Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 279, Ed. 1 Monday, May 8, 2017 Page: 3 of 14
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STATE/NATIONAL
3A
Denton Record-Chronicle
Monday, May 8, 2017
States brace for decisions under health care changes
pansion provided coverage to business.’
about U million people who
were newly eligible.
No government estimates
By Geoff Mulvihill
Associated Press
CHERRY HILL, N.J. -
Even as the Republican health
care overhaul remains a work in
progress, states are planning for
big changes that could swell the
ranks of the uninsured and hit
them with higher costs.
A key tenet underlying the
GOP plan is to give states more
authority over how to structure
their health care markets. That
approach is welcome in states
that want fewer mandates from
the federal government but is
causing alarm in states that em-
braced former President Barack
Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
This is especially true for
states that expanded their Med-
icaid programs and could now
see a huge pool of federal health
care money evaporate. They will
face tough decisions about bal-
ancing costs and care.
States’ preparations come
even as Republican members of
the U.S. Senate promise signifi-
cant revisions to the health care
bill that narrowly passed last
week in the House. Some gover-
nors already have begun press-
ing their senators to soften the
bill in ways that would lessen the
financial blow to the states.
The current GOP plan would
undo a mostly federally funded
expansion of Medicaid coverage
for low-income adults and allow
insurance companies to charge
far higher premiums on older
It’s not just Democratic gov-
ernors sounding the alarm.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a for-
have been released showing how mer Republican candidate for
much it would cost the states to president, has been consistently
keep the expansion and pay for it critical of his own party’s attempts
to make deep cuts in the Medic-
In March, a Congressional aid program. He supported Med-
Budget Office estimate for an ear- icaid expansion in his state and
lier version of the bill said it even- called the House bill “woefully
short on the necessary resources
to maintain health care for our
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tually would lead to 24 million
Americans losing their health
coverage. The same report found nation’s most vulnerable citizens.”
that federal Medicaid subsidies to Underscoring those con-
states, which run the programs, cems, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a
would be $880 billion less over 10 Republican, said he does not
years because of the end of the ex- support the House bill in its cur-
pansion and other changes that rent form, in part because it does
would affect allocations even to not protect Ohioans who bene-
states that chose not to expand. fited from the Medicaid expan-
In a report this week, Fitch sion.
Ratings said states would have In some of the states that are
to make “material, but not im- likely to relax standards and set
possible” budget changes to ab- up the high-risk pools, the choic-
sorb the blow. But it also said es that lie ahead are being wel-
implementing those changes by corned. Wisconsin Gov. Scott
2020 gives states little time to Walker, a Republican, said he
figure out what to do. would consider allowing the
New York officials estimate higher charges for pre-existing
the GOP bill would lead to 2.7 conditions.
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Rick Bowmer/AP
Demonstrators hold signs during a health care rally Thursday in Salt Lake City.
miums and fewer choices.”
Undoing Obama’s law has
been a goal for Republican law-
makers since it was adopted in
2011 and was a top campaign
promise of President Donald
Trump.
As soon as Trump was elect-
ed, state officials were on notice
that changes were likely.
Even if it gets major revisions
in the Senate, the House bill is
serving as a baseline for a task
force in New Jersey organized by
Joseph Vitale, chairman of the
state Senate’s health committee.
It starts meeting this month to
consider how the state might re-
spond.
Americans and some people
with pre-existing conditions.
Republican Gov. Bruce
Rauner of Illinois, a state that
expanded coverage under Oba-
ma’s law, said he will push sena-
tors to change the legislation so
the impacts are not as dire for
the state.
“Recent changes did not ad-
dress fundamental concerns
about the bill’s impact on the
650,000 individuals that are
part of our Medicaid expansion
population,” he said, “nor have
those changes eased the con-
cerns of the 350,000 people in
the individual market who are
dealing with skyrocketing pre-
“It’s unlikely to get worse
from here from where they land-
ed yesterday” Vitale said Friday,
a day after the House vote.
Officials in Connecticut have
set up a similar task force, and
New York lawmakers say they
are prepared to hold a special
session later this year to deal
with any fallout from the health
care changes.
New Jersey, along with 30
other states and the District of
Columbia, accepted a core deal
from Obama’s health overhaul
to expand Medicaid; 550,000
people have gained coverage
through it in New Jersey alone.
Nationwide, the Medicaid ex-
million residents losing cover-
age and the state losing up to a Republican, wasn’t fretting
$6.9 billion in federal Medicaid about tough decisions,
money. Gov. Andrew Cuomo
said such cuts would reduce and replace Obamacare is a step
support for hospitals, nursing toward ending the lawless
homes and 7 million New York- health care regime that failed to
live up to its promises and is spi-
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, also
Congress’ efforts to repeal
ers who rely on the program.
“They’re trying to gut Medic- raling to a hasty death,” Abbott
aid,” he said Friday. “They’re try- spokesman John Wittman said
ing to put our hospitals out of Friday.
University of Texas stabbings test campus carry law
BRIEFLY
ACROSS THE NATION
Boston
2 doctors found dead
likely knew killer
lobbied against the campus car-
ry law, which was approved by
Texas’ Republican-controlled
Legislature in 2015.
C. J. Grisham sees just the op-
posite. The founder of Open
Carry Texas, which seeks to ex-
pand gun rights, said the cam-
pus carry law is still too restric-
tive. If more students were al-
lowed to carry weapons, he ar-
gues, the stabber could have
been stopped sooner, even if no
one pulled a trigger.
“When you produce a hand-
gun, it immediately stops the ag-
gression, just showing it,” Grish-
am said. “Gun owners I know
aren’t itching to shoot some-
body. They want to defend
themselves,”
According to police, Texas
student Kendrex J. White used a
large “Bowie-style” knife in an
early-aftemoon attack in the
heart of campus.
Police say White walked into
a tree-covered plaza of picnic ta-
bles outside a student activity
center and fatally stabbed first-
year student Harrison Brown,
then worked his way through
the crowd. Another victim was
stabbed in the head at a picnic
table. Another was struck while
standing in line at a food truck.
One witness described seeing
shooting to demonstrate how an
attacker with a gun could pick
off multiple victims before po-
lice arrived. Three professors
sued to block the law, but their
case was dismissed.
Under the law, license hold-
ers must at least 21 years old (18
if in the military) to carry a gun
onto campus, eliminating most
of the nearly 50,000 students.
Grisham advocates allowing
people to carry a gun just about
anywhere without a license.
“All unlicensed carry does is
even the playing field,” Grisham
said.
By Jim Vertuno
Associated Press
AUSTIN — It was the night-
mare scenario that had been at
the heart of the debate over Texas’
new law allowing concealed
handguns on college campuses: a
knife-wielding attacker stabbing
and slashing his way through a
crowd of panicked students.
But no gun-toting student or
professor pulled a pistol to stop
the man in his tracks. No shots
were fired and no gun was even
drawn until police swarmed in
to subdue the suspect at the Uni-
versity of Texas, where one stu-
dent was killed and three more
wounded by a 21-year-old class-
mate with a knife and a reported
history of mental health prob-
lems.
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Two engaged Boston doctors
found dead this weekend inside
the penthouse of a luxury con-
dominium building most likely
knew their killer, police say.
Dr. Lina Bolanos and Dr.
Richard Field were found dead
Friday night by police at the Ma-
callen Building in South Boston
and police say they believe the
man suspected of their deaths
knew them. Boston police have
not said how the couple were
killed or provided a motive in
the case.
Bolanos, 38, was a pediatric
anesthesiologist at Massachusetts
Eye and Ear, according to its web-
site, and an instructor at Harvard
Medical School. Field, 49, also an
anesthesiologist, worked at North
Shore Pain Management
Police had gone to the build-
ing on a report of a man with a
gun. Police Commissioner Wil-
liam B. Evans said the suspect
opened fire when officers con-
fronted him at the door. He said
police fired back and hit the man
several times.
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Tamir Kalifa, Austin American-Statesman/AP file photo
Law enforcement officers secure the scene May 1 after a fatal
stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus.
Mia Carter, an associate Eng-
lish professor and one of the
plaintiffs who unsuccessfully sued
murder, told officers he didn’t to block the law, argues that
remember the attack, according would have led to more blood-
shed. She pointed to social media-
Texas is the most populous fed rumors of other attacks near
state to allow people to carry guns campus, including a reported
onto university campuses. Debate stabbing that police later deter-
raged for years before the mea- mined was false. Tensions at the
sure was approved, and the Aus- university remained high even af-
tin campus was the focus of some- ter White was arrested and clas-
times outlandish demonstrations ses were canceled for the day.
“People were posting rumors
that the attacker was Muslim,
that he was targeting fraternity
members,” Carter said. With
Opponents protested by more guns, she said, ‘We could
openly carrying sex toys to class, have had a terrible tragedy com-
Supporters staged a mock pounded.”
White standing and waving his
knife above his head as students
fled.
Texas’ new campus carry law
was put to the ultimate test but
provided no real conclusion —
with both gun rights and gun
control activists insisting Mon-
day’s attack bolstered their argu-
ment that guns do or don’t
belong at college.
“Had there been firearms
added to that mix, it would have
been far more disastrous,” said
Susan Schorn, a writing instruc-
tor at the University of Texas
who has been involved in the
Gun-Free UT group that had
to court documents.
White crossed the street and
briefly made it into a dorm and
classroom complex, where police
say he was apprehended by offi-
cers who arrived within 90 sec-
onds of the first emergency call.
University of Texas Police
Chief David Carter said police
believe White had a “mental
health issue” and had been in-
voluntarily committed a few
weeks before the attack, but Car-
ter did not elaborate. White,
who has been charged with
and lawsuits. Some of the school’s
key academic leaders chose to
leave rather than allow guns in
their classrooms.
Folkston, Ga.
Fire continues to spread
in Georgia wildlife refuge
Firefighters were battling
Sunday to prevent a fire in a
southern Georgia wildlife refuge
from spreading, authorities said.
The Okefenokee National
Wildlife Refuge said in a state-
ment that “extremely dangerous
burning conditions persist” and
that 11,000 acres have been con-
sumed by fire in the past two days.
The unincorporated community
of St George is under a mandato-
ry evacuation order and Charlton
County schools have been closed
for Monday. Wmd gusts and dry
conditions were raising the risk of
the fire spreading.
Salt Lake City
Zinke begins Utah tour
to eye monument sites
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke met with tribal leaders
and elected officials in Utah on
Sunday as he kicked off a four-
day trip to the state to inspect
two disputed national monu-
ments protecting more than 3
million combined acres of the
state’s red rock country.
Zinke said at a news confer-
ence that he views the trip as a
listening tour to ensure every-
one has a voice and to determine
if the monuments fit the federal
law allowing presidents to de-
clare the protections.
About 500 protesters carry-
ing signs and chanting “Save our
monuments, stand with Bears
Ears!” demonstrated on the
sidewalk outside the meetings in
Salt Lake City.
Cuts spotlight race
questions on school
enrollment forms
ww
President
Donald
Trump, right,
talks to media
Feb. 2 before
a lunch meet-
ing with Har-
ley-Davidson
executives
and union
representa-
tives in Wash-
ington.
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die School — known for its
honors program, specialized
learning academies and diverse
student body of 1,600 — would
no longer qualify for the addi-
tional staffing due to an uptick in
its white student enrollment.
District officials could not
pinpoint a reason for the demo-
graphic shift, which dates back
two years.
But some parents doubt there
is much change, adding they have
friends who didn’t put down their
children’s heritage on school
forms fearing they could be la-
beled English learners and sub-
jected to additional testing.
Now, these parents are being
encouraged to change how they
answered questions about their
children’s race and ethnicity to
more fully reflect their back-
ground — and Convey said more
than a dozen people have voiced
interest in doing so.
“They have a perception that
maybe I need to skirt it, hide it,
not share it, because it may work
against me in some way,” said
Convey. ‘We have had to edu-
cate and say, ‘No, no, no people.
Our funding depends on us be-
ing so different, so let’s write it
down. Let’s tell everyone. Let’s
celebrate this.’”
By Amy Taxin
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - After vol-
unteering at her children’s Los
Angeles middle school for nearly
a decade, Carol Convey was told
the number of teachers sudden-
ly would be cut.
The problem? The school now
had too many white students.
To Convey, the diverse, multi-
ethnic community looked no
different from before, so she be-
gan to wonder whether her
neighbors had changed, or only
how they identified on paper.
The question has sparked a
lively debate in the country’s sec-
ond-largest school district, which
under a decades-old court settle-
ment aimed at desegregation pro-
vides additional staffing when
more than 70 percent of students
hailing from the surrounding
neighborhood are not white.
Across the country, school
districts have long grappled with
desegregation and pursued a
range of policies including
changing boundaries, opening
magnet schools and focusing re-
sources on campuses with non-
white students.
In Los Angeles, parents were
shocked earlier this year when
they learned Walter Reed Mid-
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Carolyn Raster/
AP file photo
—
_
Trump rolls out red carpet for
some unions more than others
WASHINGTON - President
Donald Trump says labor unions
have an open door to his White
House, but so far, he’s holding the
door alittle more ajar for some or-
ganizations than others.
Trump has put out the wel-
come mat for the nation’s con-
struction trades, with whom he’s
had relationships during de-
cades of building office towers
and hotels. Also invited in have
been auto, steel and coal work-
ers who backed him during the
2016 election.
But there’s been no White
House invitation for other
unions representing the sprawl-
ing but shrinking pool of 14.6
million workers who collectively
bargain with employers in the
labor movement.
“You can tell Congress that
America’s building trades and its
president are very much united,”
Trump told North America’s
Building Trade Unions, even as
he pledged in the same speech,
‘America’s labor leaders will al-
ways find an open door with
Donald Trump.”
But he has not courted all
union leaders or advocated for
all labor priorities. For example,
he’s against a $15-an-hour mini-
mum wage and has let linger a
rule expanding overtime pay.
Much like President Ronald
Reagan did, Trump is not so
much pursuing a labor agenda
but one that appeals to those
who share his “Buy American,
Hire American” priorities and
happen to be union members.
“Trump is clearly working to
be the blue collar president,” said
F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of
labor policy at the center-right
nonprofit Mackinac Center for
Public Policy in Michigan. “He’s
trying to bring back the Reagan
labor coalition and get the Blue
Dog Democrats back.”
The White House says the
president is “open to meeting
with various individuals and
groups on how to improve the
lives of all Americans.”
But even among unions
with most-favored status,
there’s some skepticism about
whether he’s for workers or just
the executives who hire them.
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 279, Ed. 1 Monday, May 8, 2017, newspaper, May 8, 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1131390/m1/3/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .