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a
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JAN. 7, 1998
Page B4
(Tlie JJartlan b ODhseruer
The Future of Public Hospitals
Blacks Receive Jail Time Twice
As Often As Whites
B lacks co n v icted o f drug
crimes in Alabama are nearly
twice as likely to receive jail lime
as White offenders, and nearly
two and one-half times as likely
to receive prison terms ot one
year or more, according to an
analysis by the Birmingham Post-
Herald. The study of nearly seven
years’ worth of drug convictions
found that Blacks and Whites
have equal chances of being found
guilty. The disparity comes in the
sentencing Within every drug
category, from m isdem eanor
marijuana possession to felony
cocaine trafficking. Blacks stand a
greater chance of getting jail time
than do Whiles.
For exam ple, 64 percent ot
Blacks convicted of cocaine pos
session received prison time, com
pared to 48 percent ol Whites. On
marijuana possession, 35 percent
of the convicted Blacks received
prison time, compared to 31 per
cent of Whites. For some critics ol
the Alabama legal system, the dis
crimination starts with the judges
on the bench. As ol late 1996, there
were only six Black district judges
of the 92 in the state. Ol the 131
circuit judges there were only live
Blacks. U S Representative Earl
Hilliard (D-AL), said there is a
‘leniency factor" towards Whites
because thejudicial system is pre
dominantly While. “We know lor
a fact Whites will get a more le
nient sentence from a White
judge," Hilliard said. "The dis
parity will refnain in the prison
system until there are more Black
DAs (district attorneys)and more
Black judges.”
The Shelter Care Campaign
The Boys and Girls Aid S oci
ety of Oregon is a private, non
profit agency that provides short
term shelter care for children and
youth to age 18. The agency has
recently launched a public ed u
cation campaign to help meet the
Decem ber 31 deadline. Yet, the
agency is dependent upon shel
ter parents to provide for quick
placem ents to serve its 24 hour a
day. 7 day a week program.
According to the most recent
status of O regon’s children re
port published by C hildren First
Have you ever noticed the
tro u b le and effo rt people go
through to avoid w hat's best for
them , in exchange for w hat’s
toxic or bad for them?
I'm talking about the choices
they make that affect their long
term quality of life.
You can see exam ples of it all
the way from C hildhood-days
through final-days of their life
time.
For ex am p le: L ittle B ill’s
mother told Billy on Tuesday that
if his room w a sn ’t pro p erly
cleaned up by the weekend, he
w ouldn’t be able to go to the
movies with the rest of the ch il
dren on his block.
All the parents go together and
for Oregon, M ultnomah County
is 196% behind the teen preg
nancy benchmark set by the state
in 1995. The num ber of children
living in poverty is 40% behind
the state benchmark. The Boys
and Girls Aid Society of Oregon
shelter unit staff say that these
num bers dem onstrate the need
for help for children living in
M ultnomah County that is almost
in epidem ic proportions.
The Boys and Girls Aid S oci
ety of Oregon offers weekly com
m unity-based orientation, inlor-
c o o rd in a te d a o n ce -a-m o n th ,
n eig h b o rh o o d -ch ild ren m ovie
day for the summer months.
This com ing weekend is the
last outing for the summer, with
the gang.
All week-long the w eather had
been gorgeous, beautilul sunny
days with warm gentle evening
breezes.
Little Billy enjoyed them to
the fullest. He was looking for
ward to the weekend with grins
of delight, every time he thought
about it.
The popcorn, and candy, the
video games during interm ission
being with the rest of the neigh
borhood kids, and just the ex
citem ent of it all filled his body
SIMPLY CELLULAR
WE ACTIVATE • ANY PHONE • ANY PAGER
m ation anil public speaking ses
sions for anyone who is in ter
ested in becom ing a shelter p ar
ent or who may have questions
about the program . Please call
503-222-9661 x258 for a m eet
ing schedule or call the shelter
parent inform ation line at 503-
222-2358. According to Shelter
P a re n t P ro g ra m
R e c r u ite r
Jonathan Kipp, there is no sp e
cial season or time of year that
sh e lte r hom es are e sp e c ia lly
needed. Kids are in crisis every
day.
t out. From Front
Public hospital provide a sig
nificant share of all hospital care
for those who are socially and
econom ically underprivileged.
As hospitals of last resort, they
have become a health care safety
net because of their policy of
adm itting anyone, insured and
uninsured alike They also have
a tradition of striving to be cu l
turally sensitive. Finally, public
hospitals provide essential m edi
cal services which few clinics
can offer and private hospitals
often find unprofitable such as
em ergency care, traum a care,
burn care, and neonatal care, and
they provide these vital services
for the entire com m unity.
The importance of this situation is
brought into sharper focus by the
increase in the number of uninsured.
The most recent data suggest that
there are more than 40 million people
in the United who lack health insur
ance. The number of uninsured is
growing steadily as the cost ot insur
ance continues to rise and as full
time, full-benefit employment re
mains scarce for the urban popula
tion. Many full-time positions are
being replaced as well by temporary,
contract or part-time jobs without
health coverage.
Many large, urban public hospi
tals also conduct medical education
and research, which benefits the en
late in some m anner to finances.
Now! Take a good look at our
various denom inations of cur
rency, both coin and paper. No
tice it reads: “In God We T ru st” .
The irrita tin g part about the
whole thing is: people are using
the name of God for their per
sonal m onetary grow th, when
what they actually need is the
Word of God. You can 't have it
both ways!
In other words, if you live by
His law, everything else will take
care of it self.
The governm ent today, is ex
periencing the same thing little
Billy experienced.
Both selected the actions that
y ie ld e d in stan t g ra tific a tio n ,
when the more sensible choices
would have generated rewards of
longer lasting happiness.
M aking the choice of living
your life according to G od’s will,
will guarantee you will be eli-
with a tingly sensation.
Little Billy had totally ignored
his m o th er's in stru ctio n s and
conditions regarding his elig ib il
ity to be with everyone on the
weekend.
The weekend is now here, S at
urday late-m orning and little
B illy’s room is not clean. B illy’s
mother made Billy accountable
for his actions.
As Billy watched the gang all
gather across the street from his
house, they all got into the par
ents cars and everybody left
Billy was alone! He had made his
decision based on his actions.
The result, he m issed out on
som ething w onderful!
L et's take a brief look at an
other example! Look at the effort
expended to keep religion out of
schools, offices and civic func
tions, governmental departm ents
and procedures, and countless
other areas of the world that re
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much revenue that they will simply
have to close.
In addition to the managed care
changeover, Congress plans to cut
the Medicaid funding that has long
been given specifically to public hos
pitals that serve large numbers of
Medicaid, low-income Medicare, and
uninsured patients. This special as
sistance, known as Disproportionate
Share Hospital (DHS) payments, is
set to be reduced by $10.3 billion
over the next five years according to
the proposed Balanced Budget Act
of 1997.
According to the National Asso
ciation of Public Hospitals, federal
DSH payments account tor 13 per
cent of public hospitals’ total rev
enues and pay for 40 percent ot the
cost of treating uninsured patients.
The pending budget cuts are there
fore going to shrink public hospitals
revenues tar below what is necessary
to meet the many health care needs ot
those who rely on this system for
care.
Public hospitals today are suffer
ing from a condition that, it left un
treated, may prove fatal. The impor
tance of their survival needs to be
recognized and addressed. It we lose
these safety-net institutions, many
people will no longer have access to
any medical care. The health ot the
people who live in urban communi
ties depends on public hospitals re
maining viable American institutions.
tire health care system Many serve
as teaching hospitals, where they train
students. In addition, some urban
public hospitals are major employ
ers in the cities they serve. Closing
these hospitals therefore increases
the potential unemployment of both
skilled and unskilled workers not only
in the health care industry but in
other related industries as well.
M any states have m odified
their M edicaid programs by shift
ing their m ethod o f delivering
health care to managed care. Fed
eral w aivers now allow states to
require that their M edicaid re
cipients enroll in m anaged care
organizations, and many states
have already modified their M ed
icaid program s with this new re
quirem ent. As of June 1996, this
changeover had been carried out
by 29 states and the District ol
Colum bia.
This change in Medicaid policy is
causing public hospitals to lose a
large percentage of their patient base
to managed care organizations.
Approximately 43 percent of pub
lic hospitals’ patients are covered by
medicare, medicaid or other public-
insurance, and an equal proportion
are uninsured. Even more important,
50 percent or more of these hospi
tals' revenue has been based on Med
icaid payments. Unless they can ef
fectively compete for low-risk Med
icaid patients, they may soon lose so
have to lose by living for God?
Y ou’ll lose the m isery and pain
of despair, loneliness, depression
and any other negative emotion.
The Choice is yours!
gible to attend the movie of ete r
nal happiness.
And when you com pare the
short time we have on earth, to
the time of eternity, what do you
,
.
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