• Pregnant women who smoke here more than double national average, By Becky Orr, January 25, 2010, Wyoming Tribune Eagle: “The news is troubling: Plenty of Wyoming mothers smoked when they were pregnant. The recently released 2009 Kids Count Data Report finds that 20 percent of women in Wyoming smoked when they were pregnant. The statistic is from 2007, the most recent information available. That’s more than double the national average of 10 percent in 2007…”
• Johnson County childhood poverty rate among the state’s lowest, By Jen Hicks, January 29, 2010, Buffalo Bulletin: “Slightly fewer Johnson County children are living in poverty according to an annual report that monitors the well-being of the nation’s youth. But the same study released last week showed an increase in the number of students who receive free or reduced school lunches. The 2009 Wyoming Kids Count Data Report, funded by the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation, found improvement in two of the three key indicators used to measure the economic well-being of children. Because financial stability can have a domino effect on a child’s welfare, Marc Homer, director of the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, a non-profit children’s advocacy organization said that it’s important to understand the economic situation children are raised in…”

• Medicaid change could affect more than illegals, By Mark Andersen, January 27, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “A number of legal citizens in Nebraska could lose prenatal Medicaid coverage alongside 1,000 illegal immigrants because of a federal rule clarification. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services told state senators Jan. 15 the state was notified that federal law prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are not documented, except in emergencies. That includes prenatal care for illegal immigrants. But the same rule may affect some legal residents in two groups: pregnant teens living with parents and pregnant adults living in borderline low-income households. The expected change for both groups results from a federal demand that Nebraska stop using eligibility standards that count the unborn as people for purposes of Medicaid eligibility…”
• Officials disagree on who can make Medicaid decision for illegals, By Mark Andersen, January 28, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nebraska Medicaid could continue to cover prenatal care for poor illegal immigrants, but that must be the Legislature’s call, the state’s top Medicaid official said Thursday. ‘I’m a firm believer in prenatal care,’ said Vivianne Chaumont, director of the state’s division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, ‘but the feds make policy. The Legislature makes policy.’ In light of LB403, the law approved last year that denies illegal immigrants the right to public benefits, jobs or contracts, Chaumont said she will not assume authority to extend that coverage. Staff attorneys with Nebraska Appleseed argued that Chaumont could act without official legislative action, which could be important now that the deadline has passed for introducing new bills…”
• Senate affirms Medicaid cut, By Tim Carpenter, January 27, 2010, Topeka Capital-Journal: “The legislative session’s first major showdown in a caustic state budget battle Wednesday culminated with Senate affirmation of a $22 million reduction in Medicaid funding recommended by Gov. Mark Parkinson. An attempt to delete the cut to a program providing health care to the poor failed 16-24, with more than a dozen Republicans joining with Democrats to preserve this controversial element of the governor’s plan for balancing the current budget. The Senate bill was then forwarded to the House for consideration. Parkinson proposed the 10 percent reduction in Medicaid payments to hospitals, nursing homes and clinics to help close a deficit exacerbated by unexpected declines in state tax revenue. Adjustments outlined by the governor were part of a larger package of spending cuts he believes sufficient to meet government obligations through June…”
• Gibbons drops proposal to end state Medicaid program, By David McGrath Schwartz, January 27, 2010, Las Vegas Sun: “Gov. Jim Gibbons has decided not to push for Nevada to drop out of Medicaid, citing spending patterns, the number of people served under the public health plan and the ‘apparent demise of the federal health care reform.’ In a news release, Gibbons warned that spending has increased an average of 10 percent a year over the past decade, and ‘undercuts our ability to fund other state responsibilities and is crowding out education, public safety and infrastructure…’”

Save the Children says severe child poverty ‘going up’, January 26, 2010, BBC News: “The number of UK children living in “severe poverty” rose in the four years before the recession, research from a children’s charity suggests. Save the Children says the number of children in homes in this category rose 260,000 to 1.7m from 2004 to 2008. The report warns there is a danger that severe poverty could rise even further. The government says it has lifted half a million children out of relative poverty, and helped the very poorest, as defined by its own criteria. It has pledged to halve child poverty by 2010 from the 1998/99 figure of 3.4 million and end it altogether by 2020…”

• 2m pensioners live in poverty, says ONS, By Hilary Osborne, January 27, 2010, The Guardian: “The number of pensioners living in poverty in the UK fell by nearly a third in the 10 years to 2007/08, official figures showed today, but there were still an estimated 2 million living below the breadline. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of pensioners in poverty had fallen from 2.9 million in 1998/99, but that 2 million were still living on less than 60% of the median UK income after housing costs. The figures also showed that around 1 million people aged over 60 and living alone in England were in fuel poverty in 1997, meaning they had to spend more than 10% of their income on heating. Hefty rises in energy prices in 2008 mean many more pensioners are likely to have fallen into fuel poverty since then…”
• Pensioner poverty ‘drops by a third’, January 27, 2010, BBC News: “Poverty among pensioners shrank by almost a third between 1998-99 and 2007-08, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. There were 2.9 million poor pensioners 11 years ago, but their number had dropped to two million two years ago. Poverty is officially defined as living on 60% of the average income, once housing costs have been paid. However, the ONS also said that in 2007 one million single person households, aged 60 or over, were in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is defined as a situation where someone needs to spend at least 10% of their income on heating their home…”