In a budget balancing move, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has accepted a set of proposals designed to save $2.3 billion from state Medicaid costs. Two members of the Medicaid Redesign Team, Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and Stephen Berger, discuss the recommendations. Plus, assessing the prospects of a government shutdown; New York Times film critic A.O. Scott recaps the Oscars; a policy change in how the kidney transplants list works; and is princess-mania a development stage or a marketing-induced craze?
Shutdown Face Off
Taegan Goddard, the creator of CQ Roll Call's Political Wire, rounds up the political news of the week, including the possibility that the budget dispute will result in a shutown of government services.
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Medicaid Redesigned
Richard Gottfried, assemblyman for District 64 and Health Committee chairperson, discusses NY States' Medicaid Redesign team and what conclusions they're arriving at. Joining him is Stephen Berger, chair of the Odyssey Investment Partners and a member of the Medicaid Redesign team, who weighs in on the proposal the team has to save New York $2.3 billion.
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Oscar Recap
The reviews for Franco and Hathaway as Oscar hosts are decidedly mixed. A.O. Scott, chief film critic for the New York Times, recaps last night's Academy Awards ceremony.
What were your highlights? Lowlights? Surprises? Let us know!
Middle East Update
Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times Cairo correspondent and author of The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East, gives an update on the turmoil in the Middle East.
Kidney Transplant Policy Change
Rob Stein, Washington Post reporter, discusses his recent article concerning a major policy change for recipients of kidney transplants. He argues the change will have major implications for all organ transplants and has led to a heated discussion amongst bioethicists, doctors, and patients alike.
Jill McMaster, kidney recipient and a Patient and Donors Affairs representative on the board of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), joins the conversation and talks about what the new kidney donor policy proposal will mean for patients and for those waiting on the list to receive an organ.
The United Network for Organ Sharing's kidney committee is accepting public comments on the proposal until April 1.
Sugar and Spice?
For many young girls of a certain age, everything has to be pink, sparkly, and preferably accompanied by a tiara. Peggy Orenstein, journalist and author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, asks whether princess-mania is a developmental stage or a marketing-induced craze.
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