May 2, 2025 • 29 mins
Griffin Pritchard with the Alabama Games talks about how you can participate this year, then Laura Dunn from NHTSA talks about hotcar death awareness and Dr. Christy Sadreameli from the American Lung Association on the importance of Medicaid.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well it's that time again. Hello, this is view Point
Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mapps and
I'm talking about the Alabama Games. And here to talk
with me about it is Griffin Pritchard from the Alabama Games. Griffam,
Welcome to Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
John Man, thanks for having me again. I look forward
to coming here and sit down in the studio and
talking to you and telling the story of the Alabama
State Games.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
And the State Games have been going on for what
fifty how many years?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
This is our This will be our forty second year.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, it was closet, but you know.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We started in eighty three at the request of the
Olympic Committee and we've built our program into the state's
largest multi sport competitions, essentially become Alabama's Olympics.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And these Olympics it's a little different than the National
Olympics because with the National Olympics, people have to there's
a very high bar to get involved. But this is
different because while you have a lot of very very
skilled athletes, anyone can participate.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, that's the beauty of what we do.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Our event is for athletes of all ages, allabilities, all
skill levels, it's it's open and it's accepting, and we
want everybody to come out and have a good time.
Whether you're trying to capture a gold medal, whether you
are trying to improve yourself, whether you're just trying to
capture memories of the past. It's a great experience for
you to come out and just be a part of
(01:16):
what we do.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You mentioned memories of the past, so a lot of
the athletes that compete they do this year after year
after year.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You talk to people and they're like, oh, well we
remember when you were in Dothan and we're excited to
be back in Birmingham, or we remember the last time
you were in Birmingham. We're excited to be back this year.
And then it's just from last year, like, oh, we
had such a great experience last year, we're definitely coming
back this year. All the media we do and all
the stories we tell, the best thing is the experience.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And you may have been a you may have been
a spectator last year, but that means this year perhaps
you'd want to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
We kick everything off with an epic opening ceremony, our
athletes of the year will carry the flame in using
a torch from either the eighty four Olympics or the
ninety six Olympics. You know that will ultimately lead to
the cauldron lighting. And in between all of that, we've
got the Parade of Athletes, which showcases all of the
people competing, letting them walk into the arena and letting
(02:13):
them be celebrated. We've got Populous Troy's Music group of
music students that have come in and putting on a show,
and they have rocked the house for the past two years.
To me, they're one of the most exciting parts opening
ceremony because they shift the program from being formal to
being a house party. Now, we're doing some cool things
this year with opening ceremony that we haven't done in
(02:34):
the past.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, let's talk about the opening. So first of all,
let's talk about where the games are going to be held.
The Alabama Games, but they're held in Birmingham area this.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Year for the third year, we're hosted graciously by the
City of Birmingham Jefferson County, which is exciting. We've been
able to this year utilize some of the communities that
may not get a lot of the recognition within the
the Jefferson County area.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
For example, we're.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Moving I think six or seven sports to Trustful. Trustful
is gonna host softball, baseball, they're gonna host soccer, they're
gonna host basketball, and then we're moving some sports to Fultondale.
Fultondale will host wrestling, softball, and we'll host part of
the baseball tournament. We're moving several sports to Gardendale. We've
had sports in Gardendale, but we're expanding it. So they're
(03:22):
getting powerlifting and matan troil, and they're getting disc golf
in a couple of others. I think they're gonna get
a baseball too. And then we're our largest independent event,
single athlete event is track and it's going to Centerpoint
High School, So that is six hundred plus athletes. It's
going to be coming to that community.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow. So that explains why you have to spread it
out because there are so many people you can't really
do everything in one spot. Plus, there's some sports that
don't lend themselves to being an indoor sport, like, for example,
equestrian sports.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so equestrian is unique in the fact that we
had an mpel them our first year didn't really know
what to expect with it because it's our first year
doing an equestrian and when we say a questrian, it's
American saddle bread and it's called an equestrian fun show.
So it's a lot of dressage, a lot of like
performance versus like what you would see in barrel racing
(04:13):
or something like that. It's it's very, very refined. It's
kind of like a pageant on a horse exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And so we had it in pell Them that first year,
but we quickly outgrew the facility. So with that we're
now holding it. We've been able to hold it in
pl City for the past two years. Last year this
will be our second year, and that has allowed us
to expand that event and bring in more stables and
bring in more horses and more riding clubs.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I only know because my daughter actually rides for Heather
more so, and she was in the last two years.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
And that's the cool thing about other things ceremony too.
You see, like all the riding clubs come out as one.
You see all the track clubs come out. I think
we have PTC track is always there representing we've got
a group from at more of archers that come and represent,
you know, and we've got athletes from all over the state.
(05:03):
You know, we're averaging three thousand plus athletes since we've
returned to Birmingham and we're trying to hit thirty five
hundred this year.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And when we talk about these numbers of athletes that
are participating, that sounds like there's going to be economic
impact for the city of Birmingham, for the whole actual
Birmingham aftropolitan area because you've got people who are coming
in from other parts of the state to participating in
these things that you're buying food, you're staying possibly in
a hotel, all that kind of stuff. So there's got
to be economic impact to our area as well.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So when the Games come to town, we make an impact.
One of the things that we do to help out
the people that are registering is we work with hotel
groups that offer hotel rates. So if you're traveling in
from Sager, that group from at More and need a
place to stay, well, we will have a rate for.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You and so you so there is the Alabama Games
rate for people who are coming.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Out, and it'll be on our website on our Sports
and just click under hotels and they'll take you to
a link and we should have that up and going
this month.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And Grant, we talked about how these are something anyone
can participate in. Is there an age limit, is there
a skill limit? How do you qualify to be a participant?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Anybody can compete now, Granted, like baseball is nine new
to fourteen you, softball is up to eighteen you. Soccer
I think has a has a cap on it. But
track five to ninety five, wrestling six to sixty four,
I mean, it's it's archery, like eight to eighty eight.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I mean it's it's but if if an eighty nine
year old archer show up, they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Be absolutely we just give them a lot of room.
But you know it's it's really.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Ultimately up to everybody and open to everybody to compete.
The Miracle League is probably one of our most exciting
and most fun and beloved group that we have every year.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, I wanted to talk about the Miracle League. Explain
what that is.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So Miracle League is baseball for children or adults who
have some sort of difficulty and it's really cool and
it's really fun. June and her husband Pete do a
great job of running the program. They run Field of
Dreams in Pratvel, but we have it in Moody every year.
We're bringing i think eight teams in this year and
(07:14):
it is a they play on a turf field, a
rubber ice field. Excuse me, everybody, it's a home run.
Everybody gets to participate. It is a lot of fun
and it's an amazing experience.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And it's another way that this is. These games they
do include a lot of people that otherwise might not
get to be able to participate in something likely.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And a lot of our sports too, have an adaptive component.
Bowling has an adaptive component, Swimming has an adaptive component.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And just like the Olympics, there are there are winners.
There are medals, right.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Oh, absolutely, so you're competing for gold, silver, and bronze.
But what's really cool too is before we even get
to the gold, silver, and bronze of it, we have
the scholarship aspect. So opening ceremony this year we're going
to way forty two thousand scholarships. So every it's the
easiest scholarship drawing. You'll ear to be a part of
Literally you register to compete and you attend opening ceremony
(08:09):
and once you go to opening ceremony, you'll get a bracelet,
you'll be put in a drawing. The athletes will be
put in a drawing, and we have a really exciting
thing that we do as part.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Of opening ceremony.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So the door is open to the North Hall BJCC
at three pm on June thirteenth, we will have a
four o'clock program, which is our GRIP one on one
for teens. It's the SF Foundation, which is our nonprofit.
It is our first it's our newest program focusing on
team mental health and ways to handle situations. But then
(08:42):
from four o'clock rolls to five o'clock where we have
the at State Farm Athlete Leadership Summit. We're gonna announce
the speaker of that on social media probably in the
coming days. But it's a really cool thing. You get
to hear lessons on like perseverance and overcoming and just
how to be success and you know, success is not
(09:03):
one size fits all, it's it's what it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Means to you. But at the end of that, we're
gonna avoid ten scholarships.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And those scholarships are they restricted in anyway, and those scholarships.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
For I mean they can be used for whatever. Okay,
So the cool thing about our scholarships. Our scholarships are
either one thousand, five thousand dollars and they will be
can be used to any two year, four year trade
technical school, anything that's gonna further your education. One of
my favorite stories is coming out of the pandemic, we
(09:34):
had a neighbor of an adult win won the scholarships
and transfer it over to his neighbor who was a
kid at the time with like sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, And
the neighbor ends up using it to go to a
truck driving school and is now a successful truck driver.
So anything that helps you achieve success academically.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
This really has value to a lot of people's lives,
not just from an ath standpoint, but in terms of
being able to allow them to go on to do
other things, even above and beyond just the athletic stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You know, you look at it like this, thirty four
people's lives will have a chance to change on June
thirteenth because of the scholarships we're awarding.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And it doesn't matter the age of who receives it.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
If you're a like if you're like one of those
eight year old track kids, and you win a scholarship.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You're not going to need a scholarship.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
At eight years old, So we're going to hold it
in trust for you through our foundation until you need it.
And then you know, ten years down the road, when
you get ready to go to college or go to
whatever learning institution you choose, you will just notify us,
the institution will notify us, and we'll send the money.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That way.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
If you're a granddad and you win a scholarship, you're
done with your education. You know you've reached all the
schooling you want to do. Transfer to twenty of your grandkids.
We have those options. There are ways to make things
happen for people to be successful.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Okay, So a lot of reasons to participate in this thing.
How how do people get involved? How do they? First
of all, if they want to be an athlete, how
do they how do they sign up to participate?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So aligames dot com is the is our our our
main website that will give you information on opening ceremony,
that will give you information on all of our programs.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It will give you information on our sports.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
This year, we've got twenty seven sports offered, everything from
archery down to.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Wrestling, anything new for this year.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Uh So we added basketball, that's new. We've added We've
brought softball back and that's shaping up pretty, you know,
pretty nicely. Pickleball, pickleball is is always gonna be one
of our larger sports. Uh it's it's it's fun, and
it's got a community that that supports it and grow
it and and has helped it grow. H Our foundation
(11:52):
does a winter tournament called dnkle Bells and that helps
us recruit pickleballers from like the part of this from
parts of the sty.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Do the balls have jingle things in them? You try
that we should make a little jingle kind of sound
if it's for great.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
But the like we're using wiffleballs like the pike balls
and wiffleball, so it goes.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Ding ding DNK.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's it's loud enough as it is, but I mean,
it's it's it's totally fun. And what's cool is seeming
like the people that play with us in the winter
come to play with us in the spring or in
the summer at the games.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And uh if I was just thinking if sometimes you
have a work group, like you have a company softball team,
do companies ever sign up like say a whole like
a group from this company, maybe they can versus a
group from that company to ever do with that kind
of thing. Or is it always just a one on
one deal?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
So it's it's however you want to compete.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So and I say that because we have like track
clubs sign up to comedianinst track clubs and and that
helps grow the sport.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
It's a way to build that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Camaraderie and it's a way to communicate and bring and
create a community through sports.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And it's a great thing because in this state, like
I said, we're here in Alabama, we're really big in athletics,
but so often it's something we all just watch and
this is something we can participate in. Now if you
do want to watch they you can attend these uh
these games, and there's a way to are the tickets.
How much the tickets cost. So no tickets, no tickets,
you just show.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Up, show up. Opening ceremony is free to the public.
It will be.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
At BJCC beginning at UH I think the door is
open at six o'clock and we'll go live statewide at seven.
All of our events, with the exception of softball, is
are free to the public. Softball is going to charge
a ten dollars gate, but everything else is free to
come and watch. And we actually encourage if you're not
(13:43):
if you're not competing, come out and support the people
that are.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And it sounds like a great thing to do for
an afternoon. I'm sure you can probably you know, get
some popcorn, get them soda.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Oh, concessions are available most of our spots. Some of
our spots are going to have food trucks. It's it's
it's a lot of fun and it's it's still everything.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Is given back to the community.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And the opening ceremonies are again June thirteenth, and the
closing ceremony is we don't have one, all right, Well,
I actually say the last competition is.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So the last competition will probably either be basketball or baseball,
and it won't end on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Okay, So it's so about a week worth of so
we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
We're doing twenty seven sports over the course of seventy two.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Hours, okay, about three days, yep, give a take. Okay, Well,
we have a lot of things to look forward to
before we get done. Is there anything new for this
year exciting for this year that you want to mention
specifically about the Games.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So one of the coolest things we're doing during an
open ceremony this year is honoring our Dads. Since our event,
since the Games, you know, June thirteenth or fifteen, falls
on Father's Day weekend, one of the things we're doing
is bring our Honoring Our Heroes program to the Games
this year. And the Honoring Our Heroes program was started
to recognize first responders and involved to recognize veterans and
(15:01):
teachers and nurses. Well, this year, since it's on Father's
Day weekend, honoring our Heroes becomes honoring our Dads. So
athletes will have a chance to nominate their dads or
father figure or coach, someone who fills in that role
in their life and should be recognized, and they will
be celebrated during the opening ceremonies and will have a
(15:21):
special medal that says honoring our Heroes. And so that's
a really cool way to recognize those who've made an
impact in community, recognize those who've made an impact in
someone's life.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And a great Father's Day, President, it is a.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Great Father's Day, President, and the unexpected one, especially if
you're one of the dads that don't know you've gotten nominated.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Very neat well. Griffin, thank you so much for joining
us and we will definitely check it out.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And this is Due Point Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mount and we all remember the
heartbreaking case of Cooper Harris, a twenty two month old
who passed away in the backseat of his father's car
in twenty fourteen, and last Thursday was National Heat Stroke
Prevention Day. Joining me now from the National Highway Safety
Transportation Administration is Laura Dunning. Laura, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Good morning, Welcome, Thank you, Laura.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Every year we hear about these deaths and it seems
like there's not been much progress made, but I know
there is stuff going on in the background. Can you
talk about some of the things that the National Transportation
Safety Administration is doing to help prevent hot car deaths?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Absolutely so. As an agency, we are working constantly on
research to study new technology, focusing on those available systems
that can alert drivers and others to prevent hot car
dests and injuries. We're identifying and testing some of those
rear seat occupant detection systems who they become available, you know,
developing test methods to kind of evaluate how wealthy systems work.
(16:46):
Certainly some vehicle manufacturers have those systems in place now,
and you know, we continue to work together to develop
what is best to prevent these deaths and injuries.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
When we talk about these innovations, are these features going
to be mandatory on cars like seat belts or is
it going to be a feature that you can select
when purchasing your new vehicle.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Right so, at the moment, this is something that only
certain curve manufacturers have and I think time will tell
if you know these countermeasures are effective and indeed they
should be integrated into every vehicle.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And I understand why you'd be an advocate for them
being in every vehicle because how many hot car deaths
do we have every year?
Speaker 4 (17:26):
So unfortunately, over a thousand children have lost their lives
to pediatric vehicular heat stroke. The average is about thirty
seven children per year. Last year, thirty nine children died
in hot cars. So this is something that we want
to prevent. And you know, one life loss is too
many in this case, So our campaign wants to get
that life stating message out of once you park, stop
(17:48):
look and lock before you leave your car, stop, look
in the back seat, look for your child, then lock
it up. Keep your doors locked so that children can't
crawl in and become trapped in your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Or one of the tricks I've often heard is to
take something that you need and leave it in the
back seat with your child. Like if you're a lady
and you have a pocket booker you're a man and
you have a wallet, maybe you carry the access card
for your building. You can't even go into work without
that access card. You'd have to check your back seat.
And it's not something people are doing maliciously. It's a
(18:18):
situation where maybe it's a two parent household and usually
the mother takes the child to daycare, and on this
particular day, the father took the child to daycare and he,
you know, got into his frame of mind, I'm going
to work, and he forgot that his kids in the
back seat. He drives all the way to work, he
gets to work, he turns off the car, jumps out,
walks on in, and doesn't even realize that his child
(18:40):
is in the back seat of that car. And it
only takes a few minutes for this to become a
very serious and very sad situation.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
One of the biggest risk factors for this is a
change in routine, right, so, yes, that parent is dropping
off at daycare that doesn't normally do so, and you know,
if they get on autopilot mode and you know, things
unfortunately that last in memory and attention happen or what
are some.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Other recommendations that you offer.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
We also talk about setting up another layer of protection
with your trialcare provider and if your child hasn't arrived
within ten to fifteen minutes of where they're supposed to
have them, give you a call and say, hi, is
your trial coming today? And it makes parents kind of
stop and evaluate where is everybody? Did everybody get to
where they need to be? Have that other parent check
in with the parents that to drop off, make sure
that everything went according to plan.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And those are both two great low cost and no
cost ways really to make sure that your child arrives
safely and it's brought safely into their childcare provider and
does not suffer from heat stroke in the car. You
don't necessarily need the technology when you have those kinds
of strategies, Laura done, This is a very important issue.
Thank you for bringing it to our attention. You are
(19:44):
with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Thank you so
much for joining us today on few Point, Alabama.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
And I'm John Mounce. And there has been increased interest
in getting federal spending under control as we try to
control our national debt. And by saying getting federal spending
under control, we're talking about the government spending less, but
less on what what programs as a country are we
collectively willing to cut. Joining me now on Viewpoint, Alabama
(20:12):
is doctor Christy Samuletti. She is from the American Lung
Association and she's here to advocate on behalf of millions
of Americans who are recipients of Medicaid. Doctor SAMUELETTI, welcome
to the show.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, I'm delighted to have you, and I want to
talk first about all the good things that the American
Lung Association does every year, both in terms of research
and patient care. Can you tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
So, I'm a practicing pediatric hominologist and researcher. I live
in Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm so happy to be involved
with the American Lung Association. I do this work. I'm
all on a volunteer basis because I enjoy it so much.
So they do so much in the lung cancer space,
air quality. They do research, they've helped fund research, they
(21:00):
support clinical programs, they put out an annual state of
the Air report, and they're great advocates. So they do
more than that, by the way, But these are some
of the things that come to mind for me, and
I've always enjoyed partnering with them for their clinical research
and advocacy that they do.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And when we talk about all those things that they do,
they do it with the help of a lot of
federal funding, federal spending. And one of the programs is
that we're talking about today is Medicaid. And explain what
medicaid is as opposed to say Medicare or even private
health insurance.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yeah, right, So Medicaid is a form of health insurance.
It's funded jointly by the federal government and also by
the states. It provides essential healthcare. So just to give
you an idea, it covers about one in five Americans,
about one in four Americans who have lung cancer, about
half of pediatric asthma patients, and actually one million people
(22:03):
in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Wow, so a lot of this affects a lot of people,
and I understand that there's a possible one of the
things you're looking at is making cuts to a lot
of federal programs across the board. And one of those
programs you say is Medicaid. Is that is that for
sure thing or is that just one of many proposals
that are being considered by Congress right now?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yeah, so there is There are serious proposals right now
to make major, major cuts to Medicaid. And that's why
we're doing this awareness campaign because we want people to know.
You know, there are so many hard working Americans who
rely on Medicaid. In fact, the majority of adults who
receive Medicaid work, So we're talking about people who work
(22:45):
for small businesses, people who work on farms. This is
crucial healthcare and not mentioned many kids. So this is
really should not be a part ofan issue. I want
all Americans to realize, like it's so important tex Medicaid,
and you can call your congress person and ask them,
please don't make these drastic cuts to Medicaid. People are
(23:07):
really going to suffer if we do this.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mountin. We're speaking with doctor Christy
Samerletti from the American Lung Association. And when we're talking
about these cuts, is it going to be a straight
up it's an all or nothing kind of thing, or
is it you know, is incremental? Is it? Because sometimes
we hear the word cut and we and it's just
a they're decreasing the rate of expansion next year. Or
(23:32):
are they actually talking about, like we spent making up
a number here, fifty billion dollars last year, or are
going to cut it to twenty five.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
I think what you're getting at is, you know, no
one wants there to be waste. This is not like
a gradual thing or let's just cut the waste this.
This would be such a major cut that a lot
of people would have to lose access to Medicaid, and
a lot of the things that are being introduced would
function as cuts. So, for example, a work requirement of
(23:59):
being proposed, we know from when that's happened in other states.
Millions of people have lost their Medicaid, including hard working
adults who are either too sick to figure out the
paperwork or just don't have just don't understand it. And
so you know, this is really something that could harm
the health of so many people in Alabama, so many
(24:19):
people all over our country. And you know, I think
a lot about pregnant women, the elderly children. These are
some of the people that are most reliant on Medicaid
and people with cancer. So that's why we're urging people
to call their congress people and ask them don't make
these drastic cuts that are being proposed.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And when you mentioned the work requirement, are you saying
that it's proposed that if you don't work, you cannot
qualify for Medicaid? Is that what I'm understanding.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, And you know some people will say, oh, well,
there might be like a permission if you're too sick
to work, you'll be okay. But what we've seen in
other states where they've tried things like that, first of all,
they usually end up canceling the work requirement because it's trumental.
That happened in Arkansas, I believe, Yeah, Arkansas, and so
(25:06):
where we want people to understand, you know, if you
do that kind of a restriction, it's actually a cut.
It's a cut to Medicaid, so we're they need to
find another place to save money. In other words, we
shouldn't be playing with people's health like this.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
And if we if we make cuts here, are they
also looking at other places, other programs that the government
is involved in the medical space.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Yes, but you know, I'm here mainly focused on Medicaid.
There's been a lot of news lately. There's cuts happening
at nihd DC, There's a lot of stuff happening, and
you know, many of those things concern me as a
healthcare provider. But today I'm focused on Medicaid. And and
I think Medicaid is something that not everybody realizes, but
you know, it touches everyone.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Knows somebody on Medicaid.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
They may not realize it, but this is such a
common thing to rely on Medicaid either in some people
just rely on it for like a portion of their life,
you know. So I really want people to understand this
impacts all of us. It's really important.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
And when we talk about these cuts, for example, we're
talking about things that involve like say, regular preventative care,
diagnostic care as well as treatment.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yes, that's right. So for example, I take care of
a lot of kids with asthma. So to really have
proper asthma treatment. ASA's very treatable now, even severe asthma,
but you need to have routine visits where you get prescriptions.
We assess you, we say you have asthma. This is
the prescription you need, We make the prescription and then
so the medicaid allows that visit to happen. It also
(26:37):
allows the family to get the medication. You know, with
the cost of drugs in our country, most people would
not be able to afford out of pocket drug prices,
and they certainly would not be able to afford out
of pocket clinic visits. So what happens when people lose
their healthcare I'm just using asthma to continue that example.
They end up in the er, they end up in
(26:57):
the hospital, and some very sad situations, they actually sometimes die.
And that's kids and adults. So we're trying to avoid that.
And so medicaid is one very common and important route
to make sure that people with asthmin other conditions get
the preventive care. And it's like not just the visits,
not just the medications, the vaccinations, like all the things
people need to stay healthy. And you could carry that
(27:19):
example through to other diseases DOPD for example, as bazima
lung cancer. You know, if you don't have health insurance,
your lung cancer gets diagnosed later. So five year survival
for lung cancer if you're diagnosed late is like nine percent.
So after five years only nine percent of people will
still be living. If it's caught early, there's the sixty
(27:41):
four percent chance of survival, And the reason for that
is it's caught early, it's more treatable, and the insurance
allows you to get treated and diagnosed.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
And you actually touched on a good point. I was
just thinking about what you mentioned. People without medical care.
Often they will still receive medical care, but they do
so by going to the emergency room, and when they
do that, that's the most expensive way possible to receive
medical care. And you're also clogging up the emergency room
for real emergencies because you're just going there for your
(28:10):
basic medical care that you were not able to receive
through your family pediatrician or your pominologists that you would
normally see.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Correct, Yes, you're absolutely right. Not only are the people
who are coming to the er late with whatever their
diagnosis may be, whether that's poorly controlled asthma lung cancer.
You know, they're straining the system. They're getting diagnosed later,
so they're suffering more. In some cases they're increased risk
of dying, but even when they're not, they're just struggling
more with their symptoms by the time they seek care.
(28:39):
And it affects all of us. So yes, it can
cause longer wait times than the er. It's very costly
to society. You can carry that through and think about
all the ways this could impact everyone, even if you
don't personally receive medicaid.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
So if you're interested in pursuing more information on this,
doctor srmil like, where can people go to find more
information about the things that we talked about today and
the mission of the American Lung Association.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Yes, all of that can be found on the website
www dot log dot org and there's information there about
this and many other topics that we've talked about today.
And you call your congress people if you go to
the website. Actually it even helps you figure out how
to do that. But like I said, it's not a
red or blue issue. This is all Americans, So speak up,
(29:27):
have your voice for call your congress person today.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Doctor Christy Samarletti, a pomonologist with the American Lung Association,
Thank you so much for joining us today on Viewpoint Alabama. Oh,
you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
Well it's that time again. Hello, this is view Point
Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mapps and
I'm talking about the Alabama Games. And here to talk
with me about it is Griffin Pritchard from the Alabama Games. Griffam,
Welcome to Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
John Man, thanks for having me again. I look forward
to coming here and sit down in the studio and
talking to you and telling the story of the Alabama
State Games.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
And the State Games have been going on for what
fifty how many years?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
This is our This will be our forty second year.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, it was closet, but you know.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We started in eighty three at the request of the
Olympic Committee and we've built our program into the state's
largest multi sport competitions, essentially become Alabama's Olympics.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And these Olympics it's a little different than the National
Olympics because with the National Olympics, people have to there's
a very high bar to get involved. But this is
different because while you have a lot of very very
skilled athletes, anyone can participate.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, that's the beauty of what we do.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Our event is for athletes of all ages, allabilities, all
skill levels, it's it's open and it's accepting, and we
want everybody to come out and have a good time.
Whether you're trying to capture a gold medal, whether you
are trying to improve yourself, whether you're just trying to
capture memories of the past. It's a great experience for
you to come out and just be a part of
(01:16):
what we do.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You mentioned memories of the past, so a lot of
the athletes that compete they do this year after year
after year.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You talk to people and they're like, oh, well we
remember when you were in Dothan and we're excited to
be back in Birmingham, or we remember the last time
you were in Birmingham. We're excited to be back this year.
And then it's just from last year, like, oh, we
had such a great experience last year, we're definitely coming
back this year. All the media we do and all
the stories we tell, the best thing is the experience.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And you may have been a you may have been
a spectator last year, but that means this year perhaps
you'd want to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
We kick everything off with an epic opening ceremony, our
athletes of the year will carry the flame in using
a torch from either the eighty four Olympics or the
ninety six Olympics. You know that will ultimately lead to
the cauldron lighting. And in between all of that, we've
got the Parade of Athletes, which showcases all of the
people competing, letting them walk into the arena and letting
(02:13):
them be celebrated. We've got Populous Troy's Music group of
music students that have come in and putting on a show,
and they have rocked the house for the past two years.
To me, they're one of the most exciting parts opening
ceremony because they shift the program from being formal to
being a house party. Now, we're doing some cool things
this year with opening ceremony that we haven't done in
(02:34):
the past.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, let's talk about the opening. So first of all,
let's talk about where the games are going to be held.
The Alabama Games, but they're held in Birmingham area this.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Year for the third year, we're hosted graciously by the
City of Birmingham Jefferson County, which is exciting. We've been
able to this year utilize some of the communities that
may not get a lot of the recognition within the
the Jefferson County area.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
For example, we're.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Moving I think six or seven sports to Trustful. Trustful
is gonna host softball, baseball, they're gonna host soccer, they're
gonna host basketball, and then we're moving some sports to Fultondale.
Fultondale will host wrestling, softball, and we'll host part of
the baseball tournament. We're moving several sports to Gardendale. We've
had sports in Gardendale, but we're expanding it. So they're
(03:22):
getting powerlifting and matan troil, and they're getting disc golf
in a couple of others. I think they're gonna get
a baseball too. And then we're our largest independent event,
single athlete event is track and it's going to Centerpoint
High School, So that is six hundred plus athletes. It's
going to be coming to that community.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow. So that explains why you have to spread it
out because there are so many people you can't really
do everything in one spot. Plus, there's some sports that
don't lend themselves to being an indoor sport, like, for example,
equestrian sports.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so equestrian is unique in the fact that we
had an mpel them our first year didn't really know
what to expect with it because it's our first year
doing an equestrian and when we say a questrian, it's
American saddle bread and it's called an equestrian fun show.
So it's a lot of dressage, a lot of like
performance versus like what you would see in barrel racing
(04:13):
or something like that. It's it's very, very refined. It's
kind of like a pageant on a horse exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And so we had it in pell Them that first year,
but we quickly outgrew the facility. So with that we're
now holding it. We've been able to hold it in
pl City for the past two years. Last year this
will be our second year, and that has allowed us
to expand that event and bring in more stables and
bring in more horses and more riding clubs.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I only know because my daughter actually rides for Heather
more so, and she was in the last two years.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
And that's the cool thing about other things ceremony too.
You see, like all the riding clubs come out as one.
You see all the track clubs come out. I think
we have PTC track is always there representing we've got
a group from at more of archers that come and represent,
you know, and we've got athletes from all over the state.
(05:03):
You know, we're averaging three thousand plus athletes since we've
returned to Birmingham and we're trying to hit thirty five
hundred this year.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And when we talk about these numbers of athletes that
are participating, that sounds like there's going to be economic
impact for the city of Birmingham, for the whole actual
Birmingham aftropolitan area because you've got people who are coming
in from other parts of the state to participating in
these things that you're buying food, you're staying possibly in
a hotel, all that kind of stuff. So there's got
to be economic impact to our area as well.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So when the Games come to town, we make an impact.
One of the things that we do to help out
the people that are registering is we work with hotel
groups that offer hotel rates. So if you're traveling in
from Sager, that group from at More and need a
place to stay, well, we will have a rate for.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You and so you so there is the Alabama Games
rate for people who are coming.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Out, and it'll be on our website on our Sports
and just click under hotels and they'll take you to
a link and we should have that up and going
this month.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And Grant, we talked about how these are something anyone
can participate in. Is there an age limit, is there
a skill limit? How do you qualify to be a participant?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Anybody can compete now, Granted, like baseball is nine new
to fourteen you, softball is up to eighteen you. Soccer
I think has a has a cap on it. But
track five to ninety five, wrestling six to sixty four,
I mean, it's it's archery, like eight to eighty eight.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I mean it's it's but if if an eighty nine
year old archer show up, they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Be absolutely we just give them a lot of room.
But you know it's it's really.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Ultimately up to everybody and open to everybody to compete.
The Miracle League is probably one of our most exciting
and most fun and beloved group that we have every year.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, I wanted to talk about the Miracle League. Explain
what that is.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So Miracle League is baseball for children or adults who
have some sort of difficulty and it's really cool and
it's really fun. June and her husband Pete do a
great job of running the program. They run Field of
Dreams in Pratvel, but we have it in Moody every year.
We're bringing i think eight teams in this year and
(07:14):
it is a they play on a turf field, a
rubber ice field. Excuse me, everybody, it's a home run.
Everybody gets to participate. It is a lot of fun
and it's an amazing experience.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And it's another way that this is. These games they
do include a lot of people that otherwise might not
get to be able to participate in something likely.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And a lot of our sports too, have an adaptive component.
Bowling has an adaptive component, Swimming has an adaptive component.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And just like the Olympics, there are there are winners.
There are medals, right.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Oh, absolutely, so you're competing for gold, silver, and bronze.
But what's really cool too is before we even get
to the gold, silver, and bronze of it, we have
the scholarship aspect. So opening ceremony this year we're going
to way forty two thousand scholarships. So every it's the
easiest scholarship drawing. You'll ear to be a part of
Literally you register to compete and you attend opening ceremony
(08:09):
and once you go to opening ceremony, you'll get a bracelet,
you'll be put in a drawing. The athletes will be
put in a drawing, and we have a really exciting
thing that we do as part.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Of opening ceremony.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So the door is open to the North Hall BJCC
at three pm on June thirteenth, we will have a
four o'clock program, which is our GRIP one on one
for teens. It's the SF Foundation, which is our nonprofit.
It is our first it's our newest program focusing on
team mental health and ways to handle situations. But then
(08:42):
from four o'clock rolls to five o'clock where we have
the at State Farm Athlete Leadership Summit. We're gonna announce
the speaker of that on social media probably in the
coming days. But it's a really cool thing. You get
to hear lessons on like perseverance and overcoming and just
how to be success and you know, success is not
(09:03):
one size fits all, it's it's what it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Means to you. But at the end of that, we're
gonna avoid ten scholarships.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And those scholarships are they restricted in anyway, and those scholarships.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
For I mean they can be used for whatever. Okay,
So the cool thing about our scholarships. Our scholarships are
either one thousand, five thousand dollars and they will be
can be used to any two year, four year trade
technical school, anything that's gonna further your education. One of
my favorite stories is coming out of the pandemic, we
(09:34):
had a neighbor of an adult win won the scholarships
and transfer it over to his neighbor who was a
kid at the time with like sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, And
the neighbor ends up using it to go to a
truck driving school and is now a successful truck driver.
So anything that helps you achieve success academically.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
This really has value to a lot of people's lives,
not just from an ath standpoint, but in terms of
being able to allow them to go on to do
other things, even above and beyond just the athletic stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You know, you look at it like this, thirty four
people's lives will have a chance to change on June
thirteenth because of the scholarships we're awarding.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And it doesn't matter the age of who receives it.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
If you're a like if you're like one of those
eight year old track kids, and you win a scholarship.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You're not going to need a scholarship.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
At eight years old, So we're going to hold it
in trust for you through our foundation until you need it.
And then you know, ten years down the road, when
you get ready to go to college or go to
whatever learning institution you choose, you will just notify us,
the institution will notify us, and we'll send the money.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That way.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
If you're a granddad and you win a scholarship, you're
done with your education. You know you've reached all the
schooling you want to do. Transfer to twenty of your grandkids.
We have those options. There are ways to make things
happen for people to be successful.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Okay, So a lot of reasons to participate in this thing.
How how do people get involved? How do they? First
of all, if they want to be an athlete, how
do they how do they sign up to participate?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So aligames dot com is the is our our our
main website that will give you information on opening ceremony,
that will give you information on all of our programs.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It will give you information on our sports.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
This year, we've got twenty seven sports offered, everything from
archery down to.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Wrestling, anything new for this year.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Uh So we added basketball, that's new. We've added We've
brought softball back and that's shaping up pretty, you know,
pretty nicely. Pickleball, pickleball is is always gonna be one
of our larger sports. Uh it's it's it's fun, and
it's got a community that that supports it and grow
it and and has helped it grow. H Our foundation
(11:52):
does a winter tournament called dnkle Bells and that helps
us recruit pickleballers from like the part of this from
parts of the sty.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Do the balls have jingle things in them? You try
that we should make a little jingle kind of sound
if it's for great.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
But the like we're using wiffleballs like the pike balls
and wiffleball, so it goes.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Ding ding DNK.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's it's loud enough as it is, but I mean,
it's it's it's totally fun. And what's cool is seeming
like the people that play with us in the winter
come to play with us in the spring or in
the summer at the games.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And uh if I was just thinking if sometimes you
have a work group, like you have a company softball team,
do companies ever sign up like say a whole like
a group from this company, maybe they can versus a
group from that company to ever do with that kind
of thing. Or is it always just a one on
one deal?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
So it's it's however you want to compete.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So and I say that because we have like track
clubs sign up to comedianinst track clubs and and that
helps grow the sport.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
It's a way to build that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Camaraderie and it's a way to communicate and bring and
create a community through sports.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And it's a great thing because in this state, like
I said, we're here in Alabama, we're really big in athletics,
but so often it's something we all just watch and
this is something we can participate in. Now if you
do want to watch they you can attend these uh
these games, and there's a way to are the tickets.
How much the tickets cost. So no tickets, no tickets,
you just show.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Up, show up. Opening ceremony is free to the public.
It will be.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
At BJCC beginning at UH I think the door is
open at six o'clock and we'll go live statewide at seven.
All of our events, with the exception of softball, is
are free to the public. Softball is going to charge
a ten dollars gate, but everything else is free to
come and watch. And we actually encourage if you're not
(13:43):
if you're not competing, come out and support the people
that are.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And it sounds like a great thing to do for
an afternoon. I'm sure you can probably you know, get
some popcorn, get them soda.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Oh, concessions are available most of our spots. Some of
our spots are going to have food trucks. It's it's
it's a lot of fun and it's it's still everything.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Is given back to the community.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And the opening ceremonies are again June thirteenth, and the
closing ceremony is we don't have one, all right, Well,
I actually say the last competition is.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So the last competition will probably either be basketball or baseball,
and it won't end on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Okay, So it's so about a week worth of so
we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
We're doing twenty seven sports over the course of seventy two.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Hours, okay, about three days, yep, give a take. Okay, Well,
we have a lot of things to look forward to
before we get done. Is there anything new for this
year exciting for this year that you want to mention
specifically about the Games.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So one of the coolest things we're doing during an
open ceremony this year is honoring our Dads. Since our event,
since the Games, you know, June thirteenth or fifteen, falls
on Father's Day weekend, one of the things we're doing
is bring our Honoring Our Heroes program to the Games
this year. And the Honoring Our Heroes program was started
to recognize first responders and involved to recognize veterans and
(15:01):
teachers and nurses. Well, this year, since it's on Father's
Day weekend, honoring our Heroes becomes honoring our Dads. So
athletes will have a chance to nominate their dads or
father figure or coach, someone who fills in that role
in their life and should be recognized, and they will
be celebrated during the opening ceremonies and will have a
(15:21):
special medal that says honoring our Heroes. And so that's
a really cool way to recognize those who've made an
impact in community, recognize those who've made an impact in
someone's life.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And a great Father's Day, President, it is a.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Great Father's Day, President, and the unexpected one, especially if
you're one of the dads that don't know you've gotten nominated.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Very neat well. Griffin, thank you so much for joining
us and we will definitely check it out.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And this is Due Point Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mount and we all remember the
heartbreaking case of Cooper Harris, a twenty two month old
who passed away in the backseat of his father's car
in twenty fourteen, and last Thursday was National Heat Stroke
Prevention Day. Joining me now from the National Highway Safety
Transportation Administration is Laura Dunning. Laura, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Good morning, Welcome, Thank you, Laura.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Every year we hear about these deaths and it seems
like there's not been much progress made, but I know
there is stuff going on in the background. Can you
talk about some of the things that the National Transportation
Safety Administration is doing to help prevent hot car deaths?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Absolutely so. As an agency, we are working constantly on
research to study new technology, focusing on those available systems
that can alert drivers and others to prevent hot car
dests and injuries. We're identifying and testing some of those
rear seat occupant detection systems who they become available, you know,
developing test methods to kind of evaluate how wealthy systems work.
(16:46):
Certainly some vehicle manufacturers have those systems in place now,
and you know, we continue to work together to develop
what is best to prevent these deaths and injuries.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
When we talk about these innovations, are these features going
to be mandatory on cars like seat belts or is
it going to be a feature that you can select
when purchasing your new vehicle.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Right so, at the moment, this is something that only
certain curve manufacturers have and I think time will tell
if you know these countermeasures are effective and indeed they
should be integrated into every vehicle.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And I understand why you'd be an advocate for them
being in every vehicle because how many hot car deaths
do we have every year?
Speaker 4 (17:26):
So unfortunately, over a thousand children have lost their lives
to pediatric vehicular heat stroke. The average is about thirty
seven children per year. Last year, thirty nine children died
in hot cars. So this is something that we want
to prevent. And you know, one life loss is too
many in this case, So our campaign wants to get
that life stating message out of once you park, stop
(17:48):
look and lock before you leave your car, stop, look
in the back seat, look for your child, then lock
it up. Keep your doors locked so that children can't
crawl in and become trapped in your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Or one of the tricks I've often heard is to
take something that you need and leave it in the
back seat with your child. Like if you're a lady
and you have a pocket booker you're a man and
you have a wallet, maybe you carry the access card
for your building. You can't even go into work without
that access card. You'd have to check your back seat.
And it's not something people are doing maliciously. It's a
(18:18):
situation where maybe it's a two parent household and usually
the mother takes the child to daycare, and on this
particular day, the father took the child to daycare and he,
you know, got into his frame of mind, I'm going
to work, and he forgot that his kids in the
back seat. He drives all the way to work, he
gets to work, he turns off the car, jumps out,
walks on in, and doesn't even realize that his child
(18:40):
is in the back seat of that car. And it
only takes a few minutes for this to become a
very serious and very sad situation.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
One of the biggest risk factors for this is a
change in routine, right, so, yes, that parent is dropping
off at daycare that doesn't normally do so, and you know,
if they get on autopilot mode and you know, things
unfortunately that last in memory and attention happen or what
are some.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Other recommendations that you offer.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
We also talk about setting up another layer of protection
with your trialcare provider and if your child hasn't arrived
within ten to fifteen minutes of where they're supposed to
have them, give you a call and say, hi, is
your trial coming today? And it makes parents kind of
stop and evaluate where is everybody? Did everybody get to
where they need to be? Have that other parent check
in with the parents that to drop off, make sure
that everything went according to plan.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And those are both two great low cost and no
cost ways really to make sure that your child arrives
safely and it's brought safely into their childcare provider and
does not suffer from heat stroke in the car. You
don't necessarily need the technology when you have those kinds
of strategies, Laura done, This is a very important issue.
Thank you for bringing it to our attention. You are
(19:44):
with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Thank you so
much for joining us today on few Point, Alabama.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
And I'm John Mounce. And there has been increased interest
in getting federal spending under control as we try to
control our national debt. And by saying getting federal spending
under control, we're talking about the government spending less, but
less on what what programs as a country are we
collectively willing to cut. Joining me now on Viewpoint, Alabama
(20:12):
is doctor Christy Samuletti. She is from the American Lung
Association and she's here to advocate on behalf of millions
of Americans who are recipients of Medicaid. Doctor SAMUELETTI, welcome
to the show.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, I'm delighted to have you, and I want to
talk first about all the good things that the American
Lung Association does every year, both in terms of research
and patient care. Can you tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
So, I'm a practicing pediatric hominologist and researcher. I live
in Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm so happy to be involved
with the American Lung Association. I do this work. I'm
all on a volunteer basis because I enjoy it so much.
So they do so much in the lung cancer space,
air quality. They do research, they've helped fund research, they
(21:00):
support clinical programs, they put out an annual state of
the Air report, and they're great advocates. So they do
more than that, by the way, But these are some
of the things that come to mind for me, and
I've always enjoyed partnering with them for their clinical research
and advocacy that they do.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And when we talk about all those things that they do,
they do it with the help of a lot of
federal funding, federal spending. And one of the programs is
that we're talking about today is Medicaid. And explain what
medicaid is as opposed to say Medicare or even private
health insurance.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yeah, right, So Medicaid is a form of health insurance.
It's funded jointly by the federal government and also by
the states. It provides essential healthcare. So just to give
you an idea, it covers about one in five Americans,
about one in four Americans who have lung cancer, about
half of pediatric asthma patients, and actually one million people
(22:03):
in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Wow, so a lot of this affects a lot of people,
and I understand that there's a possible one of the
things you're looking at is making cuts to a lot
of federal programs across the board. And one of those
programs you say is Medicaid. Is that is that for
sure thing or is that just one of many proposals
that are being considered by Congress right now?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yeah, so there is There are serious proposals right now
to make major, major cuts to Medicaid. And that's why
we're doing this awareness campaign because we want people to know.
You know, there are so many hard working Americans who
rely on Medicaid. In fact, the majority of adults who
receive Medicaid work, So we're talking about people who work
(22:45):
for small businesses, people who work on farms. This is
crucial healthcare and not mentioned many kids. So this is
really should not be a part ofan issue. I want
all Americans to realize, like it's so important tex Medicaid,
and you can call your congress person and ask them,
please don't make these drastic cuts to Medicaid. People are
(23:07):
really going to suffer if we do this.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mountin. We're speaking with doctor Christy
Samerletti from the American Lung Association. And when we're talking
about these cuts, is it going to be a straight
up it's an all or nothing kind of thing, or
is it you know, is incremental? Is it? Because sometimes
we hear the word cut and we and it's just
a they're decreasing the rate of expansion next year. Or
(23:32):
are they actually talking about, like we spent making up
a number here, fifty billion dollars last year, or are
going to cut it to twenty five.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
I think what you're getting at is, you know, no
one wants there to be waste. This is not like
a gradual thing or let's just cut the waste this.
This would be such a major cut that a lot
of people would have to lose access to Medicaid, and
a lot of the things that are being introduced would
function as cuts. So, for example, a work requirement of
(23:59):
being proposed, we know from when that's happened in other states.
Millions of people have lost their Medicaid, including hard working
adults who are either too sick to figure out the
paperwork or just don't have just don't understand it. And
so you know, this is really something that could harm
the health of so many people in Alabama, so many
(24:19):
people all over our country. And you know, I think
a lot about pregnant women, the elderly children. These are
some of the people that are most reliant on Medicaid
and people with cancer. So that's why we're urging people
to call their congress people and ask them don't make
these drastic cuts that are being proposed.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And when you mentioned the work requirement, are you saying
that it's proposed that if you don't work, you cannot
qualify for Medicaid? Is that what I'm understanding.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, And you know some people will say, oh, well,
there might be like a permission if you're too sick
to work, you'll be okay. But what we've seen in
other states where they've tried things like that, first of all,
they usually end up canceling the work requirement because it's trumental.
That happened in Arkansas, I believe, Yeah, Arkansas, and so
(25:06):
where we want people to understand, you know, if you
do that kind of a restriction, it's actually a cut.
It's a cut to Medicaid, so we're they need to
find another place to save money. In other words, we
shouldn't be playing with people's health like this.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
And if we if we make cuts here, are they
also looking at other places, other programs that the government
is involved in the medical space.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Yes, but you know, I'm here mainly focused on Medicaid.
There's been a lot of news lately. There's cuts happening
at nihd DC, There's a lot of stuff happening, and
you know, many of those things concern me as a
healthcare provider. But today I'm focused on Medicaid. And and
I think Medicaid is something that not everybody realizes, but
you know, it touches everyone.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Knows somebody on Medicaid.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
They may not realize it, but this is such a
common thing to rely on Medicaid either in some people
just rely on it for like a portion of their life,
you know. So I really want people to understand this
impacts all of us. It's really important.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
And when we talk about these cuts, for example, we're
talking about things that involve like say, regular preventative care,
diagnostic care as well as treatment.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yes, that's right. So for example, I take care of
a lot of kids with asthma. So to really have
proper asthma treatment. ASA's very treatable now, even severe asthma,
but you need to have routine visits where you get prescriptions.
We assess you, we say you have asthma. This is
the prescription you need, We make the prescription and then
so the medicaid allows that visit to happen. It also
(26:37):
allows the family to get the medication. You know, with
the cost of drugs in our country, most people would
not be able to afford out of pocket drug prices,
and they certainly would not be able to afford out
of pocket clinic visits. So what happens when people lose
their healthcare I'm just using asthma to continue that example.
They end up in the er, they end up in
(26:57):
the hospital, and some very sad situations, they actually sometimes die.
And that's kids and adults. So we're trying to avoid that.
And so medicaid is one very common and important route
to make sure that people with asthmin other conditions get
the preventive care. And it's like not just the visits,
not just the medications, the vaccinations, like all the things
people need to stay healthy. And you could carry that
(27:19):
example through to other diseases DOPD for example, as bazima
lung cancer. You know, if you don't have health insurance,
your lung cancer gets diagnosed later. So five year survival
for lung cancer if you're diagnosed late is like nine percent.
So after five years only nine percent of people will
still be living. If it's caught early, there's the sixty
(27:41):
four percent chance of survival, And the reason for that
is it's caught early, it's more treatable, and the insurance
allows you to get treated and diagnosed.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
And you actually touched on a good point. I was
just thinking about what you mentioned. People without medical care.
Often they will still receive medical care, but they do
so by going to the emergency room, and when they
do that, that's the most expensive way possible to receive
medical care. And you're also clogging up the emergency room
for real emergencies because you're just going there for your
(28:10):
basic medical care that you were not able to receive
through your family pediatrician or your pominologists that you would
normally see.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Correct, Yes, you're absolutely right. Not only are the people
who are coming to the er late with whatever their
diagnosis may be, whether that's poorly controlled asthma lung cancer.
You know, they're straining the system. They're getting diagnosed later,
so they're suffering more. In some cases they're increased risk
of dying, but even when they're not, they're just struggling
more with their symptoms by the time they seek care.
(28:39):
And it affects all of us. So yes, it can
cause longer wait times than the er. It's very costly
to society. You can carry that through and think about
all the ways this could impact everyone, even if you
don't personally receive medicaid.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
So if you're interested in pursuing more information on this,
doctor srmil like, where can people go to find more
information about the things that we talked about today and
the mission of the American Lung Association.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Yes, all of that can be found on the website
www dot log dot org and there's information there about
this and many other topics that we've talked about today.
And you call your congress people if you go to
the website. Actually it even helps you figure out how
to do that. But like I said, it's not a
red or blue issue. This is all Americans, So speak up,
(29:27):
have your voice for call your congress person today.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Doctor Christy Samarletti, a pomonologist with the American Lung Association,
Thank you so much for joining us today on Viewpoint Alabama. Oh,
you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
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