Newsletter

April 2008

1. Please join us at our next statewide meeting on Saturday, May 10, 2008 from 10:30-2:30 at the Library of Michigan Lake Superior Room, 717 West Allegan, Lansing. Or plan to join us at our July meeting: Saturday, July 12 at the same time and place, We love to welcome new members and see old friends! If you plan to attend the May meeting, please RSVP to Alison Hirschel at hirschel@umich.edu or 517-324-5754 by May 6, 2007. We need you to be part of our important plans and discussions! Join us!

2. Advocacy Needed to Ensure Adequate Funding for Home and Community Based Care! –As noted in our last newsletter, Governor Granholm’s proposed budget for FY ‘09 included significant increases in funding for MiChoice Home and Community based services. The House Appropriations Committee, however, recommended only a tiny increase in MiChoice funding, an amount that will do little or nothing to reduce the waiting list of more than 3,000 people around the state. The budget is now being considered in the State Senate. Please call your state senator today to say you support significant funding increases for the Mi Choice Home and Community Based Waiver program. Please also contact the members of the House Appropriations Committee. We have attached to the newsletter both talking points and the contact information for the key legislators you should contact. Support giving long term care consumers choice about where they receive the services and supports they need!

3. Campaign investigates needs of nursing home residents for custom made or custom modified wheelchairs – The Campaign has been contacted with a concern that many Medicaid recipients in nursing homes who need custom made or custom modified wheelchairs or power wheelchairs may not be receiving them. We understand that many residents need these adaptations to prevent skin breakdown and aspiration, allow greater comfort and mobility, and address other medical concerns. If you are aware of a situation in which a resident did not receive the special accommodations he or she needed because the nursing home did not properly identify his or her needs, the nursing home failed to pay for the adaptation, or a request for prior authorization for the chair was denied by Medicaid, please contact Alison Hirschel at 517-324-5754 or hirschel@umich.edu or Mark Cody of Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service at 800-288-5923 or mcody@mpas.org.

4. State follows through on agreement with Campaign and other advocates to ensure "dual certification" (for Medicaid and Medicare") of nursing home beds–- The state Department of Community Health is honoring its commitment to the Campaign and other advocates to move forward with enforcing a long neglected provision of the Public Health Code that requires all beds certified for Medicare to also be certified for Medicaid and all beds certified for Medicaid to be certified for Medicare (unless the bed cannot qualify for Medicare certification). This change will reduce the number of involuntary discharges of residents from nursing homes when their source of payment changes. Comments on the proposed policy are due by May 16. Please send simple comments supporting dual certification of all beds and enforcement of the Public Health Code.

We anticipate the nursing home industry will likely be vigorous in opposing the state’s effort to enforce the law because providers find it profitable to have beds that are certified only for Medicare. We need your help to show strong consumer support for this important effort to enforce the law. The issue sounds complicated, but the important thing to know is that if a bed is not dually certified for Medicare and Medicaid, it is much more likely that residents will be forced to leave the bed or the nursing home when their source of payment changes to Medicaid. Comments can be emailed to killingsworth@michigan.gov, faxed to 517-241-8995, or mailed to Marion Killingsworth, Bureau of Medicaid Policy and Actuarial Services, Medical Services Administration, P.O. Box 30479, Lansing, Michigan 48909-7979.

5. U.S. Senator introduces the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act – On April 9^th, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) introduced legislation that would bar nursing homes from including mandatory arbitration clauses in their admissions contracts. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI). The mandatory clauses in many nursing home admissions contracts require families and residents who have a dispute with the nursing home to go to arbitration instead of having their claim resolved in court. Many consumers prefer to have their day in court, however, and a better chance of a fair resolution if they litigate their claim. Under the proposed legislation, consumers who voluntarily choose to go to arbitration when their dispute arises will still have the opportunity to do so. You can contact your Michigan Senators to tell them you support this important legislation or share your long term care concern with them by calling Senator Levin at (313) 226-6020 or going to his web page at http://levin.senate.gov/ and clicking on "Contact Center" on the top left side of the web page or Senator Stabenow at (517) 203-1760 or going to her website at http://stabenow.senate.gov/ and clicking on "Contact me."

6. NCCNHR–the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care needs your help! – NCCNHR is the national organization that has, for the past 33 years, been the courageous and effective voice of long term care consumers in Washington. It provides enormous information, training and support to citizen advocacy groups like the Campaign across the country; serves as the national back-up center for state and local long term care ombudsman across the country; advocates for important policy and legislation that affects long term care consumers; promotes best practices and innovative models of care; and has received coverage in media outlets such as the Ladies Home Journal, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, the New York Times, and C-Span. Campaign members Alison Hirschel and John Weir, as well as state ombudsman Sarah Slocum are proud to sit on NCCNHR’s Board. But at the same time that NCCNHR is seeing real success in its critical efforts, it faces unprecedented financial challenges. Without significant and immediate support, it will face agonizing choices about what work it can continue to do. Please support NCCNHR today to keep the Long Term Care Consumer Voice in our Nation’s Capital. To donate, go to NCCNHR’s website at www.nccnhr.org and click on "Support NCCNHR" on the left hand side of the page or send a check to NCCNHR, 1828 L Street, Suite 801, Washington, D.C. 20036. Thanks! And please consider attending NCCNHR’s superb annual conference which will be held this year in Indianapolis from October 15-18, which will offer national experts talking about long term care advocacy and quality, opportunities to network with advocates from across the country, and a whirlwind array of informative, engaging, and fun activities. For more information, go to www.nccnhr.org or call Alison at 517-324-5754.

*************************************************************************

The Campaign would like to thank its recent generous donor, Bonnie Schuler.

If you would like to help support the Campaign, please consider buying a raffle ticket for $20 (first prize $500, second prize: $250). For more information, please contact John Weir at jmweir@kalcounty.org or call John at 269-373-5157. The drawing will be held on July 12 at our Campaign meeting, but you don’t need to be present to win!

*************************************************************************

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has – Margaret Meade