|
|
| |
| Fri, Dec. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Beebe, Hutchinson talk health care at UAMS conference Friday, Apr 14, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The top two candidates for governor each pledged Thursday to make improving health care a top priority if elected. Democrat Mike Beebe and Republican Asa Hutchinson said they would emphasize rural health improvements, Hutchinson with a task force to develop ways to use technology to make care more accessible and Beebe with public-private partnerships. Both candidates spoke on health care in Arkansas at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' annual conference on prenatal care. Beebe, the state attorney general, said the state needs to expand the use of telemedicine and other technologies to offer health care to rural residents. "I think it goes without saying that the private sector and the government sector have to both be involved in the development of health care policies that generate greater access and certainly greater quality of care to all our people," Beebe said. He mentioned the Arkansas River Valley Rural Health Cooperative in Franklin and Logan counties, a partnership involving the state and federal government, employers and employees and health providers that he said has lowered the cost of health care in the two counties. Beebe said after the event that he would propose a more in-depth program for improving health care as the gubernatorial campaign progresses. Hutchinson, a former congressman and federal Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, spoke of his proposed health information technology task force and how it would be used to expand health care to rural areas. "I would suggest that the state of Arkansas needs to be innovative in this arena and that we should create a health information technology task force," Hutchinson said. He said the task force would use medical experts to "look how we can partner better in medical technology, in health care information management ... for better care of our patients, better disease management, as well, and make recommendations to the state of Arkansas as to how we can proceed in the future for better delivery of health care." Hutchinson, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, also spoke of the state's methamphetamine problem and said more should be done to focus on the treatment of those addicted to the drug. "I believe we as a state have to devote more energy to the issue of methamphetamine abuse and illegal drugs," he said, "not simply from an incarceration standpoint but from a treatment standpoint, an education standpoint." In interviews later, Beebe and Hutchinson disagreed on the merits of a bill proposed during last week's special session that was designed to keep open the tiny Paron High School in rural Saline County. The Bryant School District annexed the Paron School District last year, and the Bryant School Board recently voted to close the school, citing financial inefficiency and the difficulty in teaching the 38 state-mandated classes to the 75 students in grades 7-12. The measure, sponsored by Hutchinson's nephew, state Rep. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, would have exempted districts with multiple high schools from teaching all the 38 mandated courses at each school. Beebe, whose office has represented the state in the on-going Lake View school funding case, said the measure would have hurt the state's effort to meet the Supreme Court's mandate to address inefficiencies in public school funding. "We thought that would run afoul with the Supreme Court order and be seen as weakening standards," Beebe said Thursday. Beebe's office and the state Department of Education both urged lawmakers not to approve Hutchinson's measure during last week's special session. A Senate committee rejected the measure. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday that his nephew's bill was reasonable and called Beebe's opposition unfounded. "I think it was a laudable effort," Asa Hutchinson said, "to reach a compromise, a middle ground, that would support a school ... that did the right thing with consolidating with the Bryant School District." He said the Paron community supported the school and it was meeting current education standards. "They consolidated with the view that they were going to continue to exist," he said, adding that state could still meet the Supreme Court mandate while allowing Paron to stay open. "I think the attorney general is flat wrong on that," Asa Hutchinson said. Former state Rep. Jim Lendall of Mabelvale and Little Rock record store owner Rod Bryan have announce intentions to run for governor. Both are gathering signatures on petitions to quality for the Nov. 7 general election ballot. |
