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LIBRAS UHC-CH « ^”“h1-LL 275R->-3«0 chapel HI'LL qLUME 71 - NUMBER 36 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA —SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1993 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE:30 CENTS Health Reform Will Affect Almost All, Rich or Poor By Christopher Connell ■ WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton’s promised health reforms jld eliminate the nightmare of losing medical coverage for millions of jiericans when they switch jobs or fall seriously ill. But the reforms Clinton plans to unveil to Congress later this month would impose new financial burdens on businesses and individuals create potential turmoil in a $900 billion health care industry that Bploys 10 million people. It would force virtually every American, rich or poor, young or old, to jjltc choices about health care that are now made for them by their iiployers. While Clinton’s approach would preserve the option of fee-for-service itdicinc, it would apply heavy financial pressure on individuals to join i care plans such as health maintenance organizations where loicc of doctors and hospitals is limited. Senior adminisuation officials outlined aspects of the still secret plan to .porters over the weekend. Here are some answers to questions people ]jy be asking: Q. Will I be affected? Will I be able to keep my current isurance? A. If it gets through Congress, nearly everybody would be ([tcicd and you would have to choose a new policy from a menu of Ijjs offered by a new health alliance in your state. Some large aporations (5,000-plus workers) could keep operating their own plans. Q, Will the benefits be less generous than what I have now? Only if have a gilt-edged plan with virtually unlimited coverage and few co- Bymciiis or deductibles, the White House insists. He White House will require all employers and employees to split 80- (llic cost of the basic benefit package, which they estimate at $1,800 an individual and $4,200 for families. There will be subsidies for mall businesses (less than 50 workers) with low wages. Businesses will up to 8.5 percent of payroll; workers will pay up to 1.9 percent o'f itir wages. |[coiisunicrs choose a plan that costs less than average - probably an - tliey will pay less. But if they choose a more expensive policy latallows them to go to any doctor or hospital, they may bear the extra If iheir employer helps pick up the difference, the worker may be iwiili income taxes on that subsidy. I). So what’s the advantage for me and my family? You’ll be lataniccd coverage at the same, community-wide rates no matter if you ,'iichjobs or if a member of your family becomes gravely ill. The rates lay vary by age, however. Q, What if both spouses work and only pay for one insurance policy i»? Both will have to kick in to the new system along with their iploycrs. The employers will make a standaird family contribution per itkcr, and the husband and wife will contribute their 1.9 percent share wages. When will this happen? Whenever your state decides to join the new Siam, possibly as early as 1995, but more likely 1996 or 1997. States have to start their alliances by Jan. 1, 1998. When they do, the vetnment will also impose limits on how fast premiums can go up each What about elderly people on Medicare? They will get the same ascription drug benefit ($250 deductible, 20 percent co-payment) as cryone else immediately, and new long-term care benefits phased in iwccn 1996 and 2000. I. Will this insurance pay for my chiropractor or for acupuncture? y if the health plan you sign up with features such coverage. ISoiiic plans may offer such services, some may not. The White House )|ies to case state restrictions on midwives, advanced nurse practitioners id other non-medical doctors. Q. What about preventive health services? The Clinton plan would over routine eye and ear exams, pelvic exams, cholesterol screening, nmmograms and some other services that many private insurers now il«sc to pay for. Children’s eye glasses and trips to the dentist also will (covered. Adults will get preventive dental care starting in 2000, Q. How good will the mental health benefits be? Not as good as the overage for physical illnesses, but better than many people have today, ad they are supposed to improve in a few years. Sixty days in a mental ispilal will be paid for, and starting in 2000 there will be no limit on ispitalization. Psychotherapy will be reimbursed at 50 percent for up to 30 visits a tat; starling in 2000, the plans would pay 80 percent for the first 12 iithothorapy visits, and 50 percent beyond that. iQ. Who’s going to pay for the 37 million uninsured? If they work, they id their employers will be paying for health insurance for the first time, be also will be new taxes on cigarettes and maybe hard liquor starting 1996. The government expects to squeeze billions from Medicare and Wicaid, while requiring states to keep kicking in what they now pay It the poor and uninsured. And by wrestling down health costs, it hopes irporations’ profits will go rise, generating more tax revenues. Q. Will abortion be covered? Clinton’s plan will seek to cover all itdically necessary services, which the White House would interpret to elude abortion. But Congress may say otherwise. Fertility treaunents Juld not be covered. Q, What does Congress have to say about this? Everything, including c final word. Don’t go shopping for your new insurance plan yet. Eton’s plan will be debated and in all likelihood extensively revised ®Capitol Hill far into 1994. Grand Jury Indicts Two Teenagers In Murder of James Jordan •UMBERTON (AP) — Two * have been formally charged first-degree murder and other ®s in the death of basketball Michael Jordan’s father. ‘ Robeson County grand jury on Mday handed down three fetments each against Daniel tilt Green and Larry Martin ®Ery,both 18. lach was charged with first- Srte murder, armed robbery and ispiracy to commit armed Sheriff Hubert Stone said two suspects now face mem in Superior Court as as the district attorney s to act. Stone said. GIFT TO NCCU LIBRARY — Chancellor Julius Chambers (left) joins Dr. Floyd Hardy (center), librarian, James E. Shepard Memorial Library at North Carolina Central University, in receiving a gift of $5,000 from David Scull (right), president of the North Carolina Independent Insurance Agency. After Living In All-White Town Who Killed Bill Simpson? By Terri Langford 'VIDOR, Texas (AP) - Mayor Ruth Woods can barely get the words out over the tears she is holding back. "I just want to ask him: ‘Bill Simpson, you big old teddy bear, why did you move? You would still be alive today if you had stayed in Vidor,’ " she said after a morning "All the indictments and hearings ... that is now in the discretion of the'Superior Court," Stone said. "... Now wc’rc looking forward to going on with the trial." WTVD- TV in Durham reported that Green and Dcmcry would appear, next in Superior Court on Sept 27. Law enforcement officials said Demery and Green robbed and killed James Jordan on July 23 while he was sleeping in his car off U.S. 74 in Robeson County near Lumberton; about 125 southeast of Charlotte. The pair dumped Jordan’s body in a creek near McColl, S.C., authorities said. Jordan’s car was found later in a wooded area near Fayetteville. Tar Heel Republicans Smell Blood With Passage of Clinton Budget WASHINGTON (AP) — Three conservative North Carolina Democrats are politically vulnerable in the 1994 Congressional elections after supporting President Clinton’s budget plan, potential challengers say. Reps. Stephen Neal, Martin Lancaster and Tim Valentine supported the budget plan that Clinton said will cut $496 billion from the federal debt and stimulate investment. Republicans argued that the plan was more of the same old tax-and- spend nonsense and will smother economic recovery. "People are going to have one opportunity to send a message to Bill Clinton and that’s going to be in the off-year election, and I,think they’re going to send it," Jack Hawke, the chairman of the state Republican Party, said. Republicans are starting to think about running earlier than usual because Clinton appears to be faltering and because the party that holds the White House usually loses seats in a midterm election, Hawke said. First out of the gate was David Funderburk, an unsuccessful contender for Uic Republican senate nomination in 1986 and a former ambassador to Romania under President Reagan. Funderburk began his campaign for Valentine’s 2nd District seat this summer, more than five months before the filing period starts. "Because of what’s happening with the drift of the country and the lack of Icadcrsliip," he said, "it will be a good opportunity for Republicans." Funderburk probably will face primary challenges from Republican district chairman Larry Norman and Ted Stone, an anti-drug activist and a perennial dark-horse candidate. Norman said Funderburk hasn’t demonstrated his commitment to the Republican Party or conservative goals in North Carolina. "When he lost that primary, he walked away," said Norman, a lawyer. Funderburk said hp has been active speaking, writing and running his own conservative foundation. His campaign organization includes veteran consultants’ and fund-raisers, who intend to raise at least $500,000 for television advertisements, Oliver North, the former Marine lieutenant colonel who might parlay his folk-hero status into a U.S. Senate bid in Virginia, recently sent out a fund-raising letter for Funderburk. Valentine was unimpressed with the early Republican maneuvers. "The next campaign will be fought on questions some of which wc haven’t faced yet,” he predicted, citing the North American Free Trade Agreement as one. Neal is recuperating at his McLean, Va,, home after dislocating his shoulder while boogie-boarding at Wrightsvillo Beach. He did not want to think about campaigning. "To tell you the Puth, 1 haven’t gotten into the campaign mode," he said. "It seems a little early to me." Neal faces a likely challenge from Richard Burr, who lost to him in 1992 by almost 16,000 votes and was outspent almost three-to-ono. Burr since has become better known as chairman of the conservative North Carolina Taxpayers United. "There is certainly overwhelming support for me to run," he said, fwo other rumored candidates tor the 5th DisPict scat, slate Rep. Lyons Gray and Peter Brunstetter, a Forsyth County commissioner, said last week they are not running but might enter the race if Burr decides not to run. Lancaster, who could not be reached for comment, could face a challenge from former state Rep. Walter Jones Jr., a recent Republican convert who has a famous name and a reputauon as a reformer. Jones ran as a Democrat in 1992 in the 1st DisPict and lost a ranoff against Rep. Eva Clayton. He lives in the 1st DisPict, but might run in Lancaster’s 3rd DisPict, which includes much of the dispict his late father represented in Congress for almost 26 years. "It’s going to be a Republican year, in my opinion," said Jones, who called his switch to the GOP his third-best decision after accepting Jesus and getting married. Republicans also would like to topple Rep. David Price, who has held the 4th Dispict since 1986; Rep. Bill Hefner, who has held the 8th DisPict since 1974; and Rep. Charlie Rose, who has held the 7th District since 1972. But Hawke said those districts are stacked with liberal-leaning Democrats, making the incumbents hard to dislodge. Republicans don’t even bother to talk about Clayton’s 1st Dispict and Rep. Mel Watt’s 12th DistricL two unassailable Democratic sPongholds. of crying. In a cruel twist, Simpson, who is black, was gunned down in a random robbery Wednesday night in Beaumont, the day he left Vidor public housing because he said the racial harassment there was intolerable. As relatives in California prepare for his funeral there on Tue.sday and tlio limelight on Vidor dims, several unanswered questions remain: How accountable fs a mostly white town for racist behavior towards an individual? Why docs the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development continue to fund all-white and all black complexes in East Texas? And what will HUD officials do in towns like Vidor where integration has failed? These questions were posed to HUD officials in Washington earlier last week, when Simpson was still alive. Alter waiting three days for an answer, The Associated Press was told hours before Simpson was killed, that wliile the agency is very "concerned" about the last six months of events in Vidor, no one would address these issues. That doesn’t surprise Mike Daniel, the Dallas lawyer who represents 12,000 black families in a class-action lawsuit against 36 East Texas counties that get HUD funds. The lawsuit was filed originally in 1980 when three black women were refused housing in all- white complexes. In 1985, the U.S. DisPict Court in Tyler found the housing agency was liable for discrimination in housing. "Since then, HUD has been screwing around, disobeying court orders," said Daniel. "I think the federal government not only disapproves, it approves of discrimination in housing. ... I guess they’re not offended by the outcome. They must endorse the segregation." Two years ago, officials who oversee Vidor public housing and 187 other sites in 36 counties were told to cither comply with fair housing statutes or face the consequences, which could mean halt of federal funds. Daniel estimated that the region receives about $20 million a year in federal assistance. But HUD refused to give a figure. Now, in Vidor and in several cities, housing projects remain segregated. In Grand Saline, a northeast Texas town 80 miles east of Dallas, there are no black residents. But the city continues to get funding for its 103 public housing units. For 2 1/2 years, Linda Beeler, executive director of the city’s housing authority - following the court’s order - she has been searching for blacks to apply for housing. "I’ve had to run articles in the Van Zandt paper, sent letters to the black churches notifying them we do have housing. Department stores, comer grocery stores,” Ms. Beeler said. "I haven’t had one Jackson: Blacks Must Fight Fratricide With Education, Religion By Nancy Costello DETROIT (AP) - Blacks must rebuild family ethics and keep children in school to prevent the black-on-black violence that has claimed thousands of young lives, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday. ■ While blacks still face life- threatening violence from whites, civil rights laws established in the last 30 years offer .some protection against racist crimes, Jackson said in a sermon at a DePoit church. Blacks, he says, must now focus on stopping violence - much of it drug-related - in their own :ommunity. . "We were threatened by genocide. Now we are threatened by fratricide,” Jackson said. "We’ve lost more lives to dope than we’ve lost to the rope." Jackson’s sermon was greeted with cheers andj standing ovations by an overflow crowd of more than 500 people at I^ellowship Chapel. Jackson also spoke at Sunday services at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. His talks were among thrcL public appearances in DePoit over Labor Day Weekend. He also attended the Franklin Scholarship Awards ceremony at the Fisher TheaPe on Saturday. Jackson won Michigan’s 1988 Democratic presidential primary. Perhaps America’s most recognizable black leader, he is president of the National Rainbow Coalition and founder of the black advocacy group Operation Push. Citing civil rights advances in education, housing and jobs, Jackson said blacks must revive the hope and commitment of an earlier era to improve their communities. "There is within us a crisis, a kind of spiritual surrender, a kind of ethical collapse," Le said. "Can we rebuild the wall (of hope)? Wc have the money. We have the education, but there is something within us that is in trouble," he said. Jackson lambasted the increasing numbers of unmarried youths having children and parents abandoning their children. "It’s dishonorable. Even dogs raise their puppies," he said. -. "Surely a man, who is little less than God, can raise the babies he has." Parents must emphasize religious ethics and education to make childi^n responsible and steer them away from crime, Jackson said. He implored members of the congregation to take an active role in their children’s education. "Take your children to school. - Like, don’t send," he said. "Meet the teachers and give them your phone number. With more pipcnt involvement in September, we’ll have more graduations in May and June." Parents can also direct a child to role models such politicians and religious leaders, Jackson said. While black athletes and entertainers are admired, they do little to change the status quo lhat'is oppressive to blacks, he said. "Youths want to become ball players and singers' - not strugglcrs," Jackson said. "You must respect who risks for you, who teaches for you." applicant Not one call and not one applicant." But as long as Ms. Beeler continues her diligent search. Grand Saline is considered to be in ’’compliance" with the court order. Then there’s the issue of integrating - reminiscent of the school busing issue - with public housing in towns that have no minorities and are possibly more intolerant than more heavily integrated cities. After months of verbal threats and taunts, Simpson, 37 and John DecQuir, 59 - the first two blacks to live in public housing in Vidor ^ packed up their belongings last, week and left for Beaumont. (Continued On Page 2)
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