Michigan Campaign For Quality Care

Newsletter

June 2007

1. Please join us at our next statewide meeting on Saturday, June 16, 2007 from 10:30-2:30 at the Library of Michigan Lake Superior Room, 717 West Allegan, Lansing. And stay tuned for information on our mid-September meeting (date and place to be announced) and our November 17 meeting (Lake Superior Room, Library of Michigan, 717 West Allegan, Lansing). We love to welcome new members! If you plan to attend the June meeting, please RSVP to Alison Hirschel at hirschel@umich.edu or 517-324-5754 by June 14.

2. Proposed 6% Medicaid cuts to nursing homes, MiChoice, and other Medicaid providers rescinded, at least for now . . . Enormous thanks to all Campaign members who contacted their legislators, the Governor, and the Department of Community Health, wrote letters to the editor, and made other efforts to preserve Medicaid funding for long term care. In late May, after it appeared that the legislature and the Governor were going to come to an agreement on the current fiscal year budget, the Michigan Department of Community Health rescinded the proposed 6% cuts to almost all providers, including long term care providers, that were supposed to go into effect on June 1. That means that there will be no substantial cuts in long term care before October 1, 2007 when the new fiscal year begins. However, the 2007 budget agreement included various accounting tricks and more one time fixes without creating any substantial new revenues. Experts agree this year’s solutions will make next year’s budget even tighter and the need for new revenues even more urgent. We must continue our advocacy to preserve and expand long term care funding and our support for new revenues; since Medicaid spends approximately $1.8 billion each year on long term care, it remains a large target in tough budget times. Please write to the Governor and your legislators expressing support for the decision not to cut long term care this fiscal year and a plea to preserve this essential funding for some of the state’s most vulnerable consumers as the state tackles its increasing budget woes in Fiscal Year ‘08 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008).

3. Michigan Bureau of Health Systems Director Mike Dankert seeks to get tough on enforcement of requirements for nursing homes – The Campaign is very pleased to report that Mike Dankert, who was appointed last summer to be the Director of the state office that oversees licensing and certification for health facilities, is developing a variety of strong and creative strategies to deal with nursing homes that have serious and continuing violations and to improve the efficiency of nursing home enforcement efforts. While Dankert is hampered by continuing staff shortages that often result in months long delays in investigating complaints, he is proposing and implementing numerous improvements in the way his office responds to chronically troubled facilities and to the thousand of incidents of harm to residents that facilities are required to report to the state. Dankert has consulted with the Campaign and the State Long Term Care Ombudsman program in developing these initiatives. The Campaign will be writing to Janet Olszewski, Director of the Department of Community Health, and the Governor to applaud Dankert’s efforts to address this continuing problem.

4. Campaign news and updates from around the state:

a. The Michigan Campaign for Quality Care has just been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a non profit corporation. After filing some paperwork with the State, the Campaign will be able to solicit tax exempt charitable contributions, obtain grants, and engage in other activities that will help preserve and promote the Campaign’s goals. In addition, the IRS designation gives the Campaign additional credibility. Tremendous thanks to Campaign members Linda Phillips, Paul VanWestrienen, and John Weir for helping to shepherd the Campaign through the application process.

b. Campaign Members Maureen Mickus (pictured at right), a gerontologist on the faculty of Western Michigan University (WMU); John Weir, a local ombudsman in Kalamazoo; and Paul Van Westrienen, from the Oceana County chapter, organized and spoke at a forum on culture change in nursing facilities at WMU in April. The program attracted more than 100 people. Participants viewed the documentary, "Almost Home" about one nursing home’s experience with becoming more resident focused and home like, listened to a panel discussion of issues in the film, and received information about the Campaign.

c. At recent meetings of the Southeastern Michigan chapter of the Campaign, members had an opportunity to hear Sarah Slocum, the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, and RoAnne Chaney, a health policy expert at the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition who was chair of the Governor’s Medicaid Long Term Care Task Force, present information about current issues in long term care.

d. The Kalamazoo chapter recently hosted State Representative Robert Jones of the 60th District who serves as chair of the House Senior Health, Security, and Retirement Committee. Members covered issues including staffing, expanding the waiver program, enforcement, escrow of money for poor care, slow complaint investigations and accountability for the money nursing homes receive. Representative Jones promised look into issues raised at the meeting and hold hearings. He also discussed the state’s budget woes and explained the urgent need for more revenues, which Campaign members supported.

e. Campaign counsel Alison Hirschel has been named President of NCCNHR -the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care. Alison is proud to serve NCCNHR in its continuing efforts to ensure quality, dignity, and innovation for long term care consumers around the country. Please look at NCCNHR’s website at www.nccnhr.org. or www.nursinghomeaction.org.

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Please read the Campaign’s attached 2007 legislative priorities!!