January 22, 1997 - MPR's Lorna Benson reports that founders of a new Center for Cross-Cultural Health are hoping to minimize medical anxieties by better preparing Minnesota health care workers trying to deal with a cultural curveball.
January 29, 1997 - The ANTI-smoking lobby at the state capitol believes THIS is the year to get the support needed to pass a bill designed to help keep cigarettes out of the hands of children. The bill gets a hearing tomorrow (today-thurs) in the House Commerce Committee. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports from the capitol: The bill establishes a system of licensing and compliance checks for retailers who sell tobacco and it provides for PENALITIES for stoes which sell tobacco to minors. The bill ALSO prohibits self-service tobacco displays in places accessible to minors. Under the legislation cities would not be preempted from passing local ordinances that are even MORE restrictive than state law.
January 31, 1997 - Currently about 20-percent of the state's nearly 8,000 physicians are women. But those numbers are expected to more than double in the next few years. That's because women are now attending the U of M Medical School at almost the same rate as men. .And before long, this gender parity in the classroom will begin showing up in the doctor's office. As Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports, some female patients can hardly wait.
February 3, 1997 - Midday looks at the health care system, how it works, and how it can be improved. Studio guests are Michael Scandrett, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans; and Stuart Hanson, a representative of the Minnesota Medical Association. Scandrett and Hanson also answer call-in questions from listeners.
February 3, 1997 - The 1997 legislative session will be relatively low-key when it comes to health care. There are no major health reforms in the works...at least not anything on a scale comparable to the 1992 MinnesotaCare legislation. But, there is at least one health care issue brewing this session that could significantly change the way MinnesotaCare is financed. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports: MinnesotaCare is the state's subsized health care insurance plan for the uninsured. It's funded primarily through a 2-percent tax on providers including medical doctors, chiropractors and dentists.
February 4, 1997 - As some state lawmakers continue the task of drafting language for a state welfare reform bill....OTHERS are hearing from people bracing for the resulting effects. TODAY (THIS week) at the state capitol, parents of disabled children said they need to retain the help they now get from federal supplemental security income...or S-S-I. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports: The new federal welfare reform law changes the definition of disability...making it more difficult for certain children to qualify as disabled. The state estimates that up to 32-hundred low-income children in Minnesota with disabilities could lose S-S-I benefits come July first. More EXACT numbers will be known once the federal governm
February 4, 1997 - This session, Congress is expected to tackle the thorny issue of reforming Medicare. Many seniors are worried the reform effort will ultimately translate into fewer benefits. But in Minnesota, seniors are actually hopeful they might come out ahead. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
February 10, 1997 - Midday looks at drunk driving and the proposal to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit for driving to .08 with Steve Simon, University of Minnesota law professor and director of the MN Criminal Justice System DWI Task Force; and Lynn Goughler, public liaison and legislative chair of the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
February 11, 1997 - As of last month, the U.S. government no longer views drug addiction or alcoholism as disabilities for purposes of government assistance. Congress passed a law last year that cut off disability benefits for more than 200,000 chemically dependent people. The payments came under attack after reports that some recipients used government checks to buy drugs and alcohol. But some social service workers say ending the disability payments will make many former recipients homeless. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.
February 13, 1997 - As many as one-hundred Native Americans and their Tribal leaders from across the state met with state lawmakers (today) at the Capitol. Although it's not unusual for native-specific issues to make their way into state policy...Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports...the day was, nevertheless, a PRECEDENT-SETTING one: Each day there's a house or senate floor session...an invocation by a sworn state chaplain is offered. NEVER before has that chaplain been a native american spiritural leader. That is, until NOW. 58-year old Thomas Stillday Junior has become the Senate's first American Indian Chaplain...he's a spiritual elder from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. After delivering a traditional Indian prayer during a peace pipe ceremony o