Medicaid
Frustrations over Medicaid in North Carolina
North Carolina’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Lanier Cansler, resigned from his post recently, effective Jan. 31. When Gov. Bev Perdue was elected, I ran into Lanier at a party and asked if he was going to be the next HHS secretary. I got an odd stare in responsse, and then he smiled and [...]
More bad news for low-income Americans
As governments refuse to raise taxes on the richest Americans, the poor suffer increasingly. Across the country, cash-strapped states are cutting their spending where it hurts the most — access to Medicaid, the federal program that provides care to the poorest Americans. Already, income requirements are so low that tens of thousands of people who [...]
The biggest lie of the year is a big fat lie.
Politifact, the St. Petersburg Times’ fact-checking site, has said the biggest lie of 2011 is that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan for Medicare would end the program as we know it. Frankly, I think the biggest lie out there right now is that it wouldn’t end Medicare as we know it. What was created in 1964 [...]
Judge: NC Must continue to provide in-home personal care services
A federal judge has issued an injunction against North Carolina’s implementation of a new Medicaid rule that would deny personal care services to recipients who are over 21 and not in an institution. The rule, passed last spring and implemented on June 1, would eliminate or cut back these services for some people with serious disabilities [...]
Super failure for the “super committee”
So the super committee that was supposed to come up with a plan to reduce the defecit has admitted failure. That’s good news for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, at least in the short term. But once again, physicians and other health care service providers face cuts of 30 percent in the rates they receive from [...]
Tweet the super committee
I followed a link today to tweet the Congressional Super Committee about health care at http://www.standupforhealthcare.org/get-involved/save-medicaid/tweet-the-super-committee. It was easy and it only takes a minute to tweet 11 of the 12 members (Max Baucus apparently doesn’t tweet, so you have to e-mail him). I asked them to strengthen, not weaken the social safety nets of [...]
Fuzzy math for Medicaid in NC
Legislators have been screaming about Medicaid and how it’s eating up the budget in North Carolina (the same is true in other states), and it’s easy to make people think it all comes from abuse of the system, but that’s false. Medicaid serves children, impoverished adults and elderly people who can’t afford to pay the nursing [...]
Poor kids are turned away from care
No matter what anyone tells you, there are disparities in health care, and poor children have less access to care, even when they have Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 66 percent of children with public health care (Medicaid or [...]
Trying to look ahead
I’ve been obsessing about the NC state budget the last few weeks. People I know have been arrested protesting the proposed budget, and when it passed on Sasturday morning, my friend LisaRose called me to make sure I was OK. I still have the hope that the governor will veto the budget and two of [...]
The immorality of ‘optional’ care
I read in the newspaper this morning that the NC Senate is considering cutting “optional” Medicaid services as the costs rise. Sounds reasonable, right? That’s until you hear what’s optional. The place where my friend Stacie and her best friend, Ashley, live is optional. That’s Stacie in the photo, showing off her beautiful smile. I [...]
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.