Perdue pledges support for health programs

Gov. Beverly Perdue pledged Thursday to continue to work to provide health care for needy children and to continue anti-smoking campaigns.

Appearing at a Healthy Carolinians conference, Perdue mentioned a $678,210 grant to fund health insurance outreach and enrollment for eligible, uninsured children. Perdue campaigned on providing all children access to health care coverage and making sure all eligible children are enrolled.

"There is not much new money out there and we are going to find all the money we can for these programs," Perdue said. "I'll be working with you to find ways to bring home federal dollars."

The N.C. Pediatric Society Foundation will lead a coalition of health professionals and community-based stakeholders to form the "Healthy and Ready to Learn" outreach partnership.

"This brings coverage to more and more of our children," Perdue said.

The governor's office also announced the state will use a $17 million federal grant to expand coverage for uninsured working families, and nearly $3.9 million for Rural Hope, a program that will improve health care facilities in rural North Carolina.

"We are making the deal now for helping North Carolina become the healthiest state," Perdue said.

Perdue said one of the state's greatest health victories was "taking on tobacco." Perdue was part of efforts to direct money from legal settlements with tobacco companies into anti-smoking campaigns directed at teens.

"We have saved lives," she said. "We can prove we have lowered the teen smoking rate in this state. We need to continue this."

Perdue, who signed a bill that bans smoking in bars and restaurants on Jan. 2, pledged to fight for a higher state cigarette tax. "The new law is good for everybody's health," she said. "We'll continue the anti-smoking ads. You can't go backwards after you start moving forward."

dnivens@hpe.com -- 888-3626

Healthy Kids

Screening: A partnership led by the N.C. Pediatric Society Foundation will identify uninsured children who are entering kindergarten and are eligible for Medicaid or N.C. Health Choice.

Pilot: The program will start in 16 high-need rural and urban counties, including Guilford. In year two, the program will expand statewide. North Carolina is one of 41 states awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.