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DKos Asheville Open Thread: Josh Stein (NC-Gov) [1]

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Date: 2023-01-21

Stein has served as attorney general since 2016 and worked as head of the consumer protection division under now-governor Roy Cooper. As attorney general, Stein negotiated the opioid settlement that will pay counties and municipalities millions of dollars over the next 18 years. Buncombe County is expected to receiveof the payout.

North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein announced his campaign to be the state’s next governor on Wednesday. The democratic candidate wasto make a run for the state’s highest office in 2024.

In Western North Carolina, Stein advocated for more competition in the health care market. Last July, he opposed Mission Hospital’s application for an expansion in Buncombe County, citing a lack of regional competition to the HCA-owned institution. Stein approved Mission Health’s sale to HCA in February 2019. Since then , Stein has voiced concern about the terms of the sale.

In November, the State Department of Health and Human Services gave approval to AdventHealth over Mission Health and Novant Health. Stein praised the decision in a statement . “Competition in health care lowers cost and improves quality for patients. Mission Health System has virtually no hospital competitors in western North Carolina,” he said.

Asheville.com, 12/6/2022

Attorney General Josh Stein has announced $311,000 in grants to preserve natural resources and ensure clean air and drinking water in Western North Carolina through the Environmental Enhancement Grant (EEG) program.

In 2022, Attorney General Stein is awarding $2.5 million in EEG grants to 23 recipients. Grant recipients in western North Carolina include:

Conservation Trust for North Carolina

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) will receive $40,000 to purchase 68 acres of forestland in southeastern Mitchell County. The land purchase will allow the Conservation Trust to protect the area and maintain its natural habitats, water quality, and scenic views from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.

“Western North Carolina is beautiful,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I’m pleased that this grant will preserve forests and the resources, habitats, and public enjoyment they bring.”

Foothills Conservancy of NC, Inc.

The Foothills Conservancy of NC will receive $150,000 to purchase 342 acres of land near Blowing Rock, including more than 2.5 miles of the Johns River and connecting tributaries. The purchased land will eventually be added to the Pisgah National Forest and U.S. public trust lands and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

“Through this grant, the Foothills Conservancy will preserve natural resources and landmarks significant to our history and beneficial to our future,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “These natural resources will help preserve clean drinking water for years to come.”

Friends of Panthertown

Friends of Panthertown will receive $35,000 to restore and remediate stream bank and riparian buffer installations along Schoolhouse Falls, Greenland Creek, and Panthertown Creek in Jackson County.

“Restoring the areas that help filter out runoff and protect the quality of drinking water is critical for those who call Jackson County home,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I’m pleased that this grant will make a difference in the lives of the people of Panthertown.”

WLOS, 10/26/2022

orth Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein made a stop in the mountains on Tuesday, speaking with students about the importance of online safety.

Caption: NC Attorney General Josh Stein makes a stop in Asheville, talking tech safety with kids

He visited with 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students at Ira B. Jones Elementary School in Asheville to talk about the North Carolina Department of Justice’s tech safety agreement, a new resource to help parents and caregivers keep their kids safe online.

It also helps kids communicate with their parents about what they see online.

ATTORNEY GENERAL JOSH STEIN DISCUSSES OPIOID SETTLEMENT MONEY DURING STOP IN BREVARD

"He gave the kids some tips they can follow and encouraged them to go home and talk to their families about it," said April Dockery, Asheville City Schools executive director of operations. "And just ways to keep them safe and that they know that not everybody out on the internet is kind and with good intentions."

"On average, 8- to 12-year-olds use screens for more than five and a half hours a day, and 13- to 18-year-olds use screens for more than eight and a half hours a day," a press release from the Attorney General's office states.

SearchWNC, 5/18/2022

AG Josh Stein invited local leaders, healthcare advocates, health care providers, and elected officials to a round table in Asheville recently. The purpose was to discuss hospital consolidation, its impacts to healthcare price and quality, what other states are doing to address it, and how North Carolina might handle the situation. AG Stein along with N.C. Sen. Julie Mayfield and others are developing legislation which would provide greater oversight and legal standing for transactions such as the purchase of Mission Health System by HCA. SEARCH leaders Jon Ward, Susan Larson and Victoria Hicks attended.

This meeting was an invited gathering of physicians, other health care professionals, local elected officials, health care advocates, and others to discuss the persistent problems resulting from the way in which the sale of the Mission Health System to HCA was carried out. The goal was to clarify those problems and suggest changes to state laws that regulate these processes so that a future sale of a health system can produce a more positive result.

Gen. Stein began the meeting with the message that Medicaid Expansion is essential to easing the strain on rural hospitals and should be passed. He thanked the organizers and attendees and then expressed his views about the process of the sale, its review, and the outcomes that have damaged healthcare in Western North Carolina. He discussed the nature of the pre-review process, the problems with it, and what it should be. While state law grants the authority to review the process to the Attorney General, it limits the review in ways that prevent consideration of many elements of the process that should be considered. These would include evidence of the fairness of the process and the quality of the resulting care.

Citizen-Times, Andrew Jones, 4/28/2022

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sat down with elected officials, medical professionals and community members April 28 at Buncombe Health and Human Services department to learn more about the impact of HCA Healthcare's 2019 acquisition of Mission Hospital.

The feedback was not good.

In the space of one hour, Stein heard a litany of frustrations expressed about what HCA had done to Western North Carolina's health care system.

It's not just WNC that has complaints about the health care giant.

Stein has held several other roundtables throughout the state, hearing how medical mergers have changed North Carolina communities.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/21/2148353/-DKos-Asheville-Open-Thread-Josh-Stein-NC-Gov

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