Category: Jeanne Amy
Lawmakers to Vote on Student Aid Bill
AID BRIEF
New London Day
Jeanne Amy
Boston University Washington News Service
9/15/09
WASHINGTON – What could be the largest federal investment in student aid in history is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Representatives this week.
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act outlines a plan to invest $87 billion in education, from kindergarten to college loans.
“This is a comprehensive agenda, this is a cradle-to-career agenda,” Arne Duncan, secretary of education, said at a press conference Tuesday.
A majority of the federal money will come from the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the government-subsidized loan program that supported private lenders. The legislation will divert funds from that program to the government-funded Federal Direct Loan Program.
This shift will “make college more affordable,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
“It’s very clear that people all over America, that people in all different age groups, in all different occupations, are deciding that their future in terms of employment is with education,” Miller said.
Last December, the University of Connecticut announced it would guarantee loans only from the Federal Direct Loan Program instead of providing its students with loans from federally approved private lenders.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who serves on the Education and Labor Committee, said he believes the House will pass the legislation.
The bill would provide $40 billion over the next 10 years to increase the annual amounts of Pell Grant scholarships. It will also make changes to the Perkins Loan program and expand the program to more college campuses. Interest rates on subsidized federal loans would remain low, rather than increasing as they are set to in 2012.
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Connecticut Citizens Join Protest in Washington
MARCH INSERT
New London Day
Jeanne Amy
Boston University Washington News Service
9/12/09
A few graphs to be added to Norwich protest story
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of people traveled from Connecticut to Washington to participate in the march on Saturday. Tanya Bachand (cq), the state tea party coordinator who carried the Connecticut flag in the march, said between 750 and 1,000 people came with her group .
“I’m personally here because I think the government is out of control, the spending is out of control,” Bachand said. “We’re not mobsters, not nut balls and freaks, we’re just ordinary people.”
Bachand, a 35-year-old mother from Wallingford, traveled with her 9-year-old son, Chris.
“I’m here because I think my future will be taken away by Obama,” Chris said. He said it was his first trip to Washington and he would like to see the White House, the Museum of Natural History and the Washington Monument.
Throngs of people marched down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol repeating the chant, “Can you hear us now?”
Stanley Emond (cq) and his wife drove from Cheshire to Washington to celebrate their wedding anniversary by participating in the march.
Emond, 50, said he hopes the march will help “change everybody in government and they will get back to listening to what the people want.”
Bea Keeney (cq), a 72-year-old business owner in East Lyme, said she hoped that marching in Washington will make the government listen. Keeney said she has participated in other protests in Connecticut.
Keeney traveled with two friends who were eager to express how disgruntled they were with "Obamacare," but not eager to give out their names. All three senior citizens said they believed they would be hurt by the proposed health care reform.
Local Doctor Attends Presidential Address, Wary of Change
KAPUR
New London Day
Jeanne Amy
Boston University Washington News Service
9/9/09
WASHINGTON – All eyes were on President Obama last night as he addressed a joint session of Congress on health care. Dr. Dinesh Kapur was no exception.
Kapur, director of oncology at the William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, wants to make sure his patients, especially those who are uninsured, receive care and that their access to care is not compromised.
Kapur, 45, was invited to the president’s address by Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. The invitation came after Kapur, who lives in South Glastonbury, invited Courtney to his community cancer center in August. Courtney and Kapur were scheduled to host an online forum following the address to discuss health care reform with Courtney’s constituents.
“I hope people can understand that 80 percent of cancer care is delivered in the patient’s community,” Kapur said in a telephone interview. “We don’t want that model to go backwards.”
Within his cancer center, Kapur said, uninsured patients incur “astronomical” expenses even though many of his staff members try to find ways to subsidize their care through grants and foundations.
“It’s no one’s fault, it’s just the way the system is,” Kapur said.
When undiagnosed patients check into the emergency room, a host of tests are run. Many times, patients go to more than one hospital, receiving duplicate testing, Kapur said.
“The cost burden has shifted to bigger hospitals,” he said. “Why should a patient have to drive an hour or an hour and a half to get care?”
Kapur points to insurance regulations for what he sees as a decline in the quality of cancer care. After diagnosing patients, Kapur said, he endures an “administrative nightmare” of making sure the patient is approved for treatment options. In many cases, the insurance approval process delays the patient’s care.
“You’re not sure they will get it, get care, and I’m not sure I’ll get paid for it,” Kapur said.
Kapur said he was eager to hear what the President has to say first hand. “So many things have changed over the past two or three months, you don’t know what to believe anymore,” he said.
“Cancer care delivery system has been set up over the past 40 years,” he said. “I hope we don’t take a step backwards.”
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