Health and Public Safety

June 29, 2005 - In what could become a landmark case, the state of Tennessee is going to federal court today seeking approval to cut back on coverage offered by the state-paid TennCare health program.

June 9, 2005 - President Bush recently condemned South Korean researchers who developed a process for cloning human embryos: "I'm very concerned about cloning. I worry about a world in which cloning becomes accepted."

June 9, 2005 - The SEC lawsuit against HealthSouth for accounting fraud has been settled, the company agreeing to pay the government $100 million, less than a sixth of its annual cash flow.

May 24, 2005 - So it seems that the answer to the epidemic of binge-drinking among teenagers and college kids is, literally, all around us, at least if you live in the South.

April 15, 2005 - Katrina vanden Heuvel at The Nation has a post up today about the recent victory in the Maryland General Assembly, which passed legislation requiring companies with 10,000 or more employees to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health benefits for workers.

April 8, 2005 - Yesterday, Wal-Mart warned the state of Maryland (an honorary Southern state in our book) that "approval of a bill that would require it to boost health care spending in Maryland could endanger its plans for growth in the state," reports the Washington Post.

April 7, 2005 - The St. Petersburg Times reports on how the Hillsborough County (Florida) commission has voted to ban three-time felons from an indigent health care program run by the county. The health plan has fallen into financial crisis, and the change was presented as a way to cut costs.