September  2010

 1. Please join us at our next statewide meeting on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 10:30-2:30 at the law offices of Chalgian & Tripp in East Lansing, 1019 Trowbridge Road (near the Trowbridge exit for I-496 and Route 127). Please also plan to join us at our November 13, 2010 meeting at the same time and place.  Thanks to attorneys Doug Chalgian and Amy Tripp for their hospitality!  If you plan to attend the September meeting (and enjoy a scrumptious lunch provided by our new caterer, Get Catered!), please RSVP to Alison Hirschel at hirschel@lsscm.org or 517-394-2985 x231.  We need your help!     

 

2. Last Chance to submit nominations for the 2010 Nadene Mitcham Courage and Heart Awards—Each year, the Campaign is pleased to honor two or three individuals who have made a significant difference in the lives of long term care consumers and who have shown exceptional compassion and courage. The award is named after our former statewide chair, Nadene Mitcham, who inspired us with her own courage, persistence, and determination to improve the lives of others.  We are happy to consider nominations of anyone who stands out as a hero to long term care consumers.  To nominate an individual, please email Alison Hirschel at hirschel@lsscm.org or call her at 517-394-2985 x 231 to her to tell us about the person you wish to nominate by September 10 (and please let us know how to contact your nominee).  Selections will be made at our September 11 meeting; awards will be presented on October 7^th at the State Bar of Michigan Elder Law and Disability Rights Conference at Crystal Mountain Resort.   

3. Some nursing home residents on Medicaid can use their income to maintain their homes—Under a relatively new initiative of the Michigan Department of Community Health, Medicaid beneficiaries in nursing home whose doctors certify they are likely to go home within six months may seek permission to use their income to maintain their homes.  Most residents (unless they are supporting a spouse or dependent child) must pay most of their monthly income to the nursing home as their contribution to the cost of care.  But under the new program which the Campaign has been instrumental in helping to develop, residents can seek to retain their income to use for rent, mortgage payments, utilities, taxes, insurance, or other necessary housing costs.  This program helps ensure that residents still have a home to return to when they are ready to leave the nursing home.

          If you have questions about this new benefit, call Alison Hirschel at (517) 394-2985 x 231 or email her at hirschel@lsscm.org.  To apply for the “Special Director Exception,” you must submit:

1.     Proof of housing expenses (such as rent, mortgage, taxes, or utilities).  

2.    A statement from the doctor stating that this individual is medically
likely to return home within six months.

3.    If the request for an exception is requested by someone other than the resident, include an authorization to disclose protected health information,
(DCH-1183) available at www.michigan.gov/mdch.

     The information should be faxed to (517) 241-8969 or mailed to:

Special Director Exception
Eligibility Policy Section
P.O. Box  30479
Lansing, MI 48909

4. While waiting lists for MI Choice home and community based services continue to grow, Medicaid beneficiaries in urgent need of help and nursing home residents who want to go home can still obtain services—Individuals who want services at home through the MI Choice Home and Community Based Care waiver program (a Medicaid funded program that provides supports and services at home instead of in a nursing home) usually have to go on a waiting list before receiving services.  Depending on the part of the state in which the consumer lives, the delay can vary from a few weeks to almost two years.  However, the program has priority categories that can assure much prompter receipt of services.   Nursing home residents who want to return home move to the top of the waiting list and should be promptly assessed and assisted in returning home.  Similarly, individuals in the community who, without MI Choice services, are at immediate risk of having to seek institutional care can request an “imminent risk assessment.”   If the assessment demonstrates they have an urgent need for services, they can also move to the top of the list and start receiving the services they need.  To learn more about obtaining home and community based care, contact your local area agency on aging, waiver agent, or center for independent living.  The state website has contact information for many of these agencies at: http://www.michigan.gov/miseniors (click on “Search for Services” on the left side of the page).  Meanwhile, the Campaign continues to advocate vigorously for expanded options for consumers to receive home and community based care.

5. Michigan Campaign for Quality Care joins coalition to ensure a strong consumer voice when state implements Health Care Reform Law—The Campaign is pleased to join the Michigan Consumers for Healthcare Advancement (MCHA), a group that seeks to provide a coordinated, strategic consumer voice as the state begins to implement the new federal Affordable Care Act.  MCHA will work with a diverse alliance of consumers and other partners and policymakers to ensure affordable, quality healthcare is accessible to all Michiganians.  It plans to use education, outreach, policy analysis, and advocacy to achieve its goals.  While the new group’s focus is much broader than long term care, other organizations that advocate for elders and people with disabilities have also joined this broad coalition to form an exciting new partnership.  The creation of MCHA now is especially timely because some provisions of the complex new federal law will be implemented beginning this year while other provisions will be phased in over the next several years.   The Campaign will keep members posted both about implementation of the law and the activities of MCHA on important issues .

6.Michigan Disability Rights Coalition offers free exhange for wheelchairs and other equipment and assistive technology—Do you have a wheelchair, bath chair, hoyer or stair lift, oxygen machine or other assistive technology that you no longer need?  Do you need some equipment you can’t afford?  The Michigan Disability Rights Coalition offers a free on-line exchange where consumers can share information about equipment they have and no longer need or equipment they want and hope someone else can spare.  The listing includes both free items and items for sale and includes a wide range of assistive technology from mobility items to computer equipment; speech, vision, and hearing devices; environmental adaptations; and equipment related to vehicles and transportation.   Many of these devices allow people to enjoy much better quality of life and improved health and can also prevent unnecessary institutionalization.  To see the listing, go to http://www.atxchange.org/v3/home.php

7.The Campaign Needs Volunteers to Help its Southeast Michigan Chapter or to Create Other Chapters Across the State—The Campaign has many members in Southeast Michigan and has always had a chapter in that region of the state.  The volunteers who have devoted so much energy to that chapter now are faced with  many other obligations.  We are therefore seeking help to run that chapter and eager to hear from volunteers who want to create other chapters across the state.  Please contact Alison Hirschel at 517-394-2985 x 231 or hirschel@lsscm.org if you are interested in helping with these tasks.

8. Campaign mourns loss of Jim Bebermeyer and celebrates the births of a new generation of advocates—The Michigan Campaign for Quality Care extends its deepest sympathy to the family of Jim Bebermeyer, a loyal and much loved Campaign member.  Jim was a tireless and devoted advocate for his late mother, sister and wife when they spent time in a nursing home and, ultimately, a nursing home resident himself.  Jim’s wise counsel, gentle manner, relentless optimism, and wide experience were gifts he generously shared with the Campaign and we will miss him greatly.  At the same time we mourn Jim’s loss, we also celebrate the births of three babies to wonderful local long term care ombudsman who have been energetic and dedicated Campaign members: congratulations to Jenny Cook, Lacey Charbonneau, and Brittany Koziol on the births of their adorable babies!

9.  The Campaign thanks its donors—in our last newsletter, we failed to mention that the generous donation we received from the Royal Oak Area Older Women’s League was in honor of our former chair, Nadene Mitcham.  We extend thanks to our donor and congratulations to Nadene for this well-deserved recognition.