Story first appeared in the Detroit Free Press.
A dispute between the Beaumont Health System and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is being watched closely all over the state, as health chiefs wonder: Will cardholders with the state's largest insurer still be able to get care at most Michigan hospitals, including a Michigan Heart Hospital?
The fight spilled into the public in October, when the Royal Oak-based hospital system and the Blues took out full-page ads to convey their side of the issue.
If the dispute is not resolved, Beaumont -- starting Jan. 12 -- will no longer will accept the insurance of about 100,000 people insured through Blue Care Network, a Blue Cross subsidiary.
The Blues wants its payments to Beaumont to be based on strong quality and cost-cutting performance goals, rather than on volume of business, as has been the case.
Beaumont insists its care is appropriate for patients, low-cost and high-quality. It would be forced to make cuts that would hurt care if the Blues does not improve its rates to the hospital system including a Detroit Hospital, executives say.
Rick Murdock, executive director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans, a nonprofit organization of HMOs and health care organizations, said other hospitals are watching the fight. It just could signal a new time when the Blues' card is not accepted everywhere, he said.
Dispute gets nastier as deadline for deal nears
David Stock wants his doctors, not insurance companies, to make the decision about the best place for him to get care.
He wants a physician telling him he needs a test and where to get it, not my insurance company, said Stock, 49, who lives seven blocks from Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Stock is one of about 100,000 metro Detroit residents who may be forced to seek care at another hospital like a Michigan Cancer Hospital if a dispute drawing statewide and national attention is not resolved by Dec. 31.
With time running out to agree on a new contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the three-hospital Beaumont Health System escalated an unusually public fight with the insurer this week, sending a team of executives to discuss the rate-increase dispute with Michigan insurance commissioner Kevin Clinton and other legislators.
Since mid-October, Beaumont and Blues executives have sparred about who's to blame for a stalemate at the bargaining table over a new three-year contract regarding what the insurer will pay for care rendered at Beaumont facilities.
The fight already is affecting care, charged Dr. Sam Flanders, Beaumont's chief quality officer. Some patients needing prior approval for tests and visits to specialists are finding delays getting the OKs, Flanders said. The Blues deny the charge.
If the dispute is not resolved, starting Jan. 12, Beaumont will no longer accept the insurance of about 100,000 people insured through Blue Care Network, a Blue Cross subsidiary.
Beaumont's emergency department would continue to see Blue Care Network patients but once stabilized, as required by federal law, there's a chance patients would be transferred elsewhere for additional care or tests, Flanders said.
Beaumont wants a 9% increase over three years. The Blues have offered 3.5%, along with a 2.5% increase all hospitals would receive in 2012. This may also be for a Michigan Rehab Hospital.
Possible impact on care
Citing research by a consortium of academically affiliated hospital systems, Beaumont said its costs are much lower than those of many like it. Beaumont officials said that without a boost in rates from the Blues, they will be forced to make cuts in care.
Dr. David Share, a Blues vice president overseeing its quality initiatives to improve care, said that though many Beaumont services are lower-priced, the hospital system overuses costlier programs, such as ultrasound stress tests for heart problems and radiation-sparring treatments for cancer.
Share also said that the number of services patients get at Beaumont are significantly higher, driving up the patient's cost. This does not apply to those who go to elsewhere like a Chicago Weight Loss center.
Both Beaumont and the Blues have taken out full-page ads in metro Detroit newspapers, including the Free Press, a media strategy that Beaumont CEO Gene Michalski called very un-Beaumont-like, a reference to the health system's more conservative corporate profile.
Several hundred Beaumont patients have called the Blues to complain, including seniors with Blue Cross Medicare plans not affected, at least not yet, by the fight.
New payment measure
Sue Barkell, senior vice president for health care value for the Blues, said the insurer is taking a "new direction" in negotiations with all Michigan hospitals to base payments on performance not volume of business, as it has in the past. She said the insurer's motive is cost control and a focus on quality, but there's no plan to limit hospitals in its network, as health maintenance organizations always have done as a way to rein in costs.
Some 40% of the contracts with Michigan's 144 acute-care hospitals will expire in 2012, she said. Beaumont is merely the first of the first two or three hospitals to participate in talks centered on new quality measurements.
This isn't about an insurance company squeezing a hospital, Blues spokesman Andy Hetzel said. It's about how to pay in the future ... to try to bend the cost curve.
Not just Michigan issue
The dispute is being watched all over the state and country. Health care experts expect other disputes to surface with insurers, as a few already have.
Two years ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois ended its contract between its HMO subsidiary and the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, though the 769,000 patients in the plan still can get certain care at Rush if a doctor approves them to receive out-of-network care. Some care requires consumers to pay higher costs for care considered out-of-network.
In Massachusetts, Tufts Medical Center and its state Blues plan recently agreed to resume negotiations with a third party. All other details of the talks are confidential, a Tufts spokeswoman said.
And in California, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and California's Anthem Blue Plan just resolved a protracted contract dispute. Each has declined to reveal details about the new contract.
Rick Murdock, executive director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans, a statewide organization of mostly HMOs and other health providers, said other Michigan hospitals wonder whether the Beaumont and Blues fight is the beginning of a time when large insurers may attempt to sign contracts only with hospitals that meet cost-cutting and quality-of-care goals.
The Blues already gives deep discounts to some hospitals that agree not to accept other insurance, a practice under challenge by the U.S. Justice Department. That lawsuit against the Michigan Blues is pending in federal court in Detroit. The insurer, which considers the case groundless, has lost its attempts to dismiss the case so far.
Hazy patient situation
Until more hospitals publicly post prices -- now only Oakwood Healthcare in Dearborn and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids routinely do in Michigan -- consumers won't be able to understand whether a hospital charges too much or whether an insurer is denying them access to a hospital because it's too costly, said Lody Zwarensteyn, the longtime CEO of Alliance for Michigan.
The alliance is a Grand Rapids-based health planning group responsible for a landmark federal ruling that led to more competitive pricing there in the 1990s.
09 December 2011
Massachusetts Sues Banks For Holiday Foreclosures
Story first appeared on CNNMoney.
The Massachusetts attorney general sued some of the nation's biggest banks on Thursday, accusing them of unlawful and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure process. This is currently not involving a Birmingham Foreclosure Lawyer.
The statement described the state court lawsuit as the nation's first comprehensive lawsuit against the five major national banks regarding the foreclosure crisis.
The AG's lawsuit seeks accountability for the banks' unlawful and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure process, including unlawful foreclosures, false documentation and robo-signing ... and deceptive practices related to loan modifications, the statement said.
MERS runs a database created in the 1990s to digitize and centralize the paperwork surrounding the bundling and selling of the loans.
The Massachusetts suit alleges that the database was used by the big banks to transfer ownership of mortgage debt without paying government registration fees and properly recording the transactions. The system also concealed the identities of the holders of mortgage debt from borrowers, the suit claims. It does not appear to have any relevance if owners had Homeowners Insurance.
MERSCORP, parent company for Mortgage Electronic Registration System Inc., said the Massachusetts complaint hangs on ambiguous language and has no applicability to MERS' business model.
Fannie Mae, banks halt foreclosures for the holidays. A Rochester Hills Foreclosure Lawyer said this was a nice gesture.
The banks, meanwhile, say negotiations they are conducting with a group of state attorneys general toward a settlement over their handling of foreclosures are a more promising means of resolving the issue than lawsuits.
Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said the firm believes that collaborative resolution rather than continued litigation will most quickly heal the housing market and help drive economic recovery.
Chase echoed those comments, saying it was disappointed with the suit, as did GMAC Mortgage, which said it would vigorously defend its actions in court.
Citi said in a statement that it had not yet reviewed the lawsuit, but that the bank believes they have operated appropriately in compliance with existing laws. Wells Fargo also denied the allegations, adding that the suit will do little to help Massachusetts homeowners or the recovery of the housing economy in the state.
Settlement talks fraying: Coakley told reporters Thursday that the suit had come about in part because settlement talks with the banks, which have dragged on for more than a year, appear unlikely to yield a fair result.
Attorneys general from California, New York, Delaware and Nevada have also distanced themselves from the settlement talks and are pursuing their own investigations.
Will FHA be the next big government bailout?
The talks are stalled at present, but have focused on a settlement in the range of $20-25 billion in total from the firms involved in exchange for release from liability for all conduct related to foreclosures, according to sources familiar with the matter. Of this total, roughly $10-15 billion would come in the form of credit for loan modifications. A Wayne Foreclosure Lawyer is watching the case closely.
Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller, who is coordinating talks on behalf of the states, said in a statement Thursday that Coakley had pledged to evaluate the joint state-federal settlement they are negotiating, which they hope to reach soon.
The Massachusetts attorney general sued some of the nation's biggest banks on Thursday, accusing them of unlawful and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure process. This is currently not involving a Birmingham Foreclosure Lawyer.
The statement described the state court lawsuit as the nation's first comprehensive lawsuit against the five major national banks regarding the foreclosure crisis.
The AG's lawsuit seeks accountability for the banks' unlawful and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure process, including unlawful foreclosures, false documentation and robo-signing ... and deceptive practices related to loan modifications, the statement said.
MERS runs a database created in the 1990s to digitize and centralize the paperwork surrounding the bundling and selling of the loans.
The Massachusetts suit alleges that the database was used by the big banks to transfer ownership of mortgage debt without paying government registration fees and properly recording the transactions. The system also concealed the identities of the holders of mortgage debt from borrowers, the suit claims. It does not appear to have any relevance if owners had Homeowners Insurance.
MERSCORP, parent company for Mortgage Electronic Registration System Inc., said the Massachusetts complaint hangs on ambiguous language and has no applicability to MERS' business model.
Fannie Mae, banks halt foreclosures for the holidays. A Rochester Hills Foreclosure Lawyer said this was a nice gesture.
The banks, meanwhile, say negotiations they are conducting with a group of state attorneys general toward a settlement over their handling of foreclosures are a more promising means of resolving the issue than lawsuits.
Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said the firm believes that collaborative resolution rather than continued litigation will most quickly heal the housing market and help drive economic recovery.
Chase echoed those comments, saying it was disappointed with the suit, as did GMAC Mortgage, which said it would vigorously defend its actions in court.
Citi said in a statement that it had not yet reviewed the lawsuit, but that the bank believes they have operated appropriately in compliance with existing laws. Wells Fargo also denied the allegations, adding that the suit will do little to help Massachusetts homeowners or the recovery of the housing economy in the state.
Settlement talks fraying: Coakley told reporters Thursday that the suit had come about in part because settlement talks with the banks, which have dragged on for more than a year, appear unlikely to yield a fair result.
Attorneys general from California, New York, Delaware and Nevada have also distanced themselves from the settlement talks and are pursuing their own investigations.
Will FHA be the next big government bailout?
The talks are stalled at present, but have focused on a settlement in the range of $20-25 billion in total from the firms involved in exchange for release from liability for all conduct related to foreclosures, according to sources familiar with the matter. Of this total, roughly $10-15 billion would come in the form of credit for loan modifications. A Wayne Foreclosure Lawyer is watching the case closely.
Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller, who is coordinating talks on behalf of the states, said in a statement Thursday that Coakley had pledged to evaluate the joint state-federal settlement they are negotiating, which they hope to reach soon.
Is the State Of Michigan Taking Over Detroit?
Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
The idea is extreme, even in a city accustomed to fighting for survival: Should the state of Michigan step in to run Detroit?
The governor has taken steps in that direction, proposing an unprecedented move that could give an appointed manager virtually unchecked power to gut union contracts, cut employee health insurance and slash services. But city leaders bristle at the notion.
If it happens, Detroit would be the largest American city ever taken over by a state. Michigan has seized control of smaller struggling cities, but until now Detroit was always off-limits.
That changed this week, when Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's administration said it would begin a review of Detroit's precarious finances. If the governor concludes that the city's economic situation constitutes an emergency, he could dispatch a manager who could push the mayor and city council to the sidelines.
It's not clear how everyday services like trash pickup and bus routes would be affected, but the fixer's mission would be clear: Do whatever it takes to stop the bleeding.
Democratic Mayor Dave Bing says Detroit doesn't need the help. He insists the city is reducing a $150 million budget deficit and easing cash-flow problems on its own.
The financial review starts Tuesday and may last up to 90 days, meaning a takeover could be under way by the end of February.
The same fate has befallen other cities.
Atlantic City agreed in 2010 to let New Jersey take over its finances in an arrangement that allowed the city to spread a $9.5 million deficit over five years, sparing homeowners and businesses a significant property tax increase.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law in October enabling a takeover of Harrisburg.
New York City had a brush with bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, but the rescue package put together by then-Gov. Hugh Carey stopped short of a full state takeover.
An emergency financial manager would have the power to privatize utility departments, as well as the bus system and other agencies. A manager also could sell off city-owned parking lots and even Belle Isle, Detroit's popular island park.
In a 2001 report, LaFaive wrote about Detroit's burgeoning fiscal problems and recommended privatization, contracting out services and ways to generate revenue.
Last month, Bing declared the city government "broken" and said the public's checkbook would be short by $45 million next year unless Detroit starts saving money fast. In an attempt to ward off an emergency manager, he proposed laying off 1,000 employees — 9 percent of the workforce — and negotiating 10 percent pay cuts with unions.
If Lansing believes our plan isn't strong enough, I'd like to hear their suggestions for what they can improve, the mayor said. He suggested the state help by supplying millions of dollars that he says the city was promised in a decade-old tax overhaul. Detroit has also sought help collecting its income tax.
But even after a number of threats from the mayor, organized labor barely budged. Now that a state takeover looks more likely, adversaries have become partners.
A Michigan-based corporate turnaround specialist, James McTevia, said there would be potential pitfalls for any Detroit manager. Pay cuts ordered without negotiation, he said, could make the city's workforce boil.
Detroit has struggled for years after the auto industry collapsed, leaving the city with a much-reduced tax base and a dwindling population of 713,000, down 25 percent in just the last decade.
Managers already oversee Flint, Pontiac and Benton Harbor, as well as the Detroit public schools.
As Benton Harbor's emergency manager, Joe Harris has ordered firefighter cross-training for police officers, which reduced public-safety costs by a third.
He also negotiated new collective-bargaining agreements with many unions, forcing Benton Harbor employees to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums and contribute 10 percent of their wages to pensions.
In Pontiac, emergency manager Lou Schimmel dismissed the city clerk, the city attorney and the head of public works. He's also taken smaller steps, such as removing parking meters that cost too much to maintain. And he hopes to save $3 million by having the neighboring community of Waterford take over fire protection.
The Citizens Research Council, a nonpartisan group that studies government at all levels, analyzed Detroit's finances in 2010 and warned that the city "must be restructured." The city, it noted, owns a small airport, has its own health service, regional water agency and streetlight department, and uses city employees, not contractors, to pick up trash.
Sheila Cockrel, a city council member for 16 years until 2010, said long-term relief is unlikely until the city changes the pension system to a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan and puts more health insurance costs on employees and retirees.
The idea is extreme, even in a city accustomed to fighting for survival: Should the state of Michigan step in to run Detroit?
The governor has taken steps in that direction, proposing an unprecedented move that could give an appointed manager virtually unchecked power to gut union contracts, cut employee health insurance and slash services. But city leaders bristle at the notion.
If it happens, Detroit would be the largest American city ever taken over by a state. Michigan has seized control of smaller struggling cities, but until now Detroit was always off-limits.
That changed this week, when Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's administration said it would begin a review of Detroit's precarious finances. If the governor concludes that the city's economic situation constitutes an emergency, he could dispatch a manager who could push the mayor and city council to the sidelines.
It's not clear how everyday services like trash pickup and bus routes would be affected, but the fixer's mission would be clear: Do whatever it takes to stop the bleeding.
Democratic Mayor Dave Bing says Detroit doesn't need the help. He insists the city is reducing a $150 million budget deficit and easing cash-flow problems on its own.
The financial review starts Tuesday and may last up to 90 days, meaning a takeover could be under way by the end of February.
The same fate has befallen other cities.
Atlantic City agreed in 2010 to let New Jersey take over its finances in an arrangement that allowed the city to spread a $9.5 million deficit over five years, sparing homeowners and businesses a significant property tax increase.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law in October enabling a takeover of Harrisburg.
New York City had a brush with bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, but the rescue package put together by then-Gov. Hugh Carey stopped short of a full state takeover.
An emergency financial manager would have the power to privatize utility departments, as well as the bus system and other agencies. A manager also could sell off city-owned parking lots and even Belle Isle, Detroit's popular island park.
In a 2001 report, LaFaive wrote about Detroit's burgeoning fiscal problems and recommended privatization, contracting out services and ways to generate revenue.
Last month, Bing declared the city government "broken" and said the public's checkbook would be short by $45 million next year unless Detroit starts saving money fast. In an attempt to ward off an emergency manager, he proposed laying off 1,000 employees — 9 percent of the workforce — and negotiating 10 percent pay cuts with unions.
If Lansing believes our plan isn't strong enough, I'd like to hear their suggestions for what they can improve, the mayor said. He suggested the state help by supplying millions of dollars that he says the city was promised in a decade-old tax overhaul. Detroit has also sought help collecting its income tax.
But even after a number of threats from the mayor, organized labor barely budged. Now that a state takeover looks more likely, adversaries have become partners.
A Michigan-based corporate turnaround specialist, James McTevia, said there would be potential pitfalls for any Detroit manager. Pay cuts ordered without negotiation, he said, could make the city's workforce boil.
Detroit has struggled for years after the auto industry collapsed, leaving the city with a much-reduced tax base and a dwindling population of 713,000, down 25 percent in just the last decade.
Managers already oversee Flint, Pontiac and Benton Harbor, as well as the Detroit public schools.
As Benton Harbor's emergency manager, Joe Harris has ordered firefighter cross-training for police officers, which reduced public-safety costs by a third.
He also negotiated new collective-bargaining agreements with many unions, forcing Benton Harbor employees to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums and contribute 10 percent of their wages to pensions.
In Pontiac, emergency manager Lou Schimmel dismissed the city clerk, the city attorney and the head of public works. He's also taken smaller steps, such as removing parking meters that cost too much to maintain. And he hopes to save $3 million by having the neighboring community of Waterford take over fire protection.
The Citizens Research Council, a nonpartisan group that studies government at all levels, analyzed Detroit's finances in 2010 and warned that the city "must be restructured." The city, it noted, owns a small airport, has its own health service, regional water agency and streetlight department, and uses city employees, not contractors, to pick up trash.
Sheila Cockrel, a city council member for 16 years until 2010, said long-term relief is unlikely until the city changes the pension system to a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan and puts more health insurance costs on employees and retirees.
Google Gets AdMeld Acquisition Approval
Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
The Justice Department approved Google's acquisition of online advertising service Admeld after concluding the deal wouldn't diminish competition in one of the Internet's most lucrative marketing niches.
The decision announced Friday clears the way for Google (GOOG) to take control of Admeld six months after the companies agreed to the deal. Google said it plans to take control of Admeld within the next few days, although the two companies' products will remain separate for a while longer.
It's the fourth time since 2007 that that the U.S. government has taken a close look at a Google acquisition to determine if it would stifle competition or drive up prices. Google has gained regulatory approval in each instance. In 2008, though, Google backed out of a proposed partnership with Yahoo (YHOO) to avoid a legal battle with the Justice Department.
The Justice Department is still reviewing Google's proposed takeover of cell phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings (MMI). That $12.5 billion deal is the biggest in Google's 13-year history.
The Federal Trade Commission is in the midst of a broader inquiry into whether Google has been abusing its dominance of Internet search to make it harder for people to find rival services and apply pressure on advertisers to pay higher prices. Google has consistently predicted that investigation will be resolved in its favor.
Google hasn't disclosed how much it is paying for Admeld, a New York company that works with websites to help them figure out how to make the most money from the amount of space they have available for display ads. It's a steadily growing field of advertising that emphasizes photos, video and illustrations instead of Google's specialty of distributing text-based commercial links alongside search results.
The Justice Department said that privately held Admeld, formed in 2007, raised about $30 million in 2010 to help fund its operations.
Google generated revenue of about $29 billion last year and analysts expect it to surpass $38 billion in revenue this year. Most of Google's revenue still comes from search advertising.
In an attempt to diversify beyond search advertising, Google bought DoubleClick for $3.2 billion in 2008. That deal is turning display advertising into a major moneymaker for Google, but the company's market share in the segment still lags behind Facebook and Yahoo, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc.
That apparently helped sway the Justice Department to approve the Admeld deal.
The Justice Department approved Google's acquisition of online advertising service Admeld after concluding the deal wouldn't diminish competition in one of the Internet's most lucrative marketing niches.
The decision announced Friday clears the way for Google (GOOG) to take control of Admeld six months after the companies agreed to the deal. Google said it plans to take control of Admeld within the next few days, although the two companies' products will remain separate for a while longer.
It's the fourth time since 2007 that that the U.S. government has taken a close look at a Google acquisition to determine if it would stifle competition or drive up prices. Google has gained regulatory approval in each instance. In 2008, though, Google backed out of a proposed partnership with Yahoo (YHOO) to avoid a legal battle with the Justice Department.
The Justice Department is still reviewing Google's proposed takeover of cell phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings (MMI). That $12.5 billion deal is the biggest in Google's 13-year history.
The Federal Trade Commission is in the midst of a broader inquiry into whether Google has been abusing its dominance of Internet search to make it harder for people to find rival services and apply pressure on advertisers to pay higher prices. Google has consistently predicted that investigation will be resolved in its favor.
Google hasn't disclosed how much it is paying for Admeld, a New York company that works with websites to help them figure out how to make the most money from the amount of space they have available for display ads. It's a steadily growing field of advertising that emphasizes photos, video and illustrations instead of Google's specialty of distributing text-based commercial links alongside search results.
The Justice Department said that privately held Admeld, formed in 2007, raised about $30 million in 2010 to help fund its operations.
Google generated revenue of about $29 billion last year and analysts expect it to surpass $38 billion in revenue this year. Most of Google's revenue still comes from search advertising.
In an attempt to diversify beyond search advertising, Google bought DoubleClick for $3.2 billion in 2008. That deal is turning display advertising into a major moneymaker for Google, but the company's market share in the segment still lags behind Facebook and Yahoo, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc.
That apparently helped sway the Justice Department to approve the Admeld deal.
Web Tools for Michigan's Unemployed
Story first appeared in The Detroit News.
Gov. Rick Snyder sees a disconnect between what Michigan's employers need and what's available to them in the state's work force. And his plan to fix it drew positive early reviews after its unveiling Thursday.
To improve Michigan's work force development efforts, Snyder outlined a plan that includes everything from a new one-stop website for prospective employers and employees, to proposed changes for unemployment benefits, to calls for change on immigration caps and new goals for the state's welfare to work efforts.
Snyder said times have been tough in Michigan. He added that we have failed to think strategically about the relationship between economic development and talent. Job creators are finding it challenging to grow and develop without the right talent, and job seekers are struggling to connect with the right opportunities that leverage their skills.
He added that today, too few workers have the skills needed to meet the demands of employers in the new economy. Despite an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, thousands of jobs remain unfilled in Michigan.
At the heart of Snyder's plan is the Internet site Pure Michigan Talent Connect, which he described as a "Web-based talent marketplace."
For those seeking work, it will provide information on education opportunities, areas of job growth and openings. For businesses searching for help, it will connect them with possible hires.
To further help businesses hold on to valued workers, Snyder will push for changes to the unemployment system. He proposed allowing work sharing, where companies can scale back worker hours and then the employees would get partial unemployment benefits.
This allows the employers to retain their talent and ensures that a business can begin growing again immediately once demand returns to normal levels.
It benefits employees because they retain employment and fringe benefits.
Lawmakers' OK needed
The change to unemployment would have to be approved by the state Legislature.
He also wants to eliminate caps on the immigrants with master's degrees or higher levels of education. It's a move that would require action in Congress and Snyder encouraged those in attendance Thursday to contact their elected officials on the subject.
Two state programs drew particular scrutiny from Snyder. Michigan's Jobs, Education and Training program is designed to help low-income families. Those receiving federal and state unemployment assistance will be encouraged to use work-participation programs.
In Michigan, Snyder said, the participation level is unacceptable.
He promoted a new effort between several state agencies to boost those levels above standards set by the federal government.
Lindsay Chalmers, vice president of Goodwill Industries, attended the governor's speech and agreed with much of what he heard concerning improvements to the two programs. Goodwill provides training and services aimed at putting people back into the workforce.
Michigan Works!, the state's doorway program to job training and employment opportunities, must be changed as well, Snyder said.
The program will shift to a "demand-driven strategy," and the program's executive director welcomed the challenge.
Snyder also focused on the role of the state's universities and community colleges in promoting a focus on computers, engineering and mathematics skills — areas that have seen a decline in student interest in recent decades.
But simply pushing colleges in that direction won't be enough, said an economics professor at Michigan State University.
Gov. Rick Snyder sees a disconnect between what Michigan's employers need and what's available to them in the state's work force. And his plan to fix it drew positive early reviews after its unveiling Thursday.
To improve Michigan's work force development efforts, Snyder outlined a plan that includes everything from a new one-stop website for prospective employers and employees, to proposed changes for unemployment benefits, to calls for change on immigration caps and new goals for the state's welfare to work efforts.
Snyder said times have been tough in Michigan. He added that we have failed to think strategically about the relationship between economic development and talent. Job creators are finding it challenging to grow and develop without the right talent, and job seekers are struggling to connect with the right opportunities that leverage their skills.
He added that today, too few workers have the skills needed to meet the demands of employers in the new economy. Despite an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, thousands of jobs remain unfilled in Michigan.
At the heart of Snyder's plan is the Internet site Pure Michigan Talent Connect, which he described as a "Web-based talent marketplace."
For those seeking work, it will provide information on education opportunities, areas of job growth and openings. For businesses searching for help, it will connect them with possible hires.
To further help businesses hold on to valued workers, Snyder will push for changes to the unemployment system. He proposed allowing work sharing, where companies can scale back worker hours and then the employees would get partial unemployment benefits.
This allows the employers to retain their talent and ensures that a business can begin growing again immediately once demand returns to normal levels.
It benefits employees because they retain employment and fringe benefits.
Lawmakers' OK needed
The change to unemployment would have to be approved by the state Legislature.
He also wants to eliminate caps on the immigrants with master's degrees or higher levels of education. It's a move that would require action in Congress and Snyder encouraged those in attendance Thursday to contact their elected officials on the subject.
Two state programs drew particular scrutiny from Snyder. Michigan's Jobs, Education and Training program is designed to help low-income families. Those receiving federal and state unemployment assistance will be encouraged to use work-participation programs.
In Michigan, Snyder said, the participation level is unacceptable.
He promoted a new effort between several state agencies to boost those levels above standards set by the federal government.
Lindsay Chalmers, vice president of Goodwill Industries, attended the governor's speech and agreed with much of what he heard concerning improvements to the two programs. Goodwill provides training and services aimed at putting people back into the workforce.
Michigan Works!, the state's doorway program to job training and employment opportunities, must be changed as well, Snyder said.
The program will shift to a "demand-driven strategy," and the program's executive director welcomed the challenge.
Snyder also focused on the role of the state's universities and community colleges in promoting a focus on computers, engineering and mathematics skills — areas that have seen a decline in student interest in recent decades.
But simply pushing colleges in that direction won't be enough, said an economics professor at Michigan State University.
UAW Continues Negotiations
Story first appeared in the Detroit Free Press.
The UAW is continuing to negotiate with a General Motors supplier owned by the Ambassador Bridge's Moroun family, but union leaders are considering whether to protest or even strike the supplier's operations inside GM's Orion Township plant.
The union had planned to protest LINC Logistics on Wednesday morning, but called off those plans ahead of a renewed effort to make progress in contract negotiations. Talks continued into the evening Wednesday, said Pat Sweeney, president of Orion's UAW Local 5960. This would be the LINC employees' first union contract, Sweeney said.
The outcome will determine whether the UAW takes any action. A strike could disrupt production of the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact or the Buick Verano compact, which are built at the GM plant. LINC's employees, who work inside the GM factory, voted unanimously in June to strike if UAW leaders call for a walkout.
Negotiations have dragged on for months between the UAW and LINC, which organizes and distributes parts at automakers' plants. LINC workers currently make less than $10 an hour.
The Orion Township factory restarted production this year after getting a reprieve from GM's plan to close it as part of its 2009 bankruptcy. GM now employs about 1,600 hourly workers in Orion -- about 60% at the $28-an-hour first-tier wage and the rest at about $16 an hour. A couple of suppliers also have employees working inside the GM factory, in part thanks to space freed up by the plant's redesigned body shop.
Separately, the Orion Township factory had a small fire around 8 a.m. Wednesday in its body shop. GM called the fire department as a precautionary measure and evacuated the body shop, but restarted production by 9 a.m. The fire did not impact production and no one was injured.
The UAW is continuing to negotiate with a General Motors supplier owned by the Ambassador Bridge's Moroun family, but union leaders are considering whether to protest or even strike the supplier's operations inside GM's Orion Township plant.
The union had planned to protest LINC Logistics on Wednesday morning, but called off those plans ahead of a renewed effort to make progress in contract negotiations. Talks continued into the evening Wednesday, said Pat Sweeney, president of Orion's UAW Local 5960. This would be the LINC employees' first union contract, Sweeney said.
The outcome will determine whether the UAW takes any action. A strike could disrupt production of the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact or the Buick Verano compact, which are built at the GM plant. LINC's employees, who work inside the GM factory, voted unanimously in June to strike if UAW leaders call for a walkout.
Negotiations have dragged on for months between the UAW and LINC, which organizes and distributes parts at automakers' plants. LINC workers currently make less than $10 an hour.
The Orion Township factory restarted production this year after getting a reprieve from GM's plan to close it as part of its 2009 bankruptcy. GM now employs about 1,600 hourly workers in Orion -- about 60% at the $28-an-hour first-tier wage and the rest at about $16 an hour. A couple of suppliers also have employees working inside the GM factory, in part thanks to space freed up by the plant's redesigned body shop.
Separately, the Orion Township factory had a small fire around 8 a.m. Wednesday in its body shop. GM called the fire department as a precautionary measure and evacuated the body shop, but restarted production by 9 a.m. The fire did not impact production and no one was injured.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
