Original Story: freep.com
Detroit's nearly 6,000 casino workers authorized union leaders to call a strike if necessary in what has been a difficult and complex round of contract discussions between the Detroit Casino Council and the city's three gambling halls. A Detroit employment lawyer defends small businesses, insurance companies, and large corporations in labor and employment law matters.
Strike authorization votes are often mere formalities designed for negotiating leverage, but the timing in this case has a more ominous feel. That's because the Detroit Casino Council — a consortium of four unions that bargains on behalf of Detroit's casino workers — asked its members for the permission to call a strike just three days after state and federal mediators told the two sides to break for a "cooling-off" period.
A strike at the three casinos would threaten to shut down one of Detroit's major tourist attractions and the city's No. 1 source of tax revenue. Taxes from casino gaming have lately represented about 16% of the City of Detroit's total revenues, or just under $170 million.
The negotiations, which began Aug. 24, have dragged on longer than expected and have included the involvement of mediators from the start. Workers at Greektown Casino, MGM Grand Detroit, and MotorCity Casino are working under an extension of a contract that was originally set to expire Oct. 16. A Charleston labor attorney have experience defending clients in employment related matters involving instances of detrimental labor conditions or discriminatory employment practices.
On Oct. 30, "The mediators recommended that the parties take a 'cooling-off' period to allow time to review all open issues, formulate positions on those issues and prepare for bargaining on the important economic issues," MGM said in an update about the discussions to its workers on a Web site dedicated to the negotiations.
"I can tell you that health care has been the major stumbling block here," said Dave DeLong, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 372 and a member of the bargaining committee. "Our members would like to keep the current coverage that they have without any increased cost."
MGM says it expects health care costs for the three casinos will increase by $46 million, to almost $262 million, over the term of the next four-year contract. MGM has told unions workers that there will be very little money for wages or bonuses if the casino's health care costs are not reduced.
The two sides have explored a variety of ways to reduce health care costs that include the possibility of switching to TeamCare, a union-backed, multi-employer Taft-Hartley plan that uses the Blue Cross network. A Pittsburgh employment lawyer is following this story closely.
"It's up to the unions to decide what their priorities are," Marc Whitefield, a spokesman for the casinos, said in a recent update for workers. "People need to make a decision of how they want to spend money in these contract negotiations."
"MGM Grand Detroit remains committed to the negotiation process," Steve Zanella, president and chief operating officer of MGM Grand Detroit, said in an e-mail to the Free Press. "Along with the other Detroit casinos and the unions representing our workers, we are eager to work toward a contract that works for everyone."
Gayle Joseph, a spokeswoman for Rock Gaming, which owns Greektown Casino, said, "We believe the parties are negotiating in good faith and are committed to reaching a fair and balanced agreement.”
A spokeswoman for MotorCity declined to comment on the contract talks.
Gaming revenue has been on a roll this year, reversing what had been a gradual decline in gambling revenue since 2012. A Maine labor and employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
Total gambling revenues were up 4.8% during the first six months of this year compared with last year, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which regulates the casinos.
What's next?
UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said four negotiating sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks with the three casinos.
Nov. 9, 10, 16 and 17, according to MGM's website.
Unions involved
The Detroit Casino Council is a consortium of the four unions that bargain on behalf Detroit's casino workers. It includes employees represented by UAW Local 7777, Unite Here Local 24, Teamsters Local 372 and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324.
Casinos on a roll
Total gambling revenues were up 4.8% during the first six months of this year compared with last year, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which regulates Detroit casinos.
Taxes from casino gaming have lately represented about 16% of the City of Detroit's total revenues, or just under $170 million.
The combined annual gambling revenue of the three casinos increased steadily from just over $1 billion in 2001 to $1.42 billion in 2011. In 2012, gambling revenue began to fall as four casinos opened in Ohio, including Hollywood Casino in Toledo.
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
04 November 2015
09 December 2011
Blue Cross and Beaumont Battle Hurts Patients
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.
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.
15 April 2010
Area Hospitals hit 3-Year Low in Profitability
Crain's Detroit Business
Profits at Southeast Michigan hospitals in 2008 dipped to their lowest level since 2001, according to the 2010 Michigan Health Market Review published by Allan Baumgarten, a Minneapolis-based health researcher.
In 2008, Southeast Michigan health care systems and independent hospitals posted aggregate losses of $77.4 million on patient revenue of $9.5 billion for a -0.8 percent operating margin.
Not counted in those numbers is Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Health System, which posted losses of $126.3 million on $1.7 billion patient revenue in 2008, a -7.7 percent margin, the Michigan report said.
Data for the report came from the latest Medicare cost reports submitted by each hospital in Michigan to a fiscal intermediary hired by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Baumgarten said hospitals lost money in 2008 because of fewer insured patients, a decline in profitable elective procedures and surgeries and difficulty collecting higher co-pays and deductibles from patients.
“Profitability of hospitals…also suffered at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 because of the higher costs of borrowing and losses on investments,” Baumgarten said.
Hospitals in metropolitan Detroit also suffered a decline in other revenue, including investments, philanthropy and government grants, to $357 million in 2008 from $689 in 2007, the report found.
Profits for Southeast Michigan hospitals have steadily declined from 2005, when hospitals collectively reported net income of $163.2 million, a 2 percent margin. In 2007, hospitals reported net income of $213.4 million, or a 2.3 percent margin.
One factor driving the income decline is the 2 percent drop in patient admissions from 2007 to 2008, the report said.
“The announced acquisition of the Detroit Medical Center hospitals by Vanguard Health Systems, an investor-owned company, means more competition for a shrinking pie of hospital volume,” Baumgarten said.
Primarily by layoffs, retirements, improved productivity and other cost-cutting measures, most of the hospitals either returned to profitability or improved operations in 2009.
Here is a snapshot from some other Detroit-area hospital systems in 2008.
• Detroit Medical Center, net income of $36.5 million on $1.54 billion patient revenue, a 2.4 percent margin. DMC had a 16.1 percent market share in 2008.
• Henry Ford Health System, loss of $136.8 million on $1.8 billion revenue, a -7.5 percent margin. Henry Ford had a 17 percent market share in 2008.
Last month, Henry Ford reported it had increased net income by 258 percent to $30.4 million in 2009.
• Oakwood Healthcare System, net income of $18 million on $921.6 million revenue, a 1.9 percent margin. Oakwood had an 11.3 percent market share.
• St. John Health System, net income of $28.3 million on $1.6 billion revenue, a 1.8 percent margin. St. John had a 17.6 percent market share.
• Trinity Health Systems, net income of $40.6 million on $551.4 million revenue, a 7.4 percent margin. Trinity had a 6.4 percent market share.
• William Beaumont Hospitals, loss of $612,000 on $1.8 billion revenue, for no margin. Beaumont had a 19.3 percent market share. Officials said Beaumont returned to profitability in 2009. It posted $13.8 million in operating income during the first six months of 2009.
• McLaren Health, loss of $4.9 million on $368.1 million revenue, or -1.3 percent margin.
• Other independent hospitals reported a loss of $58.1 million on $907.7 million in revenue, a -6.4 percent margin.
In 2008, Southeast Michigan health care systems and independent hospitals posted aggregate losses of $77.4 million on patient revenue of $9.5 billion for a -0.8 percent operating margin.
Not counted in those numbers is Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Health System, which posted losses of $126.3 million on $1.7 billion patient revenue in 2008, a -7.7 percent margin, the Michigan report said.
Data for the report came from the latest Medicare cost reports submitted by each hospital in Michigan to a fiscal intermediary hired by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Baumgarten said hospitals lost money in 2008 because of fewer insured patients, a decline in profitable elective procedures and surgeries and difficulty collecting higher co-pays and deductibles from patients.
“Profitability of hospitals…also suffered at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 because of the higher costs of borrowing and losses on investments,” Baumgarten said.
Hospitals in metropolitan Detroit also suffered a decline in other revenue, including investments, philanthropy and government grants, to $357 million in 2008 from $689 in 2007, the report found.
Profits for Southeast Michigan hospitals have steadily declined from 2005, when hospitals collectively reported net income of $163.2 million, a 2 percent margin. In 2007, hospitals reported net income of $213.4 million, or a 2.3 percent margin.
One factor driving the income decline is the 2 percent drop in patient admissions from 2007 to 2008, the report said.
“The announced acquisition of the Detroit Medical Center hospitals by Vanguard Health Systems, an investor-owned company, means more competition for a shrinking pie of hospital volume,” Baumgarten said.
Primarily by layoffs, retirements, improved productivity and other cost-cutting measures, most of the hospitals either returned to profitability or improved operations in 2009.
Here is a snapshot from some other Detroit-area hospital systems in 2008.
• Detroit Medical Center, net income of $36.5 million on $1.54 billion patient revenue, a 2.4 percent margin. DMC had a 16.1 percent market share in 2008.
• Henry Ford Health System, loss of $136.8 million on $1.8 billion revenue, a -7.5 percent margin. Henry Ford had a 17 percent market share in 2008.
Last month, Henry Ford reported it had increased net income by 258 percent to $30.4 million in 2009.
• Oakwood Healthcare System, net income of $18 million on $921.6 million revenue, a 1.9 percent margin. Oakwood had an 11.3 percent market share.
• St. John Health System, net income of $28.3 million on $1.6 billion revenue, a 1.8 percent margin. St. John had a 17.6 percent market share.
• Trinity Health Systems, net income of $40.6 million on $551.4 million revenue, a 7.4 percent margin. Trinity had a 6.4 percent market share.
• William Beaumont Hospitals, loss of $612,000 on $1.8 billion revenue, for no margin. Beaumont had a 19.3 percent market share. Officials said Beaumont returned to profitability in 2009. It posted $13.8 million in operating income during the first six months of 2009.
• McLaren Health, loss of $4.9 million on $368.1 million revenue, or -1.3 percent margin.
• Other independent hospitals reported a loss of $58.1 million on $907.7 million in revenue, a -6.4 percent margin.
22 March 2010
Need for Elder Care Services Ready to Explode
Gaylord Herald Times
LANSING — At a press conference in Lansing on Tuesday, the Aging Services of Michigan will release its 2010 Annual Long Term Care report, “A Decade in Review,” focusing on long-term elder care issues.
The association is issuing a call for action on the state level to change public policies that are detrimental to the care of seniors, family caregivers and nonprofit care providers.
The association is issuing a call for action on the state level to change public policies that are detrimental to the care of seniors, family caregivers and nonprofit care providers.
According to the Aging Services of Michigan, which represents nonprofit organizations providing community and home-based services for the elderly, there will be an explosion in the need for such services in the coming years.
Among the issues reported in the review is the estimation that Alzheimer’s disease will affect 180,000 Michigan elders in 2010, with an additional 200,000 people affected by from some form of dementia. The number of adults 65 and older will represent 20 percent of the population by 2030; the number of adults 85 and older, the fastest growing age group in the nation, will double by 2050. Michigan is not prepared for the increase in the aging population.
“Michigan’s long-term care system is under assault and has been for a long time,” said David Herbel, president and CEO of Aging Services of Michigan. “The need for Michigan senior care is increasing, while funding and state support is eroding.”
Women have traditionally been the caregivers of aging relatives, but economic factors over the last few decades have forced more and more women into the workforce as a necessity for family survival. The decreased funding and increasing need for care providers as the aging population grows will put an additional burden on middle class families already struggling.
The report was initially released in the first of a series of regional meetings with Aging Services of Michigan’s nonprofit member organizations. It was held at the Otsego Memorial Hospital (OMH) in Gaylord March 4. OMH’s McReynolds Hall skilled nursing facility, which provides short and long-term care, is a member.
For a copy of the 2010 Annual Long Term Care Report, visit the Aging Services of Michigan’s Web site at www.AgingMI.org.
Among the issues reported in the review is the estimation that Alzheimer’s disease will affect 180,000 Michigan elders in 2010, with an additional 200,000 people affected by from some form of dementia. The number of adults 65 and older will represent 20 percent of the population by 2030; the number of adults 85 and older, the fastest growing age group in the nation, will double by 2050. Michigan is not prepared for the increase in the aging population.
“Michigan’s long-term care system is under assault and has been for a long time,” said David Herbel, president and CEO of Aging Services of Michigan. “The need for Michigan senior care is increasing, while funding and state support is eroding.”
Women have traditionally been the caregivers of aging relatives, but economic factors over the last few decades have forced more and more women into the workforce as a necessity for family survival. The decreased funding and increasing need for care providers as the aging population grows will put an additional burden on middle class families already struggling.
The report was initially released in the first of a series of regional meetings with Aging Services of Michigan’s nonprofit member organizations. It was held at the Otsego Memorial Hospital (OMH) in Gaylord March 4. OMH’s McReynolds Hall skilled nursing facility, which provides short and long-term care, is a member.
For a copy of the 2010 Annual Long Term Care Report, visit the Aging Services of Michigan’s Web site at www.AgingMI.org.
26 October 2009
State Cuts Program For Disabled Seniors
From Interlochen Public Radio
Older people with mental illnesses and disabilities no longer have a place to socialize together in Traverse City, thanks to state budget cuts. Friday was the last day of the Senior Support Program at Northern Lakes Community Mental Health, ending a 30-year tradition.
During the program's last days, 62-year-old William Combs talked about what he would miss.
"It gives me something to do two days out of the week," he said. "And every other Monday I have art class and we do art,drawing and stuff. I do my drawings with pencils and pastels and maybe sometimes ink pens. And I just don't want to see everything end abruptly. That would be hard."
Combs lives in Kingsley, at an adult foster care home. Since he can't drive, he spends a lot of time on his own. He often likes to walk, sometimes miles in a day. But a couple days a week he would hop the bus into Traverse City, and the senior program gave him a place to meet friends.
"It'll be hard on a lot of people, and me too," he said. "I've been so used to coming to it and I don't want it to go. There ain't too much else going on."
But as of Friday, the Senior Program - not supported by Michigan Priority medicare - is no more.
Typically more than 20 people would show up to spend some time with their peers.
"A lot of them they have no place else to go for socialization and connecting with others, so that's why we had this program," says Marybeth Kyro. She was the lead worker for the Northern Lakes' Senior Support.
Kyro is being reassigned within the community mental health agency.
She says activities in the Senior Program were fun, but they also had a larger purpose. They were designed to help with daily living skills, and they focused on specific issues that older adults often face such as mobility, and keeping the mind sharp.
"We were getting some funding from the state to do older adult services," she says. "Now we're getting nothing. So now we had to make some really tough decisions, and this was part of it, cutting this program. So it's extremely sad, we're very, very sad."
The state ended funding for senior services back in July, cutting the Northern Lake's budget mid-year by $118,000. The community mental health agency's chief executive officer, Greg Paffhouse, says he shifted money around to keep the day program afloat as long as he could. But, already into Fiscal Year 2010, Paffhouse has no idea what his budget will be for this year. Looming cuts could be as high as 12, or even 20, percent. And he can't keep taking the risk.
Paffhouse does say he hopes the hard decision to shutter the senior program will actually mean those who were once in the program will be less segregated from the rest of the community. He hopes his staff and other area caregivers will help disabled seniors join in on more activities open to all seniors and all people.
"At the same time, we recognize there are friendships within this group," he says. "Some of these folks have attended the programs a long time together and we're still trying to sort out how we might be able to retain at least some periodic social activity to allow persons to maintain those relationships."
Programs for seniors with mental illness started 30 years ago, as the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Traverse City closed. Funding has dwindled over the years. This was once a robust five-day program, with more than 50 participants, designed for elderly former hospital patients, all of whom have all since passed away.
During the program's last days, 62-year-old William Combs talked about what he would miss.
"It gives me something to do two days out of the week," he said. "And every other Monday I have art class and we do art,drawing and stuff. I do my drawings with pencils and pastels and maybe sometimes ink pens. And I just don't want to see everything end abruptly. That would be hard."
Combs lives in Kingsley, at an adult foster care home. Since he can't drive, he spends a lot of time on his own. He often likes to walk, sometimes miles in a day. But a couple days a week he would hop the bus into Traverse City, and the senior program gave him a place to meet friends.
"It'll be hard on a lot of people, and me too," he said. "I've been so used to coming to it and I don't want it to go. There ain't too much else going on."
But as of Friday, the Senior Program - not supported by Michigan Priority medicare - is no more.
Typically more than 20 people would show up to spend some time with their peers.
"A lot of them they have no place else to go for socialization and connecting with others, so that's why we had this program," says Marybeth Kyro. She was the lead worker for the Northern Lakes' Senior Support.
Kyro is being reassigned within the community mental health agency.
She says activities in the Senior Program were fun, but they also had a larger purpose. They were designed to help with daily living skills, and they focused on specific issues that older adults often face such as mobility, and keeping the mind sharp.
"We were getting some funding from the state to do older adult services," she says. "Now we're getting nothing. So now we had to make some really tough decisions, and this was part of it, cutting this program. So it's extremely sad, we're very, very sad."
The state ended funding for senior services back in July, cutting the Northern Lake's budget mid-year by $118,000. The community mental health agency's chief executive officer, Greg Paffhouse, says he shifted money around to keep the day program afloat as long as he could. But, already into Fiscal Year 2010, Paffhouse has no idea what his budget will be for this year. Looming cuts could be as high as 12, or even 20, percent. And he can't keep taking the risk.
Paffhouse does say he hopes the hard decision to shutter the senior program will actually mean those who were once in the program will be less segregated from the rest of the community. He hopes his staff and other area caregivers will help disabled seniors join in on more activities open to all seniors and all people.
"At the same time, we recognize there are friendships within this group," he says. "Some of these folks have attended the programs a long time together and we're still trying to sort out how we might be able to retain at least some periodic social activity to allow persons to maintain those relationships."
Programs for seniors with mental illness started 30 years ago, as the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Traverse City closed. Funding has dwindled over the years. This was once a robust five-day program, with more than 50 participants, designed for elderly former hospital patients, all of whom have all since passed away.
13 April 2009
Family Fights Insurance Industry Autism Policies
Story from HometownLife.com
Val McFarland isn't getting help from the insurance companies in paying for treatments for her 5-year-old son with autism.
It costs about $100,000 annually, which includes physical, occupational and speech therapy seven days a week, at home and at William Beaumont Hospital's Center for Human Development in Berkley.
Currently, 10 states mandate insurance coverage for autism. In Michigan, most health insurance companies cover only screening for the disorder, leaving families with autistic children to bear the high costs of treatment on their own.
“Insurance companies basically discriminate against autism treatments,” Brown said. “Insurance companies cover the diagnosis of autism but they don't cover the treatment.”
Val McFarland isn't getting help from the insurance companies in paying for treatments for her 5-year-old son with autism.
It costs about $100,000 annually, which includes physical, occupational and speech therapy seven days a week, at home and at William Beaumont Hospital's Center for Human Development in Berkley.“Either families are going further and further in debt or children are not receiving care,” said McFarland, of Commerce Township.
Two local lawmakers are trying to help families like the McFarlands. State Reps. Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield) and Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills) launched a campaign Wednesday to support the growing number of families struggling with the costs of autism care by requiring health insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment of the disorder. Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships.
Many Michigan health insurance companies cite unproven treatment methods when denying coverage for therapy. In support of National Autism Awareness Month, Brown and Barnett also launched an online petition for residents who would like to show their support for the plan and raise autism awareness.
“It is simply unacceptable for a Michigan health insurance company to refuse coverage and let the quality of life of these children be an afterthought,” Brown said. “While health care companies cover prevalent diseases like cancer and diabetes, they continue to discriminate against autism. We can't stand on the sideline as these companies turn their backs on autistic children who may never reach their full potential without treatment.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown. But research shows that early, intensive intervention can help.
The disorder effects 1 in 150 children, and boys are four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed. According to the Autism Society of America, Michigan has the highest rate of diagnosed autism cases in the U.S., with 12,166 children between the ages 3 and 21 effected.Currently, 10 states mandate insurance coverage for autism. In Michigan, most health insurance companies cover only screening for the disorder, leaving families with autistic children to bear the high costs of treatment on their own.
“Insurance companies basically discriminate against autism treatments,” Brown said. “Insurance companies cover the diagnosis of autism but they don't cover the treatment.”
Last week, the House passed legislation to encourage greater research into the causes and treatments of the disorder. The plan would create the Autism Research Fund to research its causes and treatments, as well as establish a new income tax checkoff box to allow Michigan residents to voluntarily designate a portion of their tax return to the fund.
“I would hope it has bipartisan support,” Barnett said. “We're talking about covering children with a specific diagnosis.”
Val McFarland and her husband, Kevin, started the Celebrities Against Autism organization to raise awareness of the disorder and help offset the cost of therapy for them and other families.
Long term, the organization hopes to open a therapeutic center, which would include horseback riding, service dogs, an indoor pool and camps for autistic individuals.
“We started this for Callahan but it has grown much larger than just our son,” Val said. “As I began networking with other families impacted by autism, I learned how difficult it is for so many to both locate and afford quality treatment and how isolated they can feel.”
Residents can sign the petition at www.housedems.com/petitions. While on the site, residents can also share personal stories about how autism has affected them and their families.04 April 2009
Spectrum Health Part Of Recent Trend Of Hospital Consolidation
As Originally Posted at MLive
GRAND RAPIDS -- Health care experts say news Spectrum Health is exploring an affiliation with a Petoskey-based hospital is part of a 20-year trend likely to continue.
"Back in the 1980s, we had over 200 hospitals in the state of Michigan and virtually all were independent organizations," said Brian Peters, executive vice president of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.
Brian Peters (far left) says hospital consolidation likely to continue in Michigan
"Now, we have 144 and most of them are part of a larger system, either through outright ownership or through a loose affiliation," he said. "We think we'll see that intensify over the next 20 years."
On Thursday, Spectrum Health officials announced being in formal talks to partner with Petoskey-based Northern Michigan Regional Health System.
Spectrum runs seven hospitals, more than 140 service sites and Priority Health, a 500,000-member health insurance company. Northern Michigan provides care across 22 counties, operates three hospitals, a nursing home and rehabilitation center and clinics.
Officials from both systems said a partnership could lead to better quality care and access for patients, greater purchasing power and greater efficiencies for both organizations.
It is unclear if an affiliation could lead to job losses from consolidation.
Spectrum President and CEO Richard Breon and Northern Health President and CEO Thomas Mroczkowski said there are no expectations that would happen.
Affiliations "don't necessarily have to result in that at all," Breon said. "We're still hiring people and they're still hiring people."
Mroczkowski said it's hard to predict the future, but he believes there is potential to expand services.
"There may be opportunities ... to, in fact, increase the volume and amount of work that needs to be done," he said.
Health advocates say such an affiliation could have positive outcomes for both communities.
"There's not a need for everybody to do everything under the sun themselves," said Lody Zwarensteyn, president of the Alliance for Health, the area's health-planning agency.
"It's good to be in a league with people that can augment and strengthen what you do."
Peters said it bodes well for both locales that both systems are not-for-profit and run by volunteer boards comprised of community members who use the hospital's services.
"Sometimes with mergers and acquisitions in the for-profit sector, that decision-making process is all about the bottom line," Peters said.
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