Louisiana is projected to have 4,820 fewer doctors than it needs by 2035, according to the Cicero Institute. The nonpartisan policy organization also notes the supply chain of new doctors in the state is inadequate, as half of primary care medical residents are expected to end up practicing outside of Louisiana. Nurse practitioners are helping to fill this void, which is especially beneficial for low-income patients. But as The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alena Maschke explains, Medicaid patients still face barriers to accessing the health care they need:
“The Medicaid patients have trouble finding primary care providers, and then once they do get established with me, it’s difficult to send them to referrals to specialists,” [Ashley] Begnaud said. While Louisiana’s Medicaid reimbursement rates are on par with the national average, physicians generally lose money the more Medicaid patients they treat compared to those with private insurance, which offer higher reimbursement rates. As a result, Begnaud said, overall people who use Medicaid “get limited care, which is not fair to them, because they need health care like anyone else.”
Child care is key election issue
The cost of child care – more than double the rate of overall inflation – remains stubbornly high, even as prices have cooled in the broader economy. This dynamic has made child care an important factor in how people will vote in the upcoming presidential election. The Washington Post’s Abha Bhattarai, reporting from the swing state of Nevada, explains where both campaigns stand on this crucial issue:
Vice President Kamala Harris has made the “care economy” a cornerstone of her platform, vowing to permanently increase the child tax credit, add a one-time $6,000 credit for newborns and cap child-care costs at 7 percent of a working family’s income. Former president Donald Trump has also said he would consider expanding the child tax credit, though he has not offered further details. Meanwhile, his running mate, JD Vance, has argued that children would benefit from a stay-at-home parent, suggesting families should rely more on “grandma and grandpa” to save on child care.
Fixing the Social Security “windfall” provision
Approximately 90,000 former public-sector workers in Louisiana would be eligible to collect more Social Security benefits under legislation that is getting a long-sought vote in the House of Representatives. The Social Security Fairness Act, which is expected to receive a vote in November, would eliminate federal provisions that reduce benefits for teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees who later moved to the private sector. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Mark Ballard reports:
Some police forces, for instance, require officers to retire after a set number of years. When they take new jobs in the private sector, they contribute to Social Security. But when they retire from those jobs, the amount of Social Security benefits they can collect is reduced by the amount of their law enforcement pension, regardless of how much they contributed to Social Security. … Repairing the complex formula that led to the unintended consequence has proven difficult, particularly since it would cost about $200 billion. That money would come from the Social Security trust fund rather than from a direct appropriation by Congress.
Eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has been a longtime goal of outgoing U.S. Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia.
Expression through art
A New Orleans art program is helping the city’s incarcerated youth express their individual identities and document their journeys through the state’s troubled criminal justice system. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Joni Hess explains how the effort is inspiring kids and setting them up for future success:
Malik [Baker] participated in the Young Artist Movement Diversion program at the center, an experience that gave him a “clearer vision of life,” and led to his continued involvement with the organization on the outside. Through the program, young creatives are provided with job and educational opportunities where they can learn entrepreneurship, digital literacy and leadership skills. Their colorful public art projects can be seen on buildings and other prominent locations across New Orleans and represent an array of topics from environmental stability to the harms of incarceration.
Number of the Day
1,085% – Percentage increase in compensation for CEOs from 1978–2023. A typical worker’s compensation only increased by 24% during the same time period. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)