THE HEALTHY INDIANA PLAN

The Tribune published an article about the State Government's plan to help uninsured citizens. It is called the Healthy Indiana Plan or HIP. This plan is funded by a 44 cent cigarette tax and federal dollars.


HIP was designed to cover lower income people aged 19 to 64 who are ineligible for Hoosier Healthwise. This sounds great on the surface but there are restrictions. If an employer offers insurance coverage at any price the individual does not qualify. Additionally the cost is $80.00 per month per person. To me this seems a little steep for someone making less than $20,000 per year, but I'm sure it is less than what many insurance companies charge.


As I said earlier, there are restrictions, they are listed below:

• You have not had health insurance in more than six months.
• You do not have access to health insurance through your employer.
• You are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.
• You are between the ages of 19 and 64.
• You are a legal resident of Indiana.
• MAXIMUM annual household income is equal to or less than:

1 person in household; $20,400

2 people in household; $27,360

3 people in household; $34,320

4 people in household; $41,280

5 people in household; $48,240

To learn more about the Health Indiana Plan, and for more information on whether or not you may qualify, you can visit the Web site at http://www.in.gov/ or call 1-877-GET-HIP-9

SOURCE: New Albany Tribune

This is a start but I believe the Federal Government needs to provide healthcare for all US citzens without these restrictions

THE "NEW EXPANDED MEDICARE" BILL

There is a growing grassroots movement regarding health care. This is known as The Citizens Alliance for National Health Insurance and the group is working to pass HR676. This is an idea which is long over due. Everybody deserves affordable health care. They are distributing a very informative flyer which is reprinted here:

What ID National Health Insurance (NHI)?

To begin with, it is NOT "Socialized Medicine", far from it in fact. Also it does not mean that our medical system will be taken over by the government and run like the post office as many of our opposition friends would mistakenly have you believe.

Basically, House Resolution (H.R.) 676, the "New Expanded Medicare" bill now in sub-committee in the House of Representatives simply creates a new and far more functional "single payer" method of paying for medical services while leaving the medical system itself completely alone and intact. This will eliminate the hundreds of complicated and redundant payment plans currently imposed on the system by private "for profit" health insurance companies and save literally BILLIONS of dollars every year by eliminating such wasteful duplication. This will allow your doctors offices and hospitals to function much more efficiently and serve your needs much more effectively as well. Just imagine what huge benefit this will be!

Taxes: We all know that nothing of any real value is ever free, but if you think of the taxes that will be required to support national health insurance as simply a lower cost alternative to the staggering private health insurance premiums that most of us already have to pay but will be totally eliminated under the new system, then it becomes immediately clear that this could be a really good deal after all.

Check out some of the tremendous benefits that NHI will bring and see what you think:

• Every citizen of the US will be covered from birth to death.
• No more pre-existing conditions be be excluded from coverage.
• No more expensive deductions or co pays.
• All prescription medications will be covered.
• All dental and eye care will be included.
• Mental health and substance abuse care will be fully covered.
• Long term and nursing home services will be included.
• You will always choose your own doctors and hospitals.
• Costs of coverage will be assessed on a sliding scale basis.
• Tremendously simplified system of medical administration.

Existing Medicare benefits for those over 65 will remain the same of be vastly improved in many cases.

The real irony is that this new system will be a lot less expensive and provide much better services than the largely dysfunctional system currently in place and still leave us with the best health care system in the entire world, only with the New Medicare it will be even better!

Don't be put off by all of the misleading and often inaccurate rhetoric that you so often hear about changing our system. For example uninformed critics will ask "Do you really want your medical decisions made by some government bureaucrat in Washington?" Well, the truth is that with NHI just about every medical decision will be made privately by you and your doctor. But ironically, under the current system, many medical decisions about what's best for you are now being made by some corporate bureaucrat working for a private insurance company whose main concern is making larger profits by denying your claims. How exactly does that work out to be better for you??

Change is indeed often a very scary thing to most people, but when the need is so great and the proposed changes are so much better than the status quo, maybe changing to a NHI system in the USA is something that we can all think about supporting, whether you are a moderate, liberal or conservative, after giving it a lot of careful study and thought. Please call your congressperson and let them know what you think. They really need to hear from you.

Personally, I can't wait until this bill is passed. It will help so many people who are delaying medical treatment because they cannot afford it. An American citizen should not have to choose between food and medicine. This is a disgrace to our country.

MARIA GRANGER FOR FLOYD SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE

I met Maria Granger a couple of years ago at a "Meet The Candidates" dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall. I was very impressed by this friendly vivacious person with a ready smile. She told me that she was there with her husband, Steve Mennemeyer, who was running for a seat on the County Council at the time. I thought to myself what a great addition she made to this large and wonderful family.


Last year she told me that she was planning to run for Judge on the new Floyd Superiour Court. My first thought was what a fine judge she would make. It doesn't matter if you are rich and powerful or poor and powerless, Maria is no snob. In her court everyone would be treated fairly. She is brilliant but she has common sense. She is compassionate but she can be tough when it is necessary.


Maria told me that she was not born to a wealthy family. Her parents both worked and provided a home with good family values.

It should be no surprise to anyone that Maria was a gifted student. She was also a leader at an early age and became an officer on her student council board. Additionally she is a gifted pianist and singer, and even a talented athlete. Truly a Renaissance Woman. After high school she enrolled at IU and carried a full load while working a full time job. She graduated early with a BS in Secondary English Education. After that she attended law school at the IU School of Law in Indianapolis and even won a felony case as a 3rd year student.

During these busy years Maria married and gave birth to her son, Drake, who is now in the 8th grade. After that marriage ended she remained single for several years raising her son, working and serving as a volunteer for various local community organizations.

I think Maria can speak best in her own words:


Floyd County is my home. I choose to live her, and I love living here. It is the community where my husband, Steve Mennemeyer, and I raise our family. It is here the entire Mennemeyer family is rooted in Floyd County values. It is also where I have enjoyed a long career serving as an attorney, professor and appointed judicial officer. And is the community where my husband continues to serve, after 25 years in the U.S. Army, assisting families of our National Guard soldiers who will be fighting for us in the Iraq war.


Steve and I share a deep commitment to public service and live by the powerful words of Winston Churchill, "you make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give". As a Gold Star family whose lies have been forever changed by the sacrifice of our son's life for the good of our world. We accept the duty to serve with honor. My family and I support veterans and military families, the poor and disadvantaged, our youth, minority interests and diversity, and law enforcement. Public service is more than what we do, it is who we are.


Let's build our new court on a strong record of public service and a foundation of integrity, fairness and respect. Please encourage your family to vote for me. I ask for your vote during the primary election on May 6, 2008.


Sincerely,


Maria Granger


Please visit Maria's website, http://www.grangerforjudge.com/

A WELL DESERVED REWARD

There was an article in today's Tribune about a New Albany citizen who received an award this past Tuesday. The honoree is former City Councilman Bill Schmidt.

Mr. Schmidt was awarded for his service with the Solid Waste Board. He served on this board from it's beginning in 1992 until December 2007. Executive Director Warren Nash said that to his knowledge no other board has had a member who has served the entire tenure of the board.

This is just one example of Bill's loyalty. He has served with numerous organizations for many years and deserves awards from each of them. Our community is lucky to such a citizen.

I am truly honored to call Bill Schmidt my friend.

RALLY IN INDY 1/15/08

Our friends over at Freedom of Speech have an article about the State of the State address that Governor Daniels will be giving tomorrow evening at 7:00 at the Capital.

Many Hoosiers will again be making the trek up I65 to tell Gov. Daniels and other state officials how they feel about our property tax crisis. I will not be able to join my fellow Hoosiers but my thoughts and prayers are with them. I hope that the readers of this blog feel the same way. These people are representing the rest of us. They are taking time away from work and other obligations to be present at this event.

If anyone in this area is able to join this group please do so. We taxpayers need all the help we can get.

My sincere thanks to everyone who will be attending this rally.

HOW LONG WILL THE HONEYMOON LAST?

Monday night's City Council meeting was short and sweet. The first order of business was the election of the Council President and Vice President. The members chose Jeff Gahan to lead the council again, good idea. And Dan Coffey resumed his role as Vice President. He leaned over to Mr. Gahan and told him to make sure he was not absent at any meetings. I can't say I blame him.

Everyone was so courteous it was a real pleasure to be in attendance. Coffey and Messer did not even have a small squirmish much less a battle. Blevins was not there to argue with Zurschmeide. (Nothing against Mr. Blevins).

Everyone seems to be talking about Diane Benneditti and her decision not to recuse herself or abstain on the matter concernig her brother. This aside, she seemed to have done her homework and was not afraid to ask questions.
I don't know much about her but I was impressed. She seems to have opinions and is not afraid to express them.

Our "re-new" mayor was very jovial also. He talked mainly to the citizens in attendance instead of the council. (He did apologize to the council for turning his back on them). His main concern seemed to be that the council and the attendees respect each other. I could not agree more. The last four years were a real circus as everybody knows. Maybe everyone will grow up and act like adults.

As I said, this meeting was short and sweet. Maybe this is the beginning of a long friendship.

WHAT WILL GOVERNMENT REFORM MEAN TO US?

The Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform released the results of their report today on streamlining local government.

Members of the commission included former Governor Joe Kernan and Justice Randall Shepard, each of whom were co-chairs.

Governor Daniels formed the committee in July, 2007 to "recommend ways to restructure local government to increase efficiency and reduce the financial burden on Indiana taxpayers"

This sounds good but which offices will be eliminated? How many government workers will find themselves out of a job at the end of the officer's term?

"If enacted, the recommendations would reduce the number of local government units from 3,086 to 1,931--a 37% cut, and the number of elected officials from 11,012 to as few as 5,171--a reduction of more than half."

If you read the recommendations you will notice that the offices they are discussing eliminating are mainly city and township offices. Is this a prelude to a merger between cities and counties? If some of the offices are eliminated, how much access will citizens have to their councilpersons and other office holders? Saving money is always a good idea but at who's expense?

Following are quotes from the press release sent out today:

"We have lots of good people serving in local government in Indiana, but their ability to deliver great public service is limited by an antiquated system" "said Kernan"

"Among the commissions recommendations:

• County governments would be led by a single, elected county executive and a stronger county council, to which professionally qualified administrators should report and be accountable.
• The services performed by township personnel should be transferred to the county governments.
• All local public safety services should be coordinated countywide and regionally where appropriate. Emergency dispatch must be centralized, at least countywide, using the compatible 800 MHz system.
• Only elected officials should have the power to levy taxes.
• Indiana's school districts should be be large enough to gather sufficient resources to educate our children for 21st century life.
• All spending, including school spending should be subject to more rigorous examination by elected officials.
• A statewide office should be designated to provide technical assistance to help local governments make recommended changes."

If you wish to read the entire report the website is: http://indianalocalgovreform.iu.edu/.