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Clean Teeth for Free
Friday, October 10 2008
by Rose Hoban
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Third year UNC dental student Kyle Diamond works on James Briggs (Photo: Rose Hoban)
If you're poor and uninsured, one of your lowest health care priorities frequently ends up being going to the dentist. It's estimated that only a fraction of the state's dentists accept Medicaid. And for hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina who don't qualify for Medicaid and can't afford dental insurance, going to the dentist ends up being a luxury. That's why a free clinic this weekend is drawing crowds. Rose Hoban reports from Hillsborough.
Register to Vote
Friday, October 10 2008
by David Brower and Yasmeen Khan
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Leaders at this week's NAACP convention in Raleigh are trying to mobilize voters to go to the polls early. State NAACP president William Barber says he wants people to take part in North Carolina's one stop early voting process, when you can register and vote at the same time from October 16th to November 1st.
"We want people to turn out on October the 16th, we are calling it the Million Voting March, with the spirt of a march, remembering the past but pushing forward in the present."
Barber says this week's annual convention is also addressing the civil rights issues that are central to the NAACP's mission, including housing, labor practices and criminal justice. National NAACP president Ben Jealous will be in Raleigh today to address the convention. Actor Danny Glover will deliver the keynote at the convention banquet tomorrow.
More Election 2008 stories from WUNC News and The State of Things are available here
Uninsured in North Carolina
Thursday, October 09 2008
by Rose Hoban
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A new report from the US Census looks at who in North Carolina lacks health insurance. The numbers show counties Down East and in the mountains have the highest numbers of uninsured adults. Mountainous Watauga county has the largest proportion of uninsured adults - almost one in three. Marc Holmes from the North Carolina Institute of Medicine says low rates of insurance end up affecting more than just the people who can't afford their care.
"Hospitals in these really low coverage areas now are providing charity care and someone has to pay those nurses and the services that are being provided and they’re spreading less money that they’re getting from the insured over more people, that’s the uninsured."
Holmes says this kind of information is important for local officials so they can plan for their county's needs better. It's the first time the Census has created such detailed data, and made it available on line.
The War at Home Part 2
Audio Diary of a Military Spouse
Wednesday, October 08 2008
by Yasmeen Khan
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Chris and Robin Abbott. Photo: Robin Abbott
Thousands of soldiers from Fort Bragg are currently serving in Iraq. Major Chris Abbott is one of them. He left for Iraq in March. It's his second deployment to the country. His wife Robin and their two young children Ellie and Simon live in Fayetteville. Robin has been keeping an audio diary about life at home while her husband is gone for 15 months.
Yasmeen Khan produced this audio diary.
This story was produced with listener input to the Public Insight Network.
