscally conservative House Democrats has already been successful in postponing a vote until after the August recess and in introducing changes to the legislation that will shave $100 billion off its estimated cost. Congressman Baron Hill, D-9th District, a leader of the Blue Dogs, remains open to discussing other ways to decrease premiums and increase competition within the insurance industry, said Katie Moreau, communications director for Hill’s office. The request to delay the vote does not indicate a lack of support, but a desire to meet with constituents and gather suggestions from key stakeholders, she said.“These are significant changes that will dramatically alter the current bill for the better,” Hill said in a press release. “But, it’s also one step one of a very long process. Step two is going home to Southern Indiana and hearing from direct stakeholders and my constituents about ways we can further improve such legislation.”