ASHI OTO , D.C.-Al­
·tboQlb the House ofRepreICIl-
paaedan to
thc 1989 Omnib Budlct
Rcconciliation Act 'which
repealed all medicare benefits
added by the Mcdic re
catlltr,OI)bic· Qwerage, Act of
. Ca &ad
Center 0 Black AICd,
Inc.(NCBA), seeks to as
much of the Ia possible in
the u.s. Scoatc.
Samuel S. Simmo ' CBA
president, has asked, repre­
seotaiYes of allorganjzations d­
vocatiag support of elderly
o
av
b n fit
for 10
B cb and other low-income
AmcricaD to contact Joint
House and Senate Coafcreacc
Committee members to urge
their support for the mnimum.
benefits included in the DCWIy
passed Senate Bill, S-171.6.
CBA's goal is to sa� as
�� oftbcvablable
pr that the cdicare
Catastrophic Cover_Ie Act
provided. For this rcasou,
are 'pportiDg the new SeDate
bill, although it does not retain
as many benefits as would
prefer," Simmons said.
"At this time it is not clear
who will be chosen as congres­
sional conferees for resolving
differences concerning changes
.... in the Act," he added, but
NCBA listed likely members of
the Joint Ho -senate Com­
mittee and urged senior citizcus
,
upporters "to write, call or
sead maiJgrams" seekiag p -
sagc of the Se e bill.
Like the ill-fated House
legislation, S-171.6 repeals the
controversial income-related
supplemental premiums and
other benefits provided, but it
uId retain the state "buy-in"
provision to p y for additional
medicare, the anti-spousal im­
poverishment measure, ex­
panded home health benefits,
mammography screelling and
I'
bankruptcy. An attorney for the
ne spaper chain says the initial
response from the creditors is
"very positive."
The 97-year-old chain
publishers newspapers in Bal­
timore, Maryland; Washington,
D.C. and Richmond, Virginia.
It has a long and proud history
but in recent years has found
difficulty maintaining leader­
ship and advertisers as younger
Blac s either turn to major daily
newspapers or more aggressive
Black -oriented publications.
In order to save itself, the-
Afro-American chain is trying
to convince creditors to accept
25 cents on the dollar for all out­
standing debt. It may be several
. 'months before fmal results are
known.
Average I
According to American
Demgraphics" magazine the
"average" American woman is
32-years-old, earns less than
20,000 a year, weighs 143
pound , has 1.8 children, makes
six personal telephone calls a
day, believes in God but does
not go to church very often.
the expanded
or 1000-term
bill also retains
B premium
Medicare.
The House f Representa­
tives repeal d unlimited
. hospitalization r covered care
and improved . ed nursing
faciity care, ad tes for the
Elderly charg because of the
overwhelming 0 position of in­
fluential midd -income and
upper-income iies to sup­
plemental pre . ums required
to pay the bene . The o�al
catastrophic act . d not require
additional paym n15 from low­
income senior citizens and
ospice benefi
e. The Senate
.9isting Part
to (i'llance
with incom below
rty leveL
CBA urged supporte
e Poor Elderly to appeal t
co essional members of the
c eduled JOint Conference
C mmittee by writing the
majority chairman and ranking
minority member of the Senate
Finance Committee (Sen. Uoyd
Bentsen, D- Tx, and Sen. Bob
Packwood, R-Or) and the
m jority chair nd ranking
mino· member of the House
Wa and Means Committee
(Rep. D Rostenkowski, D- Il
and Bill Archer, R-Tx)
Action must be taken before
Congress adjourns to save the
legislation.
- .
--I
Olde t Black
ne paper
chain f gh ing
ban rup cy
BALTIMORE, MD. - Faced
With debts totaling' over
900,000 the nation's oldest
Black newsp per chain - the
Afro-American Publishing
Company - is cur ently trying
to work out eal with its'
creditors in a bid to avoid clos­
ing or being forced into
TACOMA, W H. - �n at­
temp last wee to organize a
barbecue aimed t rallyin com­
munity support against crack
dealing in a redominantly
Black Tacoma Washington
neighborhood somehow
resulted in a gun battle inv lving
Black youths, neighbo hood
residenst and off-dut U..
Army solider .
The half-hour battle saw
people ducking behind cars and
trees firing shots from pistols
and shotguns. Although an es­
timated 200 rounds were fired,
no one was injured.
The incident occured a
offOduty soldier from near y
Ft. Lewi j ined with re ident
ofth Hilltop C mmunity for an '
anti-drug barbecu . Ther wer
approximat ly 25 Y ung BI ck
on ne side and half-dozen
oldier along with 2 t resi-
dents 'on the ther.
•