Sunday Letters to the Editor
Web Posted:
05/17/2008 05:25 PM CDT
San
Antonio Express-News
Better
solution needed The editorial, “Medicaid Cuts Only Shift Costs to States,”
(May 2) correctly points out that even if Congress blocks proposed Bush
administration cuts to Medicaid — an action we strongly support — it is
nothing more than “applying a Band-Aid here and a Band-Aid there.”
While
urging federal lawmakers to stand up for adequate Medicaid funding in
Washington, we need to initiate a discussion in
Texas about
strengthening our anemic Medicaid program.
The Texas
Medicaid program's reimbursement rate has slipped to 49th in the nation,
and does not reflect the challenges faced daily by local seniors and the
providers. While the average national daily Medicaid rate per patient is
$153.83, the Texas
rate is just $106.59.
Even on a
regional basis, Texas Medicaid rates have fallen behind:
New
Mexico ranks 30th nationally, at $137.24; Oklahoma
ranks 44th, at $116.84; Arkansas ranks
47th, at $111.76; and Louisiana
ranks 45th, at $115.
This is
not just about money and reimbursement rates. It is about maintaining care
quality standards and dignity for many Texas seniors.
The good
news is that on average we are all living longer, healthier lives. However,
we must make clear to federal and state lawmakers alike that an
increasingly older population will eventually require more extensive care
requiring an absolute commitment to adequate funding. This fact cannot and
must not be ignored in Austin or in
Washington.
Tim Graves,
President
& CEO,
Texas Health Care
Association
Austin
Let
healing begin
I look at
the Democratic nomination process and see another historic milestone, the
first black nominee. I listen to the "controversy" that has
surrounded Barack Obama,
and I wonder how he will ever break past the other ceiling that looms over
him. Rev. Wright's sermons and comments show that America is no closer to
understanding who or what black people are than they were when they
snatched us off our African homeland many centuries ago.
I am
amazed that despite the hundreds of years that blacks and whites have lived
so closely to one another, there is still such a lack of understanding. I
do not know who will be president, but I do know this process has revealed
a wounded country infected by racism. The country will not began to heal until its citizens acknowledge and correct
its faults, flaws and indifferences.
LaShon Wilson
Looking
for leadership
Given
their obvious inability to conduct their own nomination process, what makes
the Democrats think they would be able to run the country if their nominee
should win?
I've been
a Republican since Ike, am no longer enamored of them, but for the life of
me would never consider handing the country to this inept collection of
politicos.
Roger
Scow,
New Braunfels
Stop
the whining
I have
just received yet another e-mail encouraging me to refuse to buy gasoline
on a certain day to teach the big oil companies a lesson. The writer seems
oblivious to the fact that we will still buy the same amount of gas; just
on a different day, and oil companies will not be
affected in the least.
There is
a better solution: stop using their product. Quit buying gas altogether for
a few months. That will really affect “big oil.” Soon they will be giving
away their product to woo us back.
Or
perhaps we could realize that we are victims of the law of supply and
demand coupled with a weak dollar. The price of a barrel of oil keeps going
up because the worldwide demand for oil keeps increasing. Until we are
willing to develop alternatives to oil or tap into our domestic reserves,
we will continue to whine about the cost of gas.
Glen
Markham
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