Hi Dana,
Thanks for all of the great info! :-)
With Love,
CtrlAltDel aka Dave
C4/5 Complete - 29 Years Post
Texas, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Dana (C 4-5, 30 years post, 51, KC suburban Johnson County Kansas)From: "Stephanie Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "micassa list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Fw: NY Times article on Medicaid
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 18:09:21 -0500
Meanwhile the National Governors are also meeting in Des Moines Iowa and you
can bet Medicaid will be on the table again...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Kafka" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 5:59 PM
Subject: Re: NY Times article on Medicaid
Dear Medicaid Reform Advocates:
Medicaid is being attacked from all directions. The article below about
the
abuses in the New York Medicaid
program is a double edged sword. On one hand the section on how much
nursing home owners/operators rip off New York helps make our case for
community services. However the description of widespread fraud throughout
the Medicaid syst! em bolsters the arguement of the advocates who want to
totally dismantle Medicaid and want to block grant or cap the program. The
National Medicaid Commission has been named and must make their first
recommendations by September 1st. There first task will be to outline how
$10 billion dollars might be saved in the Medicaid program.
As advocates we have to be sure not to allow "the baby to be thrown out
with
the bathwater" just because of some abuses.
Though we despise nursing homes and other institutions we must remember
that
Medicaid is also the biggest funder
of home and community services as well as acute health services. Though we
don't like the medical model we must protect the necessary dollars in the
community as we change how the Medicaid program is run.
Here is the part of the article below you will like and can use to make the
case for home and community services:
> The Executives
Among the biggest beneficiaries of the Medicaid program have been
executives of the state's nursing homes and clinics, many of whom earn
substantial
salaries and profits from the program.
According to records obtained from the Health Department under the Freedom
of Information Law, 70 executives of nursing homes and clinics personally
made more than $500,000 in 2002, the last year for which figures are
available. Twenty-five executives made more than $1 million.
For the nursing home executives, that money was earned in salaries and
profits, most of which came directly from the daily fee that Medicaid pays
for caring for each low-income patient, usually in the range of $200.
Salaries are earned by employees of the homes, and profit is earned by
owners, although owners are often executive directors or chief executives
of the homes, allowing them to benefit in both ways.
Consider three homes in the Bronx. The operator of the Laconia NursingHome, which receives 90 percent of its revenues from Medicaid, earned $3
million
in salary and profit. At the Grand Manor Nursing Home, also 90 percent
financed by Medicaid, the operator and three family members earned a total
of $2.4 million in salaries and profit. The owner and operator of the
Morris Park home, 75 percent financed by Medicaid, took in $1.5 million in
salary
and profit.
####################################
Please alert us what is going on with Medicaid in your state.
Don't Mourn...ORGANIZE!!!
The ADAPT Community
www.adapt.org
THE FULL 7/18/05 New York Times ARTICLE entitled "New York Medicaid
Fraud May Reach into the Billions," can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/nyregion/18medicaid.html?ex=1122350400&en=47e5077532b0afab&ei=5070&emc=eta1
NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Adapt MiCASA List http://www.adapt.org
