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Friday, July 29
Largest Public Health Cutback in US History
by
Caroline Vernon
on Fri 29 Jul 2005 04:53 PM CDT
 Largest Public Health Cutback in United States History
By Caroline Vernon
(excerpts from familiesusa.org and tenncare.org)
* * * * *
Here in Eastern Iowa, the Health Care forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good will hold a candlelight vigil and bell ringing at 8:30pm on Sunday, July 31st, at the Unitarian Church, 3707 Eastern Avenue, in Davenport. The vigil will also be preceded at 7:30 by the showing of the documentary, “323,000.” The ringing of the bells will represent the 99 counties in Iowa as a way of showing support and solidarity with the people of Tennessee and the 719,000 TennCare enrollees affected by the cuts.
* * * * *
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen is executing the cruelest and largest cutback of public health coverage in the history of the United States. Every day, nearly 2,000 people enrolled in TennCare, the State Medicaid program, are receiving letters of termination or reduction of benefits. Hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans, many of whom are chronically ill and disabled, are living in fear because of Governor Bredesen’s decision to strip them of the only health care they have. Now, more than ever, they need your help.
Unfortunately, the national media has done very little to address this issue even though many people stand to lose their lives as a result of these drastic and unnecessary cuts. To make matters worse, internal State memos and documents, obtained by the Tennessee Justice Center, reveal that the State had orchestrated and implemented these cuts merely as a political strategy, with no regard for the consequences they are having on people's lives. The Tennessee Justice Center is a non profit, non-partisan law office. TJC represents low income families, and all of their clients are on TennCare.
The documentary, “323,000,” is the culmination of a 6-month investigation into the largest health care cuts in the history of this country. In the course of the investigations, documents were discovered that definitely prove that Governor Bredesen did not tell the truth to the citizens of Tennessee when he said the reason for the drastic cuts were the fault of the Tennessee Justice Center and other TennCare advocates. In fact, as you will learn below, the cuts are part of a bigger political strategy.
In 2002, Governor Bredesen campaigned on a platform to reform TennCare. In a printed press interview, he cited one of the problems with the program was due to the fact that the MCO’s (Managed Care Organizations) were overpaid and not bearing any of the risk or properly managing care.
In early 2003, after he was inaugurated, Governor Bredesen began negotiating with the Tennessee Justice Center in an attempt to settle 4 class action lawsuits that they had filed against the State. By the end of the summer, they had completed negotiations and entered into settlement agreements. Governor Bredesen had said at that time that these settlement agreements had put the State in the drivers seat to be able to manage TennCare. He made promises then that he would implement reform. Throughout the rest of 2003 no reforms were implemented.
more »
Fluoride: Do You REALLY Know What's in Your Drinking Water?
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 29 Jul 2005 02:06 PM CDT
 Fluoride: Do You REALLY Know What's in Your Drinking Water?
by Kelly Hearn, AlterNet.org
Anti-fluoride
activists say a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence
counters long-held assumptions about fluoride's safety, and they're
turning up the heat.
Last
month, the Environmental Working Group, a respected Washington-based
watchdog organization, called public attention to a Harvard study that
shows links between fluoride and bone cancer in young boys. That study,
conducted in 2001 by Elise Bassin, a Harvard doctoral student, stated
that "among males, exposure to fluoride at or above the target level
was associated with an increased risk of developing [the rare form of
bone cancer] osteosarcoma. The association was most apparent between
ages 5-10, with a peak at 6 to 8 years of age."
The EWG,
which claims Bassin's study is the most comprehensive of its kind to
date, also formally accused Chester Douglass, a researcher at Harvard's
dental school and Bassin's former supervisor, of playing down her
results in a 2004 report to federal officials.
The EWG
has asked the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS) to investigate Douglass and has called on federal officials to
list fluoride as a potential carcinogen.
Douglass,
who is the editor of an academic publication funded by the toothpaste
industry, told officials that his $1.3 million federally funded study,
which included Bassin's work, showed no significant link between
fluoridated water and osteosarcoma.
Both Harvard and the NIEHS are investigating EWG's claims.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
It just goes to show that it depends on who funds the study.
The Stench of Hog Lot Expansion in Scott County
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 29 Jul 2005 04:00 AM CDT
 The Stench of Hog Lot Expansion in Scott County
by Molly Regan
On
Thursday, July 28th, 2005, the Scott County Board of Supervisors in
IOWA voted 5–0 to recommend that a hog farmer and his family be allowed
to expand their operations. Thomas Dittmer, Grandview Farms, and
family currently maintain about 1250 hogs in confinement. They
want to increase that number to as many as 3000. The Board does
not have FINAL say as to whether this will take place, they just
recommend yea or nay. The IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
(IDNR) has the final say.
Dittmer
applied for a permit to the IDNR June 30th and there is a 30-day period
for PUBLIC INPUT and input from the Board of Supervisors. Last
night, the Board forwarded their recommendation to the IDNR.
I spoke
on Tuesday morning to the Board and again last evening. I cited a
study by DR. JAMES MERCHANT, DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. In a study, Dr. Merchant found that
children who live close to hog lots where ANTIBIOTICS are used on the
hogs, THESE CHILDREN HAVE A HIGHER INCIDENCE OF ASTHMA THAN THOSE WHO
LIVE CLOSE TO LOTS WHERE ANTIBIOTICS ARE NOT USED. A reference
to this is on my December 12, 2004, environmental post.
It was
mentioned by one of the Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting that they
believed a waiver had been obtained by Dittmer from several
neighbors. I asked what the wavier said. It was not
known. So I called one of the neighbors who I had spoken with
Sunday evening, and he said he had not signed anything and was not even
approached about signing.
So at
last evening’s meeting, I asked once again for information on this
waiver. It was explained by a Board member that it would stay
with the property no matter who owned the property in the future.
But still, no information as to what it actually said. I pressed
the issue, asking whether or not these other farmers were giving up
their right to sue Dittmer if they ever became ill because of this
operation. Dittmer, who was also present, finally read one of the
waivers that 2 neighbors had signed…. Those pesky environmentalists,
always LOOKING FOR LOGIC.
After
hearing the waiver read, which is some type of separation waiver, I
said that I was no lawyer but it sounded to me as though the neighbors
were giving up some rights.
I asked
the Board to think about purchasing meters that gauge the concentration
of HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA to be placed at this location and
others around the county. I am not sure what will result in my
request.
Apparently
the Board believed that progress is best because Chairman Larry Minard
was convinced that Dittmer has done everything correctly to be a “good
neighbor” by keeping in touch with those living close to him who may be
affected by the odor. Chairman Minard also sites that this
expansion will create good jobs for the area. This type of
progress we can do without.
I grew
up on a farm and I know what it is like to be around hogs, cattle,
chickens and all other types of animal agriculture beings that create
smelly waste. I know people need to make a living at what they
know and love. But increasing from 1250 to 3000 hogs will only
exponentially increase the smell and health hazards in this area.
This farmer has his big toe in the door of unlimited expansion.
In 7 or 8 years, what if another expansion is applied for? When
this farmer wants to retire and a larger hog factory wants to purchase
it and add 10,000 hogs, how will the neighbors feel then? Will
they THEN put up their own stink?
At least
our efforts made it to the front page of the QUAD CITY TIMES ON
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27TH. We will see if others come out the next
time an application is put forth. For today though, if anyone has
concerns about this, contact the IDNR at www.iowadnr.com or
515-281-4367 at their Information and Education Bureau. Ask about
input on the MASTER MATRIX. Do it today, please.
And as the good citizens that you are, do not forget to CPR: CONSERVE –PARTICPATE – RECYCLE.
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