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In Health Care, 2007 May Be the Year of the Child
http://www.progressivestates.org/dispatch Thursday, May 3, 2007In Health Care, 2007 May Be the Year of the ChildIn Today's Dispatch:
In Health Care, 2007 May Be the Year of the Child
As detailed in a new Georgetown University report, New York is at the cusp of state efforts to expand access to health care for children in 2007. 29 states have enacted or are working on proposals to improve kids' coverage, including better outreach to families with children eligible but not enrolled in public programs, increasing income eligibility for SCHIP and easing administrative barriers to make it easier for children to enroll and remain enrolled in public programs. The 300% Standard: An important trend among states is increasing the income eligibility for SCHIP, with 300% of poverty becoming the new standard. Of the 15 states with such proposals in 2007, 10 seek to increase eligibility to 300% of poverty or above, as is the case in New York. Increasingly, states are allowing families above the income limits to purchase SCHIP coverage at full-cost, including Washington and Tennessee which have already enacted such reforms. Of proposals still being worked on, North Carolina would offer public coverage to children with sliding scale premiums to 300% and allow a full-cost buy-in above that. Ohio is seeking to go further by expanding SCHIP to 300% and subsidizing premiums for children in families up to 500% of poverty. A Road to Universal Coverage: As we have written in previous editions of the Stateside Dispatch, kids' coverage is seen by many as laying the foundation for universal health care. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is fighting to enact coverage for children in his state, said, "If you drive the plan into the middle class, it's not just viewed as a public assistance program. You build a base of support for the program to provide health care for all of us." The Right, as expressed in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, fears this precise scenario. The Journal refers to expanding SCHIP as universal health care "on the installment plan" and urges Republicans to "work to return SCHIP to its original, more modest purposes."
IN: Prison Riots and Privatization
As the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette noted in an editorial:
Profits for private prisons comes, as the Journal-Gazette emphasizes, from "cost savings and low-wage jobs that come at the expense of public safety." Adding to these concerns is the fact that prison privatization in Indiana, as in too many states, followed a massive infusion of $226,000 in campaign contributions by prison interests to state-level candidates between 2001 and 2004, including $52,900 to incumbent governor Mitch Daniels. This is all part of a broader trend, as Business Week details this week, of cash-strapped states increasingly turning to privatization of public assets like highways, airports and bridges -- a dangerous recipe for undermining public safety and ripping off the taxpayer, as we explained earlier this year.
Arizona Governor Vetoes Bad Day Laborer Bill
Day laborers, like immigrants, are not new to the country's work landscape and are a work force of their own, despite what anti-immigration groups may claim. Immigrants, and others, often turn to day laboring when they cannot find better work through other means, although the ad hoc nature of day labor often results in unfair wages and dangerous working conditions. A Better Alternative: A better public strategy is creating organized day labor centers which can reduce residents' concerns about traffic and health and safety. They also provide a safe, secure place for workers to gather as they search for work. As we previously highlighted, encouraging employers to hire day labor through hiring halls and regulating day labor services is necessary to discourage day labor abuses. Florida, Illinois and Texas have laws regulating labor centers by requiring basic levels of facilities, such as restrooms and drinking water. In 2000, Illinois implemented the Day Labor and Temporary Labor Service Act prohibiting labor centers from, among other things, taking unauthorized deductions from workers' wages, failing to pay all earned wages and forcing workers to work and travel in unsafe conditions. The Act was amended in 2006 to provide further worker protection and providing stiff fines to labor centers that violate the Act. Using militia and intimidation tactics will not shut down the day laborers, but merely push the problem further underground where states cannot regulate workers' rights and wages. The solution is to bring the workers further into the regular work force where their wages and rights can be regulated and protected.
Prescription Drug Confidentiality in Jeopardy, but States Move Ahead
Despite this setback, New Hampshire is likely to appeal the ruling and states considering similar legislation are moving forward, in part because the ruling only applies to New Hampshire. Even if the drug companies win on appeal, there are several options available to states to ensure these laws pass judicial muster. According to an analysis of the ruling by the counsel to the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices (NLARX) and an NLARX press release, "the decision left open a number of options for states seeking to protect prescriber privacy and address concerns about the use of prescriber specific information for the purpose of marketing prescription drug prices." These include: more legislative documentation of the effect these marketing practices have on health care costs and physician's practices; allowing the release of this information at the consent of physicians; and targeting the most abusive practices by allowing, for instance, evidence-based marketing. NLARX member states with legislation pending that would regulate the marketing use of prescriber data include Vermont, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and Texas. Research RoundupResearch Roundup
In its first survey of a US-based corporation for human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch details Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association, a 214-page report detailing the "sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of [Wal-Mart's] anti-union apparatus and actions" -tactics that take advantage of failings in United States labor law which allow companies to deny US workers internationally recognized labor rights. Americans are impatient with political leaders and want immediate action to address the threat of global warming, according to a new survey by the Center for American Progress and pollsters Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. Among the findings, 60% of the public believe that pollution is causing global warming and “we must take action now or it will be too late to stop it.”? In Oklahoma, the Community Action Project has a new issue brief, Growing Oklahoma's Economy, which reviews the evidence of what policies drive regional economic growth. The report emphasizes that the most effective strategies focus on public investment in schools, health and infrastructure to provide the context for vibrant business growth. Tax cuts, on the other hand, are generally unfocused and do little to effect investment decisions by businesses. Better data collection and use of information technologies by government can dramatically improve our ability to address key problems from environmental management to better coordination of public employee time. The Center for American Progress outlines case studies of success by government using information technology in Governing by the Numbers and The CitiStat Model. In Tipping Frames, the corporate social responsibility consultancy Lifeworth surveys how global mobilizations on issues like climate change, fair trade, and human rights are putting new pressures on businesses to change their practices-- or leading those businesses to try to strategically co-opt criticism by "reframing" business actions to appear more benign than they really are. In Health Care, 2007 May Be the Year of the Child
Georgetown University - Children's Health Coverage: States Moving Forward Progressive States Network, Covering All Kids - A Step Towards "Health Care for All" Progressive States Network, Illinois: Covering AllKids IN: Prison Riots and Privatization
Private Corrections Institute, GEO Group Rap Sheet Institute on Money in State Politics, Policy Lock-Down: Prison Interests Court Political Players Progressive States Network, Ripoff Privatizations-- And Why They Keep Happening Arizona Governor Vetoes Bad Day Laborer Bill
Illinois' Day Labor and Temporary Services Act National Day Laborer Organizing Network National Employment Law Project, Nonstandard Worker Project National Employment Law Project, Guide to Drafting Day Labor Legislation Progressive States Network, Holding Employers Accountable for "Fly-by-NIght" Operations Arizona Central, Governor Vetoes Day-Laborer Bill Prescription Drug Confidentiality in Jeopardy, but States Move Ahead
American University/Washington College of Law, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and Statement in Response to Decision in IMS vs. Ayotte National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices Progressive States Network, Big PhRMA and Marketing Prescription Drugs Eye on the Right
Ignoring any of CFLs benefits, Milloy hypes the story of a Maine woman who broke a CFL while installing it in her daughter’s room and the danger of small amounts of mercury in the bulb. What he doesn't say is that a CFL contains only about 4 mg of mercury, 750 times less than is contained in an old thermostat, and that power plants emit far more mercury emissions to produce the energy needed for less efficient bulbs. In fact, coal power generation spews 44 billion milligrams of mercury into our air every year. Where is Milloy’s outrage about this power plant mercury, which is equivalent to every American breaking a CFL every 10 days? Of course, Milloy's interest has never been in saving the environment but flacking for his corporate funders, which have included companies ranging from Phillip Morris to, yes, ExxonMobil. 3 Steps Forward1. OR: Legislature Approves Domestic Partnerships 2 Steps Back1. OK: Punitive Immigration bill goes to governor 2. TX: House approves bill requiring state to verify voters' citizenship Jobs & InternshipsCheck out current opportunities with Progressive States on the Jobs & Internships Page. MastheadThe Stateside Dispatch is written and edited by: SuggestionsPlease shoot me an email at jbacino@progressivestates.org if you have feedback, tips, suggestions, criticisms, or nominations for any of our sidebar features. John Bacino Progressive
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To
little fanfare, the New York General Assembly and Governor
Eliot Spitzer enacted a budget in early April that includes
Take
1200 prisoners from Arizona, hire Indiana at $64 per day to house them, then
ship them 1500 miles from home and loved ones to a private prison in New
Castle, Indiana run by the GEO Group, a private prison company that has been
repeatedly 
Arizona
Governor Janet Napolitano recently
A
federal
Corporate
hack
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