Louisiana Budget Project, a Baton-Rouge based nonprofit that analyzes government budgetary effects on low-income residents, is warning that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s decision not to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s voluntary expansion of the Medicaid program in Louisiana, combined with a 25 percent cut to the LSU Health System that provides health care services to thousands of Louisiana’s uninsured could be the makings of an economic nightmare for the state.
Lawmakers met at the Capitol this week to hear the administration’s plan for handling a nearly $900 million shortfall in federal Medicaid funding brought on by a prior year miscalculation.
“The latest cuts mean Louisiana’s unique statewide network of charity hospitals will have been cut by 36 percent since 2008-09,” LBP’s Steve Spires writes. “And the rejection of the Medicaid expansion means there would be no viable plan to care for the low-income Louisianans who rely on these hospitals – and affiliated clinics – for basic health-care needs.”
The Times-Picayune reports that LSU Health System’s board has not ruled out closing hospitals, which would mean longer travel times at greater expense for some of Louisiana’s poorest residents.
Read the full LBP report here.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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Jindal is not concerned with the state of Louisiana from any standpoint. He's off "kissing-up" to the GOP's elite. Louisiana is very low on his list of priorties. However, when one see's the damage this idiot has done to the overall condition of Louisiana, it is probably a blessing Jindal is away playing "kissie/kissie" with his GOP buddies.