PITTSBORO Today, Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen visited the Piedmont Health SeniorCare center in Pittsboro to see patients in the Chatham County community receive the vaccine. Piedmont Health SeniorCare is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Program focused on providing care to underserved communities.
From the beginning, we have focused on distributing vaccines quickly and equitably, Governor Cooper said. The vaccine is still in short supply, but we are working to ensure that all North Carolinians have a spot to get their shot.
North Carolina Senate Democrats who offered a broad outline of their priorities for the legislative session said the state can afford to make meaningful changes with billions in accumulated revenue.
North Carolina has more than $4.2 billion in unspent revenue, mostly due to the lack of agreement on an overall state budget in the last two years, and more than $240 million in unspent federal COVID-19 relief funds.
During an online news conference Wednesday, Senate Democratic caucus leaders outlined their priorities, which include helping small businesses and families hurt in the pandemic, a school construction bond, a redistricting process that includes meaningful citizen involvement, criminal justice reform, and providing more people with health insurance. They did not preview any bills.
The NC Council for Health Care Coverage worked Friday to put the final touches on a set of principles that it hopes will guide legislators and the Cooper administration toward getting health insurance for more North Carolinians.
The large group of lawmakers, employers, insurers and others have met under the auspices of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy since last month to come up with goals for expanded health insurance coverage.
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, created the bipartisan group. He pushed for Medicaid expansion in his first term as the way to get more adults insured. Opponents in the Republican-controlled legislature have said they worry about costs to the state. Medicaid expansion has never come to a vote. The federal government pays 90% of Medicaid expansion costs.
Daily Update:
Governor Cooper extended North Carolina s Modified Stay At Home Order that requires people to be at home from 10 p.m.–5 a.m. to last through at least Friday, January 29. Read more HERE.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services issued a Secretarial Directive telling North Carolinians to stay home except for essential activities and avoid gathering, especially indoors, with people who do not live with you. The directive comes as the state reports 84 counties as red in the COVID-19 County Alert System released today, meaning most of the state has critical levels of viral spread. Read more HERE.
Weâre keeping score! Our performance report of President Ramaphosa and his Cabinet
By Staff Reporter
PURPOSE
It s been 26 years since the advent of democracy and the majority of South Africans continue to live in poverty. Independent Media has compiled a performance report to help South Africans hold those they voted into power accountable for the promises they made to change their lives for the better.
Below we provide a fair and objective evaluation of ministerial and presidential performance for the 2019 financial year to date, using the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, seven priorities of the Sixth Administration, Budget Speech, State of the Nation Address and the recently signed Performance Agreements between President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet ministers.