Greene’s sister accepts pay cut
‘Unnecessary Farce’: It’s madcap delight! — See REVIEW, Pg. B1
See STORY, Pg. A2
UNCA’s chancellor resigns after 3 years Mary K. Grant
— See STORY, Pg. A3
LLE I V HE AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
October 2017 Vol. 13, No. 11
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com FREE
Activist’s disinvite sparks uproar
Governor tells of need to fight opioid crisis By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
blackeducator.blogspot.com photo
Charlotte-based activist and public speaker Bree Newsome, shown above scaling and removing a Confederate battle flag from a pole in front of the South Carolina Statehouse in 2015 — 10 days after a church shooting left nine black parishioners dead in Charleston, S.C, was disinvited from addressing students at Asheville Middle School during the last week of September. In the aftermath, a public uproar has ensued.
For details, see the story on Page A3
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
James and the Giant Leech Q: I’ve been dating this girl for just
over a month, and she never offers to pay for anything. I was okay with this in the beginning, as I saw it as a courtship thing. I guess I wonder whether this points to problems down the road with her not being a real partner, pulling her weight, etc. How do I politely broach this without blowing up the blooming relationship? — Feeling Used
Want to know the answer?
See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A11
SWANNANOA — A key step in tackling the nation’s opioid-addiction epidemic is to ensure that as many people as possible have health insurance, Gov. Roy Cooper said during a 20-minute speech to the Council of Independent Business Owners and its guests on Aug. 31. In underlining the magnitude of the epidemic, Cooper noted that more Americans now are killed by opioids than car wrecks. (Opioids are used to treat moderate to severe pain that may not respond well to other pain medications. They include heroin, synthetic heroin and several painkillers.) Despite the opioid problem, he lamented that Republicans in Washington are seeking to reduce the number of people with insurance by rewriting the Affordable Care Act. Cooper also said he would like the state General Assembly to vote to expand Medicaid. “We cannot take health insurance
away from millions of people and expect to have success against the opioid crisis,” the governor said. “It requires treatment. It requires prevention. And often, people just simply cannot afford it without cover-
Gov. Roy Cooper age.” The governor also touted the need for more spending on education so that the graduates can get good jobs — and to provide a talented workforce — for businesses and industries interested in locating or expanding in North Carolina. While education spending was increased this year by the leglistature, he said it was not enough. Clashes between Cooper, a Democrat, and the GOP-controlled General Assembly have been well-publicized, but the governor noted — with a note of apparent pride — that he does manage to work with the Republican legislators See GOVERNOR, Page A9
Mission-BCBSNC still not negotiating as contract termination looms Oct. 5
260K WNC customers with Blue Cross could be socked with higher health care costs
From Staff Reports
Mission Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina still were not talking to one another over their contract dispute, as of the Daily Planet’s Sept. 28 press deadline. With no negotiations, no rapid resolution can be realized, which would leave, as of Oct. 5, nearly 260,000 BCBSNC customers in Western North Carolina facing steeper “out of network” charges — that is, if they get care through Mission hospital, its doctors or any Mission-owned health-care facility. The contract expires between Mission and Blue Cross expires Oct. 5. Even if the two sides were able to reach a new agreement in the last week of September, there would not be enough time to implement it before the existing one expires, a Blue Cross official told the Asheville Citizen-Times on Sept. 23. “We know for a fact that Mission will be out of network on Oct.
Mission Hospital
5,” Mark Newman, vice president of Blue Cross’ network management, told the AC-T, adding that implementing a new agreement would take several weeks. Mission, which is the largest private employer in the state west of Charlotte, and BCBSNC dominate in WNC in, respectively, providing health care and health
care insurance coverage. Mission owns seven hospitals in the region and employes 12,000 workers, including 20 percent of the region’s physicians. Blue Cross is the state’s largest private insurer and it provides coverage to about 70 percent of those with nongovernmental policies. See MISSION-BCBSNC, Page A12