- Medicaid debate hits home in Tennessee, By Chas Sisk, October 10, 2012, The Tennessean: “Marvin Berry Jr. was just 7 years old when a ricocheting bullet struck his spinal cord at the point where his head joins his neck. Told by doctors that he would be lucky to live 20 years, Berry has reached age 40. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Austin Peay State University despite having almost no use of his arms or legs. ‘I know that there are a lot of people out there that believe in entitlements or the government may owe them something,’ he said. Without government assistance, he said, ‘there’s no way I could function.’ The debate over Medicaid means more for some Tennesseans than others. To Berry and the approximately 263,300 other disabled and elderly Tennesseans whose long-term care is covered at least partially by Medicaid, the discussion is as important as life itself…”
- Report: Medicaid expansion could save Michigan $1 billion, By Scott Davis, October 14, 2012, Lansing State Journal: “Michigan taxpayers could save nearly $1 billion over a 10-year period if the state expands its Medicaid program under federal health care reform, according to a newly released report. Most of the savings would come from reduced state expenditures for mental health services for low-income residents and medical care for prisoners, which would be shifted to the federal government under the Medicaid expansion, according to the Center for Healthcare & Transformation, a nonpartisan group that studies ways to improve health policy in Michigan. Since July, state lawmakers and the Gov. Rick Snyder administration have studied whether Michigan should expand Medicaid eligibility and add 450,000 to 619,000 residents to Medicaid rolls over the next decade…”
Day: October 16, 2012
Small Businesses and Microlending
A big breakthrough in tiny loans, By E. Scott Reckard, October 14, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “The Alameda Swap Meet in South Los Angeles is about the last place you’d expect to find a breakthrough in small-business lending. Filled with Spanish-speaking mom-and-pop vendors selling cowboy boots, videos, quinceañera dresses and fresh fish, the indoor bazaar tends to be long on cash sales and short on formal bookkeeping. But vendor David Manzo is building his business one swipe at a time. Every time a customer pays with a credit or debit card, a portion of that sale automatically goes to pay down a $5,775 loan to the Mexican immigrant, whose Mirna’s Market offers herbal remedies and religious items. The loan’s 12% interest rate is a fraction of what Manzo paid in the past for expansion and inventory loans. And he never worries about repayment. If business slows down, his installments drop automatically; when things pick back up, the higher sales mean the loan balance goes down faster…”