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MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH <br />April 27, 2006 <br />Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 7 April 27, <br />2006 <br />E. Tracking Form Review <br /> <br />Rosemary Summers pointed out that the Mill Creek Road Study was complete and the <br />final report will be ready for presentation to the next Mill Creek community meeting on <br />May 15. The Commissioners will receive the report in advance of the community <br />meeting. <br /> <br />The additions of the “Dental Mouth Guard Project” and “Pets in Schools/Petting Zoos in <br />Schools” were added for the May agenda. Also, several dates were altered to more <br />closely reflect when the topics would appear before the Board. <br /> <br />F. Articles: “Massachusetts State Health Plan” and NC Health Report “Why Massachusetts <br />Isn’t North Carolina.” <br /> <br />The Board was provided copies of both articles for informational purposes. <br /> <br />Massachusetts will become the first state to provide nearly universal health care <br />coverage with a bill passed recently. The bill requires all Massachusetts residents to <br />obtain health coverage by July 1, 2007. Individuals who can afford private insurance will <br />be penalized on their state income taxes if they do not purchase it. Government <br />subsidies to private insurance plans will allow more of the working poor to buy insurance <br />and will expand the number of children who are eligible for free coverage. <br /> <br />The major differences between Massachusetts and North Carolina are addressed in the <br />second article. They are: <br />1) There are many more uninsured people in North Carolina, 17% (14% in <br />Orange County) versus 11% in Massachusetts. <br />2) The median household income in NC is $39,000 versus $52,354 in <br />Massachusetts. <br />3) NC has a higher percentage of low-income residents (under 200% FPL), 40% <br />versus 30% for Massachusetts. <br />4) Infant death rate per 1000 births in NC is 8.1 versus 4.8 in Massachusetts <br />5) Stroke deaths per 100,000 population is 67.9 in NC and 48.3 in <br />Massachusetts. <br />6) NC is a low tax state. Tax collections per capita in NC are $1941 and $2,602 in <br />Massachusetts. <br /> <br />This article points out that there are many more barriers to insuring NC’s entire <br />population but it did not mean NC should not try. <br /> <br />G. On-Site Wastewater Treatment Facilities in North Carolina Article <br /> <br />Board members were provided an article published in Fall 2005 of Popular Government <br />was co-written by Adrienne Simonson, a graduate student who worked with the <br />Environmental Health Division of the Health Department. The article was based on the <br />research she did when she was with us.