© 1999 - 2004 League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham and
League of Women Voters of the United States

The Voter

March 2004

A Publication of the League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham.
Re-formatted here for web publication with index and links added. Web Editor's navigational notes added in [bracketed italics].

      INDEX

  • President's Message
  • Public Healthcare Forum on March 18th!  
  • Jefferson County Health Care for Uninsured and Underinsured:
    Background for Public Discussion
  • Welcome New Member  
  • April is League Activity Month - Learn about the League
    and/or become an official observer  
  • LWVGB Board of Directors 2003-2004
  • About the Voter
  • Calendar












    • Print the index



    President's Message

    The League is gearing up for the long haul to the November Presidential Election. The Democracy Network (DNET) will be in complete form. This is the interactive website for use by candidates and voters at all levels of elective office. We are planning to cover as many races at the state and local levels as we can. This involves a great deal of work and the board will need the help of a number of members. This is a great way to get your feet wet if you are a new member.

    While we do not conduct as many voter registrations as we did before Motor Voter, there are occasional requests for this. Candidate forums are also a possibility, especially at the local level. Both of these Voters Service activities require League members to become involved.

    The LWVAL State Council, a one-day meeting, will be held in Tuscaloosa on May 15th. Any member is welcome to attend. The state board is planning several workshops. It's a good way to meet League members from around the state.

    The LWVUS national convention will be held in Washington in June. This is an excellent meeting, with many opportunities to meet Leaguers from across the country, to participate in informative workshops and to just spend time in the most exciting city in the country (in my opinion.) Any member is welcome to attend all or part of the meeting. If you are interested, call me for details.

    If neither of these will fit your schedule, you won't want to miss our own Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, May 22nd at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The debate and adoption of our local program, adoption of a budget, adoption of any suggested bylaws changes and the election of some board members and officers will be the order of the day.

    Sarah McDonald - President

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    Public Healthcare Forum on March 18th!

    Healthcare for the Uninsured and Underinsured in Jefferson County is a panel discussion open to the public on March 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Southside Baptist Church. Bring a friend. Panelist are Sandral Hullett, M.D. and CEO of Cooper Green Hospital, Michael Fleenor, M.D. and Health Officer of Jefferson County Department of Health, and Reverend Lawton Higgs, Pastor of the Church of the Reconciler.

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    Jefferson County Health Care for Uninsured and Underinsured

    Background for Public Discussion

    Discussion for healthcare is partially dependent upon knowledge of insurance issues and what is available for those who are fully insured versus those who are not. Insurance sources include private and public sources.

    Source of Insurance

    For those whose employers offer coverage the reasons for not enrolling include 61% expense, 25% do not qualify. For those who are potentially eligible for public programs 77% indicate they are willing to enroll. When asked if the program was free 86% indicated they would enroll if it was free. About 58% indicated they never requested nor received information from public programs in Alabama.

    Public Program sponsored insurance

    • Medicaid - Alabama Medicaid Agency projects a 59.6 million shortfall this year and a 182.2 million shortfall in fiscal year 2005. If no money is found the program will be out of compliance with federal standards. The Federal government matches the State such that for every dollar the State pays the Federal government provides three. When the State cuts back the total is diminished even more dramatically due to the loss of Federal money.
    • HealthFirst Program – the card for use of Cooper Green Hospital and clinic
    • Medicare

    Many insured and uninsured worry that they will see cutbacks in their benefits, the insurance will be too expensive, they won't be able to afford health care services and they won't afford prescription drugs.

    Who are the Uninsured?

    • Not covered by employment insurance for employees
    • Not covered by individual purchased insurance
    • Not covered by public sponsored insurance
    • Not covered by Medicare for elderly and disabled
    • Not covered by Medicaid for poor

    Jefferson Co Alabama U.S.
    Uninsured at some point 14.6% 25.0%
    Uninsured all year 7.7% 8.8% 12.2%
    Population 665,034 4,564,479



    • 43.6% of Alabama's uninsured are in the 29-34 year range.
    • 18.9% have income at less than 15% of the Family Poverty Level. 18.1% have income at the 15-100% of the Family Poverty Level.
    • 25.7% are self employed or employed by someone else (hence employed). 25.7% are not employed or are unpaid workers.
    • 21.3% have less than a high school education and 13.3% are high school graduates.
    • 62% are not eligible for employer sponsored coverage or public health care programs.
    • Of those that indicated they received mental health services 76% of those uninsured, 34.8% of publicly insured and 20.6% of privately insured indicated they had problems obtaining mental health treatment or counseling. The reasons for problems in obtaining mental health treatment or counseling were 53% too expensive, 12% insurance does not cover but 26% indicated other which included no insurance, hard to get an appointment, transportation issues and language barriers.

    How is Healthcare Received?

    A regular source of care is found at 90.2% by the privately insured, at the 93.1% for the publicly insured and only 71.1% by the uninsured.

    Where healthcare is received?

    • For those without insurance who use clinics for regular care, 71% use free clinics 16.3% use hospital clinics and 9.1% use private clinics.
    • Jefferson County operates Cooper Green Hospital and its clinics.
    • Jefferson County Department of Health has clinics available.
    ER MD Office Clinic
    Uninsured 13.5% 58.5% 25.9%
    Insured 72.9% 85.7%

    • Most hospitals in Jefferson County accept patients with Medicaid but not all.
    • For emergency cases hospitals take patients without insurance by law.
    • Jefferson County has clinics available to the public with and without insurance. A few are specialized, AIDS, pediatrics, eye problems etc. A few have translators for those who do not speak English.

    Resources on HealthCare

    • Alabama Medicaid Report 2002. www.medical.state.al.us
    • Alabama Medicaid Report 2003. Carol Hermann, Alabama Medicaid Director Report to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Januar;y 26, 1004
    • Alabama Data on Uninsured from the Alabama Department of Public Health IDEA project
    • Alabama Data for May. A powerpoint presentation from the Alabama Department of Public Health
    • 2000 Population Trends for Jefferson County. www.jcdh.org
    • 2001 Vital Records Annual Report of Jefferson County. www.jcdh.org
    • 2000 Healthy Jefferson County Review. www.jcdh.org
    • Jefferson County 2002 Healthy Profile. www.alapubhealth.org
    • Healthy Alabama 2010. www.alapubhealth.org/
    • State Statistics. www.statehealthtools.org
    • Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts Online. www.statehealthfacts.org/
    • Alabama insurance. www.aldoi.org
    • Hospitals. www.alaha.org
    • Cooper Green Hospital. www.jeffcointouch.com
    • Jefferson County Department of Public Health.
    • Medicaid Shortfalls, Birmingham News. 2/3/04
    • Cold Comfort, Birmingham News. 1/29/04
    • New Taxes Urged to Avoid Medicaid Cuts, Birmingham News. 1/29/04
    • Uninsured Kids A State Epidemic, Birmingham Post Herald. 12/06/03
    • Businessman Keeps Hispanics' Health Close to Heart. Birmingham News 10/29/03
    • Langford Will Plan Health Care Transfer, Birmingham News. 8/13/03
    • Scott Douglas, Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, interview 2/5/04
    • Max Michael, M.D., Dean, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, interview 2/6/04
    • Carol Samuelson, M.D., former Health Officer, Jefferson County Department of Public Health, interview 2/2/04
    • Lisa Reddington, Hispanic Outreach Coordinator, St. Vincent's Hospital, interview 2/18/04.
    • James Dearth, M.D., Children's hospital, interview 3/5/04.
    • Resolution August 18, 1999. Resolution Granting Application for Permission for the Incorporation of the Jefferson county Health Care Authority and Authorizing the Incorporation Thereof.

    For access to the references and web sites with additional information visit http://www.lwvgb.org/index.html
    The local libraries have computers with access to the web sites.

    Prepared by Virginia Randolph

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    Welcome to new member
    Mary Lynn Bates
    1304 Columbia Drive
    Birmingham, AL 35226
    823-9459

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    APRIL IS LEAGUE ACTIVITY MONTH -
    LEARN ABOUT THE LEAGUE AND/OR BECOME AN OFFICIAL OBSERVER
    League members who have joined since last April, and who have not had a chance to attend a League Orientation, are invited to attend one on Thursday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Highland Coffee Company (across from Bottega Restaurant) 2255 Highland Avenue. Drop in hours will be from 5:30 until 7:30. Come when you can. ALSO that evening, any member who would like to become a League Observer at a School Board meeting or a City Council meeting, is invited to come at the same time to sign up, learn about observing and receive a League identification. Questions? call Nancy Ekberg at 967-2897
    or e-mail nanekberg@aol.com.

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    LWVGB Board of Directors 2003-2004

    LWVGB
    3357 Cherokee Road
    Birmingham, Al. 35223
    Phone: (205) 968-9186
    http://www.bham.net/lwvgb

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    About the Voter:

    The LWVGB Voter is a publication of the League of Women Voter of Greater Birmingham.

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article



    CALENDAR
    Thursday,
    March 18th    		 General Meeting
    Health Care for the Uninsured
    Southside Baptist Church    		 5:30 p.m.
    Tuesday,
    April 6th    		 LWVGB Board Meeting
    3357 Cherokee Road    		 6:00 pm
    Thursday,
    April 15th    		 New Member Orientation/
    County Commission Observer
    Training
    Highland Coffee Company
    2255 Highland Avenue
    		 5:30 pm
    Saturday,
    May 15th    		 State Council
    Tuscaloosa
    Saturday,
    May 22nd    		 Annual Business Meeting
    Birmingham Museum of Art
    Board Room
    Lunch to follow in Terrace Café
    		 10:30 am


    12:00 am

    | Top | LWVGB Home |

    Print this article