state / national
By Scott McCullar
Battalion/Page 5
July 28, 1982
Astronaut couple’s
infant hospitalized
oman loses Medicaid
ecause of funeral plan
by David Fi
United Press International
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.
'■An elderly woman who sells
vspapers from her wheel-
lir has lost her Medicaid be
fits for two years because she
leftaside $ 1,000 to make sure she
jmried in the gray gown and
$ket she picked out.
I Government officials said
hev felt sorry for Mattie Dud-
J, 67, but they had no choice
mi to follow regulations.
Dudley receives $280 a
nth in Supplemental Security
e and earns about $5 a
ek by selling The Daily Prog-
s from the wheelchair she rig
id with a canopy to protect her
from the elements. She also has
a $ 1,000 certificate entitling her
to a funeral at the Hill and Wood
Funeral Home.
“I knew my people won’t be
able to put me away so I decided
to put myself away,” said Dud
ley, who lives alone. “It’s just
something that you don’t have to
worry about. I even picked my
casket out. It’s gray. And my
gown’s gray, too. If I died
tonight, I’d be taken care of.”
Her problems with the gov
ernment started with the certifi
cate. Her assets totaled
$ 1,694.36, just above the limit to
remain eligible for the benefits.
To keep the SSI, she transferred
her certificate and $226.27 in in
terest it earned to another
But by transferring the certi
ficate, Dudley made herself in
eligible for Medicaid benefits
that pay for prescription drugs
and medical bills. Medicaid reg
ulations require such certificates
be sold and the proceeds used to
buy food and clothing, or to fi
nance shelter or other necessi
ties.
“When I get sick, I know what
to do for myself, so I go ahead
and do it before I get too sick,”
Dudley said. “But maybe some
time I might need it if I got sick
and couldn’t do for myself.”
Government officials ex-
E ressed sympathy the woman’s
enefits were suspended for two
years but said rules were rules.
Paul Wood, president of Hill
and Wood, said other elderly
E eople have had similar prob-
:ms. Another funeral home
operator, Joseph Teague, said
nine elderly clients recently have
given up cerficates to meet the
federal limits.
“Most of them feel like they’ve
been hit with a wide board and
swept away,” Teague said.
The woman’s congressman,
Rep. J. Kenneth Robinson,
announced he would introduce
legislation to amend the Social
Security Act.
United Press International
SPACE CENTER, Houston
— The newborn son of Amer
ica’s first astronaut couple re
mained hospitalized Tuesday
for a breathing problem char
acterized as fairly common and
not serious.
Astronaut Margaret Rhea
Seddon gave birth Monday to
the 7-pound-2-ounce baby, who
was named Paul Seddon Gibson.
Astronaut father Robert L.
“Hoot” Gibson initially reported
both baby and mother were
doing well. But a National Aero
nautics and Space Administra
tion spokesman said because of
breathing difficulties the infant
was flown by helicopter from
Clear Lake Hospital to Hous
ton’s Hermann Hospital.
NASA spokesman Steve Nes
bitt said the baby’s problem was
fairly common and apparently
was caused by the child brea
thing fluids during delivery.
Your Family Fun Park
The baby was delivered by
Caesarian section, Nesbitt said.
He said doctors at Hermann
could better monitor the baby.
Seddon was not expected to join
the baby ait Hermann, but will
remain at Clear Lake Hospital
until she recovers from the
birth.
“Any time a baby has a prob
lem at the hospital down here, it
is transferred to one of the
Houston hospitals with better
facilities,” Nesbitt said.
He did not say what type of
treatment the baby was re
ceiving.
A Johnson Space Center
spokesman said Seddon’s astro-
haut status will not be affected
by the birth. After maternity
leave, the spokesman said, “She
will pick up her training where
she left off.
“The majority of the astro
nauts have children, but this is
the first time we have an astro
naut couple with a child,” the
spokesman said.
Gibson’s mother, Mrs. Paul
Gibson of Westminster, Calif,
said before difficulties arose she
spoke with the couple and both
were extremely happy about the
birth.
“They seemed very elated,”
Mrs. Gibson said. “He (Gibson)
was thrilled. I think he’s real
happy to have a boy.”
Asked if the boy might be
come an astronaut, Mrs. Gibson
joked: “He better at least be a
pilot.”
Seddon, a physician astro
naut, gave birth at 4:10 a.m.
CDT. She had attempted to de
liver by the Lamaze natural
childbirth method, but doctors
decided that after 14 hours of
labor, the child should be taken
from the mother by surgery.
Sources said Gibson stayed with
his wife throughout labor and
delivery.
105 Holloman Drive
Telephone 693-5737
Southern governor fighting proposed
bill to double cigarette excise taxes
’ were tni
govern]
Mary Euf
kinsha«|
| United Press International
jHILTON HEAD ISLAND,
■C. — A tobacco-state governor
|rallying fellow southerners to
;ht any federal infringement
excise taxes which states rely
for much of their revenue.
North Carolina Gov. James
[ Hunt Jr., from the nation’s
acting tobacco state, has a
tiding resolution before the
juthern Governors Associa-
n convention, urging rejec-
e their fp of the pending federal bill
double cigarette taxes. The
icasure, passed by the Senate
rth Pori |M now in the House Ways and
ill chaipfr eans Committee, would in
ease the federal tobacco tax
|rom 8 to 16 cents per pack.
Hunt’s resolution is sche
med for a vote by the dozen
pvernors attending the SGA
peering Wednesday.
“The United States Senate
ias passed legislation to increase
ederal excise taxes which could
puse a substantial reduction in
rate and local revenues,” Hunt
aid in his resolution. “Other
iroposals under consideration
lined)y t ] ie president and Congress
ya but df
gallai,
Tafoya's
indicated
he CIA
lai’s ho®
flamed 11
the Mid (
mly afa 1
ipon.
A ernph
:ould, if implemented, cause
ubstantial changes in state tax
ases or state taxation methods.”
An aide to the governor said
hat in North Carolina — which
as the nation’s lowest cigarette
ieen hut ax at 2 ce nts per pack — the
hr Khat fcagan administration package
e belie'® )f exc i se t ax hikes would cost the
itateat least $1 million. The re-
luction for other states could be
making 11 neater, he said.
Hunt’s resolution would put
_he SGA on record opposing
he shorn ‘any action by the federal gov-
fromg| ir ' eminent to preempt, either di
rectly or indirectly, sources of
state revenues, state tax bases, or
state taxation methods.”
The Hunt resolution before
e r Gre® the SGA mirrors a national con
cern voiced by the National Gov
ernors Association in opposing
the excise tax increases. In addi
tion to the economic impact of
specific amounts of cigarette,
gasoline, alcohol or other excise
tax hikes, the governors are con
cerned that the Reagan adminis
tration might seek to reduce the
federal deficit by increasing
taxes on things traditionally
taxed wholly or primarily by the
states.
The southern governors be
gan their meeting Monday with
a series of talks on energy and
education, and how those two
topics relate to the economy in
one of the nation’s poorest re
gions. Gov. David Treen, a
Louisiana Republican, called for
quick deregulation of natural
gas and said southern industries
may face a 35 percent shortage
late next year unless prices are
deregulated.
Treen said the South’s indus
tries, most of them depending
on natural gas to power produc
tion lines, would face a 50 per
cent shortage by 1985 unless
natural gas regulation is ended
by the next Congress.
Govs. Dick Riley of South
Carolina and Lamar Alexander
of Tennessee warned fellow
governors not to shortchange
education because of tough eco
nomic times in state capitals.
Riley said there may be strong
pressure to divert education
money to other pressing state
needs, but that dollars spent on
schools now can be saved in wel
fare and prison spending later.
Alexander urged governors
to consider an experimental
program he and Govs. Pierre
DuPont of Delaware and John
Rockefeller of West Virginia
have been studying, called “Jobs
for America’s Graduates Inc.”
The non-profit orgaization,
funded by private foundation
grants, has been tested in Mas
sachusetts, Arizona, Missouri
and Delaware, Alexander said,
and has been effective in reduc
ing the unemployment rate
among poor high school gradu
ates.
Alexander said the JAGs
program involves one counsel
lor for every 30 high school
seniors, with students selected
from groups which traditionally
have a hard time finding jobs
after graduation.
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