• Unemployment benefits for 1.2 million Americans could expire Sunday, By John Schmid, February 26, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Nearly 1.2 million unemployed Americans - including 27,000 in Wisconsin - face an imminent cutoff of government unemployment checks if Congress cannot pass emergency legislation to extend federal benefits before funding expires Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) pushed this week for Senate passage of a stopgap 30-day extension of jobless benefits, which also includes a 30-day extension of a federal COBRA health insurance subsidy for the jobless. But as of late Thursday, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) objected to each attempt to bring the issue to a Senate floor vote, balking that the measure would further inflate the nation’s debt. The House passed a 30-day extension Thursday. Reid’s 11th-hour actions, however, cut excruciatingly close to the deadline. According to the National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy group, the ranks of unemployed losing eligibility for unemployment compensation will rise sharply and continuously if Congress decides against an extension. By June, 127,100 Wisconsin residents will see their unemployment insurance phased out if Congress doesn’t act. Nationally, the number swells to 5 million by June, the group calculates…”
• Senate inaction jeopardizes unemployment benefits, Associated Press, February 26, 2010, New York Times: “The Senate failed Friday to extend programs for laid-off workers, jeopardizing unemployment benefits scheduled to expire over the weekend. The benefits are part of a larger package of government programs, from highway funding to loans for small businesses, set to expire Sunday because senators couldn’t agree on how to pay to keep them going. The House passed a bill Thursday extending the programs for one month while lawmakers consider how to address the issues long-term. Senate Democrats repeatedly tried to follow suit Thursday night and Friday morning, but they couldn’t overcome the objections of a single lawmaker, Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, that the $10 billion bill would add to the budget deficit. The bill would extend unemployment payments to laid-off workers and provide them with subsidies to help pay health premiums through the COBRA program. It would extend funding for highway projects and spare doctors from a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments. It would extend a small business loan program, the National Flood Insurance Program and the copyright license used by satellite television providers…”

Poverty hits SA children, February 26, 2010, Times Live: “A new OECD working paper on trends in poverty and income inequality in South Africa has found that more than half of all South Africans (54%) are poor but, among children below 10, as many as two out of three are poor. ‘This implies that among all poor South Africans, one in three is a child,’ said the OECD in the report that was released on Thursday. These high values are based on the national poverty line of 515 rand a month, or about US$ 4 a day, which is used for national policy making. International comparisons of lower-income countries often use the World Bank poverty line which is US$2 a day. Under this lower line, the aggregate poverty rate in South Africa is 30% but if the standard OECD poverty line, which is below half the average income, the poverty rate is 26%…”

Justice Dept. to launch Indigent Defense Program, By Ari Shapiro, February 26, 2010, National Public Radio: “The U.S. criminal justice system typically pits defense lawyers against government prosecutors. Now, defense lawyers who represent poor clients are about to get some major help from their usual adversaries. The Justice Department is on the verge of launching a new program to help low-income people receive legal help. It’s called the Access to Justice initiative, and one of the top constitutional lawyers in the country is taking a leave of absence from Harvard to spearhead the project. Although there has been no official announcement, a Justice spokesperson has confirmed the plans. Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law will begin work in Washington next week as senior counselor for Access to Justice. He will coordinate with judges and lawyers across the country with the goal of finding ways to help people who cannot afford a lawyer - a circumstance known in legal terms as indigent defense…”

A snapshot of income disparity, By Tim Rutten, February 24, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “On the eve of our worst financial crisis since the Depression, the United States was — from an economic standpoint, at least — a less equal nation than at any time since the Gilded Age. The sputtering recovery now underway is producing few, if any, jobs to replace those that have been lost. Meanwhile, a variety of factors continues to push wages and most salaries lower. Thus, we’re likely to emerge from this downturn with even greater disparities in income, wealth and effective tax rates, and the forces pushing us in that direction are particularly strong in Los Angeles County. We have a pre-recession portrait of American inequality because, in 1992, the Clinton administration asked the Internal Revenue Service to begin tracking the incomes and tax payments of the country’s 400 richest households. During the George W. Bush years, the IRS continued to collect the data, but — you’ll be shocked to know — didn’t release it to the public. Last week, the figures for 2007 were quietly made available, and, as David Cay Johnston, who formerly covered tax policy for the New York Times and now teaches at Syracuse University’s law school, points out, ‘The incomes of the top 400 American households soared to a new record high in dollars and as a share of all income in 2007, while the income tax rates they paid fell to a record low…’”

Despite Madison’s relative affluence, poverty rate growing rapidly, By Mike Ivey, February 24, 2010, Capital Times: “The doors at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry on Fish Hatchery Road don’t open for another 30 minutes, but a line has already formed. They wait quietly, for the most part, this rainbow coalition of all ages: African-American grandmothers, Latino families, young women with pierced tongues, disabled seniors and working fathers. What they have in common is poverty. Once a month, with a valid photo ID, clients get enough groceries to last a week. ‘As my kids get older, I just keep having to cook more, so every bit helps,’ says Belinda Washington, 44, who has four children at home ages 4 to 17. A Chicago native, Washington moved to Madison 17 years ago and lives in the Lake Point neighborhood off West Broadway on the city’s south side. Her resume includes food service, catering and factory work but she’s been unemployed since her youngest was born. ‘I keep applying but the jobs are hard to come by,’ she says. Danny Pilgrim, 37, has a part-time job at Einstein Brothers Bagels in Madison but had his hours reduced recently. Now, he’s visiting the food pantry with his wife. ‘What can I say? We need the groceries,’ explains the father of three. Being poor, hungry or unemployed is a world far removed for many in Wisconsin’s capital city, where arguments over passenger rail, Badger sports or high-rise hotels can dominate the news. But the reality is Madison’s poverty rate is climbing - rising nine times faster than the rate of other U.S. cities, according to a new report from the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution…”

• Teenage pregnancy rate falls, February 24, 2010, BBC News: “The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen by 4%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A total of 41,325 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9% from 42,988 in 2007, the figures show. Of these young women 49% had an abortion, compared with 50% in 2007. The government had pledged in 1999 to halve teenage pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by this year but is widely expected to miss that target. The ONS data shows for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies…”
• Teenage pregnancies fall, but not far enough, By Anna Bawden, February 24, 2010, The Guardian: “The government today announced an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy after new figures showed conception rates among under 18s were not falling fast enough. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 41,325 girls under 18 in England and Wales fell pregnant in 2008, a decline of 3.9% from 2007, while the number of pregnancies among the under-16s fell 7.6% to 7,577. But the decline is far short of the government’s pledge to halve teenage pregnancies by 2010. Ministers committed to halve pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds in England from the 1998 rate of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls…”

Applications for help on heat bills rise by 15%, By Erik Eckholm, February 22, 2010, New York Times: “The number of households applying for home heating assistance has climbed to record levels for the third straight year, rising by 15 percent to a projected 8.8 million this winter, state energy officials said Monday. This compares with almost 7.7 million recipients last year and 5.7 million in 2008. Average heating costs have declined slightly since 2009, and the increase in applications reflects, in part, the mounting troubles of those suffering prolonged unemployment, including many people who had not sought the aid in the past, said Mark Wolfe, director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, which represents state aid officials in Washington…”

• Jobless fear benefits will end shortly, By Todd Spangler, February 23, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Congress has less than a week left to extend unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders. Otherwise, programs providing extra weeks of unemployment checks and paying two-thirds of the cost of health care insurance for some unemployed workers are set to expire. Michigan’s 14.6% unemployment rate led the nation in December…”
• More than 20,000 Floridians each week stand to lose unemployment benefits unless Senate acts, By William E. Gibson and Marcia Heroux Pounds, February 22, 2010, South Florida Sun Sentinel: “More than 20,000 Floridians each week will see their unemployment benefits run dry starting in March unless Congress acts to extend their aid. In response to cries for help from South Florida and around the nation, the Senate this week plans to vote on a jobs bill that would give a tax break to employers who hire those who have been out of work for at least 60 days. Senate leaders also hope to extend unemployment benefits through a separate bill, similar to one already passed by the House. But the timing and prospects for passage remain uncertain. For many of the jobless in Florida, where the unemployment rate has climbed to nearly 12 percent, delays and uncertainties in Congress have jeopardized a lifeline of aid and added to a sense of desperation…”

• Study: 1 in 5 kids don’t see dentist each year, By Alison Young, February 23, 2010,USA Today: “At least one in five U.S. children go without annual dental care and most states lack key policies to ensure access to cost-saving preventive treatments, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Center on the States. Six states received an “A” grade from the non-profit policy analysis group for their dental health policies. But even children in those states have problems accessing care, the report said…”
• Group gives Ohio a B in child dental care, By Misti Crane, February 23, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “It might not be gold-star-worthy, but Ohio’s grade on a national review of state dental policies isn’t bad. With its B, Ohio outscored 35 other states in the Pew Center on the States’ review of policies that improve children’s access to dentists. The state won special attention for its efforts to provide dental sealants, which prevent cavities. All states have room for improvement, according to the report, which highlights the importance of preventive care to drive down the incidence and cost of more expensive treatments later. The report estimates that 17 million children, or one in five, go without the dental care they need every year…”
• Study: Minnesota lags in providing dental care to disadvantaged kids, By Lorna Benson, February 23, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “A national study says Minnesota needs to do more to help disadvantaged kids access dental care. The state received a ‘C’ grade on its dental policies from the Pew Center on the States. Pew measured the performance of all 50 states and the District of Columbia on whether they are abiding by eight well-established policy solutions that enhance children’s access to dental care. The policies include preventative dental care services covered by the Medicaid program, fluoridated public water supplies and establishing a new category of dental provider to compensate for dentist shortages. Shelly Gehshan, director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign, said Minnesota only met four of the eight policy measurements…”

Millions of unemployed face years without jobs, By Peter S. Goodman, February 20, 2010, New York Times: “Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits. Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed. Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives - potentially for years to come. Yet the social safety net is already showing severe strains. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments, according to the Labor Department…”

$3.8B in stimulus funds for welfare jobs untouched, By Dionne Walker (AP), February 19, 2010, Washington Post: “Desperate though they are to fill gaps in their budgets, more than half the states in the country haven’t touched a $5 billion pot of federal stimulus funds meant to find work for welfare recipients. Leaders in most states have hesitated to pony up the matching funds the program requires to create jobs that might not last after the federal subsidy’s Sept. 30 sunset date. The Department of Health and Human Services has handed out $1.2 billion of the emergency cash for general welfare programs. That includes $124 million that went to 21 states and the District of Colombia to help them ease caseloads by paying employers to hire low-skilled, low-income workers. States such as California, Tennessee and Georgia - where officials have seen unemployment rates spike among recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - are eagerly tapping the fund to subsidize the creation of thousands of jobs they say keep these workers from sinking further into poverty…”

Kentucky’s rolls of uninsured rise sharply, survey finds, By Patrick Howington, February 21, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “A third of adult Kentuckians below Medicare age - nearly 900,000 people - don’t have health insurance, a poll has found. And researchers say the recession and the resulting rise in unemployment are to blame. The survey, which the University of Cincinnati conducted in October and November for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and a similar Cincinnati group, found a sharp increase in uninsured adults since a similar poll last year: 33 percent of Kentuckians ages 18 to 64 lacked insurance, compared with 23 percent in early 2008. During the same period, Kentucky’s jobless rate rose from just shy of 6 percent to about 11 percent. The two groups that sponsored the survey, released in December, work to improve the region’s health…”

A sight all too familiar in poor neighborhoods, By Erik Eckholm, February 18, 2010, New York Times: “Shantana Smith, a single mother who had not paid rent for three months, watched on a recent morning as men from Eagle Moving carried her tattered furniture to the sidewalk. Bystanders knew too well what was happening. ‘When you see the Eagle movers truck, you know it’s time to get going,’ a neighbor said. On Milwaukee’s impoverished North Side, the mover’s name is nearly as familiar as McDonald’s, because Eagle often accompanies sheriffs on evictions. They haul tenants’ belongings into storage or, as Ms. Smith preferred, leave them outside for tenants to truck away. Here and in swaths of many cities, evictions from rental properties are so common that they are part of the texture of life. New research is showing that eviction is a particular burden on low-income black women, often single mothers, who have an easier time renting apartments than their male counterparts, but are vulnerable to losing them because their wages or public benefits have not kept up with the cost of housing. And evictions, in turn, can easily throw families into cascades of turmoil and debt…”

• States consider Medicaid cuts as use grows, By Kevin Sack and Robert Pear, February 18, 2010, New York Times: “Facing relentless fiscal pressure and exploding demand for government health care, virtually every state is making or considering substantial cuts in Medicaid, even as Democrats push to add 15 million people to the rolls. Because they are temporarily barred from reducing eligibility, states have been left to cut ‘optional benefits,’ like dental and vision care, and reduce payments to doctors and other health care providers. In some states, governors are trying to avoid the deepest cuts by pushing for increases in tobacco taxes or new levies on hospitals and doctors, but many of those proposals are running into election-year trouble in conservative legislatures…”
• Medicaid enrollment rises nationwide, analysis finds, By Amy Goldstein, February 19, 2010, Washington Post: “The recession has fueled the greatest influx of Americans onto Medicaid since the earliest days of the public insurance program for the poor, according to new findings that show caseloads have surged in every state. More than 3 million people joined Medicaid in the year that ended in June, the data released Thursday show. That pushed enrollment to a record 46.8 million, exacerbating the financial strains on already burdened states and complicating the federal politics of health care. The analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy and research organization, found that in three-fifths of the jurisdictions, including Maryland and the District, people rushed into the safety net for health coverage at more than twice the rate as the year before…”
• Medicaid enrollment climbs, By Richard Wolf, February 18, 2010, USA Today: “More than half the states are reducing Medicaid services and payments to health care providers this year as the recession propelled enrollments to record levels and sapped money from treasuries. Governors who will meet with President Obama this weekend have taken some actions to close budget deficits. Arizona froze enrollment in its Children’s Health Insurance Program. California plans to close adult day health care centers next month. Nevada is cutting coverage for eyeglasses, dentures and hearing aids…”
• Report: Without more federal help, states will likely cut Medicaid, By David Goldstein, February 18, 2010, Kansas City Star: “Unless Congress bails them out, states probably will have to cut health coverage for low-income families and others without insurance, a new report says. Lawmakers included higher Medicaid reimbursement funds for states in last year’s economic stimulus bill, but the money will expire Dec. 31. Without an extension, most states won’t be able to ensure that eligible Medicaid beneficiaries will be served, according to Families USA, a nonpartisan health advocacy group, which issued the report Thursday…”

• Va gov seeks deep cuts to schools, social services, By Bob Lewis (AP), February 17, 2010, Daily Press: “Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed deep, unprecedented cuts to public schools, the state government work force and health and welfare safety net programs in a $2.1 billion bid to balance a critically troubled state budget. The Republican governor, who ruled out any tax boosts before he took office a month ago, sent shock waves across a General Assembly struggling with its own budget plans and through teachers, state workers…”
• Proposed cuts would end California assistance for most new legal immigrants, By Alexandra Zavis and Anna Gorman, February 16, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest proposals to close California’s budget shortfall would end public assistance for most new legal immigrants, eliminating emergency cash, food and medical aid for those who don’t yet qualify for federal welfare. The proposal would represent an about-face for the state. In 1996, Congress denied access to welfare for most legal immigrants who weren’t citizens. California and other states established programs to fill the gap. Now, officials say the state can’t afford the price tag. Schwarzenegger’s plan would save $304 million but leave tens of thousands of elderly, disabled and impoverished people with no safety net in a deep recession…”
• Advocates: Grants program can’t replace Pawlenty’s proposed cuts to the poor, By Madeleine Baran, February 18, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: ” Thousands of Minnesota’s poorest residents still stand to lose their only source of income if Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget passes, despite a new welfare program the governor said would replace it. The state’s department of human services today unveiled more information about a new program offering short-term grants that Pawlenty said would offset his proposed cuts. Low-income adults could access the crisis program only once per year, unlike the current program, which provides up to $203 a month…”
• Votes, then a veto, for health care, By Warren Wolfe and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, February 19, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Acting with bipartisan force and unusual speed, the Minnesota Legislature voted overwhelmingly Thursday to extend a health insurance program that covers Minnesota’s poorest and sickest citizens — only to find Gov. Tim Pawlenty waiting at the end of the day with a veto. Pawlenty issued his veto from Washington, D.C., where he was preparing for a major political conference. The day’s events only escalated an emotional showdown among the governor, legislators and health care advocates over General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), a program seen as a key safety net covering 35,000 poor adults in a typical month…”

Homeless in America’s suburbs: More women, children, jobless struggle to find places to stay, By Frank Eltman (AP), February 16, 2010, Chicago Tribune: “Homelessness in rural and suburban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy founders and joblessness hovers near double digits - a ‘perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing,’ in one official’s eyes. ‘We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,’ said Greg Blass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island. ‘We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing,’ Blass added. ‘It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming.’ The federal government is again counting the nation’s homeless and, by many accounts, the suburban numbers continue to rise, especially for families, women, children, Latinos and men seeking help for the first time. Some have to be turned away…”

Hawaii’s Homeless, series homepage, Honolulu Star Bulletin:

• Fix the problem a roof at a time, By Mary Adamski and Susan Essoyan, February 17, 2010, Honolulu Star Bulletin: “The homeless situation can seem overwhelming to the point where some observers just throw up their hands. ‘When we look at the people who are homeless, sometimes there’s a feeling that, gosh, there are so many of them and they’re growing and there’s nothing that we can do about it,’ said Sylvia Yuen, director of the Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which tracks data on the homeless. But she and other experts say that homelessness is a multifaceted issue that can be tackled piece by piece…”

• Passport costs more than regular Medicaid, official says, By Tom Loftus, February 17, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Passport Health Plan, often praised for its efficiency as Kentucky’s only Medicaid managed care venture, costs the state far more per person than the state’s regular Medicaid program, a key state official contends. The assertion was made in a five-page letter sent Tuesday by state Medicaid Commissioner Elizabeth Johnson - and strongly disputed by Passport officials - to the staff of the House budget committee. The panel is considering an expansion of the Passport approach as one of many ways to save money to help plug a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall in the 2010-12 state budget. Passport - a consortium of hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers - was created in 1997 to apply the efficiencies of managed care to limit the soaring costs of the Medicaid program in a region that includes Jefferson and 15 surrounding counties. Managed care aims to achieve savings by keeping clients within a network of providers…”
• Medicaid revamp faces obstacles in Tallahassee, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), February 17, 2010, Miami Herald: “With Medicaid costs now consuming 26 percent of the state budget, the upcoming session seems primed for a program overhaul. But legislators will tackle the issue amid a foundering pilot program, a class-action Medicaid lawsuit that could cost the state millions, all while waiting to see if and how a federal health bill will affect the state. Reining in the program for low-income and disabled patients has been discussed, with little change, for years. But with Florida’s sour economy driving Medicaid enrollment to an all-time high, lawmakers say they have no choice this session. The state expects to pay $17.9 billion to serve 2.6 million recipients - one out of every seven residents - and an 11 percent increase from last year…”

• Judging stimulus by job data reveals success, By David Leonhardt, February 16, 2010, New York Times: “Imagine if, one year ago, Congress had passed a stimulus bill that really worked. Let’s say this bill had started spending money within a matter of weeks and had rapidly helped the economy. Let’s also imagine it was large enough to have had a huge impact on jobs - employing something like two million people who would otherwise be unemployed right now. If that had happened, what would the economy look like today? Well, it would look almost exactly as it does now. Because those nice descriptions of the stimulus that I just gave aren’t hypothetical. They are descriptions of the actual bill. Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative…”
• Independent analysis says federal stimulus brought $2 billion to Wisconsin, By Matthew DeFour, February 17, 2010, Wisconsin State Journal: “In the last year, the federal Recovery Act has infused $2 billion - or about $369 per person - into the pockets of Wisconsin citizens, including $155 million in Dane County, according to an analysis by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, a independent nonprofit advocacy group. UW-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky said the $800 billion stimulus may not have created jobs as swiftly as expected, but it has helped buoy the economy, as well as state and local budgets…”
• Was stimulus good for Ohio?, By Mark Niquette and Doug Caruso, February 17, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “One year after Congress passed what was intended to be a $787 billion jolt to a reeling economy, at least $2.8 billion has been spent in Ohio so far to preserve jobs and state services, build roads and accomplish a wide range of other purposes. But as Congress considers a second jobs bill, debate still rages about what this stimulus package is accomplishing. Critics question how the money is being spent at a time of growing federal deficits. They also point out that unemployment has gotten worse since the bill was passed one year ago today. According to federal statistics, Ohio has lost a net 107,800 jobs since last February, and the state’s jobless rate rose from 9.5 percent to 10.9 percent during that time…”

• Study reveals a steep rise in German poverty levels, By Andreas Illmer, February 17, 2010, Deutsche Welle: “One in seven people is now defined as living on or below the poverty line, according to a report. Families with children and young people were particularly likely to struggle for money, researchers found. The proportion of people defined as being ‘at risk of poverty’ in Germany has risen significantly over the course of a decade. Some 11.5 million Germans, 14 percent of the population, fell into that category in 2008 - about a third more than ten years earlier. Children and young people are particularly hard-hit, according to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) released on Wednesday…”
• Number of Germans living in poverty surges, February 17, 2010, The Local: “The ranks of the poor in Germany have swelled over the past decade, as a study released on Wednesday showed more than 11 million people living in poverty. According to the alarming figures published by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the number of people below the poverty line - 14 percent of the total population - expanded by a third in the last ten years. The study analysed income data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which operates under the DIW. It found that young people between the ages of 19 and 25 and families were at particular risk…”

• Pawlenty proposes cuts to local governments, health and welfare, By Elizabeth Dunbar and Madeleine Baran, February 15, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a series of deep cuts to local governments and health and welfare programs on Monday to fill a $1.2 billion state budget deficit and pay for tax cuts he says will create jobs. Pawlenty proposed $347 million in cuts to state health and human services programs and wants to cut state payments to local governments by $250 million. Pawlenty’s plan to reduce spending while also slashing business taxes sets up a likely clash with the DFL-controlled Legislature, which just last year voted to raise taxes to help fill a budget hole. Democratic leaders were critical of Pawlenty’s proposal, saying it takes services away from Minnesotans and puts money into the pockets of corporations. They say his cuts to local government are out of line, and will hit public safety programs despite the governor’s promises to preserve them…”
• Cuts would fall on poor, old, disabled and sick, By Warren Wolfe, February 15, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to cut a net of $347 million from programs for sick, aged, disabled and jobless people is akin to the advice an ailing George Washington got from his doctors 210 years ago, one critic said Monday: Bleed him, in hope of a cure. Pawlenty would eliminate the General Assistance program in which about 20,000 disabled and very-low-income people receive an average of $175 a month. He also would remove about 21,500 childless adults earning between $8,100 and $27,000 from MinnesotaCare, the health insurance program for lower-income working people…”
• Poorest of the poor would lose their last benefits, By Madeleine Baran, February 17, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Advocates for the homeless warn that thousands of the state’s poorest residents could lose their only source of income under the new budget proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The governor’s budget would eliminate General Assistance, the program that provides $203 a month in cash assistance to low-income single adults who are unable to work, and replace it with a less expensive crisis assistance program. General Assistance served about 19,000 people each month in the last fiscal year, and is the only source of income for many homeless adults…”

Database gives snapshot of health in each county, By Lauran Neergaard (AP), February 17, 2010, Washington Post: “Where you live plays a role in your health, and a new report that ranks health factors in each of the nation’s 3,000-plus counties promises to point local policymakers to ways they can help. Looking at each state’s best and worst further illuminates a well-known trend: The least healthy counties tend to be poor and rural, and the healthiest ones tend to be urban or suburban and upper-income. The report - released Wednesday at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org - isn’t the first to examine county-level health. Cancer and access to health care, for example, have long been studied that way. But the new database ties standard measures - general health and the rate of premature death - with more factors that play a role in those outcomes, from smoking, obesity and binge drinking to the unemployment rate, childhood poverty, air pollution and access to grocery stores…”

• Food stamps growing at farmers markets, By Michele Clock, February 17, 2010, San Diego Union-Tribune: “Every weekend Patricia Andrews sets up elaborate displays of locally produced honey at farmers markets around the county. A good chunk of her business comes from people on food stamps. ‘Not everybody has a lot of expendable income,’ Andrews said after squeezing a sample of the gooey, golden stuff into a spoon for a customer at the Mission Valley Farmers Market. But just four of 42 farmers markets in San Diego County, and less than 15 percent across the state, accept food stamps. That may soon change…”
• Lawmakers help food stamps get to farmers markets, By Cathy Bussewitz (AP), February 16, 2010, Woodland Daily Democrat: “Tina Tennyson loved to make raspberry jam using the fresh fruit she bought at the farmers market in San Jose. When she recently moved to Sacramento, she hit a stumbling block: The local market didn’t accept food stamps. Like most farmers markets across the state, the one held Sundays in the state capital only accepts cash. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would help the markets get equipment to accept electronic food stamp benefits cards — joining legislatures nationwide considering similar measures they hope will expand the menu of fresh food options for the poor as food stamp enrollment soars…”

Earned-income credit boosts Michigan’s low-income workers, By Brian J. O’Connor, February 16, 2010, Detroit News: “Michiganians struggling to just get by in this dismal economy are getting a helping hand from an unlikely source: the tax man. Federal and state tax agencies have anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars to give low-income workers and their families through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Last year, more than 720,000 Michigan residents collected $1.5 billion from the federal credit, at an average of $2,047 apiece. More than 40 percent of those getting the credit lived in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties. Michigan gave out $145 million under the first year of its own state credit, which matched 10 percent of the federal cash, and this year the state is set to match 20 percent of the federal amount…”

Almost 25% of children in Bexar live in poverty, By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, February 13, 2010, San Antonio Express-News: “Almost a quarter of the children in Bexar County lived in poverty and lacked health insurance in 2008, according to a new study on poverty in Texas. And while the numbers dropped slightly compared with a similar study the year before, this still means roughly one in four children struggled with the byproducts of poverty: poor school performance, health woes, hunger and circumscribed futures. ‘Decades of belt-tightening have left us with more poor, uninsured and hungry children than almost every other state,’ said Frances Deviney, director of Texas KIDS COUNT. A poor economy in 2009 means the dismal outlook likely stretched to even more children, Deviney added…”

• Poor children a year behind in language skills, By Warwick Mansell, February 15, 2010, The Guardian: “The vocabulary of children from the poorest backgrounds lags more than a year behind that of their classmates from richer homes by the time they start school, a major new study showed today. The Sutton Trust, the charity which sponsored the research, said the divide was a ‘tragic indictment of modern society’, showing how educational inequality starts young and leaves children from the most disadvantaged homes struggling to keep up throughout their school years. The poorest children face multiple challenges, being less likely to be born to well-educated parents, have a regular bedtime or live with both their biological father and mother, the study found. However, it also concluded that ‘good parenting can triumph’, with families able to limit the effects of poverty by, for example, reading to their children daily…”
• Poor children a year behind when they start school, study says, By Nicola Woolcock, February 15, 2010, The Times: “Children from poor families are already a year behind in vocabulary tests when they start school, according to research published today. It reveals the full impact of upbringing and home life on attainment, and how those from troubled or impoverished homes can fall behind at a young age. Many never catch up with better-off classmates and become stuck in a cycle of underachievement. The report, by the Sutton Trust, highlights the importance of activities such as bedtime stories and taking children to museums and libraries. In isolation, these appear to have a bigger impact on progress than wealth…”

Program helps low-income smokers kick habit, By Richard Knox, February 15, 2010, National Public Radio: “The overall U.S. smoking rate is half what it was in the 1960s. But this isn’t true among low-income Americans: They’re still smoking as much as everyone was a generation ago. Massachusetts health officials say it doesn’t have to be this way. They say they’ve found a way to get even the most hard-core smokers to quit. The program is designed to help people like Sondra Pasquine. Pasquine, 24, works as a nursing home aide, and she wants to stop smoking. Through the Massachusetts program, she has a smoking cessation counselor, nurse Allison Diamond of the Dorchester House health center. At a recent counseling session, Diamond pushed Pasquine to articulate what she doesn’t like about smoking…”

Tax break may grow for working poor, By Peter Wong, February 14, 2010, Salem Statesman Journal: “An expansion of a tax break for poor working families won support from Portland to Medford - and Woodburn. The expanded break, in the form of an earned-income tax credit, no longer would benefit Ian Finch of Portland or state Rep. Betty Komp of Woodburn. But both qualified for the federal credit, which is subtracted directly from taxes owed - and they said an expanded state credit would help thousands of families. Finch used the credit while, as a single father of five children, he was working and going to school - even though he said he could have drawn more from welfare payments. ‘Increasing the state earned-income tax credit will help other families who work really hard to break the cycle of poverty,’ Finch told the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee last week. ‘This is also an opportunity for the state of Oregon to send the message to these hard-working families that they are valued and that the state recognizes all their hard work…’”

Hard times tighten vise on the poor; U.S. ranks Toledo as nation’s 8th-most impoverished, By Tom Henry, February 14, 2010, Toledo Blade: “One in four. What does it mean? Every dollar has four quarters. So does every football game. Every gallon of milk and every gallon of gasoline has four quarts. But try to explain what it means to live in a city such as Toledo, where one of every four people now lives below the poverty line. There is no tidy way to package and deliver the answer. The latest U.S. Census Bureau poverty statistics rank Toledo the nation’s eighth most impoverished city, with 24.7 percent of its residents living below the poverty line. That’s nearly twice the national poverty rate of 13.2 percent. Many believe the situation is worse now locally and nationally, given that those Census figures were based on late 2008 data. America’s economic crisis worsened during the first half of 2009…”

State can’t afford to improve dental service for poor, official says, By Dean Olson, February 14, 2010, State Journal-Register: “The difficulties low-income Illinoisans encounter in obtaining dental care are no secret, a state official says. But amid a recession and a multibillion-dollar state budget deficit, the tens of millions of dollars that would be needed to make a dent in the problem aren’t available, Illinois Medicaid director Theresa Eagleson said. ‘I don’t think the dental-access issue is an Illinois problem alone,’ she said. ‘And it’s not that people don’t want to fix this problem, or other access issues in pockets of the state. It’s a balancing act all the time between less money available and people in need and priorities.’ Decades of low and slow payments through Medicaid - which pays health-care bills for certain low- and moderate-income people - have driven away most Illinois dentists. At most, fewer than one out of every three Illinois dentists is signed up to bill the program. And statistics indicate that as few as 10 percent of Illinois dentists are regularly billing Medicaid for service…”

Medicaid status up in the air for some pregnant women, By JoAnne Young, February 14, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Jeanette Ducheneaux got the letter more than a week ago. It said her unborn child, due in March, no longer qualified for prenatal care under Medicaid and that coverage would be cut off as of March 1. Her own coverage — she had formerly not qualified — and the coverage of any other family members — for her other children who now qualify — would be reviewed this month, the letter said. If anything changed, another notice would be sent. In other words… we’ll let you know…”

In hard times, Americans blame the poor, By Alfred Lubrano, February 15, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Last month, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer of South Carolina said that when the government helps the poor, it’s like people feeding stray animals that continually ‘breed.’ And just last week, Colorado state legislator Spencer Swalm said poor people in single-family homes are ‘dysfunctional.’ Both statements riled some Americans from the Piedmont to the Rockies and underscored a widely held belief: In tough times, people are tough on the poor. In an April 2009 poll by the Pew Research Center in Washington, 72 percent agreed with the statement that ‘poor people have become too dependent on government assistance programs.’ That’s up from 69 percent in 2007. ‘The economic downturn has made the middle class less generous toward others,’ said Guy Molyneux, a partner at Hart Research Associates, a Washington firm that researches attitudes toward the poor. ‘People are less supportive of the government helping the poor, because they feel they’re not getting enough help themselves. It’s a divided country, splitting on a fault line: those who think the poor are poor because they don’t try enough, and those who think the poor simply need help…’”

• More kids in poverty and families hurting, report finds, By Matt Hopf, February 11, 2010, State Journal-Register: “Poverty is forcing more families to seek help from non-profit groups to keep roofs over their heads. That’s the grim news from the Illinois Kids Count 2010 Report, released Thursday by the advocacy group Voices for Illinois Children. Carol Harms of Springfield Catholic Charities said the organization last year saw 1,494 new cases of people who had never asked for help before. More than 6,500 families received help from the organization in fiscal year 2009…”
• Agencies fear state cuts will be setback for Illinois Q-C kids, By Barb Ickes, February 12, 2010, Quad-City Times: “The people who help poor and homeless children in the Illinois Quad-Cities are sounding the alarm. Just as poverty levels have climbed with jobless rates, the Illinois legislature is facing massive cuts that ‘threaten’ services to children who already are suffering, they say…”
• Rockford beats Chicago for highest child poverty rate, By Matt Williams, February 11, 2010, Rockford Register Star: “One in three children here lives in poverty, giving Rockford the dubious distinction of having the highest child poverty rate among Illinois’ 10 largest cities. Statistics released today in the 2010 Illinois Kids Count Report show that 34 percent of Rockford’s children live in poverty. That’s 3 percentage points higher than second-ranked Chicago…”

• House may take Medicaid funds to help with budget, By Deborah Yetter, February 9, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “House leaders are proposing a daring budget maneuver that would strip $227 million in General Fund money from the state’s Medicaid program for the next budget year in hopes that the federal government will approve additional stimulus funds for the program starting in 2011. The federal stimulus money, which has helped keep Kentucky’s $5.4 billion plan in the black, expires Dec. 31, the midpoint of the budget year. Advocates Tuesday were stunned to learn that the House is considering taking state money from Medicaid - with no guarantee Congress will provide extra money for the health plan, which covers the poor and disabled…”
• Medicaid fees may be trimmed to help balance Texas budget, By Robert T. Garrett, February 10, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “Doctors, dentists and hospitals would have their Medicaid fees trimmed by at least 1 percent under possible budget reductions offered today by state Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs. When treating adults, the caregivers would take a 2 percent hit, as would nursing homes, group homes for the mentally disabled and NorthSTAR, which provides mental-health services to some 400,000 low-income residents of Dallas and six nearby counties…”
• Medicaid cuts may affect care in Oklahoma, By Julie Bisbee, February 12, 2010, The Oklahoman: “Budget cuts at the agency that administers the state’s Medicaid program could make it more difficult for patients to get the medical care they need, members of the state’s medical association said Thursday.Cuts to Medicaid reimbursements approved by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority on Thursday will mean doctors get paid less for providing care to people enrolled in SoonerCare. Doctors that provide care to SoonerCare patients will see their reimbursement rates cut by 6.75 percent beginning April 1. Nearly 700,000 people are enrolled in the SoonerCare health care program each month. More than half of those enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program are children…”
• Prenatal care restored for some women in Nebraska, By Mark Andersen, February 10, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Some pregnant legal residents should ignore a recent notice saying Nebraska Medicaid will not cover their prenatal care. New letters going out soon will say that, in fact, Medicaid will cover their care, state Medicaid Director Vivianne Chaumont said Wednesday. Not all pregnant women who got the first notice will get the second one restoring coverage. Notably, no second notices will be delivered to undocumented women, whose coverage of prenatal care will be ending. The issue relates to state efforts to comply with federal guidelines about when an unborn child can be counted in determining Medicaid eligibility…”

CoverKids insurance program reopens to new enrollees, By Janell Ross, February 12, 2010, The Tennessean: “Tennessee’s uninsured children will have a chance to enroll in a government-funded health-care program beginning March 1, about four months after it was closed to new participants because of the state budget crunch. In November, cash-strapped Tennessee became the only state in the nation to close its version of the children’s health insurance program to new enrollees. State officials said at the time closing CoverKids was a tough choice but necessary because of a projected $1.5 billion state budget shortfall. Now CoverKids will draw between $1.5 million and $2 million from a state savings account for public health insurance programs, said Joe Burchfield, a spokesman for Cover Tennessee, the umbrella organization that oversees CoverKids…”

Illegal immigrant numbers plunge, By Teresa Watanabe, February 11, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “A new report that the nation’s illegal immigrant population has declined by nearly 1 million has sharpened the debate over whether to legalize those remaining or allow their numbers to shrink through attrition. The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States dropped to 10.8 million in 2009 from 11.6 million in 2008, marking the second consecutive year of decline and the sharpest decrease in at least three decades, according to a report this week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security…”

• Poorest in England ‘live seven years less on average’, By Jane Dreaper, February 11, 2010, BBC News: “People in England’s poorest areas live an average of seven years less than those in the richest ones, says a major report on health inequalities. Epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot, says the NHS must spend much more on preventing illness. And he calls for an increase in the minimum wage to allow everyone to have a healthy lifestyle. Health Secretary Andy Burnham has welcomed the government-commissioned report and said more work was needed. The Marmot Review shows that although life expectancy has risen in poor and rich areas, inequalities persist…”
• Well-off people ‘live seven years longer than those in poorer groups’, By Kate Devlin, February 11, 2010, The Telegraph: “Ministers must act to reduce the gulf between rich and poor, the review, commissioned by the Department of Health, says. Targets to raise life expectancy should be set across each different social class, and updated every 10 years, it recommends. It also suggests parents should be able to share a year of paid leave after having a child, at a level high enough to sustain a healthy life. Action is needed to improve the health of all, according to the report by Prof Sir Michael Marmot, from University College London, but particular attention should be paid to those on the bottom rungs of the social ladder…”

• Bill would require sick leave for most employees in Iowa, By Jennifer Jacobs, February 9, 2010, Des Moines Register: “All Iowa employees who work at least 20 hours a week would get paid when they are home sick, under a bill before the Legislature. Business owners and industry groups immediately expressed worries about how much that would cost. But Sen. Tom Courtney, who proposed the bill, said he thinks businesses could save money in the long run with greater employee retention and better productivity among healthy workers. ‘On the surface, this looks like this is going to be expensive for business,’ said Courtney, D-Burlington. ‘I think we need to get them over that feeling and help them realize this would be good for them. All the studies point to the facts that workers who have some sick leave are better workers, and that’s better for everyone.’ Democratic lawmakers said Monday the proposal likely will not go anywhere unless employers have a voice in crafting it. The bill is in the very earliest stages in the Legislature. A subcommittee considered the bill on Monday; the same group of senators will meet on the topic again Wednesday. As of last year, about 33 percent of full-time Iowa employees did not have paid sick days or flexible paid time off that can be used during an illness, state work force agency records show…”
• Businesses should provide sick leave, Editorial, February 11, 2010, Des Moines Register: “Last year, one-third of Iowans who worked full time did not have paid sick days or flexible paid time off to use when they were ill. More than 80 percent of part-time workers were not offered such time off, according to a survey by Iowa Workforce Development. Low-wage workers are less likely to have paid sick time - and more likely to work directly with the public in businesses such as restaurants and child-care centers. If they can’t afford to lose a day’s pay, they may have no choice but to go to work and potentially spread the bug. So it’s understandable lawmakers would want to help working Iowans on this issue. Senate Study Bill 3176 would provide those who work 20 or more hours a week the right to accrue up to 144 hours of paid sick time each calendar year. Workers could start using days off on the 60th day of employment…”

Hawaii tackles unpaid rents, By Mary Vorsino, February 11, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “Incoming public housing tenants could be subject to credit checks and visits to their current home under proposals meant to better screen applicants and cut down on delinquent renters. The planned changes are troubling some advocates, who say making it harder for low-income people to get into public housing will only worsen the housing crisis. But public housing officials say the changes are meant to decrease the number of tenants who fail to pay or who damage units, spurring costly repairs that add up quickly. And they point out that other public housing authorities already take similar steps. In December, more than 20 percent of the thousands of households in public housing were behind on their rent, with the Hawai’i Public Housing Authority owed as much as $1 million. The planned screening measures are part of other proposed changes to decrease rent delinquency in public housing, including speeding up evictions, and come as the agency attempts to tackle an aging public housing inventory, deal with budget shortfalls and catch up on tens of millions of dollars in backlogged repairs…”

Once stigmatized, food stamps find acceptance, By Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff, February 10, 2010, New York Times: “A decade ago, New York City officials were so reluctant to give out food stamps, they made people register one day and return the next just to get an application. The welfare commissioner said the program caused dependency and the poor were ‘better off’ without it. Now the city urges the needy to seek aid (in languages from Albanian to Yiddish). Neighborhood groups recruit clients at churches and grocery stores, with materials that all but proclaim a civic duty to apply - to ‘help New York farmers, grocers, and businesses.’ There is even a program on Rikers Island to enroll inmates leaving the jail. ‘Applying for food stamps is easier than ever,’ city posters say. The same is true nationwide. After a U-turn in the politics of poverty, food stamps, a program once scorned as ‘welfare,’ enjoys broad new support. Following deep cuts in the 1990s, Congress reversed course to expand eligibility, cut red tape and burnish the program’s image, with a special effort to enroll the working poor. These changes, combined with soaring unemployment, have pushed enrollment to record highs, with one in eight Americans now getting aid…”

Disadvantaged students continue AP climb, By Erik W. Robelen, February 10, 2010, Education Week: “Continuing a pattern from recent years, more students from low-income families are taking-and earning what is considered a passing score on-at least one Advanced Placement exam, a new analysis of results for the public high school graduating class of 2009 shows. At the same time, significant gaps persist in preparation and access across ‘traditionally underserved students,’ the analysis released today by the College Board suggests, especially for African-American students…”

Fixing our schools, series homepage, Detroit Free Press:

• How do we prepare our kids for jobs, future?, By Lori Higgins, February 7, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Renee Boogren of Troy has two compelling reasons for wanting Michigan to make its schools more challenging. She’s a mother. She’s also a biology teacher at Wayne State University who sees the results of kids who come to college unprepared. It’s most notable in their writing skills…”
• What it’s like inside the Detroit Public Schools, By Chastity Pratt Dawsey, February 8, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “On a recent Wednesday, only 11 of the 29 students enrolled in Karanji Kaduma’s second-hour environmental science class at Pershing High School in Detroit showed up. He didn’t know where the rest were, but he said some of the stories of their homelife could make a grown man cry. ‘When middle school hits, parents’ hands go off. These kids in my classroom — most have no curfews, go to bed when they want to go to bed; they don’t have any particular time to do homework. They’re raising themselves,’ said Kaduma, who has lost six former students to gun violence…”
• Big ideas for Michigan schools, By Chastity Pratt Dawsey, Robin Erb, and Lori Higgins, February 9, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “In Charlotte, N.C., the best principals and teachers are handpicked to lead the worst schools. In Washington, D.C., the mayor appoints the schools chancellor. In New York, Wisconsin and Florida, parents on public assistance lose a chunk of their welfare benefits if their kids continually miss school. These are some of the drastic solutions for schools with low student performance, chronic truancy and other issues affecting achievement. But the innovative changes have made a difference: Students are showing up for class and doing better on tests, and teachers are being held accountable for making sure students succeed…”
• How Marcus Garvey Academy rises above, By Chastity Pratt Dawsey, February 10, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “At Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit, the week begins with the recitation of black history facts followed by the sounds of drummers summoning students to an assembly. Students sing the black national anthem and recite the school creed, which starts, ‘I will have faith in myself. … I can learn! I will learn! I must learn!’ This is before any reading, writing and arithmetic. Garvey is an African-centered educational environment, and in 2008, its students outperformed the state average in most categories on the MEAP. Three other African-centered schools in Detroit serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade fared better than the Detroit Public Schools average…”
• About 1 in 5 students need remedial help in college, By Robin Erb, February 11, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “It should have been a simple math question. But it stumped more than half of Michigan’s fourth-graders last year. Many of them never catch on, even by high school. As a result, remedial education classes are flourishing at colleges and universities. Walk onto any of the state’s 28 community colleges, and one of every five students is enrolled in a remedial education course. National data suggests that one in five students at four-year colleges seek remedial coursework, too. And it’s a costly problem. In Michigan, more than $28 million is spent on remediation at the community college level alone…”

U.S. study shows drop in child abuse, By David Crary (AP), February 8, 2010, Foster’s Daily Democrat: “A massive new federal study documents an unprecedented and dramatic decrease in incidents of serious child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Experts hailed the findings as proof that crackdowns and public awareness campaigns had made headway. An estimated 553,000 children suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse in 2005-06, down 26 percent from the estimated 743,200 abuse victims in 1993, the study found. ‘It’s the first time since we started collecting data about these things that we’ve seen substantial declines over a long period, and that’s tremendously encouraging,’ said professor David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire, a leading researcher in the field of child abuse…”

Credit unions launch a savings lottery, and everyone hits the jackpot, By Anne Stuhldreher, February 7, 2010, Washington Post: “Highland Park, Mich., is the last place you’d expect to find more people saving money these days. One-third of the residents live below the poverty line, and everyone sees the blight of vacant homes, abandoned furniture and dumped tires. It seems like a ridiculous place to launch an experiment to turn nonsavers into regular savers. But eight Michigan credit unions, including one in Highland Park, have helped build people’s savings by doing something radical: acting less like financial institutions and more like the lottery. Bank deposits don’t get people’s hearts pumping, but scratch-off tickets do. The average American household snaps up about $500 annually in lottery tickets, whose appeal is especially strong among those with lower incomes. Some estimates suggest that more than 80 percent of lottery revenue comes from households making less than $50,000 a year — the very people who have the hardest time saving…”

Bills stalled, hospitals fear rising unpaid care, By Reed Abelson, February 8, 2010, New York Times: “President Obama says he aims to keep trying. But what happens if the health care legislation cannot be revived, and tens of millions of uninsured Americans continue without coverage? For the nation’s hospitals, at least, the cost of doing nothing in Washington translates into tens of billions of dollars each year in medical bills that go unpaid by patients with little or no insurance. Nationwide, the cost of unpaid care for hospitals, which includes charity care as well as money that could not be collected from patients, was around $36 billion in 2008. It is expected to spiral higher. The number of people without insurance in this country could increase to as high as 58 million by 2014, from about 49 million now, according to an estimate by the Urban Institute. No wonder hospital systems like Park Nicollet Health Services near Minneapolis worry about their futures if the health care legislation remains stalled…”

Job seekers flock to North Dakota, wind up homeless, By James Macpherson (AP), February 8, 2010, USA Today: “More than almost any other U.S. state, North Dakota has escaped the worst effects of the country’s recession, but with its good fortune has come an unexpected problem: homelessness, as desperate job seekers flow into the largely rural state looking for work. Shelters are full statewide, and soup kitchens are feeding as many as they can. Some homeless newcomers are living in cars, but as temperatures linger below freezing, many are bunking with acquaintances to avoid freezing. Many of the job seekers came to North Dakota without researching jobs or housing, said Louis “Mac” McLeod, executive director of the Minot Area Homeless Coalition. They arrive to find they are unqualified for the work that exists, or if they land a job, they can’t get housing, which is scarce…”

• Cuts would dramatically shrink Nevada safety net, By David McGrath Schwartz, February 9, 2010, Las Vegas Sun: “During Gov. Jim Gibbons’ State of the State speech Monday, he told Nevadans to prepare for a smaller state government. Although the list of what he wants to jettison is not finalized, and some of these cuts need legislative approval, lawmakers privately have signaled that many will go through. The cuts would run from the dramatic - allowing more mentally ill to become homeless - to the mundane - eliminating vacant positions…”
• Hawaii DHS restructuring may cut 200 jobs, close 50 offices, By Mary Vorsino, February 9, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “More than 200 state workers who process applications for government assistance programs could lose their jobs, their union said, and at least 50 eligibility offices statewide could close under a cost-cutting proposal that advocates are worried will make it harder for the poor to access key social services. The state Department of Human Services said the planned reorganization is aimed at improving efficiency and lowering costs, but also stressed that the changes are still in the planning stages and no decisions have yet been made…”
• Cuts outlined to shore up social services, By Shira Schoenberg, February 6, 2010, Concord Monitor: “The Department of Health and Human Services laid out dozens of proposed cuts yesterday, in an attempt to fill an anticipated $43 million hole in its budget for this fiscal year. Hospitals will bear a large portion of the cuts, but the impact will be felt everywhere, from child care centers to nursing homes. Most of the shortfall is due to the economy, which has driven more individuals to seek state services…”

• Medicaid, while caring for more, faces big budget challenge, By Deborah Yetter, February 9, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “During his 20 years as an electrician, Eric Sachse never sought any type of public assistance. But then Sachse, a 38-year-old single father in Louisville, lost his job - and health insurance for him and his son, 9. So last month, Sachse signed son John up for the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program, a Medicaid program that covers children of low-income parents. Although Sachse doesn’t qualify for Medicaid himself, he said getting coverage for his son is what counts. ‘I was just really fearful of how I was going to take care of any health care situation,’ he said. As the economy has worsened in the past two years, Kentucky’s Medicaid rolls are rising faster than at any other time in the past decade, adding poor, disabled and low-income people at the rate of 3,400 a month…”
• Hawaii may delay payments to Quest health plan, By Derrick DePledge, February 7, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “The state Department of Human Services has warned health insurance companies that the state may not make payments for Quest - the state’s health plan for low-income families - for the last quarter of the fiscal year, leaving insurers to absorb about $300 million in medical expenses until at least July. The potential delay in payments has stunned insurers and alarmed health care providers, who worry a delay could jeopardize the ability of insurers to cover claims, which would cause cash flow problems and influence how some providers care for Quest members…”
• Tennessee hospitals push for tax to offset cuts to TennCare, By Chas Sisk, February 9, 2010, The Tennessean: “The Tennessee Hospital Association’s members will push for a temporary tax on their revenues to reduce cuts to the TennCare program proposed last week by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The association’s board voted Monday to approve a one-year ‘coverage fee’ of 1 percent to 2 percent that would raise money for hospital services scheduled to receive less funding from TennCare. The fee likely would go into effect July 1 and would not be passed along to patients, association officials said. The group also will lobby the state to dip further into reserves and to use any additional revenue that comes into the state to reduce TennCare cuts…”
• Medicaid cuts ‘devastating’ to rural hospitals, By Heather Stanek, February 8, 2010, Fond du Lac Reporter: “Rural hospitals around Fond du Lac say a proposed assessment will help them avoid cutting services or raising prices. Ripon Medical Center and Waupun Memorial Hospital are two of the 59 critical-access hospitals across the state dealing with cuts in Medicaid payments. In an effort to slash costs, the state reduced its Medicaid reimbursements by 10 percent, leaving hospitals to pick up heftier bills for caring for low-income patients. Waupun Memorial, part of Agnesian HealthCare, stands to lose $300,000 annually due to Medicaid cuts, said DeAnn Thurmer, WMH chief operating officer. About 10 percent of the hospital’s patients depend on Medicaid. The Wisconsin Hospital Association and Rural Wisconsin Hospital Cooperative are drafting a legislative bill that would help restore federal dollars to rural hospitals…”

Day cares, parents use kids for profit, By Raquel Rutledge, February 7, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Thousands of children from low-income families in Wisconsin are being kept out of kindergarten every year, and the state’s subsidized child-care program is a driving factor, turning kids into valuable commodities, an investigation by the Journal Sentinel has found. The $350 million Wisconsin Shares program lets parents keep their 4-, 5- and even some 6-year-olds in day care centers all day - at taxpayer expense - rather than enroll them in accredited kindergarten programs. In some cases, unscrupulous parents are participating in an easy scam. They sign up their children with friends or relatives who provide child care. The state then pays the providers roughly $200 a week, and providers give parents a kickback. In other cases, child-care providers offer free gas, free rent, vacation getaways, $1,000 rebates and other incentives to encourage parents to enroll their children in day care rather than school…”

For students at risk, early college proves a draw, By Tamar Lewin, February 7, 2010, New York Times: “Precious Holt, a 12th grader with dangly earrings and a SpongeBob pillow, climbs on the yellow school bus and promptly falls asleep for the hour-plus ride to Sandhills Community College. When the bus arrives, she checks in with a guidance counselor and heads off to a day of college classes, blending with older classmates until 4 p.m., when she and the other seniors from SandHoke Early College High School gather for the ride home. There is a payoff for the long bus rides: The 48 SandHoke seniors are in a fast-track program that allows them to earn their high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit in five years - completely free. Until recently, most programs like this were aimed at affluent, overachieving students - a way to keep them challenged and give them a head start on college work. But the goal is quite different at SandHoke, which enrolls only students whose parents do not have college degrees…”