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Pandemic Flu: Individuals and Family Planning http://www.sdpandemicfacts.org/individuals.htm
Southwestern College Library Announcements, Events, and News!
Are permanent changes in spending needed?
State budgets always fall out of balance during recessions, but in the current downturn states are facing the worst budget crunch since the Great Depression. Over the past two years, states have had to close budget gaps exceeding $300 billion. Many have raised taxes, but they’ve mainly dealt with the challenge by cutting spending. State workers are facing layoffs and unpaid furloughs. Social services, including health insurance for children, are being cut dramatically.
Even areas such as K-12 education and public safety are taking hits. The federal stimulus package included fiscal relief for states, but that money will soon run out. And states expect to face continuing problems. Their revenues will grow more slowly than they’ve come to expect over the past 30 years, leading some observers to wonder whether states have to make fundamental changes in the scope and scale of the services they provide.
Is universal coverage too expensive?
For the first time in 15 years, health-care reform has moved to the top of Washington’s agenda. A new Democratic president and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have declared two major goals: increase coverage to near-universal levels and stop the huge, annual cost increases that are gradually putting health care out of reach for small businesses and low-income families.
Most proposals would subsidize insurance for low-income Americans and create new, government-regulated insurance markets for those without employer-provided coverage. One controversial scheme would create a publicly run insurance plan and require individuals to buy coverage. Congressional Republicans and some Democrats argue, however, that the plan would be too expensive and would allow government to meddle too much in health care. And at angry town hall meetings in August, some even charged, incorrectly, that the arrangement would establish “death panels” that would deny treatment to elderly and disabled patients.
Getting Started
The Southwestern College Library now offers syndicated news feeds of some of its web content in the RSS format. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, allows anyone with Internet access to keep up to date automatically with what is happening at the Southwestern College Library.
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