YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Health Dept. seeks end to billing rape victims
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Levee work may keep insurance spikes at bay
Melinda DeSlatte Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s health department said Monday it will seek a ban on billing sexual assault victims for exams and tests, in response to outrage from victims’ advocacy groups and lawmakers that the women were being charged for treatment. The law changes recommended by the Department of Health and Hospitals will be proposed in the legislative session that begins in April. The plan centers on the Crime Victim’s Reparation Board, which gets money from a fine levied in criminal court cases. Currently, the board can’t accept bills directly from the medical provider for treatment of rape and sexual assault victims, and those who don’t file a police report have been deemed ineligible for reimbursement. DHH said the policies force hospitals to treat the victims like any other emergency room patient and bill them or their insurance companies for care. Under its legislative proposal, the health department said it will ask lawmakers to prohibit medical providers from billing victims for treatment and to let hospitals directly seek reimbursement from the reparation board. It also wants lawmakers to remove any requirement that sexual assault victims file a police report to be eligible to have their treatment costs covered by the board. “It appears the commitment is there to end the mistreatment of rape victims when it comes to unacceptable billing practices,” said Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, in a statement saying she will sponsor the legislation. The issue surfaced with a story from NOLA.com ‘ The Times-Picayune describing sexual assault victims facing thousands of dollars in medical bills when they sought treatment after their attacks. See Victim Page 5-A
INSIDE
Arrests...........................10-B
Bid Notices......................7-B Calendar of Events.........2-A
Classifieds................8-B/9-B
Football Contest..............2-B Legal Notice....................7-B
Lottery.............................2-A Memorials.......................9-B
News In Brief..................7-A
Obituaries.......................9-B
Sports........................1-B-3B
Surfin’ the Net................10-B
VOLUME 49 NUMBER 6
Buster Avera
Contributing Writer
Courtesy: South Lafourche Levee District
The South Lafourche Levee District’s continued improvements to the levee system may be enough to qualify as a certified levee by the Army Corps of Engineers.
BUSINESS Spotlight
Local law firm offers free informational toolkit for maritime workers
The maritime attorneys at The Young Firm in New Orleans focus exclusively on maritime personal injury cases for offshore workers, rig workers, vessel workers as well as others in the maritime industry. The Young Firm has been serving the interest of workers in the marine industry for over four decades and would like to their expertise to work for you. What is their secret weapon in supporting maritime workers who’ve suffered an injury? It’s a free toolkit of critical information, one of the only informational toolkits in the state of Louisiana specifically for maritime workers. This toolkit contains information that most in the maritime industry never learn, some of which your company would rather you not know. Even Captains know how valuable this information is and order it for their crews. The toolkit is absolutely free and answers some of the most crucial questions related to maritime injuries: • Will going back to work after an injury hurt you?
ª How much money should your company pay for your medical & living expenses? • Can your company fire you after an injury? • What options do you have when you’ve been hurt? • Should you settle your case on your own or hire an attorney? • What’s the difference between a maritime attorney and a personal injury attorney? When a worker sustains an injury on the job, it can be the scariest times in a person’s life. Physical pain associated with the injury, financial strain from the loss of earning potential, and the fear and uncertainty of an unclear future can place a substantial burden on injured offshore workers and their families. Living with Danger It’s no secret that the maritime industry is one of the more dangerous industries in the U.S. In such a hazardous environment where crews are pushed to deliver more in less time, on less sleep, and with less manpower, injuries are, unfortunately, a common occurrence. And rarely are the injuries simply happenstance.
Lafourche councilman begins fight with cancer
Lafourche Parish Councilman Lindel Toups has been diagnosed with cancer. Toups, a councilman for 19 years, told the Daily Comet Monday that he plans to fight the cancer and remain on the council as long as possible. Doctors told Toups he has cancer, but are unable to specify the type. He is scheduled to return in two weeks for further testing, more information and to set up a treatment plan. He said he is unsure if he’ll be able to attend the Oct. 28 Lafourche Council meeting. Toups told the Daily Comet that he went to the hospital on Oct. 17 to undergo surgery to remove the cancer but when they went in surgically they could not do so since it was all over, in spots. Doctors couldn’t remove the tumors. “I’m going to keep on like nothing is going on. They’ve had some people that fought through this. A lot of it has to do with the attitude and I’m going to fight it,” Toups told the Daily Comet. Toups is a lifelong Gheens resident and has been married to his wife Sheila for 40 years. He represents District 6, which includes Raceland, Gheens and Mathews.
See Spotlight Page 5-A
October is historically a dangerous hurricane month in Louisiana. Storms including Hilda, Juan and the storm of 1893 bear witness to that fact that we must be ever vigilant. Hilda was one of the nation’s worst disasters from a hurricane-spawned tornado event, killing 23 innocent people in Larose in 1964. Juan was the last hurricane to flood lower Lafourche, putting 4.5 feet of water in the 10th Ward area in 1985. The storm of 1893 caused the deaths of more than 2000 people in Louisiana, 700 died in Chenier Caminada, and caused the communities of Leeville and Cut Off to be born as people migrated away from their former homes nearer the coast. Since Juan, the South Lafourche Levee District has steadfastly tried to protect our ever-sinking community in the 10th Ward, building levees higher and higher despite seeming abandonment from the federal government. In the last nine years, SLLD has raised our levee system about four to five feet on average. And during the same time period, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, while guarding against rising water, SLLD has taken on another protective banner, that of trying to protect us from rising insurance rates too. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decertification of our levees after Katrina has the potential to cause south Lafourche homeowners to pay skyrocketing premiums for flood insurance. Now fast forward to the October SLLD public meeting and General Manager Windell Curole’s comments about the latest FEMA surveys of uncertified levees. FEMA’s process for looking at “uncertified” levees, called the Levee Analysis and Mapping Procedure (LAMP), shows the SLLD system to be within less than onefoot of being able to withstand its models for 100 year protection. See Levee Page 5-A
Staff Photo by Babs
Tammy Boudoin is shown giving Jimmy Allemand, Jr. a pack of gratons (cracklings) at Saturday’s Shriner sponsored Cracklin’ Cook Off and Car Show. Mitch Griffin took first place in this year’s competition. If you didn’t get your fill of pig skins, you can purchase more at this weekend’s 41st annual French Food Festival. See the ad on page 6-A for a schedule of weekend events.