CNN Survey on President Obama's Health Care Reform

Recently released this morning was an opinion survey on President Obama's Health Care Reform from CNN. The survey questioned over a thousand individuals, mostly non-hispanic whites, about whether they approved of or opposed the current reform. Research found that half of those surveyed were in favor of the reform, while 45% were opposed. Only 5% stated that they had no opinion.

When questioned further, of those that favored the reform, only 23% said that they felt strongly about it. In contrast, of those that opposed the reform, 33%, a 10% increase, stated that they felt strongly about their opinion.

You can learn more about this poll and statistics compared to President Clinton's reform here.

North Carolina Nurses Educate Legistlators About Effects of Medicaid Cuts

The state senate has recently approved a $55 million dollar budget cut to the Medicaid Personal Care Services (PCS) program. More than 36,000 elderly and children with mental/physical disabilities in North Carolina rely on these services as a part of their daily lives.

The North Carolina Association for Home and Hospice Care (AHHC) and its 900 agency membership have made efforts to educate the state legislators and communities about the devastating effects. The team points out a significant economic loss if the state forces many of these elderly patients into nursing homes, where care costs can nearly quadruple.

Newly Named Healthcare Faculty Regulation

The Healthcare Faculty Regulation (HFR), lead by division chief Doug Colburn, will be the new name for the former Georgia Dept. of Community Health as of the first of July. This will be a division of the Georgia Office of Regulatory Services.

The move was in response to Senate Bill 433, which has forced the Dept. of Human Resources to transfer responsibility for licensure and regulation of hospitals and other health related institutions.

HFR will enforce licensing and regulate nursing homes, home health agencies, private duty home care, personal care institutions, and personal care home employee record checks.