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A Georgetown University study is out that touts the results of the state’s Medicaid expansion as a major success when it comes to improving the quality of life in rural communities. The report showed major declines in the uninsured rate in those communities after the expansion. Research Professor Adam Searing says the numbers were fairly astonishing.

Cut 3 (10) “…small towns.” 

Louisiana was a late comer to the Medicaid expansion that’s been blocked by governors in many Republican controlled states. Searing says in just two years since the expansion, the disparity between health outcomes in cities and small towns has begun to fall.

Cut 4 (12) “…other states.”

And Searing says it’s not just the uninsured and working poor that see a boost from Medicaid expansions. He says the additional revenue from Medicaid patients makes its way back into the community in ways insured people may not realize…

Cut 5 (11)  “…the community.” 

Governor John Bel Edwards recently celebrated numbers that he says show the expansion is more than paying for itself in economic benefits to the state.

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After treading water Congress only has four days to reauthorize the Land and Water conservation fund before the environmental program that helps funds outdoor destinations across the state comes to an end. Louisiana Hypoxia Working Group Coordinator Doug Daigle, on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster, says it’s a vital program that funds the construction of many parks.

Cut 6 (08) “…conservation fund.”

Daigel says a number of major state locations have been constructed and maintained with cash from the fund that uses revenue from the oil industry and other natural resource extractors to assist in construction efforts.

Cut 7 (11) “…river creole.”

He says given Louisiana’s outdoorsmen economy, a failure to reauthorize would have economic penalties for the state.

Daigel says if it’s not reauthorized, parish and local efforts to rebuild parks and other family friendly outdoor locations that were damaged in the 2016 floods could be jeopardized.

Cut 8 (10) “…recreation”

The fund was created in 1964.

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After 15 years on the run, 44-year-old Lonnie Payne is returning to East Feliciana Parish in shackles.  Payne had been living in Mexico since his July 2003 escape, when he was serving twelve years for a burglary in Jefferson Parish.  Last month, he attempted to come back to the states, presented border officials with a fake identity.  East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said the original chase at the time of the escape was quite extensive but came up short.

cut 9 (10) “…got into Mexico.”
Travis says upon hitting the checkpoint, Payne’s luck ran out.

Cut 10 (11) “…took him into custody.”

After a few days in the clink in Mexico, Travis says Payne was motivated to real his true identity.

Cut 11 (06)“…tell who he is.”

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The Louisiana Economic Outlook predicts the state will add  nearly 60-thousand jobs before 2020 ends, surpassing the 2 million job mark next year for the first time in history.  LSU economist Loren Scott says after emerging from the 2016 floods and the 2017 lull in construction, Baton Rouge should see a continuing rise.

Cut 12 (06)   “…19 and 20.” 
Scott says Louisiana economy suffered a 28-month recession losing many jobs in the oil patch including just over 21-thousand jobs in Lafayette and 16-thousand in Houma.  It’s now expected that the oil patch has bottomed out and will now be on the rebound.

Cut 13 (10) “…continue to rise.”
The Lake Charles area has been the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States between 2013 and 2018.  Scott says over the next three years, he foresees three major liquefied natural gas export terminals to begin building.

Cut 14 (07) “…industrial construction jobs.”

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