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			Wednesday, February 18, 2009 News Clipping Archives *Maryland / Regional* Jewish school advances plans to build in Rosewood Center (Owings Mills Times) Baltimore Co. OKs creation of Rosewood master plan (WBFF Fox 45 Online) Officials: Flu Season Has Begun Reporting (WJZ-TV Online) Stimulus May Add Nearly $4 Billion To Maryland (WJZ-TV Online) O'Malley poised to spend $350 million of stimulus on transportation projects (Baltimore Sun) Task force urges Senate panel to approve measures aimed at curbing drunken Driving (Baltimore Sun) O'Malley: Avoiding layoffs is top priority (Annapolis Capital) O'Malley targets drunken driving loopholes (Annapolis Capital) Bill would expand stem cell commission’s mission (Daily Record) The undetected world of the county's homeless (Montgomery County Gazette) Va. funds $1M grant for mental health services (Salisbury Daily Times) *National / International* For Uninsured Young Adults, Do-It-Yourself Health Care (New York Times) Contaminated Water, Flu Deaths and Flawed Insurance Reimbursement (New York Times) *Opinion* Attack of the trial lawyers (Baltimore Sun Editorial) Ex-offenders need more than bus fare (Baltimore Sun Editorial) Needs outpacing resources (Carroll County Times Editorial) *Maryland / Regional* Jewish school advances plans to build in Rosewood Center Plans show school's goal for growth By Bryna Zumer Owings Mills Times Wednesday, February 18, 2009 The Shoshana S. Cardin School is moving forward with plans for a building of its own on a piece of property in the Rosewood Center, in Owings Mills. The pluralistic Jewish high school, which has been operating out of Baltimore’s Temple Oheb Shalom since its 2003 launch, will present its building plans to the county’s Development Review Committee on Feb. 23. The submitted plan shows a two-story, 47,750-square-foot building, with 120 parking spaces and a stormwater management pond, on 22 acres of land currently owned by the state’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The school acquired rights in November 2007 from The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore to buy the property from the state. That purchase has not been completed and a date for the sale has not been set yet, said Karen Black, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Associated also owns a 55-acre plot of land just south of Cardin’s proposed site. The organization’s request to upzone the 55-acre property, which ultimately failed, drew a widespread protest from Greenspring Valley residents last year, who formed the Greater Greenspring Association to challenge The Associated’s proposed high-density and residential development at Rosewood. After The Associated’s request failed in August 2008, County Council Chairman Kevin Kamenetz, who represents most of Owings Mills, said he was interested in forming a more comprehensive plan for the Rosewood property. “I would like to see the entire Rosewood property, perhaps including Associated land, be considered as a whole,” Kamenetz said on Aug. 26. “We are going to have to figure out a plan that takes into account all the residents’ needs.” Kamenetz introduced a resolution, scheduled for vote on Feb. 17, that would form a committee to create a community plan for Rosewood. The committee will include a Cardin School representative. Growing plans The Cardin School project, which is being developed by Pikesville- and Washington-based firm Greenebaum & Rose Associates, would have an entrance at Axis Road. Cardin officials expect the school’s student body to grow substantially after the move. After starting with an initial freshman class of 32 students, the school now has 67 students, along with 30 staff members. After the move, the building plan shows Cardin expecting 150 students and 40 staff members and, in the future, 250 students with 50 staff members. Copyright 2009 Owings Mills Times. Baltimore Co. OKs creation of Rosewood master plan Associated Press WBFF Fox 45 Online Wednesday, February 18, 2009 BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore County Council authorized the creation of a master plan to guide development of a state hospital property in Owings Mills. Councilmembers said Tuesday that they want the document in place before the Rosewood Center is made available for development. In 2007, the state announced plans to close the hospital for the severely disabled. The remaining 150 patients are being relocated and it will close July 1. The state is likely to declare the nearly 225-acre property near Reisterstown Road as surplus and begin accepting proposals for its use. Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who represents the Owings Mills area, says he wants the planning effort, which would take about six months, should begin immediately and include the community. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. Officials: Flu Season Has Begun Reporting By Mike Schuh WJZ - TV Online Wednesday, February 18, 2009 BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Medical clinics and the state department of health confirm it: the flu season has begun. As Mike Schuh reports, the worst is yet to come. The flu isn't an abstract concept to Cole White. "I had a really high fever. It was like 104," he said. So White came to a clinic in Millersville. "People are pretty sick for seven to 10 days," said Deb Benoit. Maryland's department of health says flu symptoms in the past two weeks have risen from one percent of doctor visits to six percent. "Now we expect that--it's undeniable that flu is here and it's around the state," said Frances Phillips. Flu confirmation tests show an increase from one up to 11%. "And the good news is that this is a strain that's included in this year's vaccine," Phillips said. Prevention is straightforward: get a flu shot, wash your hands and, if you're sick, stay home. Cases are expected to increase in the next two weeks. There are two anti-flu drugs available, but they only work if given within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. Federal authorities say Maryland is not one of the 16 states reporting widespread flu activity. Ours is more regional; the worst cases are in south and western Maryland. Copyright 2009 WJZ.com Online. Stimulus May Add Nearly $4 Billion To Maryland By Mike Hellgren WJZ - TV Online Wednesday, February 18, 2009 BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― For Maryland, the stimulus plan means nearly $4 billion over the next three years. Mike Hellgren reports President Obama signed the stimulus package into law Tuesday. He hopes $787 billion will help heal the sick economy. "The road to recovery will not be straight," he warned. But some question whether it's enough to kick the nation's economy out of recession, and whether the president targeted spending to the right places for a fast impact. "If he doesn't fix what's broken in this economy--namely the banks, our huge dependence on foreign oil and our huge trade deficit with China--he's not going to create this many jobs on a permanent basis," said University of Maryland economist Peter Morici. The stimulus will provide nearly $4 billion to Maryland, saving government jobs. "First and foremost is to make sure we don't contribute to the economic problems by laying off 700 state workers," said Governor Martin O'Malley. The cash will also save school funding from cuts as the state budget bleeds in this recession. "Clearly this bill did not have every single thing I wanted in it, but it is truly a victory for the American people," said Congressman Elijah Cummings. Workers will get a $400 tax credit that phases out for incomes between $75,000 and $90,000. Those on Social Security and disability get a $250 tax credit. The unemployed will receive $25 more a week and more assistance with health care and food stamps. First-time homebuyers will get an $8,000 tax credit and new car buyers will be able to deduct sales tax. "This definitely will jumpstart sales for our domestic automakers that have been hit hard by this economic downturn," said Christine Delise, AAA. "The bottom line is, whenever you're dealing with these big sums of money, you never know what the long-term effect is going to be," said David Mark, Politico.com. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) O'Malley poised to spend $350 million of stimulus on transportation projects By Gadi Dechter and Laura Smitherman Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to unveil a plan today that would quickly spend more than $350 million in federal money on Maryland transportation projects, a day after President Barack Obama signed a huge stimulus bill that will send a flood of money to the states. In an announcement expected this morning, the Democratic governor will ask a state spending panel to approve the overhaul of a Laurel MARC station as a symbolic start to using the $3.8 billion windfall that is part of Maryland's estimated share of $787 billion in federal stimulus funds. Even more money will go directly to residents, who are expected to receive as much as $1 billion in tax relief, and for federal spending in the state. Over the next two years, more than $600 million in stimulus money will be available for the state's billion-dollar backlog of "system preservation" projects for roads, bridges and transit lines, said John D. Porcari, the state's transportation secretary. During a visit to an Annapolis elementary school yesterday, O'Malley said he hoped the federal commitment would be enough to stave off hundreds of layoffs that he has proposed in his latest budget. But he sounded less optimistic about being able to expand Medicaid access to low-income childless adults, as health advocates want. "We have to go through the various sources of [stimulus] funds to figure out how much flexibility we have" in using the federal money to reverse cuts, O'Malley said. "At the top of my list ... is to make sure we don't contribute to our economic problems by laying off 700 state workers." Next on his priority list is rolling back proposed trims in funding to public schools and colleges, the governor said. The federal relief comes as Maryland grapples with new revenue numbers released yesterday that predict "no turnaround ... in sight" to a months-long decline in sales tax collections and "alarmingly weak" estimated income tax payments for the fourth quarter of 2008.In a letter to the governor and legislative leaders, Comptroller Peter Franchot said "extremely poor" fourth-quarter tax figures "point to a substantial downward revision" of operating budget revenues next month. That could force O'Malley to trim millions of dollars more from his current spending plan because state law requires that he maintain a balanced budget. O'Malley's administration says it has reduced spending by more than $2 billion since he took office in 2007. In January, general fund revenue collections declined 8.2 percent compared with the first month of 2008, the comptroller's office said. After adjusting for recent changes to the tax law, a similar decline was reported for January sales tax receipts, which represent disappointing December retail results. O'Malley and Democratic leaders in Annapolis hope that the federal funds will offset revenue declines and help revive the economy, rebuilding the state's aging infrastructure in the process. But some leaders sounded a cautionary note. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said lawmakers need to address deficits projected for future years, after the federal stimulus funds stop flowing. He has proposed legislation to shift teacher pension costs to the counties as a way to help close the gap, but he predicted yesterday that his effort would fail this year because the federal money enables his colleagues to postpone the "tough vote." "The stimulus money is going to come and go, and we're still going to have this problem in terms of the out years when we're spending more than we're taking in," Miller said. State officials have spent months preparing for the influx of federal funds, which Obama has said he wants to spend mostly on short-term, "shovel-ready" projects that will quickly reap economic results. For example, Porcari said, Maryland plans to use federal money to purchase 100 hybrid diesel-electric buses previously approved by the Board of Public Works. At a scheduled meeting this morning of the board, which is made up of O'Malley, Franchot and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, O'Malley is to outline his "Phase One" transportation spending plans. Projects announced will be mostly maintenance, such as resurfacing roads, and will take place "in every region of the state ... supporting approximately 10,000 jobs," said Rick Abbruzzese, an O'Malley spokesman. Meanwhile, the anticipated federal money has set off a lobbying surge by advocates pressing for increased funding for their favored programs. Biotech companies and researchers descended on Annapolis yesterday to urge the governor to fulfill his pledge last year to double industry tax credits to $12 million. They noted that biotech executives camped out in Baltimore this past year to turn in applications for $8.5 million worth of incentives when only $6 million was available. Health care boosters are urging the governor and the legislature to use stimulus money to fund a proposed Medicaid expansion for adults without children. But yesterday, O'Malley emphasized his desire to maintain current Medicaid programs rather than expand health care access until state leaders develop a more permanent budget and spending solution. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Task force urges Senate panel to approve measures aimed at curbing drunken driving Package of bills focuses on repeat offenders and underage drinkers By Michael Dresser Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 18, 2009 O'Malley administration officials urged a Maryland Senate committee yesterday to approve a package of bills intended to curb drunken driving - including one that would impose criminal penalties on adults who give alcohol to people under 21. A panel including Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, State Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan and State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen called on the Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee to approve five administration-backed bills - described by proponents as significant but not dramatic steps to curb drunken driving. Porcari described the bills as a "comprehensive approach" that has been shown in other states to reduce drunk-driving fatalities. He pointed to a 25 percent drop in New Mexico from 2004 and 2007 after it enacted similar legislation. The bills, which focus on repeat offenders and underage drinkers, reflect the work of a task force established in 2007 to recommend measures to tighten Maryland's laws on drunken driving. The proposals are those that the 21-member panel could achieve broad consensus on. Pedersen, who chaired the task force, said the panel recommended only those bills that were supported by a "super-majority" of its members. The package omits some of the initiatives most passionately sought by advocates of tougher drunken driving laws, including increased penalties for "super-drunk" drivers who have blood-alcohol levels twice the legal limit. Neither does the package call for mandatory use of technology to keep offenders from driving drunk again - so-called "ignition interlock" systems - though the panel is considering a bill on that subject. The teen drinking bill would elevate the offense of supplying alcohol to a minor from a civil offense to a criminal matter involving fines of up to $2,500 for a first offense and $5,000 for repeated offenses. Advocates say the legislation would crack down on parents who supply alcohol at parties for groups of teenagers. The bill provides exceptions for parents or siblings who supply alcohol to members of their immediate family. The bill also provides a religious exemption that would apply, for example, to the wine passed around the table at a Passover Seder. Another issue the teen drinking bill addresses is what critics call a "loophole" that forbids a minor to possess alcohol but not to consume it. "Underage drinkers have learned to discard their containers of alcohol when law enforcement shows up," Pedersen said. Other measures in the governor's package would: •Make it more difficult for a repeat drunken driver to receive probation before judgment by requiring 10 years to have passed between the first offense and the second before a judge can grant a PBJ. Currently, an offender becomes eligible for a second PBJ after five years without a violation. •Require police to request drivers involved in fatal or life-threatening crashes to submit to a preliminary breath test regardless of whether there is probable cause to believe a driver was impaired. The test results would be used for research but would not be admissible in court. Neither could they be considered for insurance decisions. •Impose a mandatory one-year license suspension for drivers who violate any part of the drunken-driving law a second time. Currently, a driver can avoid the mandatory suspension if one conviction is for driving under the influence and another is for the lesser charge of driving while impaired by alcohol or for related charges of driving under the influence of drugs. •Increase the penalties for drivers who violate alcohol restrictions placed on their licenses by the Motor Vehicle Administration. Violators of such restrictions could face fines of up to $500 and two months in jail. The O'Malley-backed bills are scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee today. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. O'Malley: Avoiding layoffs is top priority Governor working on plans for federal stimulus money By Liam Farrell Annapolis Capital Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Gov. Martin O'Malley said his first priority in using the billions of federal dollars coming from Washington, D.C., will be to avoid laying off 700 state employees. With President Barack Obama signing the $787 billion economic stimulus bill this week, O'Malley said yesterday his goals will be to avoid layoffs, buttress funding for K-12 and higher education, and restore funding for community colleges. Initial projections of stimulus aid indicate Maryland will receive $3.8 billion over a 27-month period, with $1.1 billion for education, about $1.3 billion for Medicaid and $900 million for infrastructure projects, according to state officials. O'Malley said his administration still is working to figure out what each piece will mean for state and local governments. "We are going through the fine print and figuring out the degree of flexibility that we have on some of those dollars," he said. O'Malley was planning to present $365 million worth of infrastructure projects to the Board of Public Works today, according to aides. The list will include a $2.9 million overhaul of the Laurel MARC station and other highway safety, transit and resurfacing projects. The administration estimated the spending will create 10,000 jobs statewide, with the Laurel project accounting for 69 jobs. But the governor said his foremost goal is to make sure the state does not "contribute to the economic problems" by laying off state workers, thousands of whom live in Anne Arundel County. "For Maryland, (the stimulus) is very, very important," O'Malley said. "Without (the money) we would be in very, very dire straits." The governor's initial budget proposal anticipated $350 million of federal Medicaid help, but still had to close a $2 billion budget deficit. Some school systems, including Anne Arundel, saw a drop in operating expenditures, community colleges were limited to funding at fiscal 2008 levels, and $30 million was anticipated to be saved by laying off 700 workers. The governor said he was set to meet with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Annapolis, about his economic stimulus plans yesterday. Both presiding officers have emphasized the need to keep people employed in an economy with few employment opportunities. "The first thing is to keep people in the workplace," Busch said. "There is no place for them to go." An advocate for community colleges, the speaker said the institutions "will not see the cuts that they were expecting." Restoring the fiscal 2010 budget proposal to fiscal 2009 funding levels is "absolutely" attainable, he said. Even with stimulus funds, however, new initiatives will not be considered, said Busch, speculating that revenue projections could drop an additional $400 million in March. That pessimism was mirrored by new revenue numbers released yesterday by Comptroller Peter Franchot. General fund revenue collections for January declined 8.2 percent from last year, and fiscal year collections to date have only grown by 0.5 percent from 2008. "(T)he extremely poor performance of fourth-quarter estimated payments and the sales tax point to a substantial downward revision of general fund revenues next month," Franchot wrote in a letter. Copyright 2009 Annapolis Capital. O'Malley targets drunken driving loopholes Proposals aimed at repeat and underage offenders By Liam Farrell Annapolis Capital Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Following the recommendations of a task force on drunken driving, Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration has proposed legislation to strengthen the penalties for repeat offenders and young drivers. The Task Force to Combat Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol was convened in 2007 to study the issue and make recommendations to improve the safety of the state's roads. More than one-third of fatal traffic crashes in Maryland every year involve an alcohol-impaired driver, and more than 24,000 people are arrested annually for alcohol-related driving offenses, according to state figures. "There is no higher priority for transportation in Maryland than the safety of our traveling public," John Porcari, the secretary of the state Department of Transportation, told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee yesterday in Annapolis. The governor's five bills would: Ban probation before judgment for an offender who had violated impaired-driving laws during the past 10 years, doubling the current five-year limit. Require a one-year driver's license suspension for a person convicted more than once during a five-year period for driving under the influence or while impaired by alcohol, drugs, controlled dangerous substances, or a combination. Under current law, the suspension applies only to repeat convictions for driving while under the influence. Prohibit someone with an alcohol restriction on his or her license from driving with a .02 or higher blood-alcohol level. A violation would result in a fine of up to $500 and a maximum imprisonment of two months. Make it a violation for someone under 21 years old to not only possess alcohol, but to consume or exhibit the effects of consuming it, as well; assess a six-month license suspension for someone under 21 who was found to have possessed or consumed alcohol; and establish a criminal offense, with a $2,500 first-time fine and a $5,000 fine for subsequent offenses, for an adult to obtain or provide alcohol to someone younger than 21. While the legislation would prohibit a person from providing alcohol to someone under 21 years of age, it allows an exemption for religious ceremonies held at home with adult family members present, as in the current law. Require law-enforcement personnel to ask all drivers involved in a crash resulting in a fatality or life-threatening injury to voluntarily submit to an alcohol breath test. The results would be for research only and the officer must not have probable cause to believe the driver was impaired or under the influence of alcohol. Several lawmakers already have raised questions about the proposed voluntary breath test changes. Some legislators said they wondered if there could be problems, such as when an officer decides there is no probable cause, but the test results one day come back to haunt a driver. "I'm trying to figure out the line," said Sen. Jim Brochin, D-Baltimore County. "It seems like this is very fuzzy and gray." Col. Terrence Sheridan, the superintendent of the state police, said teen drivers are overrepresented in alcohol problems. In 2007, drivers under 21 years old held 5.7 percent of drivers' licenses in the state, but accounted for 9.1 percent of impaired-driving arrests and 13.4 percent of alcohol-related crashes. The bills would close a loophole that prohibits only the possession of alcohol by someone under age 21 by making alcohol consumption by someone underage illegal as well. "It is the consumption that is creating our dangers and hazards," Sheridan said. The weight of the governor's support greatly increases the chances for passage of any bill. The vast majority who testified before the committee urged the legislators to work through problems and pass a slate of bills to decrease drunken driving. "I don't know how you can say 'no' to it," said Lon Anderson of AAA Mid-Atlantic. Copyright 2009 Annapolis Capital. Bill would expand stem cell commission’s mission By Danielle Ulman Daily Record Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission members hashed out plans for the group’s future Tuesday, as they discussed a new bill that would reorganize the commission to include biotechnology and change the purpose of the fund. The bill would alter the fund from focusing solely on stem cell research to become the Maryland Stem Cell and Biotechnologies Research Fund, which would mean the money it receives from the state to provide grants would also go toward “research supporting a qualified technology,” substantially changing the dynamic of the commission and the fund. Members of the commission said adding another group to share in the research funding would mean that the cost of vetting applications would exceed the money granted to institutions and businesses. Attempts to reach Del. Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, a sponsor of the bill, were unsuccessful, however members of the commission said they spoke with him, and found that the legislation had come up because Feldman was concerned that “the landscape has changed” since the commission was formed. “He says it’s time to periodically kick the tires,” said Renee Winsky, president and executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corp. — the quasi-public agency known as TEDCO, which administers the fund. Two provisions of the bill — requiring that one-third of the fund is awarded each year to for-profit Maryland firms, and that nonprofits that work with industry firms get priority in the selection process — invited heavy debate from the commission members about whether it should create its own requirements that academic and industry groups must collaborate in order for them to receive grants. Dan Gincel, director of the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, said requiring collaboration with an industry group for future grant applicants would mean that more money would get into the private sector and more jobs would be created. But other members said requiring collaboration would be too restrictive. “That’s just not realistic,” said Diane Griffin, a commission member. “I’ve been in the situation where it’s mandated that you have an industry partner, and industry for the most part is not interested in partnering,” she said. Karen Rothenberg, chair of the commission, said both collaboration and bringing for-profit groups into the fold are important aspects for the commission to study, but that the group needs to be practical about getting that done. “There’s a reality about where along the development of stem cell are you really going to be able to make that collaboration work,” she said. “We’re not there yet.” The commission, established in 2006, has funded 82 research projects related to adult stem cells in Maryland through grants worth $36 million. In its third year, the fund will dole out $18 million to applicants in May. Gov. Martin O’Malley increased funding slightly for the group in his budget in January to $18.4 million for fiscal 2010, but the commission will not meet with the legislature until the end of February to see if any cuts have been made. TEDCO’s Winsky said every year the House and Senate disagree on cuts made to the fund, and the final budget will likely be determined after both groups confer on the topic. Copyright 2009 Daily Record. The undetected world of the county's homeless Man found dead two weeks ago was one of dozens living in the woods By Nathan Carrick Montgomery County Gazette Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Walk down a muddy footpath in the woods near Veirs Mill Road and Twinbrook Parkway, past a car decaying in the underbrush, past empty beer cans and malt liquor bottles tossed aside along the trail, and you'll come to the place where Valentin Del Cid's body was found two weeks ago. The 40-year-old homeless man was on his back, dead of exposure, in the frozen mud of what residents of this crude campsite call "kitchen one." His death has rattled the 40-or-so men and women — mostly men — who sleep, eat, play soccer, play cards and drink here. The community of destitute inhabitants just yards from busy Veirs Mill Road has gone largely unnoticed by the public for 15 years and has grown to include American citizens as well as legal and illegal immigrants ranging in age from 22 to 78, Montgomery County Police Officer Boris Pallominy said. About 30 are of Hispanic descent and the rest are American born, he said. "Rockville is the richest city in Montgomery County and Montgomery County is one of the richest counties in the country," said Pallominy, the Hispanic/Latino liaison officer for the 1st District station. "We have homeless living one mile outside the city. That's unacceptable." Pallominy, in partnership with Carlos Fernandez and the group of volunteers he calls the Human Restoration Project, tries to help the men and women there find jobs and places to stay. The woods belong to the county and the people living there are doing so illegally, Pallominy said. "A lot of people are in the woods because they have some legal things, like minor traffic violations," Pallominy said. Because many of them have no way of knowing they've been summoned to court, bench warrants are issued for them, he said. "They think, ‘My God, I'm a wanted person,' and they hide in the woods." They wander along worn footpaths through the woods between two gathering places: "kitchen one" and "kitchen two." In between are a makeshift soccer field — a mud patch with twigs stuck in the ground as goal posts — and the spot they call "little field" – a clearing where they rest on upturned milk crates and logs. Trash and empty alcohol containers are omnipresent, shadowing the footpath up steep hills and along precarious 20-foot precipices. The county offers several programs, services and shelters for homeless people, said Mary Anderson, spokeswoman for the county Department of Health and Human Services. But county officials cannot force them to use what is available. However, the county partners with Volunteers of America, a nonprofit organization that attempts to find homeless men and women and get them off the streets. "We make beds available to anyone who wants to come in out of the cold," she said. One way Pallominy helps the homeless here is by walking those with legal issues through the judicial process so the men and women no longer live in fear of the system. Other homeless end up in the woods purely by their own doing. Del Cid had been living in the woods until the Human Restoration Project helped him find a job as a carpenter last year. He moved in with Fernandez and his life seemed to be on track. "We started in January [2008] and by March [Del Cid] had a job and was out of the woods," Fernandez said. But after a few months, work dried up and Del Cid was back in the woods, living away from his estranged wife and two daughters. It's a familiar story for those living at the camp. "They start drinking and playing cards," Fernandez said. "They go in for friendships and then they start liking the drinking. They get tired and say, ‘The weather's not too bad, I'll just sleep here tonight.' Then they get up and start drinking again the next morning." Following Del Cid's death, a man who had lived in the woods but moved out after getting a job returned to mourn the death of his friend. As of Friday, he was still in the woods and had not been to work in over a week, Fernandez said. Pallominy said helping the homeless find work is a better way of getting them off county property than shooing them out by force. Several American-born homeless people living in the woods behind a storage facility on Randolph Road get kicked out by county workers and police every two months or so, Pallominy said. The next day, they are all back in the same spot, as if nothing happened. There are success stories. Melquin Garcia, a former pastor, lived in the woods until one night he drank so much he fell into a coma for 14 days. When he emerged, he gave up alcohol and has been sober for five months, he said in a thick Spanish accent. On a given day, more than 1,500 people are homeless in Montgomery County. Over the course of a year, more than 4,500 people experience homelessness in the county, according to the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless. Fernandez, a man of faith, knows there will always be homeless people, so he believes that there will always be work to be done to help them. "Always you have to keep working," he said. Copyright 2009 The Gazette. Va. funds $1M grant for mental health services Associated Press Salisbury Daily Times Wednesday, February 18, 2009 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The state is using proceeds from settlements with two pharmacy benefits management companies to fund a grant to help treat people with mental illnesses. Attorney General Bob McDonnell is announcing the $1 million grant Wednesday to the Virginia Health Care Foundation and other health organizations. The funding will establish or expand the availability of prescription medications, basic mental health services and primary medical care. The foundation also will use the money to raise an additional $1 million for the effort. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. *National / International* For Uninsured Young Adults, Do-It-Yourself Health Care By Cara Buckley New York Times Wednesday, February 18, 2009 They borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow. “My first reaction was to start laughing — I just kept saying, ‘No way, no way,’ ” Alanna Boyd, a 28-year-old receptionist, recalled of the $17,398 — including $13 for the use of a television — that she was charged after spending 46 hours in October at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan with diverticulitis, a digestive illness. “I could have gone to a major university for a year. Instead, I went to the hospital for two days.” In the parlance of the health care industry, Ms. Boyd, whose case remains unresolved, is among the “young invincibles” — people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because expensive policies are out of reach. Young adults are the nation’s largest group of uninsured — there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007, or 29 percent, according to the latest figures from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York. Gov. David A. Paterson of New York has proposed allowing parents to claim these young adults as dependents for insurance purposes up to age 29, as more than two dozen other states have done in the past decade. Community Catalyst, a Boston-based health care consumer advocacy group, released a report this month urging states to ease eligibility requirements to allow adult children access to their parents’ coverage. “There’s a big sense of urgency,” said Susan Sherry, the deputy director of Community Catalyst. She described uninsured young adults as especially vulnerable. “People are losing their jobs, and a lot of jobs don’t carry health insurance. They’re new to the work force, they’ve been covered under their parents or school plans, and then they drop off the cliff.” If Governor Paterson’s proposal is approved, an estimated 80,000 of the 775,000 uninsured young adults across New York State would be covered under their parents’ insurance plans. That would leave hundreds of thousands to continue relying on a scattershot network of improvised and often haphazard health care remedies. In dozens of interviews around the city, these so-called young invincibles described the challenge of living in a high-priced city on low-paying jobs, where staying healthy is one part scavenger hunt and one part balancing act, with high stakes and no safety net. “For a lot of people, it’s a choice between being able to survive in New York and getting health insurance,” said Hogan Gorman, an actress who was hit by a car five years ago and chronicled her misadventures in “Hot Cripple,” a one-woman show that was a hit at last summer’s Fringe Festival. “There was no way that I could pay my rent, buy insurance and eat.” Nicole Polec, a 28-year-old freelance photographer living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has a client who procures Ritalin on her behalf from a sympathetic doctor who has seen Ms. Polec’s diagnosis. Ms. Polec’s roommate, Fara D’Aguiar, 26, treated her last flu with castoff amoxicillin — “probably expired,” she said — given to her by a friend. When Robert Voris last had health insurance, in 2007, he stockpiled insulin pumps, which are inserted under the skin to constantly monitor blood-sugar levels and administer the drug accordingly. He said the tubing for the pump costs $900 a month, so lately he has instead been injecting insulin with a syringe. But Mr. Voris, 27, a journalism student at the City University of New York who works at a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is constantly worried about diabetes-induced seizures like the one that sent him to the hospital last summer. (Because it happened at work, his boss covered the ambulance and other bills.) “That’s definitely the concern: what happens if I have to pay for this?” he said. “And the answer, I guess, is credit cards. Hopefully it won’t happen until I find a job that actually gives me insurance, which probably won’t happen anytime in the near future, given the way the economy works.” Most family insurance policies cut off dependents when they turn 19 or finish college, and many young adults start out in New York cobbling together part-time or freelance work with no benefits. To qualify for Medicaid, a single adult can earn no more than $706 a month — less than what a full-time minimum-wage earner makes. Yet the average insurance premium for a single adult is $900 a month, according to a spokesman for the State Insurance Department. “At this point, I can’t really justify it monetarily,” said Ian McElroy, a musician who moved to Bushwick, Brooklyn, from Omaha, last year. “It’s not like I think I’m invincible, I’m 29, the world can’t touch me. It’s the very opposite of that. I’ve got to make rent and eat.” With insurance out of reach, Mr. McElroy has taken to playing doctor, using online resources like WebMD, which offers medical news, descriptions of various diseases and drugs, and discussion groups. As he spoke, Mr. McElroy was icing his feet, which, one day in January, had become cripplingly painful; he was unable to walk. “I think I have plantar fasciitis,” he said. “I’ve been laid out for two weeks.” (Even if the Paterson proposal passes, Mr. McElroy, like Mr. Voris and Ms. Polec and her roommate, would not qualify because their parents live out of state.) Internet diagnoses, self-medicating and trading prescriptions, of course, come with potentially dangerous side effects. Dr. Barbie Gatton, who has worked in emergency rooms throughout the city since 2002, said she often sees young people who have taken the wrong antibiotics borrowed from friends. “We see people with urinary tract infections taking meds better suited for ear infections or pneumonia — the problem is, they haven’t really treated their illness, and they’re breeding resistance,” she explained. “Or they take pain medicine that masks the symptoms. And this allows the underlying problem to get worse and worse.” There are clinics throughout the city that provide the young and uninsured free or cheap snippets of medical help, like the Community Healthcare Network mobile unit, which was parked in the East Village one snowy night. Lindsay Bellinger, 26, who does administrative work through a temp agency and lives in Astoria, Queens, said she relied on the mobile unit for pap smears and tests for sexually transmitted diseases. “This takes care of gynecological work,” Ms. Bellinger said. “And I get a visit to the dentist from my parents as a Christmas gift.” Levon Aaron, who has asthma and works as a bouncer at a West Village bar, has not had insurance since he was 19. Mr. Aaron, now 23, said that his asthma attacks had been less frequent since he began playing handball and working out, but they had not gone away. He tries to use his inhalers sparingly, but four times in the past year he has found himself out of medicine during a severe attack and landed in the emergency room. In the hospital, he gets a prescription for a new inhaler, which costs about $30 to fill. But his outstanding bills total about $3,000, he said, an amount he cannot fathom paying. Mr. Aaron was one of several young adults who said living without insurance meant trying to take better care of themselves. “I’ve stopped eating fast food,” said Santiago Betancour, who is 19 and lives in Rosedale, Queens. “I’m eating rice, vegetables and fruits. And when I get sick, I exercise to sweat it off.” Of course, there are those who do feel invincible, like Eric Williams, who is 24, unemployed and currently in the middle of a six-week snowboarding adventure in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, British Columbia and California. Mr. Williams said by cellphone near Bozeman, Mont., that he looked into buying health insurance before he left, but abandoned the idea after being unable to find anything for less than $400 a month. Instead, he is just trying to be careful, though not always with success. “I’ve hit a couple of trees,” Mr. Williams said. “But I’m trying not to.” Copyright 2009 New York Times. Contaminated Water, Flu Deaths and Flawed Insurance Reimbursement By Roni Caryn Rabin New York Times Morning Rounds Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Flu Infections Kill Two Children A 12-year-old boy in Boston died of flu over the weekend, The Boston Globe reports, and a 10-year-old Long Island boy who died over the weekend may also have been a victim of flu. The boys death in Levittown, Long Island, is the first childhood flu fatality in the five years since public health agencies have been reporting pediatric flu deaths, Newsday says. Study: MRSA Infections Acquired in Illinois Communities, Not Hospitals Drug-resistant staph infections are more common among patients in Illinois hospitals than had been believed, but the vast majority of the patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, were already infected before they were admitted to the hospital, The Chicago Tribune says. Data from the Illinois Hospital Association indicate that the drug-resistant bacteria are now widespread in communities. Suit Claims D.C. Water Authority Hid Lead Contamination A Capitol Hill father is suing the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority for $200 million, charging lead-contaminated tap water made his twin sons ill when they were infants and caused serious long-term health problems, The Associated Press reports. The water utility hid elevated levels of lead from customers and federal authorities between 2001 and 2004, plaintiff John Parkhurst claims. Insurer Settles With N.Y. Over Faulty Reimbursement Standards Cigna has reached an agreement with New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo to pay $10 million to settle charges the insurer underpaid doctors by basing payments on flawed data from UnitedHealth's Ingenix database, The Wall Street Journal says. Mr. Cuomo has also notified Excellus BlueCross BlueShield of his intent to sue over its manipulation of reimbursement rates for out-of-network services. Last month UnitedHealth agreed to pay $50 million to create an independent database to replace Ingenix. Group Claims F.D.A. Neglected Testing Standards for Medical Devices A watchdog group charges the Food and Drug Administration put patients' lives at risk when it stopped enforcing 30-year-old requirements that medical device makers meet federal lab standards before testing their products on humans, McClatchy Newspapers reports. The report by the non-profit Project on Government Oversight will be released later today. The rules cover studies on defibrillators, pacemakers, heart valves and coronary stents. Copyright 2009 New York Times. *Opinion* Attack of the trial lawyers Our view: Latest efforts to roll back Maryland's malpractice reforms are misguided Baltimore Sun Editorial Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Just because medical malpractice insurance rates have stabilized - and even gone down a bit for many doctors - doesn't mean it's time for Maryland to roll back hard-fought caps on noneconomic damages. But that's exactly what a group of lawmakers is attempting to do. After all, it was just five years ago that rising malpractice costs were thought to be a crisis for the state, forcing doctors out of business and limiting access to quality medical care, especially in rural areas. Late in 2004, the General Assembly approved a package of reforms that included limiting how much plaintiffs and their lawyers could receive for what is often referred to as pain and suffering. The legislation pending before House and Senate committees would allow two or more claimants to split up to 150 percent of the amount allowed for medical injury or wrongful death. It would also raise the noneconomic damage cap. Under current law, the award can expand to 125 percent but only if there are multiple claims and the victim died. This year's effort to roll back the 2004 reforms may have picked up momentum because of the recent drop in malpractice insurance rates. The House version of the bill lists 10 of the Judiciary Committee's 22 members as co-sponsors, a sign that the proposal's chances of making it to the House floor are good. House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an advocate of malpractice reform, should do some lobbying of his own on this proposal. Health care organizations oppose the rollback, as do the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and other business groups that fear it will raise liability insurance costs. That's a legitimate concern as many of Maryland's doctors are still struggling with high insurance rates. A majority of states impose some limits on malpractice awards, and capping noneconomic damages is better than the alternative of restricting how much plaintiffs receive for lost wages or medical costs. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Ex-offenders need more than bus fare Our view: Helping addicted ex-offenders stay clean is a matter of public safety Baltimore Sun Editorial Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Try as they might, Maryland prison officials can't keep inmates from their addictions. That's keenly apparent from the drugs and paraphernalia found among the home-made weapons, cell phones and other contraband recovered in prison shakedowns. Corrections officials estimate that 80 percent of the state's 23,000 inmates have a drug problem. But the state can treat only about 3,300 inmates. That imbalance can't be overcome soon. At the same time, untreated addictions keep prisoners at high risk of reoffending upon release. As it is, nearly 50 percent of Maryland offenders commit another crime and return to prison within three years. Addicts won't get very far on the outside without consistent follow-up services that can't be provided by parole and probation agents. The Ehrlich administration, which sought to better prepare inmates returning to the community, couldn't persuade state lawmakers to provide or expand intensive pre-release case management. But rather than pursue that fight in Annapolis, the state is partnering with several nonprofit organizations and area foundations to help provide 250 inmates with post-treatment counseling and services upon their return to Baltimore neighborhoods. The foundations are providing the initial $2 million in funding, but the two-year project should generate enough in prison bed savings to allow the state to eventually fund the program itself. That's a smart way to leverage private dollars for the good of the community. Skeptics may question the timing of the program, what with the recession and limited job prospects. But those realities increase the need for this effort. The economy won't keep inmates with a history of addiction from returning to their communities once they finish their sentences, but they may have a stronger hand to guide them. Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun. Needs outpacing resources Carroll County Times Editorial Wednesday, February 18, 2009 When needs arise, we count on charitable organizations to be there to help out. But when needs outpace available resources, those organizations turn to residents to help fill the gap. We are lucky that we live in an area where there is seemingly no limit to how much people will give, or how far they will go to help others. But today we are living in difficult times. Jobs are being lost. Unemployment is higher than it has been in years. People are struggling with higher bills, and many are experiencing feelings of uncertainty as the economy continues a downward slide. The United Way of Central Maryland is just one organization that is trying to help, while calls for assistance have nearly doubled. To address that, the organization is trying to raise $1 million for its emergency response fund. Already it has raised about a quarter of that, but the money is going out as fast as it is coming in. Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc. received $25,000 on Feb. 3. The agency says that the money can help about 100 people in the county. Other organizations also are struggling as donations dwindle and needs increase. The United Way of Central Maryland helps residents in Carroll, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, as well as Baltimore City. Across that area, there are many families that have been impacted by the down economy; and many of those are reaching out for help. The $1 million campaign to raise money for the emergency response fund aims to provide additional help to people and agencies across the region during this difficult time. Churches, civic organizations and clubs that routinely raise money to help the needy may want to look toward the United Way as a way that they can help out. Residents who are financially able may also want to consider adding what they can. Every little bit helps. That is especially true now, when every day it seems there are more people in need of assistance. It’s good that we have agencies such as the United Way and local charitable organizations to provide assistance to those in need. But when you get right down to it, it is the willingness, and ability, of others to share and help out that makes their efforts a success. In the past we’ve always risen to the challenge when needs began outpacing resources. There’s no reason to think that this time will be any different. To contribute: Send donations to: United Way Emergency Response Fund, attention Pamela Jackson, 100 S. Charles St., 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201. Or make a donation online at www.uwcm.org/emergencyfund Copyright 2009 Carroll County Times. BACK TO TOP


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