Audio clip
Aleta Bray
Ian Norwood always wondered why paychecks had an itemized deduction for medical expenses.
And, he wondered, how people without medical insurance were able to pay for hospital care.
On Monday, Mr. Norwood, 17, and his Brainerd High School classmates were able to pose these questions and others to Gov. Phil Bredesen during an online, interactive Tennessee Department of Health budget hearing.
STUDENT QUESTIONS
* When students from other states attend college in Tennessee, how much money is allocated for their health care?
* What is the average cost of health care per person per year for citizens without health care?
* How would the health care reform plan the government is proposing affect Tennessee financially?
* When a person is insured by the government with Medicare, etc., is dental care included?
* How much money will be allocated this year for the H1N1 vaccine for Tennessee?
Source: Brainerd High School students
In recent years, Gov. Bredesen has selected several high schools across the state that could e-mail students' questions about the state's budget process. He then answers the questions and encourages students to e-mail more questions as they watch the process online.
"Public involvement is what makes government work," Gov. Bredesen said. "Your understanding of government is critical for you to participate and have a role in making it better."
Typically, students are invited to participate in the education department's budget hearing, but this year they watched health department personnel.
JanMichael Lingo, 17, is in a nursing education class at Brainerd, and said he enjoyed learning more about the field he hopes to pursue.
"I'm going to work as a (certified nursing assistant) in college, and I hope to become a sports medicine doctor," he said. "I like helping people, so it's a good career to go into."
Many of the questions Monday focused on topics such as the state's obesity epidemic, the H1N1 virus and mandatory exercise in schools.
Senior LaKesha Hitchcock wanted to know how much money statewide would be allocated to fight H1N1.
"The vaccine itself was provided by the federal government," answered Tim Jones, a state epidemiologist with the state, who also participated in the budget hearing. "The status of the vaccine is changing every day. We've just distributed our one-millionth dose."
Health sciences teacher Aleta Bray said she planned to listen to more of the budget hearings later on her own time, and she hoped her students would, too.
"It was a great opportunity for them," she said. "Most people don't ever watch a budget hearing."
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
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