Monday, July 07, 2003

UNCW Community Link Features Lively Discussion about the Medicaid Crisis and the Impact of a Convention Center in Wilmington

Wilmington, NC – Programming for the week of July 14, UNCW Community Link, an interactive, public affairs television show, will discuss the current Medicaid crisis and the impact Wilmington’s new Convention Center will have on the area.

Betty Ann Sanders speaks with Mary Rudyk, M.D. and Dr. Eleanor Krassen Covan, Director of Gerontology and Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare for Women International about Medicaid, the government assistance program established in 1965 that pays for a wide range of medical services for those with low income and resources, and the problems surrounding it. Currently there is little agreement on Capitol Hill about how to alleviate the current funding problems with state Medicaid programs and this is partly due because there is little agreement on what the problems are exactly. “We aren’t going to solve the problems by tinkering with Medicaid or Medicare. The average citizen doesn’t understand how they work anyway. The answer is in scrapping those programs and starting fresh with a new program that does work,” said Covan. Currently, more than a million people in North Carolina are uninsured and without Medicaid.

Rudyk says that a key concern is the cost of prescriptions and inability to access healthcare, especially among the elderly. “The frail elderly have different needs and can’t access home care, or can’t afford it. Many don’t need much health care, but do need someone to cook their meals or clean for them. Medicaid doesn’t help them.”

H.E. “Hunter” Thompson, Jr. also speaks with Wilmington Mayor Harper Peterson, Dale Smith from the Convention Center Taskforce and New Hanover County Commissioner Bill Caster in a segment investigating the impact the proposed convention center will have on New Hanover County. Mayor Peterson assures Thompson that the committee formed to develop plans for the convention center consists of members of the community from all walks of life. “This is a 21st century piece that everyone can enjoy,” Peterson said. “When I initiated the new tax (on hotels and restaurants) it was with the promise that there would eventually be an incoming revenue stream.”

Smith divulges to Thompson that $5 million in payroll and 3.6 percent of taxes are available to build the facility. “Once it is built, property value will increase and the domino effect will positively influence the community and tourism.” Caster says that “beach communities are in favor of it, they see it as a good thing for the region. Obviously, if it is good for the region, it is good for them.”

This week’s Guest Editorial segment highlights Elliot Potter, associate publisher of The Daily News in Jacksonville, North Carolina. “It is interesting times in Jacksonville these days. The county isn’t zoned, and now county wide zoning is planned. Economic development has always been scattered and now is much more focused. Downtown redevelopment is in heated debate and a convention center has been proposed.” Concerning the return of troops into Jacksonville from the war in Iraq over the last several weeks, he says “editorially, the Daily News supported the troops being sent over. It’s still too early to determine if the actions taken before and during the war were appropriate.”

UNCW Community Link reaches beyond the television studio to allow citizens to sound off on compelling issues facing Southeastern North Carolina. Hosts Sanders and Thompson engage and challenge the region’s newsmakers and opinion-shapers and then ask viewers to voice their opinions. Through collaboration with the Southeast Public Interest Network of North Carolina (www.SpinNC.org), citizens can use the latest Internet technologies to continue the dialog on show topics and community ideas.

For more information on this show’s topics please visit:

University of North Carolina Gerontology Program

http://www.uncw.edu/gero

NC Health Info

http://www.nchealthinfo.org

Wilmington City Council Convention Center Plan

http://www.ci.wilmington.nc.us/convention.htm

Jacksonville Daily News

http://www.jdnews.com

Tune into UNCW Community Link

Wilmington & Brunswick County 7:30 p.m. Mondays

4:30 p.m. Wednesdays

1:30 p.m. Thursdays

7:00 p.m. Fridays The Learning Network on Time Warner Ch 5 and Charter Communications Ch 12

Pender County 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Government Channel 8

Carteret County/Havelock 8 p.m. Thursdays

Time Warner Channel 10

Jacksonville 7 p.m. Thursdays

Time Warner Channel 10